The Spirit Nest Opens

Kate flinched at Lisa's question and quickly turned her head away.

"Wh, what do you mean?"

"About the kiss, and about the identity of the genius I told you about."

Especially after being reminded of such fond memories, Kate didn't want to be reminded of this, but Lisa didn't allow her to escape.

"Why are you asking that?"

"So you did hear. About the fact that Shui and I-"

"Stop! Why are you saying this?"

"Because it needs to be said, for us to truly be friends."

Kate's tightly clenched fist trembled as she locked her eyes, but when she opened them again she could look straight at Lisa despite her lack of composure.

"What? Do you want me to congratulate you? To tell you how happy I am that you're close with my childhood friend? Is that what you want?!"

Kate raised her voice as she lost control of her turbid feelings, but Lisa didn't comment on that and instead replied with the same calm tone.

"No, I want you to admit that you love him."

"Wh-wh-wha, that I..."

If it was just a few days earlier, she would have answered yes in a heartbeat, but now she understood that there was only one type of love that Lisa was asking about, and that her answer would definitely cause some change in their relationship. Seeing how hesitant Kate was, Lisa reached for her hand and looked deep into her eyes.

"Kate, be honest with me. If we can't be honest about something this important, then can we actually be friends anymore?"

If they weren't friends then Kate wouldn't be this hesitant, but if they were true friends then she had to tell the truth. Once she realised this, Kate's reluctance started to make way for her courage.

"I like, I, love him."

After she finally said these words, Lisa could see the resolve in her expression.

"I see."

Although she made the decision to be upfront about her feelings, Kate was still worried about what would happen to their relationship, but those worries started to fade as Lisa got up and embraced her.

"Huh?"

"It's too bad I can't get a super-talented boyfriend, but I guess we wouldn't be a good match anyway." said Lisa in a regretful tone.

"Lisa?"

Kate tried to get a look at Lisa's expression to see if it matched her words, but she only hugged her tighter.

"Make sure to tell him, okay."

"...Got it."

With a light blush on her face, Kate returned Lisa's hug with a sweet smile. Kate asked Lisa to stay for the night but she refused with the excuse that she had business in the inner sect to take care of.

On her way back to the inner sect, Lisa stopped and looked back in the direction of Kate's house.

'When you give me a smile like that, I don't have a choice.'

Two days later, core disciples gathered before a gigantic double door. Since the core disciples could freely develop their talents in Storm Court, it was only during events like these that so many of them would be in the same place. However this didn't mean that they were all withdrawn ascetics as several groups formed and chatter was prevalent. Still, there were quite a few spots where there was a social void. Two such voids existed around Shui and Kate. Unknown to both of them, Kate was famous as one of the Three Princesses of Storm Court so even among these prideful core disciples, few could find the courage to speak to her. As for Shui, he was well-known due to his achievements in the inner sect.

While many sought to become friendly with him, there were also those who were wary of these abilities. Though core disciples were generally above inner sect disciples in strength, the number of them that had reached Earth Realm could be counted on both hands, therefore someone like Shui who could dominate someone at the peak of Soul Realm was a dangerous opponent. Shui could sense the variety of gazes on him, but his eyes were only focused on Kate.

'I can't believe I couldn't talk to her before this.'

After being turned away the other day, Shui planned on giving Kate some space before approaching her again. But as he was doing that, before he knew it this day came.

'I wonder if Yur would laugh at me if he knew about this.'

Shui felt ashamed of himself for being so wishy-washy, but instead of wallowing in disappointment he planned for the future.

'No matter what, I have to meet her in the Spirit Nest so that we can talk.'

At this time the only thing Shui thought about was how to take cake of Kate. The promise he made with that man? Something like that was only a minor concern. Similarly, Kate also made the decision to meet Shui in the Spirit Nest, but it wouldn't just be talking like what Shui wanted.

Before the double door was opened, a core elder explained the rules that they had to obey while inside the Spirit Nest.

"Please keep in mind that there are many dangers in the Spirit Nest. I understand the need for competition but try to help your fellow disciples if they are in trouble. While some may unfortunately lose their lives in this place, this can only be from the dangers inherent to the Spirit Nest. Spirits will be sent out to keep watch so anyone caught acting on malicious intentions towards another core disciple will be harshly punished."

The core elder heavily emphasized on the punishment, but few paid this much concern. They were all talented individuals who crawled their way up this far, so none of them were afraid of being attacked, in fact, some of them even wished it would happen.

Besides, for those with the right connections, it would be simple to find the blind spots in the spirits' observation.

"Finally, I expect those wishing to become direct disciples to show off all that you have learnt so far so that you may catch the eye of an elder. However, the direct disciples should still try their hardest so as to not disgrace their masters. Now then,"

After finishing his speech the elder raised his hand and signalled the opening of the double door. The first thing they saw was a rainbow portal before it changed into the image of a forest.

"I hope you all meet your own opportunities in the Spirit Nest that will help you grow as the next generation of the Storm Sky Sect."