Shin Sumi wanted to leave the Myriad Sword Pavilion. She was afraid the idea would leave her mind as fast as it had appeared.
Her respect for the older generations and the general etiquette indicated that she should stay though.
Returning to her original position, she clasped her hands together and bowed.
"Sorry for disturbing you Elder Xi, this junior shall take her leave."
"Ohoho not at all, not at all. It has been a while since a red robed disciple entered this place anyway. In fact I haven't seen a Honorary Disciple in a long time."
Shin Sumi became intrigued. Asking carefully while keeping her bowing position if he was the Elder in charge of the Myriad Sword Pavilion.
"You could say that. Although it is mostly because I like to roam around here. Did you know that this building is one of the oldest in the sect?"
"Disciple Shin ignored that fact. Why is it so?"
"It is the oldest and one of the most valuable. Not because of the weapons but because of the building itself."
Shin Sumi was getting slightly annoyed with this Elder. She wanted to leave but couldn't, so she was listening with only one ear. Seemingly interested, she said:
"I'm afraid I don't understand."
"Then let me teach you a bit about the history of the sect. Before the Dark Sky Starry Sect, the valleys were occupied by the mighty Sky Sect. The first Patriarch of the Sky Sect built this building itself."
Shin Sumi had always loved hearing and reading stories, and thus decided to listen to the old man.
"He used a special Shinsoo spell that no one else has been able to understand since then on this very building. Did you realize something when you first entered here?"
"No, I didn't... The door closed, it was dark and then I was here."
"Precisely. That is the beauty of it. Since the splitting of the Sky Sect in the Sky Earth Sect and the Dark Sky Starry Sect, not many disciples know of this spell. Where do you think you are?"
"I'm not sure I follow you, Elder Xi."
Now this mysterious Elder Xi had all of Shin Sumi's attention.
"You could say 'on the first floor of the building', which would be right. But if you said 'in the lower valley', then that would be wrong. Nobody but the first Patriarch knows where exactly this place is located."
The Elder had a cunning smile on his wrinkly lips.
"This building exists in the lower valley, the upper valley and even on the highest mountain of the sect. All at the same time. The spatial formation at work is impressive isn't it?"
"So you mean the Liquid Realm Disciples also come in here from the upper valley?"
The elder laughed affirmatively. Shin Sumi was lost in thoughts. When Elder Xi stopped laughing, his eyes contained an intelligent gleam that hadn't been there previously.
"Now young disciple, what did you need in coming here?"
Shin Sumi ignored why the Elder had told her about the Myriad Sword Pavilion's specificity but since she was here, she might as well search for information like she had planned on doing.
"This disciple wanted guidance on swords and sword bonding."
"Ah, I see. If you are looking to find yourself a sword, follow me" the old man said as he started walking away, his hands behind his back in a peaceful manner. "Choosing a sword is like choosing a daoist partner. Compatibility is absolutely required."
"Some swords are very different from others. Usually female disciples tend to choose 'softer' swords. These on the left are easier to control, they don't need much mental effort" he continued, occasionally pointing to the many racks of swords on the dark wooden walls.
"If a sword is too strong and the cultivator too weak, their compatibility will drop. That makes for an unusable weapon. Weaker swords are easier to control for women, but can also turn easily against them. The key is finding balance."
Shin Sumi was alerted by the elder's words.
"Balance?" she thought, once again turning all her attention to Elder Xi's words.
"These swords are a bit more caracterial, but are still soft overall. I would advise you to pick one of them if you can afford it. How many spirit stones can you afford to spend?" he asked while turning to face her.
Shin Sumi was a bit embarrassed to having led him to believe that she was interested in buying. Bowing slightly in apology, she responded:
"Actually I didn't come to buy a sword. I came to know a bit more about certain things."
She hesitated a bit under the elder's deep gaze, but still kept talking. Apart from Elder Zhu, she had no real reason to worry about the Elders of the sect. She didn't remember all their names, but Lan Hui had mostly told her that they could be trusted.
"Have you heard of a Gold Tyrant Flying Sword, Elder Xi?"
A moment of silence followed. Under tired eyelids, a strange flash that Shin Sumi didn't capture illuminated the man's pupils. Gauging her for a long minute, he finally spoke again.
