Elaine stood before a mirror hanging in her study with a frown.
She had made a window in the thick dust coating the mirror with her sleeve and now stared at her reflection.
"How?" Those words left her lips. She could see her mouth moving, so the mirror wasn't playing tricks on her. This was really her reflection. There were no odd marks or anything exactly weird about her face unless you considered her otherworldly beauty as something strange.
I saw my reflection in a hand mirror back in the cavern right after I had taken the truffle.
Elaine traced her face with deep confusion. Had the dim lighting in the cavern caused this mismatch between what she remembered seeing in that mirror and what she was staring at right now?
"Oh, this is bad news," Elaine groaned. No wonder Jasper and all the students had reacted like this. Her skin was lustrous with life, her eyes seemed to glow, and her hair looked so silky it could be woven into a garment befitting of a goddess as it draped over her slim shoulders.
"What the hell did that truffle do to me! I hardly even recognize myself. Where are my baggy eyes, hunched back, and depressed air? People will actually notice me now." Elaine felt anxiety rise as she began to panic. She could not face her brother while looking like this, right? "What should I do?"
Elaine glanced around the dusty study in a panic. The lack of human activity here in recent days was apparent. Even her open notebook filled with details regarding the demonic tree outside was left open on the desk after she had been kidnapped by the mist demon.
"Never before did I think my appearance would become such a problem," Elaine muttered as she paced up and down the dusty room, "Nobody ever looked my way before. I was just another person... I have no idea how to deal with this!"
Elaine paused and glanced at the door, "What if I just run away back to the Ashfallen Sect, never to be heard from again?"
It was tempting, but she eventually shook her head, "That would cause even more problems. Jasper and all the students already saw me."
Elaine returned to the mirror and gave herself one last hard look, "What if I just... own it? Say I started looking after myself for once or something." Her smile quickly faded, "No. Nope. No way. I can't handle those stares anymore. What if I wore a mask instead?"
She still had that black mask that Douglas had given her, but wasn't that for sect activities?
I should only wear that particular mask when I am trying to keep my identity hidden. Agh, what the hell should I do then? I don't have any makeup, and even then, how could I hide all of this? Even my bone structure has changed.
Elaine collapsed into the chair behind the desk and stared out the window at the demonic tree. It was only now that she noticed the window was slightly ajar, and a black tree root was poking through. Had it been open when she arrived?
Whatever, so long as nobody heard my crazed ranting.
A while passed, and she just sat there, exhausted. She had been in this exact position when her entire life had changed... for the better. It felt weird to sit here now that she knew how vast the world was outside these four walls that had surrounded her for the last few years.
"I'm a changed woman," Elaine muttered, "Both mentally and physically. To shy away from my new self in fear of my brother is nonsense."
She weakly smiled. Those words sounded bold, but she really didn't have that level of confidence.
"I don't want to have to go outside again..."
As those words left her mouth, there was a ripple of spatial Qi.
***
Ashlock had completely ignored Elaine and Douglas during their date, as he trusted them as they had both signed oaths of loyalty, and he had little interest in what humans got up to in their free time.
However, when it came time for Elaine to meet up with her brother, he needed to watch over her to ensure nothing bad happened to his sect member.
After seeing the student's and Jasper's reaction to Elaine and overhearing her rant in front of the mirror, Ashlock realized he might have made a huge mistake in giving the girls, especially Elaine, the skin improvement truffle.
Unlike a sudden jump in cultivation which could be handwaved as stumbling upon a treasure or sudden enlightenment, improving your looks was much harder to explain—especially to those that know you as well as a sibling.
Ashlock hadn't really noticed as he spent all day watching his sect member, so a steady change of their appearance went unnoticed, but now that Elaine also pointed it out, he was sure of it—the truffle kept working over time. There was an initial drastic improvement right after taking it, but it seemed to rewrite a person's DNA, so as their cultivation progressed and they grew up, it kept improving.
