Mortal Realm, Wilderness, Grade 1 Planet Gaia, Central continent, Space City, in front of Little Water Hotel.
Hei Qiang exited the flying taxi with his son in his arms and his wife behind him. “From what the Taxi 's AI told us, this is one of the best hotel in the city.” He said. “Speaking of the city, I can tell that the one naming it was not very inspired.” Guang Hua remarked laughing. “Not everyone is good at naming things. Think about authors who have to name so many places and people in their books... Oh well, nothing to do with us.” Qiang replied in a seemingly serious manner, however a slight curling of his lips betrayed his real thoughts about the name. “Let's reserved a double room, after which we can use the private onsen in the room.” Following what he said, he went to the counter to book a room. When they entered the hotel, they could see that the interior was simple yet beautiful. Expensive materials, such as different kind of Level 3 mana wood coupled with what seemed like level 3 formation, were used to make the guests feel like they were in a high-class hotel without being too obvious about it. The family felt themselves relax a bit thanks to the beautiful decor. “Although we've seen much more ostentatious places where we came from, I have to admit that I prefer this kind of simple but high class feel.” Guang Hua shared her opinion, while her husband nodded to express his approval and her son kept looking around, interested in the new environment.
After walking for a few seconds, they reached the counter. The female receptionist seemed a bit bored before they arrived but perked up as soon as she saw them walking towards her. “How may I be of service for your lovely family, Sir and Madam?” She said with a warm smile, showing the high quality of the in-house staff. “We would like to book a double room for a week, if it is possible.” Qiang replied with his usual magnetic and serious voice. “It... It is definitely possible, Sir.” She answered, a bit flustered by his attractive voice before pulling herself together. “It will cost 200 mana stones, Sir.” She said, this time with a steady voice. “Here.” He said while handing over the amount she asked for. After sending the electronic pass on their Holo-Bracelet, she called a human-looking robot who asked if they had any luggage. Dimensional Items being almost only in the hand of high level rogue cultivators or big organizations on grade 1 Planets. Not wanting to stand out too much, they hid their real cultivation Level and only showed an Early Level 2 Mortal cultivation to the outside. Sufficiently high to not be bothered by annoying 'flies', but not too high to stand out.
After declaring that they didn't need its help since they had dimensional rings, they were led to their room. As soon as they arrived there, the robot informed the family that they could notify the hotel through their Holo-Bracelets if any problem arose, before leaving to go back to the hotel's entrance. Unlocking their private Villa's door with her Holo-Bracelet, Hua stepped through the entrance and walked in what looked like an impressive sized wooden house similar to some traditional houses in their tribes. The whole Villa was actually comprised of seven parts.
An entrance which opened directly on a well-thought out and well-sized interior garden, giving the visitor a feeling of walking in an 'immortal' garden with the different precious plants that one could observed all around. Adding the colorful species of fish in the pond and the different Mana formation used to increase the ambient Mana, one's mood would unconsciously relax and one's cultivation speed slightly increase.
On the right side, there were two rooms. A room separated into two by a beautifully painted paper folding screen. On one side, the 'Tea room' with two comfortable-looking sofa facing each other with a tea table in the middle and an expensive looking tea set on the table. On the other side, the 'Dining room' where an exquisitely carved bamboo table was surrounded by its corresponding chairs.
The second room was a kitchen with a similar theme than the rest of the house. Full of beautifully carved Level 3 wood. The wood was very fire resistant thanks to its high Level and the formation installed all over the room. That is unless a fire at Level 4 or higher is not used close to it.
On the left side were two room of similar sizes. The two beds in their corresponding rooms had a similar feather-filled mattress with silk as sheets and level 3 bamboo as a frame. A few furniture, but nothing too gaudy. The room were also equipped with a formation allowing the tenants to choose how they wanted to deal with the soundproofing. Qiang immediately chose the option of blocking the sound from their room but allowing the sound from outside, and for Yang he picked the opposite. That way, no one will hear the noise from their 'work out session' but they will be able to hear the baby or anyone trying to infiltrating the private Villa.
The last 'room' was what they chose the hotel for, the Onsen. Inside were two beautiful pools with what seemed like low level hot Mana water in one and low Level cold Mana water in the other, both carved in the rocks. The whole place was surrounded by a mix of rocks and bamboos. No roof could be observed, however with their cultivation Level, they noticed the formation that hid the Onsen from the exterior, similar to the garden. A shower could be seen on one side with a changing room.
