Chương 93: Leaving Years of her Life
"Hey hey, take it slow, alright?"
Fen Wudao's voice was calm and gentle as he quickly crouched next to Shin Sumi.
"The White Claw Dusk Cleaver has taken a toll on you. It's a very Shinsoo hungry technique and you were already exhausted before you used it.
-...Elder Zhu?"
Shin Sumi immediately enquired about the Elder. When she lost consciousness, she had just managed to hurt him with the Ghost Pavilion technique but she knew she hadn't ended him. Fen Wudao laughed almost embarrassedly.
"He's... no longer able to do you any harm. Can you get up by yourself?"
Shin Sumi nodded silently and propped herself up without much of a problem. Probing herself with her own divine sense, she quickly evaluated her state. Bruises and sore muscles, tired but overall she was feeling perfectly fine. Her hand naturally found Nuan the Lion Bat at her side, who she gently pet as she looked around.
The garden inside the Affairs Pavilion could no longer be called a garden at all. The overturned soil was laced with debris of spirit plants who had once been a source of pleasant fragrance and soothing Yin Shinsoo. Pieces of rock and jade littered the broken wooden deck adjoined to the Affairs Pavilion main building.
On the other side of the court, another smaller wooden building that certainly corresponded to the Elder's personal quarters used to stand. The wood beams and panels composing the primary structure were still miraculously intact but a large hole had been blasted through it. The gaping hole resembled the maw of some exotic creature, broken frames and splinters turned into giant teeth.
From the bottom of the hole in the destructed building, a severed limb was peeking out, only telling of the fate Elder Zhu had met. Shin Sumi recognized the leg that her White Claw Dusk Clever had almost managed to separate from Zhu Yunhai's body. As it turned out, Fen Wudao had finished the job for her.
With her divine sense spreading around her, it was easy for Shin Sumi to find the remains of the Elder who once stood proudly as the regent of the lower valley of the Dark Sky Starry Sect.
Sword cuts and bloody holes covered his body, his light blue robes impossible to recognize. His face was broken, as if a giant hammer had struck the side of his cranium.
Shin Sumi held her breath involuntarily.
"How long was I out for, Senior Brother Fen?"
Fen Wudao answered calmly, standing next to her in front of the hole in the building, "less than a sixty second cycle."
Shin Sumi's heart almost skipped a beat and she had to force her jaw to not drop to the ground. In under a minute, Fen Wudao had managed to beat a great circle of the Liquid Realm Elder to death.
Her own fight with the Elder had lasted about ten times longer. She could be considered a peerless genius from holding out as long as she did in front of somebody more than a few steps above her in cultivation. She had even given trouble to the Elder who was not too accustomed to fighting. Granted, Fen Wudao had helped her in restricting the Elder's divine sense's power over her, but she had still performed an incredible feat.
But the young man standing next to her was simply on another level. There was definitely no trickery to the fact that his true cultivation was of the eighth step of the Liquid Realm. Even Shin Sumi's most powerful techniques had barely turned the soil over whereas Fen Wudao had destroyed a building in less than a minute.
Shin Sumi had been unconscious for her Senior Brother's fight, whishing she could have seen him attack. Despite the injuries he had suffered, Elder Zhu still had most of his energy left and probably another few tricks up his sleeves. However the Fen Wudao before here looked completely unscathed. Even his robes didn't have a single spot of dirt on them, and his Shinsoo Sea was calm as a mountain lake. It almost looked like taking down an Elder had been as easy as flipping his hand or pointing his finger.
"I was a bit presumptuous in letting you fight the old bastard alone, Seventh Sister. I hope you don't take offense at that, I only wished to see your power and give you an opportunity to use it."
Fen Wudao's justification was very light, as if the whole ordeal had been a simple game, however Shin Sumi knew exactly what she meant. She had felt her blood boil like never before, her warrior heart completely free to be unleashed in this small courtyard garden.
As was everything related with the Ghost Pavilion, the situation with Elder Zhu had been a succession of mysteries. Now that she thought about it, Fen Wudao's cultivation reveal and him making her fight was not that surprising, coming from a secret Pavilion originating from even before the creation of the sect. From the very beginning when Fen Wudao had gifted her the Gold Tyrant Flying Sword, every step of the way had been some sort of passive test of her abilities.
"What is going to happen now, Senior Brother?" Shin Sumi suddenly seemed to realize what they had done. "An Elder of the sect is dead, how are we going to explain that? Even with the protection of the Ghosts, I am surprised the Great Elder or somebody else hasn't been made aware of Elder Zhu's death yet."
As she spoke, Shin Sumi spread her divine sense even wider, trying to encompass the entire Affairs Pavilion which was normally within her reach. But nevermind the entire Pavilion, she suddenly found herself unable to peer into the main building at all.
"A barrier? When did you have the time to-
-It is not my barrier. It seemed like Elder Zhu built it right before I appeared. He must have wanted to dispose of you quietly and not alert the vicinity. He even knocked out Little Azu, I doubt he wanted him to remember you entering the Pavillion."
