"There is no bridge at all!"

Shin Sumi hadn't paid attention to it previously, but now that she thought about it she was certain not to have seen any bridge from her previous vantage point.

"That's not possible, are all the inhabitants of this village supposed to fly over the lake? What about the children?"

Contrarily to her Big Brother Fen Wudao, Shin Sumi didn't have any flying artefact she could use.

She eyed the island and its buildings from the bank, confusion rising more and more with each second.

Shin Sumi had wanted to explore that small cultivator village, maybe trade a little bit but mostly she needed it to get directions to the Sky Earth Sect.

She was about to give up on the village altogether when her divine sense finally picked up something that filled her up with hope.

"A Shinsoo gate! Of course, there is no better way to ensure that the bridge wouldn't be discovered by mortals" she nodded silently as she poured some energy into the small raised stone on the bank.

Shin Sumi couldn't see the formation used on the raised stone but she was almost certain she had learned that type of formation back in the sect. It was a way to funnel and concentrate one's Shinsoo, usually to power something from a distance.

After enough energy left Shin Sumi's hand for the stone stele, a satisfying click came from below her feet, followed by a dozen other similar sounds across the water of the lake.

Tiles rose from invisible pillars, forming a path right at the surface of the lake. Hesitantly at first, Shin Sumi stepped on the first one to make sure it wasn't a trap, before walking forward more and more confidently.

The lake surrounding the village was large, almost a kilometer on each side. Much larger than the village, it was practically impossible for a mortal to see the small island clearly. Even from the mountains the village would probably appear too small.

Because the Shinsoo gate was openly placed on the bank of the lake, free for any cultivator to use, Shin Sumi had immediately guessed that she would be welcome there, unlike non-cultivating folk.

The moment she left the last tile and stepped on the island, another series of clicks ran along the bridge which disappeared promptly afterward.

"The formation powering the bridge is half-automated," she appreciated the craftsmanship one last time before turning to face the first buildings.

The village was called Long Ring Island. It consisted of only a few dozen buildings, all of different sizes and shapes.

As she was walking along one of the four main streets leading to the central plaza, Shin Sumi relaxed more and more.

She crossed paths with a few inhabitants walking leisurely by themselves. Nobody seemed to mind her presence and they all saluted her with a slight bow even though she was a foreigner to them.

She returned their salutations in silence, still looking around. She didn't want to look like she was snooping around suspiciously but something about the atmosphere in the village felt weird.

Shin Sumi looked at the buildings up until the plaza when she finally realized what felt strange to her.

None of the buildings had front doors. All of the constructions were completely open.

"Have the people here never heard of theft?" she asked herself but she knew there was more to it.

She reached the familiar ambiance of a small town market, the center of all life in small communities. Markets were the main source of social contact, that much remained true whether in the mortal realm and small towns like East Seaside Village or in cultivation communities like the Dark Sky Starry Sect valleys.

Resources like spirit creatures, fruits and plants filled the air with a fragrant mix that made her Shinsoo Sea swell and bubble. A merchant eyed her with a smile and started his haggling routine, pointing at his array of multicolored fish.

Shin Sumi politely declined, "at least for now" as she thought, the sight of a Deep Green Bass making her think of at least a dozen delicious meals she could make

After the food section, the market continued with all sorts of different items.

Cauldrons and apothecary tools for crafting medicine, pills and bottles of concoctions. Two young people were chatting amongst themselves, discussing which product would be better to treat a specific ailment or injury.

According to her divine sense, the two must have been in the late Liquid Realm with cultivation bases close to Fen Wudao's.

"If you trust my judgement, you both should invest in all the pills in my stand" an old looking gentleman on the other side of the stand added his words to the conversation. The man looked old enough to be Shin Sumi's grandfather and painted the perfect picture of a grumpy senior.

Nevertheless, Shin Sumi knew not to completely trust her eyes. Her divine sense couldn't tell her the man's cultivation level precisely, only that he was much, much, stronger than she was.

"What are you going on about, Old Zihan? Not the 'doom' again, is it?" one of the young man asked, air-quoting the word 'doom' with his fingers as he rolled his eyes.

"Oh you can trust my judgment this time. My connections in Sky Earth City keep telling me to be careful."

Not bothering the three people discussing, Shin Sumi turned to the stand next to them. Strangely enough nobody seemed around to tend to the goods, leaving her free to look around and eavesdrop on the conversation to the side.

She had never heard the words 'Sky Earth City' in this manner, but considering how she was looking for directions to the Sky Earth Sect, the subject of the conversation could only interest her.

"Are all the merchants in Sky Earth City as crazy as you then?" one of the two young men teased the merchant, "Is that what that means?"

Old Zihan furrowed his brows, feigning to reach for a cane to beat the young man with, but with laughter in his eyes.

"Seriously though, you two be careful not too go too far south these next few months. And tell that to miss Ling as well."

