Intermission - Alice's Day

In a mansion, built in a mountain range stretching as high as the clouds, there lived a girl. This mansion was so big it was barely acceptable if her entire clan lived in it, but no, it was made just for her. With a mansion to herself at the age of fifteen, she was daughter of the sect master of the Amber Lightning Sect. Fifteen was barely considered an adult but she already had the presence and ability to not bring shame to her status.

On this day, Alice found herself waking up to the sound of birds. It was their simple tweeting that awoke her from her sweet slumber, but she didn't mind it. For someone of her status, it wouldn't be strange if there was a servant who came in to help her change, but Alice preferred to do such things by herself. Her figure rising from under the sheets was comparable to a fairy in a fantasical forest. She wasn't especially curvy nor was she a stick figure, she simply had the perfectly shaped physique that was slender but had the right amount of plumpness in the right places.

In just an hour, she shook off her drowsiness, freshened up and went to get breakfast. Although she could cook a couple dishes, this was something she usually left to the chef. Partially because the servants would feel awkward if she entered the kitchen, and also because the chef was a better cook than her. The food she ate couldn't be compared to the food of mortals because all of the ingredients were packed with nature energy and benefited her cultivation. The energy was also gentle enough for a mortal to consume and if an ordinary person ate like she did, it wouldn't be impossible for them to reach the peak of Mortal Realm even without any talent. After she ate breakfast, Alice left the mansion to see her father.

There was at least two kilocales of distance from where she lived to the main palace of the sect where the main operations were handled. This was a distance that would normally be travelled using a horse or such a mode of transportation, but Alice treated this as her morning stroll. Her purple hair now went to her neck but it still dazzled when hit by the gleams of sunlight that peeked through the tall trees that lined either side of her path. While the shine of her hair gave her a touch of divinity, the blue lily above her left ear made her seem gentle and caring.

She couldn't sense anyone else in her surroundings but she knew that there were guards assigned by her father who were constantly around her. At times she felt bothered by these guards watching her 24/7, but recently it was harder and harder for her to run away from them.

'I wonder when the next oppurtunity will come.'

Thanks to her steady but swift pace, Alice was soon in front of a stone staircase that led to the wooden arch which was in front of the main palace. When Alice reached the top of the stone staircase, she instantly noticed that something was off. After one more step, Alice ducked, rolled, turned around and then took out her indigo and violet longsword. At the location where she previously was were three men wearing blue long coats and holding the standard sword artifact given out by the sect.

"So it's you three this time, huh?"

Although it would normally be very disrespectful for core disciples to attack the sect master's daughter, Alice was already used to this situation. It was a stupid agreement she made with her father that if she lost in any of these three against one matches, then she would have to begin finding a suitor. Alice had no romantic issues or man-hating problems, she just didn't want to rush into something like engagement or marriage when there so many more fun things she could be doing.

"Forgive us, young mistress!"

In perfect harmony, the three swerved and switched places while approaching her. One after the other, they swung down their swords on her without leaving any path for her to escape. However, Alice's amethyst eyes had no fear or worry, just like the rest before them she would also defeat these three.

Although their blades were impossible to escape from, she didn't even consider that option. Alice confronted each of their blades with hers and knocked them all back.

"She's so strong!"

Before they could regain their balance, Alice kicked the one in front of her in the gut, used the pommel of her sword to strike the one on her right on the right temple, and then swept the one on his left off his feet with her blade. While she didn't have an innate saint body or a special physique, Alice was unmatched in terms of controlling nature energy. Even though in these sort of battles, spells and barriers weren't allowed, Alice's control of nature energy was so good that she could overpower three men who had higher cultivations than her.

"Are we done yet, or do you want to continue?"

The three looked at each other while sitting on the ground and touching the place where they got hit. While the rewards for beating her were very great, including a chance to be one of her suitors, they knew from that one confrontation that they weren't her match.

"We give up."

"Good. See you later."

The elders who saw their match sighed with wry smiles. Alice was already in mid Earth Realm despite her young age so they had no problems regarding her ability and aptitude, nor did they have any pressing reason to make her get engaged and get married. However, it was exactly because she was so excellent they wanted her to quickly have a heir that would hopefully carry her talents.

After decimating the three, Alice walked into the main palace and went straight to see her father. Many of her older siblings couldn't go straight to him without an appointment first, but she was different.

She walked through the door to her father's office and casually took a seat on the leather chair in front of his desk that had an ancient aura.

"Hey Dad, I won the challenge again. How many times does this make it?"

Levin Articus of the Caine clan was the 38th sect master of the Amber Lightning Sect. The Caine clan had produced many of the sect masters in the sect's history and every one was outstanding in their own way. The Caine used to be so powerful that no other group in the sect would challenge them, but in recent years that had changed.

Levin looked up from the documents on his table and instead at his daughter. She had almost been killed by assassins on several occasions but none of those experiences had curbed her confidence. On one hand he had to be proud of her, but on the other hand he would love it if his cute little princess behaved a bit more femininely.

Levin sighed before answering, "This is the fifty-seventh time."

"I see. Do you feel like giving up yet?"

"No."

"Ugh, why are you so stubborn old man?"

Being called an old man by her was something that happened too frequently, but it still hurt him every time. However, this was something he couldn't back down on.

"I'm not going to force you to marry someone you don't want to, but you at least need to start looking for a husband."

"But why Dad? I still have over two hundred years to live, why do you have to rush me?"

"Because if I don't rush you I might not see my grandchild before I die."

While Levin was in the True Master Realm and could live for one hundred years more than Alice, that was only for now because he didn't doubt that she would eventually surpass him.

"Don't you already have a few grandkids from my older brothers?"

"Yes, but... I want one from you as well."

"Talking to you is going nowhere!"

Alice got up and left her stubborn father's office. When she slammed the door behind her, she looked at her left hand, at the purple ring on her middle finger with mixed feelings.

End of Volume 1