Chapter 38: Fighting Golems
Shin Sumi shook her head internally.
"Because it's rare in the Immortal World, it doesn't mean I have to forget compassion and leave someone in trouble if I can help."
She wasn't completely sure that she could defeat a magical golem by herself, if Bai Xuangen couldn't, but at least she had to try. Worst case scenario she could give the injured disciple an opportunity to escape.
Besides, the Gold Tyrant Flying sword she held in her small hand had cleaved a green core Stone Leaf Tortoise in two with a single strike! What was that feat compared to a measly stone golem?!
"I'll help you" she shouted!
Bai Xuengen's eyes bulged out of their sockets at the voice behind him.
"You moron! I told you to leave! This is not something you can handle, you're about ten years too early for that!"
Shin Sumi laughed, even though her eyes were serious and focused.
"Don't underestimate me, focus on yourself before you get any more damage."
Bai Xuengen thought he was going to pass out from madness. "What an impudent brat" he thought, "thankfully no one knows about that. Should I escape while he is distracting the golem?"
A smile darkened his face, "He'll never survive to tell anyone he helped me, after all. Even if I stay, one strike from the golem and he's done for. Really it's his problem, I told him to leave."
Bai Xuengen had made his choice in the split second it took for Shin Sumi to pass him and raise her sword. He barely had time to get up and hold tight his open wounds when a slashing sound rang before him.
Shin Sumi had jumped, using her momentum to propel herself directly in front of the golem.
The magical creature rumbled with discontent at the attack and lifted its short sword to meet the incoming golden flash.
"HAAAA!!" she screamed, accompanying the downwards arc of her blade. At the last moment Shin Sumi twisted her wrists slightly, evading the short sword and reaching directly the shoulder of the golem.
She had avoided the weapon by fear of damaging hers but in turn she had missed the focal point of her attack, the head.
Bai Xuengen saw the same instant as if in slow motion. The golden arc cut unhindered through the animated rocks as if they were made from butter. The sword didn't even slow down!
The arm fell with a massive 'boom', kicking up a cloud of dust.
Rumbling like thunder, the golem let out a cry but didn't stop attacking.
Shin Sumi took a step sideways and evaded the relatively slow attack. Her next strike separated the golem from its legs easily.
Without wasting a second, she follow up by plunging the Gold Tyrant Flying Sword in the creature's chest up to the handle.
She was going to continue before cracks started to appear all over the fallen mass of rocks. In the blink of an eye the golem crumbled into pieces the size of a fist.
Bai Xuangen was frozen in place.
In less than fifteen breaths of time, the same golem that had injured him badly was defeated.
More important than that, the one to defeat it was a red robed boy! And with a perfect form and a seemingly complete mastery of his sword.
In front of him, the boy sighed out loud and then stopped to pick something from the ground that was hidden from his view.
As soon as Bai Xuangen realized the humiliation he had just suffered, a mouthful of black blood erupted from his throat. It wasn't due to injury, just to the shame he felt.
If he hadn't thought that nobody could see the scene, he would have probably passed out straight away. Luckily for him, he had no idea that most of the Elders had been watching the entire time.
***
"This green boy is messing with everybody! He bullied my Tai Bu before, and now he is bullying Bai Xuengen! Patriarch, please do something to stop that masquerade!"
It was of course Elder Peng speaking out loud in the Grand Hall. He almost cursed before he remembered his standing and the assembly he was in.
The Great Elder, Chu Xuanba immediately put him back in his place, even menacing him that it was the last time before he was thrown out.
Another Elder, prompt to follow his superior, added "besides there was no bullying involved. The boy just saved Bai Xuengen" he said out loud, before following in a low voice "and Tai Bu was the one to attack him that time..."
Elder Peng almost exploded from rage, but managed to control himself. He closed his eyes, waiting for the veins on his temples to reduce in size.
Many of the surrounding Elders were smiling at the misfortune that had befallen their colleague, "Poor Elder Peng" they thought, "he is normally relatively calm and good-willed, but Tai Bu is a sensitive subject..."
Turning back towards the display screen, many of them focused once more on the green dot, only to see the boy in red garments pick up a shiny orange gem.
***
"So these golems also have cores in them. Maybe they were animated using real best cores magic, or artificial ones."
Shin Sumi quickly put away the orange core by feeding it discreetly to the grey nut hidden in her sleeve. Now was not the time to let Bai Xuengen or the Elders see it.
She turned around to look at the yellow robed man still on his knees and smiled confidently, "You're alright there? The treasure is yours if you want it."
She had expressed quickly her lack of desire for the weapon, partly due to indifference, but mostly in order to stay on Bai Xuengen's good side. Even though he looked weakened and in a vulnerable position, he was a genuine yellow robed disciple.
Shin Sumi couldn't risk making an enemy out of a guy like this.
She held her Gold Tyrant Flying Sword in one hand and extended the other in a friendly gesture to help Bai Xuengen when the ground started rusting behind her.
