Chapter 21: First Breakthrough ?!
The shapeless flow of Shinsoo swirled uncontrollably inside Shin Sumi's passageways.
When her internal energy broke through the first opening, Shin Sumi didn't feel anything in the moment. Besides she was too busy controlling the dangerously unstable flow to probe herself.
The wave of Shinsoo kept going. It was only at the second opening that she realized that her Shinsoo level had dropped by a few percent.
It was only at this moment that Shin Sumi understood how incredibly hard opening all sixty-four passageways was.
The way the passageways were organized was sort of like a tree. Not all of the Shinsoo openings were accessible directly.
The openings were commonly classified into two categories, Yin and Yang types. Although it was true that men and women tended to have more difficulty with the opposite type, there was one more difficulty.
It was not a definite appellation but the sixty four openings were also commonly separated into three sub-categories.
The Primal Doors, the Outer Doors and the Spirit Doors.
Nobody knew who came up with these names first but they had stuck, at least in the mind of the disciples of the Dark Sky Starry Sect.
Independently of whether the openings were of the Yin or Yang type, they were all placed along the branches of the tree like passageways.
Originating from the dantian, there was only one way the flow of Shinsoo of a disciple during breakthrough could go, up the branches.
What Shin Sumi realized was that her Shinsoo levels went down with the opening of the first door she encountered.
"The first Primal Door" she thought while concentrating. "There are thirty Primal Doors, twenty-four Outer Doors and the ten Spirit Doors. If my energy decreases like that with every barrier, I'm going to get stuck at the Outer Doors!"
"No, even before the Outer Doors. I won't last until half of the Primal Doors!" she renewed her calculations, having just successfully attacked the second opening.
Shin Sumi extended her hand to her side, almost picking up a high grade spirit stone.
The mantras from the Shinsoo Gathering Manual in the tree-like book popped into her mind.
"No, I should not force the energy to go through. I will let it progress as it is supposed to."
The Shinsoo Gathering Manual was precise on the subject. The first step described in the precious document was to accumulate Shinsoo within her body.
That, she had done by forcefully consuming spirit stones like a drunkard consumed alcohol.
The second step was to cleanse the energy and purify it using the Flowing Shinsoo breathing technique.
Shin Sumi had tried to apply the technique when cultivating but had been stunned to realize that it was useless in her case. The nut's refinement was even more miraculous that she had thought.
Only the purest Shinsoo was condensed in the high grade spirit stones. Compared to them, nevermind the quantity of Shinsoo, the low grade spirit stones that were the common currency in the sect were like drops of muddy swamp waters in front of heavenly rain.
The Flowing Shinsoo breathing technique had been rendered useless by the little grey nut's powers.
Shin Sumi went through the third step of the manual mentally, opening the doors. That she was doing right now!
The fourth step was the interesting one. It meant that as long as Shin Sumi followed the first three, she could do them again and again until all sixty-four openings would open.
Keeping that in mind, she kept controlling the flow of Shinsoo which was becoming slower and easier to control with each door.
By the time the tenth door opened, Shin Sumi had lost nearly seventy percent of all her accumulated resources. Thinking about it, she felt a slight pinch in her heart.
"All of it for just ten Primal Doors..." but then she thought about what normal disciples had to go through just to get to this point. Feeling guilty and shameful, she went back to her breakthrough.
Outside her body, half of a day's time had already passed. The breakthrough was an intense process that was slower on the outside than it was on the inside.
When she reached the twelfth opening, her energy levels were so low that Shin Sumi felt her lungs contracting, as though she was out of breath, completely drained by the expenditure of Shinsoo.
She still managed to push through and break the door open, gritting her teeth with a hidden rage. The last drop of Shinsoo disappeared soundlessly crashing against the thirteenth obstacle that seemed like an insurmountable mountain at the time.
Shin Sumi opened her eyes the instant the process was terminated.
She felt tired, dirty and her sense of balance was distorted for a moment until she took a deep breath, inhaling through her nostrils.
Immediately her newfound power activated. It was like putting one's hand in cold spring water after a burn. The passageways that were opened for the first time finally shone to life with a low rumbling sound that only Shin Sumi could hear.
The Shinsoo that she had expanded slowly but surely recovered, and at a rate that was more impressive than she had ever thought it could be.
Shin Sumi marvelled at the wonderful sensation brought with the natural flow of energy around her. Deep within her she knew how lucky she was.
Not even thinking about mortals who would never experience something similar in their whole life, she felt lucky even compared to other disciples.
She had opened twelve passageways in one go! Compared to the total of sixty-four it didn't sound too impressive, but one had to keep in mind that even yellow-robed disciples would not often manage to open more than eight or ten Shinsoo apertures.
That was the case for Shin Sumi only because of the perfect Yin Aperture Shinsoo Opening technique she had cultivated. The technique didn't impact the levels of energy needed to breakthrough, it was more like a softening of the Yin type doors.
