Chapter 58
Chapter 58
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: Like a Flame (2)
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Dark Seran was boycotting her entire cultivation routine.
And refusing elixirs was part of that protest.
As a result, the only one suffering was Yi Agum, the one in charge.
She had tried every trick in the book to get the pouty little princess—who kept her lips firmly sealed and shook her head no—to swallow even a single spoonful of medicine.
“Rumble rumble, the carriage is coming in. Please open the gates.”
Yi Agum brought the medicine spoon to Seran’s lips.
No amount of coaxing or pleading could budge those gates.
Seran made her refusal crystal clear.
“Mm, mmm!”
It was an ironclad defense on a whole different level from a child’s picky eating.
You could force it down a kid throwing a tantrum.
But when a Foundation Establishment cultivator clamped down with superhuman jaw strength, there was nothing you could do.
Yi Agum switched tactics.
“Sister, are you really going to act this childish? The seasons are changing soon, and you’ll be twenty-four. You’re way past the age for sulking over medicine.”
Pretending to get angry didn’t work, so she changed strategies again.
“Fine, then just one tiny sip today. I won’t push for more. Promise, just one sip. Look here, see this little spoon? Say ahh, ahh.”
The stubborn twenty-three-year-old wasn’t buying it this time either.
“Forget it, all of it. If you don’t want it, I won’t force you. This is such precious decoction—I’ll just drink it all myself instead. Ah, so good, so tasty. At this rate, I’ll surpass you in cultivation level.”
Even the “the grass is always greener” ploy fell flat.
No other ideas came to mind.
So Yi Agum just pinched Seran’s nose shut with her left hand.
The plan was to pour the decoction in the moment she gasped for air.
But a Foundation Establishment superhuman body didn’t even need to breathe.
The prideful standoff between the two cultivators dragged on.
The decoction had long gone cold.
Seran rolled her eyes to glare at Yi Agum.
Everyone, let’s communicate with our eyes.
It was roughly a “look, that didn’t work—what now?” stare.
Yi Agum fumed for a moment, pondering.
Should I just pour it in through her nose?
But she snapped out of it.
No, no.
Hold it together, Agum.
Your opponent is Seran, the sister who raised you.
In the end, the younger one raised the white flag.
“Feeding elixirs to Seran” was a failure today too.
Yi Agum retreated back to the Medicine Hall for now.
A tactical withdrawal.
*****
While Yi Agum was wrestling with Seran,
the pill refiners had all gathered for a discussion.
Naturally, it was about Seran.
How to get her to take the elixirs.
“Judging by how late this cultivator is again, she’s refusing the medicine today too. What now?”
“Isn’t she eating her meals and snacks properly? Should we sneak it into her food?”
“Ryu the cultivator has no motivation, not a sudden loss of aptitude. And forcing expensive elixirs on her won’t do any good if she doesn’t absorb the effects herself.”
In the end, no brilliant ideas emerged today either.
“Shall we refine more elixirs for tomorrow?”
“For now, reduce the amount a bit and deliver them daily.”
“Why bother if she won’t eat them? The cost isn’t cheap...”
“If we stop bringing them because we’re wasting ingredients and she goes even more off the rails, then what? People’s hearts sour over the little things. Keep delivering steadily, and she’ll come around eventually.”
“What about the uneaten elixirs? The effects fade fast over time...”
“Feed them to this cultivator, of course.”
Everyone agreed with that.
“Makes sense—they’re practically sisters. Good idea.”
“Ryu the cultivator wouldn’t mind much either.”
Just then, the door opened, and Yi Agum walked in.
“Um...”
A pill refiner spoke to Yi Agum, who entered with a guilty look.
“Failed again, I take it.”
“Yeah... she flat-out wouldn’t open her mouth...”
The pill refiner nodded and said,
“Figured as much. Good work. Oh, right—that decoction? Drink it all yourself. Too wasteful to toss, and no good way to store it.”
“Yes...”
Yi Agum downed the cold decoction like poison.
*****
Ten days had passed since the strike began.
Seran’s mind grew increasingly uneasy.
It had been an impulsive decision from the start.
She’d been too exhausted back then.
Lying in bed, Seran thought to herself.
Sleeping in feels so good.
But how long can I keep slacking?
A month? Half a year?
