Shin Sumi was almost sure of her theory. The Liquid Pellet was certainly a trap to steal her talent.

As she understood it, a normal Liquid Pellet had the capacity to attract a lot of ambient Shinsoo in the body of the cultivator that had ingested it. It was a genuine Immortal medecine giving a disciple more chance of success in their breakthrough.

It wasn't until the official announcement was made in the sect that Shin Sumi's suspicions gained more substance.

The day following her visit to the Affairs Pavilion, a loud crystalline sound rang in the entire sect, seemingly coming from everywhere at once. Shin Sumi who was at the North Cultivation Plaza lifted her head at the same time as everyone.

It sounded exactly like the plucking of a string on a zheng. Shin Sumi remembered her teacher from East Seaside Village displaying such an instrument once for a wedding ceremony. The only difference with now is that it almost seemed like she was standing inside the wooden cavity of the musical instrument.

The pure note resounded for an entire thirty breath cycle before it stopped. During the whole time, Shin Sumi couldn't help but close her eyes and smile.

Only the Liquid Realm disciples and the Honorary Disciples that had been in the Dark Sky Starry Sect for years recognized the treasured artefact of the sect leadership, the Star Zheng.

That special zheng had been one of the only mortal possessions that the founder of the sect brought with him when he entered the Immortal world.

Through all his life, he had been often seen meditating while playing heavenly music. His melodies were known all over the continent in the different cultivator sects that he had visited.

According to the legends that were passed down through each generation to the Liquid Realm disciples, after his passing, the founder's zheng gained a spirit of its own, turning from a mortal object into a magical artefact of incredible power.

Nowadays, it was said that the Star Zheng's sound was so powerful that it could make the disciples of the Dark Sky Starry Sect be twice as strong in battle while making the enemies of the sect cower in fear.

As Shin Sumi had felt it within her heart, even a single note lasting for a few seconds was powerful enough to ring through the entire sect and to raise everybody's spirits.

Shouts from the eldest disciples could be heard everywhere, their effervescence proving the caliber of the call.

"It's the Star Zheng! The Patriarch is going to speak!"

"The Star Zheng! I never thought I would hear it twice in my life!"

"The Star Zheng is the protector spirit of the sect! My cousin Bai who is in the Liquid Realm told me. Something important is going to happen!"

Conversations were bubbling up everywhere around Shin Sumi. They only died when a warm and powerful voice started talking.

Using the Star Zheng and his own cultivation base as a medium the Core Development leader of the sect, Patriarch Sen, spoke.

"Honorary Disciples of the mighty Dark Sky Starry Sect, hear my words. Thirty days from now will begin the greatest event of your generation. A grand trial by fire will be held, every disciple who has at least reached the Shinsoo Gathering stage is free to participate. You will be transported to the special training grounds of the sect that is normally reserved for the Inner Disciples of the Liquid Realm.

"The goal of the trial by fire is to show your prowess before your peers and prove your worth! The first two hundred disciples to pass will be offered an Inner Disciple immortal cave in the upper valley. The first twenty will receive rewards from the sect reserve as well as a direct tutelage under a Core Development Elder.

"All disciples that wish to compete are required to stand on one of the two cultivation plazas thirty days from now. All of you should now resume cultivation. The sect expects great things from you."

And just like that the voice stopped.

There was a lot to take in. The disciples around Shin Sumi kept silent for a few more seconds before the generic crowd burst with excitation!

"Waaaah! I knew something epic was going on!"

"A training session in the Inner Disciples training grounds?! Can you imagine how effective cultivating there would be!"

"After being stuck for years in Shinsoo Gathering, I, Yun Kei, will finally be able to achieve the Liquid Realm!"

"Forget about the Liquid Realm brother Yun, I will place in the top two hundred for sure!"

Shin Sumi looked around at the public excitement. Even she couldn't help but be a little excited although she already knew the general lines.

Something bothered her though. Patriarch Sen had omitted the fact that it was all in preparation for a war to come.

Sighing, she said to herself "I guess that is the way of cultivation. That should be expected from every cultivator."

Soon most disciples left the North Cultivation Plaza. From high up in the skies above the lower valley, lines of disciples could be seen on the stone paths leading to the different training grounds.

Everybody was on their way to prepare for the trial by fire to come.

***

"Rising Star Tournament... I bet she is the real rising star expected by the sect..."

In the abandoned courtyard that she and her followers frequently occupied, Chu Erlong was mumbling to herself.

"What did you say, Big Sister Chu?"

The three red robed followers had turned to look at their leader. Chu Erlong dispersed the long black hair that obscured her pretty face.

"Nevermind. You too should go into secluded meditation. You can occupy this place."

"What about you Big Sister Chu? Are you not excited about this Rising Star Tournament? Had Great Elder Chu told you already? You didn't seem too surprised to hear the announcement."

