Xiao Yue stayed with Shin Sumi until the end of the day, giving her pointers about cultivation.

"Your courtyard really is impressive ! With an environment containing such a dense Shinsoo, you will be able to progress in no time !" she marvelled encouragingly.

In only one day, Xiao Yue felt that she had made the same progress as she would have done if she had a few low grade spirit stones.

It really was heavens for any cultivator beneath the Liquid Realm.

After the clouds got dark, Xiao Yue made a move to leave when Shin Sumi grabbed her.

"Yue, why don't you stay the night here ? You still haven't tried the pond."

Shin Sumi had previously planned to do more experiments with the little nut that night, but she still felt bad about lying to her friend.

Instead of letting her leave she insisted that she stayed.

Xiao Yue was overjoyed.

"It can be our first sleepover ! I just need to grab some stuff in my room, I will be back in a short time. Thank you Sumi, that means a lot."

Sumi exhibited a happy face, truly reflecting her feelings.

Even though she had only met her the day before, she could consider Xiao Yue as her first ever real friend. Shin Sumi had always been shy, preferring the company of books rather than people.

While Xiao Yue was out for a trip to her habitation, Shin Sumi organized her room a little bit.

She hid all of her precious seeds away under her mattress and threw away all that remained of the evolved spirit plants from before.

Hesitating for a while, Shin Sumi decided to summon the little grey nut.

Using a normal seed as bait, she didn't have to wait for long before her wrist flashed briefly.

Holding the nut within her palm, she gave instructions.

"Little nut, I don't know if you understand what I'm saying, but I trust you. Please, please, do not come out before tomorrow. I can't tell Yue about your existence and I don't want to lie to her any more than I already did."

She had no idea if the nut had understood any of it, but it soon rolled around her fingers to return to her wrist.

By its own volition the nut had disappeared once again, just in time for Xiao Yue's return.

"Sumi ! I'm back, open the gates !"

With a flick of her sleeve, Shin Sumi took out her identification medallion. She was quickly getting used to it now.

"Yue, you were fast !"

"Why do you say that ? Am I interrupting something ?"

"Not at all, of course not. I'm just saying that you are really fast ! I thought your room was in the south-west dormitory."

"It is. I am fast because of my cultivation. Even though I haven't condensed my first vortex yet, my speed is already far better than a mortal's. Don't worry you will see by yourself soon !"

Xiao Yue was all smile. She really wanted Shin Sumi to be more confident in herself.

Before, the two girls had simply been talking about cultivation and practicing a bit, but now Shin Sumi gave a little tour of her property.

It wasn't large, the courtyard being only approximately a twenty meters squared.

Next, Shin Sumi invited Xiao Yue into her room.

"Woah it is so much bigger than my own room ! You even have a large bed ! Is it where we are going to sleep ?"

"Ahah no, I have other plans " Shin Sumi laughed quietly. "Do you want to see my favorite place so far in the sect ?"

Without waiting for an answer, Shin Sumi walked outside. In a few seconds she was by the pond, next to the stone bench.

"Are you coming, Yue ?" she said as she undid her robes in a quick fashion and leapt into the pond.

When she resurfaced, Xiao Yue was still standing at the door in amazement. For a second Shin Sumi thought she might have acted a bit too strange but since they were already sisters it should have been fine.

To her relief, Xiao Yue's mouth quickly turned into a big smile showing her white teeth.

***

"Sumi, this pond is incredible ! It is so fresh and ... relaxing ! Besides the Shinsoo here is really good to cultivate without even worrying about it !"

Shin Sumi didn't say anything. She couldn't feel it but she suspected the waters to have retained a bit of the energy from the high grade spirit stone.

The girls were sitting next to each other on a shallow part of the pond.

The fish swam freely between their legs, occasionally brushing against them, causing a soft giggle.

"You know, there is a waterfall a few hours from the valley, in the west mountains. The water doesn’t feel as nice as here but the place is really beautiful, I'll take you to it one day."

"I'll gladly go with you next time !" Shin Sumi replied.

The two girls talked for a long time in the waters. Xiao Yue explained a lot of things about the Dark Sky Starry Sect and cultivation in general, Shin Sumi listened with intent and admiration.

It was the middle of the night when a shining bright dot appeared in the clouded sky.

A second later the dot had transformed into a streak of light.

"Sumi, look ! It must be an elder of the sect returning !"

Xiao Yue's voice broke the long silence, but no response came to her.

"Sumi ?"

Shin Sumi had fallen asleep. Her eyes were closed and her breasts were moving in a calm and regular manner. A light cloud of white vapor came out of her soft red lips with every expiration.

