“The top three will be able to spend a month in the myriad pools. But I must warn you that some of the pools are dangerous due to the huge amounts of spiritual qi in them.” Elder Li was explaining to Yuki, Silvia, and Nana about the reward for being in the top three. 

“We will be careful.” Yuki’s eyes lit up. She really wanted to suck this place dry! From what Elder Li told her, the myriad pools were pools of pure spiritual qi. Some small, some large. And since she, Nana, and Silvia could all cultivate using dual cultivation together, it meant that they would make the most of the pools, so the more spiritual qi it had, the better.

The pools themselves were situated on the back mountain where the Dragon Festival took place. The top three would be allowed to enter for an entire month. Not just anyone could go to the back mountain, either. The entire place had a large array around it, covering the span of a few hundred miles. It was also protected by many smaller arrays as well. But the array not only kept people out but also helped absorb the spiritual in the air to keep the myriad pools from disappearing.

“Okay, you got three days before we open a passage in the array. At that time, you can go in and cultivate for a month. Alright, you can all go rest. Rooms have been set up for all of you.” Elder Yi was tired, but he still had many things left to do. He looked over at Elder Nishikawa and Yuki’s sect master and nodded his head. 

“Alright, girls go back. I still have things I need to discuss with Elder Li.” Elder Nishikawa shooed the girls away. 

Yuki and the girls walked out of the room and down the long white stone hall. As Yuki looked around, she found the area they were in had opened up to a large field that led to a forest not too far away. Yuki looked in between the trees and felt like she spotted something blue not too far into the forest.

“Nana, Silvia, you two head back,” Yuki said these words before running off. She really wanted to know what that blue thing was!

Silvia and Nana looked at one another in confusion. “What do you think she saw?”

“No idea. But since we have some time, shall we work out who will take which day?” Silvia was very concerned about her free alone time with Yuki. She had to make sure every detail was planned out accordingly so she would not get disturbed during that time.

“Alright. But should we leave her alone? There are many people who wish to kill us all right now.” Nana’s words snapped Silvia back to reality before sighing and nodding. “Let’s follow. But later, we need to plan things out.”

“I know!” Silvia pursed her lips. She was so worried about her alone time with Yuki that she forgot about Yuki’s safety! She felt slightly depressed.

Yuki quickly reached the forest. She could tell Nana and Silvia were following her, which made her smile. The two seemed to be worried, which was not wrong when she thought about it since she had angered a lot of people recently. And this forest also went on for miles. 

From what she understood, the disciples from the Holyland would normally go out into this forest to train in their off time. Normally, no one would come close to this building, but it was also not off limits either. However, right now, security has been heightened. 

As soon as she entered the forest, Yuki quickly picked up a scent that did not belong to the forest. “Hmmm… Was the blue thing I just saw a person?” 

Yuki was quite curious, but she also knew she couldn’t go too far. So she decided to only follow the scent a little ways before turning back. While she really wanted to know what the blue thing she saw was, she also did not wish to encounter anything too dangerous at this time.

As Yuki followed after the scent, Nana and Silvia trailed a little ways behind. They knew Yuki already sensed them, but they also did not wish to get in Yuki’s way either. Since Yuki seemed to be doing something, they would just watch her back and make sure no one tried to ambush her.

Yuki ran through the forest following the scent until she stopped in a small open field within the forest. She looked around and sniffed the air for a moment before looking up at a tree not too far from her. “I know you are there.”

“And I know you have been following me for some time now. Why?” A figure suddenly dropped down from the tree. It was a young woman around eighteen to twenty years of age. She had long dark blue hair and crimson eyes. She looked at Yuki with no expression at all. But one could tell she was on guard. But she did not exude any kind of killing intent towards Yuki.

“Hmmm? Why?” Yuki tilted her head and thought for a moment. She did not know why. She saw something blue and decided to check it out. “Curiosity?”

The girl looked at Yuki, a bit stunned as to why this girl would chase after someone out of curiosity. But she also felt a bit amused.