Where did Sophia go? When she’s not in her room, she’s usually outside playing with bugs or at Ilya’s place playing with who knows what. She wasn’t outside though, and she’s not in her room, so…. “Ilya! Where’s Sophia?”

Ilya sighed. She always sighs when I see her; it’s like her way of saying hello. “I haven’t seen her since the potential test. Why? Did she go missing again?”

Oh. Ilya hasn’t seen her since the potential test? Then where the heck is she? Mm, I’ll ask Ilya again. Even if she hasn’t seen her, she should still know where Sophia is! “Where’s Sophia?”

Ilya rolled her eyes and pulled something out of her interspacial ring. It was a jade disc. Ilya pressed a button, and a holographic image of the whole sect appeared above the disc. “Let’s see,” Ilya muttered and swiped her hand in the air as if she were wiping away spider webs. “Sophia’s in your room with Mrs. Feathers. Also, you should get ready for an invasion from—”

Ah? Was Ilya saying something? Something about an invasion? Eh, I think I must’ve been hearing things! Anyways, I’m in my room, but Mrs. Feathers and Sophia aren’t here…. Are they in my interspacial pouch? It’s right here; I’ll open it and peek inside. I was right! They’re inside. Mm? Sophia’s cultivating her foundation technique, and Mrs. Feathers seems to be helping her out. For some reason, I’m a little jealous. How come Sophia looks so happy when Mrs. Feathers helps her but looks so sad when it’s me?

“Mommy!” Sophia noticed me. “Look, Mommy! Mrs. Feathers helped me, and now I can feel my qi!”

Huh? “That’s great!” No wonder why she looks so happy! I knew it; my child’s a genius. “C’mon, show Mommy what you can do.”

Sophia gave me a funny look. “I can’t do anything with it; I can only feel it.”

Is that how it works? “Well, that’s okay too.” Maybe she’ll learn how to do stuff with it tomorrow when she goes back to school. Speaking of which, it’s almost morning. Softie and I practically argued the whole night! Grr. Can you believe her? She thought my training was too barbaric for Sophia! She even called me too barbaric! In the end, I won the argument by tying her up and stuffing her inside a pillowcase. That’s what she gets for calling me something I’m not. Hmph. Anyways, back to Sophia. “Did you stay up all night with Mrs. Feathers? Class starts in three hours. Won’t you be tired?”

“I’m not tired at all because of my qi,” Sophia said. She put her hands on her waist and puffed her chest out. Her tail was twitching, and there was even a smug smile on her face. It’s like she was telling me to praise her. That’s my daughter! I’ll scratch behind her ears and pat her head. Everyone loves head pats and ear rubs. I remember Durandal encouraging me with them all the time. …Until he disappeared into his stupid sword and never reappeared ever again. Now that I think about it….

“Mrs. Feathers, are you an immortal yet? Can you teach me that enslaving technique?” Mrs. Feathers promised to teach me a way to drag Durandal out of his weapon body, but she had to be an immortal first. With the help of a vermillion bird’s core, she’d ascend to immortality; at least, that’s what she said, but it never happened! She ate the core five years ago and hasn’t done anything since then!

Mrs. Feathers coughed. “Boss, I haven’t finished digesting the core. You know how beasts are, we take a while to get stronger.”

It takes me a few seconds to digest a core! “How much time do you need? It’s already been five years! Are you sure you didn’t poop it out already without noticing?”

“Five years is such a short amount of time, Boss,” Mrs. Feathers said and waved her wings around. “It’ll take at least fifty years to fully digest this core. I’m only a twentieth of the way done with digesting it.”

Fifty years!? I should’ve asked how long it was going to take before I agreed! I bet Ilya could’ve finished creating her very own enslaving technique by now if I gave her five years. Ah? Why don’t I just communicate with Durandal and compromise? I’ll never compromise with Durandal! Whenever I give him an inch, he takes a mile! I think I’m using that phrase correctly. Hmph, hmph. He’s a no-good trickster, and if I compromise with him, I’ll definitely get swindled! He only listens to force.

“Boss?”

Ah? “What’s up, Mrs. Feathers?”

“Never mind.”

Hmm? What was that about? Oh! I was supposed to be mad at her, but I ended up getting mad at Durandal instead because I thought too much! Alright, since Mrs. Feathers won’t get me the technique any time soon, I’ll have to ask Ilya for it. “Remember to take Sophia to school. I’m going to find Ilya for something!” It’s convenient that Mrs. Feathers works as a librarian at the school. She can take Sophia there and back without an issue.

“Bye, Mommy!” Sophia hugged me before I could teleport away. “You don’t have to fight with Mommy now that I can feel qi, right? Please don’t fight.”

Ah? Mm, I guess that’s true. Since Sophia can feel qi, it’s only a matter of time before she learns how to manipulate it. Once that happens, Softie won’t be mad if Sophia does my so-called barbaric exercises. “Yeah! We’re not going to fight anymore. Um, also, before you go to school, remember to go to the pantry and let your mom out of the pillowcase I put her in. Thanks.” After another round of head pats and ear rubs, Sophia let go of my leg, and I teleported away to my next destination.

“Ilya! I need you to make me an enslaving technique! I want Durandal to listen to whatever I say without being able to resist!”