The Heavenly Demon's Idea of Parenting (5)
The next morning, I woke up in my room to the sound of chirping birds.
It was not a pleasant wake-up call.
“Ugh... my ears hurt...”
As a side effect of ascending to the Peak Realm, the innocent twittering sounded as deafening as thunder. I immediately crossed my legs on the floor and began circulating my internal energy to stabilize my senses.
“Phew... that's a bit better.”
My hearing finally settled back to a manageable level. Was it going to be like this for the foreseeable future? I had no idea how to properly control these newly sharpened senses yet.
“Young Master, are you awake? I have brought your breakfast.”
Sama Hyeol opened the door and walked in, carrying an entire bamboo steamer stacked high with dumplings.
“...Are you messing with me again? Can you throw away those tasteless lumps of dough and bring me some actual food for once?”
“These are actual food, Young Master. I bought them at great expense from the village outside the Heavenly Demon Cult. A master artisan who has dedicated thirty years solely to the craft of dumplings made them. Go ahead and try one. Now that the transmission of internal energy is complete, you are permitted to eat food like this.”
A culinary treat? Well, far be it from me to refuse.
“Whoa! This is amazing! What did they put in the filling?”
“Beef, garlic, onions, chives, and a variety of spicy peppers, I was told. The owner perfected the trade secret through endless personal trial and error.”
I devoured them in a ravenous frenzy. By the time I regained my senses, the bamboo steamer was entirely empty.
“Are there any more?”
“I understand your enthusiasm, but that is quite enough. Eating any more will only weigh your body down. Even an expert of the Peak Realm becomes sluggish if they grow fat, do they not?”
Tch. He had a point. I couldn't afford to ruin the Peak Realm I had just acquired.
“Hwayeom! I heard Mother granted you her power!”
Just as I was grumbling inwardly, Wolha practically kicked the door off its hinges as she barged into the room. She was the one person I had wanted to boast to the most, making her arrival impeccably timed.
“Yeah, Mother praised me like crazy. She said I absorbed her internal energy far more successfully than Cheon Suyeon ever did. So right now, I'm at the Peak Realm. Incredible, isn't it?”
“Whoa...”
Her eyes went wide with pure admiration. Seeing her look at me like that made it impossible to keep a straight face; my lips curled into an uncontrollable grin. They say you can't suppress a smile when you're on top of the world, and right now, that was an understatement.
“A joyous occasion indeed,” Sama Hyeol interjected smoothly. “Which is why the Cult Leader delivered a special message. She wishes to meet with the Young Master once more this morning.”
“What? Nothing like that happened with me five years ago!” Wolha's voice spiked with excitement, the words spilling out in a breathless rush. “Even when Suyeon received her transmission, Mother just told her to rest the next day... Does this mean Hwayeom is truly going to become Mother's successor?!”
To be completely honest, my heart leaped at the thought. The intoxicating prospect that I might actually become Mother's heir filled me with uncontainable joy.
“It might be true. To think I'm the strongest among the three new Heavenly Demons meant to aid Mother... Yesterday's twentieth birthday gift really was something extraordinary.”
“Woooow...”
As I basked in Wolha's starry-eyed awe, Sama Hyeol gently cut in.
“I understand your high spirits, Young Master, but you should not keep the Cult Leader waiting. Your mother is expecting you.”
“Right. Let's go right now.”
“Good luck!” Wolha cheered with a wave.
With light, airy steps, I stepped out of my quarters and headed toward the central hall. My head was brimming with the naive conviction that nothing but bright days lay ahead.
What did Mother want to talk about? Could she be planning to bestow the secret manual of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art that the cultists were always whispering about?
Lost in these pleasant daydreams as I crossed the martial training grounds, a familiar figure caught the edge of my vision. It was Cheon Suyeon, storming along the walkway. Wait... wasn't that the direction to my room?
“Insolent brat...” she was muttering under her breath, her voice laced with venom. “It took me three whole years of grueling cultivation from the First-Rate to reach the Peak, and he reached it the second he received her power?!”
One glance at her face told me everything. She was practically bursting at the seams, desperate to find someone to take her humiliation out on.
When she received Mother's transmission, she hadn't jumped straight from a third-rate scrub to the Peak Realm like I had; she had only reached the First-Rate. Since she hadn't noticed me yet, I decided to slip past quietly. There was no need to ruin such a glorious morning by making eye contact with someone so unpleasant.
Fifteen years of enduring her sour face during training was more than enough charity for a lifetime.
Paying no heed to the spiteful woman, I continued along my path until I stood before the grand doors of the Heavenly Demon Cult's central hall. I raised a hand and knocked firmly.
“Mother, it's Hwayeom.”
“Enter.”
Stepping inside, I found Mother lounging casually atop her bed.
“Tell me, do you know why I summoned you?”
“...Could it be that you intend to grant me more internal energy?”
In truth, I had no clue. Compared to Mother, who reigned supreme in the Realm of Life and Death, I was still far too weak to shamelessly parade around as her successor. Asking for more energy felt equally presumptuous, but of the two, receiving another boost seemed slightly more plausible.
“Don't be ridiculous. Forcing more energy into your meridians so soon would only tear your body apart. It is nothing so momentous; I simply called you here for a chat. I wished to speak with you candidly. Come, sit.”
Mother offered a warm smile. From the grueling day I began my training at five years old to our sparring match yesterday, she had been an unrelenting wall of severity. Seeing such a gentle, affectionate expression on her face was unprecedented.
