32- Heading back

-

Thereafter, Adel took Katrina and left the beasts' region.

However, just as they were ready to depart, Adel recalled something and told Katrina, seriously, "A woman named Erma should be paying you a visit. I gave her the token you had given me back then. Don't think too deeply about it; she merely owes me a favor.

She may not be much use to you once she arrives because she is a little weaker than you, but I have a feeling she will improve faster. " Adel finished, and without giving Katrina time to consider, he proceeded.

Katrina simply nodded her head. If he doesn't think too much, she shouldn't either. Her trust in Adel has already grown to unfathomable heights.

-

It took him an hour, before he finally reached the end of the tunnel...

As soon as they left, they were soon approached by a pair of men and women who didn't pay attention to Adel, but had a worried expression on their faces.

"Katrina! Thank God nothing happened to you! " said the man who was close to the woman as he heaved a sigh of relief, before he finally noticed Adel, gave him a small nod, and continued to look at Katrina.

Adel found it weird that they said 'Thank God', but didn't pay much attention to it.

They then started checking her body to see if there were any injuries, or anything wrong, before they finally took her away as they noticed their actions caused a small commotion...

-

As soon as they left, a figure that was hidden in the alleys, which was wearing a dark shrouded veil, finally opened its closed eyes as it mumbled to itself:

"So the assassination failed... Hmm... What could've gone wrong though? "

The young woman finally removed the veil from her face, as a girl with average looks was soon exposed to the outside alley.

Her looks made her look extremely ordinary, if she were compared to other women.

As for her face, it was like every woman you could run up to in the street.

But beneath that ordinary look was a terrifying strength.

Well, not really, but for someone in the clan, it was somewhat alarming for a background.

This girl's name was Suse. She, too, wanted to become a matriarch somehow, and had some talents. Of course, her talents weren't comparable to those of Katrina's.

The reason why she wanted Katrina dead was... she was jealous!

Her talent was... miraculous! She reached the mid stage first step in body cultivation, and she was still 16!

Nobody knew of Katrina's being able to cultivate all three pathways... Of course, other than her stepparents and... her step-grandfathers, from both her stepmother and stepfather, who were both ancestors.

The artifact only worked on hiding all possible fluctuations, so the other ancestors didn't pay much attention to the 'possible fluctuations' significance...

After all, it could hide all three energies from one's senses! And while she could've indeed been exposed in front of her ancestors when she met them, she got the artifact way back when she was still a mortal.

She was able to sense the three cultivation pathways' energies, so she innocently told her stepparents back then. After all, she was just a kid when she started cultivating.

When her stepparents learnt of that, they grew enthusiastic, and immediately told their fathers, who were ancestors, about it.

The ancestors ( fathers of both her parents ) at that time hastily told their son/daughter to stop her from starting cultivation, until they got the said artifact.

They then got it. Of course, it wasn't that easily gotten as many negotiations were made, and some ancestors straight away refused, as they too wanted their son/daughter to become the patriarch one day.

-

Back to the subject. Suse's grandmother was an ancestor, and she wanted her to be a mighty matriarch too. After all, while being a patriarch is admirable, becoming a matriarch is a feat only the most gifted can achieve.

She was extremely envious of Katrina's talent and... looks!

She looked down to see her blossoms, and compared them to hers, only to have her face redden with shame. Her breasts were the size of a pair of apples compared to the big watermelons Katrina had!

As for her down assets... It was even worse! Her buttocks were as flat as her back. She had no idea why she had been born this way, but she cursed her ancestor's genes instead, indirectly cursing that grandmother who had supported her.

Her mother's genes seemed to be the ones relating to it... After all, her mother and grandmother--the ancestor, both had similar body figures.

She was still unsure why their husbands--her grandfather and father--chose them. They were just... too flat!

But then, they had talent of their own, capable of reaching the high stage of the third step, so... that might be the reason?

After all, were it not for Katrina's being born in this generation, she would have been a genius among geniuses. But alas, it's just... fate was played with... literally.

Suse sighed bitterly before she shook her head and went back to her residence.

But unbeknownst to her, Adel was always scanning the surroundings with his soul energy. But that only made him put Suse's energy fluctuations into the ones he might encounter in the future.

After all, while black veiled women were uncommon, it wasn't to the point of blaming one just because she was wearing the said clothes...

-

After they arrived, the pair finally stopped. The woman then started talking in a serious tone:

"Katrina, you know what your parents have tasked us of. You're in danger, so don't go around everywhere. Stay within your residence and cultivate. Only with enough strength can you protect yourself and... " The woman glanced at Adel for a second before continuing:"... Protect those around you."

Katrina just simply said:

"Okay, go ahead and tell my parents. I won't leave my residence except for the elders' sessions from today onwards. "

The woman and the man-pair were both dumbfounded. Since when was convincing Katrina so easy? If it was, wouldn't she be cultivating in her home right now?

But what Katrina really wanted was to increase her strength as quickly as possible. She didn't even pay much attention to her cultivation, just lazed around, and still ended up with her current cultivation.

She wanted to solely focus on cultivation for now, to have enough strength that wasn't incomparable to Adel's.

Unbeknownst to her, the Anteater treasure made her talent root higher, so she could now cultivate even faster...

The man and woman pair soon left after getting both Adel and Katrina to their residence, but they had an unfriendly expression whenever they met Adel...