Chapter 31 - Inner Core (2)

The Heavenly Demon, Yu Sowol, led a life so simple it was monotonous.

Sit on the throne reserved for the supreme being of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, its Heaven. Browse the forum there, then sort through her enlightenment. That was all.

She had no need to sleep or wash. At her realm, her body always remained in peak condition.

And so she sat in her chair browsing the forum day after day. One might ask what the hell kind of lifestyle that was, but facts were facts.

Someone who saw this might ask:

Does Heavenly Demon have a job?

If so, what kind of work? Actually kinda curious.

└A fossil who spends all day on the forum? What job lmao

└Even if they claim to, probably just an unemployed roleplayer?

└Judging by the way they talk, maybe some kind of adviser?

└Heavenly Demon: I sit upon my throne.

└That's it?

└Heavenly Demon: That alone displays my majesty.

└So you're just unemployed lmao

└How's that any different from a jobless shut-in? lmao

└Heavenly Demon: Do not compare me to those who shirk their duties and shut themselves away. I, at least, am revered as Heaven.

└What a load of bullshit lol. Think you're a god or something? lol

└Won't you get arrested for blasphemy?

└Heavenly Demon: I generally burst the heads of those who mock me myself.

└Wow, that's some serious commitment to the bit...

└Just leave them. Always been like that

Didn't the Demonic Cult treat the Heavenly Demon as Heaven? Wasn't she no different from an unemployed shut-in?

The problem was that they literally worshipped her as Heaven, rather than treating her as a jobless shut-in.

What was Heaven? Had it not existed since humanity's birth, a symbol of the divine?

Few could face such a being and plead for their wishes. Even those who did could only do so through the Demonic Strategist, the Demonic Cult's de facto ruler.

At first glance, she might seem like a figurehead, but that was entirely wrong. Quite the opposite.

Even the Demonic Strategist would never escape unscathed if he offended the Heavenly Demon. The moment he fell from her favor, he was finished. She had surpassed the Transformation Realm and reached the Profound Realm.

Wait, can people have the same username?

A lot of the active registered users have pretty simple names.

Heavenly Demon's supposed to be famous in the Central Plains, right? Had nobody taken that name before?

└Don't think you can duplicate names? Semi-registered users can, though

└Not if a registered user already claimed it.

└What's the difference between semi-registered and registered? That yellow thing beside the name?

└That too, but registered users can list stuff at the auction house and make private trades.

└Downside is the admin can track your location lol

└The admin three admins ago did that, killed someone, and went to prison

└Holy shit that's scary

└So Heavenly Demon registered the name and nobody else can take it?

└Yep, that's right.

└Nobody had registered as Heavenly Demon before then?

└There were probably some, but all semi-registered? Who'd be crazy enough to register as Heavenly Demon lmao

└Our current admin's nice, but the one three admins back would've sold your address lol

└But what if it turns out to be the actual Heavenly Demon?

└Then the Demonic Cult's screwed in a different way

└Heavenly Demon: You need not worry. So long as I exist, the Demonic Cult shall never fall.

└That's precisely the problem, sir.

└Imagine finding out someone like that was actually the Heavenly Demon. What a reality check lmao

└Who spends twenty-four hours a day on the forum...

People said all sorts of things, but Yu Sowol was indeed utterly engrossed in the forum.

Recently, she had even met a benefactor whose acquaintance could be called a fortuitous encounter. Worried that something might happen to him, she remained on the forum constantly, ready to comment whenever he posted.

The Demonic Strategist handled most matters concerning the Demonic Cult anyway, leaving her with nothing to do.

"Hmm."

It was a time she would ordinarily have spent browsing the forum. Instead, sitting idly on her throne, Yu Sowol was scrutinizing something.

Held between her slender, delicate fingers was a tiny bead, distinguished by its red color. It was the item her benefactor and fortuitous encounter, Wild Grylls, had traded to her, asking her to check whether it was an inner core.

Having surpassed the Transformation Realm and reached the Profound Realm, she found it easy to assess.

'It is an inner core.'

The red bead Grylls had given her was indeed an inner core. It looked ordinary, but the energy it contained was anything but.

'But it leaves much to be desired.'

As inner cores went, it was lacking overall. First and foremost, the sheer amount of qi was insufficient.

Ordinarily, consuming an inner core could allow a martial artist at the Transcendent Peak level to enter the Transformation Realm. This one held enough to take someone from Peak to Transcendent Peak.

It must have come from a spiritual creature that had lived hundreds of years, not thousands.

'Not bad.'

To Yu Sowol, who had reached the Profound Realm, it was more like a health-promoting spiritual elixir.

Of course, that was only her perspective. To anyone else, it was beyond a treasure. The fact that even Transcendent Peak experts were uncommon, let alone Transformation Realm ones, gave some sense of its value.

If it appeared on the market, especially at the forum's auction house, it would surely cause an uproar.

'It is too much for my benefactor to consume. What a pity.'

But Yu Sowol paid that no mind. There was something more important.