My cultivation progress is fast even now—maybe rest a bit more?
Yeah, I’ve been pushing hard all this time.
Take a full year off.
Seran drifted back into a peaceful sleep with a relaxed expression—then suddenly snapped her eyes wide open.
A year is too long, isn’t it?
Consistency is key with everything.
Won’t it be hard to start again after that?
No, would I even feel motivated to discuss a whole year?
Sitting makes me want to lie down, lying makes me want to sleep.
The longer it goes, the harder restarting will be.
Seran bolted upright and muttered to herself.
“I really need to cultivate.”
But a chain of nagging thoughts kept her from getting out of bed.
Ah, I really, really don’t want to.
If I slack off, won’t the sect members hate me?
Gobbling up elixirs and spirit stones alone while lounging around.
I should resume while they still like me.
I don’t want to be hated.
Rest just until today and go hard starting tomorrow?
But I really don’t want to...
The negative spiral spun endlessly.
Jokingly called Foundation Establishment disease, but Seran’s condition was fundamentally heart demon.
A heart demon was the illness that corrupted the mind and killed the soul.
Seran fell deeper into extreme delusions.
She imagined a future where she abandoned cultivation entirely.
With the hope of sect succession gone, Black Bamboo Sect cultivators hurled thorny insults at her.
Shallow relationships crumbled in an instant, and even friends turned their backs and left.
Seran died alone amid everyone’s resentment.
She envisioned resuming cultivation.
In her imagination, rust from the long break made her senses dull; she struggled desperately to catch up.
But her faded talent never shone again, and Seran failed to become an Incarnation cultivator.
Again, Seran died in loneliness.
Even reaching Incarnation by sheer luck was miserable.
Barely succeeding in sect succession, she’d overdone it, her cultivation regressing and losing most of her realm.
People discarded the now-useless Seran and enjoyed happy immortal lives among themselves.
Seran died forgotten from everyone’s memories.
The heart demon gnawed at Seran’s soul.
She fought back desperately.
But the persecution complex worsened.
Finally, hallucinations began.
“Your parents never loved you. Not even you loved yourself. Who would love someone like you?”
“No...”
Seran buried her face in her knees, desperately denying it.
“What do you mean no?”
The heart demon kept whispering in her ear.
Clamping her ears shut didn’t make the voice go away.
Seran curled up tightly all night, fighting for her life.
The next morning, Yi Agum brought medicine.
Seran didn’t respond with a single word.
*****
Back when Ho Hye-mun had just become a Foundation Establishment cultivator, the Black Bamboo Sect leadership thought she’d make the perfect schoolteacher.
Brilliant intellect, model behavior, vast knowledge.
She seemed just the type to be a strict teacher reshaping sect kids into filial sons and daughters.
Of course, Ho Hye-mun’s school had no strictness.
“Teacher, I don’t want to eat eggplant.”
To the picky child, Ho Hye-mun said,
“You don’t like eggplant? Why not?”
“Um...”
As the child clammed up, Ho Hye-mun’s smile deepened.
“Hmm, why is that? Don’t want to say?”
“No.”
The child shook their head vigorously.
“Alright, then whisper it to me secretly? Just between us.”
“Don’t tell anyone else.”
“Promise. Come on, whisper.”
The child murmured softly.
“It’s slimy, so I don’t like it.”
Ho Hye-mun whispered back into the child’s ear.
“Then should teacher eat it for you?”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.”
“Teacher can eat eggplant?”
Ho Hye-mun nodded.
“I can.”
“Why?”
It was an odd question, but she had five years of teaching experience.
“Eating a variety makes you beautiful.”
The child looked at Ho Hye-mun’s face and thought,
‘Teacher must really eat everything.’
Then changed their mind.
“Then I’ll eat half.”
“Shall we?”
No strictness, but Ho Hye-mun was a great teacher.
Her loving methods transformed countless naughty troublemakers into model students.
That’s why inside Black Bamboo Sect, her school was famous as the filial children factory.
At the school graduation ceremony, head teacher Ho Hye-mun had reformed another batch of precious brats into upright kids this year too.
The year ended with tearful parental gratitude.
Ho Hye-mun went to visit a friend she’d neglected amid her busyness.
Seran, whom she hadn’t seen in ages, refused all communication.
Curled up in a ball, she looked just like a hedgehog.