The Heavenly Demon's Parenting (Part 4)
"Do not move. You pushed your muscles far past their limit this time. No matter how thoroughly you have tempered your body with external arts, treating your flesh so recklessly will one day demand a terrible price."
Sama Hyeol laid me flat on the bed and summoned a physician. Soon after, he placed an ice pack over my legs to soothe the strained, overheated muscles.
"I said I was sorry. But I didn't think Mother would be satisfied if I gave anything less. I'm going to become the next Heavenly Demon, aren't I? A man needs at least that much resolve."
"There is a sharp difference between courage and sheer recklessness. This was merely a test. If you had shattered your legs on the spot, how could you possibly receive the transmission of internal energy? Extreme measures are reserved strictly for extreme circumstances."
Even as the physician treated me, Sama Hyeol's nagging showed no signs of abating. Then the door creaked open, and Wolha stepped into the room.
"Hwayeom! I saw your spar with Mother! You were incredible! All I could ever do was throw myself at her over and over, hoping sheer persistence would carry me through."
"You're here, Sister? Tonight, I'm finally receiving her internal energy to become the new Heavenly Demon. I'll be strong just like you."
"Ah..."
Her smile instantly stiffened. Damn it. I spoke without thinking.
"I-it's fine! If you keep training as a martial artist, you'll definitely surpass Cheon Suyeon before long."
"R-right. Thank you, Hwayeom."
The truth was that Wolha was fragile enough to be whispered about as weak even among the ordinary disciples of the Heavenly Demon Cult. Mother had devised a grand plan: she would train the three of us siblings for fifteen years, forging robust physical bodies and wide, unyielding meridians, before directly injecting her own internal energy to elevate our cultivation realms in a single breath.
"Don't look so worried. If worse comes to worst, I'll just get twice as strong and carry your share too. I'll always protect you."
"Thank you... truly..."
Mother's ultimate vision had been to summon three additional Heavenly Demons into the world. Yet Wolha possessed virtually no talent for accepting or directing internal energy. Five years ago, she had undergone the exact same trial and received Mother's energy, but it had only elevated her from a third-rate to a second-rate martial artist. Since that day, her cultivation had remained completely stagnant.
Even so, she was my cherished older sister.
"Young Master," Sama Hyeol cut in smoothly. "Until the appointed hour for inheriting the Cult Leader's internal energy, you must rest completely and avoid any exertion. If there is anything you desire, please do not hesitate to speak."
Well, look who's suddenly acting so accommodating. Then again, even to Sama Hyeol, my succession to the Heavenly Demon Divine Art was an affair of paramount importance.
"In that case, could you bring me some of those delicious meat dumplings that Sister Wolha and Suyeon always eat—"
"Out of the question. Your meridians must remain in the purest possible condition."
Tch.
"Fine... Then make sure Cheon Suyeon doesn't set foot in this room. Heaven knows what she'll pull if she comes poking around, and I can't stand the sight of her face anyway."
"A request of that measure can certainly be granted. Please rest comfortably. Lady Wolha, let us leave the Young Master to rest alone."
"Y-yes! Rest well, Hwayeom."
The two of them stepped outside, the latch clicking shut behind them. Sinking deep into the mattress, I finally closed my eyes and let exhaustion claim me.
By nightfall, the appointed hour had arrived. It was time to receive Mother's power.
"How are your legs feeling?" Sama Hyeol asked as I rose.
"Completely fine. No stiffness, no lingering ache."
"Then allow me to escort you."
"No, I'll go alone. I just... have a few things I'd like to think over on the way."
Sama Hyeol stepped back without a word. Usually, whenever I displayed the slightest hint of stubbornness, he would shoot it down without hesitation. Seeing him yield so quietly felt almost novel.
"Phew..."
Walking alone through the sprawling grounds of the Heavenly Demon Cult, I soon arrived before the imposing entrance of the central pavilion. I drew a steady breath, centered my mind, and knocked firmly against the lacquered wood.
