He had only recently discovered it, but considering that there was no mention of what he found in any text or common folktales, it was likely that at most only a select few within the four cities other than Silver City knew about it. Shui planned to broach the topic with Henry before leaving the region, but until then he wanted to find out more about it on his own so that he could prepare suitable questions.
The seal was cleverly hidden, so although he knew where it was, he couldn't find it by searching with his spiritual sense. Rather than being in a static form, the seal was ever-changing and didn't have a defined shape. Fortunately, his all-too-powerful detection method would be viable in this case. With his Sage God Eyes, Shui dug beneath the ground until he found a particular flow of nature energy. To the unperceptive it might seem normal, but Shui's eyes could tell that the flow of energy and natural law was unnatural here. It wasn't to the extent that it made a disturbance, but this unnatural flow was guiding the surrounding nature energy in the direction of Malirin Forest. It was similar to the technique that Kate used, but there was no person orchestrating it.
This artificial flow seemed to be maintained by the natural laws within that strange flow of energy, but Shui wasn't able to understand it at first glance. While reminding himself to keep his thoughts one step away from complete focus so that he didn't fall into a trance, Shui studied the phenomenon.
Eventually, he discovered that the core mechanism behind this phenomenon was a combination of runes. Rune language still felt out of his reach, but Shui was able to grasp the general meaning thanks to his expertise in inscriptions. There seemed to be four parts to the rune structure: defining the region of nature energy, gathering that nature energy, pulling the nature energy, and then directing the flow towards Malirin Forest. Shui noticed a familiar logic binding these four parts, but that was all he was able to read before his time was up.
Before pulling his focus back to the surface, he pondered staying a little longer, but he knew that one concession would only prompt several more.
It was shortly after midnight on the day of the robe awarding ceremony when Shui retrieved his consciousness. He still had a couple of hours to spare, but time felt vague while he meditated, so he decided not to take any risks. Considering what Kate was like, it wouldn't be strange if she let him sleep in only to attack him when he finally woke up.
For the remaining time, Shui cleaned up his house and recovered the artifacts, arrays, and formations he had lain. Right as he removed the last protection array, Shui sensed the approach of a few hostile presences.
"I thought they had given up, but I guess not."
Judging by their movements, these people didn't seem to be working together, so either they worked for separate entities or the same entity hired different people for the same job. Given the timing and their reaction, someone must have predicted that he would remove the arrays protecting his residence before leaving the inner section.
"I don't appreciate being read like this, but I have to admit I was a little careless."
Against opponents of this level, his arrays would be more than enough, but since they had managed to catch him off guard, he decided to fend them off personally. Judging by their auras, they appeared to be core disciples of the manor, and since there was little killing intent, Shui planned to go easy on them.
The first to arrive burst through the front door and tried to punch Shui. Shui deflected his fist and then returned a punch to his solar plexus, which sent him flying back the way he came in. The next two entered through his living room window and kitchen window, respectively. Learning from their predecessor, they started with spells, but after days of investigating the seal and training his soul, low-level spells like these were less effective than fists before Shui's eyes, as he could easily see through them.
With a well-timed reflect barrier, Shui returned their spells with twice the power. They were pushed back but remained standing. However, before he could finish them off, the final assailant threw a javelin at him through the back door. It was fast enough to reach Shui in less than a second and had more than enough power to obliterate an early Earth Realm cultivator's barrier, but Shui caught the javelin and spun it around back to the sender.
"Ah!"
They got pinned to the ground and screamed, but it wasn't a fatal wound. Sensing their disadvantage, the two still standing took out poisons and cursed goods. Shui shook his head with disappointment at their decision.
"That's enough."
With a finger flick, he blasted the assailant in the living room out of the house and then shot an ice spell at the one behind him in the kitchen. Besides some broken doors and windows, there was no damage, so Shui thought it was a job well done. He used mental control to gather the assailants, and after checking their recent memories to find out the person behind this, he threw them out of the vicinity.
"So the Gus clan really is a bunch of sore losers. No matter."
Shui repaired the damage by manipulating the earth using the Four Element Technique and sat down on a chair.
"Now that I think about it, she was a sore loser too."
Shui found his junior sister, Emily, suddenly among his thoughts. He already had the Artisan Palace investigate her situation and whereabouts, but since they lacked a connection in this life, he was hesitant about meeting her unlike when he first considered it. As for her family, they had a preexisting connection to him in this life, but he didn't plan to meet them as long as they didn't cause any trouble for him.
Shui quietly immersed himself in nostalgia until the time came for him to head to the elder's meeting hall where the robing ceremony would take place. Doing the ceremony in front of the entrance to the core section would have made the entire process shorter, but the customs had long been established, and there was no reason to change them at this time.
When Shui arrived at the meeting hall, there was already a crowd, but he was the second core disciple there. The first was Clyde, who approached Shui as soon as he saw him.
"I couldn't say it before because I was unconscious, but I hope that we can have a rematch someday. One on one."
Clyde's words made him seem sour about their loss, but Shui could only find the desire for battle in his eyes.
"Sure."
Shui had no reason to fight him again, but he didn't have a problem with accepting a future challenge. The other core disciples arrived one after the other, and all except Lionel looked away when Shui glanced at them. In Lionel's case, he glared at Shui with a mixture of anger and fear.
This time the ceremony was overseen by Elder Tan, the elder in charge of the inner section. He should have played a more active role in the core disciple selection, but he had been busy with assignments for the manor. He had long black hair and a well-groomed beard, but he had the eyes of an old man.
Once the six new core disciples assembled, Elder Tan signalled some inner section disciples to pass them the dark blue silk coats, which they would wear. Though it only appeared to be a different colour, whistles and sounds of awe were heard when the six handsome men put them on. Furthermore, while the change in appearance was simple, the dark blue silk coat could also work as a normal spirit-rank defensive artifact and it had both a spirit-gathering and heaven and earth harmonization array, allowing it to store nature energy for emergency use. It was a fairly impressive coat, but none of the six felt much excitement from its functions; only the new status they had gained mattered to them.
"I hope the six of you will continue to do well in Storm Court so that you do not disgrace your fellow core disciples nor your comrades here in the inner section."
"Yes, elder. Thank you for your guidance."