Her sudden kindness felt so foreign it bordered on awkward. Even so, since she had set aside time specifically for me, I resolved to answer her questions with utter sincerity.
I took a seat beside her, and her smile softened further as she spoke.
“You are well aware that you possess the greatest talent among the three siblings. Tell me, then: how do you intend to use that strength?”
“My strength? First and foremost, I wish to use it to support you and Sister Wolha. You always bear a heavy burden, Mother, and my sister's martial prowess is delicate.”
Mother's smile stiffened slightly.
Did I say something wrong?
“Well... that is fair enough,” she conceded, her tone leveling out. “Then, you are aware that our Heavenly Demon Cult stands in perpetual war against the bastards of the Orthodox faction. When you defeat them in battle, what will you do with them?”
“If I crush an Orthodox sect... first, I would like to seize their wealth and secret manuals. Making their treasures the property of our cult would bring the greatest benefit.”
“Indeed. And what comes next? Once their wealth and martial arts have been stripped from them, the surviving members of that sect will have outlived their usefulness. What will you do with them then?”
“In that case... wouldn't it be best to put them to work doing chores? Rather than shedding unnecessary blood, making them useful through labor seems far more practical.”
Mother's expression hardened even further.
Was that too passive an answer for someone aspiring to be the Heavenly Demon's heir? Yet to my mind, slaughtering people when there was no practical reason to spill blood seemed utterly pointless.
“Very well... fine. To commemorate the power I granted you, I intend to fulfill one wish of yours. Speak freely. For your own sake, what is it that you desire most in this world?”
“What I desire most... To be entirely honest, I would love to go on a culinary journey. Sama Hyeol brought me dumplings crafted by a master this morning, and it opened my eyes. I want to travel across the land and taste all manner of rare and exquisite delicacies.”
I spoke with genuine, starry-eyed excitement, but the last trace of warmth vanished from Mother's face. Her features froze into stone.
When she opened her mouth, her voice had returned to that familiar, chilling severity.
“I see. I understand completely. You may leave.”
“M-Mother...?”
What brought this on? Did I genuinely commit some catastrophic blunder?
“And on your way out, tell Sama Hyeol to report to my quarters immediately. He is waiting in your room, is he not?”
“Y-yes... right away...”
I stumbled out of the hall, a foul, uneasy pit gnawing at my stomach.
“Sama Hyeol? Mother ordered you to report to the central hall immediately.”
Returning to my quarters, I relayed the command to Sama Hyeol, who promptly bowed and departed. Only a brief moment passed before he returned, his expression inscrutable.
“Young Master, the Cult Leader wishes to spar with you once more. She has commanded you to proceed to the training grounds at once.”
“Huh...? Sparring...? Right now?”
What in the world was happening? Ever since our conversation, nothing made sense. She clearly looked disappointed in me, yet now she wanted to trade blows again? My mind couldn't keep up with the whiplash.
Left with no choice, I strapped on my sword and made my way to the martial arena. Mother was already standing at the center, waiting in solemn silence. Was she planning to critique my swordsmanship or evaluate my physical conditioning?
“You have arrived. Listen closely, Hwayeom. From this moment onward, I will be sparring with the full intention of killing you.”
“Excuse me?”
The horrific declaration hit me the instant my boots stepped onto the arena platform. What on earth was she talking about?
“Take your stance. Here I come.”
“Wait, just a sec—!”
BOOOM!
Before the plea could leave my throat, an explosive wave of internal energy erupted from her body. The world spun violently. By the time my senses registered what happened, I was already skidding across the stone floor, hacking violently for breath.
“Cough...! Gaaah...!”
“You cannot even mount a defense against that? Pathetic.”
A surge of bile rushed up my throat. I clamped a hand over my mouth, only to pull it back and find my palm slick with crimson blood. Glancing down at my abdomen, an ugly, purplish-blue bruise was already blooming across my skin.
“Mother... what are you doing...?”
“What does it look like? This is a trial to determine whether you are fit to become my successor. You are meant to take up my mantle as the next Heavenly Demon. If that is the case, you must be capable of standing against me when I am at the peak of my power.”
“What...?”
CRASH!
Another deafening thunderclap ripped through the air. In the blink of an eye, the ground fell away; I found myself hurtling through the sky, the sprawling training grounds reduced to a checkered grid far below me.
“Aaaaaaargh! Urrgh...!”
I had no time to orient myself, let alone adjust my descent. Gravity claimed me with brutal speed. I slammed into the paving stones shoulder-first, a sickening jolt tearing through my arm until all strength vanished from the limb.
“You could not even react to being thrown into the air, and your landing was an absolute disgrace. Do you truly think this is acceptable? You will endure this for the next three shichen. Stand up and take your stance.”
Six whole hours of this? Gritting my teeth, I forced myself to my feet, but my right arm hung limply at my side, utterly unresponsive. A terrifying suspicion seized me. I reached over with my left hand to grip my right forearm—and felt the bone bend where there was no joint.
What the hell... Is a human body even supposed to bend like this?
“Tsk, is it broken already? Sama Hyeol, treat him. You know how to circulate the Circulating Qi Recovery technique, do you not? He is going to suffer many more fractures today, so mend him the same way every time it happens.”
“M-Mother...”
Sama Hyeol hurried forward, placing his palm against my shattered arm to channel soothing energy into my torn meridians. Yet throughout it all, Mother did not spare me a single shred of concern or remorse.
This happened exactly four shichen before I abandoned everything and fled the Heavenly Demon Cult.