The two young men picked up medicinal pills and dropped a few spirit stones each on the merchant's table before turning and waving their hands, half dismissing the man's concerns and half saying goodbye.

Slowly, Shin Sumi detached herself from the next stand to circle back to the old man's pills and bottles. She was looking at a strange wooden box which smelled of rotten meat when she felt the man's eyes on her.

"You're not from around here. Welcome to Long Ring Island," he greeted her warmly while his divine sense scanned her briefly but respectfully, "Liquid Realm second step? Third step? No matter what you're looking for, I have it!"

Shin Sumi thanked him for his welcome, before adding "What can I use to help break through to the third step?"

Smiling wildly, the man pointed at a few items of his shop, listing them out loud.

As Shin Sumi was inspecting each and every one of them, the man froze when she casually asked "So, trouble is coming from the Sky Earth Sect's side?"

"..."

"I heard you talk about it and I have plans to go there in a few days..."

"I've got nothing to say. In fact I'm pretty sure my old wife is calling me. I should go" the merchant interrupted her.

With a swoop of his sleeve, the man cleared the table from all of his goods. A blur later, he was gone, his cultivation base too strong and his speed too high for Shin Sumi to follow.

Shin Sumi remained frozen in place for a few seconds, an expression of confusion plastered on her face.

"What just happened?" she asked herself.

As soon as she had mentioned the Sky Earth Sect, the merchant had spared no effort in leaving without a word. Even though they were just discussing the topic a few seconds before.

"And he was so welcoming at first too..."

Seeing how the merchant had fled, taking with him all the resources she was potentially interested in buying, Shin Sumi left his stall and kept browsing the market. Reflecting on how she should approach the subject more subtly, she made her way to another section of the plaza.

"Techniques and formations" she read on a small banner floating above a large stand, "Maybe I'll find more information there."

In total, only a dozen or so merchants were present, about half of the full capacity of the market plaza judging by the empty stands.

The one with the banner she had read was easily one of the biggest stands she had ever seen. It even had a small roof above the table of goods, a luxury the others didn't seem to have.

"Hey there, young lady! Are you interested in techniques to add to your knowledge?"

Shin Sumi was tempted to say yes but Nuan chose this exact moment to flash out of her wrist and climb her shoulder.

"Hoo, hello little fellow, do you want my scrolls as well? Ah-ah-ah!"

"Sorry about her, she tends to come out whenever she pleases. Here Nuan, have a piece of fruit but don't bother Senior Merchant, okay?"

With Nuan out, Shin Sumi couldn't risk asking to read the scrolls the man had displayed in front of her. If Nuan were to steal the information he was selling, turning scrolls into blank parchments, the whole situation would turn sour really fast.

"I am simply going to look around for now, sir, if that is okay."

"Ah-ah of course it is. Look all you want, I won't disappear suddenly like Zihan," he pointed to the empty stall where the pills merchant had been a few minutes prior, "He is a good fellow but he tends to do that sometimes. Don't take it to heart though, he is bad with unfamiliar people in general, not just you."

Shin Sumi's brows made a gentle surprised arc on her forehead. So the man hadn't fled because of her asking!

For a moment, Shin Sumi had thought the topic of the sect nearby was sort of a taboo for the people here. Trying her luck once more, she asked the merchant:

"Do you happen to sell information as well as scrolls?"

Lifting one side of his mouth in a curious smile, the man planted his palms on the table and leaned closer to Shin Sumi, "I can listen to what information you need and see what I can do..."

"Oh I'm only looking for information about the Sky Earth Sect. You see I'm headed there but my maps are-"

"No."

"I'm sorry, what-"

"I said no. Either you buy a technique or you leave my shop now. Either way there is nothing of the sort I want to talk about, young lady."

In a split second, the warm man leaning over with a smile who had been making casual conversation with her had suddenly turned colder than ice. His back had straightened, arms crossed and his eyes had considerably darkened.

Shin Sumi knew better than to probe the subject further. The man was stronger than her by at least half a realm and she was a newcomer in this village.

"I am sorry if I offended you sir. I don't know the customs. I will stick to buying techniques if that is okay with you."

Bowing deeply, Shin Sumi apologized, after which the man seemed to relax slightly. She didn't want to burn all of her bridges and he didn't want to lose a potential customer.

Only inside, Shin Sumi was furious.

"Twice in a row! What is wrong with these people?! I'm just asking for directions," she said to herself, "it's not like I'm asking for treasures. If you don't want to cooperate with me, I'll ask Nuan to do it then."

If Shin Sumi didn't want Nuan to read the techniques with her at first, now she had much less scruples.

The Lion Bat was perched on her shoulder, seemingly disinterested as Shin Sumi opened the first scroll the merchant gave her.

"Fire Breath of the Salamander. This doesn't look half bad," she thought.

After browsing over the page, Shin Sumi slowly shook her head negatively.

Exchanging the scroll for another one, the merchant patiently watched Shin Sumi read.

"Summer Breeze Wind Step, that can be interesting."

