The Gold Tyrant Flying Sword came out of her bag of holding with no prompt from its master.

Shin Sumi was flabbergasted. "What the..?" was the only thing that escaped her lips.

"The sheer quality of the Shinsoo in this place is already burning, I don't want to have to deal with that sword! What's happening?"

She followed the last afterimages left by the sword as it escaped her view by plunging down towards an invisible abyss behind a small rock formation.

As she crept closer to where the Gold Tyrant Flying Sword disappeared, a large pool of red light slowly came into view.

Its light wasn't intense but it burned her retinas with every pulse.

"It's a source of Shinsoo!! I can't even look straight at it! And the light pulsating that even the Copper Bell can't tone it down, it has reached the point where Shinsoo becomes visible... To think that such a place would be accessible to us disciples!"

It was a known fact that dimensional pockets of space had a finite level of energy contained within them. Depending on the size of the space, the number and quality of sources could change drastically.

At her level, of course, Shin Sumi didn't know much about all that. But even she could tell that an insane amount of Shinsoo had to be used, and that an insane amount of it came from this very place.

"So when the source dries up, the whole dimension will collapse and disappear, right?" she asked the little nut, who remained silent and motionless.

Shielding her eyes with her fingers as much as she could, she stole another glance at the magical red lake of pure Shinsoo, "but now, where is my sword?!"

After a few attempts that left bright spots on her eyes even when closed for a long time, she finally spotted a golden line in the middle of the surface of the pool.

It was strange because with the intensity of the light, the sword handle that had been forged out of a Stone Leaf Tortoise's spine should have appeared black or at least very dim. But it was bright as well, or rather it looked like it was absorbing the light of the lake.

Upon seeing the blade of the weapon completely submerged beneath the glowing substance, Shin Sumi instantly gave up on climbing down closer to retrieve it.

Her skin was burning with a pain she had never felt before, she could barely even open her eyes. She couldn't even imagine what would happen if she were to directly touch the source.

Instead she retreated back a couple steps, at least until the rock formation kept the glow hidden from direct view. She sat down where it was only slightly uncomfortable and started cultivating, absorbing some of the glow with each breath.

Soon, non-corporeal tendrils of red pulsation could be seen entering her nostrils and her mouth, deep in a trance state.

***

The Elders had given up on trying to peek at the lone green dot on the map. Regularly someone would try, but they would only get a regurgitation of blood in the process, trying to hide it and give up on scanning Shin Sumi's location.

After all, the green dot hadn't moved for almost a month. Many other colored dots had grown closer to the center of the map, with a single yellow one even reaching as far as the second circle.

"Jun Qian is the number one disciple under the Liquid Realm, as predicted. With that green kid out of the way, it becomes obvious from anyone to see."

"Elder Xang is right. He will probably be the one to reach the exit first. I heard that he was already really close to crossing the threshold into the Liquid Realm. When he does, nothing in the trial will keep him from success."

Jun Qian was the talk of all the Elders. Him, Tai Bu, and Sui Lin were commonly known as the big three, but even then Jun Qian was far above the other two.

Tai Bu had managed to catch up with most of the yellow dots a couple weeks prior, earning the satisfaction of his master, Elder Peng who was glad his personal disciple wasn't out of the game.

Tai Bu had seemingly learned from his past mistake, as he left alone most of the disciples he crossed path with. Instead he concentrated on getting used to the pressure on the surface of the floating continent fast.

***

A few hundred meters from Tai Bu, Xiao Yue was sitting cross legged, with one eye opened in the direction of the yellow robe in the distance.

Kan Xi, unaware of the possible danger, was doing her best to adapt quickly to the environment.

Because of the color of their robes, the two girls had easily avoided unnecessary fights. After all, what red talented disciple in their right mind would attack two girls with a better talent than them?

The same way, no other orange robes had approached them. Another dissuading fact was Xiao Yue herself. She was well known across the lower valley and her name was on the Quest Pavilion's Ranking list almost every months since she had joined the Dark Sky Starry Sect.

She was widely considered as the closest one could get of the yellow robes. What she lacked in natural talent with Shinsoo she made up for with experience, resourcefulness and a smart mind.

With a small flash of light, she took out a normal looking flying sword and put it on her lap.

It was just a simple act, but she hoped that Tai Bu would sense it. It was basically saying "if you come closer, you might defeat us but we won't go down without a fight!"

She knew all too well about Tai Bu's master's gifts. The boy was already strong by himself but the Flaming Whip always left a big impression on the other disciple's mind.

Xiao Yue had no idea how to even go about dealing with the frightening whip.

Luckily Tai Bu kept quiet and on his side of the hill. As soon as he was used to the pressure enough, he left as swift as the wind in the direction of the giant pillar of light marking the exit of the trial.