Chu Erlong smiled with a hidden sadness. She lifted her head towards the sky. The neverending white clouds reflected dazzlingly on her bright orange dress, making her look like a precious flower.

Liu Qing's eyes wandered for a second on Chu Erlong's colorful complexion. As her most confident follower, she already knew what she would answer to Fan Jue.

"My grandfather had indeed told me about the tournament. It is simply that I now realized something" she added. Jumping to her feet with grace, Chu Erlong stood up. When she looked back down, her face was an unreadable mask again.

What was on her mind, nobody knew but her.

***

High above the clouds, on the tallest peak of the Dark Sky Starry Sect, a lone figure all dressed in white was walking with slow steps up a long staircase.

Despite his apparent youth and vigor, each step was difficult for him and seemed to take every bit of mental focus he could muster.

The pressure on the Patriarch's mountain was hard to endure for a Liquid Realm Disciple, even for the Patriarch's direct disciple.

"Junior Fen Wudao reports to master Sen!" he announced with a voice amplified by Shinsoo.

"Come in and have tea with me" replied a voice from inside the building in front of him.

Fen Wudao quickly wiped the sweat from his brows with the back of his white sleeves.

"You wanted to see me, master?"

"Yes Wudao. I want to know what you think about that protegee of yours."

Fen Wudao's eyes looked in the distance in confusion for a split second before coming back to the old man sitting at the tea table.

Every time Fen Wudao came here by orders of the Patriarch, he was caught in amazement by the place. The building in itself wasn't particularly impressive, but everything inside was.

A myriad of spirit plants exhumed a fragrance that was beneficial for cultivation. An oil painting on the wall seemed to come to life every time someone looked at it. Even the tea table was slightly pulsing with a shining light.

"Well?" the old man insisted with a warm but strict tone. Fen Wudao opened his mouth. This time he didn't lapse because of the Immortal paradise displayed in front of him but because he was deep in thoughts.

"This junior is confident that master if referring to Yan Yan."

"Yan Yan, Shin Sumi, call her however you want. I see you have taken the liberty to give her that precious sword of yours" replied Patriarch Sen.

Fen Wudao was relieved to know that his master was aware of the double identity of the girl he had brought back to the sect himself.

Patriarch Sen seeing how embarrassed his disciple was after his last sentence didn't let him reply. It was true that it sounded more like an accusation.

"Good, good. Very good. What are your thoughts on her capacity to use the sword?"

Fen Wudao answered with complete honesty.

"I think she may be able to reach the second challenge of the sword before the end of the tournament. As for the third one... she will undoubtedly have already become an Inner Disciple before reaching that level. Does master think I should have been more lenient on the challenges?"

Patriarch Sen shook his head negatively.

"No it is a good way to make her reach her true potential. From what I've seen she should be close to completing the first challenge by now. Surely you kept the same first trial as you had when I gave you the sword?"

His question was rhetorical. Patriarch Sen knew his disciple very well.

"In that case I have already helped her figure out the clue to the first challenge. Although I'm not sure if she hadn't realized it before I even saw her."

Fen Wudao was puzzled. His master going to see an Honorary Disciple in person?! How was that fact kept secret? In the sect, the public appearance of the Patriarch was very rare. The number of disciples below the Liquid Realm that have actually seen him could be counted on the fingers of one hand.

Reveling in the puzzled expression of Fen Wudao, Patriarch Sen took his time before explaining.

"Just like I approached you years ago, 'Elder Xi' payed a visit to the Myriad Sword Pavilion."

Fen Wudao immediately understood. At the time when he had just reached the Liquid Realm and taken off his yellow robes, it had taken him a while to figure out who that mysterious 'Elder Xi' that had given him the Gold Tyrant Flying Sword was.

***

Xiao Yue was already in front of Shin Sumi's courtyard when she got back from the North Cultivation Plaza.

The two girls had met right after Patriarch Sen's announcement. They didn't have to send each other a message via jade slip, they both knew they were going to meet.

"Such an important announcement, I have to talk to her" they had both thought in unison.

As they had been undressing to bathe, Xiao Yue's piercing gaze had read Shin Sumi's mind.

"You already knew about the Rising Star Tournament?" she asked.

Not wanting to hide anything more from her, Shin Sumi told her sister and friend everything that had occured the day before after she had left the training grounds.

She omitted the part where she fought to death with three disciples from the Affairs Pavilion. Unconsciously it was more in order to protect herself than to hide it from Xiao Yue.

Some things are better left silent.

Shin Sumi recounted the divine sense message, her meeting Elder Zhu again, the expectations of the sect regarding her and of course the Liquid Pellet.

When the last topic was brought up, Xiao Yue's eyes couldn't help but double in size. She was even almost panting a little.

