Corrupt Creations

Seth took a sip of the fresh tea Meiyi's mother had prepared, after feeling the wonderful smell it was exuding. 

"It's really sweet and pleasant." 

"It's good that you liked it. Then now, we can talk about how you two met each other, right?" Chun Meihui was trying to not show it with her words, but she was observing Seth to see if he was a good man for her daughter. She knew there would be some guys that only wanted to play with a girl and leave her right after, so she was trying to check if Seth was one of those kinds. 

"Ahaha, it was a really embarrassing story. We met each other when the instructor of the outer-court paired the both of us for a spar. He wanted us to demonstrate our fire attribute skills, but none of us could actually use a fire-based skill. We ended up being mocked by the people who were watching, but it made us realize that we had some things in common." Seth said awkwardly laughing. 

"You mean that they laughed at my daughter?" Chun Meihui said while looking towards Meiyi, because she never talked about those hardships, she suffered before. 

"Do not worry, those people just know how to brag about their little skills and wealth, ignoring the important and valuable things. Right now, your daughter is known to be one of the two rising stars within the inner-court." 

"You should have let me tell mom about that, humph." Meiyi pouted in dissatisfaction. 

"Oh? Did you pass the inner-court exam?" Chun Meihui got a bit excited with that information. It meant her daughter future would be bright, full of resourced and possibilities. 

"Yeah mom, I'm an inner-court disciple right now, but I still couldn't awaken my fire attribute. What led me to pass the exam, was that Seth taught me how to effectively use my abilities, even going as far as helping me develop some techniques." 

"Hee, I see you had some good times together, huh?" Meiyi's mother had a knowing smile on her face. She felt like Seth was most likely a good man now. 

"Mom! I know what you are thinking about. However, we hadn't gone that far." Meiyi's face was red with embarrassment. 

"I didn't say anything, differently from you. Tell mom, how far have you gone?" 

"Sigh... I should have though something like this would happen." Meiyi covered her face with her hands. 

"Okay, mom was just joking with you. Actually, you are completing eighteen years old tomorrow, reaching adulthood. You're already able to take care of yourself, so there is no need for you to hold yourself from doing the things you want to do. However, keep in mind that if you want to advance your relationship, you should consider a proper marriage." 

"Marriage?!" Meiyi jaws almost hit the ground. Wasn't it too soon? 

"Ahahaha. Why not? Even though it is still too soon, I would love to marry you Meiyi." Seth really wanted to have this kind of life with her, but he knew that it would be impossible for now though. 

That sentence of his, made Chun Meihui see him in a new light. 

They kept familiarizing with each other until night descended. 

The next day, it was time for Chun Meiyi's birthday. After doing a small party with just the three of them, Chun Meihui finally decided to start a serious conversation with her daughter. 

"Now that you are an adult, I would like to share some information regarding your father with you, my daughter." 

Meiyi always had the desire to meet her father, however her mother never told her anything about him. Her attention immediately focused on the words her mother was about to say. Seth stood by her side and Chun Meihui never asked him to leave, since she was considering him a family member already. 

"I used to go to the nearby forest, to collect the leaves to brew some tea, since it's a hobby that I like. Twenty years ago, when I was seventeen, I once again left towards the place I used to collect those leaves, and when I was coming back, I decided to take a different path, so I could get back faster." She took a sip of the tea to continue. 

"On my way, I found a man that appeared to be twenty years old, lying on the floor. He seemed to be in a bad shape, since he had a cut on his head that was bleeding a lot. I couldn't ignore him and leave, so I carried him home. I thought that father would be able to help him out." She stopped a bit as she remembered her deceased parents. 

"It's a pity that you weren't able to meet you grandfather and grandmother. But that's just how life is." 

"Mother, I have you, and that is all it matters." 

Chun Meihui smiled and proceeded with her tale. 

"That man's body recuperated really fast, but there was nothing we could do about his memories. He lost some of his memories because of the injury on his head. Father allowed him to stay on this house and arranged a job for him. After a year that we spent living together, I fell in love with him and we officially started to date, since I had just turned eighteen by that time, just like you now. It didn't take long for us to marry and bring my parents the wonderful news that I was pregnant." 

"Sigh... However, when you were three years old, you father suddenly recovered his memories and awakened his powers. In a span of two days, he prepared something around the entire house and vanished from the face of the planet. We lived such a happy life before he recovered his memories, but he abandoned the both of us without even looking back after." Some tears started to appear on Chun Meihui eyes. 

Meiyi was crying too, she didn't know that her father just abandoned her like that. 

"Your grandfather tried to follow his traces and discover the place he had gone to, but he came back heavily injured, falling unconscious after muttering some words. The words he said were something about Illusive Ethereal Mist, but we could not understand it at all. That injury took his life a year later, while your grandmother couldn't even eat because of her sadness. She fell ill, dying right after." 

"Illusive Ethereal Mist? Now some things are starting to make sense." Seth had heard of this before, but he never expected to hear these words here. 

Chun Meihui saw that Seth reacted to those words and asked: "Do you know something about that?" 

"Well, I do know some things about that, it's just that it wasn't something I was expecting to hear here. Illusive Ethereal Mist is the name of the bloodline ability a group of people have. Have you heard about the three Higher Grounds?" 

"I just heard about the Glazed Lake." Meiyi's mother was a commoner with a normal cultivation, it was natural for her to not know the names of those who stood on top of the food chain. 

"Me too, I just heard about the Glazed Lake." 

"Other than the Glazed Lake, there are two Behemoths standing at their sides. The first one is the Lion's Pride Golden Palace. They are bunch of prideful people, who are able to tame the dreadful beast called the Golden Lion. Some of them even have Lion bloodlines too." 

Seth continued: "The third Higher ground is really mysterious. They are called Illusive Ethereal Sanctuary and their bloodline arts are the Illusive Ethereal Mist. They rarely make any contact with the outside world, staying holed inside their sanctuary. This place is known to never let their bloodline pass down to people that aren't from their ranks. They are so strict with that custom, that they even hunt those individuals that break that overbearing custom." 

Seth looked towards Meiyi and said: "Now that I think about it, your father is probably from that place and there are two clues that lead me to think of that possibility. The first one being that your steam element, is not actually steam, but the Illusive Ethereal Mist. You just can't utilize its great power, because you do not have access on how to develop that super rare bloodline." 

"!!!" Meiyi more than anyone, knew about her abilities. They were so strange that she didn't know how to properly use them. 

Seth looked towards Chu Meihui and said: "The second clue was something your husband left behind, and I believe it is something to protect the both of you." 

"Protect us?" 

"Yeah, mother-in-law, let me ask you something. When was the last time someone other than Meiyi came to visit you? Actually, is there anyone even coming to charge you any taxes?" 

Chun Meihui heard him and started to question about it, because she hasn't received a single visit at all, during all these years. 

"No, no one has ever bothered me at all. Not even to charge taxes." 

"I knew it. That is because what your husband did before he left, was to build a secret formation around this house. It is able to deceive the senses of anyone that is not strong enough to notice it, making them avoid this place, or not being able to notice it at all. That is something only the people from the Illusive Ethereal Sanctuary are able to accomplish." 

"Then you mean that, my husband didn't abandon us without a reason? Are you telling me he left us behind, because we would be hunted down?" Chun Meihui was almost crying again. 

"I can't confirm it, since it is just a hypothesis, but yeah."