No matter how remarkable a Daoist may be, not everything can go according to plan. I was a perfect example of that.
I had been progressing smoothly toward the Foundation Establishment Realm. Then, while my thoughts wandered for a moment, one of my qi channels rebelled, and apparently a little flame leaked out of my eyes.
“Young Master!”
This time, I truly thought my eardrums would burst.
“Please endure it for a moment!”
Lily desperately fanned me with her hands, then turned around and shouted.
“Someone, help us!”
“I brought water!”
Viten, who had gone to fetch water from the kitchen, returned just then. He rushed over in a clatter and dumped the cold water he carried straight onto my face.
There was no need for such a fuss. My qi and blood had merely been startled for a moment. If they had given me time, I could have calmed them down on my own.
“Are you all right, Young Master? Are you?”
After shaking the water off me from head to toe, Lily murmured in disbelief.
“How… How can you be perfectly fine after swallowing a Salamander’s Tongue?”
“His Awakened Ability!”
Viten shouted, striking his palm.
“Have you forgotten? The Young Master possesses a cold-based ability.”
…Was that so?
“Yes, exactly! The tremendous coldness innate to the Young Master’s body subdued the Salamander’s heat!”
Viten exclaimed excitedly.
Hm. An interesting hypothesis.
The people of this world were not stupid, but they had no concept of the Cold Yin Severed Meridian in particular. They treated it as though it were a blessing rather than a curse, something to possess rather than overcome.
Well, I would not correct them unnecessarily. It was not a misunderstanding that would harm me.
What mattered was that the door to the Foundation Establishment Realm had finally opened wide.
I could say this with confidence. Since the Martial World came into being, no one had reached this realm at the age of two.
If the Daoist classification of realms were expressed as a diagram, it would look like this.
Qi Refinement Realm ―> Foundation Establishment Realm ―> Core Formation Realm ―> Nascent Soul Realm ―> Incarnation Realm ―> Ascension Realm
It might look easy when reduced to a diagram, but most Daoists died without ever setting foot on the threshold of the Foundation Establishment Realm.
At only two years old, I had attained what others spent their entire lives trying to reach.
Now, what an extraordinary achievement this was…….
……Still, it was difficult to celebrate without reservation. Someone who had once frolicked above the clouds was now splashing in a brook alongside minnows.
Even so, I had taken my first spoonful properly.
More importantly, I had confirmed that spirit creatures truly existed.
After examining the compendium, it seemed Salamanders were not especially rare creatures. There appeared to be countless monsters as powerful as dragons, so I could see what I needed to do from now on.
That was why this first spoonful contained hope.
***
Time flew by, and I turned seven.
How much could be packed into the short phrase, “As time passed”? Let us briefly look back.
First of all, Chris lay low.
That surprised me a little. How had the bastard who had even run about on his own to save on assassin-hiring fees become so quiet?
Had the trend of killing one’s younger brother ended?
It was not as though he had simply stood aside and watched. I heard that “social” or “political” pressure against me had grown stronger…….
“Lady Miren did not send an invitation to the Young Master alone.”
“They are holding a party while fully aware that it is the Young Master’s birthday. How terribly cruel!”
In my opinion, Chris needed to revise his strategy. Instead of wasting time on nonsense like isolating me, he would have been better off sending more assassins.
After all, people died when they were stabbed with swords.
Over those five years, I advanced another realm as well.
To put the Core Formation Realm simply, it was a human inner core. My Dao Power had become so abundant that it hardened within my dantian and formed an inner core.
What difference was there between humans and animals? If something was spiritually potent, it became a spirit creature.
“Young Master, the carriage is ready.”
Thalia reported with a solemn expression.
“At last, the day has come.”
Viten anxiously twisted his red beard.
I looked in the mirror and made one final adjustment to my clothes. I did not normally make this much fuss over my appearance, but today was a special day.
“How do I look?”
“You have become so dignified that I barely recognize you!”
“No one will receive more attention than the Young Master today.”
Praise poured from the maids.
I did not know about dignified, but I was certainly cute. A snowflake that had grown taller—perhaps I should call myself an icicle now.
Escorted by the knights, I headed for the carriage. Every noble made an appearance in high society after turning seven.
So, what was high society?
“A place where people fight with their mouths instead of swords.”
Viten summed it up clearly.
“A Duke must receive the support of the nobles. So today, you must show them your finest side and make as many people as possible support the Young Master.”
