CHAPTER 166: FATE WITH BAD DREAMS

The Hero had no words.

He had only become a Hero — after awakening his strange Tamer Class, he was mocked as the weakest of the chosen. Slowly, painfully, he clawed his way up the ranks until at last he reached max level.

Yet now... his opponent was not a demon general, not a dragon, not even the Demon Queen herself. It was something far more terrifying.

The Old Demon King.

Not a max-level monster, not the Demon King anymore, but exuding a pressure only a father-in-law could radiate. A pressure no blade nor spell could cut through.

And through some absurd twist of fate, the Hero was not only trying to tame demons — he was now an indirect candidate to become the next Demon King (???).

’Truly... if someone attains immortality, even dogs and chickens gain status,’ the Hero had a wierd thought.

"Haaa..." He exhaled heavily, bracing himself.

"My qualifications...?" he repeated, his voice calm but strained.

He knew the truth. He had no special genius like the Old Demon’s prodigy nephew. He had no interest in studying inside a volcano to save light bills.

But life had a way of forcing him to do the very things he least wanted.

And now... now he had no choice but to use the one card he hated above all else.

A weakness of the enemy.

The Hero straightened his back ever so slightly, sliding his arm a little more firmly around Nephelia’s waist.

"Qualifications?" he said in a low, steady voice. "I don’t have them. Degrees? I don’t have those either. But I did top my school."

A tense silence swallowed the throne room. Even Nephelia’s crimson-gold eyes widened, caught between disbelief and anticipation.

Then, without hesitation, the Hero pulled her closer, clutching her to his chest as though she were already his wife, and locked eyes with the Old Demon.

"Old Demon... I have none of the qualifications you speak of. But you know what I do have? I have your daughter."

The air itself cracked with the weight of his words. A demonic aura flared around him — not from spells, not from power, but from sheer audacity.

"Kyaaaaaaaa! So cool!!!" Nephelia squealed, throwing herself into his embrace like a maiden who had just found her destined knight. She was the Demon Queen afterall.

"Hahahahaha!" The Hero let out the most evil laugh of his life, hugging her even tighter as though claiming his victory.

The Old Demon froze. His mind blanked. This was not the response he expected. For the first time in decades, he was stunned speechless.

And then—

SPLASH!

Water drenched everything.

The Yu Xuan’s eyes shot open.

Yu Xuan sat up sputtering, only to see his sister pouring a bucket of water over him.

"What the hell are you doing?!" he yelled.

Lingluo looked at him like he was the weirdo.

"You were laughing so creepily in your sleep I thought you had sleep paralysis or... possessed by some weird spirit. So I used the ultimate cure — cold water."

Yu Xuan froze.

Then, he chose to invoke his right to remain silent.

"...What time is it?" Yu Xuan asked at last, rubbing his face.

"It’s already late morning," Lingluo replied, arms crossed, though her tone was soft. "I waited a long time to eat breakfast together, but you never came. So I came here... and saw you still asleep. What happened? Did you have a bad dream?"

Her concern was genuine, her eyes shimmering with worry.

Yu Xuan felt a pang of guilt.

"Yes... it was a slightly bad dream," he admitted, forcing a smile. "Anyway, wait five minutes. I’ll get ready."

Lingluo nodded, her expression easing into a faint smile. "Okay. Find me in my cottage." With that, she left gracefully, closing the door behind her.

The moment the door shut, Yu Xuan collapsed back onto his bed and sighed so heavily it could have powered a windmill.

"...I have fate with bad dreams." he muttered.

Still, he forced himself up. In exactly five minutes — using the ancient secret technique every man somehow innately knew, he was ready to face the day.

***

After getting ready in exactly five minutes, Yu Xuan stepped outside. The crisp morning air carried traces of spiritual energy. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, activating the Primordial Breath Method.

Immediately, the spiritual energy in the surroundings rushed toward him like a vortex. The invisible current whipped around his body until Yu Xuan halted his breath and slowly exhaled, dispersing the energy.

He frowned. Again too forceful.

The Primordial Breath Method wasn’t about domination but harmony. To breathe like nature itself — so subtle that not even a ripple stirred in the outside world.

Yet even after practicing it daily, Yu Xuan still slipped into his old habits, pulling too aggressively at the energy. It was a childish mistake, one that reminded him he was still far from mastering the path.

Shaking off his frustration, he continued with a few calming cycles until his breath was steady, then made his way toward Lingluo’s cottage.

Inside, a small breakfast had already been laid out on the table.

It was... a battlefield.

The tofu had turned an alarming shade of black, the spirit rice was only half-cooked and stuck together like bricks, and the soup looked like someone had thrown a rainbow into a cauldron.

Yu Xuan’s eye twitched, but he forced a smile. "Looks... nutritious."

Lingluo’s face brightened. "Really? I tried a new recipe!"

’Recipe? This looks like an alchemist’s failed experiment...’ Yu Xuan thought grimly.

Still, he picked up his chopsticks and ate, appreciating every bite with exaggerated care. The taste was tolerable and the food was edible but — barely, he made sure to nod after every bite.

"It’s good. You’ve improved," he said warmly, because he knew she needed encouragement more than criticism.

Her cheeks flushed happily. "Then I’ll keep practicing to improve more!"

’Heaven help me when she does...’ Yu Xuan thought, suppressing a cough as he swallowed the colorful soup.

After their "meal," they stepped outside, joined by the shorty. Today, shorty insisted on taking the role of instructor. Lingluo and Yu Xuan agreed — sometimes humbling himself as the student was the best way to learn.

Besides... after surviving that breakfast, he was confident he could endure any training.