"Do you prefer I call you Green Disciple Shin Sumi or Red Disciple Yan Yan?" he said in a soft voice that was maybe a bit too calm for Shin Sumi to keep her composure.
"You don't have to worry about me knowing. I don't care about how or why you would decide to hide your identity. I understand why you would come to Myriad Sword Pavilion, but you should have realized by now that you will not find the answers you are looking for here."
The elder started walking again, this time at her side instead of in front of her. He showed her the door while making small talk.
"I wish the best to you, feel free to come back whenever you want, but you should focus on your training. Soon you will understand."
"Junior Shin Sumi thanks Elder Xi for his lesson on the sword, she will not forget it" she answered almost mechanically.
When she stepped out of the building, she was still in shock.
"What just happened? How did he know me? He knows about the strangeness of the sword? He said I would understand soon?"
A lot of questions assailed her mind but she didn't feel panicked at all. For some reason her trust in this Elder Xi was still intact. She almost felt happy he knew who she was.
Her visit to the Myriad Sword Pavilion had been full of mysteries. First she had found enlightenment about the copper bell and possibly the flying sword. Then the elder had revealed impressive secrets about the Pavilion itself. Then there was this strange interaction that she still couldn't qualify completely.
She took a forest path back to her courtyard. Meanwhile in the square where the Pavilion was located, a young boy that still hadn't succeeded in getting close to the Myriad Sword Pavilion was talking to a girl wearing a red robe. The girl was Liu Qing and seemed really interested about the person that the boy had seen enter.
Shin Sumi had not paid any attention to the two of them as she had walked past them. People were found anywhere in the sect at any time of day and night. She was deep in the woods when she sent a divine sense message to Lan Hui.
The response didn't wait for long to arrive. Lan Hui was the best disciple she knew when it came to gathering information. Shin Sumi was happy to feel her identification medallion vibrate in her hand.
"What? No Elder Xi in the whole sect?!" she exclaimed with a frown upon hearing the recorded message.
How could Lan Hui not know the old man? Shin Sumi was sure that Lan Hui had gone to the Myriad Sword Pavilion at least once, and besides he surely would know of at least a disciple that had met the old man there. The words 'Elder Xi' had spoken implied that he often spent his time roaming inside the place.
But Lan Hui's words were clear. He was absolutely sure about his fact. He had even added off the top of his head a list of all the Elders of the Dark Sky Starry Sect.
Once again, Shin Sumi felt at a loss. She was sure Lan Hui would have been able to solve her internal mysteries but in the end he didn't.
"But the old man MUST be an Elder. Or else how would he have been able to enter the sect and know that much about the Myriad Sword Pavilion?"
Her mind went back to what she knew about the sect. For some reason she thought that the old man could be much older than he appeared. Maybe it was his apparent great wisdom.
"No it's not right", the history of the sect was fresh in her mind. She never forgot anything she ever read. Her calculations didn't add up.
"The Dark Sky Starry Sect came to be when the Sky Sect dissolved about a thousand years ago, the highest cultivators here are Core Development Elders and Patriarchs. Even their lifespan isn't great enough to still be alive."
Every time Shin Sumi thought back on her interactions with the mysterious old man, a deep sense of reverence birthed in her heart. Whatever mystery was around his existence, Shin Sumi still couldn't believe that it was a bad thing.
The old man had even helped her.
Her line of thinking was simple. If she had no way of making sure of it, as long as it wasn't detrimental to her, why should she obsess over it?
For the time being it was best to leave that on the side and concentrate on what mattered.
She cultivated for the rest of the afternoon, finally purging off the last drops of muddy Shinsoo in her system and getting back to the condition she was in before her breakthrough.
Xiao Yue showed up at night as expected. Shin Sumi had invited her to spend the night at her place.
The girls talked for a while, Xiao Yue not picking up any clues that Shin Sumi had opened her first meridians.
Although it pained her to lie to her big sister in which she could confide about almost everything, she couldn't tell her about her recent progress.
It was a hard thing to do, even more so considering the fact that Xiao Yue knew about Shin Sumi's official talent. She would be expecting her to breakthrough any day. She had been in the sect for already about half a year after all, which was long for a green-robed disciple at this stage of cultivation.
