A strike like thunder resounded when Sky Deception encountered Ken Duang's sword. His sword was about the same lengths as Shin Sumi's but much broader.
Without any momentum needed, Ken Duang pushed his sword to the side, forcing Shin Sumi to accompany his movement in order to not have her sword yanked away from her.
Strength. Because his sword was heavier, Ken Duang didn't have a fighting style as fluid and elegant as Shin Sumi's but rather relied on his strength.
Shin Sumi stabilized her foot on the ground and instantly lept to the side. She had anticipated Ken Duang's next move.
The young man spun on his heel, the flat side of his sword swiping at Shin Sumi's side right as she dodged.
"Heh, we're starting to know each other's style, Brother Bai."
"You're right... Why don't you show me something new?"
Ken Duang's upper lip curled. The Shinsoo in the air instantly twisted as he concentrated more power from his dantian.
Being a top practitioner in the most selective branch of the sect meant that his power couldn't be only due to his strength. After all they were cultivators.
"But even that is too easy to-" Shin Sumi's thoughts were completely cut off, the large blade unpredictably connecting with hers. Due to their relative position Ken Duang had been unable to attack her directly, instead forced to attack Shin Sumi's weapon. The dark Sky Deception didn't offer much resistance as its flat part dug deep into Shin Sumi's side before dispersing the strength of the blow.
Even if she had predicted the blow, there was no way she could have parried it. The strength sent her rolling across the platform under the widened eyes of the audience.
The Shinsoo inside her dantian was in turmoil. She could already see Ken Duang's follow-up attack coming from above.
"Steady one foot and all the Shinsoo in one arm."
An attack like Ken Duang's was not meant to finish a fight. Instead its purpose was to throw the opponent's cultivation in disarray to then strike them down. But how could he know that Bai Fulong in front of him had achieved a perfect Shinsoo Gathering with Sixty Four Shinsoo Doors opened?
Shin Sumi's control over her own dantian was incredible, allowing her to steady her cultivation base instantly and have her power back where she needed it the next moment.
Ken Duang reached the apex of his jump, his sword looming ominously over Shin Sumi.
"I've got you now" thought the young man. It was then that Shin Sumi disappeared from his vision. Only a faint trail was left in front of him as she fended forward, passing underneath the attacker.
Sky Deception was raised, the full power of her arm making it look like a black rainbow.
The tip of the blade was painted in red, as was the backside of Ken Duang's leg.
"Crap, too shallow" knew Shin Sumi. The cut was only deep as the size of a fingernail.
Compared to the bruise she had received due to the earlier strike, it was impossible to tell which side had the upper hand for now, and now both fighters were back at the starting point.
"How good. You always manage to surprise me, Brother Bai. Should we take it up a notch then?"
Smiling as if they were simply having a discussion and not a fight with real blades, Shin Sumi nodded.
From the five or six disciples currently watching the scene unfold, one promptly left the Star Arena. Unlike the other spectators, he wasn't transfixed by the display of power and fighting ability.
Tai Bu was silent.
"K-Ken Duang is going toe to toe with that monster Bai Fulong!! Is he really the lowest qualifier for the Star-Sword Pavilion?! No, there's no way. I'll find somebody else."
When he had heard that Ken Duang was in the Third Star Arena, he had immediately thought of the perfect opportunity to provoke him and rise in the rankings. It all changed when he saw his opponent and he heard they were not at their first battle.
A deep scar was etched in Tai Bu's mind. From the moment they first met, he had been ridiculed over and over by Bai Fulong. Like a shackle on his heart, Bai Fulong's shadow completely pulverized his willpower.
"As long as I stay far from him, I can still reach the top. I'll only be number two instead of one" had been his line of reasoning ever since the Rising Star Tournament.
But now the fight between Ken Duang and his nemesis, both seemingly equally powerful, had shown him exactly how many steps separated him from his goals.
Gnashing his teeth, Tai Bu looked back at the Star Arena with a hardened look one last time before leaving.
"Come on Bai Fulong, you have to win this fight. If you're the only person I'll never win against, then at least you have to be at the very top."
On the central platform of the Third Star Arena, Shin Sumi and Ken Duang were looking at each other. Two drops of blood fell from the latter's leg before his Shinsoo magically stopped the bleeding.
"Brother Ken has strength. With Sky Deception I can't quite match him in raw power. Spirit formations are out of the way, my only option is to strike quickly and efficiently."
Keeping her thoughts silent, Shin Sumi leaned forward, once more taking the offensive.
As the fight progressed, it was clear that the two were quite evenly matched. Shin Sumi concentrated her attacks together in a neverending salvo in order to not leave Ken Duang enough time to complete a more powerful strike.
In turn, Ken Duang's strength made sure to impact Bai Fulong heavily, each blow having to be absorbed in order to continue.
Both were starting to breathe hard and the fight had gone on for minutes when Bai Fulong's side stopped for a second after successfully pushing Ken Duang away. Breaking the ongoing rhythm, it was only a slight pause but long enough for Shin Sumi to make her Shinsoo flow.