Xiao Yue relaxed and sighed in relief. She put away her sword and turned to look at Kan Xi.

"Are you good now?" she asked, referencing the ambient pressure.

"Yea.. Yeah I think I am good enough to go."

"Great," said Xiao Yue, "listen Kan Xi, I think it's best for us to split. The whole point of this Rising Star Tournament is to make us Honorary Disciples breakthrough to the Liquid Realm. But more than just that it is an incomparable opportunity to get first hand experience."

A sad look flitted briefly through the eyes of the girl but was soon replaced by understanding and resolve.

Xiao Yue continued "This entire place is filled with premium grade Shinsoo, so even just standing here will help you greatly assimilate more energy. According to the techniques I passed on to you, you should be able to breakthrough easily once you open your Shinsoo Openings."

"I will do my best. I promise I won't disappoint you, Big Sister Xiao!"

"If you run into trouble, you know how to contact me. If I'm close-by I'll come and help but don't rely on it. In this dimension the Divine Sense messages don't reach as far as outside."

To that, Kan Xi's reply surprised Xiao Yue greatly.

"Have you not been able to contact the person you are seeking?"

Her voice was soft and contained confidence. She had noticed the way Xiao Yue would look into the distance, searching for something but without success.

Xiao Yue's eyes turned warmer than before, and she answered in a whisper.

"Indeed. I will introduce her to you once this is all over. You are a good person Kan Xi, stay safe."

Kan Xi bowed down low as a way of thanking her for her help since the beginning of the trial. Xiao Yue bowed her head rapidly in response and finally left.

As soon as she was out of Kan Xi's field of vision, her expression changed.

Xiao Yue took a red colored pill from her bag of holding and put it in her mouth. It dissolved quickly and left a salty taste on her pink tongue and lips. She licked them while smiling.

She felt the surge of energy almost instantly. After a few flashes of light, she was now wearing a thin silvery necklace, and wielded a sword in each hand. After having to slow down for so long to ensure Kan Xi followed her, now she could finally use her full power to do what she loved.

Exploring and fighting.

***

The yellow robed young man who had seen the cloud of Moss Vampires escaping the tunnel was named Bai Xuengen. He was twenty three years old, which made him the current oldest yellow talented Honorary Disciple of the sect.

Because of how old he was when he was found by one of the Liquid Realm disciples patrolling around the sect, he hadn't found an Elder that was willing to make him his direct disciple.

After all, the younger the newcomer, the easier they were to shape into a promising cultivator.

But because of that, Bai Xuengen was used to training by himself and had a mindset very different from the likes of Tai Bu or Jun Qian.

When an opportunity arose, he always jumped on the occasion, slowly building his power over time.

It was the same this time with the Moss Vampires.

"I hate darkness" he snorted as he reached the bottom of the tunnel, "if I didn't catch these flying beasts escaping, I'm not sure I would have chosen to come down here."

Taking out a paper talisman from his bag of holding, he cast a spell that illuminated the cave around him in a twenty meter radius. That was only enough to reach one side of the hole at a time, and even the ceiling was hidden from his view.

The whole time he was climbing down, he held a spear in his hand, ready for any kind of attack. But no beast nor humans were present.

"Did all the creature leave at once? Someone must have scared them. I need to advance faster" he thought.

Bai Xuengen was only after one thing. A treasure. He knew better than anyone his own ability, and he was certain of his win against any red or orange disciple, but he wasn't sure about a confrontation with another yellow robed disciple.

Thus, he prefered to speed up his advance, just in case someone else wanted to explore this part of the land.

He soon arrived at the room where the statue of the old man had been found by Shin Sumi.

Exploring around it for the better part of an hour, he cursed when he only found empty space.

There was something of interest, a strange platform that looked like a tree stump and stuck out of the ground like a sore thumb, but he couldn't understand the reason behind it.

Maybe at some point an artefact had been there.

"It definitely looks like a pedestal of some sort. Whatever treasure was kept there has already been found! If only this shitty paper talisman could have had more reach, I wouldn't have lost this much time!"

Bai Xuengen hadn't seen anyone in the entrance to the cave and thus was certain that whoever took the treasure had left by another exit. Running back to the sharp wall where he had first seen many possible ways, he took out a golden compass.

The light of divination flashed briefly behind his closed eyelids and he took a sharp breath. This compass was his most treasured possessions that he had gotten as a reward for a particularly difficult quest.

It allowed his to enhance his senses to a point that could only be described as magical, allowing him to see things the naked eye couldn't. It was an invaluable object, but as a price, Bai Xuengen was forced to use a huge quantity of Shinsoo, even for a single second of divination.

