I threw up a simple barrier as the door closed behind Dido and Hanno.
When I looked back at my parents, my mother was raising an eyebrow at my use of Qi at the dining table while my father was clearly waiting for an explanation.
"You sent Sophia away because of the noise surrounding my breakthrough?" I asked father as my way of explaining the barrier.
Father nodded.
"The Houses of Ust and Leb were more brazen than anticipated." He said with a hint of anger in his voice.
"Our weakness is well known, and our rivals cannot wait to tear a pound of flesh. I'm certain if I were to have failed. It wouldn't have taken a week for rumors of you having heart demons that will render you incapable of reaching Divine Lord Realm."
My father's golden eyes firmly held my own.
"The dining room isn't the place for such discussions." My mother interjected.
The morning meal was a sanctuary for our family. A place where the external problems didn't touch It was also one of the last bastions of the way things were. I knew I was drawing my mother's ire, but it wouldn't stop me.
This is the best place to reopen the wound.
"I didn't put up the barrier to talk about politics but rather to discuss family." I stated.
Mother didn't look pleased at my words, but her attempt to speak was cut off by father.
"And what exactly do you want to discuss about the family?" He asked me.
"How did Hanno handle the vitriol coming from the Houses of Ust and Leb?" I asked father.
He didn't answer. His golden eyes continued to firmly hold my own.
"He'll be the next to face it. Do you believe he has the strength to endure it as you and I have?" I asked.
Father finally opened his mouth.
"He is young." He said, a non-answer, answer.
"His youth is quickly coming to an end, and with that end comes the waning strength of your words, lessons, and influence on him." I said.
Father took a deep breath.
"And what does my heir suggest?" He asked.
"Bring Hanno with you to House Zel and Hesk meetings, so he knows that you acknowledge him as the next Head of House Hesk and let him see the full meaning of that title.
"Give him a role in managing the houses and let him fail, so that failure can teach him and give him the mettle he desperately needs.
"Do this now before the corrosive and honeyed words of others seep into his psyche."
Father's eyes narrowed.
"Corrosive and honeyed words, these others you speak of—they aren't the rival houses, are they?" Father asked me.
The bait had been taken.
I didn't answer, only silently met my father's gaze.
"Who are the others you speak of?" My father asked again. His voice raised.
"Do not answer that." My mother interceded.
And now the High Priestess had entered the trap.
Incredulous, my father's eyes went to my mother. Anger then entered those golden eyes.
"You, you stop it here? When the spilling of others' blood may stymie the spilling of my son's blood? I will not allow it! I will not allow my family, my pride, and my house to be toyed with by others while I stand here in the dark! Not again!" Father roared at mother.
The QI within the room began to vibrate, and a pair of golden eyes were slowly beginning to form as the room darkened.
My father's aura had begun to slip out.
My barrier fell as my father's aura surrounded me. Instinctively, I began to circulate my Qi to push away my father's aura. This struggle came at a cost as the strain tore at my weaknesses. My unstable Qi was fraying, and my internal injuries burned with a fury.
Suddenly, a wave of clear blue water washed over me and ended my battle. My robes clung to my skin as I sucked in mouthfuls of damp cool air.
I looked over at my mother. She was serene as ever as she stood at the center of the waves of crystal blue water that had taken ownership of half the dining room. Her amethyst eyes calmly meeting my father's gaze.
"Husband, look at our son." She said.
Father's gaze went to me, and in an instant, concern replaced anger. His aura quickly withdrew.
My hands were shaking. My body ablaze in agony. The battle against my father's aura had been brief but costly. I fought to maintain whatever poise my body could muster as my father looked on.
I didn't want to add to his sense of guilt.
This was the expected result. I had aimed for the reverse scale and hit the mark.
An immortal's aura was part of their being and was easily affected by their emotions. A furious immortal could cull hundreds of mortals without thought. It was one of the reasons many immortals sought detachment.
Of course, a wayward immortal's aura wasn't supposed to pose much trouble to a fellow immortal.
Your best defense against another immortal's aura was your own. Unfortunately, I had yet to refine my immortal aura, so that method wasn't available to me, but even without it. I should've been able to easily handle my father's aura by just setting up a barrier around myself, yet I'm weak.
I'm just two days removed from a month-long coma. I've just begun to heal the damage that the heavenly tribulations have wrought upon me.
I would've been better off handling father's aura before my ascension to immortality.
Life's fragility was the reason cultivators pursued immortality, yet its achievement brought that fragility to the forefront. The gods' sense of irony.
However, fragility isn't always a bad thing. It reminds us that life is a struggle and that we must always strive for more.
"May I leave father." I asked. I needed time to stabilize my wounds.
"You may and have Alma get you an Eternal Water Pill from storage." Father said. Despite his calm face, his concern was evident. The Eternal Water Pill is a mid-grade medical pill known for its gentle healing.
Fragility can also calm a father's anger and remind him of the reasons for his wife's transgressions.
"Thank you, father."
"I'll also go." My mother stated.
My father looked at her with a hint of fire still in his eyes but nodded his agreement.
Mother followed me as I left the dining room.
"Lady, Young Lord." Alma's concerned voice greeted us as we entered the lobby.
She wasn't alone as three other servants were in the lobby with her. All four of them had pale faces. My father's aura had been blocked from here by my mother, but their pale faces were understandable as they had been mere paces away from death.
I wished to calm them as it was my plan that had brought them this terror, but I could no longer suppress my body's state.
I covered my mouth just before a sickening, wet cough escaped me. I hunched over as the coughing fit took hold of me. Black blood seeped through my fingers and pooled on the stone floor beneath me.
"Young Lord" Alma's voice called out in concern.
I felt a hand on the center of my back, and my mother's Qi entered me. Its numbing warmth was quickly spreading throughout my body.
My coughing ended.
"He'll be fine, Alma." Mother reassured Alma. Her water Qi snaked around me and quickly cleaned the blood off my hands and floor.
"Alma, grab a Scarlet Blood Detoxification Pill from storage and bring it to my chambers." Mother then ordered her.
I restrained a wince. My mother's anger was apparent.
"Come my son." Mother told me as she walked out of the lobby.
"Alma, I should be coming to the house more often for the next few months." I informed Alma. In part, my words were to soothe her concern, but they were mostly to limit the gossip of the other three.
I had to prevent whispering that the event that just transpired had fractured the relationship between the head of the household and the heir.
"Yes, Young Lord. I look forward towards your next visit." Alma said. Her words sounded a little strained.
I nodded at her and followed mother out of the lobby.