To call the training hellish was an understatement. Our training included the usual swordsmanship training that comprised sparring, as well as the physical body training that included lifting heavy weights without using any stellar energy. It was the same as the training we did before, but mother had added an extra twist.
"You will spar in a team against one of the maids here."
She handed us a chainmail each, and when we tried to take them over from her hands, we fell face flat on the ground.
"Now you have to wear that chainmail and spar against her. Under no condition will you remove the chainmail unless I instruct you to. And after you get accustomed to that, I will give you a new chainmail."
Our mother didn't help us stand up and ordered in her regal and imposing voice. But one could detect the mischievous undertone in her voice. She was clearly enjoying 'training' us.
We sparred with one of the maids for hours on end before getting a rest. We were not allowed to use stellar energy either in attack or defence and were only allowed to use it to heal the injuries we sustained. We were forced to continue to spar even after we had completely drained our energy reserves. When we complained for the first time, mother just shrugged and retorted.
"Your enemy will not wait for you to replenish your energy. Now, chop-chop. Back to training."
The maids were not forgiving at all. They used the strength of a 1st stage Star Formation cultivator and attacked us. Although they didn't attack at full force, and the chainmail helped absorb most of the attack, we still suffered a lot.
During the break time, mother would only point out our mistakes and impart various swordsmanship skills. She truly was the epitome of a demon instructor. All her gentleness evaporated into thin air during the training.
After resting to replenish the internal reserves of stellar energy, we were once again sent into the ring for another sparring session. But our opponent would be a new maid with her unique fighting style, which kept us on our toes.
We were allowed to sleep only once a week, and that too for a few hours only. She would only turn back to our gentle and caring mother during the day when we took a rest.
She would make a meal for us that alleviated our fatigue and would sleep together with us for that day. But when the morning came, she would flip us out of bed only after a few hours of sleep. And then we were once again dragged by her for another week of training.
Our training went on for many weeks until we could defend properly against our opponent, even with the heavy chainmail donned on our bodies. Then she gifted us with a heavier set of chainmail and made us continue with the sparring.
This loop continued for a year before both Alice and I had congealed our strength at the peak of the 8th stage of River Consolidation Realm.
For the next few months, we were instructed to cultivate for the latter half of the day after completing the physical training. By the time I had turned 16, both Alice and I had reached the peak of the River Consolidation Realm and were just a step away from Star Formation Realm or Nucleus Formation Realm.
Now, Alice and I were able to take on a Star Formation cultivator of 1st stage as a team with pure physical strength, even with the weight of 10-ton chainmail wrapped around our bodies. And it was finally time for us to step into the next realm of cultivation.
After our long and tedious training, we were given a rest for a few days before proceeding to the next step. All these months, Alice and I were constantly under the scrutiny of our mother and thus had to curb our desires for each other. The first few months were very hard in that aspect, but with all our time being spent on training and cultivation made us completely suppress our longing for each other's embrace.
So after getting the days for rest, Alice and I, under the guise of strolling around in the valley, left the house. We had found a small pond in the woods during our early expeditions in the forest. Alice and I went into the depths of the forest and found the pond.
The moment we reached the pond, we let go of all our inhibitions and embraced each other. All the passion that we had repressed burst forth at the moment. We writhed in each other's hug and got rid of the clothes.
Alice had turned 19, and her body had developed in the best way possible. Her oval face had still retained some baby fat that made Alice look cute and puffy. Her breasts had grown bigger but still retained their perkiness. My hand could no longer contain one of them. Her buttocks also developed perfectly, making her curves perfect for me to hold on to.
I lifted Alice up while kissing her, her legs wrapped around my waist and entered into the pond. The pond's cold water could not extinguish the sweltering heat emanating from our bodies, and we continued to indulge ourselves till we satisfied our cravings for each other's bodies.
Our pleasure-seeking excursions to the forest continued for the next few days till the big day arrived.
On that night, mother took us siblings to the top of the tallest mountain in the valley. After reaching the peak, she first instructed Alice to sit cross-legged and meditate for a while.
"After calming your mind, look into your own dantian. The sea of stellar energy should have filled the dantian to its brim. Now, slowly guide the energy to our own mind space. Use all the energy to enhance your senses so that you can feel the tiniest fluctuation of stellar energy in the surroundings."
Mother's gentle voice resonated with nature and made one eager to continue listening to it for all eternity. She sat behind Alice and injected her own stellar energy inside Alice.
"Absorb my injected energy and continue to enhance your senses. Now, feel the source of the stellar energy coming from the cosmos. Expand your senses and find the many twinkling sources of stellar energy in the vast night sky. Let your senses loose and wander through them, looking at those beautiful stars. Feel the dazzling heat, the sparkling light, and the majestic nature of these stars.
See the various constellations formed by those stars. Sense the attributes linked to those constellations. Cross the thresholds barring your senses and soar higher and farther up in the starry heavens. Rise higher and higher till you reach your limit."
Alice's mien was scrunched in concentration. A few beads of sweat were rolling down her cheeks, indicating that she was nearing her limits.
Mother continued to inject her energy into Alice without any visible exertion. Even though her voice still had the magically soothing effect, it seemed a little strained.
"Now find a most suitable constellation whose energy resonates with you, or you find the attributes related to it suitable to your path of growth. After finding it, link your energy with the constellation. You will feel resistance, but bear with it. Absorb the energy from that constellation and swirl it in your dantian. Make the energy concentrate at a particular point and make it explode. That will result in the formation of a nucleus."
Mother stopped speaking, with her palms still on Alice's back. On the other hand, Alice's face contorted in pain. A small amount of blood flowed out from the corner of her tightly pursed lips. After a few moments, visible rays of light cascaded down from the night sky and covered Alice.
At the same time, mother let go of Alice and tried to distance herself. But when she was trying to stand up, her legs went weak. Before she could fall, I pulled her up through her shoulders and pulled both of us back from Alice. Mother leaned back on me and muttered in a weak voice.
"It is good that she succeeded. I could not have held on any longer. Now let your mother borrow your body for a bit."
Her last sentence startled me a little because I had never known my mother to speak in such ambiguous terms. It was as if she had taken one of the lines Alice would use during our 'bonding sessions'. I turned my head a little and found her face close to me with a mischievous smile adorning it.
Seeing her teasing expression so close to me, I felt my face flush and jerked my head away, looking in Alice's direction. My mother giggled at my reaction but didn't continue to tease me anymore and observed the changes taking place around her daughter.
The starlight cascading at her gradually got absorbed by Alice, and a brilliant yellow glow originated from her abdomen. The ball of light was like a miniature version of the sun. It glowed for a few moments after dimming gradually. Then Alice slowly opened her eyes that shined with a newfound vigour, and jubilantly laughed.
"Yay! I finally entered the realm of Nucleus Formation!"