Corrupt Creations

The Lake Mother was an elderly person full of white hair and wrinkles, but her energy signature was a totally different thing. Not only she was strong, but there was an endless supply of energy connected to her by a formation. That formation served as a protective measure too, helping to maintain everything at place and working. 

Seth was able to feel that if not because of that strong formation supplying her energy, together with her own powerful cultivation, she wouldn't have been able to handle the situation she was in until now. 

The Lake Mother had her eyes shut, but she was not unconscious at that moment. It's just that she was concentrating on controlling the poisonous aura inside her energy veins. Seth noticed that her life signals were weaker than normal, but that was something to be expected, since she was not only old, but was stranded day and night in a constant fight against a wicked poison. 

Two energies were fighting a tough war inside her body. There was an energy that was a combination of her aura and the formation strength. It was being continuously supplied by a mountain of Skystones and together, they created a water domain right where she was. Most of that water domain, turned into a blockade, obstructing the passage of energies within her energy veins. It made sure to not let anything reach her brain, since the poison infecting her, had a very special nature. 

The other powerful energy inside her, was the poison. It was a purple mass of a hazy fog, that concentrated a heavy bloodline energy inside. 

That poison was constantly trying to invade her soul, conflicting with the protective water elemental barrier. Seth was able to feel that purple mist moving inside her body, constantly trying to find a way up to her brain, through her energy veins. But the powerful formation protecting her, didn't permit it to reach that place. Unfortunately, that energy couldn't be extinguished by normal means, making this internal fight inside her body go on for many years already. 

The poison she was infected with was called Ethereal Illusive Nightmare. It was a purple poisonous mist heavily focused on attacking the soul, destroying it by throwing the individual in a storm of nightmares. 

Seth felt the nature of that energy and got amazed after realizing there was a technique like that in this world. Things related to soul attacks were very rare to come across. Other than his Hades Manual and that Soul Trap, this was the third time he came across a soul attacking technique. 

However, he noticed it was a bit inferior than his arts, since it was required for it to enter the body and use it as a medium to attack the host soul. It acted by poisoning the individual and slowly inducing the appearance of endless nightmares. 

"A soul poison... This is rare." 

"Hm? Do you know what kind of poison is affecting her body?" Lan Xue asked. Her eyes were a bit expectant to hear his answer. 

Seth noticed she reacted more when things were about the Lake Mother. He didn't understand why, but he had the impression that they must share some kind of connection. 

"I do. Hm? Didn't you know what it was?" 

"We knew about some things, since the Lake Goddess told us about these types of poisonous energy, but her explanations involved talking about the soul domain and none of us Palace Masters, were able to fully understand what she was talking about. It involved complex topics we were not able to comprehend... The method protecting the Lake Mother, is something developed by her too. However, she said she was unable to dispel that poison from inside her body." 

'Oh? As expected from the Lake Goddess... She certainly has some abilities related to soul power.' 

After observing the Lake Mother a bit more, Seth reached some conclusions. 

"The poison affecting her, is a soul attacking technique. Since she was the Sect Master of the Glazed Lake before, I can assume she is a Mana Sovereign cultivator, right? Normal substances or poisons would not affect her body anymore, so they probably tried to use a soul poison to kill her... This poison is a bit strange; it acts like a drifting purple mist inside her body, always trying to reach her brains and open up a path into her soul. Could this be..." 

Suddenly, Seth realized something. 

Lan Xue noticed he had realized something and decided to say everything, clearing his doubts. 

"It was the Illusive Ethereal Sanctuary Master that did it." 

"Sanctuary Master...? As I thought, that mist is really from a technique that came from their bloodline..." 

Lan Xue nodded. There were some complex feelings blooming inside of her whenever she thought of this topic, but on the outside, her semblance remained stilled. 

Seth stepped forward while mentally asking for Lexi's help. 

"Lexi, can you help me on safely storing that poisonous mist?" 

"Hmph! You're lucky that I'm in a good mood. Actually, I also want to study that soul poison, like I did with the Soul Trap. Maybe I can develop some good things with that knowledge." 

Seth rejoiced he didn't even need to negotiate with Lexi this time. Maybe he would be able to discover how to help Meiyi after studying this soul poison, since it came from one of her bloodline skills. 

"Lan Xue, please undo the formation creating the protective water barrier around her. I will start the treatment." 

Palace Master Lan Xue felt annoyed that he called her by her name, disregarding her status, but she did as he told. Her Mana interacted with the formation around the room, quickly dispelling it. 

The water elemental energy protecting the Lake Mother vanished and a single second after that, the purple poisonous mist flared up, moving fast inside the Lake Mother's energy veins. 

Her old facial features contorted in pain, something a Mana Sovereign would hardly feel. 

Seth didn't seem in a hurry, letting the purple mist freely run through her veins, making Lan Xue's complexion sink from worry. In reality, this would be a simple thing to do, since Lexi agreed on helping him. If there was something he trusted, it was on Lexi's abilities. 

Seth approached the Lake Mother and stretched his hand, placing it where there was a high concentration of that poison. The aura coming from it was so strong that anyone was easily able to feel its presence there. 

Seth didn't even need to send his Soul Mist inside her body this time. Lexi had improved by leaps and bounds on the last few days after absorbing so much Spiritual Energy. She was now, able to do that by her own. 

She used her powers to absorb part of that poison inside Seth's soul space, caging it inside a bubble of her powerful purifying energy. After that, she sent her purification powers inside that old lady's body, thoroughly cleaning her body from that poison, as if she was washing a dirty spot with water and soap. 

That was something so easily accomplished by Lexi, that it didn't even take twenty seconds for everything to vanish from inside that old woman's body. Her complexion immediately returned to normal and that heavy aura that has been threatening her body and soul for the past year was completely gone. 

Lan Xue finally showed some minor reactions. Even her icy complexion wasn't enough to stop the expression of amazement she currently had in her face. 

The Lake Mother lightly opened her eyes, taking a look at the person who had helped her, closing it quickly afterwards. She was still feeling weak and needed to rest in order to recover to a healthy state. 

"Guess that's it, my part is done." 

"Eh... Is that it?" 

"Yeah. She is a Mana Sovereign cultivator, so I'm sure she will slowly recover to her perfect condition in less than two weeks. Can we go back now?" 

"Ah, alright." 

Lan Xue and Seth left that bamboo house, walking back to the place they came from. Even after five minutes passed, she was still having a hard time to believe everything had been so perfectly done. 

Suddenly, Lan Xue stopped and bowed towards Seth. 

"Thanks. I was shocked by how things happened so fast, that I even forgot to thank you for what you just did." She sincerely thanked him, putting her pride and status away. 

Lan Xue had a strong connection with the Lake Mother and Seth saving that old woman, was very important for her. 

"Don't worry. It was nothing." 

"No... It meant a lot for me. I feel that what we offered you was not enough for repaying this huge favor, and as one of the Twelve Palace Masters, I feel ashamed. Is there any other thing you need?" 

"Hm? There is nothing that I particularly need now." 

"Please... You had practically done it for free. If we aren't able to do something for you, I will always feel like I will be owing you something. Let's do it like this... I intend to reunite everyone again tomorrow. You can think about something you need tonight and tell us tomorrow. What do you think?" 

"Alright then."