The Soul Clan

While it seemed normal for Vanessa, if not a bit nostalgic, Alex and Shana were wide eyed at the sights within the sect.

There were countless traditional villas of stone and timber built into the sides of the mountains, while large pagodas from time immemorial still stood tall as strong as the day they were built.

Each mountain within the sect was its own distinct faction, and there were slight differences in the styles, but it was overall very consistent. There were countless medicinal fields and workshops that were owned and run by small families or factions within the sect, as well as designated areas for trading and square arenas for duels.

It looked sparse from the outside, but there were thousands of sect disciples mingling about, even more in seclusion or venturing in other realms. In the outside world, the talent for cultivation was so sparse you may never meet someone able to become a cultivator, but here it was the shared trait among everyone.

Overall, the sect was a self sustaining ecosystem, but members still left to visit the rest of society or venture out into realms seeking wealth and power.

Alex and the others spent half the day travelling through the sect, mostly because Alex couldn't keep up with the high speed of cultivators, until they arrived at a walled compound on the fifth peak with a large sign stating "Soul" above the gate.

A silver-haired man and woman in their thirties were lounging outside the gate on chairs, waving small fans in their hand to stave off the afternoon heat. They both wore light grey robes with the clan coat of arms on their chest, an symbol of pride for all the major clans of the sect.

"Guests?" The woman rose her brow and asked, inspecting the group.

"Greetings," Vanessa politely bowed her head, indicating with her eyes for Alex and the others to do so as well, "I am Vanessa Heath, here to visit the clan leader."

"A Heath?" The man's brow creased in distaste as he scrutinized the black haired beauty. "What makes you think you can just show up unannounced and suddenly meet the clan leader?"

"Not to mention, a girl who was expelled from her clan and holds no backing," The woman added while lazily fanned herself, disregarding Vanessa and the others.

Vanessa stared at them without talking, letting an uncomfortable silence fill the area. The gatekeepers didn't seem to care about this and simply took their attention away from the group. 

Still unwilling, or perhaps this was her plan all along, but she then unleashed her qi, revealing herself to be at the sixth layer of qi refinement, almost at the seventh.

The two guards brought their attention back while the woman stated, "You are not even at the level of your sister, and you want to boast about your cultivation?"

Without missing a beat, Vanessa icily responded, "Two months ago I was still at the third layer of qi refinement."

At Vanessa's revelation, both their brows rose in surprise and they sat upright before claiming, "Bullshit!"

Alex nodded in agreement while Lilia simply looked bored by the whole exchange, whispering in his ear, "Master, just tell me to get rid of them and then we can enter~"

"Do you think we don't have ears?" The male gatekeeper asked, clearly overhearing Lilia.

Shana frowned as the hostility between the two groups abruptly grew, then escalated when the gatekeepers released their cultivation at the early stage of Foundation Establishment.

"If you are going to block us, then we will force our way in."

"Hah, if you can step through these gates, then I will get you your meeting with the patriarch," The woman scoffed and pulled out a whip.

Alex wanted to complain, but this fight was inevitable. If anything, this was a test by the clan to see if the group was worthy of their time. Only the female gatekeeper blocked their path, the man watching the show from the side.

"Shana, don't hold back your strength, she is stronger than us," Alex stated while using his Lusty Gaze to distract the woman.

[Lusty Gaze +2exp]

"Obviously," Shana rolled her eyes and cracked her knuckled.

"Lilia?"

"Don't worry master, with me here, you won't lose~"

"I meant that if you need to hide your... heritage here, don't act unless its necessary."

"As you wish, master~"

The woman smirked and curled her finger in provocation while Vanessa pulled out her sword and immediately swung it to launch a blade qi made of frostfire.

Despite hurtling towards the gatekeeper like a bullet, she cracked her whip once and the icy blue frostfire exploded in all directions.

Vanessa had closed the distance and was much more aggressive with her sword. She had grown much stronger with the class advancement from Alex's system, but it was still nowhere near enough to cross realms like some novel protagonist.

