The tension around the tea table in the Affairs Pavilion garden was rising gradually. Despite Elder Zhu smiling in what looked like a sincere way, a formless pressure could be felt all around Shin Sumi, goosebumps involuntarily forming on her skin.

"Instead of making progress with your own cultivation, you found yourself having to look after talented disciples, still young and promising. But that is not enough now, is it?"

Shin Sumi's words were becoming harsher and harsher, further away than what was acceptable to say to a member of an older generation with each sentence. Nevertheless, Elder Zhu seemed overjoyed with her conclusions, each time making her continue to speak her mind.

"You are proficient in alchemy and making medicine, and you saw in your talent a way to change your fate. You devised a formula that would drain the recipient's cultivation base and transform it into a core."

Shin Sumi went on to justify her thoughts out loud, hoping that if she could get away from the situation with her life, she would need as much information as she could gather.

With a low voice, she exposed how she knew Elder Zhu had experimented for many years, including with Lan Hui.

At first, the experiments were only partial successes. Following the ingestion of such a core, the condensed cultivation base of an unlucky disciple, Lan Hui's own cultivation increased in a very short time, his talent having seemingly been given a second chance. That was until he met his cap and Elder Zhu found out that Lan Hui's original talent had been profoundly damaged.

That was the reason he would be stuck at the first step of the Liquid Realm forever, like Little Azu and probably many other failed experiments.

"But then you found what was missing in your formula, right?" asked Shin Sumi.

She was only based on conjectures, relying on Elder Zhu's nods and genuine approval, "Dang Chi must be one of your successes, right?"

Elder Zhu's surprised expression would have been comical, were it for any different situation. The Elder was genuinely surprised to hear Shin Sumi pronounce this name.

Dang Chi was the name of the desiccated corpse she had found three of Elder Zhu's goons burying in the training grounds. In the face of imminent death, she had battled it out with the three disciples until they all died by her hand, leaving her stomach churning till this day.

Elder Zhu broke the silence, "you were the anonymous person who dealt with Chao Ru, Chao Long and Dei Fong?"

It was Shin Sumi's turn to nod, "You didn't know it was me only because you were too excited to investigate. If my calculations are right, you had just perfected your ultimate weapon, the Liquid Pellet."

Elder Zhu had stopped smiling by now. More and more, Shin Sumi's words were turning him serious. At first he was praising her for her hindsight but he had only been given a preview of her knowledge of his actions. He was only now realizing that she knew a lot more than he had expected.

Not letting it show in the slightest, Zhu Yunhai was struggling internally. Had his actions been leaked to other Elders? To the Patriarch? Besides Shin Sumi and Lan Hui, who else knew of his dark tactics?

Not knowing about his internal questioning, Shin Sumi continued.

"You were one of the only people in the lower valley who knew I had a green talent. I am not even sure any other Elder knew about that fact, so it would have been easy to eliminate me and steal my talent. The perfect target. Am I right?"

Shin Sumi was now being downright provocative with Elder Zhu. If it was going to be her last moments in life, she didn't see any point in softening her words. And yet, somehow she felt strangely comfortable.

The longer as the situation lasted, the less threatened she felt, while at the same time Elder Zhu started to feel a strange anxiousness.

Somehow their positions were reversing, although only spoken words had been exchanged.

Shaking away his inexplicable feeling, Elder Zhu stood up abruptly and turned his back to Shin Sumi. Folding his hands in his sleeves, he asked in a solemn tone:

"Who else knows what I've been up to these last few years?"

Shin Sumi didn't answer. Spoken words could be powerful, but Elder Zhu was still a peak Liquid Realm cultivator whereas Shin Sumi was only on the second step of the same realm.

Silently, Shin Sumi sent a sliver of Shinsoo into her bag of holding. At the same time, Elder Zhu's hands started to glow a very dim white.

Both had felt the same change in atmosphere. Was it only due to Shin Sumi's words?

