I spent the next week resting and recovering from the ordeal that my mother put me through in the guise of training. At first I welcomed the reprieve. However, halfway through the week, I grew antsy. After spending an entire month going through hellish training, I wasn’t used to having so much free time.

  “Resting is an important part of training.” My mother said when I brought this up to her. “Give yourself time to recover.”

  I followed her advice, though it wasn’t easy. More than once, I had to stop myself from training. In the end, I spent my time studying the jade slip that contained the Burning Cloud Breath and Corrosive Cloud mystic arts, as well as the Cloudy Steps movement technique.

  One of my goals was to achieve at least initial mastery in all three before the Rising Heroes Tournament, since my lack of Foundation Establishment level mystic arts was one of my biggest weaknesses at the moment. The Cloud Steps technique would increase my agility overall, which would benefit me in general.

  At the end of the week, my mother pulled two comfy cushions out of her storage ring and sat me down. We were in the middle of the golden desert, the sands constantly shifting all around us. The night sky hung above us, with stars that formed and formed constellations that resembled arcane runes.

  After we sat down, my mother pulled out a pair of wine glasses and a bottle of spirit wine. She poured each of us a glass. The wine was light pink and smelled like plum blossoms. I took a sip of mine. It tasted sweet and tangy, which I liked.

  “Now then,” she said after taking a sip from her own glass, “I can say with confidence that you are stronger than the average mid Foundation Establishment cultivator. If you pushed yourself, you could hold your own against the average late Foundation Establishment cultivator, at least enough to ensure self preservation.”

  That surprised me. I knew I was stronger than most of my peers, but not to that degree. I grinned.

  “However, don’t celebrate just yet.” My mother warned. “The Rising Heroes Tournament will be full of geniuses and prodigies. Everyone there will be an elite. Above average is the standard.”

  Despite her warning, I remained in high spirits. Even if I failed to win the upcoming Rising Heroes Tournament, I could win one in the future, after I reached late or even peak Foundation Establishment. After all, it wasn’t against the rules to participate more than once.

  “Now then,” my mother said, “What do you think is your biggest weakness, Little Demon?”

  “My lack of Foundation Establishment level mystic arts,” I answered.

  My mother shook her head.

  “That is a weakness, yes.” She said. “A big one too.” She gave me a scornful look. “Why didn’t you learn any before you left the sect?”

  I glared at her.

  “How?” I asked. “I didn’t have enough spirit stones or contribution points to purchase one from the scripture pavilion, and it wasn’t as if you gave me any. I know that earning things for ourselves is one of our family’s tenets, but couldn’t you have given me one measly mystic art?”

  My mother pointed her wine glass at me.

  “Why didn’t you use the token that Sect Leader Twinheart gave you?” She pointed out.

  “I didn’t know what to use it on!” I said. “I wanted to save it until I figured out what to get.” I slumped. “I never expected my own sister to swindle it from me.”

  My mother snorted.

  “She didn’t swindle you,” she said, “The Dragon Blood Awakening technique is very powerful.”

  I gave her a resentful look.

  “Yes, true.” I said. “However, since it was created for those of our bloodline, it should be a family legacy.”

  “Even family legacies need to be earned.” My mother sighed. “Still, I admit that you have a point. As your master, I should provide you with something.” She nodded at me. “Tell me, Little Demon. What kind of mystic art do you want? I know several.”

  I blinked at her in surprise.

  “Truly?” I asked.

  “Truly.”

  I fell silent as I considered my options. It took me a while. My mother was a Domain Creation cultivator with centuries of experience. She must have learned hundreds of mystic arts over her long lifetime. It was difficult picking which one I wanted.

  “Something that is good for attacking a single opponent.” I said, making my choice. “The Burning Cloud Breath mystic art is good for dealing with multiple opponents, but weaker against individuals. A more… focused mystic art would complement it.”

  My mother gave me an approving smile.

  “In that case, I have just the thing.” She said. “You practice the Song of Dawn and Dusk mental refinement technique, correct?”

  I nodded.

