Shin Sumi woke up with the change in altitude as Fen Wudao was landing.

Shin Sumi felt refreshed. She didn't know how long she slept for, but she had needed it. After looking at the sun high up in the sky she estimated their flight to have been about five hours long.

Fen Wudao slowly let her go and Shin Sumi tumbled on the grass.

"My bad, Junior Sister Shin, I can't quite control my flight yet. I'm just a fourth step Liquid Realm cultivator. I was only given this winged arrow recently."

Up until now, Shin Sumi hadn't seen the small silvery arrow that was under Fen Wudao's feet.

"Thank you for bringing me here, Senior Brother Fen" she said while giving a courtesy bow. "Hmm... Where are we ?"

"We are at the foot of the Dark Sky Starry Sect. This is where mortals start their enrolling process. It is a bit difficult sometimes, but with your natural talent, Junior Sister Shin, you shouldn't face many troubles to enter the sect as a honorary disciple."

Shin Sumi was quite at a loss. "Natural talent ?" she thought, "Do I have any ?"

Seeing her puzzled expression, Fen Wudao pointed to two different directions with both his hands before announcing "If you want to enter the Dark Sky Starry Sect, you have to climb the stairs until you reach the first gate. If at any point you want to renounce, if you feel that you cannot do it, just take this hidden path back to the mortal domains."

"The path can only be entered one way though. If you give up there is no coming back. It is a path specially designed to disappear once you reach the end. And it also fends off all beasts that could threaten your journey."

Adding another sentence, Fen Wudao said "I am confident in your talent, you should really give it your all. As a matter of fact I already consider you as my Junior Sister. What I said right now, I was given orders to say it to any mortal recruited."

Shin Sumi didn't respond at all and just gave another bow as the young man started to drift away on his silver arrow.

"If you succeed, come find me at the third gate in two days !"

Shin Sumi stayed where she was for a few minutes while she was deciding what to do.

In the end she really felt like she wasn't fit to be an Immortal.

"I guess learning how to fly would be nice. But in all the stories I've read about Immortals, it's all about fighting and killing. I am not made for this. I just want to read books."

Recalling how she didn't ask Fen Wudao to bring her to the road or the big city earlier, she thought "I don't know why I didn't say anything back then, I guess I was just intimidated by Senior Brother Fen."

Looking one last time at the set of stairs that disappeared into the mountain, Shin Sumi turned around towards where Fen Wudao pointed the hidden path was.

But before she could even set foot on the glowing stone that marked the beginning of the path, she felt a stab of pain right against her breasts.

"Ayii ! What is ... oh."

Shin Sumi totally forgot about the nut she had picked up earlier. The nut had slid between her breasts and was stuck there by the folds of her garments.

"How could I forget about the book that turned into a biting nut ? I should ask Second Uncle about it. Maybe he has a book about it." she said out loud while taking the nut out of her outfit and into her hand.

Once again she tried to leave the mountain but before her foot touched the stone, the nut bit her again.

The bite was harder this time, and hurt quite a lot.

"Why doesn't this thing want me to leave ? Too bad, I'm not taking you with me if you keep biting."

And with that she threw it away.

As soon as the nut left her hand, a small vortex started to appear, and the nut started to turn into a book.

It was exactly the same thing that happened earlier after her strange dream with the stump, but reversed.

It only lasted for a second, though, before the book turned back into a grey nut, in mid air, it flew back to her.

It immediately wiggled across her body, returning to between her breasts and biting her as she sneakily tried to leave.

Shin Sumi was starting to be genuinely annoyed by the moving book-nut.

She tried a few more times to get rid of it, but every time the nut lost contact with her skin, it would turn into a book and then back into a nut flying in her direction.

Shin Sumi tried to avoid it but it was too fast for her, and would always find itself back against her chest in less than a breath's worth of time.

"Fine, you know what ? If I can't get rid of you, I'm gonna try to go up the stairs. But when I fail, don't bite me again when I leave !"

She was almost depressed when she realized she had been talking out loud to a nut. But what was said was said, and for some reason she felt like she couldn't go back on her words anymore.

The nut stopped biting suddenly as she took angry steps towards the old stone stairs.

***

Shin Sumi walked up the stairs for a few hours.

She usually was not used to doing so much exercise, and could feel her legs getting weaker and weaker with each step. But every time she slowed down or stopped, the nut would bite her.

Strangely the bites would always be followed by a small surge of energy, allowing Shin Sumi to walk for a long time after it.

This way, almost ten hours passed, but Shin Sumi was still walking, seemingly without seeing the passing of time, looking at her swollen feet.