What really kept Shin Sumi from telling her was her own technique provided by the Shinsoo Gathering Manual.
In a world where everybody knew it was possible to open passageways only once, her own way of doing things would be hard to take in, even for Xiao Yue.
Besides, since Xiao Yue was herself close to breaking through to the next level, she couldn't really practice the evolved Shinsoo Gathering Manual's techniques.
Her body had already accepted too much impure Shinsoo to be helped, as far as Shin Sumi knew.
Shin Sumi also couldn't tell her about the gift from Fen Wudao or her meeting with 'Elder Xi'. The first one would reveal Yan Yan's true origin and cause Xiao Yue to realize that she had already lied to her too many times.
The second one would be simply ridiculous. If Lan Hui didn't know of any Elder Xi, Xiao Yue wouldn't either. Besides it was all linked to the sword that she was not supposed to have.
Once again, Shin Sumi stopped thinking too deeply about it and enjoyed the night simply.
Xiao Yue's injuries were completely healed by now and due to the little nut's powers not even a scar could be seen on the delicate skin between her arm and hip bone.
The two girls talked for a long time, laughed for even longer and finally went to sleep.
In her courtyard reserved for green-robed disciples, outside climate didn't matter too much and even at this time of the year the temperature was perfect. Who else in the sect could relax lazily like this at night in a pool of spring water?
Xiao Yue left early in the morning, refreshed and full of energy. She asked Shin Sumi if she wanted to wander around the sect grounds all day with her but she declined.
It was one of the perks of not wearing a red color. If a cultivator had no intention of cultivating for a day or two, nobody would ask anything and the pressure was a lot lower.
Shin Sumi told her that she would gladly do it another day, but she absolutely wanted to cultivate. She even told Xiao Yue that she felt close to the point of breaking through.
Once alone, the guilt and shame of lying to her sister overtook her again.
"I am sorry Yue. I promise one day I will tell you everything."
Cultivating a bit more to get in a better mood, the morning passed quickly.
It was around mid-day when Shin Sumi opened her eyes. Her heart was calm and synchronized with the pulsing of her dantian. Probing her bag of holding with her hand, a golden light with no luster or brilliance appeared.
"Hello again, Gold Tyrant Flying Sword."
Running her hand along the blade, Shin Sumi felt a shiver coursing through her arm.
She forced herself to put the cold metal against her forehead. The voices were gone, but the same feeling as before assailed her.
Shin Sumi knew she was feeling fearful of the blade. Generally to her it was a good thing to be afraid of weapons, but she wasn't the daughter of the mayor from a tiny village anymore.
She was a cultivator. If she wanted to survive in the Immortal world, she had to deal with a lot of things she wouldn't even have considered before.
As of now she knew the blade wasn't adapted to her. It was proud and mighty, and as though she had opened a few meridians in record time and was possibly one of the strongest of her level of cultivation, Shin Sumi herself was not more than a shy girl that had great luck.
"Maybe that is the lesson Senior Brother Fen wanted to teach me."
If she wanted to one day use the sword, she first would have to get on the same page. It was all about balance.
Why would a strong and loyal sword allow someone like her to get ownership of it?
Shin Sumi was looking at the sword intensely. Every few seconds she would bring the blade to her forehead. The shivers were still present but she was learning to get used to them.
"It is still not enough. I need to make it feel like part of my arm."
Shin Sumi knew that it was a flying sword, supposed to be used as a pair with Shinsoo control but that was only possible for Liquid Realm cultivators, thus it was the only thing she could come up with.
She experimented a few moves while holding the piece of metal that was uncomfortably heavy.
Despite the serious look on her face, she felt ridiculous. She even turned around a few time to ensure that nobody was watching her, although it was impossible in her courtyard.
Even the nut, unmoving on the stone bench under the plum tree, seemed to be judging her and making fun of her crazy attitude.
"This is definitely not working. If I have to respect the sword I might as well respect myself."
Shin Sumi thought about contacting Xiao Yue. Surely her sister would have some advice for her regarding weapons.
It really was the easiest way but she ultimately decided against it. Relying on someone else's knowledge would not work, if her speculations about the first challenge of the sword were correct.
Not somebody else's knowledge, her own. Knowledge...