“How?”
“You have an Awakened Ability, do you not?”
Viten winked.
“There is no need to make it too obvious. Float ice on top of someone’s drink, or go around shaking hands with cold hands. They will understand the meaning if you do only that. Chris is not the only exceptional one.”
The misunderstanding that I possessed an Awakened Ability continued to this day.
The concept of Awakening still felt unfamiliar to me.
One day, an ordinary person might suddenly tingle as though struck by lightning and become a superhuman. Yet there was no guarantee that the ability they gained would be useful. Someone Viten knew had acquired the ability to converse with fish. What could anyone possibly use that for?
The coachman urged the horses onward, and the carriage carried me to the ducal estate.
The ducal estate was still absurdly large. It took a considerable amount of time just to travel from one end of the building to the center.
The courtyard was packed with noble carriages. I could not find a single shabby carriage like mine, drawn by only two horses.
Before I had even climbed out, an elderly butler approached with a polite smile.
“Young Master Iden Esterji, I presume. I am glad to see that you look healthy.”
“I did not bring an invitation.”
“That is all right. Are you not His Grace’s son? I will send word separately, so please go inside first.”
I followed the butler into the ducal estate.
The main hall was already overflowing. A servant cleared his throat at the entrance and shouted,
“His Highness, Young Master Iden Esterji, enters!”
At once, countless gazes focused on me.
“That is the one said to have frozen Her Grace the Duchess to death before he was even born.”
“I hear his relationship with Young Master Chris is poor.”
“Do not speak to him. Do not even pretend to know him, unless you wish to fall out of Young Master Mabel’s favor.”
“Shh. He will hear you.”
…I can hear everything. Every word.
“This atmosphere…….”
Viten seemed flustered. The people were far more hostile than he had expected.
Of course they were, Viten.
How much effort do you think my brothers had invested over the years to prepare for today?
Someone’s in-law, someone’s lord, someone’s friend… They were already so tangled together for countless reasons that they were almost one solid mass.
I turned toward the dessert table. A wide variety of desserts covered it.
“As expected, a child is still a child.”
“Perhaps no one even told him what sort of occasion this was.”
When I began eating cookies, the wary looks gradually turned into ridicule, then indifference.
Good. That was better for me as well. I needed time to read the atmosphere.
As I ate, I carefully observed the people around me. Then I sensed a familiar aura, one I had often felt in my previous life.
At the dessert table across from mine stood a child about my age. He had not touched any snacks, and he wore a gloomy expression.
“Who is that child?”
Thalia narrowed her eyes.
“That is Lord Laszlo. He is the eldest son of Count Avaro.”
“He looks troubled. Did something happen?”
“I heard that he has yet to manifest an Awakened Ability.”
“What happens if someone has no Awakened Ability?”
“They cannot inherit the title. It is simple.”
Naturally, Awakened Abilities did not manifest in everyone. Today might be a glorious debut for some, but for others, it was no different from a public execution.
I took a cookie and approached the child. He was a blue-haired boy, thin as a reed. Upon noticing me, he opened his eyes wide in disbelief.
“Y-Young Master Iden…!”
As he hurried to observe proper etiquette,
“Forget that. Take this.”
I held out the cookie I had brought. He accepted it with trembling hands.
“Eat.”
He obediently put it in his mouth and chewed. Consider yourself lucky. If it had been Chris, he would have smeared it with poison.
“You have no Awakened Ability?”
“…Pardon?”
“Is that not why you are standing here like this?”
His eyes twitched faintly. A mere seven-year-old could not react like that simply because he had been left out at this gathering.
I reached out and seized his forearm. Startled, he tried to pull his arm free.
But I was a Daoist with strength beyond anything he could measure. Holding his arm so that he could not move, I rolled up the sleeve of his formal attire.
His thin forearm was covered in signs of abuse. Old scars ran across it in every direction, with fresh wounds layered over them.
“Please, let go.”
He looked as though he were about to cry.
“Why do they do this?”
I turned to Thalia and asked.
“I have heard that inflicting psychological pain can cause an Awakened Ability to manifest.”
Thalia answered in a restrained voice.
“It is baseless nonsense, but there are quite a few people who believe it seriously.”
Laszlo lowered his gaze, swallowing his shame. In him, I saw someone from decades ago. A child who had shut themself away from within and was slowly dying.
“By the way, you…….”
I looked into his blue eyes and smiled.
“You have Immortal Aptitude.”