Corrupt Creations

Hua Qing found his introduction a bit strange, saying unnecessary things that didn't matter. What she really wanted to know, was exactly where did he come from. But he didn't tell that piece of information on his response, what made her countenance change. 

Since he hadn't identified himself properly, he could pretty much be an enemy, especially if he was a member from a certain Higher Ground, that was not on good terms with the Glazed Lake Sect. 

If he were to be associated with that place, then she would not forgive him and try her utmost to destroy him right there. 

"Miss Qing, I don't want to fight with you, since I came here specially to meet a person that invited me over." 

"Someone invited you? Who was the one that invited you?" 

"The Eleventh Palace Master, Miss Yushui." 

Hua Qing frowned, because she knew Palace Master Yushui would never invite someone to their sect, much less if that person happened to be a man. It would be going against some of the precepts their sect followed, and if a man were to enter there, it would be no different from defying those precepts. 

"Palace Master Yushui invited you? Liar! She would never invite a man to enter our sect! I don't know who you really are, but you've tried to dirty her name, and that's something I can't forgive." Her aura expanded as she started to build more power. 

Every single woman that was part of the Glazed Lake Sect knew who Palace Master Yuhui was. They also knew, she would never do anything against their sect rules, even if her life depended on it. 

Hua Qing thought Seth was trying to spread lies about Palace Master Yushui, that's why she instantly assumed a fighting stance. 

"I'm not lying. Palace Master Yushui knows me, just call for her and you can easily discover if what I am saying is a lie or not." 

"No need for that! I won't fall for those tricks." 

Seth realized the woman would not believe his words alone, but before he could think of a way to make her believe his story, Hua Qing suddenly submerged. 

Her body vanished, using the environment at her favor. The water element on the environment they were, was just like a shroud for her, serving to completely mask her presence. Together with the formation assisting her, she was practically untraceable. 

Seth used his Soul Sense to lock on her position, but he realized she was nowhere to be found. There was a possibility of her crossing to the other side too, making Seth's life a bit more complicated. 

That was most likely what had happened, since Seth knew nothing could escape the scanning power of his Soul Sense. 

'So, the lake really acts as a portal to another dimension...' His theory was most likely confirmed after his Soul Sense returned him the information of the whole area he scanned. On the information he was able to perceive, he didn't see Hua Qing's silhouette anywhere, meaning that she had really disappeared. 

Seth didn't move, he just waited for Hua Qing's next move, since he couldn't reach the place she had gone to at that moment. He knew sooner or later she would have to come out to make her move. 

The calm and silent waters gave the whole environment a tense atmosphere. The observers got apprehensive, felling nervous and impatient; however, Seth, being a dark element master, was accustomed with that kind of situation. On these kinds of situation, the best thing he could do was to be patient and wait. 

When he was training back at the Demon Territory, there were many times he had to fight a though life and death situations like that. There were times he would face a hurdle thousand times harder than this, where Seth had to keep calm and not falter anytime, else he would be destroyed by one of the Twelve Shadows that trained him. This particular situation, was actually a breeze for him, just like a walk through the amusement park. 

After some time, when Hua Qing thought Seth was trying to find her with his energy scan, she silently emerged behind him, ready to act. She appeared right where she thought his blind spot was, creating the perfect opportunity for attacking. Her aura was camouflaged by the environment and she was ready to fight for real this time. The onlookers didn't even have time to warn Seth, before her body rapidly moved to strike her enemy. 

But she didn't have a chance to fully execute her attack, because Seth's figure standing before her vanished, transforming into a shadow that dissipated quickly. The real one was already standing behind her, using his Mana to create a strong impact at her unprotected back. She was lucky that he made sure to not exert too much of his strength. 

Hua Qing didn't have time to defend from that attack with her own active skills, so her inheritance passive skill activated for her. Cultivators from the Glazed Lake Sect, were able to train very powerful and refined water elemental skills and techniques. The Passive skill that had activated was part of that inheritance. 

As Seth's Mana was about to collide against her back, a crystalline thin membrane made of water element surged, blocking his attack and making a great part of the force behind it, dissipate. 

The water was a very balanced element, able to protect and destroy depending the way you used it, and one of its strongest traits, was the ability to change its properties with a certain ease, going from a defensive skill to an offensive one. 

Just as it had finished absorbing all the impact and Mana Seth released, that thin layer of water shield used part of the absorbed Mana to furiously explode against the enemy. 

Boom! 

A huge wave crashed head on against Seth, impacting fiercely against his chest area. 

At the shore, Rina was ready to rush forward, but she suddenly saw Seth standing in the same position he was before, unfazed by what had just happened. 

"Oh? Impressive. I didn't think you had such a mastery over the water element." His voice sounded like she had just wet him while they were playing with water. 

Hua Qing cautiously looked at him, while she entered a guarding stance. He hadn't suffered a single injury by her attack, even though he had received it directly on his body. 

"Very well... Since you're not willing to call for Lady Yushui for me, I will find a way to enter the Glazed Lake myself." 

Bam! 

Seth released his aura, creating a huge void around the place he was. 

Hua Qing felt an immense pressure and realized she was not his match. The pressure she was feeling was akin to a Profound Mana middle-stage Realm cultivator's pressure. 

She immediately used every single drop of Mana she had to connect with the water of the entire lake, making it obey her wishes and serve as her sword and shield. 

A huge column of water enveloped her body while another one surged towards Seth, trying to attack him with full force. The amount of water being moved by her skill was so great, that the lake water level decreased since a lot of it was flying upwards. 

Seth decided to fight seriously. His Mana turned into fire, burning everything on his surrounding and clashing against the water column. His blazing flames were so hot that Hua Qing's water element instantly lost the initial clash. 

His flames expanded further, vaporizing the water on entire area around where he was standing. It kept expanding and thoroughly consuming the water column, turning it into vapor. But instead of stopping there, Seth's flames kept intensifying and burning every single thing around. 

The flames were bright orange, making a blinding light cover the entire area, not letting anyone see how was Seth's current situation. 

Bang! 

Suddenly, his flames expanded in a flashing light, creating a loud explosion that served more as a decoy than to really do some substantial damage. 

When the Fourth palace Master Hua Qing was finally able to see something, she realized the man was not there anymore. He was already coming at her like a raging meteor, burning with intense flames. She knew that if any of his attacks touched her, she would be in deep trouble. 

Hua Qing intensified the water element around her, creating the thickest shield possible and enabling it to absorb the upcoming impact and use it against Seth afterwards. To escape was not a definite option, since there were three disciples she couldn't leave behind, waiting for her rescue at the shore. 

Bang! 

But when Seth's body impacted against her water shield, his flames intensified even more, burning her water shield so easily that she couldn't believe it was actually possible. She wasn't even able to absorb part of that energy, because the disparity between them was so great, that her shield was practically undone in a single instant.