Diana had been peacefully cultivating on the mountain peak when she felt Douglas's presence descending into the Citadel's depths. Curious and with nothing better to do, she followed and was surprised to find Elaine, Douglas, and Mister Choi sharing so spirit wine.
Inviting herself in, she took the seat beside Mister Choi.
"What is the Mystic Realm?" He asked as he leaned his beefy arm on the table and faced her. The man reminded her of every earth cultivator; bulky, chiseled, and blunt.
Diana raised a brow, "You weren't inford about it when you signed the heavenly contract?" She glanced at Douglas across the table, "You were supposed to tell him."
Douglas shrugged, "He accepted the contract before I even had to ntion it, so I didn't see the point."
"Hey," Elaine smacked Douglas on the shoulder and slurred a little as her face flushed red from the spirit wine, "You shouldn't be... so neglectful... okay?"
"Sure darling, I'll do better next ti," Douglas said with a blank face as he poured Diana a drink. It would seem he had already mastered the art of just saying yes and agreeing with his girlfriend.
Diana took the offered glass of spirit wine with a nod of appreciation. "Well, since you weren't told, let fill you in on the details. Once a month, the immortal grants those he chooses access to nurous pocket realms of every affinity you can imagine. Within so of these pocket realms lie inheritances or great treasures. But even if you cannot find such things, the Qi inside is dense, and ti moves slower. A month in there is a week out here."
"Right... more noble cultivator nonsense. I hate how calmly you can say such things." Mister Choi muttered and decided to down another cup of spirit wine. Blinking away the burning sensation, he regathered his senses, "Let's say I am entering this Mystic Realm. What happens if I'm on the cusp of breaking my bottleneck and reaching the Star Core Realm due to the pills the Ashfallen Sect has provided ? Would it be fine to ascend inside one of these pocket realms?"
Douglas laughed, "Of course it would be! We have people ascend all the ti during the Mystic Realm visits. Actually, I will also hopefully be ascending this ti round so we can do so together."
"As will I!" Elaine grinned, holding up a half-drunk glass.
"Okay, you have had enough. This is strong stuff," Douglas slowly pried the glass from Elaine's grip despite her grumbling.
Mister Choi leaned on the table, "Is it safe though? I heard the ascension to the Star Core Realm can be quite risky, and many die during the process. Doing such a thing in an unknown pocket realm feels dangerous."
"Nah," Douglas waved him off, "I'll just ask the immortal to borrow the walking city, and we can have a nice relaxing ascension with the Mudcloaks guarding us."
Diana reached into her spatial ring, pulled out three truffles from the small pile she had, and placed them before Mister Choi, "The pills you have consud thus far are made from these truffles. Eat all three before entering, and you will have a seamless ascension."
Mister Choi took the truffles and bowed, "Grand Elder Diana, I can't tell you how much I appreciate the hospitality and gifts."
"No worries," Diana said before downing her own glass of spirit wine. The Qi in it reacted violently with her demonic mist Qi as it went down her throat and burned in her stomach. The hit was nearly instant—it felt like a gong went off as her head throbbed. "Wow..." Diana set the glass down and nursed her head, "That's so strong stuff."
She had drunk spirit wine with her siblings as a dare as a teenager. Since mortal alcohol couldn't get cultivators that drunk, they infused mortal wines with Qi to produce spirit wine. It was very expensive and never usually this strong.
"Yeah, Stella made it." Douglas grinned as he poured her another glass.
She accepted the second glass—her head was already recovering as her demonic mist Qi consud the spirit wine, and now she just felt warm.
"You convinced Stella to brew spirit wine? That's surprising." Diana mused while she swirled the luminescent blue liquid in the crystal glass and debated if she was ntally and physically ready for a second hit.
Douglas chuckled, "No, she had no idea this was alcohol. I convinced her it was sothing we needed for a type of pill."
"Hey, that's not very nice," Diana smirked, "And I wouldn't try to take advantage of Stella's naivety—that's bound to bite you in the ass one day. You know that girl can hold grudges like no one else and struggles to accept things as jokes."
Douglas gulped, "Yeah... It should be fine. Just don't bring this up to her, please?"
"I don't see why you didn't admit it was for wine," Diana shrugged, "I'm sure Stella would be open to it without you pulling the wool over her eyes..." Douglas looked at her in horror, making her trail off, "What?"