The blue eyes in Shin Sumi's face lit up suddenly. Finally she had come to understand what Xiao Yue had meant that one time long ago when she had just returned to the sect.
The petite orange robed girl had left the sect in search for experience. That was what she had referred to as knowledge.
Without thinking further about it, Shin Sumi left her courtyard. She was so entranced in her new idea that she nearly forgot to pick up the little grey nut that was rolling frantically towards her.
She went directly to the western entrance of the sect, where she suddenly stopped for a second. Inhaling deeply, she concentrated a few seconds.
Some disciples were talking about cultivation in a small group next to the gates and turned to look at her resolute attitude with a sneer.
"She must be new here. Do you remember your first time in the training grounds, brothers?"
"As if it was yesterday ahaha! Look at her so frightened... I'm sure she won't last out there, even though she can't get past the red border."
"How do you know? Hmpf." said a voice filled with contempt.
The group of young men that appeared all to be around their mid-twenties suddenly turned to look at the origin of the voice.
An orange robed teen stood there. He was smaller than all of the men before him, but his simple appearance made them gulp.
"Big Brother Hon... What.. What is it like beyond the red borders?"
The red robed disciple who had spoken was talking about the limitations that were in place in the training grounds to ensure that disciples wouldn't get killed easily.
Because all disciples carried their identification medallion with them at all time, they physically couldn't cross what was called 'the red border'. Obviously the orange disciples had their 'orange border' and so on.
But simply because of that, it showed how talented individuals dominated their peers.
The teen called Hon Zi started talking, himself sizing up the frail looking Shin Sumi concentrating.
"Even though it is not your place to say, you were right. Close to the red border, the difficulty of advancing through the forest is higher. Looking at her she doesn't seem like she had any talent. She must be new, so she has no artefact. She probably hasn't started Shinsoo Gathering yet."
He sighed once before continuing, "she isn't going to survive with this kind of determination. She should know her limits. As her senior I should give her pointers."
Before the eyes full of reverence of the red robed group, the teen advanced towards Shin Sumi with a strange gleam in his eyes.
The closer he was, the better he could see the way her robes hung to her body. Lust lifted the corner of his lips.
"Eh, these idiots think I'm interested in 'giving pointers'. It has been a while and I've never seen her before. She can't outrun me if I make a move in the deep jungle."
He was about to propose to accompany Shin Sumi through the woods to protect her when a whooshing sound blew into his ears.
A second later, Shin Sumi was gone. Far after the gates, a red figure jumping about five meters at a time with incredible speed was disappearing in the dense vegetation.
Sorry this chapter came up a bit later than usual. It's a bit longer though, which should keep the karma constant. Enjoy!
The orange robed youth that had planned to trick Shin Sumi was left speechless.
"Did this red robed trash just disappear like that? How does she have the ability to go even faster than me?!"
Hon Zi had been in the sect for quite some time, about two years now, having entered when he was fourteen, but that was the first time he had seen something like that.
He was about to open his passageways, putting him directly in the right track for breaking through to the Liquid Realm. Although he couldn't be compared to the likes of other orange robed disciples like Xiao Yue or even Chu Erlong, how could he be left in the dirt by a red robed piece of trash?!
Not wanting to lose face in front of the group of older red robed disciples that still looked at him, he spoke loudly before leaping towards the jungle.
"Go ahead Junior Sister!! I will cover you from behind!"
Thankfully for him, from where the group was standing, next to the stone building that made the side of the gates, they weren't able to see more than the first jump of Shin Sumi.
He was leaping through the outskirt of the woods, meters with each step. No matter where he looked at though, no trace of the young girl could be seen.
A few dozen meters behind him, Liu Qing had arrived. She too had been looking at the focused Shin Sumi moments before.
But when even an orange talented disciple like Hong Zi had lost her track, the weak Liu Qing had no chance of finding Shin Sumi.
Hong Zi saw Liu Qing, pondering for a moment why the girl had followed them. He didn't go near her though, he even waited for her to leave. First of all because he couldn't go back now, as the group of red robed disciples were still in the vicinity of the gates.
Secondly because his shame of having lost Shin Sumi had cut all the lust that usually filled his body.
Thirdly because just like many disciples, he was terribly scared of Chu Erlong and knew that Liu Qing was her close follower.