Instantly feeling something was about to happen, Ken Duang bolted forward, his sword sweeping sideways at the same time.
It was already too late.
"Star-Sword Canon, first form: Cleaving Meteor !"
Sky Deception fell, a sad whistling sound accompanying its descent as it cut the air open.
Ken Duang raised his blade in an attempt at defence at the last moment. After all, he, too, was a member of the Star-Sword Pavilion and was familiar with the Pavilion's first form. But how could he have thought that in the very short delay after the last attack, Bai Fulong had enough time to condense his Shinsoo in the right way to invoke the Star-Sword Canon?!
A blast of Shinsoo in the form of a powerful wind blade left the yellow light at the tip of Bai Fulong's sword. A straight line of fresh red blood appeared from Ken Duang's left clavicle to his right hip, leaving intact only the part of his chest that was behind his blade.
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Ken Duang fell back, pain tearing through his whole body, his sword dropping to the ground next to him.
The moment his eyes focused again after the intense pain allowed him to think straight, a dark cold metallic blade was pressed against his throat. Bai Fulong had won, the fight was over.
Sky Deception left Ken Duang's neck, returning to Shin Sumi's bag of holding. The moment the outcome of the fight had been decided, all animosity disappeared. Taking a knee to the ground, Shin Sumi helped Ken Duang to his feet, inquiring about his injuries.
"I'll be okay" he replied," the cut is not too deep. A few days of rest and I'll come back stronger."
Shin Sumi sighed from relief.
"It's scary to receive the Star-Sword Cannon's first form. You unleashed it on me so quickly I couldn't do anything against it."
"To be honest it's also quite scary to use it on a real person... I didn't - COUGH COUGH!"
Shin Sumi was interrupted by a fit of cough. Gripping her stomach, it felt like her insides were about to come out of her throat.
Waving away Ken Duang and the observers' worries, Bai Fulong sat down next to Ken Duang.
"As expected, unleashing that technique so fast and with an already low Shinsoo level really takes a toll on your body" Shin Sumi thought to herself, "I need to strengthen my cultivation base and fast."
Having watched the whole fight, two disciples decided to step on the fighting platform. They introduced themselves as they approached the fighters.
"Fellow Brothers, what do you say we help you treat these nasty injuries? We are Pei Du and Huang Ten, from the Shinsoo-Medicine Pavilion..."
Bai Fulong nodded quickly, "If you would be so kind..."
"Oh no, not at all. It's good practice for us. We Shinsoo-Medicine cultivators spend a lot of time here at the Star-Arenas, watching our fellow disciples fight. And for the lowly price of one middle grade spirit stone, I ensure you'll be back on your feet in a few hours!"
That was to be expected. When one's talent is valuable, an opportunity like that only made sense. Shin Sumi thought about Nuan who would heal every single one of her injuries just by being immersed in water. Had she been training alone, she would have refused Pei Du and Huang Ten's offer, but next to her Ken Duang was very pale and bloody.
"Here's for the both of us. Please treat us well!"
Shin Sumi tossed two spirit stones, one to each Shinsoo-Medicine disciple. In turn, the two boys bowed quickly and took out a small scroll from their bags of holding.
A very short incantation later, from the scroll appeared two carriers made from fabric. Much like a sick person would have to be transported laying down, the two disciples took care of Ken Duang and Bai Fulong.
"Wow, these things can fly?!" Shin Sumi was flabbergasted. Behind her carrier, Pei Du laughed.
"Yep! That's one of the perks of being part of the Shinsoo-Medicine Pavilion. They are low level flying artifacts turned into emergency carriers. Other than in battle they are basically useless and need a person to maneuver but it's still good for training."
From far away, Shin Sumi had already seen flag-like flying artefacts at times, although she had never imagined they would be carrying a wounded disciple.
After a slow flight at low altitude, Pei Du and Huang Ten brought the fighters to their practice, a small two-rooms house with its own courtyard, at the foot of a mountain.
Using their divine sense, the apothecaries ascertained their physical condition by probing their bodies before finding the best remedy.
Shin Sumi in the body of Bai Fulong was already feeling much better, the backlash from expending too much Shinsoo already washing away. She was only prescribed a few herbal concoctions for bruises, and a Shinsoo-imbued piece of incense for better recuperation after her backlash.
Ken Duang was left to rest when Shin Sumi decided to leave, thanking the medicine branch disciples for their care.
Already feeling quite refreshed, she was impressed by the talent of the two young men. She had once been told that only those without much talent would choose to join the medicine branch and avoid fighting.
As it turned out, there were also high potential individuals, even among them.
***
Back in the privacy of her home and with her injuries fully healed, Shin Sumi decided to take out the Moon Stone.
If the amazing artefact full of Yin type Shinsoo would only last for another week at most, she had to make the most of it.
So far, the Shinsoo from the moon was the only thing that had allowed her to make some sort of progress with the Liquid Realm cultivation technique she had chosen, the Moon Severing Ephemeral Shadow. Thanks to the light of the moon and then the gifted moon stone, Shin Sumi had managed to go from a few cycles a day to almost a hundred!
