Seven years have passed since Seo Ran decided to be the parent of the Candle Dragon Race children.
"Gerurururu!"
"Choirurururu!"
"Kugh, you brats. Will you not let go!?"
The two monsters with the bodies of snakes and the faces of humans, charge at the half-human, half-dragon form Seo Ran and sink their teeth into him.
Seo Ran's body is bitten in multiple places, and he hurriedly grabs their torsos.
Chiiiiiii!
"Kuuugh."
However, from the sharp pain emanating form between the scales of the two monsters, Seo Ran clenches his eyes closed and endures the agony."Kuuuuugh!"
Yet despite the excruciating pain, Seo Ran finally manages to pry the two monsters off his body and activates a demon ability.
Demon Ability.
Small Pot Seven Chi Pearl (小壺七尺珠).
An innate demon ability passed down through the bloodline of the Sea Dragon Race.
The weakened version of the Grand Ocean Thousand Li Pearl unfolds.
A water orb, seven chi (~2.3m/7.7ft) in size, captures and subdues the two snake-like monsters.
But the monsters thrash violently inside the water orb, and Seo Ran forms hand seals to prevent the water orb from collapsing.
How much effort did he put in?
Pusususu—
Something black leaks out of their bodies, and soon the 'Candle Dragons' open their eyes again.
Only then does Seo Ran sigh and deactivate the demon ability.
Splash!
The water orb dissipates, and the two Candle Dragons, who had been inside it until moments ago, crawl tearfully toward Seo Ran.
"Uwaaaah! Mister, did we hurt you a lot again?"
"We're so sorry, Big Sister...we should've controlled ourselves better..."
Seo Ran strokes the heads of the two Candle Dragon Race children, who are clinging to his body and shedding tears.
"It's all right, kids. Even if you bite me with those teeth of yours a little, how painful could it possibly be? At most, the injuries you cause at just Qi Refining 3rd star aren't that frightening... And as I said before, please unify how you address me."
"But...you're covered in blood like this...Hyung."
"Look at your hands, Unnie. They're completely burned."
Seo Ran looks at the Candle Dragon Race children, who are addressing him however they please, and rapidly regenerates his body.
Chiiiiiii—
"Look here. It's already healed. Once you reach the Qi Building stage, you can recover from most bodily injuries. And as I've told you...please unify how you address me."
"But...but still, we're sorry...Auntie..."
"But Grandpa Seo Ran...it still hurt, didn't it?"
"..."
Seo Ran silently pats the two children on the head.
The Candle Dragon Race has a particular characteristic where they would, at intervals, lose control of their overwhelming ominous nature (凶性) and explode in a fit, losing their reason.
Like the cycle of day and night, they would rage with madness for half a day, only to regain their complete clarity of mind and stay calmly by Seo Ran's side for the other half.
Whenever they rampage, intense heat that is 'pain' itself would rise between their scales, making it difficult for Seo Ran to subdue them directly each time they lose control.
However, after spending several years together, Seo Ran has gradually become accustomed to the behavioral patterns of the Candle Dragon Race, allowing him to subdue their outbursts with minimal damage.
Seo Ran hugs the wailing Candle Dragon children, soothing and lulling them to sleep.
Tingle, tingle...
Seo Ran raises his throbbing hand.
Carefully, so as not to wake the peacefully sleeping children, he dips his tingling hand into a nearby stream.
Chiiiiiii—
At that moment, something pitch-black leaks out from his hand.
It is the curse that the Candle Dragon Race is inherently born with.
Drip-drop, drop...
Whenever exposed to the heat radiating from the Candle Dragons, curses and pain naturally seep into one's body. Once the curse's energy is exhausted, shards of glass would form within the victim's body.
Crunch, crackle...
As Seo Ran expels the glass shards from within his body, he clicks his tongue.
'What an exceptionally powerful race. They aren't even from a Middle Realm, yet they're born at the Qi Refining stage. Even without cultivating demon beast methods, they've already reached Qi Refining 3rd star... With just their racial traits alone, they're more than capable of dominating an entire world...'
He briefly looks up towards the top of Glass Cedarwood Mountain.
The being that resides at the summit of Glass Cedarwood Mountain.
Carrying an enormous curse, a being whose very recognition by mere mortals would ignite glass flames, causing glass shards to erupt from their bodies—Sacred Master of Cedarwood Painting, Seo Eun-hyun.
Through the Candle Dragon Race, Seo Ran came to understand the essence of Seo Eun-hyun.
'Although you claimed to be 'human' all this time...you've actually been concealing your identity as a Candle Dragon Race, Senior...'