Unaware that two people were trying to track her, Shin Sumi was advancing swiftly through the forest.
She still hadn't reached the limit for red robed disciples and thus still dared to not be too careful.
Thinking about it, Shin Sumi realized how much she had been relying on the nut since her arrival in the sect. For every step of the way, the nut had always warned her about potential danger, to the point where Shin Sumi knew perfectly what every kind of bite meant.
"That is my problem for now. I have to get experience for myself! Or else the sword may never recognize me."
Without even knowing when, she had become completely certain that it was what she needed to do in order to get the sword to cut.
Thinking back to her interaction with the mysterious 'Elder Xi', it all made sense.
She kept jumping for half an hour, advancing rapidly through the dense woods. She only stopped when she was certain she had reached at least the orange border.
Now she had to be more careful. From experience she knew that soon she would enter the zone of the training grounds that made up the swamp.
After opening her passageways and with her body that had been unknowingly refined through the use of countless high grade spirit stones, Shin Sumi was only moderately out of breath after almost an hour of leaping around.
For the first time she was testing her limits and she felt proud about it.
She was smiling to herself, her mind swirling with thoughts and possibilities when a loud noise erupted in the distance.
It sounded like an explosion, followed by shouts.
"Disciples!"
Although Shin Sumi was confident enough to go against the first part of the jungle, she didn't know how she would compare to other disciples.
The sad reality of the training grounds was that although they were part of the sect, they didn't qualify as sect grounds. Hence the high rate of mugging and sometimes even killing that occurred when disciples fought each other.
Shin Sumi wanted to get away quickly in order to not be discovered. She even thought about popping a Confusion Pill il her mouth, taking the appearance of Yan Yan.
Nobody disliked Yan Yan, compared to a nameless disciple like herself. Yan Yan had a better chance of getting out of an altercation freely.
She didn't take out a pill though. She was running low on her stock as the disciple that usually sold them ran out recently. She had even wondered why that could have been.
The image of 'Elder Xi' coupled with Lan Hui telling her that no such Elder existed in the sect quickly formed in her head before she dissipated the thought quickly.
"Maybe somebody was impersonating an Elder by using a Confusion Pill. But now is not the time to think about it. I have to leave quickly!"
She ran in what she believed to be the opposite direction of the loud bang and the shouts. Her rush and her theory about the Gold Tyrant Flying Sword both altering her mind, she didn't even pay attention to the nut's warnings.
The dense forest was tricky and the sound had bounced off the trees in many directions before getting to her ears. She was going directly towards the true origin of the noise.
A blast of light inundated her as she stumbled onto a clearing, right after a wall of leaves.
In front of her stood three disciples, holding another one that seemed to be in bad shape. Further away, a dried up corpse was peeking out of the surface of the swamp.
A tree trunk fallen to the side was still burning from small white flames producing a strangely intense heat.
Shin Sumi stumbled upon the scene just as the fallen disciple was rendered unconscious by a vicious kick.
Silence.
The three disciples that were in their twenties turned to look at Shin Sumi simultaneously.
In the short lapse of time that the four conscious people looked at each other, Shin Sumi recognized the insignia on the left chest of the three people.
"The Affairs Pavilion insignia" she thought. "Lan Hui has the same. They must be working for Elder Zhu."
She didn't have time to think further about what had turned the clearing into a battle scene as one of the three guys acted.
He was the oldest of the bunch and clearly the leader. Waving his arm dramatically at her, he shouted "CATCH HER!"
Shin Sumi should have leapt backwards and ran to safety, but the strangeness of the scene and her confusion allowed the two other disciples to quickly surround her, cutting off the possibility of retreat.
"Sister, you shouldn't have been here to day. It has nothing to do with you but you've seen too much" said the leader.
"Yeah, the boss doesn't want any witnesses" said another, behind Shin Sumi to the left.
"We don't want Elder Zhu to be mad, trust me it's not a good sight!" completed the third one, at Shin Sumi's right hand side.
"Chao Ru, you dumb piece of sh*t !!!" erupted the leader. "Why don't you say everything while you're at it?! Just say what we came here to do!"
