Corrupt Creations

Time flew by. Without Seth and Lan Xue knowing, four more months passed since the first time they started to fight against that horde of beasts inside the abyss. 

On the surface, the Illusive Ethereal Sanctuary and the Glazed Lake were gathered in a meeting with the people from the Lion's Pride Golden Palace. After they received the message Velgor had ordered Fourth Shadow to anonymously send them, many things and many episodes had already happened between those sects. 

A huge purple Skystone mine, was not something that any of them could let go of so easily and the Illusive Ethereal Sanctuary and the Glazed Lake had to take part on this, else they would be losing a golden opportunity. 

At the time they received the information, they sent their representatives to verify the area where that mine existed and were able to certify that it really existed, since there was still the energy signature from those purple Skystones around there. 

Other than that, they didn't find anything else, but that signature was already the proof they needed to acta. The Lion's Pride Golden Palace had looted everything and were now a threat to them. 

Qiao Xuan entered the meeting room and sat at the important seat reserved for him. At the other side of that huge table, the man referred as Sanctuary Master was already seating straight while being accompanied by many powerful elders from his sect. 

He had a mild smile of his face, but inwardly, there were many complicated thoughts forming on his head. Most of them were not even related to the mine incident, but to the Glazed Lake. He was silently observing the representative of that sect, following the orders his goddess had given him. 

The person representing the Glazed Lake was not the Lake Goddess, in fact it was not even the Lake Mother, since she didn't want to reveal herself yet. The person that came to represent them, was none other than the Eleventh Palace Master, Lady Yushui. Behind her, the Hua Sisters were accompanying her, ready to assist if anything were to happen. 

However, there was a subtle frown that never left their faces. That frown, was actually related to the situation that happened with the Twelfth Palace Master Lan Xue. She had gone missing after she left the sect alongside Seth. It has been seven months since they last saw her and nothing any of the other people taking part on this gathering could say, would make them not suspect them for that. 

Yushui kept secretly observing the Sanctuary Master, just like he was doing with her. 

Suddenly, the Sanctuary Master decided to say some things. 

"Lion King Qiao Xuan, I hope you can clarify some things for us, else my Illusive Ethereal Sanctuary and the Palace Masters from the Glazed Lake, wouldn't be able to peacefully rest during the next few days..." 

Palace Master Yushui noticed the Sanctuary Master was using them to reinforce his point, but instead of contesting him, she decided to stay silent. 

Qiao Xuan felt a fury suddenly rising inside of him, but he was able to control himself properly and talk to the Sanctuary Master. 

"What do you need to know? What is it that should really be clarified?" He was controlling himself, but his speech intonation was a bit off. It was like he was about to assume a demanding tone and reverse the logic behind that meeting. 

"Lion King Qiao, I guess none of us here has that much free time to be wasting on this meaningless conversation. We want to know how many purple Skystones you have acquired from that mine exploration and how many of them are you "willing" to part with...?" 

The Sanctuary Master was asking that question while maintaining his previous mild smile. However, neither Qiao Xuan nor Palace Master Yushui felt he was trying a peaceful approach. They heard his words as if they were a threat. 

For Palace Master Yushui, it didn't change that much. She was already imagining he would be taking that stance, since the Illusive Ethereal Sanctuary had never been a peaceful group of people to deal with at the first place. Actually, they were the most eccentric and the hardest to deal with. But for the Lion King Qiao Xuan, those words were like an affront. Not only that, those words were like the Sanctuary Master was making fun of his predicament, as if they were meant to ridicule him. 

Qiao Xuan's Mana Sovereign initial-stage aura burst out of his body, crashing against every single side of the room. The elders from the Illusive Ethereal Sanctuary and even the Palace Masters from the Glazed Lake Sect felt pressured. 

He suddenly stood up from his seat and said: "You want the purple Skystones? Are you fucking serious?! One of my Lion Guardians, the one ranked first was in charge of overlooking the whole fucking operation; however, he is fucking dead now! Tell me... How am I going to part with something I don't even fucking have?" 

The whole atmosphere suddenly became heavier and everyone felt that Qiao Xuan was completely furious. 

The Sanctuary Master though, still had the same mild smile on his face. 

"What do I have to do with it? If he died, it means he was a worthless subordinate." The Sanctuary Master replied, shocking everyone there. 

After hearing his words, Qiao Xuan's aura suddenly intensified and it seemed that he would explode at any moment. 

The Sanctuary Master started to release his cultivation as well, making things even harder. 

"Please, stop. I feel like nothing is going to come out of this." Palace Master Yushui suddenly said. She was the weakest among the three of them and wouldn't even be able to put up with a fight against them; however, they still considered her words since she was representing her sect. 

Qiao Xuan recollected his threatening stance and retracted his aura. After that he suddenly said: "I don't know who killed one of the most important members of my Lion's Pride Golden Palace, but I swear I won't stop searching until I find who did it! And when I find who was responsible for that; it's going to be war!" 

The Lion King didn't feel like staying there anymore, so he left alongside the members of his sect.

The Sanctuary Master felt like things were not over yet and that Qiao Xuan could possibly be doing that to avoid stating the truth and decided to do something. But just as he would move his hand and release one of his techniques, he saw Palace Master Yushui standing up and leaving the room together with the Hua Sisters. 

At that moment, he decided to ask about some things. 

"Heh... Will the Glazed Lake so easily give up on this matter? I thought you were the ones that always valued balance... Could it be that, you've been having some problems lately?" 

Palace Master Yushui frowned. There was a hint of displeasure on her expression, but she decided to ignore him and continue to leave. The Hua sisters followed behind her even though they wanted to stay and slap that man's face. 

After they completely disappeared, the Sanctuary Master finally stood up and left. He was able to gauge the state those two sects were in and many other minor things. After going back to the Illusive Ethereal Sanctuary, he could then plan their next step together with his goddess. 

. 

. 

. 

Qiao Xuan arrived at a private building owned by the Lion's Pride Golden Palace, where there were many protective formations that wouldn't let anyone spy on them. 

The other seven Lion Guardians were all there. All of them had a very serious expression on their faces. They were not able to find anything after searching for many months and were only left with wild guesses about what had happened. 

After Qiao Xuan entered his office, one of those Lion Guardians, responsible for their information network came to ask him some things.

"Master, the StormWind Valley sent us a message, asking for our help. It seems some unfortunate events have happened to them." 

The Lion's Pride Golden Palace was located near the territory of the nation called StormWind Valley. That country, was the one considered to be the strongest power outside the Higher Grounds; however, when put near them, they wouldn't even be considered as a minor threat. That's why the StormWind Valley, had affiliated themselves with the Lion's Pride Golden Palace. 

Right now, they seemed to be facing some troubles, but their timing when asking for help, was not a good one. 

"Ignore them. We don't have time to waste on them now. We must quickly discover if those other two Higher Grounds were the ones responsible for what had happened. Unfortunately, there isn't a way for us to force them to truthfully answer our questions, without any proof. If we were to attack any of them, the other one would end up getting in an advantage and getting the upper hand at the end." 

"You're right master. However, there might be a way for us to get in an advantageous position." 

"What is it?" 

"We just need to speed up the Young Master's marriage and acquire Velgor's full support."