"No!"
After being knocked into the portal by the residual force of the fallen's landing, Kate found herself in one of the alleys of Silver City. She hastily looked around to try and find the portal so that she could go back, but it was gone.
"Damn it!"
Kate slammed her fist into a nearby building, causing the occupants to wonder if there was an earthquake due to the sudden tremor they felt. Luckily for them, Kate still had enough control over herself not to destroy the place.
'I knew I couldn't help him. But, at least, I at least wanted to welcome him back.'
Too many times had she been forced into this position of waiting without knowing when or if she could see him again.
"And after I told him my feelings too, we were supposed to have so much fun together."
Kate felt burdened by this sadness and disappointment, but not enough to erase all of her hope. After her brief rant, Kate headed straight for the sect in order to see if she could meet up with Shui.
Kate had ended up in the area of the city dominated by the Lava Stream Sect, but few dared to mess with her despite the rivalry between Storm Sky Manor and Lava Stream Sect since she was a core disciple in the Earth Realm. However, though not many actually recognised her, the ones that did exposed her location to their senior disciples.
"What? To think the Cold Princess would end up here..."
"I guess she isn't afraid to get burnt."
"Then, I suppose we'll have to teach her not to play with fire."
Some of these senior disciples gathered together and tried to capture her, but Kate's current strength put her among the strongest of Silver City's younger generation. Therefore, as long the top 3 disciples of the Lava Stream Sect didn't come out, she could bulldoze her way through the rest of them. Still, Kate knew her limits so she made sure that her first priority was escaping, else she be trapped before she could reach Storm Sky Manor.
Unfortunately, one of the top disciples got word of her rampage and quickly took control over the disciples chasing her. Under the instructions of a single person, the groups chasing after her got better at working together and soon, Kate was forced to take her time fighting against several peak Soul Realm opponents at the same time. Individually, they were nothing to her, but all of them had studied one of the team formations of their sect and were capable of drawing out power stronger than they possessed.
Kate found herself impatient and anxious against these enemies not only because they were harder to incapacitate, but also because she was closing in on her limit of holding back. She didn't want to kill one of them and exacerbate the situation, but she didn't think she would be able to prevent herself from doing that for much longer.
However, in a case of extreme luck, as Kate was being pressured by the circumstances, everyone froze once they sensed the aura of someone at the peak of Sky Realm. They didn't feel very afraid since they had masters and elders who they knew could protect them, but they couldn't help feeling nervous. All of them looked up into the sky to see if they could find the reason behind this expert releasing his aura, but the pressure disappeared before they could figure it out.
"Huh? She's gone?!"
And by the time they looked back, Kate had also escaped.
'Whew, I was lucky.'
Though she was also curious about the intentions of that peak Sky Realm expert, she quickly remembered that she had to get away. Even after she escaped from the Lava Stream Sect district, she kept moving at high speed until she saw the entrance to her sect. She was going to keep going until she entered it, but then something wrapped in four strips of paper flew to her hands.
Since she instantly recognised that it was Shui's handwriting, Kate quickly ripped off the talismans and sent her spiritual sense into the jade plaque that she uncovered.
'Sorry, I've run into a bit of trouble so I need to leave the city for a while. I didn't get any injuries though, so you don't have to worry. Oh, and if you see anyone suspicious looking for me then just ignore them, I'll handle it myself when I get back.
I also left a gift to congratulate you for reaching Earth Realm. Enjoy.'
Kate sighed in relief once she read this message, and her heart pumped with excitement as she noticed the gift he gave her.
"This is..."
From Kate's perspective, the spell that was recorded on the jade plaque was by far the most profound art she had ever seen. So much so that she questioned whether or not it was really a spell.
'Still, it feels familiar somehow.'
Kate had never seen anyone in her clan use the Heavenly Wind Spell, so it couldn't be helped that she didn't recognise it. However, she was still able to tell that this spell shared some sort of connection with her.
'Gosh, it's kinda hard for me to be angry when he leaves a gift like this. But, I'll still try.'
Although she was sad that she couldn't see him, Kate felt better knowing that Shui was safe.
When she got back to Storm Court, the elders were surprised that she came out without their help. She managed to convince them by saying she was lucky to end up in a portal that sent her inside the city.
"Good, we'll need your help even more from now on."
Since majority of those who had entered the Spirit Nest had died, the sect was now in a dismal state with few excellent talents remaining who could lead the sect in the future. It was so bad that even Kate only felt a little happy that the man who had been chasing her was also dead.
If Shui was here he would probably try to convince Kate to leave the sect, but Kate couldn't bring herself to abandon this place so easily.
After rescuing everyone they could from the Spirit Nest, the space was quickly sealed before preparations for a mourning ceremony were underway. Though some elders wanted to hide this incident, it was too big to cover up so the entire sect would be involved in the ceremony. Even the sect master was scheduled to attend.
But as a melancholic atmosphere blanketed Storm Sky Manor, more fights occurred in the city with other sects, mainly with the Lava Stream Sect. Every fight started generally the same way, there would be a sad disciple walking down the street and then their senior core disciples would be badmouthed by Lava Stream Sect members.
These fights became more frequent and were getting more serious, but no deaths were reported before the mourning ceremony began. On this day, the sect master of Storm Sky Manor was supposed to fly in the sky and amplify his voice to reach the entire sect, but there was still one more unexpected situation to happen.
When the stern-looking man with grey streaks in his dark blue hair ascended to the sky above the sect, he was about to begin the ceremony, but at that moment not only the sect, but all of Silver City shook.