After checking the room with their Divine sense for spying device with no results, Hua exclaimed while spinning around happily. “Darling, once we're free from anyone's pursuit, I want us to live in a house similar to this one. I feel at peace here, as if worldly problems disappeared.” Her husband replied. “Although I don't mind too much where I live as long as you guys are with me, I agree that this place is pretty great.” He pondered for a few seconds before continuing. “We'll need to use better materials though. Those used here are a bit too low level.” She responded. “You can't blame them, dear. After all, no material can surpass Level 3 on a Grade 1 Planet. We'll need to get to a Grade 2 ,or even better, Grade 3 Planet to get better materials.” She continued with a bit of dejection in her voice. “But it's too risky for us to go to a grade 3 Planet for now since Peak Level 9 Mortal can be found there. Even Peak Level 8 Mortal can kill us easily for now. We need to improve our cultivation before dreaming of that kind of house.”
While they were having their conversation, they disrobed, washed themselves in the shower and then entered the pool of hot water. “Don't worry, Hua'er. Before leaving I sneaked into the treasury and stole many Mana Pills and Mana stones that we can use to improve our cultivation. It should be enough to last us until we reach Early Level 9 Mortal. And with our talent, we shouldn't take too long. At most a 500-600 years. Maybe even less if we can find the right opportunities. After all, we're the most talented Cultivators in all the Mana Beast Tribes.” He declared bragging slightly “If we could find a way to hide our bloodline from their Tracking Spell, we could even go to Grade 3 Planet to cultivate without fear of them finding us.” She added. “If the Realms want us to find a way, we will. Otherwise, we simply won't. No need to harp on that subject. Instead, we should focus on what we can control. In other words, the cultivation of us three.”
***************
Mortal Realm, Wilderness, Grade 1 Planet Gaia, Central continent, at the entrance of Space City.
While the couple was discussing their future, a woman equipped with a white combat suit arrived a few hundred meters from the entrance of Space city. She could see numerous Flying cars going to and fro the city. Since she would be suspicious if she continued flying she decided against going through the entrance by flight. “I don't have any official identity here and it's a bother to look for one since I'll probably leave this planet quickly if I can get the other seal. Let's just teleport directly inside.”
As soon she made her decision, she used her extremely powerful Divine Sense to check out the city before she disappeared from where she was and reappeared inside the city following the vague feeling coming from the seal. Indeed, the feeling coming from the seal was similar to the children game 'Hot and Cold' where when the player close in on the person or object, he/she would be told so until he/she came right on top of it. In other words, she would need to be only a few meters away from the seal to be able to find it.
“Sigh... Why can't it be simpler? With my luck the Seal will already be refined.” She thought with some annoyance. “At worst, it would be a Mortal Layer Cultivator since I'm in the Mortal Realm. After all, the only reason I could come back was because of the seal looking for its counterpart.” She reasoned. “As long as he or she has not a trash personality, I guess.” While thinking about what she would find once she arrived at the Seal, she kept flying towards the Little River hotel using her Yin Laws to hide herself. That's when she noticed how quickly her Mana reserves was depleting. She immediately landed on a rooftop right before her mana reserves dried up, after which she turned off her invisibility and began to check what was wrong with her mana.
“What's going on?! How come I lost mana so quickly?!” She exclaimed in doubt. Right after finishing her sentence and using her Divine sense on herself, a wry smile appeared on her face hidden behind her mask. “I'm so stupid! I'm limited to a Peak Level 9 Mortal Cultivator's mana reserves and I used a Divine Level Law because of habit. Obviously, that would deplete my mana.” She started to warn herself. “I need to be careful, after all my Divine Layer Body has been restricted, leaving me with only a weak perfect Peak Mortal Body. Any Peak Level 9 Mortal could kill me if I let them attack me without retaliating. I should at most use Immortal Layer Laws or even better Mortal Layer Laws to save mana. I could also use this opportunity to improve my foundation by increasing my Law Comprehension Level with my Mortal layer Laws, while I'm at it. After all, everything is linked, so it might help me comprehend higher layer Laws.” She pondered.
After understanding the cause of the problem, she sat down on the floor to cultivate in order to recover her mana. “The mana concentration is so low on this planet. It will take me almost a day to get back my mana. I can't even use my Divine Layer Pills since my body would explode from the energy concentrated in them. Sigh... The worst recovery Items in my Spatial Ring is at the Immortal Layer.” She thought exasperated. “Wait a second! Since my body is close to transcending mortality I could use Immortal Mana Stone by being careful with the absorption.” For average Peak Level 9 Mortal, it would be a risky venture, but for her who had an extremely vast cultivation experience, it was similar to a walk in the park. She then grabbed a Low Level Immortal Mana Stone from her Spatial Ring, closed her eyes and started absorbing the mana from it, being very careful as to not take in more than her current body could bear.
