The nut was the reason why Fen Wudao had picked her up what seemed already a long time ago. He said himself he had sensed Shinsoo fluctuations.

If Shin Sumi was correct, the snakes would definitely be attracted to the Shinsoo in the nut.

The trajectory of the nut was about to end when a few snakes appeared.

Shin Sumi was confused. "Only a few of them, this time?" she mumbled.

An almost empty high grade spirit stone had attracted thousands of snakes but the strange nut and it's weird properties that surprised her time after time didn't attract all of them?

The nut bounced a few times with a 'poc' sound. The snakes around it turned to look at it but soon turned around, confused.

After a few seconds of searching for something they disappeared once again. The nut started rolling on the floor and returned to the pool.

Shin Sumi extended her arm and placed the back of her hand on the ground. The nut rolled into her and lightly bit her as she plunged it once again in the water. It was it's way of telling her to stop throwing it around.

Shin Sumi resumed her meditation, contemplating the matter of the snake pit.

***

A few hours later, Shin Sumi opened her eyes. The twenty four hour mark was passed, she had been recovering for a full day.

Carefully she extended her leg outside the water. With slow exercises she tested her left leg.

"It's already repaired. The bone was definitely fractured but now it's as good as new" she said half impressed. She knew the healing powers of the nut were incredible but it was still quite a shock to see it. The kid from East Seaside Village all those years ago had suffered for months, stuck in a chair without being able to get up. And here she was, jumping and running a day after breaking her leg.

"The Immortal world is beyond comprehension for mortals" she sighed.

Her skin was full of wrinkles and her robes were soaked. The fabric was cut open in a few places.

Thankfully Shin Sumi had brought something to change into. The bag of holding she had been given was too strange for her to understand how it worked, but it definitely seemed like it's insides were bigger than it looked.

She took out new robes and donned them. On her waist, the bag was hanging, looking empty as always. She had bathed a whole day with it but her second set of clothes was dry.

It felt good to change, Shin Sumi was already feeling better.

"I have to go back to the sect now. The plants haven't grown by that much, but I will come back soon" she told herself. "It should be safe, I can't imagine anyone coming to this place without the copper bell or a similar treasure. If the snakes are attracted to Shinsoo, no cultivator after the Shinsoo Gathering stage would dare come down here!"

Shin Sumi was right. The reason she hadn't been attacked by the poisonous snakes the first night was because of her lack of Shinsoo. The snakes were dangerous but not because of their intelligence. They responded almost entirely on instinct and seemed blind to anything other than Shinsoo and blood.

Shin Sumi didn't know the extent of the snakes' power but she figured "Since I found a treasure I guess no one has ever stayed long enough down here to find it before me. Apart from the guy who lost the bell of course."

That meant that the snakes were probably dangerous even for Core Development Realm Elders.

Smiling at herself, Shin Sumi left the bottom of the chasm, not without picking up as many White Cloud Lotus flowers as she could.

"With the bell, this place is a cultivation paradise for me! I can grow all the plants I want and nobody will ever know!"

Her plan to reach the Shinsoo Gathering stage was slowly starting to take shape.

She was careful during her ascent this time, checking every rock and committing to memory the safe path to follow.

There were still many mysteries related to the dark chasm in her mind, but they would have to wait for another day.

Shin Sumi wanted to rest. There had been so many events recently and she wanted to lay down on her bed and sleep. Unfortunately there was still much to do.

After a few hours of walking, Shin Sumi found the western gate of the lower valley.

She took a deep breath through her nostrils. She had been gone for only three days and a half but it felt good to be back.

Shin Sumi didn't go directly back to her house but instead stopped at the Quests Pavilion.

Her first quest was to gather ten stalks of White Cloud Lotus flowers. She had picked up five times more than the requested amount. Luckily all the quests involving numbers were implicitly stating 'at least the amount indicated' and the more items disciples could gather, the better.

Inside the Pavilion, Shin Sumi walked to one of the many counters where clerks received the returning disciples.

Shin Sumi put her identification medallion against the surface of a grey rock that resembled a tombstone.

Thankfully the stone shone indifferently for every talent level and Shin Sumi kept her cover.

Taking out all the White Cloud Lotus flowers from her bag, the clerk looked at the counter with wide open eyes.

Before, he had simply been doing his job without the slightest expression of interest. Now that Shin Sumi had revealed more than fifty stalks of White Cloud Lotus flowers, he was definitely impressed.

"Fellow disciple, can I ask you your name ?" he said.

"My name is Sumi, from the Shin family. What is yours, brother ?" replied Sumi. She didn't understand why the clerk would be interested, but she decided to play along.

"This one's name is Lu Dong. Sister Shin, where did you find that many White Cloud Lotus flowers ?"