After stabilizing his energy levels for short time, he ran into the opening on the rocky wall that he had seen thanks to the compass. The compass had never failed him.

Kilometers below, at the end of the tunnel next to the one he took, Shin Sumi opened her eyes.

***

Immersed in a trance state, Shin Sumi had no idea how much time had gone by. The only thing she knew was that she felt particularly good and that something was calling to her.

She opened her eyes slowly, afraid that they would start burning again because of the source of Shinsoo a few meters below, but none of the sort happened.

The light wasn't as bright anymore, and was pulsating more slowly. Her attention though was not focused on that. Her eyes were locked on the object floating in front of her.

The Gold Tyrant Flying Sword was levitating in front of her, as if in wait for her to grab its handle. And she did.

"The sword was calling to me... Has it finished absorbing Shinsoo from the source?" she asked herself.

She was still confused as to what that whole process was, but the dimming of the light could only mean two things. Either she had spent a long enough time in meditation to be completely used to the strength of the source, or her sword had absorbed an insane amount of Shinsoo from it, thus lowering the strength.

As soon as her hand touched the handle of the sword, and she circulated energy along her meridians, she knew it was a bit of both.

Her levels of Shinsoo were totally different from before!

"Forty Eighth Shinsoo Door?!!"

Unknowingly, she had opened more doors during her trance! Now there were only sixteen levels left in order to reach the perfect cultivation, the Sixty-Four Doors.

But her bewilderment was interrupted by something else. A call from the sword prompted her divine sense to enter the blade.

"The Five Veins of Hell Fire: first tempering done."

Suddenly it all made sense. Shin Sumi had found a Vein of Hell Fire!

"So what I called a source of Shinsoo was actually one of the five veins! Now I understand why this was the trial imposed by Big Brother Fen on the sword, and why it was important to reach it during the Rising Star Tournament!"

"Five Veins, five zones on this continent. Got it. Thanks the Heavens, this is better than any treasure!"

Shin Sumi was overjoyed. Due to sheer luck, or fate, she had managed something incredible once again. Not only did she find what she wasn't even looking for, she managed to use it to refine her sword as well as open two more Shinsoo Doors.

Before leaving, she tried to assimilate more Shinsoo from the Vein, but quickly saw that it somehow wasn't possible. It didn't bother her much, as she would probably be able to absorb more energy if she found the other four Veins.

Besides, they would probably suffice to open all the Doors, coupled with the Stone Leaf Tortoise green core, and reach the Liquid Realm.

One thing was for sure, she couldn't risk breaking through before she had completed the sword's task, just in case it meant the end of the Tournament for her.

Putting the now inanimate sword back in her bag of holding, Shin Sumi retreated her steps in the tunnel, planning to get out of the cave as soon as possible, now that she had a new goal.

She had almost reached the room with the five openings when sounds of battle reached her ears.

"Someone came down here! Did they go through another door?" she asked herself, but the answers came naturally.

Without a doubt, the clang of metal and muffled grunts came from the opening right next to the one leading to the Vein of Hell Fire.

Cautiously, she peeked through the passage and advanced, her feet as silent as possible, even though it was probably unnecessary with the fight going on anyway.

Bai Xuengen was the origin of the ruckus, or more precisely, his spear was. In front of him, a stone golem about four meters tall was meeting his every attack with a short sword not even a tenth of his own weapon.

A moving statue that big was ridiculously large with such a weapon in hand, but the fluidity of its movement were on a completely other level.

At a single glance it was obvious that Bai Xuengen was being pushed back by the golem. From where his left hand gripped the spear, blood was trickling, staining both his robes and weapon.

A deep cut on his upper arm was visible whenever he parried to the side, which was probably the reason he was slowly losing.

The golem rumbled and its long arm swept in front of him, aiming for the legs of the young man. The latter avoided the blow by spinning backwards in the air.

For a second mid-flight, a red robed figure appeared in his field of vision.

As soon as he touched the ground, he went back into assaulting the golem while shouting.

"Get out of here! Leave and you'll be safe! The treasure is a trap. As soon as I tried to get my hands on the dagger, the rocks moved and now I'm stuck fighting them! Red robes have nothing to do here, go back to the surface!"

Shin Sumi understood immediately. She wasn't going to risk her life to get a short sword. The Gold Tyrant Flying Sword in her arsenal was definitely better.

She shrugged her shoulders in indifference and turned around.

She left as quietly as she had come, not bothering herself with matters that didn't concern her.

A scream echoed through the tunnels right as she was questioning her sense of guilt.

From the sound of it, it was clear that Bai Xuengen had received another wound. Without delaying a second longer, Shin Sumi rushed back towards the source of battle.