章 2: The Fourth Heavenly Demon
"I hear that lowly girl has been unconscious for a month now." Ah Duo, the second consort of the Heavenly Demon sat underneath a grand canopy for tea with other consorts.
"Apparently, she fell unconscious after a screaming fit in the middle of night." Jia Li, the fifth consort, tapped her tea cup with her finger as she spoke.
"What's more, I heard that the Grand Demonic Doctor was dispatched from the Dark Heaven's Palace immediately." The first consort Meilin spoke with a grimace on her face. Just thinking about the lowly daughter of that filthy servant was enough to sour everyone's mood.
Even though the five consorts of the Heavenly Demon were always competing against each other, the common dislike of Cheon Daiyu managed to unite them without fail. After all, she was the only child their Lord had ever even slightly cherished.
"I wonder if someone actually fed her poison." Ah Duo hid a venomous smirk behind her tea cup and the rest followed. Everyone wondered who did it but they found the result satisfactory. After all, no one wanted to see Daiyu gain any power within the Cult whatsoever.
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"Hey, wake up you brat." A voice penetrated Daiyu's ears and slowly pulled her out of the dark void.
"Ah, what kind of weak brat swallowed the Heavenly Seed?" Daiyu opened her sluggish eyes and flinched when the sunlight hit her. The blinds of her windows had been drawn open and a sickly sweet smell of herbs was concentrated in her chamber.
"Are you finally awake? Took you long enough." Daiyu moved her head to find the source of the annoyed and unfamiliar voice. She was no stranger to being looked down on, but the voice was weirdly devoid of any malice. She finally realized that an unfamiliar young man was sitting by her bedside. He looked oddly familiar, with raven black hair and deep violet eyes.
"Who..?" Daiyu tried to speak up but her throat felt extremely dry, almost as if she hadn't had water for weeks.
"Me? I'm Cheon Haoran, the Fourth Heavenly Demon. Or rather, a fragment of Cheon Haoran's spirit." The man spoke as if it was the most obvious thing to know his identity. Daiyu furrowed her brows at the answer.
Cheon Haoran was the Fourth Heavenly Demon that was killed by the Justice Alliance during the Orthodox-Demonic war more than two hundred years ago. His death was the reason that the Demonic Cult signed a treaty with the Justice Alliance.
"What?" Daiyu's dumbfounded expression seemed to irk Haoran even more.
"Do I have to explain everything? You ate that orb that contained my spirit so obviously I'm connected to you now. Why did a dumb brat like you have to eat that? So weak on top of it. Did you even learn how to cultivate Qi before you ate that thing? No wonder your body went into shock. You could have died, you reckless fool." Haoran's enraged expression confused Daiyu even more. The supposed answer had just opened a path for more questions.
"I.. don't remember.." She had no memory of eating that strange marble. The last thing she recalled was agonizing pain and the worried faces of her maids before she fell unconscious.
"Maybe the Demonic energy was too strong for you to resist. Well, now that all is said and done, I guess I'll make you the next best Heavenly Demon out there. I made that orb in case I croaked before passing down the True Demonic Arts to my successor. Thinking back on it, I guess I did something useless, considering that lousy fool didn't eat it instead." Haoran fell into deep thought before he turned towards the dumbfounded girl who was looking at him with a shocked expression.
"So, what happened to me either way?"
"You.. died. The… Just..ice Faction.." Daiyu tried to speak but the dry throat made her fall into a coughing fit. Haoran's face contorted and he took a deep sigh.
"So those bastards manage to kill me, huh? Must be nice, they fulfilled their lifelong dream." Haoran chuckled mirthlessly. His face was perfectly neutral but Daiyu felt as if his amethyst eyes were reflecting deep sadness.
"Princess! Oh my god! Call the Grand Demonic Doctor right now. Princess Daiyu has woken up!" Lishu came running in when she heard Daiyu cough and screamed out orders at the top of her lungs. Daiyu's eyes widened and she cast a nervous glance at Haoran, who only had a mildly bored expression on his face. As if sensing her gaze, he looked back and winked mischievously.
"Don't fret. Only you are capable of seeing me since you are the person who made a connection with me." Haoran moved to the empty chair near Daiyu's bed before Lishu ran over to the princess's side and took her up in her arms.
"I can't believe it. You woke up! I was so worried. I was so…" The woman's embrace was suffocatingly tight but Daiyu could understand her feelings. After all, she was the closest thing Daiyu had to a mother.
