As I sat and waited quietly, the Empress soon opened her eyes.
"I heard you were injured... Fortunately, you seem to be fine."
The Empress's hoarse voice.
I merely nodded in response to her worried words.
I didn't know what tone or what to say.
First, I had to hide my complicated feelings as I saw the demonic aura inside her body.
"If you had been seriously injured, it would have pained me greatly. It's really fortunate..."
"Thank you for your concern."
"No... I'm the one who should apologize. I made you come here in pain by keeping you busy."
"It's fine. The deity said I can move freely now."
As I said this, my gaze was still elsewhere.
'The demonic aura is too strong.'
It was a thick, dense aura, far different from the trivial aura the Blood Knight possessed.
It was almost... exactly like the aura the Heavenly Demon had.
It wasn't just similar; it could be considered the same.
I couldn't have been mistaken about this.
'Could the disease that is slowly killing the Empress be that guy?'
...
If the demonic aura is the culprit, why does the Empress have it in her body?
After the events of my past life, too many things have been revealed.
Has the Empress already encountered the Heavenly Demon in this life?
Not everyone who possesses demonic aura becomes a demon.
The Blood Knight and the Black Night Palace people were examples of that.
The Empress in front of me was another.
The difference was that the Blood Knight was gradually accepting and becoming a demon.
The Empress, on the other hand, was enduring and resisting the rampant demonic aura.
'To endure such rampant demonic aura without showing any signs...'
The Empress was a master of the Dao Gate, so the energy she possessed must have been pure Dao energy.
Even so, it seemed powerless against the demonic aura, as if being devoured.
I could tell just by looking.
Due to the demonic aura, the Empress's body had weakened, and I could observe her condition even at my level.
The Empress's energy was almost depleted.
Moreover, I could see that she was struggling to suppress the rampant demonic aura.
Despite the arduous process, the Empress didn't even frown.
Even now, she must be in pain.
The Empress looked at me with a regretful voice.
"If I had met you a little earlier, it would have been really good. I'm sorry I couldn't even treat you to a proper meal..."
"No, it's fine."
The Empress kept apologizing to me.
I couldn't understand why she felt so apologetic.
No matter how close she was to my mother, we were still strangers.
Yet, she took responsibility for the situation and brought me along.
For me, that was enough.
I could endure on my own.
'Honestly, I didn't really endure well.'
The Empress hesitated for a moment before speaking cautiously.
"Can I hold your hand?"
"Your hand?"
Although it was sudden, it wasn't a big request, so I extended my hand to the Empress.
Her wrinkled hand came into view.
"Sorry about these wrinkled hands."
'...Why is she apologizing for this?'
Perhaps the Empress just wanted to say she was sorry to me.
I thought this as I gently held her hand.
The Empress smiled wistfully.
"If I had been healthy, it would have been really good."
It was as if she was letting go of her emotions one by one at the end of her life.
I didn't know what to say in such a situation.
Should I just remain silent?
Or should I say something like, "You look fine now"?
After a moment's thought, I decided I shouldn't just stand there silently and said something.
Just as I was about to speak,
Swoosh!
"!"
"Ugh...!"
The Empress and I both pulled away our hands.
The Empress immediately looked back and forth between her hand and mine, startled.
It couldn't be helped; the demonic aura from her body had just flowed into mine.
'...This is...'
When I regained my senses, the demonic aura in my body seemed to confirm my half-formed thoughts.
The demonic aura I saw in the Blood Knight was the same as what was in my body.
Now that I think about it, it wasn't just similar; it was the demonic aura of the Blood Knight.
'...Did I really absorb it?'
Absorbing someone else's demonic aura, not just a magic stone?
'Is this the power of the Demon Absorption Technique?'
Is that really the case?
Since I didn't experience this in my past life, something must have changed.
The small amount of demonic aura that flowed into me from the Empress was immediately purified by the Nine Yang Cleansing Wheel Technique.
The demonic aura absorbed from the Blood Knight also seemed to be completely purified.
"..."
The Empress seemed confused and couldn't properly express what had just happened.
Seeing this, I thought: if I can absorb the Empress's demonic aura...
'Perhaps...'
I might be able to save the Empress.
While I was thinking this, the door to the hut suddenly opened.
"What are you doing?"
It was the deity.
Swoosh! Swish!
