It was about four in the morning, when Seth suddenly left the bed and started to prepare the things for his departure. He was planning to leave while Rina was still asleep, shortening their suffering from the abrupt separation of paths.
Rina was having her deep and peaceful sleep, resting her body from all the activities she and Seth had done all night along, but something told her to wake up.
She opened her emerald green eyes and was able to catch Seth's figure dressing up and preparing to leave.
"Are you leaving?"
Seth suddenly heard her voice and turned to look at her.
"Sigh... It's time for me to go."
.
Rina made a complicated expression, but she didn't say any words that would make his departure even more difficult. Actually, what she did, was to extend her hand, showing Seth a spatial ring that was in the middle of her palm.
"This is something I won't need for now. Please bring it with you."
Seth was already ready, but he sat back on the bad and took the ring she was gifting him. After a quick inspection, he realized that there was only one thing inside. The Evergreen Tavern.
He immediately wore the ring and approached Rina for a last deep kiss. He made sure to express all his love and care on that action, since they wouldn't see each other for at least some months.
"Thank you. I will make sure to treasure it."
Rina smiled and said: "I'll be waiting for you."
Seth stood up and opened the door in order to leave, but before stepping outside he said: "Rina, please take care of Meiyi for me."
Rina nodded.
Seth left, directly vanishing from the Eleventh Palace. When he was already outside. He activated his Soul Sense and made sure to give a last look on Meiyi's figure, since he wouldn't be able to see her as well.
He didn't go there directly, because Meihui was sleeping beside her and Seth didn't want to wake her up at the current time.
Lexi wasn't able to give him the details regarding the Illusive Ethereal bloodline skill sample he collected from the Lake Mother's body, but it was time for him to depart and there was nothing he could do now. But once he came back, he would certainly be able to help her improving her condition.
After that, Seth disappeared, only appearing once again, when he was right in front of the bamboo house.
He didn't need to wait for longer, before the door of that bamboo house opened up, revealing an old figure. The Lake Mother left from inside, as she was there to give her goodbye for her granddaughter and her savior.
"Come, what are you waiting for?" The Lake Mother seemed to be talking with someone that was taking her time inside the bamboo house.
"Grandma... Do I really need to wear this?"
"Hm? What are you talking about? That's a battle suit your mother left behind for you, of course you have to wear it, if you're going to a dangerous mission like that." The Lake Mother seemed to be talking with a teenager instead of a wholesome and grown-up woman.
"Sigh..."
"What are you sighing for? Come out already!"
Seth was witnessing the interaction between them and couldn't understand how the Lake Mother could treat an adult like the "Ice Princess", a title he gave Lan Xue inwardly, like that.
'Maybe it is because she seems to be a sixteen-years-old girl?' While Seth was already finding that kind of funny and there was no way for him to know that it would get even funnier.
When Lan Xue finally left her grandmother's house, Seth was able to see the most incongruous scene ever.
Lan Xue, a woman with an iceberg located in the place where should be her heart, was wearing a very beautiful white and blue Loli dress. That dress was perfectly designed for her, but the happy feeling it transmitted was totally different from the serious and rigid expression she had on her face.
Seth's eyes almost popped from his face with the severe shock he received. Not even in his wildest dreams, he would dare to think of a situation like that.
'How the fuck did that happen?' He couldn't take his eyes off her, since he was bewildered by how that dress didn't combine with her personality, but it was just so perfect for her body.
The Lake Mother was secretly observing how Seth reacted to the way her granddaughter was dressed. There was a crafty light inside her old fox eyes, that pretty much told she was not up to any good.
Actually, Lan Xue would never wear something like that if it wasn't hand-made by her deceased mother and forced upon her by her grandmother. Other than that, it was indeed a "battle suit" containing some protective mechanisms, on top of being something her grandmother insisted to see her putting it on and that's why she agreed on dressing like that.
Seth was just witnessing a family scene between a Mana Sovereign and a Profound Mana peak-stage cultivator, but something told him normal cultivators would never act like that.
"You two are really close." He made a normal commentary, attracting the dreadful stare of an ice frigid goddess.
He was lucky that before Lan Xue could do or say anything, her grandmother started to act like a grandmother.
"You're right. I was the one that raised her after all. This makes me remember how cute she was when she was younger. Sigh... Now that you're ready, you can start your journey together."
"..." Lan Xue kept silent.
Rumble!
Motioning her hand, the Lake Mother was able to open the formation that controlled the entrance and exit of people from the Sect. She had not recovered her strength properly yet, but that was something that required low to no efforts, so she was easily able to accomplish that.
Seth watched as a blue vortex of water started to spiral on the floor, stablishing a connection to the lake surface outside. The Lake Mother had a lot more commanding powers over the formation than Hua Qing. So, instead of accessing the most common entrance and exit, that was the lake Seth and company used to come in, she made the formation connect to another exit on the border of the Blue Breeze Country.
That action of hers would at least save a lot of time for both of them.
Lan Xue didn't say a single word with Seth, since they were in front of her grandmother. Here, she had a lot less authority before him, since he was a guest and a savior, that's why she just walked in towards the water vortex, slowly vanishing amidst it.
Seth nodded towards the Lake Mother and followed after Lan Xue. He felt like he entered a spatial tunnel and less than a few seconds later, the scenery changed. He was hovering on top of a small lake located at the borders of the Blue Breeze Country.
Suddenly, he felt the temperature of the whole environment sharply dropping and the surface of the whole lake freezing completely.
Lan Xue wasn't even able to look at his eyes, feeling totally embarrassed, but none of that was showing on her face. What Seth was able to perceive, was that she seemed rather unhappy.
Her aura pressed down on him as she started to say: "Swear you will never ever tell them about this..."
"Eh? What are you talking about? You don't want me to tell them about your doll-like appearance? They would certainly like to..."
Seth felt everything around him freezing and couldn't help but get impressed by her abilities.
Lan Xue didn't mean to harm him, just to scare him a bit. She had to make sure Seth would never reveal something like this in front of the other Palace Masters, else her reputation would crumble to pieces.
"Don't worry. I won't tell anyone." Seth seriously replied.
After hearing his sincere words, she decided to retrieve her aura and stop pressuring him.
However, Seth didn't seem he wanted to leave this unscathed, because he insisted on that matter.
"But you look really cute like that. Your mother had a very good taste when making that dress."
Bang!
The freezing environment around Seth, shattered, causing the whole area to shake. Seth's figure was crushed by many ice shards, turning into swiftly vanishing shadows.
Luckily, he had prepared himself before dropping that phrase, using his Shadow Walk to quickly move away.
"Phew... Come on... I was just complimenting you."
Lan Xue kind of chilled down, finally stopping. She started to walk towards a certain direction and decided to ignore his commentary.
"Well, this is going to be a complicated journey." Seth followed after her, still maintaining a certain distance. He would have to break the ice in many layers if he wanted to at least be friends with her.
They were now mission partners, but Seth surely would not like to have this kind of relationship with her. At least he would like to happily chat with his partner throughout that long journey.
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