novelraw Chapter 243: Echoes Of The Past
Chapter 243: Echoes Of The Past
Genevieve stared at Mirabella for some seconds, the silence stretching between them. The matriarch then lowered her gaze to her coffee, her reflection rippling in the dark liquid as she pondered the weight of her daughter’s question.
"I loved your father... After seven centuries of life, he is the first and only man I loved... Maybe that was my weakest, I could have stayed back and easily wiped out his family and take care of you alone. But I couldn’t..." She slowly shook her head, the memories of the betrayal and the resulting bloodshed casting a shadow over her ageless features.
"And I couldn’t run back to any other empire, not to mention the enemies who wiped out the Sun family might be lurking in the dark... The only right decision back then was to leave Galaxy Fall." She said, looking up at Mirabella with a fragile, self-deprecating smile.
"Love is foolish, right?"
"How would I know that?" Mirabella asked back, her tone completely detached as she calmly placed a piece of candy in her mouth.
"Oh... In your previous life, weren’t you in love with that boy called, Ethan." Genevieve pressed gently, referencing the naive, trusting girl Mirabella used to be before the timeline reset.
"You said it. In my previous life." Mirabella said, slowly chewing the candy, the crunching sound loud in the quiet gazebo. The betrayal she had suffered had burned away her capacity for blind trust.
"I don’t have such emotions in this life." She added, her aura chilling slightly, a testament to the ice that now encased her heart.
".....?"
Genevieve blinked, momentarily stunned by the absolute finality in her daughter’s voice. "You shouldn’t, Mira... Emotions are very important, don’t shut it all down. Please."
Mirabella narrowed her eyes, her survivor’s instinct flaring up defensive walls. "You want me to open my heart again, fall in love, and repeat your mistake?" She asked flatly, her brutal, calculated question stunning Genevieve into silence.
"Sorry Mum, I am not you, and I will not repeat your mistake." She said, swallowing the candy along with any lingering sentimentality.
Genevieve exhaled, her shoulders slumping. ’This is all my fault... My daughter have become this cold due to my foolishness. The Sweet, carefree and playful girl I knew has turned into something opposite. I just hope she doesn’t hurt those closest to her,’ she thought, her heart aching as she stared at the porcelain coffee cup.
Mirabella noticed her mother’s crestfallen expression. Despite the cold exterior she had forged to survive the harsh realities of Galaxy Fall’s system, a tiny sliver of a daughter’s guilt pierced through. She sighed softly: "Alright Mum, I heard you... I will try to be better, but I don’t think I will love anyone again." She muttered in a low, conceding voice, taking a slow sip of her black tea.
Genevieve looked up at her, a small, hopeful smile appearing through her melancholy. "That’s ok, I believe you." She said.
’Maybe there is hope.’ She thought.
Mirabella only nodded her head, quickly steering the conversation away from emotional vulnerabilities and back to the tactical realities of her current life. An army was a far more reliable asset than love.
"About this Sunrise Clan you mentioned, you said they are still members who scattered all over the world, where are these people? As your daughter, I should be the rightful head of this clan, and they should all be under my command, right?"
"Fufufu... Always searching for power. Anyway, by now, those kids would all be Lv400 above, some might even be Lv500... These kids are the elders who have sworn loyalty to me and me alone." Genevieve said. The sheer magnitude of those numbers was staggering. In the current era, reaching Level 400 was the realm of living legends.
"I don’t know where they’re hiding... But if you fully awaken your Sun family dormant bloodline, they will sense you and will naturally find you." She explained, hinting at the deep, blood-bound resonance that tied the ancient factions together.
"How many elders?" Mirabella asked again, her mind already calculating the military advantage of possessing apex-level cultivators.
"Hmm... They should be thirty, but ten died in that battle trying to protect me. If nothing had happened to the rest, they should be twenty of them out there... Some might have even advanced to a higher world." She answered, referencing the planes of existence beyond the current system’s standard limits.
"Hmm... Do you have like a seal or token with you?" Mirabella asked, her eyes sharp. Bloodline resonance was good, but physical proof of authority was absolute, this was a common rule.
"Fufufu! My beautiful Mira is so smart." Genevieve opened her palm. A surge of pure, unadulterated energy condensed above her skin, and a circular golden token with a brilliant white Sun embossed on both its sides materialized. It hummed with ancient authority.
"This is my token, and now, I am handing it over to you."
The token floated gracefully through the air towards Mirabella. She raised her hand, her fingers brushing the cool, metallic surface. The moment she touched it, the dormant energy within the artifact shattered its seal, and a wave of pure, concentrated world energy flowed into her like a violent tide.
{SYSTEM NOTIFICATION}
{Congratulations, Gained five hundred million EXP.}
{Leveling Up...}
Mirabella blinked, her breath catching as she watched the transparent blue system interface flood her vision. Her level gauge filled and reset in a rapid, continuous blur, climbing with such staggering speed that it left her completely dumbfounded. The sheer density of the energy reforming her physical and spiritual vessels was intoxicating.
After a whole minute of relentless system chimes, the final notification sounded, settling into the interface:
{SYSTEM STATUS UPDATE}
{Currently Level: Lv390.}
{All stats has been increased.}
{Stage 3 of World Chosen bloodline has been unlocked.}
{Permanent Resistance to all elements have been risen to 70%.}
{Note; Darkness and Light has been added to the Resistance.}
Mirabella was dumbfounded, her body practically vibrating with newfound, explosive strength. She stared at the innocuous token in her hand, then up at her mother in sheer disbelief. "This?"
"So sorry Mira, this is the little power this soul has... You will have to locate the other souls." Genevieve said, a small, apologetic smile on her face as if handing over half a billion EXP was merely pocket change.
"Other souls, how many are there?" Mirabella asked in shock, instantly placing the information about the twenty elders to the back of her mind. Finding the elders would be useful, but consuming the rest of her mother’s fractured souls to skyrocket her personal strength was infinitely more important to her survival strategy.
"There are three souls, two are left for you to find; but don’t worry. You have the Sun Map with you, I am guessing it led you here. When the time is right, or when you arrive at the chosen location, the Map will reveal it to you... So remember to always check the map." Genevieve calmly explained, gesturing to the system interface only Mirabella could see.
"So that’s the name of the map, it’s another treasure belonging to our family." Mirabella nodded her head, committing the mechanics of the Sun Map to memory. Suddenly, a spark ignited in her eyes, the tactical survivor giving way to the ruthless pragmatist who never left loot behind. Her eyes instantly widened.
"Speaking of treasures!! Mother, what about your Bell?!! The Bell the Dragon Empire took from our family?!" She yelled, her sudden, greedy outburst completely shattering the solemn atmosphere and leaving Genevieve entirely stunned.