Shin Sumi had naturally taken out the small black wooden box as she talked about it. She could sense an intense feeling of envy from Xiao Yue although the orange robed petite girl stayed quiet.

Xiao Yue was really a bit jealous. Shin Sumi had arrived relatively recently in the sect but it was clear how the administration up to the elders and the patriarch himself had clearly dotted on her.

"To even have a Liquid Pellet crafted personally for her..." she thought.

It was true that Xiao Yue was envious of all the good things that happened to her friend, and she would have been even more if she knew everything. But Xiao Yue wasn't the kind of person who would turn against those with better luck. In fact she was even more proud and happy for Shin Sumi than she was jealous.

Besides for the matter of the Liquid Pellet, there was another variable in the equation.

Elder Zhu himself had crafted it. Xiao Yue didn't know yet how it worked, Shin Sumi having stayed quiet about the bodies in the forest, but she could sense that something was off.

Past her first feelings of envy, the realization of the danger had struck her. Crystalline water droplets had flown all around when she jumped to her feet in the middle of the pond.

"Sumi promise me you will never consume this pellet! It is too dangerous. Who knows what the poisonous fangs of Elder Zhu might have done to the pill!"

Not wanting to back down without a promise, Xiao Yue made Shin Sumi promise. The girls were not experienced enough in cultivation to perform a dao oath, but Shin Sumi's words were coming from her heart and their importance was as tangible.

Once that was done, Xiao Yue had sat down again in the fresh water, a smirk on her face.

"What is it, Yue?" had asked Shin Sumi, "Why are you looking at me with a strange smile?"

"Hehehe, from now on you are forbidden to eat the Liquid Pellet made by Elder Zhu, but you can definitely have someone else eat it!"

It took a second for Shin Sumi to realize the meaning behind her cunning words.

"Think about it, it's the perfect trap and the perfect weapon! If ever you are in danger, nobody will think twice if you try to save yourself by giving away what you have. Even a Liquid Pellet. It is a miraculous medicine but it's definitely not worth losing your life over it."

Shin Sumi finished the explanation herself, "and whoever gets it will not be able to refrain from using it. Then whatever plan Elder Zhu has will be redirected to the enemy! Yue, you are brilliant."

Shin Sumi clapped happily with a honest smile, to which Xiao Yue replied with an exaggerated bow. Shin Sumi couldn't hold it and burst into laughter, soon followed by her sister.

As they practiced the Yin Aperture Shinsoo Awakening under the night sky, the girls made a silent promise.

"Whatever happens during the Rising Star Tournament, I will stay by your side."

At dawn, Xiao Yue left before Shin Sumi. She hugged her sister tightly. Apart from the one time Xiao Yue had been in training for a month and got injured, the girls had never stayed far away from each other for more than a few days in a row.

Now Shin Sumi knew that the next time they would see each other, they will both be standing on the platform of the North Cultivation Plaza, ready to enter the secret training grounds and begin the tournament.

It was time for Xiao Yue to go into secluded meditation to prepare her breakthrough to the Liquid Realm. One thing was on every participating disciple's mind. The sooner one broke through, the easier it was going to be to pass the trial.

Shin Sumi too was planning her training for the month to come.

Shin Sumi made one last scan around her small house and courtyard, putting every thing she owned in her bag of holding on her person at all times. She too would not come back for a month.

Along the path she took to reach the western gates, Shin Sumi appreciated the silence. The lower valley was usually bustling with incessant activity, if not crowded, but this time it was empty.

Every Honorary Disciple of the Dark Sky Starry Sect was officially either in secluded meditation or out training in the wild.

Shin Sumi thanked the fact that Yan Yan had accumulated a good amount of spirit stones. She would at least maybe be able to open a few more Shinsoo passageways. The empty market was silent and desolate in a way she had never seen before.

"Everything is sold out. They all rushed to make preparations and buy whatever they could find. Pills, artefacts, weapons, paper talismans... You name it, it's gone" said a familiar voice behind Shin Sumi.

Lan Hui was standing there, his hands clasped in his sleeves. He looked peaceful compared to the excitement that had taken over the sect.

"Brother Lan, aren't you going into secluded meditation to prepare for the tournament?"

"I will be soon, once I'm done with all the work at the Affairs Pavilion. Did Elder Zhu request a meeting with you the other day?"

A look of worry flashed briefly on his face.

Shin Sumi told him in a few words what had happened, even made second promise to not consume the Liquid Pellet to calm her friend's anxiousness.

"Good. Good" said Lan Hui reassured. He turned around to leave but his mouth opened at the last moment.

"Sister Shin, I..." His voice died down soon after, unable to say what he wanted to. "Forget it. Good luck with your training!"

And Shin Sumi was alone again. There were thirty days left before the beginning of the Rising Star Tournament.