This was a problem. A big one. Ashlock had forgotten that his sect members might conduct negotiations or talk to old family members because Stella and Diana didn't have that issue with all their family dead. But Elaine and Douglas likely still had ties to people, and it would be weird for them to wear masks when talking to these old acquaintances.
"She might have been able to justify wearing the mask due to some facial disfigurement or something if only Jasper hadn't already seen her face." Ashlock cursed. The worst part about this situation is he had no idea how to predict how serious it was. For example, what if the Voidmind family desperately needed someone to marry off, and they had forgotten about Elaine due to her lackluster talent?
"Should I send someone to kill Jasper," Ashlock thought briefly but dismissed that idea as nonsense. So many students from various families had seen her just moments ago, and he was sure Elaine's brother would ask about Jasper's whereabouts. It was already a big enough headache with the Voidmind Elder gone.
Ashlock tried to think of a solution. Jasper couldn't be killed, and Elaine could not wear a mask without seeming like she was trying to hide something, and it was pointless as others had already seen her change in appearance.
"Alright, she will meet her brother with her face exposed. So what now. She can't say anything about the Ashfallen Sect or what happened to the Elder due to the oaths she took, but she could lie." Ashlock glanced into the study room and saw Elaine sitting in the chair, biting her lower lip and looking to be having a minor panic attack.
"I need to come up with a lie for her. She won't be able to make up one on the fly." Ashlock mused as he tried to formulate a foolproof lie.
"Before Elaine had been kidnapped by Diana, she had mentioned on a call with her father, the Voidmind Grand Elder, that her uncle had gone through a rift to investigate something. What if I spin that into the Elder going into a secret realm like the merchants, and he had returned with treasures... one of which had been the thing that turned Elaine beautiful?"
Ashlock felt like he was onto something here. He dived into his inventory and searched for suitable items for Elaine to help with the lie. Those that had belonged to the Elder were ignored, so he was left with those trashy items he had signed in for ages ago.
"Just like the stick I gave Stella, which she turned into daggers, any system-created items have an unusual perfectness to them. Therefore even something like this F grade 'Ordinary Pebble' could be seen as mysterious for how unnatural it looks."
Ashlock ignored a few items like the Energy Depleting Tea, Leaky Water Pouch, and Fake Spirit Stone as they wouldn't provide that sense of instant confusion he was looking for as the tea would need to be brewed, the water pouch filled and the fake spirit stone inspected to decipher what made them special.
With those aside, he narrowed down his selection of F and E-grade items to give to Elaine alongside a perfectly crafted lie.
***
Elaine looked at the sudden ripple of spatial Qi and saw words manifesting on the wall in lilac flames. She blinked multiple times, confused by the spectacle.
"I thought the Patriarch could only write on the tree's trunk." Elaine furrowed her brows as she squinted at the words and started translating their meaning.
You need to lie to your brother regarding your new appearance's origin.
Well, that much was obvious. The flames flickered, and new words appeared.
I have devised a lie for you to tell.
There was another ripple of spatial Qi throughout the room, and suddenly a tiny rift materialized above her desk. Half scared to death, Elaine almost fell from her chair when multiple items cascaded out of the rift and clattered onto the desk.
The rift snapped closed, sending a gust of wind throughout the room, which created a dust storm—Elaine went into a coughing fit. It wasn't until a bit later that the dust finally settled.
"What the hell..." She wheezed while wiping her glasses clean on her dress, "These items are for?" She questioned the wall, and once again, magical words appeared in lilac flame.
The lie is that your uncle went through a rift and ended up in a secret realm. He then returned and handed these items to you alongside a pill that removed a curse that had been plaguing your soul.
Elaine stroked her chin as she mulled over the lie.
Cursed huh. That's an interesting approach. I did take all the truffles the Patriarch provided me, including a spirit root improving and a heart demon expelling one. It would make sense for all these changes to occur to me if some terrible curse had been lifted, allowing me to become my true self... the only problem is this new version of myself is superior to even my brother.