Xiao Yue looked at her tenderly. Unlike Shin Sumi who could still be considered a mortal, she needed a lot less sleep and was not even tired.

The water surface rippled without a noise as Xiao Yue moved closer to her new sister.

The water droplets on her skin fell down as she gently massaged Shin Sumi's shoulders and arms.

***

When Shin Sumi woke up, Xiao Yue was still massaging her body. The contact startled her but she calmed down when she realized what was happening.

"Good morning Sumi. How did you sleep ?" Xiao Yue asked.

Shin Sumi replied with a slurred tone "Good. I feel so refreshed ! I've never felt like this before !"

"This is a massage technique I obtained from another cultivator a year ago as a reward from a quest. It helps opening up the pores of your skin to absorb more Shinsoo energy" Xiao Yue explained while rubbing Shin Sumi's skin in a strange pattern.

"It apparently is really useful. This is the first time I've tried it so you will have to tell me ! I figured it was inappropriate to do it with anyone else but we are sisters and sisters should help each other, right ?"

Shin Sumi bobbed her head in approval, enjoying the feeling spreading through her upper body.

After a short while of observing the effects of the massage, Shin Sumi thought about how long Xiao Yue must have been massaging her.

"Can you teach that massage to others ?" she asked.

"Yes, I can give you the scroll where the technique is written if you want. I've already memorized it after all."

The two girls had been bathing for a really long time now and the dawn had already turned into morning. They both donned their respective robes.

"Here is the massage technique ! You can try it on me next time if you want !" said Xiao Yue as she took out a small white scroll from her bag of holding. She added "The day is already well on its way, I should probably go now. Thank you Sumi for letting me enjoy the comfort of your courtyard. It was really a great time !"

"Don't thank me Yue, it's normal ! As my sister you can come here anytime to spend the night with me. I really enjoyed it too."

Xiao Yue asked Shin Sumi what her plans were for the day. Shin Sumi was going to cultivate while Xiao Yue planned on working for some quests.

"I have accepted three quests this time. The month already started a week ago and I plan on getting into the top one hundred again. I will hunt in the southern mountains for a few days or weeks, depending on the time it takes to finish the quests. Maybe you can give them a try too !"

That was a good idea, since Shin Sumi had a plan already.

Xiao Yue left the courtyard first, hugging Shin Sumi goodbye and wishing her well for the days to come.

Shin Sumi left soon after in the direction of the lower valley fields. She collected a few handfuls of seeds from flowers called Worm Roots Flowers. She had picked up the flower randomly but she knew its petals were used to make spirit food.

With people around, Shin Sumi didn't have to worry about the little nut showing itself. For some reason the nut seemed completely uninterested by the seeds when there were people around.

Maybe it was a measure of protection but anyway, it was a good thing.

This time Shin Sumi didn't go back to her house and went directly to the Quests Pavillion.

Xiao Yue had already left for her quests and it was time Shin Sumi tried for herself.

She didn't have any faith in getting into the top hundred considering her talents, but maybe she could at least obtain some status points and a spirit stone or two by the end of the month.

Besides, she needed to leave the sect for her plan.

What she needed the most to cultivate was spirit stones. They were the most efficient way to progress and Shin Sumi firmly believed that with enough high grade spirit stones, even a simple mortal with no talent could eventually succeed.

She had no proof of this whatsoever but it was her only option.

According to what she had learned recently, Shin Sumi knew that the best source of income was the quests system as well as the market.

"Right now I don't have anything to sell in the market, but I have the little nut. With it I can definitely work something out !" she thought as she arrived at the Quests Pavillion.

The place was crowded as usual and with the time it took Shin Sumi to pass the mass of disciples, she had enough time to read the ranking jade screen.

Xiao Yue's name wasn't displayed but Jun Qian's was still in the first place, with two thousand points more than the previous day.

"Big Brother Jun fought a Snake Raven yesterday ! "

"I bet he will have more than fifty thousand status points by the end of the month !"

"Second Brother Li is not bad either, but it's a shame he will never be able to beat Big Brother Jun."

The scoring board was the talk of the whole sect it seemed. Jun Qian really was impressive.

Once inside, Shin Sumi looked around at a few posters listing possible quests for red robed disciples. Now that she knew what it entailed for her, she didn't go to the second floor.

She had been searching for a few minutes when finally she found what she was looking for.

"A spirit plant quests list ! For this one I need to find ten stalks of White Cloud Lotus. And this one, any seed of Purple Vine will do ! It is a good opportunity to explore around the sect too !"

Following Xiao Yue's explanations from the day before, Shin Sumi took out her identification medallion and lightly pressed it against the quest she was interested in.

