Corrupt Creations

"Big brother Seth!" 

"Yuyin, how are you?" 

"I'm great. I brought my father and a guest to visit you." 

"Oh, father-in-law came?" 

"Who are you calling father-in-law?" Huo Shihong could not stand being called like that, even though he knew his older daughter probably liked Seth. She was the calmest person of their little family and she would never disregard her life and run to the battlefield for any common person. Only if she valued that person, she would do that. 

Meiyi covered her mouth with her hands, not believing that Seth had the audacity to disrespect the sect master. She would never dare to do something like that, her guts were not so big like his. For here amazement, Huo Shihong didn't get mad, at least externally. 

Seth smiled and said: "How are you father-in-law? You seem to have recovered really quick. It would be bad if you weren't able to witness the day, I marry your daughter." 

"Dream on! Do you think I would let you have it your way? I will fight to defend my daughter from a shameless man like you!" 

"Hehe, I would love to receive some pointers from an experient person like you." There were even some invisible sparks surging between them. 

"Snort! I did not come here to have these meaningless conversations. There is a really important guest that wants to talk with you." After Huo Shihong said that, the female elf messenger came forwards to greet Seth. 

Seth was wearing his bracelet and his aura was hidden, so she could only probe that he was a Qi Gathering late-stage practitioner. 

The elf messenger was questioning if he was the right person, even though she had seen his image before. 'What does Chief Commander Allannia need from a Qi Gathering late-stage human practitioner?' 

"Greeting Mister Seth, I came to bring a message from our Chief Commander Allannia at the behest of our Exalted Elf Queen." The female elf bowed and went directly to the topic. 

'The Elf Queen?' The people present didn't dare to believe what they heard. 

"Hm. What does the Elf Queen needs from a person like me?" Seth asked with a poker face. 

"The Elf Queen heard about your little fight with Mister Paeris disciples at the entrance of the Ygnolia forest and sent me to apologize. Chief Commander Allannia sent you an invitation for the upcoming elvish cultural tournament, what we call, Wild Games. You are invited to be a guest at our tournament as compensation for the troubles." 

"Wild Games?" 

"Yes. It is a diversified tournament that the youths bellow the age of thirty, face many kinds of hurdles to win some natural treasures and political influence within our Elven Kingdom, however, as a guest, you might not need any political influence. But I'm certain that you will like the treasures we have to offer. There are even some droplets of the World Tree as the grand prize. The Wild Games will start exactly after two months from today and it will be taking place at the Ereinrith City, our capital." 

"Wow!" Yuyin's eyes sparkled in excitement. 

"Am I the only one being invited? Or am I allowed to bring someone with me?" 

"You can do as you see fit, but you're the only one allowed to participate on the Wild Games." 

"Hm... It is indeed tempting, but I don't think I'll be able to participate on it." Seth said apologetic. 

"Do not worry, it's not like we are forcing you to participate. As I said, you will be a guest at our event if you ever decide to grace us with your presence. Here, take this. It is the Elven Royal Crest. You'll be able to move freely though the borders if you show it to the guards. But please keep in mind to not abuse of her Highness grace." The messenger gave Seth a crest with the design of a beautiful tree. 

Seth accepted the crest, since it would only help him. He did not have any obligation to go, but if he ever decided to, his life would be way easier with the crest. 

"Alright then, I'll take my leave, since my task has already been accomplished." The messenger excused herself and left towards the place she came from. 

"Wait, let me accompany you to the exit of our sect. Let's go Yuyin!" 

"Alright, dad. See you later, Meiyi, big brother Seth!" Yuyin waved for them, before she left the house together with her father. 

After they left, Meiyi couldn't take the silence any longer and charged towards Seth, trying to get some answers. 

"What just happened? Why would the Elf Queen invite you to that Wild Games or something like that? Will you go?" Meiyi came towards Seth while shooting questions. 

"Wait, wait, wait. That is something I would like to know too. I do not think the Elf Queen would invite me to be a guest at their cultural tournament just because of a small struggle between me and some random elves. She clearly has another reason to invite me." 

"Huh? How can you tell something like that?" 

"Well, because I was not the only one who participated on that little fight, but I was the only one invited to participate on that tournament. Does that make any sense to you?" 

"No." 

"However, I should not bother with that too, since they didn't make a lot of effort to hide that there is a secondary reason to invite me, going as far as using that lame apology as an excuse to invite me over. It means that the Elf Queen is not that shrewd of a person and just wanted to raise my interest a bit, making that messenger state the possible rewards of that tournament." 

"What? How did you extract all that information just from a little chat with a messenger? Are you sure it isn't just a normal invitation?" 

"Ahaha. Meiyi, let me tell you something. You stop to be a naïve person, when you are surrounded by shrewd snakes all day along. She actually succeeded on raising my interest with her method, however, it was on her secondary reason, not the primary." 

"Then that means you'll be going, right?" Meiyi asked preoccupied. 

"I don't know, there is a lot of time to think about that. For now, let me enjoy your company a bit more. I still have two entire months to thoroughly enjoy you." Seth said while jumping towards Meiyi. 

"AAAAH!" 

Like that, another day passed by. 

These days, Seth would often train his cultivation on the mornings while helping Meiyi's sword trainings on the afternoons. Of course, he didn't let any opportunities to flirt with her pass by. Their life could be described as bright and perfect, but inwardly Seth was anxious. He was waiting for a certain event to happen, because it was an event he planned for when Valic stole Tao Zhong from him. 

He knew Valic would report it for his master and something was telling him, that Valic's motives to be here was to actually spy on him. If his theory was right, it meant one thing. Valic would come back to keep an eye on him. He needed that chance to create an opportunity to go back to his sect, without raising the suspicion of anyone. 

If Seth were to come back to his sect without a good reason, his master would find it fishy, because he knew Seth didn't like that environment. If there was something Seth didn't want to, was to raise his master's suspicion. He knew that that man's shrewdness run deep and he would never be able to trust him. 

His main feelings for his master were distrust and apprehension. He felt that he was a snake hiding inside a human skin, even though he seemed to be a good master. That was practically one of the reasons Seth avoided his own sect the most. He didn't feel good living in the same environment as that person. 

Seth was laying on the couch, thinking about his next course of action when he suddenly felt the presence of a person that was a bit familiar. He quickly checked what Meiyi was currently doing and left after realizing she was training on her own. 

He left her house through the backyard and crossed the borders of the inner-court area, heading to a forest nearby. There, he found a grey-skinned man with a dead semblance. Valic was a demon and his skin was the medium for him to use darkness, that is why his skin color was grey. 

"Young Master Seth, I see that you are as keen as ever, hehe." 

"Valic, what are you doing here again? You seem to have a lot of things to do around this area lately, huh?" 

"Young Master Seth, you misunderstood it. I'm not here to do anything around this area, because my tasks were already completed." 

"Is that so? Then, why are you here?" Seth asked with irritation. 

"Heh... Master asked me to bring you back. The Lion's Pride Golden Palace is going to pay us a visit and he wants you to deter their young master. Hehehe, Master wants you to destroy their pride; do you dare?" 

"Hm. Why wouldn't I dare?" Seth narrowed his eyes. Inwardly he was rejoicing, because he didn't need to create a reason for him to go back, since the best reason was presented before him by his own master.