She still wasn't able to circulate her energy according to the Moon Severing Ephemeral Shadow continuously, but it had become her primary way of accumulating the energy of nature. At least when it came to replenishing her energy levels after a fight, it was leagues above what she had been used to with other techniques.
Slowing down her breathing, Shin Sumi sat down, her legs crossed and her back straight, the Moon Stone in front of her radiating a pure white light all around.
With each cycle from the Moon Severing Ephemeral Shadow she imagined her Shinsoo passageways absorbing a little bit of the white light, adding another color to her golden apertures.
Immersed in meditation, time passed quickly. Only a sliver of Shin Sumi's divine sense was left outside, almost her entire being completely focused on circulating her energy. Had she been able to, she would have concentrated her whole mind to the task at hand, but it was more reasonable to stay attentive to the outside world.
Especially to her bag of holding and the identification jade people used to communicate with her. Thankfully nothing brought her out of her peaceful meditation session this time.
Slowly but surely, her ability to use the Moon Severing Ephemeral Shadow grew to the point where she could complete about a thousand cycles on the fourth day. She really understood why people would go into seclusion to cultivate. Contrarily to how one would train their physical body by using their muscles a bit each passing day, training the spirit was more effective when done in one sitting.
Over the course of the week, Shin Sumi had to wake up from her almost trance-like state only three times to go follow the teachings of the different Pavilions she was part of. It wasn't an obligation on her part, cultivating and training had always been left completely to the disciples to arrange.
Nevertheless, with the rankings coming up soon and leading to the Cross Branch Arena, she was curious to see if some tension had risen.
In the large training room of the Star-Sword Pavilion, Shin Sumi as Bai Fulong was picking up a wooden sword when a tap on her shoulder turned her around. A middle aged man whose name she didn't know was holding a wooden spear in his hand. He seemed almost embarrassed to ask, although his eyebrows were trying hard to stay firmly slanted downwards.
"Is he afraid of fighting me?" Shin Sumi asked herself, resisting the temptation to shake her head and laugh at his pitiful appearance.
"Brother Bai, I-I would li-like to challenge you to an amicable fight. What do you say, young man?"
Shin Sumi eyed the man up and down. Under Bai Fulong's gaze, it was clear that the disciple was quite frightened. A few steps behind, four of five other disciples were watching, trying not to be too obvious about their curiosity.
"Sure! Let's have a good practice fight."
Bai Fulong's reply scared the challenger who had to take a full second to calm down and bow in return.
Standing sideways with her sword slightly raised, Shin Sumi relaxed her knees. This was the posture she was feeling the most comfortable in for a fight. It wasn't really practical to use in a real fight that could start in the most unexpected manner but for a duel it felt right to her.
Deciding to take the first step forward, Bai Fulong launched the first attack, a normal strike straight ahead. As soon as she moved, Shin Sumi was glad to see the face of her opponent completely change.
"Fighting lives in one's blood" she remembered one of Wan Jishun's teachings, "only by having a sword in hand can you really tell one's will".
Suddenly, the clumsy looking middle-aged man livened. By seeing a sword approaching in his direction, his blood seemed to churn and catch fire. Using a perfect technique, he parried Bai Fulong's attack effortlessly before launching a counter attack.
Having no trouble at all to follow Bai Fulong's rhythm, the man showed clearly that he had earned his place in the most selective Pavilion of the Dark Sky Starry Sect.
On the flip side, he only lacked a little in raw power, but his technique was definitely on par with the best.
Suddenly changing rhythm and speed, Shin Sumi blasted the man's sword away from his hand, the wooden tip of her blade ending against the man's heart.
"It looks like my win. It was a good fight, let's do that again sometime, alright brother? I would like to know your name."
"M-My name?" The man had reverted to the shy person he was before the fight, his confidence surely blown away at the same time as his sword," this humble one is Zaho Zhu."
"Zaho Zhu, you're good! Your technique especially is great, I had trouble finding a flaw in your movement!"
Zaho Zhu tipped his head as a thanks, disbelieving the praise he had received. On the side, the five other disciples who had been watching all had their jaws to the floor.
Shin Sumi was really proud of herself. She had managed to avoid embarrassing the middle aged man while at the same time making sure to show everybody that she was a league above them.
Despite being aware of her talent as a cultivator, Shin Sumi didn't like to taunt her worth, afraid of being seen as full of herself like Jun Qian and the likes.
Now the five people who had been secretly waiting for a chance to challenge Bai Fulong knew there was no point in doing so. And the man who had challenged him had lost but with honor and even some praise from her.
She had even asked for his name, genuinely impressed by his technique and potential.
Glad to have resolved the situation in the best way possible, Shin Sumi didn't stay around for longer, by fear of seeing people slightly stronger than Zaho Zhu try to go after her too.
"The upcoming ranking has made everybody frantic. I guess it's a good thing for the sect as a whole, everyone trying their best to surpass their own limits... I hope it's not as bad in the Cloud-Formation Pavilion as it is here."
The day after was indeed the scheduled day for the spirit formations training.
How could Shin Sumi know the situation would be even more hectic there than in the Star-Sword Pavilion?!