"Nanny… water." She choked out those words and her nanny let her go immediately which made her fall back on the bed.
"Gosh! Please forgive this old woman. I'll fetch you some water and soup right away." Lishu barked orders at the servants and a glass of fresh water was served. After that, Daiyu managed to drink some soup and the Doctor finally came for a visit.
"Hmm." The Demonic Doctor had a strange expression on his face when he read the young lady's pulse. He was a man who was known throughout the Central Plains for his medical arts as well as his outstanding talent for creating pills and elixirs. However, even he was perplexed by Daiyu's condition.
"She is certainly doing well but… how should I put it? She is doing too well for someone who has been unconscious for an entire month. Moreover, I can feel a vast amount of Qi flowing through her vessels." The doctor furrowed his brow and thought hard about what could have caused this.
When he first checked the princess, it seemed like someone had sealed her meridians and dantian, and the qi was trying to force its way through the blockages. The Doctor had no idea what was causing such a huge amount of Qi to flow through her. It was almost as if the young lady had taken the Violet Heavenly Soul Pill without anyone knowing. However, that was impossible no matter how he thought about it.
"What does that mean? Is there any problem with the Princess?" Lishu asked in a nervous voice.
"Well, no. I would say that the Princess is in the best shape she has ever been." The confused look on the Doctor's face deepened. For the past month, he had been visiting the young lady everyday to guide her Qi and open up her meridians without causing her to fall in a Qi berserk state. However, it was too volatile to be controlled and till yesterday, there was not much of an improvement in her state.
He wished to ask Daiyu more questions but he knew that it wasn't the right time. Lishu quietly indicated for the doctor to exit the room with her so the Princess could rest.
He stood up and bowed before Daiyu before leaving with Lishu to talk about her condition and medication in further detail.
"I noticed it earlier but that Doctor has some real skills." Haoran, who was still lounging on the chair, got up and walked over to Daiyu.
"Did that marble give me Qi?" She had never learned how to cultivate qi or practiced martial arts so this was the only plausible answer.
"You could say that. Say, do you have a lot of enemies here?"
"Well, the Lord's wives certainly don't like me. Is it that obvious?"
"Hmm. Well, someone had blocked your dantian and meridians, presumably as a child. It essentially means that if you hadn't consumed the Heavenly Seed, you would've been unable to practice martial arts. The reason it was so painful was because the Demonic Qi was forcing its way through your dantian and meridians. It took a long time to reconstruct your vessels and pathways. I had to do that while guiding the Qi so it wouldn't go berserk. If you were a master, you would've been able to gain at least sixty years of Qi but since your body is still immature, only thirty years worth of Qi is usable right now and the rest is stored inside your core." Haoran explained everything with a calm face but Daiyun felt her heart shake with anger.
She knew that her father's wives hated her and wanted her out of their sight, but she had no idea they would go as far as stealing her potential for mastering martial arts. The Lord had also pushed her out to the Black Jade Palace, and never indicated that he wanted her to learn the way of the sword either. She had basically been out of the race before she ever started.
"Unbelievable." Daiyu's entire body shook with anger. What had she ever done to deserve such hate?
"Stop. Channel that anger into motivation and rise to the top, so that no one can ever look down on you ever again. Now that we're connected, I might as well help you become the best Heavenly Demon. After me, of course."
Haoran smirked at Daiyu which helped her cool her anger. She knew he was right. She had the opportunity to be guided by the Heavenly Demon who is still considered to be the strongest in the entire Demonic Cult's and Jianghu's history. However, there was something she needed to clarify.
"I have never heard of a woman becoming the Heavenly Demon. Is that even possible? I know that the Cult doesn't have any rules that prevent women from practicing martial arts, but most families never allow their daughters to become masters…"
"So what? There is a first time for everything. Gender doesn't matter for a true martial artist. Whether you are a man or a woman, as long as you have skills, no one can ever question you. That is the way of Jianghu." Haoran's answer was enough to reassure her. She knew he was right. If she could beat everyone else and rise to the pinnacle, there was no one who could question her skills.
'I am going to show everyone that I am not someone who can be thrown around for their whims anymore.'
"Let's do this. Please train me, Master Haoran."
At those words, Haoran gave a terrifying smile and his eyes gleamed with anticipation. That was the determination he was looking for. After all, he was someone who knew a thing or two about competing for the throne as an illegitimate child.
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