"Can you imagine Stella drunk on spirit wine?"
"Mhm..." Diana humd as she stared into the glass before downing it. Feeling the burning sensation once again ignite the fire in her soul, she held out her hand. "Now that you ntion it, let's keep this a secret."
Douglas grinned and leaned over to shake the offered hand, "Deal." He sat down and sighed in relief, "I really needed this. Life has been far too crazy recently."
Everyone around the table grunted in agreent as they lost themselves in the spirit wine. It had this cleansing effect on one's soul, and there were stories of so cultivators using spirit wine to cultivate—assuming they could afford it. The relaxed state it induced made it easier for one to listen to heaven's whispers. Though it's usually never this strong. This concoction must have been made with Ashlock's fruits and truffles. If I have one more glass, I might start seeing the streams of Qi in the air.
"Say, Diana, do you know who will attend the Mystic Realm this ti?" Douglas asked, his face was bright red.
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Diana had her head propped up against the table with her hand. "Errr, let think. From what Stella told , the Ashfallen Sect is entering a period of rapid developnt, so I believe the immortal wants anyone in the sect to attend to it."
Elaine had been sleeping face-first on the table, but Diana's words seed to wake her up, "For real? Everyone?"
"Yeah, anyone who has signed an oath of loyalty to Ashfallen should attend. Hence, I asked Mister Choi if he wanted to attend."
"Even the Silverspires and the Redclaw youngsters?" Douglas asked.
Diana nodded, causing the man to lean back on his chair—stroking his stubble in contemplation.
"I guess the days of hiding really are over," Douglas frowned, "It's an exciting ti but also a dangerous one. Nobody knows how powerful the Nightrose Patriarch really is, and so many other powerhouses could move against us." With a sigh, he rested his hand on Elaine's back and ran a hand through her hair, "I just hope the immortal knows what he's doing. Many lives now rest on his shoulders for him to make such rash judgnts, especially when Stella is involved."
Diana humd in agreent, "That's true, but we are also all here and in this position because of those two. Stella is maturing, and the immortal is getting better at delegating and focusing on problems only he can solve. Only ti will tell if this more outlandish era the Ashfallen Sect is moving into draws the wrong attention too soon."
"Yeah, I'm probably just being paranoid," Douglas downed another glass and set it down almost too hard as his face twisted due to the burn. "Phew—heavens, this stuff is strong; it's like Stella is trying to kill us with it."
"What did you tell her it was when you made it?" Elaine asked as she held her head in her hands and stared at the floor.
Douglas's face fell as the realization dawned on him, "Oh... when trying to explain how to make alcohol without naming what it was, I did say it was a type of poison. No wonder she was so enthusiastic about helping."
"Idiot," Diana rolled her eyes. She then reached across the table and tapped Elaine's arm.
"Huh?!"
"Are you okay?" Diana asked, "This stuff is strong, but you should be able to use your Qi to fight its effects."
"I don't have any void Qi left, and my illusion Qi only makes it worse," Elaine grumbled.
"But didn't you spend all weekend at the Voidmind residence in Darklight City? Don't they have void Qi gathering arrays you could—oh!" Diana felt stupid seeing the couple's smile, "You were too busy doing that to cultivate, I guess. Suffice to say the date went well then?"
Douglas grinned, and Elaine banged her head on the table, seemingly tapping out for the night.
"The date went so well that they seem to have forgotten to co and visit ."
Diana froze at the sudden unknown voice. She turned her head to look at the chair right beside Elaine.
Since when was soone sitting there, and who the hell is that.
A woman with long silky black hair sat casually opposite her as if she had always been there; her elbow rested on the table, and a glass full of spirit wine hung between her fingertips. Her features were perfect, and her skin was so smooth that Diana wondered if she was hallucinating this person.
Why does she look familiar?
"Yes, I look familiar, and no, I'm not a fignt of your imagination, dear," the woman said, taking a sip of the spirit wine and not reacting in the slightest. "My na is Morrigan, Mother to this lightweight—co on, stop pretending. I know you saw a mont ago."
Morrigan? Diana's eyes widened a little. No wonder I didn't sense her arrival. She must have traversed the void. But that's quite concerning since this place is thousands of ters underground and near Ashlock.
Elaine groaned as she raised her heavy head, "Mother, to what do I owe the pleasure."
