Chapter 91 - Elder Zhus Truth (1/2)
The tension around the tea table in the Affairs Pavilion garden was rising gradually. Despite Elder Zhu smiling in what looked like a sincere way, a formless pressure could be felt all around Shin Sumi, goosebumps involuntarily forming on her skin.
”Instead of making progress with your own cultivation, you found yourself having to look after talented disciples, still young and promising. But that is not enough now, is it?”
Shin Sumi's words were becoming harsher and harsher, further away than what was acceptable to say to a member of an older generation with each sentence. Nevertheless, Elder Zhu seemed overjoyed with her conclusions, each time making her continue to speak her mind.
”You are proficient in alchemy and making medicine, and you saw in your talent a way to change your fate. You devised a formula that would drain the recipient's cultivation base and transform it into a core.”
Shin Sumi went on to justify her thoughts out loud, hoping that if she could get away from the situation with her life, she would need as much information as she could gather.
With a low voice, she exposed how she knew Elder Zhu had experimented for many years, including with Lan Hui.
At first, the experiments were only partial successes. Following the ingestion of such a core, the condensed cultivation base of an unlucky disciple, Lan Hui's own cultivation increased in a very short time, his talent having seemingly been given a second chance. That was until he met his cap and Elder Zhu found out that Lan Hui's original talent had been profoundly damaged.
That was the reason he would be stuck at the first step of the Liquid Realm forever, like Little Azu and probably many other failed experiments.
”But then you found what was missing in your formula, right?” asked Shin Sumi.
She was only based on conjectures, relying on Elder Zhu's nods and genuine approval, ”Dang Chi must be one of your successes, right?”
Elder Zhu's surprised expression would have been comical, were it for any different situation. The Elder was genuinely surprised to hear Shin Sumi pronounce this name.
Dang Chi was the name of the desiccated corpse she had found three of Elder Zhu's goons burying in the training grounds. In the face of imminent death, she had battled it out with the three disciples until they all died by her hand, leaving her stomach churning till this day.
Elder Zhu broke the silence, ”you were the anonymous person who dealt with Chao Ru, Chao Long and Dei Fong?”
It was Shin Sumi's turn to nod, ”You didn't know it was me only because you were too excited to investigate. If my calculations are right, you had just perfected your ultimate weapon, the Liquid Pellet.”
Elder Zhu had stopped smiling by now. More and more, Shin Sumi's words were turning him serious. At first he was praising her for her hindsight but he had only been given a preview of her knowledge of his actions. He was only now realizing that she knew a lot more than he had expected.
Not letting it show in the slightest, Zhu Yunhai was struggling internally. Had his actions been leaked to other Elders? To the Patriarch? Besides Shin Sumi and Lan Hui, who else knew of his dark tactics?
Not knowing about his internal questioning, Shin Sumi continued.
”You were one of the only people in the lower valley who knew I had a green talent. I am not even sure any other Elder knew about that fact, so it would have been easy to eliminate me and steal my talent. The perfect target. Am I right?”
Shin Sumi was now being downright provocative with Elder Zhu. If it was going to be her last moments in life, she didn't see any point in softening her words. And yet, somehow she felt strangely comfortable.
The longer as the situation lasted, the less threatened she felt, while at the same time Elder Zhu started to feel a strange anxiousness.
Somehow their positions were reversing, although only spoken words had been exchanged.
Shaking away his inexplicable feeling, Elder Zhu stood up abruptly and turned his back to Shin Sumi. Folding his hands in his sleeves, he asked in a solemn tone:
”Who else knows what I've been up to these last few years?”
Shin Sumi didn't answer. Spoken words could be powerful, but Elder Zhu was still a peak Liquid Realm cultivator whereas Shin Sumi was only on the second step of the same realm.
Silently, Shin Sumi sent a sliver of Shinsoo into her bag of holding. At the same time, Elder Zhu's hands started to glow a very dim white.
Both had felt the same change in atmosphere. Was it only due to Shin Sumi's words?
There were five more seconds of silence during which none of them moved in the slightest. The gentle waves of the Yin spiritual plants' leaves could almost be heard, before Zhu Yunhai's lips opened.
”I asked you a question, disciple Shin!”
Shin Sumi's eardrums vibrated strongly under the pressure of his Shinsoo-enhanced voice. Elder Zhu was using the same simple trick he had performed earlier when he forced her to advance instead of allowing her to flee.
But this time, besides the loudness of the voice, Shin Sumi didn't experience any restriction due to the higher level divine sense usage. Her own divine sense was not constrained in any way, as if the mental attack had been completely annihilated by something. Or someone.
Elder Zhu doubled his divine sense attack, all the while turning to face her. The glow on his hands reached out in front of him, a piercing ray of light attacking with shocking speed.
Shin Sumi evaded the first ray at the last second, taken by surprise by the sudden attack. Letting go of the Void Sword, the latter floated in the air around her, blocking the second ray while her hands joined together.
”Light of Fire Arcane: Dharma Pillar!” A bright red pillar of flames extended under Elder Zhu's feet, forcing him to jump out of Shin Sumi's technique.
Using the brief moment he was in the air, Shin Sumi grabbed hold of her flying sword, instantly unleashing power into it.
”Cleaving Meteor!!” Even without a blade, the Void Sword accelerated downwards, the strong cleaving power straight along Elder Zhu's trajectory.
”Hmpf. Too weak” Elder Zhu lifted his palm, the white glow now flattening in the form of a small shield. Against the strong Cleaving Meteor produced by the formidable Void Sword, the simplest of his defense techniques had actually broken the attack.
Cleaving Meteor's yellow light extinguished without a sound, Elder Zhu unscathed. That was the difference in strength between the two, a second step versus a peak Liquid Realm cultivation base.
The old man was about to use another series of light techniques when he suddenly stopped himself.
”If I kill her now, I will never know who else I need to get rid of, let's not get carried away now” were his thoughts, and then out loud:
”I'll give you another chance, who else knows what I've done?”
His voice was strangely calm, as if he could reason with Shin Sumi at this point. Not giving in the slightest, Shin Sumi didn't answer, instead reaffirming the grip on her sword, waiting for the Elder's next unpredictable move.
Elder Zhu sighed loudly after a few seconds. He was in the process of opening his lips once more when a different voice appeared.
”Silence can speak more than words, Elder Zhu. Besides, why would my Junior Sister answer a living corpse's question?”
”FEN WUDAO?!” Elder Zhu blurted out, his light glow technique reappearing by reflex.
The figure dressed in white was standing on one of the roofs of the Affairs Pavilion, tall and proud. Elder Zhu's lips cracked a short smile after the initial surprise. Unlike his worst fears, the newcomer was only a disciple and not another Elder... or even stronger than an Elder.
”Two kids instead of one doesn't change the thread of fate” the old man said, all the while thinking to himself that something was different with Fen Wudao.
”Senior Brother Fen” Shin Sumi was as confused as Elder Zhu, ”what are you doing here?”
The relief could be heard in her voice. She still didn't understand how it was possible, but she now understood where her lack of feeling threatened came from. Despite his great age catching up to him, Elder Zhu was still a peak Liquid Realm cultivator.
Shin Sumi was only on the second step and even with the added help of Fen Wudao, the latter was only a fourth step cultivator.