58 In The Light Of The Candle (2/2)
Shin Sumi's instinct was screaming that something really bad for her was going to happen when the statue of Bai Fulong was completed.
Trying something new, Shin Sumi slapped her bag of holding open, producing three short swords.
Moving at the same time to ensure that Jun Qian could not produce a shield for all three of the incoming attacks, Shin Sumi threw the first blade.
A leap later, Shin Sumi was throwing a second sword from mid-air.
She was about to throw the third one, still holding it in her left hand, when her grip on the sword's handle tightened.
For some reason she was suddenly unable to let go of the sword.
She had targeted the yellow robed genius cultivator with both swords, only one of which he blocked. The second one was intercepted by Chu Erlong by his side.
Surely the third one would have hit its target, so why didn't Shin Sumi's arm let it go?
A strange feeling took over her, making her terrified to look at her own left arm. She knew what had happened before even glancing at it.
At some point between her second throw and the third, her movement had become sluggish very rapidly. And now her forearm and hand were unable to move.
Her member was coated in a thin layer of wax. In fact with every passing breath her healthy looking arm was turning greyish.
The color of cold wax.
Despite the dread instilled into her and the cold sweat on her back, Shin Sumi still had the clearness of mind to understand the true power of the candle conjured by Jun Qian.
Because the candle had stolen her Shinsoo to take a physical form, she had been forcefully linked to it.
As long as the energy link lasted, the more Shin Sumi wasted time and energy, the more the candle would transform into a puppet version of her.
Ever since the Second Light enchantment uttered by Jun Qian, the wax from the candle had gone from grey to the color of her skin. The arm of the wax figure was now perfectly realistic while her real arm had been slowly transforming into wax.
That was a level of magic unheard of for Shin Sumi!
Invisible to the three disciples in the arena, the white crane floating above their heads suddenly turned its white eye towards the distance. A second later the bird blurred out of existence, reappearing only a few moments later while another presence appeared at the entrance to the arena.
Shin Sumi was too petrified to care about her surroundings that much and didn't realize that someone else had arrived.
Jun Qian and Chu Erlong both looked at the newcomer, the yellow robed young man almost immediately uninterested. But Chu Erlong's eyes turned another shade of dark, her teeth clenching a bit more than before.
”Xiao Yue !”
How could Chu Erlong ignore the orange robed girl's face? She was after all another strong contender for the title of best orange robed disciple.
Shin Sumi heard Chu Erlong's cry absentmindedly but the familiar name suddenly jolted her out of her miserable state.
”...Yue?!”
”Hey, Bai Fulong, how are you doing? Not too good I see...”
Xiao Yue only took a single glance to successfully assess the situation. She had just beat an opponent in her third arena of the mountain when she found herself instantly transported to this place.
The actions of the white crane were cryptic at best, and out of the four people in the current arena, only Shin Sumi had ever seen who was behind the sudden transportations.
”Chu Erlong” Xiao Yue called out, ”Is this how you do things? Two versus one? And with Senior Brother Jun nevertheless...”
”Xiao Yue, this was never about you. Stay out of it or join us, unless you want to die a miserable death.”
Xiao Yue arrogantly laughed. Unless she was around Shin Sumi, Xiao Yue was never the very feminine and gentle girl, instead resembling more and more the 'Black Devil Maiden' Xiao Yue.
”Eh-eh-eh I would really like to see you try!”
Stabbing her Black Devil Spear into the ground, Xiao Yue took her stance. She had decided that, just because she was against Chu Erlong and Jun Qian, she would take Bai Fulong's side.
”Hey, Bai Fulong, can you move? Are you alright?”
”Y-Yes, Jun Qian's magic wax surprised me, You have to be careful with his candles. They are very potent, even for me and you.”
Xiao Yue had never really faced Jun Qian in a fight before. She knew how he fought thanks to the rumors but she never imagined that he would be so tough for Bai Fulong.
Xiao Yue remembered clearly the few weeks she had spent with Bai Fulong and how astonishingly strong he seemed to be.
