Corrupt Creations

"During the time you were away, doing that secret mission together with Lan Xue, there were some major things happening between the three Higher Grounds. A certain day, we received an anonymous letter telling us about the activities of the Lion's Pride Golden Palace in a certain area of the Blazing Phoenix Country." 

Seth furrowed his eyebrows while hearing her words, but he still refrained to say anything. 

"There were some other less important things written there, but the main topic, was the fact that it told us the Lion's Pride Golden Palace was secretly mining purple Skystones in great quantities from a hidden mine. At first, we didn't believe it, but in one of our internal meetings, we realized that there was a small chance that the Wu Martial Kingdom was connected to the Lion's Pride Golden Palace and that the war wasn't only a territorial dispute. There was also a little incident at the Wu Martial Kingdom, where many of our hidden informants were able to see Qiao Duyi, a Lion Guardian, arriving at their main palace." 

Seth immediately connected what she told him with what he had seen. First, he was there when Qiao Xuan and Velgor made a pact to invade the Blazing Phoenix Country. After witnessing that, he already guessed the Wu Martial Kingdom would be receiving help from the Lion's Pride Golden Palace, if a conflict were to happen. As for the second thing that turned that information into something that wasn't a surprise for him, was the fact that he already knew about that mine. It was just that he wasn't interested on it. 

Palace Master Yushui continued: "We decided to investigate it further and we discovered that the information we had received was indeed correct. The Lion's Pride Golden Palace had discovered a huge mine of purple Skystones and were secretly mining it. Since this was something that could pretty much change the order of the whole mainland, the three Higher Grounds decided to discuss some things in a particular meeting. However, nothing went as planned and now, we not only lost the chance to create a balanced environment, but the Lion's Pride Sanctuary had just dropped a bomb that is akin to declaring their supremacy." 

Seth finally decided to ask something. 

"Are they declaring their supremacy? How is that possible? I don't think they are strong enough to single-handedly crush the Glazed Lake Sect or the Illusive Ethereal Sanctuary now, much less take the both of you together. Even if they mined every single purple Skystone there, it would still require many years for them to use them efficiently." 

"Actually... The problem is that they aren't openly declaring supremacy, but doing it through a more discrete mean. An alliance. As for the Skystones... They are more like a warranty that they would have a more brilliant future." 

When Seth heard that, his heart suddenly started accelerating. Inwardly, he already knew about what alliance she was talking about, but his mind didn't want to acknowledge it, so he forced himself to ask her more information about that. 

"What kind of alliance are they doing?" 

Palace Master Yushui deeply looked at him and said: "This may sound like a joke, but the Lion's Pride Golden Palace is actually allying with the Demonic Shadow Royal Clan. It is an alliance absolutely no one expected that it would happen, much less how it will be officialized... Have you ever heard of the princess of the devils? The one titled as Silver Nights?" 

Seth tried to sound normal, but his mind wasn't letting him behave normally. His voice started to fail, since that topic entailed into many complications. 

"N-n-no..." 

Yushui found his reaction a bit strange, but she continued: "The princess Silver Nights is said to be one of the most beautiful women alive, yet she is going to marry the Lion Knight, the Young Master of the Lion's Pride Golden Palace. The worst part of it all, is that they are going to use that fact to force us to retreat or to comply with some of their demands, not only that, but the marriage shall be happening in a bit more than a week, at the main Lion's Pride Golden Palace, and we don't have a countermeasure yet..." 

When Yushui told Seth about the date of that marriage, his mind seemed to have stopped working properly. 

She kept saying things about how that marriage would affect them and that they were even invited to see the ceremony, but they didn't plan on going. However, Seth couldn't hear a single word she said any longer. The shock he had received was so great, that his mind wasn't even able to deny or confront the information he had just heard, jumping directly a state of pure anxiety. 

Seth abruptly stood up and advanced against the table separating him from Yushui, desperately asking her about the wedding event. 

"Where? Where is it? Where is the Lion's Pride Golden Palace located?" 

Yushui felt alarmed by his sudden reaction and quickly said: "It is in a mountainous region close to the StormWind Valley." 

"How much time it takes for me to get there?" 

"Why are you suddenly acting so anxious?" 

"Please Palace Master Yushui, this is very important to me..." 

Yushui didn't fully understand why he was acting like that, but she realized by his intonation, that it was indeed something that mattered for him. 

"We could teleport you to the Hilkhell City, but the formation was destroyed and you'll have to travel by feet. That way, it would take a Mana Control cultivator like you, almost two weeks traveling." Yushui still didn't know Seth was a Profound Mana cultivator, and one that was able to rival Mana Sovereigns. If she had used her energy scan on him, she would have been able to feel his Mana signature and would consecutively have gotten shocked by his growth. 

"I need you to send me out of the Glazed Lake Sect territory right now! No! Actually, please send me to the borders of the Blue Breeze Country at least." 

"What are you talking about? I don't have enough rights to operate the formation at that extent, only the Lake Mother or the Lake Goddess would be able to do that." 

After Seth heard her reply, he suddenly turned around and sprinted outside her office room. While leaving, he left some words behind. 

"Please, tell Rina to wait for a bit longer. I will certainly come back for her." 

In a single instant, his figure had already vanished, since he used his dark teleportation technique to move somewhere else. Palace Master Yushui was left behind, dumbfounded and full of questions.