Bai Xuengen didn't want to offend Shin Sumi with his question, so he followed up.
"I mean you are stronger than me, a yellow talented disciple, yet you wear red colored robes. You show no interest for the treasure that we both fought for, and your sword looks on par with it judging by its effect on the golems. You also leaped to my help with confidence even when I asked you not to. Just who are you, brother Bai?"
Shin Sumi was at a loss. Her guts were right, this was one of the worst questions she could have been asked.
The boyish face that covered her own wore an enigmatic smile for a good while. She decided that it was best not to answer and to leave now.
Bai Xuengen followed along in silence towards the exit of the cave, keeping a distance of a few dozen meters to not bother the boy in front of him.
"Whatever his absence of answer means, there must be a reason for it, I shouldn't have asked."
And yet he couldn't wrap his head around it. Nonetheless, this Bai Fulong had only been nice and tolerant enough towards him and such he didn't want to press the matter.
They were about to reach the entrance to the cave and could already see the red disc of the sky over their head when Bai Xuengen stopped his new companion one last time.
"You should leave first, brother Bai. I am going to stay here for a bit until my Shinsoo levels are in perfect condition again. But before we part ways, let us exchange identification medallion imprints. You know... just in case one of us gets in trouble. I owe you for earlier so tell me if you need something at any point."
Shin Sumi smiled and didn't say anything. She extended a hand from her sleeve. Her identification jade flashed briefly at the same time as Bai Xuengen's as both jades recorded the other's divine sense.
She then left, quickly leaping from rock to rock until she had exited the mouth of the earth.
She was relieved to have actually considered that very possibility a few weeks prior when she had been experimenting with the Copper Bell.
During the whole divine sense exchange process, she had sent a bit of the bell's powers into the medallion, cladding it in Yang type Shinsoo imprinted with her newly found fake name.
Now if everything worked accordingly, Bai Xuengen's medallion had successfully recorded Shin Sumi's divine sense, but under the false assumption that it was Bai Fulong's.
Once back out, Shin Sumi didn't lose any time and focused her attention on the yellow pillar of light to reorient herself in the right direction.
She had no idea how she would find the next Vein of Hell Fire but she could formulate a guess that it would be in the next circle after the outer ring.
The floating continent on which all the disciples participating in the Rising Star Tournament were by now was extremely large. Simply judging by the view Shin Sumi had a few days prior while above the canopy, she could tell that the first mountain range separating the outer ring from the next one was days away, even for her.
Shin Sumi advanced against the current of a river that seemed to originate from the mountain range. She was still in a jungle-like environment, walking under the green canopy towards the yellow light. Whenever she looked above her head, dots of yellow tinted red sky contrasted with the refreshing shade, looking like the trees were on fire.
After her journey underground and its perilous nature, she felt a newly found sense of ease in open areas.
She was leaping along the river banks, unhindered by the gigantic roots that came out of the rich soil, or sometimes even the water itself.
Everything in this world appeared sized for giants, as if it was a completely normal jungle like the one close to the lower valley of the Dark Sky Starry Sect, but at least five times bigger in all aspects.
Of course, Shin Sumi knew the reason behind it. Shinsoo was the energy of nature, what nourished the life of every animal, plant and humans alike. She had seen firsthand one of the sources of Shinsoo of this dimension, the Vein of Hell Fire.
Shin Sumi closed her eyes for a brief time, the feelings she had upon getting close to the Vein resurfacing. Her skin tingled where it had burned a bit and her eyes let out a moisturizing tear. The power of the Shinsoo source really was terrifying. It was no wonder everything grew to such ridiculous size close to it.
"Uh?! What is that?" she exclaimed, brought back to reality by a movement close by.
In the peaceful flow of the current, what she had assumed to be a tree trunk suddenly sank through the water. Not half a breath of time later, the surface of the water was again broken when something seemingly exploded from where the trunk had sunk.
A roar like nothing she had ever heard tore at her eardrums as the trunk split in half while rapidly falling towards her.
When Shin Sumi realized that what looked like the bark of a gigantic tree was in fact a huge crocodile, it was almost too late to escape. Even the little grey nut had been surprised by the sudden attack and bit the girl with a delay.
Using only her primal instincts, she managed to leap to the side unconsciously, the teeth the size of her head barely missing her.
A whole chunk of the river bank disappeared under the powerful jaw, muffling the roar a bit, although Shin Sumi was sure she had seen part of the dirt disintegrate even before contact, due to the power of the sound only.
She instinctively knew the roar was magically enhanced, meaning that the crocodile could use Shinsoo to some degree. No amount of sound could normally pierce through her defence to that extent.
Her consciousness had been on the verge of collapse when the roar erupted, and now she could only fight with willpower against the disorientation provoked by the vibrations.