Thanks to the technique that Xiao Yue had shown her, the success rate of breaking through the Yin type doors had augmented drastically.
"I wish I could get my hands on the Yang Aperture technique" Shin Sumi thought, already thinking about her next try.
During the breakthrough, she had clearly felt the difference between the Yin and the Yang affinity of the doors. The first kind had been like a tidal wave in front of a paper crane whereas the latter had been more akin to ramming a steel door with Shinsoo.
As Shin Sumi replenished her levels of energy, she was taking in the energy surrounding her, analysing it as it flowed through her body.
"This energy feels... different. This is nothing like the high grade spirit stones."
From the beginning Shin Sumi's body had been tempered and had evolved with gargantuan amounts of Shinsoo of the highest quality. Even when she had cultivated using only the remaining Shinsoo that permeated her courtyard after long sessions of cultivation, it didn't feel turbid like this.
Shin Sumi understood immediately what she needed to do.
"I could practice cultivation the normal way now. My first openings are already cleared, I should be able to condense the Shinsoo into a vortex once they are full to the brim. But if I want to keep opening more Apertures I definitely need only high grade spirit stones."
Looking at the side, the small pile of spirit stones eyed her. A shining glimmer radiated from her eyes, comparable to a wolf's when looking at a lamb.
"No, I can't do it now. Here is not the best place to cultivate extensively. If the courtyard transforms into a paradise again, I won't be able to explain to Yue. I should pick up more seeds and go to the chasm."
Shin Sumi was right. Her secrets were far too important, even for Xiao Yue. It was too easy to screw up and to let clues out in the open, she needed to be more careful.
Just for precaution, Shin Sumi decided to also check the Quests Pavilion, to give herself more reasons to leave the sect unnoticed.
Arriving at the chasm just before dark, Shin Sumi cultivated for a whole night and a day. Even spending high grade resources to speed up the growth of her botanical garden, plants needed time and so did her cultivation.
After her recent breakthrough she had to stabilize her foundation before resuming the intense energy intake she was used to. That part did not come from the evolved Shinsoo Gathering Manual but was simply common knowledge. Every disciple of every sect in the continent knew that, Shin Sumi included.
For her though, the process was a bit different. Instead of slowly allowing ambient Shinsoo to circulate inside her passageways, she was doing exactly the opposite.
The Flowing Shinsoo breathing technique was something she hadn't used much in the past, her consumption of spirit stones being far more important than her use of ambient energy. But now she felt like her body was full of turbid, muddy Shinsoo that she needed to get rid of.
While her Violet Dew Lila grew next to the waterfall, Shin Sumi practiced the breathing technique. Refining the Shinsoo inside her would take a bit of time but that was the only way she had to get the impurities out.
Surrounding herself with high grade stones for a better environment, she waited patiently. All around her, dark snakes looking like black rotten roots hissed, confused between their attraction for all things containing Shinsoo and the repulsion induced by the copper bell in Shin Sumi's bag of holding.
After having spent more than half of her time in the dark ravine where only she could go, Shin Sumi had learned to ignore the reptiles. Instead she viewed them as part of the background, just like the waterfall or the white-blue albino trees and bushes.
Shin Sumi thought about capturing a snake or killing one. She had thought about it for quite some time but had never taken action. There was a good chance that these kind of reptiles would sell for quite a hefty price in the lower valley market.
Hesitating for a while, she decided against it once more. She would have to ask Lan Hui or Xiao Yue beforehand if they had ever seen small black snakes that were linked in some way to Yin type shinsoo.
If the entire species only existed around the sect in the chasm, it could give away her secret hideout.
"It is not worth the risk" Shin Sumi said to herself, turning away from the writhing mass of snakes.
She collected her newly grown plants using her bone shovel and planted new seeds. Shin Sumi left them without spirit stones, letting them grow naturally.
Shin Sumi often alternated in order to vary her time spent in the dark ravine.
After leaving the ravine, she ate a Confusion Pill to take the traits of Yan Yan. She walked under the western gates unnoticed by Liu Qing.
It had been a few weeks since the shy girl expert at hiding had successfully followed Shin Sumi. Her eyes didn't do as much as a turn as Yan Yan walked past her.
Shin Sumi saw her but chose to ignore Liu Qing. As far as she knew, she was just one of Chu Erlong's followers and as Shin Sumi didn't have many interactions with them, it didn't leave a good impression in her mind.
Taking out her identification medallion but carefully hiding the inscription in her palm, Shin Sumi lifted it to her forehead.
"Senior Brother Fen, Yan Yan would like to invite you to meet at the lower valley market as soon as possible. I brought with me many Violet Dew Lilas that I found in the training grounds, they may be useful for your cultivation."
