Chapter 285: The Young Master of the Cult

The silence inside the hall lasted only a few seconds before beginning to turn into murmurs.

The elders, division leaders and masters scattered around the tables continued looking at Victor as if trying to figure out where that man had come from—the one who had entered the Heavenly Hall, sat beside the leader of the Cult without asking permission and threatened half the people present as if he were at a family gathering.

One of the older men was the first to lose his patience.

"Heavenly Lord, who exactly is this insolent man?" He asked while keeping his eyes fixed on Victor, clearly still bothered by the casual way he occupied that place.

Other people began agreeing.

"He enters the hall during a meeting of the elders, threatens members of the Cult and still speaks to you as if you were equals." A gray-haired woman added while observing Victor with a mixture of irritation and caution, especially after the aura he had released moments earlier.

Victor remained calmly seated.

Yu Jin Cheon closed his eyes.

The Heavenly Demon’s expression looked like that of someone who already knew exactly how that conversation would end and was not remotely happy about it.

"He is..." Yu Jin Cheon began while letting out such a heavy sigh that some of those present became even more attentive. "As this idiot just said, he is my son-in-law."

The entire hall froze.

Victor looked around.

Several people literally had their mouths hanging open.

The man who had called him insolent completely lost his aggressive expression, and the gray-haired woman blinked several times while looking first at Victor and then at Yu Jin Cheon.

"Son-in-law?" Another elder repeated while genuinely seeming to believe he had heard incorrectly.

Yu Jin Cheon closed his eyes for another moment.

"Son-in-law." He confirmed while slowly massaging his temple.

Victor shrugged.

"Rakshasa is my woman." He commented while resting one arm on the table, finding it curious that this seemed like such an absurd revelation to everyone there.

More murmurs arose.

Rakshasa’s name clearly carried enough weight to completely change the way they looked at him.

Some of the disciples and masters farther back began whispering discreetly. Victor managed to hear words such as "Miss," "direct disciple" and "daughter of the Heavenly Lord," but decided not to pay much attention.

Then he remembered something else.

"Ah, I’m also technically his disciple." Victor added while casually pointing at Yu Jin Cheon with his thumb.

The hall fell silent again.

Yu Jin Cheon turned his head very slowly.

Victor continued without noticing the problem.

"I mean, originally my wife was supposed to train me." He explained while looking at those present as if he were simply organizing the details of a simple story. "But she ended up asking her father to do it because some things were easier to learn directly from him."

Yu Jin Cheon closed his eyes.

"Victor." He called while his voice became dangerously calm.

Victor looked at him.

"Hm?" He replied while tilting his head slightly.

"You need to learn the right moment to open your mouth." Yu Jin Cheon said while keeping one hand over his face. "You’re extremely inconvenient when you reveal everything that crosses your mind."

Victor frowned.

"What do you mean?" He asked while seeming genuinely confused by the complaint.

Yu Jin Cheon removed his hand from his face and stared at his son-in-law.

"I mean not every piece of information needs to be announced to a hall full of people." He explained while casting a quick glance at the elders around them, perfectly realizing what was beginning to happen.

Victor looked at them.

Then back at Yu Jin Cheon.

"But I’m just being honest." He replied while opening one hand. "Is there any reason I shouldn’t say I’m your disciple?"

Yu Jin Cheon opened his mouth.

He did not have time to answer.

The older man seated near the main table immediately stood up.

His expression had changed completely.

The irritation disappeared.

His gaze was now extremely serious.

He clasped his hands in front of his body and bowed deeply.

"Greetings, Young Master!" The man declared while keeping his head lowered before Victor.

Victor blinked.

The gray-haired woman stood shortly afterward.

"Greetings, Young Master!" She repeated while making the same bow, apparently accepting the new information without any hesitation.

Then it happened in sequence.

One after another, the division leaders began standing.

"Greetings, Young Master!" Several voices echoed through the hall while dozens of people bowed almost at the same time.

Victor stared.

Even some of the disciples positioned near the walls did the same.

Within seconds, practically the entire hall was bowing before him.

Victor looked to the left.

Then to the right.

Then finally turned toward Yu Jin Cheon.

The Heavenly Demon had his entire hand covering his face.

"Fuck." Yu Jin Cheon murmured while remaining in that position for a few seconds, clearly having no desire whatsoever to look at the situation Victor had just created.

Victor began to smile.

"What?" He asked while seeming to enjoy himself far more than he should.

Yu Jin Cheon slowly lowered his hand.

"You had to do this." He complained while pointing at Victor. "You really needed to tell everyone that I personally trained you."

Victor looked again at the people still bowing.

"I didn’t know that made me the Young Master." He replied while resting his elbow on the table and seeming quite pleased with the discovery.

Yu Jin Cheon let out a humorless laugh.

"Of course it does." He replied while looking at his son-in-law as if it were obvious. "I’m the leader of the Cult. Rakshasa is my daughter and direct disciple. If you stand in front of everyone and say you received personal training from me, what do you think they’re going to conclude?"

Victor thought for a few seconds.

"That I’m very talented?" He replied while maintaining an expression far too serious for the idiotic thing he had just said.