It's obvious at a glance, no matter how one looks at it, that Seo Eun-hyun is the true progenitor of the Candle Dragon Race.
Salak, salalak...
Seo Ran scratches the scales of the Candle Dragons.
The scales of the Candle Dragon Race, emitting a crystalline light akin to glass, produce a clear sound each time Seo Ran scratches them.
Even in their current, juvenile state, the scales of the Candle Dragon Race already possess hardness equivalent to corundum.
If struck with a poorly crafted iron sword, the blade would shatter rather than the scales.
In other words, there are barely any cases for the Candle Dragon Race to sustain injuries from other races.
Yet, it is precisely for this reason that Seo Ran feels even more pity for the two children.
'Just like some snakes have no immunity to their own venom...these children also have no resistance to the pain they unconsciously emit.'
They are beings who can inflict pain on others yet struggle to receive pain themselves.
'But this world is not a place where one can live without experiencing pain.'
It is merely 'hard to receive pain.'
If they are struck by a sufficiently strong shock, they, too, feel pain.
'And because they lack resistance to pain, they probably suffer far more than others when they do experience it.'
He gently strokes the heads of the Candle Dragon children, lost in thought.
'Will these children...be able to live well in this world?'
As he watches the sleeping children, it happens.
Hwoooong—
Someone descends from the sky, clothed in a light pink robe.
It is Kim Yeon.
With a faint smile, she sits beside Seo Ran and begins operating her consciousness.
Her expansive consciousness wave envelops the area.
Seo Ran senses the flow of her consciousness and understands her meaning.
"Yes. For now...there isn't a particular reaction. The thing called Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens...for some reason, has no effect on these children... I know because they don't listen to anything I say, though I don't know why. In fact, the more I try to handle it consciously, the more distant it seems to become."
"Mmm..."
Kim Yeon nods her head as she listens to Seo Ran's words.
After a moment, Kim Yeon stimulates Seo Ran's consciousness domain, making it become clear.
Then, using a simplified consciousness method formula derived from the Wonderfully Mysterious Innate Heart Canon's formula, she helps train Seo Ran's consciousness alongside him.
"...Thank you, Miss Kim Yeon."
Kim Yeon's actions are intended to prevent the possibility of Seo Ran being contaminated by Seo Hweol's influence or falling victim to Seo Hweol's schemes.
'It must also be under Senior Seo Eun-hyun's orders.'
Seo Ran feels that Seo Eun-hyun might be conducting some kind of experiment on him through Kim Yeon.
Of course, he doesn't mind.
It's all to block Seo Hweol's schemes, after all.
After spending some time training Seo Ran's consciousness with him, Kim Yeon smiles faintly and then soars back into the sky.
Before long, the sunlight has faded, and the night sky has risen.
Previously, the day and night cycles of Cedarwood Painting were somewhat erratic, but the situation improved significantly as Seo Eun-hyun grasped a sense of the Sacred Master cultivation.
In the sky above Cedarwood Painting, fourteen new artificial stars are shining.
Over the past period, Kim Yeon has followed up on the seven artificial stars created by the Mad Lord, crafting seven more by grinding down other planets.
The artificial stars are interconnected and amplifying energy, and that amplified energy is supplying energy to Cedarwood Painting.
'So much is changing...'
As Seo Ran watches the world transform.
And as he watches his children changing, he smiles bitterly.
Everything is evolving rapidly around Seo Eun-hyun as the center.
And within this time of evolution, transformation, and growth...
Seo Ran feels only he alone remains in place.
Another eight years pass.
"Grandmother Seo Ran~"
"Big Bro Seo Ran!"
The two Candle Dragons, still refusing to heed Seo Ran's words as always, charge towards him on two legs.
"Atcha! You little brats!"
Seo Ran hugs the two children.
Fifteen years since their birth.
Perhaps it's because they were directly created by Seo Eun-hyun.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that they received the support of the entire Cedarwood Painting. Thanks to that, they reached the Nascent Soul stage at the age of fifteen and successfully underwent Transformation.
Seo Ran laughs as he hugs the two children.
"Congratulations on succeeding in your Transformation! You little geniuses!"
"Hehe, what genius? The Sacred Master basically turned every cultivation ground around us into those that are the best even in the Middle Realms, pulling in spiritual energy. Not advancing would be strange."
"On top of that, the Sacred Master twisted the celestial energy every time we cultivated to push us forward! Not advancing would make us idiots!"
"..."
Seo Ran gazes at the Candle Dragons with a bitter expression.
They are lying right now.
