60 The Number Two (1/2)

”To think that this whole time you were Bai Fulong… I never suspected you !”

Shin Sumi was glad that Xiao Yue wasn't angry at her. After explaining the entire story to her, how she also became Yan Yan and then Bai Fulong, Xiao Yue's furrowed brows relaxed and her crossed arms fell to her side.

She looked much more amazed than mad, impressed by Shin Sumi's journey through the trial.

Because of the threat posed by Elder Zhu on one side and Chu Erlong on the other, Shin Sumi had not wanted to risk danger for her and her friends.

Xiao Yue gasped and cursed when Shin Sumi told her about what had happened to Lan Hui just because Chu Erlong knew how close they were.

”I wonder where he is now… Well as long as he stays with Bai Xuengen far away from Chu Erlong, they should be fine.”

Xiao Yue vigorously shook her head.

”No, I think you're wrong. Even before you were like suuuper strong and now you're in the Liquid Realm. From here on out that stupid b*tch will definitely stay away from you and the people you value.”

Xiao Yue's harsh words were deadlier than steel. Shin Sumi almost broke out in laughter and had to resist the urge to hold her sister against her.

”I've missed you, Yue” she said softly instead.

Xiao Yue grinned and blushed a little bit, waving away at her.

The two girls were leisurely walking along the path to the next arena, Xiao Yue often spacing out while taking in the long story that Shin Sumi had brought her. On her side, Shin Sumi was reflecting upon herself and her new level of cultivation.

Telling her story, Shin Sumi had purposefully omitted the little nut and the Copper Bell. Somehow she felt that this kind of thing was completely out of the norm. She didn't mind telling Xiao Yue about them, but they were still in the Rising Star Tournament dimension, where Elders could watch anything at any time.

Now that Shin Sumi was on another level, she could feel divine senses on her, the sort that didn't belong to people physically close. The Elders obviously had a way of prying on them from outside the dimension.

Because of people like Elder Zhu, Shin Sumi could not reveal her secrets, even to Xiao Yue. Only the things that the administration of the Dark Sky Starry Sect ought to know, like the fact that she had the Gold Tyrant Flying Sword and that she had refined it in the five Veins of Hell Fire.

However, now that Shin Sumi was in the Liquid Realm and acknowledged as the first of the Tournament to reach the next step in cultivation, she finally felt like she could openly speak about Elder Zhu.

If other Elders found out about his actions, now that was his problem. Knowing that the Elder was in the latter stages of the Liquid Realm, even if it was an entire realm above her, Shin Sumi still felt much more confident.

Elders were paying attention to her and if anything happened to a talented disciple like her Zhu Yunhai would definitely pay the price.

”Oh, right !” Shin Sumi's eyes suddenly lit up, ”Yue I have something for you !”

Uh ? Xiao Yue was perplexed. What could it be ?

”A while ago, I tried refining the Liquid Pellet. My goal was to kill the poison inside it and use it on myself, but I had no way of knowing if the refining process had worked or not. In the end I did not need it because of the Veins of Hell Fire, but now that I've reached the next step I can sense things better. The refinement was a success !”

Xiao Yue could not believe her ears. Had she heard right ?!

”I know these things are pretty valuable, and I am no apothecary but I think the success rate of breaking through with it should be around sixty to seventy percent.”

Pretty valuable ?! Liquid Pellets could fetch a price above a hundred spirit stones in the market of the lower valley ! And that was only for random pellets not above a thirty percent success rate !

What Shin Sumi was giving to Xiao Yue was priceless !

A bit in a daze, Xiao Yue held the pill in her hand for a while before remembering to put it away.

Xiao Yue once more jumped into her friend's arms, almost making her fall to the ground. Xiao Yue wasn't fond of using outside help in cultivation, but it was different coming from Shin Sumi.

She was so anxious to use the pellet to break through and join her sister in the Liquid Realm, but she was forced to wait. Because of the laws in place she felt that a breakthrough was impossible for now. Only Shin Sumi who had opened the Sixty-Four Shinsoo Doors could ignore the Star Zheng's rules and break reality like she did.

Xiao Yue would have to go through the trials of the monolith, along the path to the top of the mountain.

”We've reached the next arena, I will wait for you outside,” Shin Sumi said casually, while Xiao Yue readied herself and her Black Devil Spear.

Because Shin Sumi was in the Liquid Realm, she was almost considered out of the Rising Star Tournament already and she could now walk through the Shinsoo barriers along the mountain like they were made of smoke.

The only reason she stayed for now was to ensure Xiao Yue's safety, and act as a Dao Protector for her when she reached the top and attempted a breakthrough.

Sitting cross-legged, Shin Sumi spread out her divine sense to make sure that nobody was even close to her.

Since she had not done it for a long time, Shin Sumi decided to clean a little bit of the insides of her bag of holding, dressing an inventory of everything she had.

Soon, a single thought was all it took for a scroll to appear in her small pale hands.

”The parchemin I took from the worm in the underground maze” she recalled.

The nut had been the one to force her to plunge her hands into the entrails of the slain spirit creature. There she had found the moon crescent blade, wrapped in a blood soaked scroll.

”Uh? Why is it still there?”

For some reason, unlike all the other magical writings Shin Sumi had come across, this particular one had not been stolen by the little grey nut. Not yet at least.

Inscribed on the scroll was a cultivation technique for the Liquid Realm. It was something fundamentally impossible to comprehend while in the Shinsoo Gathering Realm.

Now that Shin Sumi could read it, she had a feeling that things had changed.

As soon as her eyes set on the old wrinkly surface, the little nut materialized on her wrist. The leaf pattern on her skin glowed dimly for a second, the sign that the nut was out of her body.

Following the movement of her eyes on the characters, the nut rolled all along the paper, stealing the writings.

Shin Sumi smiled. She could hardly contain her excitement.

”I already have a cultivation technique for the Liquid Realm ! Moon Severing Ephemeral Shadow, even the name sounds amazing. I bet the nut will make it even better !

To harness the power of a shadow, now that is something coming from the Immortal World ! »

Over the course of the next few hours, Shin Sumi accompanied Xiao Yue along her trials, always waiting outside for her friend to surpass whatever challenge was coming her way.

Because the both of them were already in the lead position along the path, the adversaries were no longer disciples but rather illusions created by the monolith. Powerful foes that could compare with yellow robes in power but lacked determination and personality.

While Xiao Yue was fighting, Shin Sumi was reflecting on her power and the changes it had brought along with her breakthrough. The parchemin for the new cultivation technique was still being refined by the nut and that was the only thing Shin Sumi could do while waiting.

In her inventory of magical artefacts and treasures, the only obvious change came from the Gold Tyrant Flying Sword.

Taking out the weapon, Shin Sumi was lost in deep thoughts.

In her hand was the handle that she herself had carved out of the spine of a Stone Leaf Tortoise. After many refining processes, the handle had changed drastically and thin golden lines had appeared along its length.

The rough piece of bone clumsily pierced to arrange for the fitting of the blade had slowly morphed into a grip made perfectly for her hand.

The change had been gradual and had happened over the course of many month of trial and many more fights for survival.

But now after the fifth Vein of Hell Fire, the change was so drastic that Shin Sumi was speechless.

The Gold Tyrant Flying Sword was missing its blade.

”I can feel the blade but it's not there” was the simplest way to resume Shin Sumi's complex thinking.

The vibrating metal was gone, only Shin Sumi's divine sense could feel it but her eyes could not.

”I can hardly call it the Gold Tyrant Flying Sword… It's not even a sword anymore !”