The disparity between the two groups was simply too great.

Shana then leapt in with a superpowered punch, her blonde ponytail fluttering behind her.

Alex also took advantage of this moment to put all his effort into his skills, using Lusty Gaze while using sin points to enhance his strength.

[Lusty Gaze +40exp]

A critical hit!

The female gatekeeper showed no change, but the tips of her ears blushed slightly and her attention was distracted for a brief moment as Shana's attack landed.

The woman tried to raise her whip at the last moment, but was unable to defend herself and guffawed as she was sent flying into the compound wall like a cannonball. Stone and bricks collapsed around the woman while Alex, Vanessa and Shana rapidly closed the distance between the gate and themselves.

Before they could enter, stones and bricks were sent flying as a brown leather whip snaked and coiled around all their necks. Without being able to react, the group were picked up and slammed into the ground a few dozen feet away from the gate.

[Sturdy as an M +1,230exp]

"You won't be able to get past me with dirty tactics," The silver haired woman glared at the group, particularly Alex.

Alex groaned in pain, but nothing was too badly damaged. The biggest problem was that the whip wasn't letting go of their necks, restricting their breathing while also somehow holding them down.

The only one able to resist was Shana, who used brute force to pull open the whip.

Both the gatekeepers rose a brow at this, but it was a short lived victory and the woman pushed her qi into the whip and caused lightning to arc out across the whip, shocking all three people tied up.

[Sturdy as an M +200exp]

[Sturdy as an M +200exp]

...

[Sturdy as an M +200exp]

Simply the constrant stream of experience he was getting showed how much pain Alex was in.

Feeling his consciousness fading and unwilling to give up, pulled out the Booty Call Talisman and tore it. This was an instinctive move, but it was successful as the a space ripple emitted from the talisman and the black haired cultivator who had been writhing on the ground with the rest of them vanished from her restraint and appeared beside Alex.

"G-g-get her!" Alex stammered through gritted teeth, lighning travelling through his bones and even painfully arcing between his teeth as he spoke.

With Alex and Shana still tied up, the silver haired gatekeeper couldn't only retract her whip back to defend herself as Vanessa unleashed an enormous wave of frostfire.

Alex bit into his lip, gaining a moment of clarity and grabbing the electrified whip with both arms and pulling it taught. It wasn't anywhere near enough to overpower the cultivator, but it gave Vanessa's attack enough time to land a blow.

The woman frowned, raising her remaining arm and unleashing a qi barrier with the full force of her Foundation Establishment cultivation that the wave violently crashed into.

Once it had passed over, she prepared herself for Vanessa's next attack only to find she had vanished.

Glancing over, she saw the male gatekeeper smirking and pointing towards the gate.

Vanessa had taken advantage of the woman being blinded by her attack to rush through the gates of the Soul Clan compound.

"I expect you to uphold your word," Vanessa stated coldly.

"...Very well," the silver haired woman wrapped her whip up and tucked it into her belt. "But you were the only one to enter, the rest can remain outside."

At this moment, a pink haired succubus with an overly large chest poked her head out from behind the wall, also from the inside of the gate.

"I got in too~"

"Huh!?"

The male gatekeeper shook his head and clarified for her, "While you were occupied earlier, she erased her presence and simply walked in."

The woman's jaw dropped, simply not expecting the woman who simply looked like a mortal had managed to enter. Little was she aware that the beauty in punk attire was a master of subterfuge and stealth.

"Fine! All of you, follow me."

Alex and Shana picked themselves up and followed behind the woman, her irritation radiating off her back. Alex held Shana's hand, a movement which attracted the gaze of Vanessa who shortly moved to his other side to hold his remaining free hand, her finger intimately entwining with his.

The woman leading the way didn't comment on this and just led them to the largest house among the compound, a four story mansion that was built into the side of a cliff.

"We can just walk straight in?" Alex asked with a concern that they may still be turned away.