The sound of the wooden sword slicing through the air was sharp.
The sound, which used to be blunt and soft, had become sharp.
Gulinghua herself noticed this change but felt it was inadequate.
'Just half a step forward, the tip of the sword upward.'
Swoosh
A shallow energy was infused into the extended sword tip.
This was not due to the application of energy but the result of precise movements.
Despite the impressive result, Gulinghua's expression remained unsatisfied.
'What can I do with this?'
After that day, she continued rigorous training, but her heart was not as hardened.
The trembling of her body when facing an enemy kept coming back to her.
She intuitively knew she couldn't handle it.
However, that was a separate issue.
It wasn't about being afraid or cowardly, but about the pride and responsibility of a martial artist that her master always talked about, which she had run away from, making her feel ashamed.
Nangong Bei, who stood in front of her with a sword to protect her, must have known she couldn't handle it and must have been afraid of death.
Yet, she didn't hesitate.
'...I, I...'
While imagining the back of the person who held a sword to protect her.
Gulinghua closed her eyes tightly, overwhelmed by guilt.
'Just running away, and talking about blooming plum blossoms?'
She wouldn't even become a proper martial artist at this rate.
Gulinghua thought of Gouyang Qian.
She heard that Gouyang Qian had resolved a situation that even she and Nangong Bei couldn't handle.
How could he do that, that lazy and cowardly person?
The last time she saw him was probably around this time two years ago.
Gouyang Qian was still the same then.
She clearly remembered him doing nothing and emitting thorns in all directions.
It was also when she finally let Gouyang Qian go.
'...How could such a person...'
The rising feeling was envy or resentment.
Gulinghua swung her sword again.
This time, she put more effort into it.
To avoid feeling her own incompetence, she had to focus on something.
She continued to train intensely until she was about to collapse from exhaustion.
She swung the sword until her arms trembled and sweat dripped from her chin.
For several days, Gulinghua pushed herself to the limit, reducing her sleep.
"Now... I should go see my master."
She thought of her master, who had returned to the Huashan Sect for safety.
When she heard that she had escaped danger and saved her life, her master's eyes had turned red.
Saying she was a poor master and felt ashamed.
But her master wasn't poor.
She herself was the poor one.
While moving to wash and change her clothes, she met someone's eyes.
"Ah."
"..."
The person was Yingfeng.
Someone Gulinghua found uncomfortable for various reasons.
Yingfeng immediately showed respect upon seeing Gulinghua, as she was the eldest disciple.
"Shi Ge, you were training, weren't you?"
Gulinghua didn't answer Yingfeng's question.
She nodded slightly and passed by.
"Excessive training isn't good..."
"Mind your own business."
Gulinghua, who was trying to pass, finally spat out a sharp remark.
She was in a very sensitive state.
"I'm sorry, I overstepped...!"
Yingfeng immediately apologized upon hearing Gulinghua's words.
Gulinghua resumed her steps.
She didn't want to meet Yingfeng's eyes.
She was the eldest disciple but still hadn't received the title of Dao Hu.
Yingfeng, on the other hand, was the youngest Plum Blossom Sword Master.
'...Would he have been different from me back then?'
At least he wouldn't have trembled and run away.
With growing inferiority and guilt, Gulinghua's steps quickened.
Taking advantage of the absence of people, she finished her bath and changed into clean clothes.
The thoughts she had earlier seemed to ease a bit as she thought about seeing her master.
Despite her tired body, her steps were light.
Climbing up the mountain, she could already see the hut.
Gulinghua calmed her breathing to avoid showing her fatigue as she approached the hut.
"..."
As she got closer, she heard the deity's voice.
The volume suggested the master was awake.
Just as she was about to knock on the door,
"I have... a method."
Gulinghua stopped her hand, which was reaching for the door.
She was embarrassed by what she had said in the morning and didn't want to meet him.
'Of all times...'
She couldn't not go in, and Gulinghua kept hesitating about what expression to have.
'Just act like I don't know.'
As she resolved to open the door,
"This is not a joke!"
The deity's roar echoed from inside.
What's going on...?
"It's not a joke."
"Not a joke? Do you know what you just said?"
"Yes."
Despite the deity's roar, Gouyang Qian answered calmly.
After a moment, Gouyang Qian spoke without hesitation.