And now he was wearing yellow robes as well, maybe having finally revealed his true colors.
”No matter what you do, if Jun Qian materializes a new candle, you can't use Shinsoo close to it! Keep it to physical attacks.”
Xiao Yue nodded. Having arrived later, she was able to make good use of the knowledge Bai Fulong had painfully gathered.
Maybe now they had a chance!
The fight had suddenly become a two versus two combat. Jun Qian didn't seem phased by it at all, but Chu Erlong was starting to wonder if they were really going to get beaten.
”Stop worrying Erlong, you have the first raked Honorary Disciple on your side. Nothing bad can happen” she was reassuring herself and once more preparing mentally for the fight.
”Half of Bai Fulong's arm is already cast in wax. The more he uses magic the faster the wax will take over, transforming him in a puppet of some sort. Like this, maybe he has around a stick of incense before become completely incapacitated. Unless we...uh?”
Xiao Yue's thoughts were suddenly stopped because of a crackling of thunder right besides her.
Shin Sumi's mind had gone blank for a moment. Because of the temporary delay in attacks brought by Xiao Yue's arrival, her dantian had finally resumed the process of remoulding her body from the inside.
As they were speaking, her adaptation had finally reached a hundred percent.
Shin Sumi was now in the great circle of Shinsoo Gathering!
It was a state long lost to the world, at least in the small Dark Sky Starry Sect. She could even be considered half a step into the Liquid Realm!
Her entire insides had turned golden and every single one of her Shinsoo Apertures was flowing smoothly with gold looking Shinsoo.
It was the perfect cultivation to the uppermost limit of Shinsoo Gathering!!
And the Heavens themselves had reacted to it.
The first bolt of lightning had condensed out of thin air, before the dark clouds even formed.
It struck Shin Sumi right in her dantian, trying to destroy the perfect state she had achieved.
It was known as Tribulation Lightning, something that would usually never come for a cultivator until the end of the Core Development Realm.
Shin Sumi felt a strong sense of rejection from the world itself, as well as an even stronger impulse of attraction from inside.
Even Jun Qian, Chu Erlong and Xiao Yue had been paralyzed by the change in atmosphere happening at a higher level than themselves.
Only the invisible white crane in the sky was floating as ever. It had been him that protected Shin Sumi during the first lightning strike.
”Impossible... Bai Fulong is breaking through to the Liquid Realm?! It shouldn't be allowed until the top of the mountain!”
Jun Qian was the first to break out of the daze brought by the Heavens taking part in the situation.
Because Shin Sumi's cultivation was so special, the Heavens intervened and the frail laws about breaking through in this dimension had been torn apart by her own energy.
Forced to sit down by an invisible force, Shin Sumi quickly entered a meditative state.
At the same time, Jun Qian's had fully realized how quick the tables were turning.
”I can't allow him to succeed! I have to turn him into a wax puppet before he breaks through!”
Biting his tongue hard, Jun Qian spat out a mouthful of blood, spraying the candle in front of him with a thin mist.
His magic rapidly increased at the price of his own energy, the wax on Shin Sumi quickly expanding at the same time as the candle sculpture of her became more realistic.
Chu Erlong joined as well, rushing like the wind, sword in hand. Now that Shin Sumi was in a trance, she could not react at all, that was the perfect opportunity for her.
A pitch black cloud of smoke blocked Chu Erlong's sword. Xiao Yue had reacted just in time, her Black Devil Spear spinning rapidly.
”I'm your opponent now, Chu Erlong!”
The two orange robed girls were exchanging blows at an impressive speed, metal crashing against metal.
Shin Sumi was in the process of being covered in wax, and Xiao Yue was alone to defend her.
Pushing himself to his limits, Jun Qian conjured a second ethereal candle out of his wax magic, forcibly linking Xiao Yue to it.
”Come on Bai Fulong! Please succeed quickly, I can't hold them off for too long!”
Judging by Xiao Yue's estimations, she could only last ten or so minutes before being herself caught in wax. And that was without counting Chu Erlong's relentless attacks.