A couple hours later, she opened her eyes feeling her Dantian full to the brim with her Mana Core condensed to the limit. Sensing her Dantian situated below her navel, her eyes became unfocused as she started reminiscing about the time when she went through her lightning tribulation to breakthrough to the Immortal Layer. “I really thought I would die body and soul at that time... But I survived and became stronger and stronger. My goal is not far...” She thought full of determination while clenching her fists. “Okay, I wasted enough time.” She mumbled while feeling the direction where the Seal was. “It has moved. So my guess should be right. It has probably been refined by someone fated. I wonder who it could be.” After knowing where to go she used her darkness Law to turn invisible and noticed that her reserve of mana was not decreasing in a noticeably manner. Reassured, she flew quickly towards the the family of three who were currently walking around the biggest shopping district of the city, after they finished their baths.
The three have been at it for an hour and just left a clothing store when the woman in a white combat suit arrived in the shopping district. Seeing a big crowd of people, she kept flying over people when she felt the Seal begin to vibrate as if it felt the other Seal close by. “It should be close by.” She guessed. She looked around when she noticed the family of three. “Mmhh.. Peak Level 7 Darkness Fox and Early Level 8 Light Fox Bloodline cultivators. They also used a Disguising Pill.” She pondered. “They seem the most likely target. They also have a baby with the Life Fox Bloodline....” She remarked. “Although the concentration is pretty low , he has a very high chance of reaching the Immortal Layer.” Feeling the reaction of the Seal she thought. “Since one of them has the Seal and I'm not allowed to steal, I should observe them for a few days to see how they're like before making contact. That way I'll be able to know what kind of people I'm dealing with.”
Having made her decision she started to follow the family around while keeping herself invisible. She quickly noticed the deep feelings the couple had for each other, by listening to their banters and loving gestures. She observed how different their two personalities were while also complementing the other.
The husband seemed indifferent to the outside world. Only answering other people with the minimum amount of words needed, never saying more, even to other beautiful women. However, while talking to his wife, his attitude, although still calm, could also be defined as warm and loving. and he even smiled while while looking at her and listening to her playful tease directed at him.
The wife instead looked warm and a bit playful on the surface. She kept smiling and teasing her husband while she kept her baby in her arms. Walking around the different stores, she looked around seemingly interested in many things. However, if one observed more closely, you could notice that only when she looked at her husband and child, was there true happiness found in her eyes. As if everything else did not matter as long as the other two were with her.
As for the baby, he was very calm, never throwing a tantrum. He kept looking around at objects in shops and people walking around as if they were the most interesting things in the Universe. Also, one could sometimes see him looking at his parents face and started to smile when he saw them smile and laugh when he heard them laugh.
The woman observing them thought. “They seem to be a happy family. But which one of them has the Seal?”
***************
Mortal Realm, Wilderness, Not far from the Grade 1 Planet Gaia.
A spaceship was traveling quickly in the wilderness with a dozen high Level Cultivators inside. The majority being around Level 8 while the two strongest reached the Early Level 9. All of them were either beautiful women or handsome men. Half of them wore a white combat suit without the helmet on and the other half a black combat suit, also without the helmet on. They were all cultivating in their own room except the two women and two men.
“Core Elders, I can feel that we are gaining on them a lot faster than a few hours ago. My guess would be that they stopped on a nearby planet.” Said a Peak Level 8 woman sitting in front another Peak Level 8 man with a Talisman radiating a powerful energy in between. The man added right after. “I agree with Inner Elder Guang Lin. We should be able to catch up to them in less than a day.”
After hearing the two, the only male Early Level 9 Cultivator started to laugh in a cruel manner. “Hahaha, those two probably thought that the team they destroyed last time was the only one close by. Perfect then! We'll give them a big surprise.” He then turned to the woman wearing white clothes who exuded a powerful aura similar to him sitting on one of the sofa in the room. “What do you think, Core Elder Guang Ao?”
She replied in an indifferent tone. “After using so many resources from the two tribes, they decided to betray us. The should have prepared themselves for the consequences then. Death will be their only outcome.”
While they were thinking about the cruel punishments they would unleash on the two so-called traitors, the spaceship kept getting closer and closer to the Grade 1 Planet Gaia.