Fen Wudao had never told her what he needed exactly to cultivate so Shin Sumi would often send a message when she tried growing new kinds of plants.
When she arrived at her usual spot in the market, a few Honorary Disciples were already there, waiting patiently. Yan Yan politely saluted her customers, building a good relationship with the ones that had been buying from her since the beginning.
"Big Brother Won, I was worried I wouldn't see you anymore! You didn't come the last time I sold a few plants."
"Sister Ke seems to have improved again in the short time we haven't seen each other! You have to tell Yan Yan your secret to having a skin as smooth looking as yours!"
"Hello, Brother Du, you seem to be in a good mood today!"
"Of course Sister Yan, whenever you open shop it's like a hole in the clouds, your sunlight illuminates my day!" answered the orange robed disciple. He used to be quite proud of himself, never bothering taking a second glance at anyone with a red robe before. Since Yan Yan started opening her shop he became more and more interested in the girl with the plump red lips. Now he always exchanged pleasantries with her, a slight blush on his cheeks.
Most of the usual customers were like that. Of course they didn't want to miss the opportunity to buy high grade Yin type plants for an amazing price, but even more so they didn't want to miss Yan Yan herself.
Shin Sumi opened her square of white cloth. She was about to spread her recently grown goods when she noticed something in front of her. There was a space in the wall of disciples.
"It started when Senior Brother Fen came here the first time. Since then the Honorary Disciples always leave him a spot right in front of my shop."
Shin Sumi put her hand on her waist while sitting down cross legged. Ever since she had opened her passageways she realized that she didn't need to physically open her bag of holding. A sliver of divine sense and a drop of Shinsoo were enough to summon whatever object was inside her hand.
She expertly spread out the Violet Dew Lilas in front of her. A purple shine encompassed the white cloth, making the greyish white flowers stand out even more.
A shadow flew overhead during a split second with a whooshing noise. Shin Sumi couldn't help but distort Yan Yan's features with a smile.
"Senior Brother Fen is here" she thought.
Fen Wudao dropped from his silver flying arrow right onto the spot at the front. No body seemed really surprised by his appearance, although it was as theatrical as ever.
"Violet Dew Lilas! Today's plants are a bit rare. The dew has incredible healing properties and the petals can be refined into Second-Life Pellets. The refining process only has a slim chance of success but if it works, each pellet has the ability to bring even a cultivator at the Core Development stage back to life from the verge of death."
Fen Wudao was a Liquid Realm cultivator and thus had access to much more knowledge than an Honorary Disciple. Whenever he would choose to share his wisdom, every other cultivator present would listen with open ears, commiting the information to memory.
"The dew only comes out at dawn and dries in a few hours at most. It seems like Little Sister Yan harvested this batch right before coming here."
"Senior Brother Fen is right, as always. These plants are fresh from the day" Shin Sumi answered with a bow before turning to the general audience, "As always, the price will be two low grade spirit stones for one plant, and one plant only."
She didn't need to make the precision as everybody already knew the rules in place, but she liked to. It reminded her of how the merchants that came through East Seaside Village would talk. Their attitude in front of a crowd had always impressed Shin Sumi, who had wished she wasn't as shy as she was at the time.
As always, the Honorary Disciples waited for Fen Wudao to choose his specimen first. After all he had the highest authority there, hence it was natural that he got the first pick.
But this time, Fen Wudao turned to face all the waiting customers and bringing his hands together, spoke.
"Today I will let everybody shop before me. It has come to my mind that it is not very respectable for me to take advantage in front of you. Instead I will simply ask that you leave me one spirit plant, that's all."
The crowd was overjoyed. Their respect for their Senior Brother in the sect went up by another level, which they didn't think possible.
Shin Sumi looked at him with a smile, confusion visible on her brows.
"What is he up to?" she asked herself. Whatever he had in mind, she couldn't guess.
She sold her whole stock easily, once again adding more than three hundred spirit stones to her bag of holding.
When there was only one plant left, the crowd of disciples stopped pressing in line. Although some were a bit disappointed for not being able to buy a Violet Dew Lila, there was no way they could do anything in front of Fen Wudao.
Seeing that Fen Wudao didn't plan on doing anything at first, the disciples quickly dissipated. The Liquid Realm cultivator stood there unmoving with his eyes closed until every disciple had left Shin Sumi's shopping area.
"Big Brother Fen, this plant is for you, it is the only one left, as you asked."
Fen Wudao opened his eyes to look at Yan Yan. Their eyes made contact for a second before Shin Sumi bowed.
"I had them wait because I am afraid I'm going to break the laws of your shop." he said slowly.
Shin Sumi was more puzzled than ever. She was about to ask something but Fen Wudao continued, cutting her short.
"I don't have any spirit stones with me, but I still want that Violet Dew Lila. Are you willing to give it away in exchange for that Gold Tyrant Flying Sword?"
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