Shin Sumi furrowed her brows. Showing a complicated expression on her face, she answered hesitantly.

"Well... Brother Lu, sorry if it seems rude but I can't tell you. Besides it wouldn't even matter. I was simply struck by chance and found these flowers randomly while I was in the training grounds."

Shin Sumi didn't look like it but she was angry on the inside. "So he was just greedy after all."

If she hadn't been instructed by Xiao Yue previously, Shin Sumi may have answered Lu Dong. But now she realized that the clerk obviously wanted to harvest the flowers himself.

White Cloud Lotus flowers were Yin type spirit plants. They weren't too rare but because they required dense Yin Shinsoo concentration to grow they were hard to find. Most of the time disciples would be lucky to find one or two stalks. Fifty at the same time was very unlikely.

To Lu Dong it seemed like Shin Sumi really had struck gold. When the stone had scanned her medallion, it had revealed that it was her first quest, thus leading to Lu Dong to try to bamboozle her.

"Can I have my rewards now ?" Shin Sumi said with a serious face. She didn't seem threatening at all but she was serious enough to change the clerk's attitude.

"Sorry Sister Shin. Here."

Lu Dong pressed a special jade against the stone. Nobody under the Core Development Realm could feel it but the spirit automaton of the Quests Pavilion woke up. It scanned the pile of White Cloud Lotus flowers stalks, imprinting the number in its records and giving Shin Sumi her rewards.

Her identification jade flashed briefly.

Shin Sumi didn't have the power to read what was imprinted on her medallion, having not reached Shinsoo Gathering. Instead she had to go to one of the many test stones around.

They were called test stones because they looked exactly like the second trial to enter the Dark Sky Starry Sect but the way they worked was fundamentally different.

Once pressed on the surface, an identification jade's information was displayed on the surface of the stone. It worked with some kind of magic Shin Sumi didn't understand.

Reading only the concerned information, the screen displayed:

"Shin Sumi, Honorary level, status points: 300."

Shin Sumi calculated quickly in her mind. "The reward for ten stalks was a hundred status points. That means the additional plants are worth five points each."

It wasn't bad for a first quest. In fact if was an impressive score for a disciple with only mortal aptitudes.

That also meant she could exchange her status points for three low grade spirit stones. Doing that would put her back to zero points but for Shin Sumi that was perfect.

The spirit stones exchange took place at the Cultivation Resources Pavilion.

When Shin Sumi walked out of the Pavilion she had just put her spirit stones in the bag of holding at her waist. This time she wouldn't have the nut refine them, she had a better idea.

She had started to conceive her plan when Xiao Yue caught her going to the second floor of the Quests Pavilion.

Her sister had asked her if she had a confusion treasure to cheat the spirit automaton of the Pavilion.

A confusion artefact was very useful when one wanted to disguise their cultivation or appearance. And Shin Sumi knew exactly where to find them.

The day was coming to an end when she reached the market streets. The place was busy as always and Shin Sumi was walking leisurely in the talisman area.

There, disciples would buy all sorts of talismans, yellow papers imbued with a Shinsoo spell. The most sought after were the strength talismans without a doubt.

Just like Jun Qian had used when Shin Sumi first saw him, speed talismans were also of the kind that sold out the fastest.

They were very useful in combat or during training sessions in the jungle. There were many dangerous spirit beasts with power exceeding that of a mortal and the rewards for their head was above average. Low level disciples that couldn't rely on their own aptitude could tackle them with the use of one or two talismans.

Shin Sumi though wasn't after these star products. After looking around for a while she hadn't found any confusion talisman.

"If there were some here, they are sold out. Maybe I'll have more luck in the pill area." she said a bit disappointed.

But luck was indeed on her side and she only had to look at two stalls to find what she was looking for.

The shop owner was a middle aged red robed disciple of the Pill Pavilion and exhibited proudly a pin in the form of a cauldron on his robes. Seeing Shin Sumi interested in his goods, he explained "I see Sister had good eyes! This is a Common rank good grade Confusion Spirit Pill. It was made by my master Cloud Cauldron, and it is part of his latest batch!"

Shin Sumi was a bit confused "Rank? Grade? Cloud Cauldron? What does that all mean?" she asked herself with a puzzled face. The disciple in front of her immediately saw her expression. He was waiting for a more impressed reaction but the red robed girl seemed new around here. Who hadn't heard about his master?!

"You don't need the pills to appear confused, Junior Sister" he said with a smile and a wink. Shin Sumi's eyebrows turned into two crescents high above her eyes. The disciple started laughing "It is a joke hahaha I am sorry. Let me explain."

His pick-up line had failed miserably and Shin Sumi didn't even realize it was one. The middle aged man was dejected at first but his eyes were shining as soon as he started his explanation. It was clear that he was very passionate about pill concocting and apothecary disciplines.