Yu Jin Cheon stared at him.

"No." He replied while taking a deep breath. "They’re going to conclude that you hold a position directly beneath me."

Victor slowly nodded.

"Ah." He murmured while finally understanding.

Yu Jin Cheon pointed toward the dozens of people still bowing.

"Now tell them to stand up." He said while seeming far too tired to deal with it personally.

Victor looked at the hall.

"You can stand." He said while making a small movement with one hand, clearly already accepting the situation much faster than Yu Jin Cheon would have liked.

Everyone straightened.

The atmosphere had completely changed.

The same people who only minutes earlier had seemed ready to throw Victor out of the hall now maintained respectful postures. Some still looked uncomfortable, but none of them questioned his presence again.

Victor noticed.

"That was fast." He commented while a small smile appeared on his face.

"Cults function through hierarchy." Yu Jin Cheon explained while leaning back in his chair. "And you just placed yourself in an extremely high position without even realizing it."

Victor looked at him.

"Technically, you’re the one who put me there." He corrected while pointing at the Heavenly Demon.

Yu Jin Cheon closed his eyes again.

"I’m starting to understand why Rakshasa likes you." He murmured while pinching the bridge of his nose. "You two have the same talent for irritating me."

Victor let out a small laugh.

"It’s a family thing." He commented while settling back into his seat.

One of the elders seemed to gather the courage to speak again.

"Young Master, forgive our previous attitude." The man said while making a much smaller bow this time. "We did not know about your relationship with the Heavenly Lord."

Victor raised one hand.

"It’s fine." He replied while seeming to hold no grudge whatsoever. "I’d probably threaten a stranger too if he walked into my house like that."

Yu Jin Cheon turned his face toward him.

"You threatened to kill everyone." He reminded him while raising an eyebrow.

Victor shrugged.

"I was irritated." He replied calmly.

Some people in the hall clearly did not know how to react.

Yu Jin Cheon simply sighed.

Victor then returned to the subject that had actually mattered to him since the moment he entered that place.

"Anyway." He said while leaning slightly toward his father-in-law. "Now that everyone knows I’m your son-in-law, disciple and apparently the Young Master..."

Yu Jin Cheon stared at him, already predicting the next question.

Victor smiled.

"Dear father-in-law... Where the fuck is my woman?" He asked while resting one arm on the table again.

...

Rakshasa was sitting in the center of the cave in a lotus position, her spine straight and her eyes closed, while slowly circulating blood energy throughout her body. The environment around her remained completely silent, broken only by the dense flow of spiritual blood undulating around her in thin strands, rising and falling as though they were small living currents. Ever since she had locked herself in there, that had been her routine. Breathe, control, contain, refine. Again and again, always trying to prevent the violent impulse inside her from escaping once more.

The Heavenly Demon Cave was not a pleasant place, but it was perfect for that. The dark walls contained the pressure of the energy, the air was heavy, and the isolation forced the mind to confront itself without distractions. Rakshasa was exhausted from that discipline, exhausted from the silence, exhausted from having to pretend to herself that she was actually calming down. The truth was simple. Whenever she closed her eyes for too long, she remembered the explosion, remembered Victor in a coma, remembered the rage rising like poison, and the desire to kill returned in full.

She frowned slightly while trying to keep the flow stable. The energy around her body spun more intensely for a few seconds, then returned to its previous rhythm. Her control was better than before, but the irritation was still there, like a stone lodged in her throat. Rakshasa was already about to end another useless session when her entire body stopped.

Something crossed her senses.

First came familiarity.

Then the weight.

Then that presence she would recognize anywhere.

Rakshasa’s eyes opened in the same instant.

She remained still for a second, as if confirming it was not her imagination. Then the blood around her dispersed all at once, and her previously cold face simply lit up.

"He’s here!" Rakshasa said, standing so quickly that she almost lost her posture, while the smile appeared without the slightest restraint. The energy that had been stable before completely fell apart because, at that moment, she clearly no longer cared about training at all.

She took two hurried steps forward, stopped, turned the other way and started walking back, not knowing exactly where to go first. Her heart had started racing, and the seriousness she had been trying to maintain for days disappeared as though it had never existed.

"He’s here! He’s here!" Rakshasa repeated, now already hopping from one side of the cave to the other like a little girl who had just received the gift she wanted most. The smile on her face was so open and spontaneous that anyone who saw her in that state would have difficulty believing she was the same woman who had drowned an entire city in blood only days earlier.

She brought both hands to her face for a moment, taking a deep breath, uselessly trying to regain some kind of composure. She failed. The excitement was far too great. Just sensing Victor’s aura approaching had made something inside her completely soften.

"That idiot took long enough." Rakshasa murmured, but the complaint had no strength whatsoever because her voice was far too light to sound serious. She bit the corner of her lip for a second, already imagining his face, the relaxed way he would probably step in there as though nothing in the world could truly disturb his peace.

Without wasting any more time, Rakshasa ran toward the entrance of the cave.

"FUCK IT!" She kicked the entrance so hard that she blew apart the mountain. 

"I’M HERE, LOVE! COME GET ME!!" Her shout was so loud that everything trembled and several rocks fell.