"Urgh. This beast is ridiculously strong" she exclaimed while forcing another movement to the side!
In her heart she knew that it was not an opponent to be trifled with. When the huge green eye of the beast next to her locked onto her own, she realized that a flash of intelligence was present.
The entire exchange had only lasted a split second but Shin Sumi was already aware of her disadvantage. She evaded one of the slow but powerful hind leg sweep, but at the moment she decided to not even try to fight the reptilian creature.
The only solution she could think of was to put enough distance between her and the beast so that it would leave her alone.
But unlike the Stone Leaf Tortoise she had fought, and the animated rock golems, the new enemy was not fighting simply to protect its territory or possession. And so the hunt began.
"Leave me alone" she thought as the crocodile flailed its tail, sending waves of water across the full width of the river and propelling itself entirely onto the bank.
In a normal forest, the trees might provide some cover or at least hindrance to such a big beast due to their density, but Shin Sumi's surroundings were composed of giant sized vegetation.
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Her nimbleness was definitely an advantage though, as the creature of more than fifty meters in length could not turn easily.
Every time Shin Sumi saw the distance between her and her chaser increase, another roar from the beast made her temporarily lose focus and slow down imperceptibly.
In doing so, the crocodile was wasting important amounts of Shinsoo, and the time it took for it to recharge for another magical roar seemed a bit longer with every instance.
But it was definitely worth it from the beast's perspective, as its Shinsoo levels were really high and its prey would obviously run out of energy before it.
All the odds were stacked against her, with Elder Peng jubilating on the other side of the jade screen in the Grand Hall.
The chase continued for an entire day before Shin Sumi first started to feel the fatigue kick in.
Her breathing had been jagged for a while now and she knew she couldn't keep up for too long. With a pain in her heart, wishing she could have lasted longer before resorting to that, she flashed her hand across the bag of holding on her belt.
A couple of high grade spirit stones manifested themselves in her hand, which she brought to her mouth instantly.
Consuming such precious resources in that situation could only delay the moment she would run out of energy but at least she could get a good boost out of that.
In the Grand Hall, a couple of lower level Elders spat out in incredulity. They didn't miss the energy signature of such high level spirit stones.
"High grade?! This kid even has spirit stones like that? What in the world is this kid's background and why have we not heard of him before?"
"Patriarch, is that your doing?"
As soon as the few Elders brought up the subject, even the ones that were previously focusing on their own disciples turned their attention to the lone green dot of the map.
Looking back and forth between the scintillating screen and Patriarch Sen, they realized with the latter's facial expression that even he wasn't aware of that fact.
He was certain that Fen Wudao had told him he had picked the girl up from the middle of nowhere in the mortal world, on his way back to the sect.
A thought flitted through his mind as he turned to glance at Elder Zhu a few rows below, but the unsightly expression of Zhu Yunhai clearly indicated that it wasn't his doing either.
The Patriarch didn't answer the Elders' questions. Not one single soul knew how the green talented disciple had gotten his hand on high grade spirit stones.
The precious materials allowed Shin Sumi to continuously escape the crocodile's attempt at biting her from behind.
The roars were diminishing in strength, just like Shin Sumi's own stock of high grade spirit stones when she reached what looked like the end of the forest.
The terrifying presence behind her that surpassed everything she had ever felt stopped like against a wall as soon as she crossed the threshold formed by the last few trees.
In front of her lay an enormous wasteland similar to what the first few platforms of this stage of the tournament looked like.
The land wasn't simply bare, it was also completely flat, having no sort of hills or canyons whatsoever. Nevertheless, a huge mountain range could be seen on the other side of the wasteland, in the direction of the yellow pillar of light.
"I've made it?!"
Shin Sumi continued without stopping for a stick of incense’s worth of time. Behind her, no more roars or heavy footsteps from the huge crocodile.
When she gathered enough courage to turn around, the forest was already far behind.
Just under the cover of the trees, the long greyish green shadow of the beast could be seen, pacing around but not daring to step on the wasteland.
"It... can't come here" Shin Sumi asked herself, incredulous. "Why is that so? Is it simply because of the rules in this place, or is there more to it?"
She was starting to get a bit more confident and even went back towards the forest slowly and carefully, tempted by curiosity.
The pacing crocodile roared in frustration, a roar that was completely normal, not a Shinsoo enhanced one. It flailed its tail violently, splitting down a nearby trunk in the process.
Once again, Shin Sumi was amazed by the strength of the reptile, her breathing cut short at the display of power.
She was now about a kilometer away from the canopy, a distance that the crocodile could cover in a few short bursts of speed, but enough to allow Shin Sumi to run to safety once more.
Unintentionally teasing the crocodile, Shin Sumi observed it from the distance. Keeping a kilometer wide radius for safety, she walked along the length of the forest, followed by the crocodile.
