Maxine was being led to the second floor of the mansion, which is where her new room was, by grandma Victoria. She made a mental note of how truely massive this mansion actually was and she wondered why they even needed a home of this size when they only had the four, now five, of them in it. She guessed that there were more family members. It's just that they were either too many generations apart from her to care or that they were in cultivating in seclusion.

Finally, grandma Victoria stopped infront of an ornately carved door and as she started to open the door, she said, "This was your mother's room. Just be warned, she was fond of painting murals and I didn't have the heart to remove what she made."

"That's fine," Maxine said, but internally she was not fine with it. Just the thought of sleeping in a room with ameturish paintings on the walls made her stomach churn, but as she walked into the room, her opinion flipped completely.

The room was sparsely funished with only a bed, full-length mirror and a wooden dresser. However there was a magnificent mural painted on the walsl. It was of a grassy plain with snow capped mountains in the distance and in the middle of it was a brown-haired man and silver-haired woman in a tight embrace. The man was obviously Guan. No one else had golden eyes with green specks in them The only difference was that this version of him didn't have any scales on his face. That meant that the silver-haired woman in his arms was Hellen.

Maxine walked up to the mural and looked at it more carefully. She couldn't resist the urge to run her fingers along the Hellen's painted image and marvel at how similar she and Hellen were. Grandma Victoria was right. Hellen could have been my twin sister. While she was lost in her own thoughts, grandma Victoria placed her hand on Maxine's shoulder.

"Your mother was very fond of that man even before she left the clan for him," grandma Victoria said, but Maxine knew she was being tested. Why is she testing me? Didn't Zephyr tell her about Hellen's soul surviving?

"She still is," Maxine replied.

Grandma Victoria tensed for a moment before she smiled and said, "True enough. Can I talk to your mother now?" 

"Well, mom? You heard grandma as well as I did," Maxine said to Hellen via spiritual sense.

Hellen responded by speaking to both of them via spiritual sense, "Hello, mother." A light laugh escaped grandma Victoria's lips.

"I didn't completely believe it when Zephyr said your soul had survived, but it's wonderful that at least part of you is able to be a mother to Maxine," grandma Victoria said happily, "Now which one of you came up with the idea of having Maxine create this clone?" So, she noticed. Guan said unless someone knows what to look for, no one should be able notice that this is a clone. But I didn't detect her spiritual sense at all. Maybe, she is so far above me in power that I can only detect her spiritual sense if she wants me to.

"It was mine," Maxine said honestly, "Mom just gave me the idea on how to make it. By the way, how did you know that this is a clone? No one else has noticed so far."

"That's simple. I am your grandmother," grandma Victoria said, but Maxine was thoroughly confused by that statement. So grandma Victoria added, "You see it's considered taboo for anyone other than same gender relatives to use their spiritual sense to perform an internal scan with few exceptions."

"What are the exceptions?" Maxine asked.

"Alchemists searching for hidden wounds, individuals trained to hunt infiltrators and to ensure that an individual doesn't carry a plague that can kill cultivators," grandma Victoria said and seemed to remember something, "Enough talk about those things. If I recall properly, your clone and main body need a bath. And is your brother next to your main body? He will need one as well."

A smile appeared on Maxine's face since her decoy worked to a degree as she answered, "I don't have a brother, but I do have a male clone."

Grandma Victoria's widened slightly and she said softly, "That shouldn't be possible at your cultivation level."

"I had a bit of help. Guan had to give me a potion to make it capable of fooling a DNA scanner, but I still had to make the male clone myself," Maxine explained. 

While Maxine was explaining, grandma Victoria started grinning widely before she laughed joyously and gave Maxine another nose-breakingly powerful hug as she almost yelled, "My grand daughter is a genius!" Not again!

"Mother, I know you are happy, but Maxine still feels it when you break her clone's nose with your powerful hugs," Hellen calmly reminded grandma Victoria, "Remember how many times you broke mine by accident?" WHAT?! I'm not the first victim of this hugging monster?!

Grandma Victoria quickly parted from Maxine and apologized, "I'm sorry, Maxine." This time Maxine's nose really had been broken this time and she snapped it back in place using her essence with an audible snap. That HURT! It's a good thing that I heal faster than other essence cultivators. Otherwise my clone would have a fucked up nose until I figured out how to fix it.

"Can I have that bath now?" Maxine asked weakly while gently massaging her wounded nose.