That was the procedure. The spirit automaton of the Quests Pavillion was called and instantly inscribed a complicated character next to the quest information.

This way, other disciples would know that the quest was taken and it would instantly disappear once Shin Sumi would report her success.

In case of failure or abandonment, the symbol would be erased and make the quest available again.

Shin Sumi selected three different spirit plants quests, which was the limit for one disciple.

Remembering the information detailed in her newcomer's manual, Shin Sumi quickly walked to the western gate of the lower valley.

She met Lan Hui right before the gates opened into the wilderness of the training ground and told him about her quest so that he wouldn’t find her absence strange.

The Dark Sky Starry Sect was a small sect in the cultivation world but it still encompassed a few dozens peaks of the Blue Fire mountain range.

"The size of the sect may be small in the world but for a mortal it is still incredibly big !" Shin Sumi thought. "According to the information in the guide, I guess it would take months to walk from one side of the sect to the other !"

It was with big shiny eyes filled with excitement that Shin Sumi stepped out of the lower valley boundaries for the first time.

The old her would probably not have enjoyed going out into the wilderness but Shin Sumi was slowly starting to adapt to the new version of herself.

And that version was brave and excited instead of shy and afraid.

***

Shin Sumi had been walking for a few hours now. Soon after she had left the western gate, the thin and tortuous path had disappeared completely. The vegetation was getting denser and denser the further away she went.

Shin Sumi was nowhere near the borders of the training grounds, which could only be reached by walking for more than three days, but she still needed to exert caution. If a normal red robed disciple reached the borders, their identification medallion would inform them. For an orange robed disciple, the limit of where they could go was a bit further. And so on.

With her identification jade imprinted for a green level disciple, Shin Sumi didn't know the extent of where she could go safely with her inexistant cultivation.

The training grounds were still the property of the sect though, which ensured that normally no disciple would find themselves in mortal peril. But there was no surveillance of the area and no one knew for sure what kinds of beasts were roaming around.

Shin Sumi walked carefully, taking in the noises of the jungle.

She wasn't used to the wilderness but she was a clever girl. Looking at the ground and the trees, she kept constant notes of her position compared to the entrance of the sect.

A few broken branches and footprints indicated that the area frequently saw disciples passing through. Shin Sumi decided to go further away from the marks.

There was no trail to follow but it was relatively easy to find a location remote enough to be safe.

The danger of spirit beasts was constant but at least she could easily avoid other disciples. The training grounds were the property of the sect but not technically part of the sect. Hence the rules would not apply and friction between disciples could escalate quickly. In this case the Affairs Pavilion would not bat an eye, even if a fight to the death over some treasure took place.

After a few hours of walking, the environment seemed untouched for Shin Sumi. No footprints nor any indication of mans presence were visible.

Just to be sure, she kept advancing for a little while.

A strange sound suddenly resonated within her ears. It sounded like an infant's laughter.

Shin Sumi lifted her head to look at the canopy. The sound originated from a strange bird that had a beak that parted four ways. The bird looked at Shin Sumi with malice in its eyes before flapping its wings and flying away.

"The creatures in the Immortal world are nothing like those from the mortal world" said Shin Sumi. She recalled the many stray dogs of her East Seaside Village and the swallows in the sky during spring time. Compared to them, everything in the jungle was strange, exotic and colorful.

It was a wonderful sight, albeit filled with danger.

Shin Sumi was still absentmindedly pondering about this new world opened to her when her wrist flashed with a deep red light.

A second later the little grey nut was biting her arm so hard that it stopped Shin Sumi right in her tracks.

"Aiiiee ! What's wrong with you ! It hurts you know ?!" she cried while trying to cup the always evading nut.

It took her a few seconds and around ten more bites to understand what was going on.

All around her were gigantic leaves approximately the size of her. There was nothing unusual about it, but as Shin Sumi moved around, she briefly saw between the leaves out of the corner of her eye.

A few steps in front of her was a gigantic ravine !

It was about twenty meters wide and went on for what seemed like a kilometer. The most terrifying of all was the depth which Shin Sumi could not clearly see the bottom of.

Had the nut not been there she would have fallen to her death immediately ! The nut had saved her life !

Shin Sumi slowly extended her neck over the chasm.

"I would have fallen a few hundred meters if you hadn't saved me..."

The rush of adrenaline made her tremble from her head to her toes.

When Xiao Yue told her about the dangers of the training ground, Shin Sumi would never have expected this kind of thing. And Xiao Yue had seemed so casual about it too !

Shin Sumi was about to go back on her tracks when her eye caught a sliver of light reflected from somewhere in the ravine.