Chao Ru, oblivious to the tone of his furious leader, started: "We are disposing of the co-"
"CHAO RUUUUU!!!" The leader was enraged. "That was a figure of speech!! If you and I weren't blood brothers, I would ..."
Shin Sumi couldn't believe her ears. How thick were these guys?! She wanted to point out how she had already figured who they were working for earlier. Really, they shouldn't wear the insignia that clearly stated "we are directly under the command of Elder Zhu of the Affairs Pavilion".
Of course the thought didn't get through her lips. Although the guys were arguing and Chao Ru was sure to get a good beating after that, they were still closing in on her.
The three guys were older than Shin Sumi, with frames like a bear's. They were still Honorary Disciples at their age but they clearly had experience to compensate for their lack of talent.
Elder Zhu wouldn't have chosen them for this kind of job if he didn't trust their results.
Shin Sumi's heart was beating fast. So fast that the 'boom boom' reverberated in her ears so loudly that it seemed to eclipse everything.
She was trapped, unable to escape, unable to think.
Out of sheer instinct, her hand flashed across her bag of holding. The dull light disappearing, the now familiar shape of the Gold Tyrant Flying Sword became visible in her hand.
Its weight was uncomfortable, putting Shin Sumi off-balance.
All three of her opponents looked at the sword with a surprised expression that quickly went away. They all thought "what is that piece of junk" and regained their seriousness.
It wasn't the time to talk anymore, they had to silence Shin Sumi quickly, just like they had the other guy now burnt and unconscious. If they delayed too much, they were taking the risk of having even more disciples stumbling onto the scene.
One of the three, the one who didn't seem to share familiar bonds with the others, took out a few paper talismans from his bag of holding.
The leader of the group took out a short dagger that looked about a thousand times sharper than Shin Sumi's Gold Tyrant Flying Sword.
The last one simply rolled his shoulder muscles. He was the youngest of the three but the bulkiest, and gave the impression that he could crush Shin Sumi's skull with just one hand.
In a split second, they all attacked. It showed that they had been working together for quite a long time, their coordination being on point. Thankfully Shin Sumi had good reflexes and evaded the first salvo.
She jumped sideways towards the guy with the paper talismans. Her first instinct had been to get away from the sharp dagger and the bulging muscles.
Whiiiiish.
A paper talisman flew in a straight line past her shoulder. Pure luck was the reason why their trajectories hadn't intersected.
It was the first time Shin Sumi had witnessed let alone heard about the use of paper talismans in a fight. The only example she had was Jun Qian the yellow robed disciple and his speed talisman. Other than that she had no idea what they could be used for.
The talisman flew fast and reached a nearby tree. A deafening explosion of white flames occured. Anyone who had blinked would have missed the impact.
Shin Sumi didn't allow herself to be startled as she wasn't out of danger at all, and refused to think about what might have occured, had she not evaded the talisman.
The tree fell on to its side, water from the swamp splashing and half extinguishing the white flames.
The heart in Shin Sumi's chest was beating furiously fast. She was on the verge of losing it and relied only on instinct. She wanted to cry, to apologize, to run away, to abandon the Immortal world.
She never asked for all that! She had gone to the training grounds simply for that, training. A life or death situation was too much for her to handle.
For half an incense stick worth of time she continuously evaded the attacks of her three opponent. The boys were getting more furious by the second but she kept evading them.
Shin Sumi discovered at the same time as them how her body was unpredictably powerful and nimble. The second her feet were on the ground she was ready to leap again, evading another salvo.
But she knew she couldn't keep on doing that forever, besides every time she would try to get away from them, a paper talisman would fly out of nowhere and prevent her from leaving the area.
Shin Sumi had no idea what to do. She couldn't think straight and the only thing that went through her mind was "I am going to die here."
And then she snapped.
The change was so sudden that even she didn't realize it. At some point she simply stopped evading. Luckily the boys slowed down their attacks. When the prey had given up, what use would it be to keep on attacking?
After all she was cornered, surrounded, and even though she was fast, the three boys still believed she wasn't strong.
The fight was decided.
The first to get Shin Sumi into his reach was the youngest, Chao Ru. Mustering all his strength into one punch, he swiftly got closer to her.
As the first was about to reach her face, Shin Sumi lifted the Gold Tyran Flying Sword in front of her.