She had never been out of breath like this before, and was at the point of giving up.

The sky had turned dark again. Shin Sumi sat down on the step, and strangely the nut didn't bite her this time.

A faint and tired smile showed up on her red lips as she closed her eyes and thought "Finally I give up. I can no longer walk. I did what I said I would, now I just want to go back to the city after a little rest. I miss home. I miss my parents, I miss Second Uncle, I miss my books."

She was starting to consider going back home after all this.

"I can always escape from father again and become a librarian"

Yes, this is what she would do.

But unfortunately for her, the strange nut woke up again.

Wiggling against her skin, the nut slowly started to tickle Shin Sumi.

She thought she didn't have any strength left, but she found herself moving in an uncontrolled manner as she attempted to free herself from the nut.

She even stood up and started slapping the different parts of her body where she could feel the nut.

It was at this point that she saw a bright white light a few dozen meters ahead of her.

As soon as she saw the light, the nut stopped moving, returning to its usual place.

"I... I did it ?"

It was unexpected. She had not been paying attention and was at the point of giving up right in front of the end of the stairs.

Shin Sumi hesitated for a few seconds, but this time her curiosity won her over and she started walking again.

She had thought she couldn't walk anymore, but with all the tickling she just endured, she knew she still had enough for a couple dozen stone steps.

The first gate of the Dark Sky Starry Sect was a grand arch luxuriously decorated. It was almost ten meters tall and stood at the top of the stone stairs like an Immortal hand helping the tired mortals.

As soon as Shin Sumi walked through the arch, she felt refreshed, and her mouth that had been thirsty for a long time felt normal again. Even her belly that had been growling for the entire walk up the stairs was silent again.

"So that is how Immortals live ?"

Shin Sumi saw two luxurious buildings, each at the opposite side of a grand stone platform. At the end of the platform was another gate like the first one.

Everything was brightly lit, even in the middle of the night. The weirdest thing of all was that there was no lamp around.

"It's almost as if the buildings themselves are glowing ! I can't believe it !"

The first gate was the main entrance to the sect. It was a place where the magical barriers defending the whole sect impeded every person who was not part of the sect. That was the reason why Fen Wudao could directly fly in but Shin Sumi had to walk the long stone stairs.

Coincidentally it provided a good opportunity for a test of perseverance. This way, every mortal that wished to join the Dark Sky Starry Sect would have to prove their determination.

Shin Sumi had passed the first test.

A young man who didn't seem to be much older than Shin Sumi was sitting cross legged at the center of a platform, in front of a big stele that was glowing in shades of purple.

He seemed asleep to Shin Sumi, but he opened his eyes as soon as she entered within a twenty meters radius of him.

The young man was a first step Liquid Realm disciple of the Dark Sky Starry Sect called by everyone "Little Azu". He didn't have a great talent and had been put in charge of the second test for the mortals that wished to enter the sect.

As soon as he opened his eyes, his jaw dropped and his eyes started to bulge visibly.

"A girl ? And a very cute one at that !! Quick, I have to look good !"

Little Azu jumped to his feet and almost instantly seemed to regain his countenance.

Clearing his throat, he announced loudly in a voice too low to truly be his own "Mortal ! Welcome to the Dark Sky Starry Sect, the most powerful Immortal Sect this side of the Blue Fire mountain range ! I am Immortal Lit.. I mean Immortal Azu."

Shin Sumi looked at him with a quizzical expression. She was still impressed because the young man was an Immortal. But compared to the impression Fen Wudao had made on her, this Daoist Azu and his fake voice was simply... comical.

She gave a very light bow as she simply replied "This humble one is Shin Sumi. I was brought here by Senior Brother Fen Wudao. I look forward to your guidance, Senior Brother Azu."

The youth standing proudly with his hands clasped behind his back felt very happy with the way she addressed him. He was usually called Little Azu by everyone, even the honorary disciples that had not even reached the Liquid Realm.

But as soon as he heard the three words "Senior Brother Fen Wudao", all the air seemed to leave his lungs as Little Azu gasped loudly.

Who was someone like Fen Wudao ? He was only a year older than him and was already a fourth step Liquid Realm cultivator ! And how Shin Sumi casually used his name, clearly she had some relation with him.

Using his real voice this time, he quickly replied "Sister Shin, I didn't know you were a friend of Senior Brother Fen ! We are all friends here, please call me Little Azu like everyone else ! I will be in charge of conducting the second test for you."

Turning to the grey stele behind him, Little Azu continued.

"There are three tests to become a honorary disciple of the Dark Sky Starry Sect. The first one was the endurance test. You passed this one by arriving here. The second test is the talent test. It's easy, you just put your hand on the surface and the test stone will light up according to your talent."

