Corrupt Creations

After traveling day and night for a few days, Seth finally felt a refreshing breeze that came from the sea, blowing against his face. That was the indicative that he had arrived at the Blue Breeze Country once again. 

That breeze was certainly able to bring a peaceful feeling for the inhabitants of that country, what reflected on the calm and tranquil environment around there. This nation seemed to have been blessed by a goddess, because it was one of the few places around the continent of Alteria, not suffering from a medium or a major size calamity. 

Seth already knew some of the paths to reach the entrance areas of Glazed Lake Sect now, so he chose to go the nearest one from where he was. He moved very quickly through the terrain, since he wanted to reunite with Rina and see Meiyi now. 

He knew Rina must be very worried about him, the same way her mother must be dying to see her as well. A lot of time has passed since they've left the Elven Territory and Seth reasoned that it was time for him to bring her back there. 

Seth traveled some kilometers through the natural area and arrived before a lake. That lake was the same one he used to first enter that sect, but it is just that he was in another part of the shore at that moment. 

As he walked towards it, thinking about how he could attract the attention of one of the people in charge of opening and closing the dimensional formation, he saw that there was a woman standing near the lake, but in another part of the shore. 

As she noticed him, she used her water elemental technique to walk through the lake waters and go towards him. 

Very quickly, Seth realized it was a person he knew and had seen many times while he was staying as a guest inside the sect. 

"Oh... Ruolan? What are you doing here?" 

Ruolan stepped back on the soil and gracefully walked towards Seth. 

"Good afternoon, Mister Seth. Palace Master Yushui asked me to wait for you here till your arrival." She spoke while avoiding making any eye contact with him, acting a bit unnatural. 

The scenes she had forced herself to forget, started to resurface inside her mind now. The feeling that scene brought her, wasn't something she found pleasing, because at the same time she felt fear, she always found herself uncontrollably thinking about every single thing that must have happened between Seth and Jiang Yi. That curiosity was making her slowly lose that fearful feeling and making her more interested. 

Seth had long forgotten about that and only thought she was acting a bit strange. Maybe she had waited to long for him to appear. However, there was something he didn't like on her speech. It seemed he was considered as an elder, since she was calling him "Mister", when in truth, their age wasn't that different. 

"I'm sorry for the trouble Ruolan... You can call me only Seth if you want, since I'm no senior. Actually, I would like to address you as Ruolan as well, since it sounds more natural, right?" 

Ruolan was a bit lost because of her own disordered thoughts and ended up nodding without further considerations. She was about to use a special technique to send a message inside, but Seth suddenly asked her something else. 

"Wait... You said that Palace Master Yushui asked you to wait for me?" 

"Yeah. Master told me to wait for your arrival, because she had to participate in an important meeting. Actually, she asked me to bring you to the Eleventh Palace and arrange a room for you there, because it seemed the meeting is going to take some time to finish. There seems to be really important things going on lately." 

"Wel... That's odd." Seth replied. 

Ruolan nodded, thinking he was referring about the Palace Master decision of letting him stay at the Eleventh Palace once again, when in reality, Seth was talking about the fact that Lan Xue had probably asked a favor for the Eleventh Palace Master Yushui. She was probably the one that told her Seth was coming, so Palace Master Yushui could prepare some things for him. 

If Lan Xue was really mad at him, then why bother? 

Ruolan quickly sent a message to some disciples in charge of opening the formation from the inside and less than fifteen minutes later, it was opened. 

Since the one operating the formation now, were less skilled disciples and not the overpowered Palace Masters, it was natural that it would take a bit more of time for them to perfectly operate it. 

Seth and Ruolan submerged in the lake, vanishing from the mainland. They appeared inside a spacious building where there were some disciples already waiting and creating a circle around Seth. 

The man had already become a myth inside the Glazed Lake. The only male to ever enter the sect and leave alive. Now, he had actually returned to create another legend. 

Seth wasn't the type of person to be bothered by all that attention he was receiving, but before he could start to socialize with all those women approaching, Ruolan politely asked for everyone to give them some space in the name of Palace Master Yushui. 

The crowd quickly dispersed after hearing the name of a Palace Master, but Seth still felt predator eyes looking at him through the dark alleys or the rooftops of other buildings. 

Seth and Rulan quickly arrived inside the area of the Eleventh Palace, where his Soul Sense quickly captured all the figures he was looking for. 

Shui Meihui was collecting tea leaves from a personal garden she had planted there. Fortunately for her, she realized that inside this sect, the plants seemed to grow faster and more verdant. The leaves were not only greener and bigger, but they were also better here. She still didn't know why, but the water elemental aura around the whole sect was the main factor for that. The Eleventh Palace was located in a very good area as well, were there were enhanced water elemental particles everywhere, making her plants grow better. 

Seth chose to leave her for later and decided to go visit Meiyi and Rina first. Since Rina seemed to be still training, Seth's body suddenly vanished, appearing right inside Meiyi's bedroom, while leaving Ruolan behind. 

She didn't know how strong Seth really was, but when he disappeared while not causing even a tiny Mana fluctuation in the air, she realized he was at least as strong as her Master and felt a bit shocked. 

Seth's eye immediately traced Meiyi's face after he reappeared. She was peacefully sleeping, as if she was an angel that wasn't able to wake up in the mortal world. Every time he looked at her in that condition, he felt the world was being unfair to her. She was just a willful girl that wanted to live peacefully, but alas, she wasn't even able to live normally. 

A fury started to rise inside his heart once again, but he had already killed the perpetrators, so his anger naturally died down. He should be the one battling and not her; he should be the one facing those difficulties, since he was the one that wanted power and not her. She just wanted to live with her mother and find her father... 

Seth didn't even realize he had already approached her and that his hand was already atop her chest area, right where her heart was located. 

Suddenly, he remembered one of Lexi's comments in the past. She told him he could probably modify her bloodline if he knew how to control his corruption, what could probably lead to an improvement in her condition. 

Right now, he could not only control it, but he could even command it the way he liked. 

His hand started to release an aura of corruption, what instantly awakened Lexi. The poor spirit was concentrated in her own things, when she realized Seth was using that energy. Every time he used it, she made sure to force herself out, since he had never used it in a simple or casual situation before. But when she saw that scene, she wasn't sure on what to say or how to react. 

Seth's Essence of Corruption entered Meiyi's body, quickly invading her heart. Right now, he was the commander and the energy obeyed his orders. It avoided contaminating her normal cells, but kept merging with her bloodstream while her heart pumped it towards all the corners of her body. 

Suddenly, Seth willed and the Essence of Corruption started to go specifically after her bloodline energy. That purple energy was flowing up and down, right and left inside her body, waiting for the required source in order to upgrade her body and soul. That source was something only the Illusive Ethereal Goddess could produce and no one else. That was the safe measure she had developed, the safe measure for an eventual bloodline leakage. 

However, there wasn't a way for the Illusive Ethereal Goddess to know, that her own powers were going to be corrupted and altered forever, starting the countdown for the Crimson Annihilation.