Birthday Party - Part 1

Inside a well-decorated room of a large house within one of the most luxurious real estates in Seastar.

A young girl was sitting in front of a mirror as she's applying some makeup.

Reflected by the mirror was the girl's appearance that was as beautiful as a fairy.

This young girl has a youthful and cute face. Her skin was fair and look soft. Her dark hair was long and flowing elegantly in her back. She's wearing an exquisite, well-tailored dress that has vibrant colors but still didn't feel too extravagant.

Her expression was rather serious and somewhat, a little bit nervous.

Today was her birthday, and a party to celebrate it was about to begin.

The girl's name was Sophia Carter, a young human who just turned 17 years old today. She was a member of the Carter family, a family that could be said has a good reputation among Seastar's upper society.

Actually, Sophia wasn't exactly the kind of girl who likes to dress up exaggeratedly. The reason she was dressing up so well today was that her party won't be just a simple birthday party.

About a week ago, Sophia had caused a huge storm throughout Gaia.

It happens when her cultivation was being measured during the admission test to enter the most prestigious martial academy in the Kingdom of Merlin, Delios Martial Academy.

The academy's echelon was shocked to death once they found out that Sophia's cultivation has reached early-stage Gold-class. Not only that, when they knew that Sophia also possessed a 73% linked meridian, they could no longer sit back and accepted her immediately.

It must be known, Delios Academy has one of the lowest acceptance rates amongst martial institutes in the whole Gaia due to their strict admission.

But it's not their fault that they acted rush and panicking like that. Other academies will surely behave the same if a new student who has the cultivation of Gold-class and a 73% linked meridian like Sophia came knocking their doors.

Therefore, Delios quickly admitted Sophia as their student to prevent other academies or other forces from snatching her.

Afterward, the news simply got out and spread across the world, which caused a sensation everywhere.

A Gold-class ranker was considered a middle-level powerhouse. In Gaia, rankers at this class can already travel anywhere almost unhindered. Although within Heavenly Tower, the competition was much crueler and harder because the number of rankers was greater than in Gaia, Gold-class rankers were still regarded as elites.

Generally, most Gold-class rankers were adult people with rich experiences. It was rare for young people to have the cultivation at Gold-class. Especially, a 17 years old girl such as Sophia.

Under normal circumstances, many youths at her age, even if they were really talented, their cultivations will mostly still at Bronze-class. While some can reach Iron-class, but it's just too rare for that kind of genius to appear.

Sophia was simply an odd one.

Not to mention, she also had a more than 60% linked meridian!

She was the second known person in Gaia who has that kind of heaven-defying meridian.

The first one already became an unparalleled expert. There was actually another one, a woman, but since that person's conduct was just too elusive, it still unconfirmed whether she has it or not.

That's why Sophia has caught the attention of the entire world.

As a consequence, her birthday party, which supposed to be a simple one, has become something akin to a royal gala or a movie award.

Even now, an hour before the party began, many guests have already arrived outside her house.

Among them, there were many important people such as government officials, celebrities, scions of noble clans, foreign ambassadors, and many more.

She also heard that one of Merlin's royal princesses would attend the party as well.

Although her family was renowned throughout Seastar, the Carter's status supposedly still not enough to have a princess to personally come to her party.

'Ah! It's annoying!' Sophia screamed in her mind.

Then, she sighed, 'Well, at least sister will come later.'

Thinking about her sister, Sophia's heart starts fluttering and a happy smile beamed from her lips.

That sister of her, Helena Carter, was a lot older than Sophia. There were 5 years of gap between their age.

She was the person that Sophia admired and idolized the most.

Helena was extremely beautiful, smart, and talented. She possessed all the things that a capable woman suppose to have.

Truthfully, it was Helena who taught and guided Sophia in a matter of cultivation.

The reason why Sophia can already reach Gold-class at a young age was because of the guidance of her sister. Not only that, but she was also the one who opened the clogs inside Sophia's meridian.

Originally, Sophia only had a 50% linked meridian, so it could be said that her talent was slightly above average at best. However, after her sister slowly cleared many of the clogs over the years by using an unknown method, Sophia's meridian has been more than 70% linked. As a result, her cultivation's speed became faster and it was easier for her to cultivating due to the smooth circulation of martial essences inside her meridian.

Combined with the cultivation art that was given to her also by her sister, as well as the guidance, it took a mere 5 years for Sophia from being a kid who doesn't know anything about cultivation to become a genuine Gold-class ranker.

That's why Sophia would follow Helena everywhere and would listen to her most of the time.

Unfortunately, Helena has her own things to take care of. She always went somewhere else and would only return once in a while.

The time both sisters could spend together was getting less and less in recent years.

