Chapter 100 - Progress and Power (2/2)

She didn't know if it was an after-effect of her recent breakthrough to the third step of the Liquid Realm but her comprehension abilities seemed to have undergone a massive qualitative leap. The techniques were not really advanced, being only movement skills that didn't require as much finesse as a combat skill, but Shin Sumi still went through them at a vertiginous pace.

Flowing Waterfall Dance and Summer Breeze Wind Step only took her a few hours to understand perfectly. The other three were a bit more complex.

Shin Sumi was about to start focusing on Fire Breath of the Salamander, the only defensive technique she had gotten so far, when her mind started spinning a bit.

Standing up and stretching, she realized she had been sitting for hours upon hours. Were it any other moment of her cultivation journey it would have been perfectly fine, but right now she still hadn't acclimated fully well to the third step of the Liquid Realm.

It usually took more than a few days to fully reach a stable cultivation base after a breakthrough. Any cultivator other than Shin Sumi wouldn't even have attempted to understand new techniques in that period of time but she didn't know any better.

Besides, with her sixty-four Shinsoo Doors opened, it was much easier to do for her than for most people.

After cultivating for a while and settling down her pulsating Shinsoo Sea, her mind calmed down again. It was with a bit of disappointment that she realized her comprehensive ability and clarity of mind had receded a bit.

Not wanting to spend too much time in the cave as of now, Shin Sumi exited the Shinsoo barrier and made her way out of the waterfall entrance. Passing in front of the man who had rented her the cave, she exchanged a few polite words with him and tossed him another few spirit stones.

”I will be staying in Long Ring Island a bit longer. This is truly a great place to cultivate and I don't want to miss that opportunity. I can at least finish learning these new techniques and settle my cultivation base before I go about finding the Sky Earth Sect” she thought.

She hadn't forgotten about the reason for her journey. The sister sect to her own was her destination, although she didn't know the way to it yet.

It had been a few days since she had been to the market and she had even changed her appearance and cultivation base since then. As Yan Yan and with Nuan well hidden in her wrist, Shin Sumi patiently approached the first merchant she had talked to on her first day here.

The old man was advertising his pills and bottles of medicine, claiming high and loud how they were the best a hundred miles around.

When Shin Sumi approached, the man's nose flared slightly and a smile appeared on his face.

”Aaah, a new customer in town, what a p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e! Let me guess, you just achieved a breakthrough and need a pill to stabilize your cultivation base quickly and efficiently?”

”You are right, sir,” Shin Sumi smiled back, ”I have to stabilize quickly and get on the road soon.”

”Oh, and where are you headed, if it is right for me to ask?” The merchant continued the conversation while fishing for the appropriate pill in his large inventory.

Shin Sumi smiled again, this time internally. She had hoped for that kind of response.

Only this time she wouldn't bring out the subject of the Sky Earth Sect directly. She still didn't understand why the last time the man had prefered to leave rather than talk about it.

”I'm headed south west of here. I heard the roads are kind of dangerous this time of year...?”

Without being more precise, Shin Sumi clearly formulated her last sentence into a vague question.

Surprised, the old man tried to keep his confusion to himself and his face straight.

”Hmmm the roads... They aren't really more dangerous now than at any other time. But if you're worried about your safety, I would recommend walking straight to the south until the mortal city of Sun Castle. It's a few days away for someone of your speed but it's much safer.”

Sighing heavily and purposefully, Shin Sumi continued, ”What I mean is that I heard the roads were dangerous... But I do not know why. Are there bandits around?”

The merchant laughed a dry laugh, ”Bandits? In a way... This is nothing that you should concern yourself with, in any case. Here is the pill you wanted. Anything else? That would be twenty spirit stones.”

Once again, the conversation was cut short by the merchant's unwillingness to talk.

Shin Sumi took the pill and thanked him before leaving his shop.

”Maybe if I spend more spirit stones at the waterfall, the man renting the caves will talk to me...”

She roamed the market for a few more minutes, wondering what to do to get more information without being too inquisitive with the people of Long Ring Island.

Looking around, she saw a kid playing alone on the path between two rows of empty shops.

All smiles and reigning in her divine sense, Shin Sumi approached the kid. He was a boy of maybe seven years of age. As she got closer, Shin Sumi could detect the slightest trace of Shinsoo around him.

”So young and already on the path of cultivation” she thought.

The boy had noticed her too and his eyes were fixated on her beneath his long messy hair.

”You are such a pretty Big Sister!”

Shin Sumi was taken aback by the boy's comment before smiling even more wildly.

”You think so? I think you look strong! Do you want to become a warrior or something when you grow up?”

The boy showed his teeth with a bright smile and nodded. He was missing two, having not grown his a.d.u.l.t teeth yet. He was maybe even younger than Shin Sumi had thought.

The two of them engaged in a passionate conversation in the middle of the empty part of the market.

”Do you want to join a cultivator sect later? I heard there was the Sky Earth Sect close-by. I'm not from here but I heard great things about it. In fact I wanted to visit it in a few days.”

The boy's face became serious for a second and Shin Sumi thought back on how every person she had talked to had refused to tell her more about the sect.

Her worries didn't last very long, however, as the kid answered plainly, ”I can't go there. When I'm old enough to get in, the sect won't be there. I heard my parents talk about it the other day.”

Shin Sumi encouraged him with a smile but the boy remained silent. His eyes narrowed a bit.

”I don't know if I can talk about it, Big Sister...”

Shin Sumi took a step closer and crouched to face the boy at eye level. She whispered to him, ”if you tell me what you know, I'll give you a few spirit stones to buy the sweet plums you were looking at earlier!”

The boy didn't hesitate for very long, the appeal of sweets being too strong for him.

”You can't tell my parents that I told you, okay? The Sky Earth Sect is in trouble. They have been mean to the Blue Fire Sect and they are coming for them. It will be a big fight but my parents said I can't see it because I'm too young and it's too dangerous.”

Forgetting that he wasn't supposed to say anything, the boy kept talking and talking. By the time Shin Sumi held her half of the bargain and gave him enough spirit stones for treats, her face was grim.