  “In that case, I’ll teach you a mental mystic art.” My mother said. “Two of them in fact.”

  A mental mystic art? Those existed?

  “Yes, they do, though they’re very rare.” My mother said, as if reading my mind.

  I blinked at her in surprise.

  “No, I’m not reading your mind,” my mother said, “I don’t need to. You’re like an open book to someone like me.” She grinned. “Most of the time, only those with Mental Foundations use mental mystic arts. However, your spirit sense should be strong enough that you can use the two I’m about to give you.”

  With that, my mother pulled a jade slip out of her storage ring and pressed it against her forehead. A moment later, she handed the jade slip to me. I pressed it against my own forehead. Like every technique my mother gave me, these two were profound and powerful.

  My mother imbued the jade slip with knowledge of the Soul Thorn Dagger and Soul Shielding Aegis mystic arts. With the former, a cultivator used their spirit sense to attack another being’s mind and soul. Meanwhile, the latter protected a cultivator from mental and soul attacks.

  The strength of these two mystic arts depended on my spirit sense, meaning that I could still use them even after I transcended the Foundation Establishment realm. They both also had five layers each, and they grew more powerful with each layer mastered.

  “Most cultivators don’t practice mental refinement or use mental mystic arts,” my mother said, “so the Soul Thorn Dagger will be a good trump card for you. If nothing else, even if it doesn’t harm your opponent, it will distract them. Meanwhile, the Soul Shielding Aegis will help protect you from cultivators that do practice mental refinement and use mental mystic arts.”

  A smile spread across my face and most of the resentment I felt towards my mother dissipated like morning mist facing the light of the rising sun. I placed the jade slip into my storage ring.

  “Thank you, Mom.” I said, giving her a martial salute.

  “Master.” She corrected. “Right now, I’m acting as your master and not your mother.”

  I gave her an incredulous look.

  “How am I supposed to know when you’re my master and when you’re my mother?” I asked.

  My mother chuckled.

  “You aren’t.” She said. “It’s more entertaining for me that way.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  I narrowed my eyes at her. All of my resentment towards her came back in full force.

  “I hate you.” I said.

  My mother smirked and sipped her wine.

  “To get back to my original point,” she said, “Your biggest weakness is that you don’t know how to make the best use of your power. Take your recent encounter with Sky Splitter’s daughter. Sidra told me about it. You could’ve had a much better time if you used all of the abilities at your disposal. Even if you wanted to hide the fact that you’re a divine demon, there were other things you could’ve done.”

  I frowned.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  My mother pointed to her right and launched a Fireball from the tip of her finger. It flew off into the distance and exploded. The force of the explosion threw a cloud of sand into the air.

  “You could have used sand to create cover and then used the Cloak of Dusk to hide in it,” my mother said. “Afterwards, you could’ve launched an ambush and taken your pursuers by surprise.”

  “If I had done that, they would’ve dispersed the cloud of sand and revealed me.” I said.

  My mother nodded.

  “True, but it would’ve bought you time to come up with a new plan.” She said. “That, or you could’ve burrowed into the ground. Depending on how things played out, you might’ve even escaped that way.”

  I felt as if I had been struck by lightning. Back when I faced Cultivator Vivian and Cultivator Azure Blade, I was too focused on flying away that other options never occurred. This remained true even when they caught up with me.

  “As powerful as you are, Little Demon,” my mother said, tapping her temple, “One of your greatest assets is your mind. Use it the right way, and you can deal with opponents that are far more powerful than you.”

  I took a moment before responding.

  “Thank you, Master,” I said, “You’ve given me a lot to think about.”

  “Good.” My mother said. “As your master, one of my responsibilities is to expand your thinking and broaden your horizons. I’ve spent the past month pushing you to your physical and mystical limits. Now it’s time for me to enlighten you. After all, cultivation isn’t just about fighting and becoming more powerful. It’s about transcending your limits and reaching higher states of being.”

  My heart started to race as excitement welled up inside me.

  “Your first lecture begins now.” My mother said.

