Some time later, Bai li yue hear birds chirping outside. She turned on her side and groaned as she cranked one eye open. 

'Finally! I'm awake.'

She'd been stuck in the cottage for two weeks and couldn't find a way out. She stretched her stiff body and jumped out of bed. 

An hour later, a mouthwatering aroma drifted out of the kitchen. Bai li yue scooped a bowl of soup and rice as she toyed with the spirit stones she'd found. 

'I can exchange one stone for some coins and go to town for provisions. It's been a while anyway since i went into town. I did say, i wanted to spend time in Yangyang city. This might be a good time.'

She finished her meal in a matter of minutes and took a second serving of soup that she slowly drank until she was full. 

She was reading the booklet and drawing little runes in the air. She had made some headway in her studies. She was studying runes instead of array diagrams at the moment. It was the only solution she had found to the questions raised in the booklet. A knock came while she read, waiting for the food to digest. 

It was Lu dou paying her visit. Didn't he have anything better to do than disturb her?

'Miss Bai, did you just return from your travels?'

What travels? 

'Yes. What brings you here? I thought our business was done.'

'Yes. We came a few times to express our thanks, but you still weren't back. I'll tell them so they can come and properly thank you.'

'No need. We both got something out of the deal.'

'Miss Bai, please don't refuse. It might not mean anything to you, but because of your kindness, we finally have a chance to make our lives better.'

'If you say so, i won't stop you. Just don't disturb me. It's annoying.'

'I'll bring them tomorrow, then.' He smiled and continued, ' miss bai, i know this is a lot to ask,'

Then why do you ask?

'As our benefactor, could you come and watch us compete? The final day of the tournament is tomorrow and we have all almost made it in. If you have time, we would especially like you to see that your effort hasn't been wasted on us.'

'Huh? Fine. Fine. I'll come and watch.'

She waved him off and turned back to her book, but she wasn't seeing the page before her. His words had sounded like thunder in her mind.

The inner sect tournament had almost reached its conclusion. That means i wasn't just asleep for a few days. It's been close to two months. I fell asleep again and entered that place. It looks like i lose consciousness for long periods of time whenever i go there. This is bad! I can't keep falling asleep like this! I have to find the trigger before it happens again.'

Bai li yue shook herself, her hair whipping over her face like a crazy person. She had never had any affection for sleeping beauty in the fairytales she'd read as a child. She'd been too passive, laying in the glass coffin. 

'What if i keep falling asleep and then one day, i never wake up?'

When morning came, she was no closer to finding an answer to her problem. Strangely, she wasn't feeling sleepy at all. 

Looks like i won't fall asleep like that for a while.

She walked through the sect and joined the crowds that were hurrying to the martial arena. The mood of the crowd was infectious and Bai li yue felt her mood lighten. A small smile tugged at the end of her lip as she immersed herself in the noise and excitement. It was like she was back on earth, walking in the city centre during the midday rush hour.

She followed a trio of students discussing the odds of the contestants. She hadn't bothered asking the names of Lu dou's friends but she knew who they were by the time she arrived at the arena. There were ten battle stages scattered around the arena. The stands were filling up with students as she debated where to stand.

'Miss Bai! Miss Bai!' A student cut through the crowd and arrived at her side. She recognised him from the portraits hanging above the betting stalls. He carried a sabre similar to the one carried by Wang do.

'Wang do, right?'

He caught himself when he found himself bowing to her. He cleared his throat nervously.

'This way, Miss Bai. I'll take you to where we are seated. We left a seat for you.'

She noticed that Lu dou's friends were following in his footsteps and calling her Miss Bai. It didn't bother her much since she wasn't on familiar terms with them. He led her through the crowd toward the section reserved for the participants. The others waved to her and showed her to a seat near them.

'I wish each of you goodluck.' She said when she saw the expectant looks aimed at her.

'Thank you, Miss Bai.'

Lu dou took the opportunity to bring her up to speed on the tournament. There were about eight hundred outer students participating in the preliminaries. The number had been cut down to four hundred in the first round. The next round was a continuous bout to establish a ranking according to the number of matches won. The first two hundred progressed to the next round. After that there was another round of single match eliminations. The hundred left underwent another round of continuous matches and another ranking after which the first fifty were chosen for the finals.  

