The Sword Goddess Killed Me, So I Came Back For Revenge

Chapter 9

Adrian, Cora, and her maid sat down together for breakfast in the small outer hall of the Outer Courtyard.

The food on the table was very simple, it was only plain white rice. There was no soup and no meat.

After opening the Divine Martial Mark, a martial artist’s body consumed far more energy than an ordinary person’s. Food had become very important and the young masters from the main line of the Vale Clan who had already opened their marks no longer ate normal meals.

Every day they took special pills made from the blood and essence of savage beasts. A single pill could fully replenish their physical strength, keep them from feeling hungry even after a full day of hard training, strengthen their blood and qi, and slowly improve their physical body.

If Adrian continued eating only white rice, even three meals a day would not be enough to support his new consumption.

Cora looked at her son, reached into her sleeve and took out a small jade bottle. Inside were eight dark-red pills.

“Adrian, you can no longer eat ordinary food now that you have opened the Divine Martial Mark,” she said. “Take these Beast Vitality Pills first. If they are not enough, I'll find another way.”

Adrian accepted the bottle and looked at her with surprise.

He knew how expensive Beast Vitality Pills were. Even one pill cost a lot of silver. For someone living in the Outer Courtyard, eight pills was not a small amount.

“Mother… where did you get the money to buy these?” he asked, still surprised..

Cora only gave him a small smile. “Don’t worry about that. I always find a way.”

The maid lowered her head and spoke quietly. “Young Master… Madam sold her favorite set of clothes at the market to exchange for those Beast Vitality Pills.”

The room fell silent for a moment.

Cora turned and looked at the maid, with a bit of anger in them. She had not wanted Adrian to know about this.

Adrian’s hand tightened slightly around the small bottle, not happy with what Cora did.

Cora quickly looked back at her son. “Adrian, don’t mind what the maid said and don’t think about it too much. As long as you can cultivate properly and become a true martial artist, Mother will support you… even if I have to sell every single thing I own.”

Adrian felt a warmth rise in his chest. For a moment, he almost wanted to tell her everything — that he had already opened his qi pool, completed the cleansing of his body, and stepped into the ranks of true martial artists in a single night.

But he held the words back.

That progress was far too fast and if the news accidentally leaked out, it would quickly reach the ears of the other young masters in the main line, especially the Seventh Young Master. Right now, Adrian was still too weak. He did not yet have enough strength to protect himself or Cora if trouble came.

He needed more power first.

Adrian looked into his mother’s eyes. “Mother, don’t worry. I will definitely become a strong person as soon as possible and use my own strength to protect you.”

After saying that, he stood up, and returned to his room to continue cultivating.

Once Adrian left, the maid spoke again. “Madam, martial artists who have opened the Divine Martial Mark cannot rely only on Beast Vitality Pills. They also need proper cultivation techniques to open more meridians. The better the technique, the faster their progress will be.”

Cora looked toward the closed door of Adrian’s room and pressed her lips together.

“I know,” she said softly. “But even the lowest-grade cultivation technique in the market costs more than five hundred silver coins. With our current situation, I cannot afford it.”

She paused for a moment before continuing.

“Moreover, the Matriarch and the High Elder are the ones managing clan affairs right now. It is simply impossible for them to allow Adrian to enter the Technique Pavilion and receive a free cultivation method.”

The maid hesitated, then asked carefully. “Madam… are you thinking of going back to that family to ask for help?”

Cora’s expression darkened slightly.

Three years ago, she had completely fallen out with that family. After that, there had been almost no contact between them.

The maid lowered her voice even more. “Madam, are you sure they would be willing to give any cultivation technique to the Tenth Young Master?”

Cora did not answer immediately. She simply sat in silence, her eyes filled with worry as she looked in the direction of Adrian’s room.

“As long as they are willing to give Adrian a proper cultivation technique, even if they want me to kneel on the ground and admit my mistakes… I can still do it.”

Her eyes grew slightly red, as if she had remembered something painful from the past.

The old maid let out a soft sigh.

“Madam, it was never entirely your fault in the first place.”

Cora did not reply. She simply sat there, her hands tightly clasped together, her mind already weighing the difficult choice of returning to that family after three years of silence.

***

Inside the Mental Inheritance Realm created by the Soul Echo Crystal, the spiritual qi was far richer than outside. The density was roughly twice that of the ordinary world.

In the territory of the Vale Clan, any mountain or valley whose spiritual qi concentration reached one and a half times the normal level was already considered a valuable cultivation ground. Such places were often fought over by different branches of the clan and even by outside forces.

Adrian sat cross-legged in the center of the quiet realm. He took out the small bottle containing the eight Beast Vitality Pills. He pulled one pill out and brought it close to his nose, gently sniffing it.

Although the pill was refined from the blood of savage beasts, it did not carry any bloody smell. Instead, it had a light and clean fragrance. When the alchemist refined it, the bloody odor had been completely removed, and several mild spiritual herbs had been added.

Taking Beast Vitality Pills over a long period of time would not only provide a steady supply of physical energy, but would also slowly strengthen a martial artist’s meridians, bones, and internal organs, making the body tougher and more resilient.