The impact made Shin Sumi jump backwards, but even more so it made Chao Ru's hand vibrate with a deep pain.
"AAAAAaaaaaah" cried the boy loudly. He held his right hand in his left. At least two of his fingers must have been broken by the impact.
The sword may have been only a dull piece of metal, but it was still stronger than any bone a Honorary Disciple had in their body.
Shin Sumi tumbled on her back. Either she didn't realize what she had done to Chao Ru, or due to the state she was in she didn't pay it any attention, but she immediately got up.
She had been projected towards the guy wielding the paper talismans.
Without a second of hesitation, Shin Sumi lifted the Gold Tyrant Flying Sword above her head and slammed it down on the poor disciple's.
All of this takes some time to describe, but since the moment Chao Ru attacked her, not one second had passed and the paper talisman disciple was floored, his ears buzzing and his consciousness on the verge of dissipating.
Shin Sumi battered him a few more times until her instinct reacted to a movement behind her.
She was like a lost animal, hungry and hurt. Instinct and survival were the only things that mattered.
Wielding the broken sword once again, she faced the third attacker.
"I'm gonna skin you alive you b*tch" said Chao Long. In his hands, the dagger turned and turned again, a proof of his dexterity.
But Shin Sumi was in no condition to analyse the movement of the blade to know from which angle he would attack. She was brandishing the bronze colored sword and swatting at the air in front of her.
It looked a bit ridiculous, this weak looking girl with a big piece of junk metal turning incoherently. The effect was working though. Due to her large movements with the heavy blade, Chao Long had no way to get close.
"WAAAAH!"
A sudden cry from deep inside Shin Sumi's throat swelled up as she jumped into offensive. It was so surprising that Chao Long couldn't even react to it.
Bonk!
His fall was maybe the most pitiful of the three. The middle of his forehead caved in as Shin Sumi bludgeonned him.
As if she wasn't aware of what she was doing, she kept hitting and crying until his head turned into a bloody pulp. Her terrified expression never left her face, distorting her mouth and eyes.
Only when all movement had stopped did she turn to the other two disciples.
The passed out paper talisman guy was jolted awake by the breaking of his leg under the massive sword, only to lose consciousness once again. He was on the verge of death when the crazed Shin Sumi turned to the third guy, Chao Ru.
Chao Ru was the first to suffer in the three-on-one fight, but also the one to suffer the less.
His hand had swelled up considerably and it would surely take weeks if not months to heal, even with Elder Zhu's medicinal assistance.
But of course that was only if he could escape his current predicament. Tears were falling down his cheeks, snot dripping from his nose and a foul smell seemed to come from under him as he tried to crawl away unnoticed.
Shin Sumi hit him square on the back of the head, her berserk attitude still not dissipating. She too was crying, although she didn't really know why. She didn't really know anything.
She was panting, one knee on the ground, propped up on the heavy sword when she regained a bit of clarity in her mind.
"What was going on?" she asked herself.
She felt incomparably exhausted, mentally and physically. Her hands were covered in blood and her arm muscles were sore.
She cried some more for an unknown period of time, curled into a ball without daring to look around her even once.
When she finally moved, it was to crawl towards the water of the swamp to wash away the blood on her hands. She still was in a state of big shock and couldn't believe what she had done.
It was only when one was at their lowest that they could find the strength to rebel like she did.
She had come out unscathed at the end, but with the price of two human lives, maybe three.
She eventually found the strength to turn around after a long time, only to vomit all the content of her stomach in the bloody mud of the swamp the next instant.
She wanted to leave, to get far away, to find the comfort of her small courtyard but her legs would not listen to her.
The little nut was releasing healing waves in the swamp water around her but with no effect. What she felt was not physical pain.
For a second she thought about Xiao Yue's words. Experience.
A dry and nervous laugh found its way through Shin Sumi's throat as she realized what experience she just acquired.
It was only a while after that a vibration in her bag of holding suddenly jolted her awake.
She took out the piece of jade with the word 'green' inscribed on it and poured some divine sense into it.
"Disciple Shin Sumi, you are requested by Elder Zhu for a private audience. Please come to the Affairs Pavilion before the end of the day."
I really enjoyed writing this chapter, I hope you enjoy reading it!
See you next week!
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