"So you do rember those manners I drilled into you as a child. How curious. Though I am disappointed you are hosting a fun little get-together and didn't invite ." She grinned and glanced at Douglas, "Your boyfriend is even here, and you have yet to introduce us!"
"H-Hello, Mrs Morrigan," Douglas's usually confident and outgoing nature seed crushed under this surprise visit.
"That's Miss Morrigan to you," she took another sip, "Soone turned my husband into a tree, so now I'm single and free!"
"You divorced Father?!" Elaine shouted in shock.
"Duh," Morrigan grinned, "It's not like he could say no. You know, being a tree and all."
"Um... dare I ask?" Mister Choi whispered and drew Morrigan's attention.
Morrigan glanced Mister Choi up and down, "Of course you can, handso—"
"Mother!" Elaine interrupted, "Please don't show up uninvited and start flirting with people in front of ."
Morrigan pouted, "Why not? You're not my Mother."
"Huh... what?" Elaine massaged her temples as she struggled to comprehend what she just heard. She tried to form so words but gave up with a groan. "You are so frustrating sotis."
Morrigan smirked, "You take life too seriously, isn't that right, Douglas?"
"Yes... wait, no." Douglas winced as Elaine glared at him.
"Did you just agree with her?"
Douglas raised his hands in surrender, "It was a slip of the tongue."
Morrigan burst out laughing and downed her drink.
"Mother, this is so embarrassing. Please just go." Elaine pushed Morrigan's shoulder. "How did you even get in here?"
"Whatever do you an?" Morrigan asked as her body swayed back and forth, "I simply walked right in."
Everyone looked toward the cave's entrance at the sa ti and saw that Bob hadn't retaken his spot as the door, leaving it wide open. A bunch of Mudcloaks were peering inside as if waiting for sothing.
"Hey!" Douglas shouted and drunkardly stumbled off his chair.
"Ahhhh!" A Mudcloak holding the mostly drunk spirit wine over its head yelped as it ran as fast as his little legs would take him across the cavern. Seeing an opportunity, Elaine followed Douglas in chasing the Mudcloak.
"I suppose I should take my leave as well," Mister Choi chuckled as he stood up. "I will return for the Mystic Realm trip in a few days."
Diana nodded to him, "Sure, see you soon."
Mister Choi thanked Diana one last ti before leaving through the wide-open door.
That left only Diana and Morrigan at the table.
"Mystic Realm, huh." Morrigan smiled at Diana as she rocked her empty glass on the table, "That sounds interesting."
Diana sobered up real quick. "If you haven't been told about it by the Ashfallen Patriarch directly or signed a heavenly contract, I can't tell you anything about it." She wasn't sure why, but her whole body was tense. Sothing about this woman opposite her prickled her danger senses and made her bloodline act up.
Morrigan's ink-black eyes stared deeply into hers for a mont, and Diana swore they would swallow her whole.
"What's got you so tense, darling? You don't have to tell anything you don't want to," Morrigan mused, and that overwhelming sense of danger faded like a cool breeze. "Your na is Grand Elder Diana, right? I've been looking for you."
Diana gulped as she tensed up again, "You have?"
"I heard you are the woman I should ask if I have problems with the Voidmind family, as the other two leaders are quite hard to get a hold of."
"Oh... yes, that's right," Diana replied. What could an ancient void affinity cultivator possibly need help with?
"I'm sure you have heard of Slyre Academy?"
Diana nodded.
"Well, I established it back in the day when I went through a phase of wanting to find a husband with an artistic talent—that's not important," Morrigan shook her head, "I left it in the control of my children and whatnot a long ti ago when I outgrew that phase. But the Academy still stands to this day. Though, it's running into a slight issue that I was hoping you would help with."
Diana leaned on the table. This seed like quite a severe issue for the founder to be the one seeking assistance. "Go on, I'm all ears."
Morrigan sighed, "As uncaring as cultivators are regarding their surroundings and the mortals that live beneath them, it suffices to say that the disappearance of all the mortals in Slyre has caused so problems. The nobles from other houses have begun raising quite a fuss about the lack of maids tending to them, as many vanished during the storm. I fear that in ti, one of them may dare to step beyond the Slyre Academy's grounds and notice that the entire city is missing. If that happens, news may spread to the nearby cities."
Diana scratched her head. That was indeed quite an odd problem to solve.
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