Probing the barrier, Shin Sumi recognized the spell as hand. She had learned a version of it during the teachings of the Cloud-Formation Pavilion. It was a spirit formation expanded from an artefact engraved with the spell rather than a divine sense based formation. The Elder must have chosen this type of barrier because he was using his divine sense to pressure her. In any way, the barrier couldn't prevent someone from entering or leaving, but all divinse senses were restricted.
"Judging from the strength of the barrier, we should have five more minutes before its power dissipates. After that there will be no hiding from the other Elders and the sect as a whole. Even Azu will probably wake up instantly once the barrier is broken."
Fen Wudao's assessment of the situation was quick, as he had already thought about it when Shin Sumi was waking up.
"As for what's going to happen next, Seventh Sister, I think I have an idea." Fen Wudao's cryptic smile made Shin Sumi freeze for a second. "You'll be put on trial and executed by the sect."
Shin Sumi's heart was about to stop when Fen Wudao opened his palms forward, an apologetic expression on his face, followed by a deep laugh.
"I am kidding, I am kidding. But in theory that is what's going to happen. As soon as the sect finds out, somebody will look for a culprit, and who fits these shoes better than... let's say Bai Fulong?"
A flash of comprehension passed through Shin Sumi's mind. After the terrifyingly bad attempt at a joke, she thought she understood now, "Bai Fulong is the most well known out of the three personalities I use and the hardest to explain the sudden disappearance of..."
"Exactly. You will be going to the Sky Earth Sect as yourself and in the meantime the entire sect is going to look for the Bai Fulong who killed Elder Zhu and escaped."
It made sense. Before her unplanned meeting with Elder Zhu, Shin Sumi already knew she was leaving the Dark Sky Starry Sect this very day yet she had no idea how her disappearance would be explained.
The Shin Sumi who followed the Divine-Beast Pavilion teachings was virtually unknown in the sect apart from a select few individuals. No one would bat an eye if she were gone.
Yan Yan from the Cloud-Formation Pavilion was a bit more difficult to explain but she was sure Fen Wudao and Patriarch Sen could find the right excuse, like a trip to the Dark Fortress for example.
That left only her male identity, Bai Fulong. The young man who had first caught the eyes of many Elders during the Rising-Star Pavilion. The same young man who had distinguished himself from the crowd during the duel between Mua Lin and Sui Lin. The disciple who had taken part in the Cross Branch Arena along the other seventeen most promising disciples.
Thousands of people knew who he was by now, making his disappearance much harder to justify. Below the fourth step of the Liquid Realm, the rules of the sect indicated that disciples couldn't undertake missions away from the sect and its training grounds.
"If only I had reached the fourth step, it would have been so much easier," Shin Sumi lamented. "Your idea is definitely the better option, Senior Brother. All I need to do is escape and stay as a woman, at least until I reach the Sky Earth Sect."
"That will be one of your trump cards. If the Sky Earth Sect manages to see through you, you can reveal yourself as Bai Fulong in disguise. By then the rumors of you killing Elder Zhu will have travelled to them, surely."
Shin Sumi nodded. The planning of her leave had been thrown into chaos at first, but now with the help of Fen Wudao it had consolidated by a lot.
"One last thing before I leave the lower valley," Shin Sumi started, under the curious eyes of Fen Wudao who knew there was still a few minutes left for her to make her move, "I want to see what an Elder's bag of holding looks like... Aren't you curious Senior Brother?"
Looting a corpse... The corpse of an ally or a friend would be a big taboo unless the circumstances were a matter of life and death, however Elder Zhu could not be considered an ally anymore by neither her nor Fen Wudao.
The young man was the first to reach the Elder's mangled body and his bag of holding. After peering through its contents with his divine sense, he emitted a single condition.
"You can't take any artefacts. They were all linked to Zhu Yunhai and although they are now masterless, the Elders must have ways to find you through them."
Shin Sumi shook her head, "I am not interested in those. I simply want to see what kind of techniques he had."
Making her way to the bag of holding, Shin Sumi held her hand open, materializing the bag's contents onto her palm one by one. Nuan was quick to appear, resting on Shin Sumi's shoulder, seemingly intrigued by her master's actions.
On the interior though, Shin Sumi was very proud of Nuan. The little Lion Bat had read her thoughts.
"Take a look, little Nuan, I'm sure you'll find that very interesting" she thought silently.
In under two minutes, Shin Sumi had read the few scrolls and spiritual jades that interested her, making sure Nuan had done so as well.
Next to her, Fen Wudao was silent. He didn't even consider the Lion Bat's presence, simply looking at his Junior Sister. He understood what she wanted to do but even for somebody of her talent, learning techniques by a single glance was impossible. Or maybe she was just looking for inspiration.