Bai Xuengen's eyes opened even larger than before and he jumped to his feet.
He had been beaten shamefully by Shin Sumi's skill in dealing with the golem he couldn't beat but he wasn't going to let that happen twice.
He parried the first blow that came their way before Shin Sumi could even turn back.
She let out a gasp and reaffirmed her grip on the handle of her sword.
"Two golems?! You've got to be kidding me."
Where the first golem was slain, two were now standing, having come out of the ground by magic. One held the magical short sword, the other a spear made of rocks, protruding like an extension of its own arm.
"Take the one with the blade, I'll slow down the other one" shouted Bai Xuengen!
Putting away the matter of his own shame, the yellow robed man jumped to action. He could always reflect on the situation later, but it would be useless if he died now.
Shin Sumi nodded affirmatively and engaged the armed creature. This one was faster and tougher than the previous golem, and almost managed to hit her a few times.
Something new also made the fight more difficult on their part. Every time Shin Sumi would cut a limb, the golem would simply stitch it back in place magically.
On his side, Bai Xuengen was swinging his spear crazily against the golem's own spear. Each collision resulted in a loud 'boom' and a cloud of rock dust that made it hard to see through.
While repeatedly moving around, escaping and attacking when an opportunity arose, Shin Sumi thought about the core she had obtained from the last golem.
"It crumbled when I pierced its chest! That must be where the core is located!"
Trying her chance at it, she yelled to her yellow counterpart "run your spear through its chest! If you can separate their core from their body they fall"!
Bai Xuengen grunted. As if it were that easy a thing to do.
The total combat took a few minutes, but intense ones. It ended quickly after Shin Sumi managed to slip into her golem's defensive zone and cut him from between its legs all the way to its head.
The golem crumbled in small rock fragments and didn't get back up. A shine of intense orange light emanated from the mess, indicating that the core had been extracted.
"It worked!" she realized.
With the combined effort of Bai Xuengen and her, incapacitating the second golem was an easy feat. The boy blocked the creature's movements with the long range of his spear while allowing the girl to get closer and deal the fatal blow.
Both were panting but proud.
Shin Sumi snatched the two dense orange cores without a word, taking her own reward while Bai Xuengen could have the blade.
Just by the color of the cores, Shin Sumi could tell that the new golems were both stronger than the previous one.
He didn't seem to mind the red robed boy keeping the cores and he didn't say a word, taking out a green colored pill that he swallowed in a hurry.
The pill had healing properties and closed up his wounds instantly to his relief.
The trap that had been set by Patriarch Sen for this particular treasure was a tough one, but it was only a test for disciples after all. It allowed the disciples that were after the treasure to breathe a bit before continuing.
Bai Xuengen was back to peak conditions thanks to his marvelous pill. He considered offering one to the boy in red who had helped him twice but decided against. Pills like that were expensive and he still felt too humiliated by this lowly junior.
He walked in the direction of the coveted short sword with the intent of grabbing it and leaving this cave forever when yet another trembling from the ground rumbled.
"Another?!"
This time both Honorary Disciples reacted at the same time, shouting simultaneously.
Four golems rose up from the debris of their predecessors. Four towering rock creatures, three spears and one magical short sword.
Bai Xuengen already regretted trying to get the 'treasure' that he had so intently sought. But escape was not an option anymore.
"Shit. Look at their chests!"
Shin Sumi had just caught a glimpse of a new layer of dark rock covering the location of the golem's cores.
"You think you can cut through with that sword of yours?" replied Bai Xuengen.
His way of speaking had changed unintentionally, losing the tone he normally used to speak to lower ranked disciples. He didn't flinch either when Shin Sumi talked to him without showing the due respect.
Again and again, Shin Sumi showed a prowess that was inconsistent with the color of her robes. Just like the Elders before their magical map showed them Shin Sumi's true talent, he was seriously doubting she was only red talented.
Without replying, Shin Sumi joined the fray. This situation was getting dangerous, and in the way of her search for the other four Veins of Hell Fire.
The sword danced elegantly in the dark cave, cutting the air in arcs of gold.
***
"Patriarch... Am I wrong to assume that the sword the green talented boy is using is the Gold Tyrant Flying Sword?"
The one who had spoken was one of the youngest Elders. He was a bright individual that looked like a middle aged man. He was responding to the cultivator name of Red Edge, having abandoned his birth name when he had taken the position of master of the Sword Valley.
As the position implied, he was in charge of the Liquid Realm Disciples that chose to train in the way of the sword and as such his knowledge of the weapon surpassed that of many.
As soon as the words left his mouth, the assembly of Elders turned sharply towards the back of the Grand Hall and their leader.
The Patriarch laughed and answered "Elder Red Edge is right, it is my old Gold Tyrant Flying Sword. My disciple Fen Wudao passed it onto the next generation."