"Red means basic talent. Then there is orange, yellow, green and blue. Last is purple, meaning extreme talent. No one has succeeded in making the stone turn purple in the last ten or so generations. Even colors above yellow are rare, so you shouldn't feel bad if you get red or orange. As long as the test stone changes color, you pass the test."

Little Azu's cultivation base was not nearly as high as Fen Wudao's, but even he could feel the Shinsoo fluctuations around Shin Sumi.

Shin Sumi was very intrigued by the stone stele and figured she would give it a try.

After all she walked all the way up to please the weird nut and stop it from biting her, but now that she really had a chance to become an Immortal, she felt a little excitement.

"I wonder if I do have talent after all..." she thought to herself.

She still wanted to become a librarian in her heart, to be able to read books all the time, but as she had already passed the first test to enrol into an Immortal sect, how could she not be excited ?

It was the dream of every mortal to become an Immortal. Even though most people thought that Immortals were but mere legends, sometimes a mortal would see people flying high in the sky above their heads.

Shin Sumi had confirmation that what she always took to be stories for children was the reality. And it was right in front of her !

She took a step forward to place herself in front of the test-stone. Taking a deep inspiration, she put her hand on the flat cold surface.

"..."

"..."

Neither Shin Sumi nor Little Azu said anything. The stele kept it's grey dull color.

After nothing happened for a few seconds, Shin Sumi turned to Little Azu with a concerned look on her face.

"Erm... there seems to be an error Sister Shin. Let me try the test stone."

Little Azu put his hand on the steele. Almost immediately the stone turned a vivid red, proving that is worked perfectly well.

But how could that be ? Little Azu himself felt Shinsoo fluctuations on her ! How could she be totally devoid of talent ?

And considering the fact that Fen Wudao brought here here in the first place, it seemed like even him must have had sensed something.

Little Azu was puzzled and in deep thoughts when Shin Sumi felt something move between under her robes.

The little nut moved against her skin, rolling while ignoring gravity until it found itself inside her palm.

Understanding something, Shin Sumi gently asked "Brother Azu, can I give it a second try ?" and moved her hand toward the platform a second time.

"Normally it won't change anything, this test stone has never failed in hundreds of ... ?"

His sentence was cut short when he realized that the stone stele was showing signs of change.

As Shin Sumi pressed the hidden nut on the stone, it finally changed to a bright red. Without stopping, the red changed to orange, then yellow. When it finally started to settle down, the stele was almost halfway between green and blue.

Both Shin Sumi and Little Azu were speechless.

Hesitantly Shin Sumi asked "Brother Azu, does that mean that I have passed ?"

"How could someone Senior Brother Fen himself brought here not pass with unsurpassed talent ! I have never seen something like this before ! Sister Shin you are amazing ! With talent like that you may even have a chance to reach the Core Developpement Realm and become an Elder !"

Shin Sumi blushed. It was not from the excessive compliments and praise that Little Azu was offering, but because of shame.

The color of the test stone was due to the nut, not her. She had absolutely the worst talent for Immortal cultivation !

She didn't know what the Core Developpement Realm was but she didn't care. She only wanted to go to the third gate and meet Fen Wudao again.

He had said that he would wait for her on the second day at the third gate, and she intended to ask him to bring her back to where she belonged, with the mortals.

"Congratulations to Sister Shin for passing the second test. You can now go through the second gate. The last test is a test of sensing the Shinsoo, but with your talent it should not take you long."

With that Little Azu gave her the lightest bow and offered her a piece of jade. He had imprinted the jade with Shin Sumi's results for the first and second test and the jade would act as an official proof.

Shin Sumi bowed low enough to hide her red cheeks as she said goodbye to Little Azu.

"Sister Sumi... If ever you want to after you've become a disciple of the sect... feel free to come back and have a chat with me !"

She didn't reply and hurried towards the second gate. She felt too shameful to even look at an Immortal in the eye.

The nut was still in her palm as she scurried through the grand arch and in the direction of the third test.

"Shinsoo sensing... I have the feeling that I won't be able to pass this test by myself either..."

A few minutes later, Shin Sumi understood what the test was about.

She found herself in a gigantic maze where every path was blurry.

From what she had read about the Immortals ways, she knew Shinsoo was the energy from heaven and earth that Immortals used all the time. It was something that normal mortals couldn't feel.

For obvious reasons the Shinsoo in the maze of the third test was made so that even mortals could feel it as long as they had a bit of affinity with it.

But Shin Sumi didn't have even the tiniest bit of Shinsoo affinity.