There were five more seconds of silence during which none of them moved in the slightest. The gentle waves of the Yin spiritual plants' leaves could almost be heard, before Zhu Yunhai's lips opened.

"I asked you a question, disciple Shin!"

Shin Sumi's eardrums vibrated strongly under the pressure of his Shinsoo-enhanced voice. Elder Zhu was using the same simple trick he had performed earlier when he forced her to advance instead of allowing her to flee.

But this time, besides the loudness of the voice, Shin Sumi didn't experience any restriction due to the higher level divine sense usage. Her own divine sense was not constrained in any way, as if the mental attack had been completely annihilated by something. Or someone.

Elder Zhu doubled his divine sense attack, all the while turning to face her. The glow on his hands reached out in front of him, a piercing ray of light attacking with shocking speed.

Shin Sumi evaded the first ray at the last second, taken by surprise by the sudden attack. Letting go of the Void Sword, the latter floated in the air around her, blocking the second ray while her hands joined together.

"Light of Fire Arcane: Dharma Pillar!" A bright red pillar of flames extended under Elder Zhu's feet, forcing him to jump out of Shin Sumi's technique.

Using the brief moment he was in the air, Shin Sumi grabbed hold of her flying sword, instantly unleashing power into it.

"Cleaving Meteor!!" Even without a blade, the Void Sword accelerated downwards, the strong cleaving power straight along Elder Zhu's trajectory.

"Hmpf. Too weak" Elder Zhu lifted his palm, the white glow now flattening in the form of a small shield. Against the strong Cleaving Meteor produced by the formidable Void Sword, the simplest of his defense techniques had actually broken the attack.

Cleaving Meteor's yellow light extinguished without a sound, Elder Zhu unscathed. That was the difference in strength between the two, a second step versus a peak Liquid Realm cultivation base.

Elder Zhu was getting serious. Despite having focused his cultivation on medicine and alchemy, his attacks were far more dangerous than most of what Shin Sumi ever experienced.

The old man was about to use another series of light techniques when he suddenly stopped himself.

"If I kill her now, I will never know who else I need to get rid of, let's not get carried away now" were his thoughts, and then out loud:

"I'll give you another chance, who else knows what I've done?"

His voice was strangely calm, as if he could reason with Shin Sumi at this point. Not giving in the slightest, Shin Sumi didn't answer, instead reaffirming the grip on her sword, waiting for the Elder's next unpredictable move.

Elder Zhu sighed loudly after a few seconds. He was in the process of opening his lips once more when a different voice appeared.

"Silence can speak more than words, Elder Zhu. Besides, why would my Junior Sister answer a living corpse's question?"

"FEN WUDAO?!" Elder Zhu blurted out, his light glow technique reappearing by reflex.

The figure dressed in white was standing on one of the roofs of the Affairs Pavilion, tall and proud. Elder Zhu's lips cracked a short smile after the initial surprise. Unlike his worst fears, the newcomer was only a disciple and not another Elder... or even stronger than an Elder.

"Two kids instead of one doesn't change the thread of fate" the old man said, all the while thinking to himself that something was different with Fen Wudao.

He had neither heard nor felt Fen Wudao approach, and the way the young man stood, his hair eerily floating in an unexisting breeze... Something about his air was strange.

"Senior Brother Fen" Shin Sumi was as confused as Elder Zhu, "what are you doing here?"

The relief could be heard in her voice. She still didn't understand how it was possible, but she now understood where her lack of feeling threatened came from. Despite his great age catching up to him, Elder Zhu was still a peak Liquid Realm cultivator.

Shin Sumi was only on the second step and even with the added help of Fen Wudao, the latter was only a fourth step cultivator.

There was no doubt about it, Elder Zhu's divine sense didn't lie, the young man's cultivation base only gave off traces of the fourth step.

But then Elder Zhu's face fell.

"Cultivation Release!" Fen Wudao slammed his open palm onto his belly right below the navel, where the dantian was located.

