When the two reached their immortal cave, Yuki let out a long sigh as she leaned into Nana. “Why is it that we always run into idiots? It was such a good day until the girl showed up and ruined it.”

Nana giggled as she rubbed Yuki’s head. “There will always be those who are jealous or have a grudge against someone. That is just part of life when dealing with humans. If your clan was anything like mine, then you grew up where everyone was kind to one another. But the real world is much different, especially so for the cultivation world. We will need to fight to the death sometimes just for a simple herb or treasure. But if it allows us to grow stronger, I think the risks are worth it.”

Yuki nodded. Nana was right. “As long as it allows us to grow stronger. And it will not harm those I deem as friends, then I will not hesitate to strike out with my sword.”

Nana agreed with Yuki’s words. As long as it did not mean harming those close to them, then anything went. “Shall we work up a sweat before taking a bath?”

“You want to try the new body fortification technique?” Yuki grinned. She was excited to finally start using techniques. The body fortification Iron wall was more of a cultivation method than an actual technique, but it required a lot of hard work to even break through to the beginner section of the body fortification method. 

“Yeah.” Nana also looked quite excited. To strengthen the body to ward off normal attacks was a huge plus for the both of them in defense. Especially Yuki, who gets tossed around easily due to her lightweight.

“Alright, let’s go sit down and take a look.” Yuki and Nana moved to the living area of the immortal cave and sat down on the floor. Nana took the jade slip out and pressed it against her forehead, letting the first part of the cultivation method enter her mind. Once she did, she passed it to Yuki, who did the same. But when they started to read the first passage, both of their excited expressions slowly grew sour. “What is with all these medical herbs!?”

A long list of herbs was needed to train this cultivation method for strengthening the body. Yuki and Nana both had no idea what any of these herbs were since neither of them knew any alchemy. “What do we do?”

“We will just need to visit the alchemist pavilion tomorrow after we see Fatty and Ai.” Yuki sighed. This was one of the first things she wanted to start cultivating, but now with this massive list of herbs stopping their training, they had no choice but to set it aside.

“Then I guess we can only start with our sword and movement techniques.”  Yuki did not mind starting with these either, but this would require them to leave the sect. When she thought of this, she remembered how Elder Nishikawa asked her and Nana to stay in the sect for the next three days. But sitting around would not help them at all. 

“Is there a place within the sect where we can train techniques?” Yuki asked. She did not know if Nana knew of any places or not.

    “What if we went to Master’s peak?” Nana suggested. This was actually something that Yuki did not think of. But now that it was being said, Yuki smiled and nodded.

“Let’s go! Master won’t tell us no…. I hope….” Yuki was unsure, but she hoped she was not wrong about Elder Nishikawa wanting them to grow stronger.

Said master shook her head as she peeked in at the girls. She was making sure they did not run off. “I guess I can go make a training area for the both of them. Sadly my  perfect mountain peak will need to be destroyed a little.”

---

Nana and Yuki took a few hours to reach the peak where Elder Nishikawa lives. If they had already learned their movement techniques, this would not have taken so long, but with just normal running, they could only move so fast up a tall mountain that rose up into the clouds. 

“I have been waiting.” Elder Nishikawa walked over to greet the two girls. “If I am not wrong, you came looking for a place to train?”

Yuki and Nana both looked at each other and nodded their heads. “Mmm… You said we can not leave the sect, and the immortal cave is not the best place to be training techniques.” Yuki answered.

“Well, at least you came here and did not sneak out. The last thing I want to do is go chase down two troublemakers. Anyway, follow me. I will show you to the two areas I prepared for you two.” Elder Nishikawa smiled as she motioned for the two to follow her.

They were led to a large dirt arena with many large rocks surrounding it. Each one seemed to have some kind of array engraved into it. “Yuki, you will train here. Nana, follow me to your training grounds.” 

Elder Nishikawa stopped for a second and turned to Yuki. “When you reach the beginner stage for both your techniques, the stones will light up and create an illusion realm. There you can fight phantom demonic beasts. While you will not die, you will feel like you did.”

“Thank you!” This was the kind of training Yuki really needed right now. The more she could put her life on the line the more she could push herself to the limits. This would allow her to learn her techniques better and merge them into her current fighting style. Even Nana’s eyes were glowing with anticipation. She couldn’t wait to start training.