A cluster of grass cottages stood a few hundred miles away, nestled on a mountain peak.
Through the window of one such cottage, a pair of beautiful eyes gazed worriedly in the direction of Lake City's entrance gate.
"Oh, my little Sara..." Inside the cottage, a beauty was dressed in white silk adorned with a green belt. She was dignified and elegant, resembling Sara, yet more mature and stunningly beautiful.
She was the biological mother of Sara Albon, Fairy Lilith, a peak eight stage of Qi condensation!
A few minutes earlier, an elder had informed them that their daughter had returned to the city with a young boy of a similar age whom they had never seen before. The news left her devastated, and all she wanted was to rush to the city gate and embrace her daughter.
However, her husband advised her to be cautious, warning that their enemies might take advantage of their absence to launch an attack on their headquarters.
Even though the city gate was hours away from their clan's headquarters at normal human speed, she was a cultivator—and a powerful one at that—so she could cover the distance in mere minutes.
"Stop looking. You have already gazed at the gate's direction seven or eight times during the last ten minutes. The snowy tea I carefully brewed for you is getting cold by now, go sit down and drink it." Matheo Albon sat by her side, helplessly saying.
"Drink, drink, drink, all you care about is drinking tea. Is Sara even your daughter? As her father, aren't you worried at all?" Lilith turned around, her brows were wrinkled and her tone was resentful.
"Sigh! Our daughter, Sara, had always been safe and happy in her clan next to us. But suddenly, she got attacked by Sword Cliff and most likely knew about the real details of the mission we sent her with Albert. You are her father, but you're actually still in the mood to drink tea here?"
"Never mind the attack of Sword Cliff since she survived it and came back to the city safely, what is more important is that Sara suffered mentally! seeing the killing and her guards that she grew up seeing in the clan dying! Also, a random kid that isn't Raven accompanied her to the city gate, what if he bullied her along the way? And have you ever asked yourself where the guards and Albert were?"
The more Lilith talked, the more anxious she grew, and her eyes slowly turned red.
Matheo looked at her and immediately got up, getting to her side, and holding her in his arms. He frantically comforted her: "Don't cry, don't cry my love. Isn't your husband still here? In fact, in my opinion, this event was not without benefits."
"Oh? What good is there?" Lilith cast a doubtful gaze at him.
"Sigh, Sara is our pride and joy, I'm proud of her yet also worried. She's too young and has always been under our protection. Yes, her talent is higher than mine, and she also has great comprehension abilities since young age, but so what if her talent is higher, is it higher than all the cultivators in the world? No matter how good her talent is, can it compare to the royal family geniuses or old monsters?" Matheo explained in earnest.
"Every cultivator who ever reached the body tempering realm peak stages or holy realm, failed countless times. Even though Sara is young and hasn't yet started her cultivation journey, experiencing failure since this young age is actually beneficial for her and will place her several steps above the other geniuses her age."
"Lilith, you are a peak eighth stage of Qi condensation, and I am a peak ninth stage Qi condensation, but even if it was peak holy realm cultivator, I can only live long, but not forever. We are able to protect Sara now, but one day we will leave her, and that day can be tomorrow or next week, or even after a hundred years. By that time, she will only be able to rely on herself. Experiencing this failure will help her mature."
"Birds leave the nest and fly alone. After they withstand setbacks, they can train their wings and fight in the sky. In the future, when Sara leaves us, we can be relieved."
"Sara is my baby, I would love nothing more than to protect her inside the clan lands forever..." Lilith leaned on Matheo's chest as she wiped her tears.
She sighed and said: "Sigh, you are right, Sara will leave us one day, but that day won't be any time soon! Those damnable ungrateful bastards from Sword Cliff sect and the royal family won't have their way and force our daughter to be alone at such a young age in this cruel and harsh world."
She then asked with tearful eyes, "Husband, let's flee the city and head to where your father is in seclusion. From there, we can come up with a new plan. We can't risk staying here any longer. Even with all our preparations to ensure Sara's safety, she might not escape if something happens to us."
"Hmph," Matheo snorted, his eyes narrowing with a cold glint. "The Sword Cliff Sect has indeed gone too far. Even though my father isn't here and we're essentially defenseless, they show no respect. But Sara and the clan are my responsibility. Do they really think I'll just lie down and let them kill us without a fight?"
In the next moment, he stood up, preparing to head to the city gate to bring his daughter back safely.
Lilith panicked, seeing her husband's anger, and tried to persuade him, "Husband, if you leave, someone might attack us, as you said. How can we defend ourselves without you controlling the defensive formations?"
Matheo gazed at his wife gently, kissed her forehead, and said, "Lilith, do you really think my father, a mere Qi Condensation realm cultivator, rose our clan to the top of the second rank alone? Hmph! It seems the people of this city have forgotten why my father stood tall against the royal family and the Sword Cliff Sect three years ago!"
"Matheo, do you mean that..." Lilith hesitated, unable to finish her sentence as she looked at her husband worriedly, fearing he might act recklessly in his father's name.
Seeing his wife's concern, Matheo reassured her gently, "Don't worry, my love. My father anticipated this might happen after his departure. He told me where to find the expert who once helped him prevent the royal family or the Sword Cliff Sect from sending their Body Tempering realm cultivators to stop our clan's rise."
With those words, he disappeared, leaving only afterimages in his wake.
"Save our clan and bring our daughter back safely, husband," Lilith murmured as she continued to gaze toward the direction of Lake City's entrance gate.