"That is what I thought," said Shin Sumi getting up from her crouching position, "all of these are too high of a level for me. If only I had a few days to try and learn something... Oh well, it was worth a try."
Convincing enough, she thought. Hopefully Nuan had time to absorb all of the techniques for her to refine later.
Shin Sumi was about to depart from the Affairs Pavilion and bid farewell to her Ghost Brother, leaving the sect for who knew how long. Only before she did so, she realized one last thing.
"Hummm Senior Brother? Would you mind leaving early?"
Fen Wudao's eyebrows lifted, curious. Did she want him to leave so she could forgo his advice and loot the dead Elder some more? Maybe some artefact had caught her eye?
"Actually I think it's best if you leave now as well, we don't want any trou-
-I agree but my robes... I need to change before I leave, so..."
The moment Fen Wudao understood, his face turned a deep red like Shin Sumi had never seen. His cheeks and ears were even more crimson than her blood soaked robes and he almost tripped on his own feet.
"This is goodbye then... From then on you will have to face the Sky Earth Sect alone, Seventh Sister. I wish you a good journey and success in your mission, the Ghost Pavilion is relying on you."
Getting his footing straight and his emotions in order, Fen Wudao flushed the red from his face as he gave Shin Sumi a last few words of encouragement. Exchanging a deep bow with her, he then hopped onto his silver winged arrow, leaving in a discrete streak across the sky.
Shin Sumi changed robes quickly and efficiently. What would have happened, had she not realized it? Any disciple from the lower valley crossing paths with her would have seen her torn garments covered in her own blood.
But now, she was looking like Shin Sumi, like any female disciple of the lower valley, completely anonymous.
She exited the Affairs Pavilion quietly, making use of the fact that no disciple was around to get some distance between her and Elder Zhu's residence by using her Liquid Realm speed, which made her look like a blur to any Honorary Disciple her divine sense could have missed.
Soon, Shin Sumi was at the gates of the lower valley. If her calculations were correct, the barrier in the Affairs Pavilion was about to break open.
She gave a quick glance back at the lower valley. She remembered vividly the first time she saw the Immortal paradise, as it seemed to her at the time.
Her first day in the sect, she remembered thinking about how big it was, and yet now with her powers she could run through it faster than any mortal ever could.
"Now is not the time to reminisce. I need to leave the whole sect before somebody decides to lock down all access to the valleys."
Shin Sumi disappeared under the third gate, the highest one. Between the second and the third was where the magical Foggy Maze was located, in order to test newcomers on their ability to sense Shinsoo.
Thankfully, the identification jade inside her bag of holding ensures that she didn't have to go through the maze this time.
It was one of her worries but Fen Wudao had cleared it for her. The maze sensed who came through, but there was no way for the Elders to know who the maze recognized, fortunately.
Only the Patriarch had this kind of knowledge, and Shin Sumi knew he would ascertain it was Bai Fulong who last left the lower valley.
Cloaking her presence with a temporary Hiding Formation, she quickly passed the plaza where the talent test stone was located. The disciple in charge didn't even notice somebody had gone through.
There was now only one gate left before the open world. Once she was at the end of the stairs, she would be at the foot of the Blue Fire mountain range.
This time Shin Sumi didn't look back towards the sect. She had spent four years in the sect, whereas the mortal kingdoms seemed like a distant memory.
The fourteen years old girl who Fen Wudao brought here only had one thought at the time, leaving East Seaside Village and becoming a librarian with her Second Uncle in the big city.
Unfortunately for her dreams, she had learned that reading books was not enough to become a cultivator. Fighting, training, killing... The life of a cultivator was tumultuous.
"To think that I couldn't become a librarian and read books my entire life because of you, Nuan. The irony of the Heavens, you ARE a book. And a cute little Lion Bat of course."
The more Shin Sumi progressed down the stairs, the more she could feel the ambient Shinsoo diminish in quality and quantity.
At the foot of the stairs, the air felt so muddy to her that it almost caused a physical pain. Having bathed in the Shinsoo from a cultivation sect for so long, the normal Shinsoo levels of the mortal realms were absurdly low.
It took quite a while for her to get accustomed to it, by which point the Blue Fire mountain range's peaks were distant and disappearing from her sight in the clouds.
From high hills, the nature around her turned to luxurious forests. At long last, Shin Sumi had been advancing for almost an hour when she spotted a man-made trail on the ground.
"If I follow this trail to the west, I am bound to find paths and roads. It will lead me to mortal cities."
Shin Sumi honestly wished she hadn't fallen asleep on her first trip with Fen Wudao. Maybe she would have been able to recognize which direction they came from. No matter her level of cultivation, Shin Sumi was in a location completely unknown to her.
Was her home village far? She only knew it bordered the Silver Sea and that the Blue Fire mountain range was at the east of it.
The forest path was getting a bit bigger, with traces of horse hooves in the dirt, when Shin Sumi suddenly stopped. A few hundred meters ahead, two presence had appeared in her divine sense.
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