At that thought, a small smile crept onto her lips. Just imagining his face made her want to laugh, but her smile quickly faded. The Patriarch was speaking to her; now wasn't the time to mess around.
"I assume you want me to say my uncle is still in the secret realm?" Elaine asked.
Yes. Your uncle isn't dead, his soul has ascended to a higher realm with Senior Lee, but they won't buy that story. This lie gets us the time we need and explains your sudden change.
Elaine massaged her temples. This was all a lot to take in, and translating the ancient runic language she had only started learning a week ago was more challenging than she thought.
"Okay, so what are the descriptions of these items?" Elaine said, "Let's start with this one..."
She then pointed at each one as the words on the wall flickered to provide a name and short explanation.
"So an unhatchable spirit beast egg, ordinary pebble, bamboo sword, weighted training gear, low-grade detoxification pill, low-level barrier token, and meditation mat?"
Once Elaine got a confirmation that she had remembered the name of each item correctly, her spatial ring flashed, and all but one of the items vanished inside.
Picking up the pebble, she just couldn't make sense of it. The rock looked way too flawless, as if a god had descended and crafted the perfect pebble. The existence of this rock alone further cemented the image of the Patriarch as an untouchable existence in her mind.
As the pebble followed the rest into her spatial ring, she felt another ripple of Qi as a portal manifested in the corner of the room. She could see a distorted view of the airship station at the end of an alleyway through the rift.
Letting out a long sigh, she stood up and strode through the portal. The moment she felt the sudden wave of city noise assault her ears and the nasty smell of the alleyway, all the confidence she had built up vanished.
After all, in the sky above the grand station was a giant black airship with the Voidmind family insignia plastered on the side.
***
Much to everyone's confusion, a station employee shouted at the crowd, "Move out of the way. Make way! Don't stand around. Move!"
Mortals about to board their airship muttered words of complaint, but they were drowned out by the noise of more station employees moving the crowd.
Elaine stood off to the side with a twist in her stomach as she knew why the employees were making such a massive deal. Her brother, the direct heir to the Voidmind family, had arrived.
"What is the meaning of this?" A large man with more muscles than any human should possess crossed his arms while towering over the mortal employee. "I have planned a day trip to Slymere, and I'm already running late."
The man flashed his cultivation, and earth Qi rippled across his body, giving him a murky brown sheen.
"Sorry, sir cultivator, but there is nothing I can do," The mortal employee replied while trembling, "It's an order from the Azurecrest family."
It was a well-known fact that cultivators could use the airship industry however they wished. Hence, the Azurecrest family would only order rogue cultivators around if someone of higher importance had arrived.
"Tsk. Those noble bastards always causing a fuss." The man clicked his tongue in annoyance. He didn't pressure the mortal any further, but he didn't exactly move either. He just stood there with a scowl and his arms crossed.
The mortal eventually gave up trying to move him and went off to fulfill his duties of moving the crowd back. Soon enough, the employees held back two perfectly formed lines of people on either side of the station with their arms spread out to indicate a line not to cross.
Everyone was trying to peek over the shoulders of one another to see who had caused the temporary shutdown of the largest airship station in Darklight City.
Elaine sighed in a vain attempt to calm her nerves when she saw two people wearing long, flowing black robes flanking a man she knew all too well in the center.
Unsurprisingly, Dante Voidmind had changed little over the years they had been apart. Like their father, Dante was even taller than the earth affinity cultivator and the two that flanked him by an entire head. Yet he was as thin as a bamboo shoot, with sunken features that made him look like a ghoul.
His shifting black eyes glanced around from his vantage point, only partially obscured by his coal-black hair that fell over his face like a waterfall.
"A Voidmind brat?" The earth Qi cultivator snorted, drawing Dante's unamused gaze. "Don't you know shutting down an airship station like this for no other reason than to stroke your ego is rather pathetic?"