After entrusting the Candle Dragon children to Seo Ran...
Seo Eun-hyun has provided no support for them whatsoever.
All he has done is give them a place to live and purify the Heaven and Earth spiritual energy so they would not fall ill. Beyond that, truly, nothing else was given.
'Manipulated celestial energy? Senior did that?'
Seo Eun-hyun's other comrades, including Kim Yeon...
And especially Kang Min-hee, who is the closest to reaching the Sacred Vessel stage, have all directly confirmed it.
Seo Eun-hyun is not yet capable of such miracles.
Then why are these two Candle Dragons, who reached the Nascent Soul stage at the age of fifteen, praising Seo Eun-hyun and acting modestly in front of Seo Ran?
'You've used forbidden techniques (禁術), didn't you...you kids...?'
Forbidden techniques that rapidly raise cultivation at the cost of shortening one's designated lifespan.
These are techniques the ghosts in Seo Ran's Nether Crossing Ship had once revealed.
As Seo Ran found it nearly impossible to control all the ghosts in the Nether Crossing Ship, he hasn't been able to entirely prevent the Candle Dragon children from learning dangerous secret arts from them.
However, even though he realizes that what they used is a forbidden technique, Seo Ran does not scold them. Instead, he simply embraces the children.
"...You kids really don't listen, do you?"
Seo Ran knows all too well why the children used forbidden techniques to rapidly reach the Nascent Soul stage. Because of this, he only silently holds them tighter in his arms.
Twenty years pass.
Seo Ran sits quietly in front of a cave, staring into its depths.
"..."
Thirty-five years.
To cultivators, it is a very brief span of time. But to Seo Ran, it has been a long and precious period.
And during that time, while staying by their side...
The two children, who he now regards as his own, are inside that cave.
From within, painful groans echo.
Not long after, the groans finally cease.
As soon as the groaning stops, Seo Ran rushes into the cave.
At the very end of the cave, Seo Ran finds dozens of eggs. In front of those eggs stand the now fully grown two children, hand in hand, facing him.
Though they were raised like siblings, they are not biologically related, as each was individually created by Seo Eun-hyun.
These children have grown and joined together to bring forth their descendants.
"...You've worked hard."
Seo Ran approaches them without a word and holds their hands.
"...Father."
"...Mother."
Seo Ran's two children still address him differently like always. Though exhausted, they hold his hand with playful voices.
"...Yes."
And, at least for today, Seo Ran doesn't say, 'Please unify how you address me,' but instead simply accepts their words.
"I'm here."
The Candle Dragon Race lays eggs only once in their lifetime.
After laying their eggs, they exhaust their vital energy and die.
Seo Ran recalls being told this when Seo Eun-hyun first entrusted the children to him.
The most defining trait of the Candle Dragon Race is inheritance.
Because their parents exhaust all their vital energy and infuse them into the eggs,
Their offspring are born with slightly longer lifespans, grow tougher scales, and possess stronger divine powers than the previous generation.
Perhaps this trait arose because Seo Eun-hyun's Flower Soul Filling the Heavens was imbued in their creation.
However, the concept that later generations grow stronger and live longer through inheritance...
Means that the first generation is fated to be short-lived and weak.
Seo Ran grips his children's hands and sheds tears.
The reason his children chose to rapidly reach the Nascent Soul stage, even at the cost of shortening their lifespans...
Is because the lifespan allotted to them is only around 60 years. Even after reaching the Qi Building stage, Core Formation stage, or the Nascent Soul stage, the increase in lifespan they gain is so insignificant that it could be considered pitiful, akin to that of a slave race.
Rather than crawling around for 60 to 70 years, biting and clawing Seo Ran, they chose to live thirty or forty years with the clear reasoning afforded by the Nascent Soul stage, living in human form.
"Our children...will definitely...love you as well..."
"Though it was...a short life, it was definitely good. Please don't be sad."
Now, the children are soon going to die.
Though Seo Ran could use the Nether Crossing Ship to bind their souls, he decides to send them to the Netherworld instead.
Holding their hands tightly, he weeps for a long while before giving his children his final words.
"...Thank you for becoming my children...kids."
With those words, Seo Ran's first children close their eyes.
One year later.
Among the eggs that his children left behind, the first egg hatches.
The Candle Dragon that emerges from the first egg is a baby girl.
Seo Ran picks up the child for the first time and bestows a name upon her.
"Your name is...Seo Hye."
He gives her his family name as part of her name.
Is it because she perhaps likes the name, or perhaps because of some other reason?
'Seo Hye' looks into Seo Ran's eyes and smiles faintly.