Even though she missed her older sister greatly, Sophia understood that her sister has a dream to achieve. Thus, Sophia did not pressure Helena and will only wait for her patiently, in their home.

A few days ago, Sophia received good news that made her mood jubilant.

Her sister informed her that she will return home during the birthday party.

It has been almost two years since the last time Sophia saw Helena. That's why she was highly spirited and energetic as she thought she could meet her sister again.

Creak!

Suddenly, the door to Sophia's room was opened from outside.

"Sophia? Are you ready?" A middle-aged woman with a gentle appearance entered the room while calling Sophia's name.

Sophia glanced at the middle-aged woman and smiled sweetly, "Mom!"

The middle-aged woman was Sophia's mother, Diana Carter.

If Diana would describe herself, she would say that she was just a simple housewife.

She married her husband, Alex Carter, for already more than 20 years. Both husband and wife have a strong relationship and bond with each other, and they were blessed with having two incredibly beautiful and intelligent daughters. Overall, the Carter was a harmonious family.

Diana walked closer to her youngest daughter while a gentle expression appeared on her face, "Are you done dressing up? The guests have arrived, you know."

"I know… Just a minute." Sophia pouted and continue applying her makeup.

Once she near her daughter, Diana helps Sophia fixing her hair.

"There are lots of important people in the outside. I know you don't like that kind of thing but… be sure to present yourself well, okay?"

"Okay." Sophia complied unenthusiastically.

Seeing that her daughter seems to be a little upset, Diana smiled and decide to tease her, "Your former schoolmates are here as well and there's a handsome boy among them… He quickly looked for you as soon as he arrived. Do you know him?"

Sophia's eyes widened, "Was he a boy with golden hair and rather tall height?"

Diana nodded and giggled, "Yes… So you do know him, hehe."

Sophia's expression turned unsightly. Noticing that, Diana couldn't help but asked, "What's wrong, honey?"

Staring at her mother, Sophia said, "Mom, I actually didn't invite that boy. I don't like him at all… I even detested him in fact."

"Hmm? You actually didn't invite him? Why? He seems to be a good boy when he greeted me before, He was really polite and had a noble bearing."

"Him? Polite? Humph!" Sophia snorted, "You know, Mom… Sure, he does look handsome and act politely all the time, but under that facade, he's actually a petty person and a good-for-nothing… He always used his powerful background to intimidate people, even me was also one of his victims… He had once tried to force me to become his girlfriend. It's disgusting!"

Hearing that, Diana was speechless.

She initially thought the golden-haired boy who greeted her earlier was kind and polite. However, from her daughter's testimony, it looks like the boy's attitude was just an act. Of course, Diana trusts her daughter more than a stranger she had just met.

Thus, her good impression of the golden-haired boy vanished in an instant. In fact, she already made up a mind to not allow that boy to get close to her daughter.

"Alright, just ignore him for now. This is your big day, so you should try to enjoy the party as much as possible. Besides, your sister will come too, right? It's been a while since we saw her." Diana said with a soothing voice.

"That's right, it's been two years already. But she promised me that she will come today. I really hope it's true."

Wondering about her eldest daughter, Diana somehow couldn't help herself from smiling bitterly. She, Sophia, and her husband actually have no idea what Helena has been doing since she became independent years ago.

Diana always felt that Helena matures too early. But she rejoices that her eldest daughter has grown up to be a capable woman. Although Diana didn't know what kind of things Helena does in the outside world, she always returns home while bringing stuff that can't be found easily even with money.

Furthermore, Helena also contributed much to the current state of Sophia's cultivation. Diana knew that without Helena, it's impossible for Sophia to have Gold-class cultivation at her age.

What the most shocking was; Helena had a method that can open the clogs within someone's meridian!

Just like with Sophia, Helena helped clearing both Diana's and Alex's meridians, and she guided them in their cultivations as well. Thus, even though she was just a housewife, Diana possessed the strength of intermediate stage Gold-class, while Alex was at early stage Platinum-class.

Both Diana and Alex always wanted to know where did Helena learned all of her abilities or what she has done to obtain them, but they refrained from asking it directly as they respected their daughter's privacy. As parents, both of them can only support their daughter while she pursue her own aspiration.

Knock!

Knock!

Knocking sounds came from the room's door. Then, a middle-aged man with good-looking features peering inside after he opened the door slightly.

"Hey, what took both of you so long?" The middle-aged man asked.

He was Alex Carter, Diana's husband, and father to both Sophia and Helena.

"Relax, Husband. It will be done in a second." Diana replied while still fixing Sophia's hair.

"Yeah, Dad. I'm almost finished."

"Hehehe, okay… okay. Just quickly show yourself once you've done, alright?" Alex cheekily said.

"I will." Sophia answered shortly as she hastily applying the rest of the makeup.