"Yes, certainly," grandma Victoria said hastily and gestured Maxine to follow her, "The women's bathing room is this way." She led Maxine back to the first floor.

While they were traversing the mansion, Maxine detected that her grandmother's emotions fluctuated several times and could only deduce that she was talking with Hellen. However there was an instant where grandma Victoria released intense bloodlust, but it vanished an instant later. It looks like Hellen told grandma about how Dad abused me, but how did she calm down so fast?

A few moments later, grandma Victoria opened a door with a privacy wall behind it. She understood it's purpose since it blocked the view to a large square shaped pool that was directly behind it. The room had a light steamy mist inside of it and she noticed that there wasn't a single window. Instead it used these luminescent crystals hanging from the cieling to provide light. She tested the walls with her spiritual sense and found that her spiritual sense couldn't penetrate it. She approved of this design, but there was something bothering her. There were three voids moving around in her vicinity as if they had taken up a defensive formation around her. Invisible bodyguards? I didn't even detect them with my spirtiual sense. They must have an advanced concealment technique like Turan does. I wonder how long they have been following us.

"This pool is connected directly to a natural hot spring, and the array inscribed at the bottom of it keeps the water clean," grandma Victoria said, "As for your clothes, just set them over on that stand over there next to the privacy wall. One of the maids will collect it later and there should be a few drying towels in that stand as well." 

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"This looks like a communal bath," Maxine commented.

"It is," grandma Victoria said, "Normally all the women in the household bathe here in the evening, but I am aware of your preferences. So you will bathe separately from everyone else." It's really hard for me to figure out if she is refering to me being a lesbian or that I hate physical contact. But she should know that it only applies to men right?  

"Alright," Maxine said as indifferently as she could and was about to ask her grandmother and the other three to leave when she saw an expectant look in grandma Victoria's eyes, "Will those three keep quiet about it?"

Grandma Victoria seemed surprised for a moment before a smile returned to her face before she answered, "Yes, I can guarantee their silence. It's not like they don't know about it. They have been following us since we left the starport." 

"I will trust you on that," Maxine said as she opened up the portal to the shadow world and switched her focus back to her main body before she jumped into the portal. She saw grandma Victoria's approving smile as soon as her main body appeared. Grandma Victoria's gaze was quickly drawn to the golden bracelet on Maxine's right wrist.

"I recognize that bracelet," grandma Victoria said, "Guan gave it to Hellen shortly before she left with him. I never knew that it was capable of housing her soul."

"I didn't know that either until I was bound to it, mother," Hellen chimed in.

"Still it would have been better if your body could have survived," grandma Victoria said, "Maxine wouldn't have had to deal with that abusive bastard if you had." 

"You aren't the only one that would have prefered that," Maxine added and rememebered that grandma Victoria was emanating bloodlust earlier, "By the way mom, what did you tell grandma that made her down so fast?"

"Nothing," Hellen answered swiftly. You obviously told something. I just hope Dad survives whatever you did. It would upset mom if he died. 

"Fine, don't tell me," Maxine said grumpily, "Grandma, I would like some privacy while I bathe. Is that alright?"

"Certainly," grandma Victoria said warmly and started to leave. But she seemed to remember something just before leaving, "Oh! Before I forget, Elder Ezekiel and the other elders requested that you participate in the clan-wide tournament for the younger generation in the next few days. I heard from your mother how far along your skills are, but I want to see them for myself. So please participate."

"Alright, grandma," Maxine answered and wondered about who this Elder Ezekiel is, "Is Elder Ezekiel the one that did most of the talking at that joke of a reception earlier?"

"Yes, he is," grandma Victoria answered, "Now get cleaned up." 

"Alright," Maxine said to grandma Victoria as she left the room and Maxine looked at each of her bodyguards, "Could you three leave please? I am not exactly comfortable bathing infront of three people."

"What gave us away?" a feminine voice asked while ignoring Maxine's previous request. She doesn't sound much older than me.

"There isn't any trace of steam where you guys are standing," Maxine answered and they quickly made it seem like the steam was flowing through their bodies. They adapted their concealment technique quite quickly.

"You have keen observation skills, young miss," the same young woman said approvingly, "If you percieve another of our flaws, please alert us. We strive for perfection."

"Alright, but I would still like some privacy while I bathe though," Maxine complained.

"I am afraid we can't do that. It would go against the Matriarch's orders, but I can send my two companions to guard the perimeter," the young woman said and went silent. However Maxine noticed that two of them were leaving when they left damp footprints on the floor. 