Grylls had only just begun learning an internal energy cultivation method. Somehow, he had opened even his middle and upper dantians, but he was still inexperienced.

If he consumed an inner core on top of that, his body might fail to withstand it and burst in the worst case. Even if he endured it, he would spend days suffering in bed. That was not an option Grylls, whose survival was paramount, would favor.

Yet the inner core could not simply be left sitting around. Its energy would dissipate over time. That was only natural, given that it had originally been inside a spiritual creature's body.

'What a curious forest. Fish with inner cores can be caught so easily.'

New Moon Spirit Grass, mature mandrakes, and now even fish containing inner cores.

The appearance of just one of these would set the world abuzz, yet the Forest of Four Seasons had so many that one could trip over them.

That did not make entering the forest any less suicidal. Not only did its space change constantly, but accessing the forum was impossible there.

Grylls was only holding out because he could, uniquely, access the forum. An ordinary person would not last two days.

'Or so the Demonic Strategist explained, as I recall.'

After gazing steadily at the inner core, Yu Sowol opened the forum. She had assessed its quality; all that remained was to inform Grylls.

She could not return it immediately, since they had just traded. Still, there were ways to preserve an inner core's energy, so she was not concerned.

Read this, my honored friend

Heavenly Demon

I have examined the inner core's authenticity as you requested. It is genuine.

└Is this a scam?

└Trying to sell it for a fortune lol

└Now we're getting inner cores too? lmao

└Heavenly Demon: Believe it or not, as you wish. I have spoken not a single falsehood.

She ignored the pointless comments. Grylls was what mattered to her.

Still, it might not hurt to humor them for a while. Unlike her, who lived on the forum, Grylls was busy.

As she was bantering with the other users, he left a comment.

└Wild Grylls: Oh. It's real?

└Heavenly Demon: Indeed. What will you do now?

└Wild Grylls: What would happen if I ate it?

└Heavenly Demon: At worst, your body would burst. Even if you weathered it, you would likely suffer a fever for several days.

└Wild Grylls: So basically, I have to give it to someone else.

└If it's real, give it to me. Hit a wall and I'm still at First-Class

└No no, give it to me, please. I'm stuck at intermediate expert.

└Gimme gimme gimme gimme gimme

└Mine mine mine mine mine mine!

└Heavenly Demon: What a pathetic display.

Grylls did not comment for a while, perhaps taking his time to consider. Or perhaps something else had come up in the meantime.

The Heavenly Demon waited quietly. She could more or less predict his reply.

'He will surely choose to give it to me or someone else.'

└Wild Grylls: Then please eat it yourself, sir, or give it to someone you know.

└Heavenly Demon: Is there anything you wish of me?

└Wild Grylls: Yes, there is. Could you give me more fasting pills?

His response was just as she had expected.

Grylls was proposing an exchange of the inner core for fasting pills. Yu Sowol smiled without realizing it.

It was a smile worthy of a painting, but unfortunately, there was no one to see it. The Heavenly Demon sat alone on her throne in the audience hall.

└Heavenly Demon: An inner core is a precious spiritual elixir. This one may be somewhat lacking, but an inner core it remains. I would prefer that you consume it yourself, even if you must wait.

└Wild Grylls: We don't know when that'll be, though. If I need one, I can just catch another fish.

└Heavenly Demon: Hmm? There is another one?

└Wild Grylls: I just caught it. Don't know if it has an inner core, but it looks exactly the same, so there's a good chance, right?

└Heavenly Demon: What a curious forest.

└You caught another one? For real?

└Wild Grylls: Yep. Might set up a fish trap soon?

└Won't it rip the trap apart?

└Wild Grylls: Then I'll just ask the dwarf for help.

└Passing Dwarf: Why me?

└Wild Grylls: Made that wall yet?

└Passing Dwarf: Forgot lol

└Wild Grylls: You fucking bitch

└Passing Dwarf: What?

└Wild Grylls: Would be an inappropriate thing to say, right?

└The sheer audacity lmaoooo

└Crazy bastard lmaoooo

└Lmaoooo

Fasting pills. Yu Sowol considered it.

She had given him an entire sack before. Was he already running low?

Surely not. Even if he had been eating three per meal, she had provided plenty. He probably meant to keep them as emergency rations. That made sense.

'Some must be for that sloth, too.'

More mouths to feed meant faster consumption. Grylls was likely preparing for that.

└Heavenly Demon: Wait here. I shall consult my aide.

└Wild Grylls: Thank you. If it's too much trouble, you don't have to.

└Heavenly Demon: I cannot do that when it is your request, my honored friend. If it cannot be done, I shall make it so.

└Wild Grylls: That's a bit overwhelming. Still, don't pressure them if they say it's difficult. I don't want them resenting me for no reason.

└Heavenly Demon: What do you intend to do if it proves difficult?

└Wild Grylls: Trade with someone else. Or put it on the auction house?

└Auction house goes BOOM lol

└Is that really an inner core, though?