  For the rest of my secluded training, my mother focused on teaching and enlightening me. Every few weeks, she gave me a lecture on the Dao.

  “Some people call it the Way,” she said, “Some people call it the Path. However, I prefer Dao, since it’s an all encompassing term. After all, everything is part of the Dao and the Dao is part of everything.”

  When she gave these lectures, strange and wondrous phenomena always occurred around her. A rainbow colored light emanated from her, making her seem even more like an immortal than she already did. Golden lotuses blossomed into existence, before withering away into nothingness. The world around us grew silent, as if it were also listening to her lectures. The stars above resonated with my mother’s words, forming mysterious and profound symbols. These symbols were always related to the subject of my mother’s lectures, though I didn’t understand them for the most part.

  After each of these lectures, I spent the next several weeks pondering on them and trying to glean insights into the mysteries of the universe. As my understanding grew, so did my cultivation. In the midst of all this, I formed the second pillar of my foundation, putting me on the cusp of reaching mid Foundation Establishment. This should have taken me much longer. Recent events, and cultivating in my mother’s domain, had saved me years of arduous cultivation.

  Thanks to these lectures, I also started understanding the One With The Flame state. After all, I was a dual refiner that focused on using fire mystic arts and I had neglected that half of my cultivation for far too long. My mother helped me by summoning a flame that contained a small portion of her intent.

  Similar to the jade slip that she gave me, and the stone that I received from Big Sis Estelle, the flame felt like it burned my spirit sense whenever I studied it. However, that was a part of the learning process. After all, One With The Flame was a state of being. To master it, I needed to become Fire.

  Outside of the lectures, my mother also helped me understand the principles and laws behind the various techniques and mystic arts that I knew, increasing my mastery in all of them. She helped me figure out answers to problems that plagued me for a while now. In addition, she helped me with my tentatively named Air Reading technique.

  “This technique has a lot of potential, Little Demon,” my mother said, “However, I would reconsider the name. After all, why would you limit yourself to just air and wind?”

  Realizing that she was right and I had been narrow minded, I changed the name of the technique to Reading the Flow. That way, as my understanding of the world grew, I could apply it to other things.

  My mother also helped me understand my ability to resonate with people, places, and things through dance.

  “It’s an innate ability unique to Clan Wind Dance called Resonating Dance.” She told me. “Even then, only a rare few are born with it, including your father. You must have inherited it from him. Unfortunately, I don’t know much about it beyond that, so you’ll have to learn about it on your own.”

  Neither of us brought up the possibility of my kin in Clan Wind Dance teaching me about my Resonating Dance innate ability, since we both knew that would never happen. I had to master it through trial and error. My efforts paid off, since I could use Resonating Dance at will. Before this, I relied mostly on intuition and instinct.

  When it came time to leave, I almost didn’t want to go. Training here had improved my progress by leaps and bounds. However, staying here meant forsaking the life I had built and severing the connections I had made, which I didn’t want to do. Besides, even if I wanted to stay here, my mother wouldn’t let me.

  “You can’t stay in seclusion forever.” She said. “You need to experience the world, to experience life, in order to keep growing. Otherwise, you’ll stagnate and even regress.”

  With that, I left seclusion and returned to the outside world.

  My mother and I reappeared right in front of my estate at Flame Fiend Peak, in the exact same spot where we had left. Despite the passage of time, everything seemed the same: hot and gloomy. It almost felt like we hadn’t left at all. Big Sis Sidra stood a few feet away, waiting for us. Nova had sent her a message ahead of time, letting her know when we would return.

  “Mother,” Big Sis Sidra said, giving her a martial salute, “Little Demon. Welcome back. It’s good to see you two again.”

  I gave her a martial salute.

  “Thank you, Eldest Sister.” I said. “It’s good to see you too. Can you tell me the date? I lost track of time while in…” I stopped myself before I finished my sentence. “… That place.”

  I figured it was best not to mention anything about our mother’s domain, not aloud at least.