Shin Sumi turned down the second one as well.

"Do you have any other movement skills?"

Having found his usual merchant posture, the man quickly and efficiently found four other scrolls to display in front of Shin Sumi.

With matched efficiency, Shin Sumi went through all four of them before deciding on the last one.

She didn't want to overdo it and prefered to stick to only a few techniques at a time.

"I'll buy this one then. How many spirit stones?"

Pocketing the scroll of a movement skill called 'Flowing Waterfall Dance', Shin Sumi quickly thanked the man and left the market. Knowing how Nuan stole the techniques, she knew she only had a couple hours before the scrolls the Lion Bat had peered over would turn blank.

By then, no matter what happened, she would have to be far away from this place.

Shin Sumi didn't bother spending more time in the market. No matter the weapons, armors, tools, artefacts, clothes, something told her that she wouldn't find what she originally came for, information about the Sky Earth Sect.

Instead, Shin Sumi decided to roam the three other streets of the small island village.

She had never seen a cultivator community besides her own sect, which made it strange for her to see children running around and playing games in the street.

Had it been any mortal village, she would have found the scene completely normal, except this wasn't a mortal village.

Even the kids were playing 'Immortal pretend'. In fact they were all already started on the path of cultivation.

"This boy can't be more than seven or eight but I can feel the air of Shinsoo Gathering about him," she thought. "These kids are growing up breathing Shinsoo day in and day out. There is no choice for them but to become cultivators."

Part of her envied this lifestyle. Her life now would have been much simpler had she lived in a cultivator environment since the day she was born.

Learning about cultivation at the same time as learning to walk, this would have made her life in the Dark Sky Starry Sect much easier.

Only in another way, Shin Sumi couldn't help but pity these kids a little bit.

From her standpoint as a mortal kid joining a cultivation sect following a random encounter, her eyes had been opened to an incredible world she had no idea existed before. And yet, a lot of her life had been closed behind her when she took that first step towards cultivation.

Even if they wanted, none of these kids could ever become city officials, tanners, bakers, farmers and the likes.

Her thoughts were still a mess, like attempting to comprehend some grand truth that always eluded her, when she reached the path below the waterfall feeding into the circular lake.

Conveniently, all four streets of Long Ring Island had a Shinsoo gate at the end, allowing a bridge to form in each cardinal direction.

She had decided on the southern bridge for two reasons. First of all she knew the Sky Earth Sect was roughly at the south of Long Ring Island, according to when she had eavesdropped on the merchant.

Secondly, she had seen people walk under the waterfall a few times since she arrived at the shore. It seemed like there was an entrance in the middle of the waterfall, under a large rock that blocked the path of the water.

As far as she could see, it seemed like the only way to gain access to the waterfall, too.

"Oh wow, do you feel that Nuan? The Shinsoo here is even better" she couldn't help but exclaim as she stepped under the rock leading to what seemed like an underground tunnel.

Instantly, many questions rose in her mind, which were almost all answered when she saw a large opening at the end of the tunnel, only a few dozen steps away.

The small dark tunnel lead to a natural cave the likes of which she had never seen before.

Like a theater or like the underground Arena at the Dark Sky Starry Sect, the cave opened in a large circle on a downwards slope.

Thousands of small blue crystals protruding from the stone walls illuminated the scene in an eerie but relaxing light. But what really intrigued Shin Sumi were the hundreds upon hundreds of small openings in the rock facade in front of her.

Each opening had a path or a staircase leading to it. Some of them even had wooden panels above inscribed with names.

"This is where all the people from Long Ring Island live" she realized, "They don't live on the island but below the waterfall, where the Shinsoo is much better for cultivation. All of these are cultivator caves."

"And one could be yours for only three stones a day if you desire," a voice from her side cut her off.

It was a middle aged man sitting on a rock behind the entrance. Overcome as she was by the sight of the immense cave, she hadn't even felt his presence.

"We don't have a lot of visitors today so there are a dozen caves or so that are unoccupied. If you want to cultivate, there's no better place than around here. Might even achieve a breakthrough here, given time."

Without words, Shin Sumi could feel the man politely probing her cultivation level. Much like the merchant from earlier, the man had immediately sensed that Shin Sumi was close to breaking through to the third step of the Liquid Realm.

"Only a dozen unoccupied caves? But there are hundreds of them! How big really is the Long Ring Island community?" she thought, suddenly realizing that this was the heart of the village and not the island per se.

Shin Sumi's Shinsoo Sea was bubbling and she had unconsciously started circulating the Moon Severing Ephemeral Shadow technique to take advantage of the Shinsoo quality of the place. However she had no choice but to decline the man's offer.

"I have places to go," she shook her head negatively, "I would have loved to rent a cave but I will have to come back for that."

With the little stunt she and Nuan had pulled at the market earlier, it would be disastrous if Shin Sumi hung around Long Ring Island for any longer.

"Or maybe..." Shin Sumi's devious smile didn't show on her face.