A formidable blast of energy spread out rapidly, a strong and intimidating divine sense immediately filling the small garden. Shin Sumi was overtaken by Fen Wudao's hidden strength in seconds. Even Elder Zhu had to take half a step backwards.

The strength of Fen Wudao's true cultivation base erupted fully. It wasn't as strong as Elder Zhu's but it came too close to it for Shin Sumi to tell the difference.

"Eighth step?!" Elder Zhu roared in disbelief. Things were turning out for the worst for him. Despite the difference of a single step, Elder Zhu was old and had had a bit of decline in strength recently, and Fen Wudao was a peerless genius unrivaled amongst his peers. Besides, Elder Zhu walked the path of alchemy and medicine, not barbaric fighting like him. Could he really beat him if he wanted to?!

"Don't agitate yourself like that, Elder Zhu, or you'll die from a heart attack. I am not going to face you" Fen Wudao said as he leapt from the roof to the garden, standing against a wooden pillar and crossing his arms. "My Junior Sister will be taking out the trash today. I will simply level the playing field."

"What?!"

"WHAT?!!"

Both Elder Zhu and Shin Sumi couldn't believe their ears. Did Fen Wudao just said he would leave the fight to Shin Sumi, after his big revelation and everything?

"Ah ah ahahah AHAHAHAHAHAHA" Elder Zhu broke up into laughter. It was the sad condemned laugh of a dying old man. Whatever he did after that point only had one possible ending.

Elder Zhu had just been sentenced to death, one way or the other. And yet, as the biggest affront that could have been done to him, Fen Wudao had decided to let the weak Shin Sumi battle him.

Him, an Elder of the mighty Dark Sky Starry Sect, transformed into a training dummy for his last battle?

Shin Sumi also understood at the same time. Fen Wudao wanted to train her by making her go against a much stronger enemy. Whether she managed to overpower Elder Zhu was almost irrelevant. The two of them combined, they were certain to beat him.

If Shin Sumi didn't manage to kill Elder Zhu, Fen Wudao would then join and finish the job. If Elder Zhu proved too strong from the get go, Fen Wudao had ways to make sure Shin Sumi was unharmed. And if by any chance Elder Zhu managed to overpower Fen Wudao as well, the other simply had to call Patriarch Sen for help.

All the possible outcomes ended with Elder Zhu losing to a bunch of kids.

After his crazed laughter of despair, Elder Zhu seemed to calm down. Once more the white light on his wrinkly hands ignited and his eyes focused on the girl in the red dress. He had to admit that his resignation to his fate was laced with admiration for the younger generation.

"You kids have ambition and cunning. It seems like Fen Wudao was hiding even more secrets than me. He wants to see how much progress you've made, Disciple Shin, I have to say I'm quite interested as well. Show us the full extent of your power!"

Roaring, Elder Zhu punched downwards with his white glow covered fist. As the ground transported an incredible shockwave, Shin Sumi felt the small earthquake growing more and more intense.

At the speed of thoughts, Shin Sumi told herself "Big Brother Fen showed himself before the fight escalated. That must have been in order to inform me that I was covered. So now is the perfect opportunity to go all out."

As the ground vibrated strongly, Shin Sumi was ready to finally enter the fight properly. Despite being weaker than Elder Zhu by almost a full Realm, she had two advantages.

Somebody had her back, and she had not only two but three Pavilion's teachings accompanying her.

Jumping in the air to avoid the moving ground, she spun onto herself and threw her sword straight at Elder Zhu. The shockwave passed below her feet, some spirit plants being uprooted in the process.

When she touched the ground, Elder Zhu had just managed to fend off the Void Sword. Not wasting any moment, Shin Sumi accelerated towards him.

"So far he has shown only ranged techniques. Maybe close combat is the way to go."

Shin Sumi managed to reduce the distance between them in half when Elder Zhu showed his teeth in a vicious smile. Pushing his hands against one another, he concentrated the Shinsoo in his body into his foot. A large formation sprang up below him, intricate symbols carving the soil with light.