One of the black-robed men tried to step forward to deal with the rogue cultivator but paused when Dante's spindly fingers gripped his shoulder.
Without another word, the two attendants hung back and let their lord walk forth to challenge the rogue.
"Something like an ego has no use to one such as I," Dante spoke, his voice carrying a piercing chill that reminded Elaine of her father and made her unintentionally shiver.
The rogue cultivator stood his ground as earth Qi of the late-stage Soul Fire Realm solidified into a barrier over his body.
Elaine shook her head. All cultivators were affected by the properties of the Qi they altered their bodies with. And earth Qi cultivators happened to have an almost suicidal tendency to want to test their defense against anything. Basically, they became muscle-brained idiots.
At least Douglas isn't too bad. But he is rather outspoken at times.
"Everyone has heard about the upcoming alchemy tournament," The rogue snorted, looking at Dante's slim build with disdain, "What right does someone like you, who plays with herbs all day, have to mess with my weekend?"
Dante cocked his head, "You see me as weak?" His eyes stopped shifting color and settled on an impenetrable abyss that seemed to swallow everything within their sight.
An immense pressure pulsed out, flooring all the mortals standing nearby and bringing the cultivator to one knee. His muscles bulged as he staggered back onto two feet, but his arrogance was gone—replaced with a mixture of fear and anticipation of a fight.
The poor Soul Fire cultivator realized his folly in challenging a Star Core.
Dante sauntered over with unnerving tranquility. His unhurried strides were marked by an understated elegance, each step landing as though perfectly choreographed. Elaine had always hated this uptight demeanor of her brother that had been carefully nurtured since childhood.
"You aren't from a side branch, are you," The cultivator seemed to have realized his grave mistake. Even if he managed to win the fight, he would be hunted to the end of the realm for killing a scion.
And he likely also knew scions didn't take insults personally but saw them as an insult to the noble house they represented. To offend Dante was to insult the Voidmind family.
"No, I don't hail from a side family," Dante spoke as if that were a slur, "You are talking to the heir."
"Then let's dance, your majesty," The cultivator discarded all reason and sneered. Then in a vain attempt, he tried to pour his earth Qi into the floor to make it rupture, but Elaine saw the entire building light up as the intricate defense formations activated. It was almost impossible to damage this building.
Realizing his attack wasn't working, the cultivator tried to lunge forward and punch Dante in the face with an earth Qi-empowered fist, but Dante met the punch with his void-coated palm.
There was a loud thunderclap as Dante effortlessly stopped the strike. It was almost surreal to watch a man who was more muscle than human get his attack stopped by Dante, whose arm looked like it could snap any moment.
"I never was one to accept a dance with brutish men," Dante said nonchalantly, "Now perish."
The earth cultivator let out a brief wail as his earth Qi barrier was shattered and void Qi rippled through his body, devouring his flesh, and within moments all that remained was his pearly white skeleton.
Dante stepped back and summoned a white handkerchief to wipe the blood from his fingers as the cultivator's skeleton disintegrated to the ground and joined the soup of organs and blood staining the floor.
The entire station was pin-drop silent. Nobody dared to move as they lay on the floor, even after the Star Core pressure from Dante had subsided.
This was the power of cultivation. No matter the outward appearance, nothing could topple the strength of a superior cultivator. Elaine didn't want to admit it, but she felt excited. Due to the resources provided by the Patriarch, maybe by the end of the year, she too could display this kind of godlike power.
Sadly her excitement died out when she realized she was the only person still standing among a sea of mortals sprawled around her.
Naturally, their gazes met once Dante had finished cleaning his hand of an inconvenience.
"Sister?" He half whispered to himself, as if worried about mistaking someone but still loud enough for everyone to hear, "Is that really you? You look so... different."
Every pair of eyes in the entire station turned to stare at her.
She really wanted to dig a hole and die in it.