'I see. I heard people mentioning your names on my way here. You must be among the favorites.'

'Mhmm. If we continue winning then the ranking will remain the same. Huang rong is number two. I'm fourth, followed by Fang shi, Zhengqing and Wang do. We are just glad to be part of the first ten.'

'I wish you all the best.'

The stands surrounding the stages were teeming with crowds. She glanced around and found most of the contestants cultivating and adjusting their conditions for the difficult fight ahead of them. 

The crowd stirred and went quiet at the entrance of the sect elders. She only recognised the first elder who led the group. Behind him was a younger man wearing two waist tassels similar to that worn by the first elder. She had heard that the second elder had returned from his travels but she'd never had the pleasure of meeting him. She spared them a quick glance before looking away. 

Lu dou and his friends were busily preparing themselves for the competition so she instead spent the time watching the crowd of students who were brimming with excitement.

Qi rong fei, second elder of the Thousand bamboo immortal sect sank into the seat beside the Zhao li ming, the first elder. He hadn't had a moment of rest since his return. The mission entrusted to him by the sect leader was advancing slowly. The list of students representing the sect during the regional tournament was almost set. By the end of today, there will be ten more people added to the list of twenty inner sect students he had already chosen. He didn't have much hope of them placing well, but if the sect was to develop even further, they needed students with more experience. Three years from now, these ten students will be representing the sect during the next tournament. 

He looked over at the area reserved for the contestants and nodded in approval. They were all determined young men and women. Unfortunately, most of them will serve as stepping stones to other people. That was the reality of life in the cultivation world. 

The first elder noticed his distracted gaze on the stand and looked over.

'Oh! She is here too?'

He called over an overseer and asked for the list of competitors. 

'Is something wrong?' 

Qi rong fei asked.

'Oh, nothing. I just thought someone was participating. They aren't.'

'Who?' He looked again at the participants. They were all a mass of nervous intensity except for a distracted girl whose eyes roamed across the crowded space.

'Is that who you meant? Who is she?'

'I guess you two haven't met. That is the little ancestor.' He whispered.

'Really?'

At the same time, as if she could hear them talking about her, the distracted look faded from Bai li yue's eyes. She turned to look in their direction, nodded briefly and went back to watching the crowd. The sudden turning of her head was too eerie. They exchanged glances and fell silent. Whatever their thoughts, they kept them to themselves. 'I think she knows one of the participants.' The first elder filled in the silence. Their eyes scanned the students around her in the hopes of finding the student who was on friendly terms with the little ancestor. 

The overseers supervising the ten battle stages walked into the arena. The second elder gestured for the proceedings to commence. 

The head overseer cleared his throat and silence began to fall all across the field. Once he was satisfied with the silence, he was about to announce the start of the annual inner sect entrance contest. 

'Welcome to the final round of the tournament. This round will pit the remaining fifty contestants against each. Each contestant will meet five others in single combat on stage. For this round, each match must have a winner and a loser. Apart from that, the rules are the same. Killing among students is prohibited. Injuries are unavoidable, but anyone who intentionally wounds his opponents will have me to deal with. The top ten will be those who win the most fights. They will be accepted into the inner sect. The round begins now.'

Cheers rang out from the stands as the overseers called out the names of the first contestants.

'Xiao Huang rong. Sheng mu.'

Huang rong opened his eyes and leapt off the stand onto the air. He landed on the stage at the same moment as his opponent who was a hulking young man. He levelled his long sword at Huang rong who unsheathed a slender sword. 

'Huang rong, don't think that beating me is a given because you are a favorite. The win is mine!'

'Make your move.'

Sheng mu lunged forward, sword raised above his. He chopped down, aiming for Huang rong's chest. Huang rong stepped, narrowly avoiding the descending sword and pivoted to the left and came to a stop behind his opponent.

Sheng mu dropped his sword. It fell with a clank.

'I admit defeat.'