Elder Red Edge nodded while rubbing his chin, deep in thoughts.
"And he has already tempered the sword in one of the fires. Is it luck or destiny?"
"So you've reached the same conclusion as me?" asked the Patriarch, "I would like for this disciples to join your Sword Valley upon reaching the Liquid Realm. I'm sure you wouldn't be against that, would you?"
"It is ultimately up to the kid to decide..."
After Elder Red Edge answered, the assembly fell silent once again. The fact that Fen Wudao's own sword had been given to the green talented disciple meant a lot.
Somehow Elder Peng felt a bit relieved. It lessened the humiliation of his own disciple, Tai Bu. After all, if the Gold Tyrant Flying Sword was now in Shin Sumi's possession, it implied that Patriarch Sen knew about it and let it happen.
The only green talented disciples of the sect was meant for something more than what his Tai Bu probably was.
On his seat, Elder Zhu in charge of the Affairs Pavilion of the lower valley was cursing at the inner politics of the sect. He was not aware of all that!
Whenever he closed his eyes, he could only see himself giving Shin Sumi the poisonous Liquid Pellet. If it had been to a simple disciple, even a green talented one, it would have been fine.
But Shin Sumi had been acknowledged and monitored by the Patriarch himself!
If ever Shin Sumi consumed the tainted Liquid Pellet and word got around that it came from him, Elder Zhu could directly forfeit his life. Unfortunately for him, there was nothing he could do. Fortunately for him, Shin Sumi had still not done anything with the Liquid Pellet.
***
The fight against the four armored golems took the unexpected duo an entire hour. Both were exhausted this time.
They had no idea about the traps and treasure system put in place by the Patriarch, but they knew from the difficulty to obtain the short sword that it had to be at least a good grade item.
Shin Sumi was tired from holding the Gold Tyrant Flying Sword and moving it around at full speed and power for an extended period of time. She was currently resting on the ground, a hand on the handle just in case another wave of opponents rose from the ground.
Bai Xuengen was exhausted too, both physically and mentally. He cried a little when he looked at his inventory. His bag of holding had been greatly depleted by his use of magical artifacts.
A way he had found to break the armor worn by the golems was to use Yang type magic. Fire and explosive talismans worked especially well on the armors, but the speed and parrying of the golems made it really hard to hit their chest.
Shin Sumi's sword worked too, but only if she managed to successfully hit them.
After reflecting on the effect of the talismans, Shin Sumi came to the conclusion that her Gold Tyrant Flying Sword had been imbued by a certain amount of Yang type Shinsoo by the Vein of Hell Fire.
After she had picked up the clear orange cores left behind by the destroyed creatures, Shin Sumi waited for the next salvo while regulating her breathing.
Once they were both rested enough, Bai Xuengen took a long look at his new partner and benefactor. At this point he was certain that he could have never won alone.
In fact he would even be willing to give up the sword if the boy dressed in red asked him to. Judging by Shin Sumi's apparent condition, he probably couldn't even empower her after such long fights.
"Are you ready to see what's next, brother?" he asked.
He had completely lost all sort of presumption due to the boy's clothes color and instead acknowledged him as 'brother' directly.
Shin Sumi flinched for a second before she remembered that she was assuming the appearance of a boy.
"Go ahead, pick up the short sword."
Both disciples braced themselves as Bai Xuengen reached for the weapon lying in the mass of rubble.
His hand extended and... nothing.
He grabbed the sword that was laying there and instantly poured a bit of divine sense into it. He felt relieved after he immediately succeeded in bonding with it.
Shin Sumi let out a long breath, a smile making its way to her lips.
"Finally it's over! We can get out of here!"
She heard no response from the yellow robed boy immersed in the sword in his hands.
She turned around and was ready to leave, just like that, when Bai Xuengen reacted. He had spent a few second marvelling at the quality of his new weapon.
As it turned out, the sword was part of the Heavenly Collection of items, the highest grade in the Rising Star Tournament. From just one glance Bai Xuengen knew he would only be able to master it fully after breaking through to the Liquid Realm.
"Wait a minute, brother! What is your name?"
Shin Sumi stopped and answered after a second of silence. She had to make up a name fitting for a boy! She hadn't thought of that.
"I'm Bai Fulong. And what is yours, esteemed brother?"
"Ah-ah, we must be connected by fate! My name is Xuengen, surnamed Bai as well."
Shin Sumi laughed a fake but very convincing laugh. She had no real interest in Bai Xuengen, she was already afraid of having spent too long underground.
"Fate it must be indeed."
"Brother Bai, I have another question..."
"What is it?" Shin Sumi asked, suddenly feeling strange and fearing the answer.
"What is your real cultivation level?" asked Bai Xuengen in a low voice.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
d3trois
d3trois Another fun chapter to write, going back and forth between the Elders and the main characters.
Leave a comment if you liked it, and with your predictions as to what is coming next!
Enjoy!
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