└Considering the mature mandrakes, 99% chance.

└Could've cooked this up with Heavenly Demon.

└Then they're just scammers lol

└Grylls doesn't really have a reason to scam anyone, tbh

An odd sense of anticipation was already spreading through the forum. The mature mandrake incident had happened only two days ago, after all.

Posts poured in assuming the inner core was genuine too, and saying they wanted one themselves.

'Getting ahead of yourselves.'

Yu Sowol scoffed at the sight. Nobody had offered them anything, yet they were already getting their hopes up.

If anything, those comments strengthened her resolve to exchange fasting pills for the inner core, whatever it took.

As it happened, the Demonic Strategist was an expert somewhere between Peak and Transcendent Peak, so it would be a good trade.

["Demonic Strategist. Can you hear me?"]

Yu Sowol summoned him through voice transmission. He would be working at this hour, so it was better to call him this way.

["I have a matter to discuss. Come to me."]

No reply came. The audience hall was too far from where he was.

Ever since reaching the Profound Realm, Yu Sowol's senses had long since transcended human limits. Even her vision was less like seeing through her eyes and more like looking down from the heavens.

'And even so, the Forest of Four Seasons would prove difficult. Nature is truly mysterious.'

At the same time, she realized just how magnificent nature was. The closer she came to it, the more distant it felt. That described her assessment of nature perfectly.

'That aside...'

The Heavenly Demon browsed the forum while waiting for the Demonic Strategist to arrive.

Her awe of nature was not the only thing that had grown upon reaching the Profound Realm.

'Is there no way to interfere with the forum?'

She also wondered whether she could manipulate it.

No user other than the admin could interfere with the forum's structure. She wanted to find some way to do so, but her attempts amounted to beating her head against a wall.

'Accessing it is not difficult. Who in the world created this marvel?'

The origins of the Continent-Wide Forum were unclear. Some said it had existed since antiquity; others said it had appeared only recently.

Watching posts appear in real time, Yu Sowol thought:

'In order to help my benefactor...'

Normally, this would have held little interest for her. But that had changed after Grylls helped her.

She wanted to find some way to intervene in the forum and help him. Although she could not even properly discern its structure, intervention was not entirely impossible.

'A moderator... was it?'

Just as Yu Sowol was reaching toward an unknown she should never have touched, a respectful greeting came from outside.

["Your Eminence. I have answered your summons."]

Hearing the Demonic Strategist's greeting, she immediately closed the forum and spoke calmly.

"Enter."

It was a command not from Yu Sowol the person, but from Yu Sowol the Heavenly Demon.

At her command, the firmly shut doors of the audience hall slowly began to open. They revealed a young man dressed in the Demonic Cult's attire: the Demonic Strategist.

His expression a little stiff, perhaps from nerves, he slowly raised his head to face the Demonic Cult's Heaven, the Heavenly Demon, seated in aloof majesty upon her throne.

"I greet the Heaven of the Demonic Cult."

"Take this."

Dispensing with the pleasantries, Yu Sowol tossed him the inner core. As though he had anticipated her action, he caught it easily with his head bowed.

Then he slowly lifted his head, looking puzzled.

"Your Eminence. This is...?"

"An inner core. Somewhat lacking, but it comes from a spiritual creature that lived a good several hundred years."

"..."

The Demonic Strategist looked thoroughly taken aback. After inspecting the red inner core from every angle, he spoke in an uneasy tone.

"It is... certainly an inner core. Where did you obtain it?"

"I received it in a trade. Now, I have a question for you."

"Please command me."

"The fasting pills I received for my training. How many more can you make?"

Yu Sowol went straight to the point, signaling that no explanation was needed. The Demonic Strategist appeared to consider for a moment, then spoke cautiously.

"The fasting pills made for Your Eminence... were prepared from precious medicinal herbs."

"I know."

"If those are the ones you mean, it can be done."

"How many days will it take?"

"We must prepare the ingredients, and the quantity is considerable, so it will take roughly a week."

"Good. Begin preparations at once. Consume the inner core yourself."

"Thank you for your generosity, Your Eminence."

The Demonic Strategist bowed deeply in thanks. Fortunately, his head was lowered; otherwise, she would have seen the corners of his mouth twitching.

He then turned and left the audience hall, leaving Yu Sowol alone once more.

As soon as she sensed that he had gone outside, she opened the forum.

Ah, fuck. I'm burning up?

"Hmm?"

One post caught her eye the instant she opened the forum. It was written by Grylls, no less. She hurriedly opened it.

Ah, fuck. I'm burning up?

Wild Grylls

(Photo of a fish picked clean down to the bones)

I started burning up as soon as I ate this. What's going on? Was it poisonous or something?

'Oh no.'

Reading the post, Yu Sowol realized her mistake.

A spiritual creature's energy was not concentrated solely in its inner core. The creature itself was practically an inner core. Every piece of flesh would contain potent qi.

'I was careless.'

Yu Sowol hurriedly left a comment, worried that something might happen to Grylls.