Yuki watched as she passed through the clouds. She showed no fear of being this high up. In fact, she showed no emotion at all. They had just broken through the cloud bank when five figures suddenly appeared in front of them. It was the old men from before. “Elder Nishikawa, it is not nice to be running off with such a good seedling.”

Looking at the old men in front of her, Elder Nishikawa snorted as she answered back: “Do old men try to take away little girls now? What are you a lolic….”

“We are not!” The old man with a long white beard yelled, his cheeks turning red. He had to admit it did seem like they were trying to forcefully take the child away! “Ahem… We are just trying to do things fairly. Let the girl choose who to follow.”

Elder Nishikawa snorted as she asked mockingly: “Huh? Old man, let me ask you this. Can you bathe her? Can you heal her injuries in certain places? If you say yes, then you are nothing but a loic….”

“You! Why is your mouth so good!?” The old man hated Elder NishiKawa with a passion! She always had to have the last word! He ignored the stupid girl and turned towards Yuki. “Little one out of all of us…. Wait, why are you drawing your sword!?”

“Yuki!” Elder Nishikawa was also startled by this fact. The look in Yuki’s eyes was as cold as ice. She could feel the killing intent coming off the little girl. Elder Nishikawa placed her hand on Yuki’s head and slowly pushed the hilt of Yuki’s sword back into place. “You can not draw your weapon on elders unless they try to do something to you, okay?”

Yuki looked up at Elder Nishikawa and slowly let go of her sword. If there was one thing she hated more than anything in this world, it was old men! They all reminded her of that crazy old man. Her emotions would start to take over when seeing them. She would need to walk away, or she might actually attack, but this time, one actually tried to speak to her, which caused her to lose herself. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, but the cold look in her eyes did not disappear.

Seeing Yuki calm down some, Elder Nishikawa let out a sigh of relief. If this little girl really tried to attack this high in the sky, she would fall to her death! However, she did wonder what Yuki had gone through. Her face from the moment she met her until moments ago was always expressionless, but now she showed true killing intent and a murderous gaze. She hugged Yuki closer to her as she turned to the old men. “I think we got our answer. Can you let us pass now?”

“Huh? Yeah...” The elders were not mad at all. They were more startled than anything. Everyone had a past. Some good, some bad, but this girl was so young, yet her killing intent was that of someone who had been walking on the battlefield for tens of years. They watched as Elder Nishikawa flew away with many thoughts on their minds.

“That girl….” One of the elders started to speak but stopped. “We will just leave her to Elder Nishikawa. But we should be careful since we might have a rough road ahead within the sect. I am afraid that girl's killing intent is too strong. If people even look at her wrong, she might cut them down.”

“She will need to start in the outer sect anyway. Maybe she will slowly calm down. Little Rin is good with the young kids, so maybe we should have her look after this little one.” One of the elders suggested.

“Let’s discuss it with Elder Nishikawa later on.” All the elders nodded their heads before disappearing. They still had to watch over the tests.

Yuki was brought to a tranquil mountaintop. For such a high mountain that rose even above the clouds, you would think it would be covered in snow, but here it was a lush green bamboo forest. When Elder Nishikawa landed on the ground and let Yuki down, Yuki looked at the surroundings and felt nothing. She did not smile. She did not show any excitement or even relaxation to be in such a place. It was still just a blank look. The one she always had.

“Follow me. This mountain peak is mine. No one is allowed here except for women. I will bring you to the bathing spring so you can wash up. I will get you some robes while you clean up.” Elder Nishikawa spoke while watching Yuki’s every motion. But she still saw no changes in the girl's expression. There was not even a twitch of an eyebrow. She sighed before thinking of something and asking: “You do know how to wash up, right?”

“Yes.” Yuki finally spoke. Although soft and a single word, she did speak. For some reason, just hearing Yuki’s voice made Elder Nishikawa happy. It was like she had achieved some kind of amazing feat!

Yuki was brought to a large crystal clear pond. It was tinted blue due to the blue sky overhead reflecting off its surface. After handing Yuki some soap, Elder Nishikawa left to get her some robes.

Yuki stripped off her tattered clothes and looked down at her body with a slight frown. She wondered if her tail was okay. She would love to wash it right now, but it was not a time to be canceling off her disguise technique. Sighing, Yuki slowly walked into the water and decided to soak a bit longer so her tail could get a little cleaner. She did wonder if she would be able to dry it, though. Her tail and ears were all she had left to remind her of her family and her home village. It was her reminder that they were waiting to be saved.

Yuki walked out into the water until she was neck deep and then lay on her back, floating there, looking up at the sky. She wondered how long it would take her to become truly powerful. Powerful enough to find her people and bring them someplace safe where no one will dare harm them. Closing her eyes, a small whisper escaped her lips. “I need to grow stronger….”