  “Of course.” Big Sis Sidra said, giving me a smile. “It’s a month until the beginning of the new year, which is also when the Rising Heroes Tournament starts. It takes about two weeks to travel there, and we like to arrive early, so we leave for North King City in a week’s time.”

  A week? That was plenty of time to prepare for the upcoming Rising Heroes Tournament.

  “I see,” I said, nodding, “Thank you.”

  Big Sis Sidra turned to our mother.

  “Will you be accompanying us, Mother?” She asked.

  I looked towards Nova as well. She had returned to her human form, so she no longer looked like a night-skinned goddess. I felt a pang of disappointment at that.

  “Hmm.” Our mother pinched her chin and wore a thoughtful expression on her face. After a few moments, she shrugged. “I might as well. I imagine that some of the more arrogant annoyances have started acting up in my absence. It would be a good idea to put them in their place before going back into seclusion.”

  Big Sis Sidra looked relieved by this.

  “Thank you, Mother.” She said. “Even cultivators have short memories at times. A few seemed to have forgotten why people call you the Frenzied Fiend, including some that are difficult for me to deal with.”

  Our mother gave her a sinister smile. It sent chills down my spine, and I wasn’t even the target of her ire.

  “In that case,” our mother said, “I’ll have to remind them.”

  I felt conflicted about this. On the one hand, I had a feeling that these annoyances that my mother mentioned were in for a world of pain in the coming days. After experiencing what she considered training, which she put me through for my benefit, I felt a small measure of sympathy for them. If she was willing to put me through hell, I wondered what she did to those she disliked.

  On the other hand, I felt excited at the idea of seeing my mother in action. I heard several stories of her adventures and exploits, but I never witnessed any of them myself. This was an opportunity that might not occur again for decades. I couldn’t afford to miss it.

  “Regardless, we can discuss the matter later.” Our mother said. “I have some preparations of my own to make, so I’ll leave Little Demon in your care, Sidra. I’ll join you when it’s time to leave for North King City.”

  Big Sis Sidra nodded. With that, our mother disappeared in the blink of an eye. I assumed she left for her palace, which floated above the storm clouds that hovered over Flame Fiend Peak.

  “Our mother really does come and go at her own leisure.” I muttered, staring at the place where she stood not too long ago.

  “Mother was always like that,” Big Sis Sidra said, “Don’t take it to heart. She… Sees the world differently than the rest of us. You and I used to be mortal, something she never experienced.”

  I glanced at my eldest sister and wondered if she knew anything about our mother’s origins. If she did, would she tell me? I doubted it, at least for now. Maybe that would change when I grew stronger and more experienced.

  “Regardless,” Big Sis Sidra said, “Shall we go?”

  I gave her a confused look.

  “Go?” I asked. “Go where?”

  I looked over at my estate. After spending months away from Ellen, Willow, and the rest of my loved ones, I ached to see them again. The only reason why I didn’t rush over there right away was out of respect for my eldest sister.

  “Someplace special,” Big Sis Sidra said, “I can’t tell you anymore than that, since it would ruin the surprise.” She followed my gaze. “I know you’re eager to see Ellen and the rest again. However, they’re not here right now, so you might as well come with me.”

  I eyed my eldest sister. I felt torn between my curiosity to see what she had planned, and my desire to see my loved ones again. In the end, I chose the former. Big Sis Sidra said that no one was home at the moment, and I didn’t know when they would be back. Rather than wait around for them, or wander aimlessly looking for them, I might as well accompany Big Sis Sidra.

  “Very well, Eldest Sister,” I said, “Lead the way.”

  I have a up and running, if you want to say hi.

  For those who want to show a little extra support, I also have a. Patrons can read up to eighteen chapters ahead of everyone else, and get access to exclusive artwork. As a teaser, free members get access to character sketches drawn by the talented Ms. Tsuu, as well as songs by Lucas Quinn Creations.

  I’ve also posted a DDD short story on Patreon. It’s free for Patrons. However, those who don’t wish to sign up as a Patron can purchase the short story directly instead.

  This chapter was edited by Radriel7