"Mother, it is Hwayeom. I have come to receive the internal energy."
"Enter."
Screeech—
Pushing the heavy doors open, I found Mother lounging diagonally across a massive bed set in the heart of her chambers. Unlike her imposing martial attire from earlier that day, she now wore flowing robes of fine silk, exuding an air of leisurely relaxation.
"Come in quickly. The anticipation of passing my strength down to you has left me restless."
I closed the door, walked forward, and brought my fists together in a formal martial salute.
"I pay my respects to Mother—"
Whoosh!
Before the words could leave my mouth, a blur of motion swept over me. When my senses settled, I was pinned face down across the soft silk of her bed. While I stared in utter bewilderment, her voice drifted down from above.
"Since when have you and I needed such stiff greetings? I know every contour of your face and every beat of your heart. Why cling to meaningless formalities on a night as crucial as this?"
Mother spoke with a breathless, heated undertone. Deftly stripping the robes from my back, her cool palms began to trace across my bare shoulders and spine.
"Mm... You are a boy, after all. Your frame is far more developed than either of your sisters'. If you can absorb this energy cleanly, you will easily become the greatest martial artist among the three of you."
She straddled my legs, leaning over to place one palm directly against the skin above my lower dantian.
"Are you ready? Relax your posture and prepare your vessel to receive my power."
"...I am ready whenever you are. Please begin."
The sudden shift in circumstances had caught me off guard, but this was simply a trial arriving a few moments faster than anticipated. I couldn't afford to let hesitation ruin everything now.
I forced every scrap of tension from my muscles, narrowing my entire awareness down to the subtle sensations humming through my dantian and meridians. Above me, Mother laid out the harsh reality of what was to come.
"Very good. From this moment, I shall plant a seed of raw internal energy directly into your dantian. As my power forcibly carves open pathways through your meridians, it will rampage violently. The agony will be excruciating. Your task is to endure that torment, seize that raging flow, and bend it to your will as if performing qi circulation. Only then will that energy truly become your own. Do you understand? Then we begin."
At the point where her palm pressed against my abdomen, a bone-chilling cold began to bleed through my flesh.
A piercing frost spread outward across my skin before plunging straight into the core of my dantian. Mother's gaze bore down into me with terrifying intensity, as if peering directly into the deepest recesses of my soul—a gaze as boundless, suffocating, and black as endless ink.
"Kkgh...?!"
A fraction of a second later, excruciating agony ripped through my entire being. It wasn't the dull ache of an impact or a fall; it was a searing, needle-sharp fury that tore through every fiber of my nerves.
"Aaaaargh...!!"
The pain didn't diminish in the slightest. It felt as though someone had shoveled handfuls of jagged obsidian shards directly into my veins and violently churned them around. A merciless, butchering agony devoured me from within. It hurt so much that holding back my screams became impossible.
Suddenly, a warm, thick wetness began trickling from my ears. Next came my eyes, then my nose—a sticky fluid seeping uncontrollably from my orifices.
When the unmistakable, coppery tang flooded my mouth, the truth struck me instantly. Blood.
My body was failing to contain the deluge of power, bursting its own seams under the pressure. The torment was unbearable. My own strength felt utterly pathetic against this overwhelming tide.
"Does it hurt?! Does it tear at you?! Then grit your teeth and bear it! That agony is the price of inheriting the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, the supreme martial art under heaven! Remember what I commanded! Do not dare forget what you came here to do!"
Her roar pierced through the haze of agony, snapping my eyes wide open. The fog cleared, reminding me why I had stepped into this room and what I had yearned for all these years. That's right... I came here... to inherit Mother's absolute power!
"Haaaaah!!"
Dragging ragged breaths into my lungs, I initiated the circulation of qi. A sensation like my flesh being ripped from the bone coursed through every limb. It was agonizing beyond words.