[Lusty Gaze +15exp]

The silver haired woman brushed her hair over her shoulder and looked at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Do you think I would have allowed you to meet the patriarch if I wasn't instructed to do so?"

Vanessa leaned in and whispered, "The patriarch is at the middle Golden Core stage, he would have been aware of everything from the moment we entered the mountain."

Alex blushed and didn't comment further, Lilia giggling from the side at his embarrassment.

They soon entered a grand audience chamber where the patriarch and all the elders where waiting with stony expressions. The female gatekeeper deeply bowed before stepping to the side, leaving Alex and the girls to stand out in the open before the man whose presence dominated the room. 

The patriarch of the Soul Clan was a man in his late forties and a battle-hardened face. He had short silver hair, apparently a clan trait, and a gruff but well maintained beard. His eyes were deep and mysterious, so much so that Alex felt the entire world spin when he met his gaze.

"Vanessa Heath," The patriarch spoke in a deep, resounding voice, "You once were good friends with my daughter... before you rebelled and betrayed your clan."

"They wanted to force her to marry a woman she didn't love!" Alex spoke up in her defense, stepping forward to protect her behind him.

Vanessa was touched by this, but she knew such words were useless.

"So what?" The patriarch's eyes narrowed in displeasure. "Then she should have willingly became a cauldron."

"A good father should never allow their daughter to become such a thing."

"A good daughter should listen to her father and support her clan."

The entire room was so silent a pin drop could be heard. This was the difference between the modern world and those still living in antiquated traditions, creating an impasse of opinion.

"I am not going to debate ethics with you, child," The patriarch continued, his voice full of authority, "Vanessa, don't think I don't know why you are here. You have recently been betrothed, and you want my support to break that engagement."

"Yes, patriarch."

"And what are you offering in exchange?"

"We have information on the Heath Clan's movements and alliances. They have recently formed an alliance with both Mason and Wiese Clans to help my father become the next patriarch."

The elders and onlookers begun whispering to each other at this revelation. If it was true, it was serious news for them.

"And how reliable is this information?"

"From what I understand, very reliable."

The patriarch's brows sank in deep thought before he stated, "If what you said is true, then it is not something to be taken lightly. However, you have now given that information over to us and I don't think it is enough for our backing."

Vanessa shook her head lightly.

"Patriarch, I did not expect to use just this information for your support."

Alex looked at her with concern while the Soul Clan patriarch told her to continue.

"A part of the Heath Clan alliance is my marriage. Cancelling this will harm that alliance... furthermore..." Vanessa hesitated but eventually steeled her mind, "I wish to take part in the next sect mission. I will kill the current prodigy of the Heath Clan."

"Girl, that is your sister you are talking about."

At the patriarch's word, Alex snapped his head around and looked at her in disbelief.

"Vee, that far too extreme. She's your sister."

Shana snarled and commented, "A murderer through and through, not even your own family is safe."

Vanessa closed her eyes and lightly shook her head.

"Darling, please leave this to me. Our ways are different from what you are used to, especially during power struggles. Once she is gone, the Heath Clan will lose their support."

"HAHAHAHA!!" The Soul Clan patriarch's booming laughter echoed through the room, startling Alex and Shana. "How cold, if your talent has become as great as you boasted at my gate, you will go far!"

Not just Shana, but Alex was unwilling to accept this too and bit his lip deep enough that it started to bleed. He was going to have a deep discussion with Vanessa later about this matter.

"Congratulations, boy," 

The patriarch grinned while looking towards Alex.

"Huh, why?"

"Because you're about to get married!" He exclaimed before turning his head and looking at the elders and other attendants in the hall. "Prepare the delegations to all the major clans. The eldest miss of the Heath Clan is about to get married to this boy. Such an event must be celebrated across the entire sect."

Alex was caught off guard with how fast such a decision was made and didn't know how to respond, but he felt this wedding was going to be anything but peaceful.