"Good enough," Maxine said and undressed both her main body and clone while leaving her dimensional pouches on top of her clothes. However to avoid being completely naked infront of the remaining bodyguard, she used her shadow essence to form a bikini on both her clone and main body. Maxine half-expected her bodyguard to make a comment about it, but she remained silent.

Maxine and her clone both got into the pool and started to scrub down. While she was doing that, she siphoned some of the hot spring water through a small portal in her hand to use to clean her decoy like it was in a washing machine before returning it to the pool. 

"So what is your name? And are you going to stay invisible?" Maxine asked and her bodyguard appeared near the edge of the pool. The girl immediately knelt down on one knee. 

"I am Neesa," said the same girl from before, "The other two are Yumi and Talia." She had short red hair with blue eyes and her lips shared the same color as her hair. She was wearing grey clothing that screamed her occupation as a ninja with the clan symbol on her back. Maxine noticed that Neesa's height and figure were similar to her own. Neesa would have been beautiful were it not for the crisscrossing scars on her face, but the scars looked like they were done with the intent to disfigure rather than ones from battle. Although Maxine noticed that Neesa seemed surprised by the fact that Maxine hadn't been repulsed at her appearance. I have seen way worse than a bunch of crisscrossing scars. One poor bastard had half of his face torn off by an essence beast and survived. Now that was a gruesome sight even after he healed.

"You don't need to kneel, Neesa," Maxine said, "I just wanted to see who I was talking to earlier." 

"As you wish, young miss," Neesa said as she stood back up.

"Are the other two as scarred as you?" Maxine asked and realized she may have touched a sensitive subject, "You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"Yes," Nessa answered with a hint of sadness in her voice and Maxine felt angry at the person that did this to them. However she didn't let it cloud her thoughts since she could heal Neesa's face. So she finished cleaning herself up and got out of the pool to do just that. Her intentions weren't completely altruistic though. She knew that restoring Neesa's face would give the girl another reason to protect Maxine besides being ordered to and she wanted someone that she could talk to, besides her grandma and Zephyr, within the Kavros Clan. There weren't exactly many opportunities to talk with Emily through one of Maxine's shadow clones.

Maxine looked intently at the Neesa's face before slowly placing her hand on the girl's face and attempted to mimic Emily's divine essence to make the scars on Neesa's face fade away. Neesa held still even though Maxine knew it was causing her discomfort.

Maxine's essence was draining quickly since mimicking Emily's divine essence was nearly as draining as mimicking spatial essence. Still, she managed to remove the scars from Neesa's left cheek using only a tenth of her essence, so she continued to fix the rest of Neesa's face. After she was done, she removed her hand from Neesa's face and asked, "So, what do you think? Do I do good work?"

Neesa's expression darkened as she appeared to think that Maxine made her face even more damaged. However after she finally reached up and touched her face, her eyes widened in surprise as she felt the now smooth skin of her face. A few moments later tears of joy coursed down her cheeks.

Neesa bowed to Maxine and said hoarsely, "Thank you very much, young miss." She has alot of self-control. I was expecting her to breakdown into tears while thanking me profusely. At least, that's how I would react if I had a fucked up face for god knows how long before someone came along and fixed it.  

"Your welcome, and you don't need to call me young miss when we are alone. Just call me by my name. I don't mind," Maxine said while smiling and she retrieved clothes from her dimensional pouch while she got dressed alongside her clone, "Don't worry about me when I jump back into shadows. I will be in a very safe location and I will be protected by over a hundred of my iron stage constructs. But I will counting on you to protect my clone. If it gets destroyed, I won't have any means to return. Please tell the other two about that and when I recover enough, I will remove their scars as well if they want me to."  

"I will relay your message to them, young miss," Neesa said quite warmly even though her voice was still hoarse. Maxine smiled and was a little unhappy that Neesa continued to call her young miss. However it didn't really matter to her.  

Maxine made a mental note to find out who scarred up Neesa and her other bodyguards' faces. She doubted they would tell her, so she would ask her grandma Victoria about it later. For now, she just wanted to relax until the tournament. I guess it wouldn't hurt to show off a few techniques to grandma Victoria, but I am still going to keep my trump cards under wraps until I'm in a situation that I have to use them. Now that I think about it, how much did Hellen tell grandma Victoria about my abilities?