A couple of months ago in the Immortal Realm:
"Father, we decided to enter secluded cultivation together. The three of us judged we could benefit from cultivating in the presence of one another."
Three beauties sat at one side of the table while a handsome man dined at the other side. His hair was black, just like his youngest daughter's hair, which added one more reason for him to favor her.
"A joint secluded cultivation? You will most likely distract each other, secluded means you are alone. It's not SECLUDED anymore if you do it together."
Nobody cultivated together unless they were dual cultivating or having complementary powers. Since he hoped his three daughters were not dual cultivating with each other and he knew that their powers were not complementary, it made no sense for them to meditate together.
"It's a new research of Marlene," The redhead sister, Opal, avoided lying to their father as brazenly as her younger sister, making her prefer vague truth over distorted facts.
"Hmm." Gideon watched as his young daughter picked up a gourd of wine and poured some into his cup. He was pleased that she remembered he once mentioned liking it after a visit to Gerard's domain, another expert of the Five Pillars. The production process was kept a secret, and it was only manufactured in a single winery all over the realm.
"Don't hold back, Father, have a drink with us," Marlene gave him one of her most spoiled grins and the four clicked their glasses.
"Cheers."
"Mmm, it is the real thing. I'm impressed you had it," Gideon praised.
'Because I'm caged in your domain!' the curly beauty thought. Instead, she kept her lips tight. She got it as a present from an admirer a few years ago and kept it for coaxing her father when the opportunity arose.
"How long will it take you?"
"A hundred years," again, Opal spoke. Nyssa kept quiet. Her older sister was leading them while the younger sister sweet-talked.
"That's a long time without my baby girls, hiya…" The man sighed in regret, "But your cultivation comes first. You may go, don't worry about your mother, she probably won't come out of her seclusion before I go into mine."
'I wish I could make Mom and Dad happier,' Marlene mused.
'At least this way you don't fight,' Opal's inner monologue was slightly different.
'Am I also one of his baby girls?' Nyssa was still stuck in the first part.
Their father's approach sounded like a parent encouraging their children to invest time and money in their studies.
"Great, we will see you again in a century! It will be over before you know it!"
"Mm, you sound eager to leave your old man alone."
"Nothing like that, I'm eager to show my old man the results of my cultivation once those hundred years are over."
The four continued their conversation, enjoying a meal of exotic fruits and special meats, delicacies of the immortal realm. Their table, set with jade plates and golden utensils, showcased the household's opulence. They feasted on phoenix feather wraps, dragon marrow soup aglow with spiritual energy, and qilin fruit that shimmered enticingly.
"Good luck in your cultivation. I expect great results when I see you again," Gideon sighed and watched the three girls walking out of the hall. It was time for him to go to seclusion as well. He decided to enter for 101 years to give his wife one year with the girls.
---
The three ladies stood inside a wide and intricate formation built of what seemed like an endless number of layers. The whitehead and the redhead listened to the blackhead.
"Alright, are you two ready?"
They formed a triangle, each holding the hands of the other two.
"Yes."
Once they all confirmed, Marlene channeled some of her Qi into the runes, making them glow softly. The three felt some of the runes climb up their bodies and nestle around their cores, hiding their immortality from the heavens.
A portal was opened, a hole in space that would suck everything into it if not for the restrictions the formation master has placed on it in advance.
"Mortal Realm, here we come!"
The trio walked side by side through the gate, finding themselves in the middle of a simple road with wooden houses on its sides.
Chaos engulfed the area. There was a reason for the heavens' ban on immortals living in the Mortal Realm. The space could not bear their presence and started crumbling to pieces.
*BOOM*
A huge explosion echoed and a large tear opened in space over a few kilometers in the sky. Luckily, Nyssa was quick, and space itself froze solid, preventing the disaster from spreading further. Marlene immediately grabbed her sisters' shoulders and dashed, arriving at the center of a desert thousands of miles away.
"Opal!"
"On it."
Despite being thousands of miles away, the previous location was still within their reach. Opal's Qi spread to create a dome around the town, protecting them from the frost created by her sister.
Everything took less than a second, less than the time a person would need to blink. Yet, one split second could be the end of the whole population of that town, and another would call for the fall of the region.
"Marlene, what is going on? We are destroying the place!" Nyssa asked nervously.
"Ah, it's a miscalculation, I'm working on it!"
The woman focused, trying to come up with a solution before the temporary solution dissolved and allowed the world to shatter.
"I will seal us entirely!"
The two sisters seemed very unwilling, but they had no choice but to accept. If push comes to shove, they can remove the seals and return to the Immortal Realm. First attempts at new things rarely succeed.
Marlene slapped the chest of the other two, a paper talisman in each hand. They vanished, turning into pure energy that was absorbed by the girls. Their cultivation rapidly diminished, and the ice vanished along with the fire, leaving a fixed space behind.
'Now for myself,'
She produced one more talisman from her storage ring and slammed it into her chest. The same process took place, and her energy was sealed.
"Wait, we can't be stuck here in the middle of nowhere!" She realized as her stages dropped rapidly. She grabbed her sisters once more, and this time they arrived in the middle of a bustling street in the late evening hour. Their speed visibly reduced every second throughout the minute-long trip, but they made it.
"Marlene, you overdid it! This seal blocks our cultivation entirely, we are at the first stage!" Opal complained as soon as she had a second to inspect her cultivation base. She hasn't been that weak since she was a toddler!
Marlene moved in her place awkwardly, not knowing how to answer her sisters. She messed up, she thought they could live their lives here with the power of immortals but didn't realize that the space would fall apart even if the heavens could not see their breach.
"Hmm, we work with what we got, we are running away from an easy life, so don't complain about some hardships," she berated her sisters righteously. "More importantly, we need to choose families. I have prepared a few, just let me know what kind of family you want and I will offer you one."
"You are too irresponsible, don't you have a backup plan? You pulled us into your adventure without thinking it through!" Nyssa pouted as she noticed the temperature around her was hotter than freezing temperatures. In fact, it was warm!
"Unexpected turns of events are part of the fun, don't ruin it. I'm going to a cute little family who needs a charming lady like me to brighten their lives. How about you?"
As expected of little siblings. Marlene waved off all their troubles away, taking responsibility for nothing.
"Argh, let's do it since we are already here. If one of you finds a way to raise our power, share it with the others," Opal commanded them, taking the role of a big sister. "You already know what kind of family I want," she turned to Marlene who nodded immediately.
"We explored this world enough to know how it works. Here's the address of the family I arranged for you. You'll have a little sister to care for, a father to cooperate with, or kill, up to you, and a mother to save."
"Sounds perfect."
"Nyssa, would you like a poor family?" The curly girl turned to her second sister.
"Of course not. I want a rich family with no other children," the answer came a bit too fast.
"Harsh. But I will let it slide because I know you love us. There you go, they are moderately rich. I don't want you to have the exact same relative influence as in our real home."
Despite her selfishness, Marlene knew her sisters quite well, hence, everything was prearranged. Some drawer plans were discarded, but that's what they were meant for. She took out a strange device and transmitted some of her thoughts into it using Qi.
"Everything has been arranged. They will remember you as though you've always been there but do remember that your closeness won't be anything impressive. See you soon, or in a hundred years. Whenever fate brings us together again."
Thus, the trio split up.