Spirit Sanctuary

Despite the size of the crowd and their intense focus, neither Shui nor Clyde missed that voice. As soon as they heard it, the two glanced in her direction, looked back at each other, and then relaxed their auras.

"I'll see you at the selection."

"Indeed."

The crowd booed, but the two didn't let them affect their decision. Once Clyde picked up his hammer and left the stage, Shui also withdrew his sword. However, unlike Clyde, Shui headed towards Lisa. One of the main reasons he had decided to spar with Clyde was because he thought that it might draw her out, so he didn't want to waste this opportunity. Many disciples struck Lisa with cold gazes, but they didn't block Shui's path as he approached her.

"Have you finally decided to see me?"

"I just, I didn't want to cause you trouble. I'll talk to Clyde so that this doesn't happen again."

Lisa still made sure not to look him in the eye as she responded.

"No, it's fine. I could tell during our fight that he's actually not a bad guy."

"Uh, yes."

As he looked at her, stubbornly maintaining her distance, Shui felt the urge to take her into his arms, but he stopped himself. Although it was covered by anxiety and worry, he sensed determination in her eyes. He wondered why she was so firm about rejecting him, but he couldn't bring himself to ask.

"Well, if you still decide to talk to him, then you should make up. He's a bit annoying but that's only because there's someone he's really passionate about."

"I'll, consider it."

"Then, bye."

As Shui turned around, his name made it to the tip of Lisa's tongue, but she bit it to avoid calling him. Wherever he went next, she couldn't stop him. Many of Shui's fans wanted to attack her, but they also understood that such an act would only incur the fury of Shui and Clyde. When Shui returned to the rest of his group, they seemed awkward, so he put on a relaxed smile.

"There's nothing else to see here, so I'll be leaving."

"Ah, yea. Good luck in the selection."

"Thanks."

Perhaps unable to endure the atmosphere, Sasha left with her housemate. Serina and Fatty stayed behind, but they weren't sure what to say.

"I'll probably stay home until the selection, so how about we go have drinks at Luke's place?"

Shui didn't drink often, but the wines that Luke had were the best that he had ever tasted, even after asking the Artisan Palace for recommendations. He would still have to severely limit himself to get drunk, but drinking alone would be enough to relax.

"Hmm? Oh, sure."

"That sounds great, Boss. Alcohol is the best for drowning your sorrow,"

With his comment interrupted by a swift hit to the gut, Fatty tumbled over.

"Were you saying something?"

"No, Boss."

Serina shook her head, as Fatty had definitely said too much. Shui didn't use much power to punch him, so after a couple seconds, he was able to stand up. They then headed to the core section to see Luke. Over the past couple of months, Shui and his friends had visited the core section almost as frequently as Cassandra's maids, so the elders guarding the entrance were familiar with him. They would likely come up with a random reason to stop him if they were ordered, but they usually didn't cause any trouble even if he didn't take out Luke or Reinhart's token.

Luke had recently returned from a mission, so Shui believed that he was still in the manor and, his guess wasn't wrong. Reinhart and Cassandra were busy, but Kate was free, so she came over once Luke called her. An additional feature of core disciple coats was that they could be used to send messages through a system similar to communication terminals. Shui hadn't planned on saying anything as he savoured Luke's prized collection, but while he was focused on drinking, Fatty quietly explained what happened with Clyde and Lisa to Luke and Kate.

"So the little Prince got rejected?"

"Really?!"

Fatty immediately hid behind Luke when Shui glared at him, but Shui didn't make any other move since he didn't mind Luke and Kate finding out.

"I wasn't rejected. She just, doesn't want to see me."

"Sounds like a rejection to me. To think your cute face couldn't help, you must have really messed up."

Kate placed a hand on Shui's back as if attempting to comfort him, but the playful look in her eyes didn't help.

"I admit that it's a little frustrating, but since I got to verify what I wanted to know today, I can probably stop worrying about it."

Shui still wasn't able to completely understand her feelings, but by looking into Lisa's eyes, he had gotten a good idea about what she felt towards him.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Think about it. Even though she is avoiding me, if she really hated me, would she show up at that moment?"

"Wait, so you mean,"

"She has her own thoughts on the matter, but at the very least, we're still friends."

The smile on Shui's face as he made this statement was sincere, proving that he wasn't lying to save face. Serina and Fatty were relieved to hear this news, but Kate had a frown. Upset that she missed an opportunity to tease him, Kate slapped Shui's back with a vibration spell.

"Tch, what a letdown."

"Ouch! Was the vibration necessary?"

"Of course. I don't want to hurt my hand on that hard body of yours."

"Then just don't hit me."

Like Shui, Kate hadn't improved her energy cultivation, but that was only because she was focused on learning the Heavenly Wind Spell. Her energy control was already flawless for her cultivation, so the amount of force she could transfer through vibration was greater than the last time they fought. Although he didn't think he would lose if they fought again, Shui was sure it would be a harder battle. 

"Anyway, since you don't have any love problems to worry about, you better come first in the Core Disciple Selection."

"Well, I certainly don't plan on failing, but is there any point in coming first? I don't really need extra resources."

"Usually, it won't be that special, but this time is different. Luke, can I tell him?"

"It's basically an open secret at this point, so I don't see why not."

"Okay. Shui, have you heard of the Spirit Nest?"

"No, what is it?"

Shui had already read a little about the Spirit Nest from information given to him by the Artisan Palace, but it hadn't been much, so he was genuinely curious.

"It's a secret domain managed by the manor that's only open to core disciples and select elders below the Sky Realm. I haven't been inside before, but it's a sanctuary for spirit creatures."

Spirit creatures referred to all beings that were born directly from nature. Although only spirits were created by the God of Nature and could be born solely from nature, other spirit creatures, such as the fae, were also born through a union of nature and some other living creature. However, even fae had strict conditions for birth and growth, so a place that could be referred to as a spirit sanctuary would need to meet those conditions and then some. 

"That certainly does sound interesting. If I remember correctly, a sanctuary like that needs to have a super high concentration of elemental energy, right?"

"As expected of the little Prince, you're spot on. I don't know how it compares to other spirit sanctuaries, but I hear you can even find elemental lakes inside it."

An elemental lake was basically a pool of elemental crystals in liquid form, similar to a spirit drop lake for elemental energy but far more precious. While it was possible to make a spirit drop lake by gathering and condensing nature energy through arrays, the types of arrays and resources required to do the same for elemental energy would require several tier 6 array grandmasters to get serious. While he could ignore a spirit drop lake, an elemental lake was an opportunity that even Shui couldn't miss.