Yet I refused to stop. Compared to the fifteen grueling years of training I had survived, this was nothing more than a fleeting breath. I can endure this!
"Yes! Splendid! Keep that fire burning! Do not let that will waver for a single instant!"
Even as she shouted her praise, Mother did not dial back the torrent of energy flooding into my core by even a fraction. But it didn't matter.
I would swallow every drop of it and rise above.
"Haaah... haaah..."
How long had that torment lasted? A fleeting heartbeat, or an eternity? I couldn't tell. All I knew was that I was now sprawled helplessly against the plush mattress, gasping desperately for air.
Even now, the thick taste of blood coated the inside of my mouth. Every inch of me throbbed with residual pain.
"You have done exceptionally well. Truly... magnificent. You absorbed the energy far better than either of your sisters. You took in more than ninety percent of what I poured into you. Your eldest sister, Wolha, could not even manage ten percent, and young Suyeon reached her absolute limit at fifty."
I... did that well?
"Thank you for your... praise, Moth—urgh!"
I attempted to push myself up to face her, but a violent wave of vertigo struck my skull like a hammer. My hand shot out blindly, gripping the wooden railing of the bed to keep from tumbling over.
"Are you alright? If your body is still weary, you may remain lying down."
"No... my body is fine... but my vision is far too vivid... and there are strange noises ringing in my ears..."
"What...?"
As I clutched my throbbing temples, Mother studied me intently before retrieving a small metallic bead from within her robes.
"Look here for a moment."
She let the bead slip through her fingers. The instant it met the polished wooden floorboards—
BOOM!
A concussive roar exploded in my ears, heavy and deafening, like a massive bronze bell detonating inches from my eardrums. The sound was so unbearable that I instinctively clamped both hands over my ears.
"Aargh...!"
"Could this be... the Peak Realm...?"
Mother took a single step toward me. Yet to my overstimulated senses, even the faint rustle of her silk robes scraping against the air sounded like tearing thunder.
"Urrgh...!"
"Allow me to assist you. Relax your body."
Placing her palm against my dantian once more, she focused her intent. Slowly, the overwhelming avalanche of sensory information flooding my eyes and ears began to recede, settling back toward familiarity.
By the time I fully regained my composure, my breathing was steady and my limbs moved naturally again. The deafening clamor had vanished, and the blinding clarity that had threatened to tear my mind apart had quieted into stillness.
"Haaah... haaah... Mother... what was that just now...?"
"It is the Peak Realm. When a first-rate martial artist steps across the threshold into the Peak Realm, their five senses undergo an explosive awakening. Ordinarily, this transformation unfolds gradually over a prolonged period. But in your case, absorbing such a massive volume of my internal energy all at once forcibly propelled you into the Peak Realm, triggering this acute reaction as a side effect."
Letting out a soft breath, Mother continued.
"A typical master of the Peak Realm can regulate the sensitivity of their senses at will. But since your control remains unrefined, you must periodically circulate your qi to calm and organize the internal energy. Should your senses ever become excessively sharp again, begin your breathing exercises immediately."
"Understood."
I glanced down at my open palms, focusing on the subtle hum of vitality running beneath my skin. My senses certainly felt sharper than before, but to think...
Just moments ago, I had been nothing more than a third-rate martial artist. Now, I was a master of the Peak Realm. How much further would I have to climb before reaching the legendary Realm of Life and Death like Mother?
While I was lost in those dizzying thoughts, Mother suddenly closed the distance between us.
"Splendid! You are more than worthy of inheriting my mantle! You are my greatest pride!"
Letting out a joyous cry unlike anything I had ever heard from her lips, she wrapped her arms tightly around me in a fierce embrace.
It was... remarkably warm. In that fleeting moment, I found myself wishing that the joy filling her heart could last forever.
And that moment occurred precisely twelve double-hours before I fled the Heavenly Demon Cult for good.