She eventually joined the side of the river that came from the mountain range, river which was the only natural thing around that differed from the flat and barren wasteland.
The crocodile sunk heavily in the waters, only keeping its back and head over the water level, eyeing Shin Sumi and bubbling with rage.
Shin Sumi took another single step towards the beast, feeling that something wasn't right with this place. That was enough. The crocodile had enough.
It jumped towards the banks in much the same way it had when it attacked her the first time, roaring and biting all over the place.
As soon as it touched the ground though, a cry that was far more terrifying than the crocodile's distorted the air from seemingly far away but everywhere at the same time.
The cry was a mix between a shriek and a roar and surely came from an even more powerful beast.
A 'ziiing' sound followed suit to the cry. Shin Sumi only saw a blur that caused her eyes to retract in their orbits.
She felt herself fall to the ground, her almost revulsed eyes only catching a glimpse of the retreating crocodile, returning to the river and escaping as quickly as it could, tail between its legs.
Shin Sumi didn't really lose consciousness as she caught herself on the ground at the last moment. Her memory of the last breath of time before her fall were half gone, and she could only remember a blur without seeing it in her mind.
The crocodile was gone, as was the thing that made it flee.
Shin Sumi had no idea what had happened. In fact even the Elders back in the sect viewing the whole interaction had not known what it was. Only the Patriarch and the Great Elder Chu Xuanba had an inkling of what the thing that made the crocodile flee was.
Everyone was flabbergasted, the higher ups included.
Shin Sumi got up and slapped her thighs to get rid of the dust that had accumulated, and to remind her muscles not to flinch more than they were already.
Looking up at the bloody red sky, she didn't know if she should cower in fear or praise whatever that was. The only thing important was that she was alive and the crocodile was gone.
It now seemed clear that there was a reason the reptile knew about why it couldn't get to Shin Sumi once she had passed the last trees. In its own foolishness the creature had been baited into going in the open area and was now regretting it.
Shin Sumi approached the place where the beast had been struck by the blur before fleeing. Something dark and pointy had been left there, that contrasted greatly with the grey dusty ground.
In all rationality, the intelligent crocodile would never try to attack her again and after making sure that it was really gone, Shin Sumi didn't fear an attack and crept closer until she could see what the object was.
"A claw! Part of the crocodile's claw!"
She knew it was not the entire thing. She had seen firsthand what the beast's legs looked like, and a single claw was as big as her leg, yet this part was only the size of a hand.
The pointy part had been smoothed by the ages and the blood of its prey, and veins and cracks could be seen on its surface. Yet what impressed her the most was the clean cut that had severed the beast's talons.
It reminded Shin Sumi somehow of the way she had cleaved in half the Stone Leaf Tortoise all these months ago.
"A perfect cut, so smooth.. Yet it wasn't made by a blade... What was that thing?"
Taking out her precious Gold Tyrant Flying Sword for a test, Shin Sumi ran the edge against the claw. Nothing.
Pouring a bit more power into it as well as a wisp of Shinsoo, she tried again.
"No way. I can't cut that! Whatever did it is leagues away from me and my sword. Its speed is faster than a human's eyes, and its power is ridiculous."
She suspected that the real reason she had nearly lost consciousness back then was not due to any sort of attack but simply the presence of something unfathomably strong.
It was a known fact that experts in the cultivation world could make crowds fall unconscious simply by standing there, exuding raw strengths with every fiber from their beings.
What had happened was just that. A raw power acting fast like lightning and leaving her unable to do anything.
It was clear that the crocodile had just suffered a warning. With the preciseness of the cut that had severed its claw, it was obvious that the entire crocodile could have been killed in a flash. Yet the thing that let out the distant cry deliberately let it live, as well as her.
Bowing in a few general directions, Shin Sumi expressed her thanks to the crying presence, holding the severed claw with both hands.
She tried to feed it to the grey nut but with the claw being about five times its size, the nut simply rolled around and quickly became uninterested.
Shin Sumi also bowed once towards the river that flowed through the jungle area, somewhat feeling empathy for the crocodile. After all even though it had tried to make her its snack a few times, ultimately she was the one to bait it and make it lose its claw in what could only be a painful process.
Swearing a silent oath, Shin Sumi promised the crocodile that they would settle their bet the next time she entered this trial's dimension, if it happened.
But for that she had to become stronger. Right now the fifty meter long green crocodile was something she couldn't surpass, and the creature that had punished it even more so.
Making it her new objective of strength, Shin Sumi found in herself a new calling for power.
On the other side of the wasteland laid the first mountain range. Thunderous clouds obscured the high peaks, as if they were warning disciples not to cross.
Popping a Confusion Pill into her mouth, Shin Sumi walked in the direction of the storm.