"The spirit pills are classified into four ranks which are Common, Earthly, Heavenly and Immortal. For each rank the grades can be low, normal, good or high. Only a master apothecary like master Cloud Cauldron can produce pills above the Common rank normal grade! The purity of the effects essence of these pills is exponentially better than in normal grades. It is also a little more pricey because of how difficult the process to make higher grade pills is."

It was the first time Shin Sumi had heard about that. She was starting to realize that the information in the newcomer's guide was lacking in many aspects.

It was also the first time she heard someone be referred to with a daoist name. In her mind, only the people that had been banned or disowned by their family would use something other than their birth name.

Shaking her head mentally, Shin Sumi went back to the matter at hand. "How do the pills work, Senior Brother ?" she asked.

"Once you swallow that pill, your cultivation base will be undetectable by anyone under the Core Development stage for twelve hours guaranteed."

"Ah, it is not an appearance pill... Sorry to have bothered you Senior Brother" replied Shin Sumi, starting to turn around to look elsewhere.

"Junior Sister, wait! That is what you were after. So you want to change your facial features to be unrecognizable ? I have what you want" said the disciple hurriedly.

He fumbled under the table that made his stand and finally took out a wooden box with a triumphant expression.

"These pills do just that. They are Common rank normal grades, so their effect is limited to six hours approximately."

After he had explained everything about the pills themselves, the red robed man went on about how he didn't understand why Shin Sumi would want to hide her beautiful features. With a bit of disgust, Shin Sumi stopped listening and took a closer look at the pills.

The half a dozen pills in the wooden box were all similar. They were small white globes the size of a pinky nail. They had no fragrance and seemed totally ordinary. If Shin Sumi had had a bit of Shinsoo affinity, she would have sensed the tiny fluctuations around them. A small cloud was engraved on their surface, the mark of the master apothecary who concocted them, Cloud Cauldron.

She secretly rubbed the inside of her wrist. The nut appeared in her hand for a few seconds and disappeared when she pushed it back against the leaf pattern.

The little nut had not bitten her. At least she knew the pills were not dangerous.

"Alright then, I'll take them!" she said, interrupting his compliments that were quite creepy, frankly speaking.

"Oh? Perfect! The price is one spirit stone. For the whole box of course."

"One spirit stone?!" Shin Sumi couldn't help but gasp. It was way better than she had anticipated! She was wondering if she had enough with her three newly acquired stones to even buy one pill.

The stall owner's mouth distorted into a grimace. The sales had not been good recently and he absolutely needed more spirit stones. He was already lucky to find someone interested in the appearance pills.

"Alright, I'll throw in a normal grade cultivation base confusion pill. Don't make it too hard for me Junior Sister, I can't lower the price more you know?"

Shin Sumi wore a puzzled expression for half a second before smiling gently. They had both misunderstood each other but it turned out really well for her.

She was relatively new to all this and didn't know the value of Immortal items very well yet.

She took out a spirit stone and received her newly acquired pills. With a slight bow she turned and left, worried that the Pill Pavilion disciple would change his mind.

The sky was dark when she arrived at her courtyard. She had left it three days before but it seemed like an eternity to Shin Sumi.

"So many things happened in the last few days! Here little nut, eat this and I'm off to sleep."

The nut happily came out and swallowed the many pills as well as the two remaining spirit stones. The items disappeared one after the other as soon as they came into contact with the grey nut. It was done in a few seconds but Shin Sumi had already fallen asleep on her bed with a smile on her face.

Her dreams that night were filled with pictures of dark creatures with a thousand snake’s heads climbing an ancient tree big enough to cover the whole sky and more.

Although these dreams would be terrifying to anyone, Shin Sumi slept peacefully and rested until dawn.

She woke up just in time to see the nut produce the refined pills and spirit stones.

The new pills were perfectly round and the cloud engravings had disappeared. The pills were no longer white but glowed with faint colors, never setting onto one in particular.

Shin Sumi wondered what rank the pills were now. Because of the classification of pills she had learned about the day before, it was hard to say to which level the nut had refined them.

"Now they should be at least Common rank high grade, right ?" she asked herself.

It was pretty easy to tell according to the Shinsoo fluctuations emanating from them but sadly Shin Sumi didn't have the capacity for that.

That reminded her about the progress she had to make. Soon. Everything from the Yin Aperture Shinsoo Awakening technique to the most basic Shinsoo knowledge relied on her ability to use and feel the ambient Shinsoo. That was the same with understanding the little nut and finally getting to read Immortal books. All of that would come only if she reached Shinsoo Gathering.

Setting herself in a meditation posture on the stone bench, under the plum tree, Shin Sumi took out a high grade spirit stone and started to cultivate.