"Tortoise Fortress!"

Turning the fresh soil into hardened earth, Elder Zhu conjured a massive wall between Shin Sumi and him. A fat tortoise was engraved on the wall, its lazy eyes seemingly looking at Shin Sumi as if to say "I'm impregnable".

Shin Sumi didn't let the tortoise or its wall bother her. Without stopping her momentum for a second, she amassed Shinsoo into her right fist.

"Shinsoo Fist of Thunder!"

Her fist crackled with tiny purple lightning bolts, sending a massive amount of energy from her fist to the wall in a single point of contact.

BOOM

The wall took the impact right on its center, sending the carving of the tortoise to the other world. Cracks spread out like a spider web along the entire surface, which had sunk into the wall by a few centimeters.

Shin Sumi was certain the wall had been obliterated, but she didn't have time to wonder why Elder Zhu had deployed a simple wall in the first place, as the old man's voice spoke from the other side.

"Blind Hedgehog Spikes."

Shin Sumi's fist was still going through the wall when Elder Zhu's technique attacked from the other side. Fast light bursts pierced the wall in multiple places, blindly aiming at Shin Sumi.

One such white light spike briefly illuminated her face, missing her eyes by a hair's breadth. Another hit her side, tearing her dress and taking a piece of her flesh with it.

"Urgh!" Shin Sumi clenched her teeth. She ignored the pain, her Shinsoo automatically stopping the loss of blood.

Thankfully it was only a flesh wound, having avoided her organs, but now she was furious. "I can also attack blindly from the other side of the wall!"

Using her divine sense and opening her hand in front of her, Shin Sumi called out to her sword via their mental link. With her other hand, she grabbed Sky Deception from her bag of holding, using the black blade to shield herself from any other light rays that would pierce the wall.

Ever since it was called the Gold Tyrant Flying Sword, Shin Sumi had used her primary sword in a most peculiar way, something she had never managed to do with Sky Deception. The Void Sword responded to her immediately. She had thrown it at Elder Zhu earlier and now she was calling it back.

Due to the intrinsic nature of the Void Sword, the blade was invisible but more importantly, the sword didn't leave any trace of divine sense.

Without feeling it coming and without having seen Shin Sumi call to it, the blade sliced Elder Zhu's arm, leaving a deep wound and earning a low cry from the pained old man.

Not stopping there, the Void Sword clashed against the remnants of the Tortoise Fortress, finishing the job Shin Sumi's Shinsoo Fist of Thunder had started.

Pieces of the wall fell down, turning back into the soil that had given it life earlier. Elder Zhu was holding his arm now rendered almost useless, the cut having severed many of his muscles in one fell swoop. As the Tortoise Fortress crumbled down, a red dressed girl appeared from behind it, holding a dark blade in one hand and a single handle in the other.

At this point in the fight, Fen Wudao was pleasantly surprised by Shin Sumi's ability to fight. He had not been present for the final fight of the Cross Branch Arena, but even then he would not have been satisfied. Bai Fulong was the disciple fighting in the Cross Branch Arena, but what he and the other Ghosts were interested in was Shin Sumi's true nature.

Now that she was free to fight using her pure instincts and not worrying about her apparent character, Shin Sumi was like a demon, brandishing two swords and unleashing techniques after techniques. Only Fen Wudao's concentration didn't waver for a single instant.

As he looked at the duel between her and Elder Zhu, he was holding onto his own sword, ready to enter the fray at any time. It looked like Shin Sumi now had the upper hand, but Elder Zhu was still an old practitioner at the peak of the Liquid Realm with maybe five times the amount of Shinsoo Shin Sumi possessed.

Shin Sumi's two swords crossed one another, producing two Cleaving Meteors at the same time, striking Elder Zhu from above.

Still holding his arm, the old man from the Affairs Pavilion didn't flinch. Barely looking at Shin Sumi's head-on assault, he opened his mouth and spat out a tiny globe.