Corrupt Creations

The other Palace Masters watched as Yushui returned back to normal very quickly. But it didn't stop only there, her condition kept improving more and more. All the stress she had accumulated on the last few days and from many months of continuously trainings and teachings, vanished together with the Synthetic Evergreen Poison. 

Even her skin got healthier after being energized by the natural energy coming from the Evergreen Essence. 

Palace Master Yushui was not expecting those effects and was only able to stare at her own body in shock and awe. She was feeling like she had been massaged everywhere and that her energy veins were already ready for another intensive cultivation session. But she was sure that if she were to cultivate now, her gains would be at least thrice faster than they were normally. 

"Whoa! She is completely healed! So fast!" Hua Jing exclaimed after she felt there were no more sings of poisonous energy around Yushui. Her sisters were just as amazed as she was, but they were more reserved. 

"Is that enough for you?" Palace Master Yushui said for everyone, but it seemed she was directing it towards the Tenth Palace Master. 

"Tch..." Palace Master Shanhu sat back on her seat. 

"Since his ability was proven, we just have to discuss if we are really going to proceed with this and what he will ask for compensation." Palace Master Baihe concluded. 

Seth decided to speak for the first time, saying: "About the compensation, I don't need anything from your Sect. What I want was already provided by Palace Master Yushui." 

Everyone expected that he would rip them off, but it turned out that he actually wasn't asking for anything. 

"What?! Are you really not asking for anything?" The one who asked was the Eighth Palace Master, lady Jingzhu. 

Seth turned towards her and answered: "I've asked Palace Master Yushui, to take care of my friends for some time. They are currently residing at her palace as guests and won't cause you any trouble. That's all I needed." 

Everyone turned silent for a moment. Everything was going so smoothly for them, that it was practically as if Seth was making his services available for free. 

But they knew there was no free meal on this world, what was the cause for some of them to raise some suspicions. 

"Something isn't right... We need to take some time and think things through first." 

"There is no need for that..." 

As the Palace Masters were about to discuss if they would accept the deal, the only missing Palace Master arrived at the meeting room. 

Lan Xue walked unhurriedly, entering the room while looking towards Seth. She seemed like a beautiful doll when compared with the others. 

'So, she really was one of the Palace Masters, huh?' Seth didn't feel surprised by the fact she was one of the Palace Masters. He had already deduced that much. 

"There is no need to discuss about this anymore. We are going to accept the deal." 

"We should investigate this further... It's still too early to..." Palace Master Shanhu was still making her objection, but she was interrupted by Lan Xue. 

"It is "her" decision." 

A simple phrase from her and everyone changed their countenance. 

Lan Xue continued: "Palace Master Yushui and everyone else... I thank you for your hard work, but you are free to go. From here on, I will assume this." Her thankful words were meant to be warm, but her cold tonality transmitted a rigid and serious feeling. 

"Understood, Palace Master Lan Xue." 

Yushui and the others stood up and one by one, they left the meeting hall. 

After Lan Xue took the lead, there was nothing more for them to do there. They knew she was capable enough of handling everything properly, at least better them any of them. But in reality, what made them so decisively follow her words, was because it was "her" wish. 

All the Palace Masters left the meeting hall, leaving only Lan Xue and Seth behind. 

"You were so much cuter while acting naïve..." Seth shook his head, seeing how rigid and precise Lan Xue words were. It seemed like she didn't want to waste time. 

"I was not acting naïve. You don't seem surprised at all, so if I were to tell... You were the one acting naïve. But it doesn't matter. Come with me; I'll bring you to see the Lake Mother." 

Seth realized she didn't even react to him calling her cute and even though she retorted his affirmation, her expression was just like a block of ice all along. 

"Lake Mother? Is she the one you want me to treat?" 

"The Lake Mother is our oldest ancestor. She is indeed the one we want you to heal, but her condition is a bit extreme. You don't need to ask anything for now; you will understand everything once we get there." 

Seth followed Lan Xue outside, going to a more secluded place. 

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Palace Master Shanhu was having a conversation with the Sixth and Seventh Palace Masters. She respected the decision made by her superiors, but there was something telling her to investigate things further. 

"You two can go back to your respective Palaces, I will see who are those people he brought here, with my own eyes." 

"Alright." 

After they separated, Palace Master Shanhu secretly moved towards the Eleventh Palace. Her intent was not to cause any trouble, but to discover if there was anything wrong. 

That's why instead of invading Yushui's Palace, she kept hidden somewhere outside it, while using her aura to identify the people inside. She acted super carefully, avoiding any kind of detection. 

Inside, Rina was using her Evergreen Essence on Chun Meiyi's body, making sure of keeping her body a hundred percent healthy and clean. 

After she finished, Chun Meihui approached and thanked her. 

"Thanks Rina, I didn't know what would be of me and Meiyi without your help." 

"Sigh... We are friends so there is no need to thank me." 

"Alright." Meihui smiled. 

Rina looked at Meiyi and felt curious about what had happened with her. She never asked this before, since she thought it was a delicate topic, but out of concern, she decided to do it this time. 

"If it isn't a problem, can I ask you what actually happened with Meiyi?" 

Chun Meihui was holding her daughter's hand when she heard Rina's question. Rina was a person she trusted, so she felt there were no problems to tell her about Meiyi. 

"This is something Seth told me to never so casually reveal to anyone, but you're practically a family member so there is no problem. At that time, he told me the real reason she is like this, is because of her bloodline. It is trying to awaken her powers, but it isn't able to. Her being unconscious is a defensive mechanism of her body." 

"Her bloodline is doing that? What kind of bloodline does that with its host?" Rina didn't mean to ask it, but she thought that aloud. 

Chun Meihui replied in a low voice: "Seth said something about it being the Illusive Ethereal Bloodline." 

While Rina and Meihui kept talking about those things, there was a Palace Master hearing everything they were saying. 

Shanhu didn't expect she would find something so quickly, much less something about the sect they despised the most, the Illusive Ethereal Sanctuary. 

"I can't believe it!" She was genuinely shocked about that piece of information. 

Suddenly, she felt Palace Master Yushui's aura approaching from afar, but before she could realize there was a Palace Master spying on the people inside her palace, Shanhu left. She had already found something that would certainly raise the animosity of all the other Palace Masters. It would probably put them against Yushui as well. 

There was a reason the Glazed Lake didn't like the Illusive Ethereal Sanctuary. Actually, it was not a dislike, but enmity. That reason was none other than the Lake Mother. The state she was in was totally related to them. 

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Lan Xue brought Seth to a very secluded place, where there was only a simple bamboo house surrounded by a bamboo forest. But even before entering that house, Seth was able to feel the powerful fluctuations coming from inside. It was the fluctuations from an energy field that kept everything at place. 

There seemed to be a very strong formation inside there, creating that particular energy field. Seth was able to feel the Skystones continuously supplying energy from the outside, because of the strong energy signature it had. 

Lan Xue suddenly stopped, since there was an invisible barrier in front of her. However, that barrier was something she had the responsibility to manage, so it was only natural that she would be able to deactivate it easily. 

After doing that, they proceeded, entering the bamboo house. 

There were no rooms inside, it was just a simple house where the Lake Mother liked to live; and as expected, the Lake Mother was there, sitting in meditative position. 

What caught Seth's attention first, was the presence of two different powerful energies. One around her whole body and one concentrated in her head.