OP Sister Chapter 526: A New Disciple

Author's Announcement: Good news to everyone! I plan to post six chapters a week from now on! And they're going back to being long and not as short as before.

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For a moment, I gazed at the various Monster Cores and considered absorbing them. However, I realized I was succumbing to greed too readily. These Cores could serve multiple purposes, such as luring stronger monsters from Outer Realm Gates, which will emerge during the Second Awakening. This could provide an opportunity to secure the items needed to Rank Up my Physique, Core, and Spiritual Body.

“Better to save them for now.”

I chose to preserve them and resist temptation. The stat gains would be minimal anyway, and I’d need to consume more dragon meat to advance my new Dragon Heart Cultivation. Thus, the Monster Cores were no longer essential. I could even use them later to enhance weapons, adding bonus stats and boosts to existing skills.

Moreover, Skills will eventually Ascend and require their own materials. I recall my brother needing hundreds of Monster Cores to evolve a single Skill into an Ascended form.

“Alright, I suppose I should teach my brother about the Seven Demonic Cursed Seals.”

My plan was to teach my brother these seals after we finished investigating his dungeon, but upon further consideration, I believed he would benefit from the boost immediately. We don’t know precisely how powerful Vulcanus is. He’s merely toying with us, so it’s wise to be thoroughly prepared.

As for the others? I don’t believe anyone is sufficiently qualified to learn them yet. They need to attain a higher realm of strength first. Henrietta might be the closest. She could benefit from learning the Heart of Hope.

As for the rest? I’m uncertain. Their hearts and consciousness seem unprepared. They’re too young and inexperienced, and they appear incompatible with any seals.

I also considered teaching them the Heart of Love, but they weren’t compatible either. I could discern this by examining their Heart Essence.

“Alright, you two should go to sleep for now.”

“Huh? But I don’t feel sleepy—eiugh?”

“A-Anna—Ah!”

I patted the girls’ shoulders and their pressure points, causing Annabelle and Baihe to fall asleep instantly. This was a simple technique my masters used to subdue mortals. Once you reach a certain level, it ceases to affect you, but as I suspected, they weren’t there yet.

“Sorry, it was a bit rude, but I need to be alone with my brother right now.”

I covered the two with blankets, leaving them sleeping soundly on the sofa, and made my way to my brother’s room. He was quietly meditating, attempting to converge draconic energies into his body. It worked, but he couldn’t form a dragon heart. He lacked the dexterity and finesse needed to control the energies.

“Ah, it didn’t work, huh?” Fenrir lamented. “Better luck next time. We need to eat more dragon meat.”

“Hm,” my brother murmured, visibly frustrated. “Since our last evolution, I’ve been unable to progress. Even leveling has become incredibly slow, and we don’t gain new skills from eating monsters.”

“Yeah… we need higher-quality prey,” Fenrir said.

“Or you could do more than just consume things, Jack,” I said with a smile, standing at the entrance of his room.

“Anna, what’s wrong?” Jack asked. “Do you need something? I really need to be alone right now… sorry.”

“No, it’s fine. I understand how you feel, so I’m here to teach you how to grow stronger without needing rare materials, eating, or leveling up!” I said with a bright smile.

“…What? That’s not possible. You expect me to draw power from nothing?” he asked.

“It’s about drawing power from what you already possess: your body, your magic, your existing skills, your consciousness, your heart, your soul… your emotions,” I explained. “It’s called the Seven Demonic Cursed Seals Arts.”

“…What? Where did you learn that?” he asked curiously. “Did you take that from the demons in this Realm?”

“No, they don’t know anything about it,” I said. “A Constellation known as the Heavenly Demon taught it to me. He said it’s a perfect power that grows stronger through suffering, pain, and despair.”

“…What?!” Jack exclaimed, even more astonished. “Anna… you want me to learn something like that? Is it safe? I don’t know… wait, don’t tell me you learned it?”

“I did!” I said. “And it’s great, trust me. See for yourself.”

I spread my arms, revealing glowing tattoos across my arms and body. My brother was shocked at first, rushing to inspect them with Fenrir. His shadows enveloped my body, searching for anything that might manipulate or control me.

But there was nothing of the sort. In fact, Fenrir was astounded by this mysterious power.

“There’s nothing wrong with it… this isn’t someone else’s curse on her… it’s as if she cursed herself and now draws power from these curses, cultivating them over time…” Fenrir said. “Some are filled with sadness, others with hatred… one, the strongest, is pure pain.”

“Anna…” my brother said, looking at me with worried eyes. “Why did you curse yourself?”

“I didn’t really curse myself, geez,” I laughed. “I’m using the dark emotions accumulated within me as a power to become stronger and fight better. I balance this power with another. But you should be talented enough not to need balance… in fact, I believe this power could help you feel better.”

“Really?” he asked, surprised. “I…”

For a moment, he hesitated, but Fenrir reassured him.

“Hey, Jack, why are you struggling and hesitating so much lately? You keep questioning your sister, when all she does is help and worry about you,” he said angrily. “Do you not trust your own sister?!”

“I do… I trust her,” Jack said, shaking his head. “Sorry, Anna, I just… my head has been full of so many things lately. I’m worried about too much.”

“That’s understandable, given what we’re facing, what’s coming, and Henrietta’s pregnancy,” I said. “But that’s why you need more strength, so please let me teach you.”

Jack smiled and nodded, his doubts fading. “Okay, I’ll trust you… teach me what this is all about.”

“Nice!” I cheered. “With the time we have and your incredible talent, it should be easy to create at least two cursed seals right away, so listen carefully!”

I taught my brother what my master and adoptive father had taught me, about harnessing one’s resentment and dividing it into the dark emotions that shape our minds and souls. My brother was exceptionally talented. He instantly grasped my meaning and divided his Consciousness and Dark Emotions, creating two paths immediately.

With that, I taught him to harness them as a curse that fuels his strength and magical abilities. With what I learned from my master and his shadow guiding us as an ego, we refined the first two seals, Hatred and Sorrow, planted on my brother’s back.

They differed from mine, radiating a darker, ghostly aura, unlike mine, which were brighter and more vivid in color.

As my master once said, the power of the Cursed Seals depends on individual experiences, and though we can teach the basics, every disciple will forge their own unique path.

Somehow, despite his fears, my brother now felt more at ease.

“What is this? I thought these seals would intensify my emotions, but… they do the opposite?”

“Yes, they help you control them, and the accumulated power grows the more you restrain yourself, allowing you to remain calm and composed without letting these emotions dictate your actions.”

“Hatred and Sorrow… Yeah, they’re my strongest emotions so far.”

My brother quickly mastered the Flames of Hatred and the Cold Phantom of Sorrow, manipulating them into large spells with the palms of his hands, shaping them into wolves, crows, serpents, and other creatures.

The Flames of Hatred took the form of snakes, channeling his intense hatred toward the Cult of Uroboros most strongly, while Sorrow manifested as… people, ghostly forms resembling our parents.

“…”

My brother remained silent for a while, studying the Cultivation Manual I gave him, an inheritance from my adoptive father. He deepened his understanding of its meaning while observing the Living Embodiments he created.

“I see how it is,” he said with a calm smile. “This power is truly something else, Anna… Hahaha.”

“You understood?” I asked.

“Yes, can you help me create a third seal before we depart? I think I grasp the basics,” he said. “That man… the Heavenly Demon, was an incredible person. Despite everything he endured, he persevered and became unparalleled…”

“D-Did he inspire you?” I wondered.

“Of course…” my brother nodded. “He… I could identify with him a lot. Didn’t you?”

“I did…” I smiled, shedding a small tear. “I’m glad there’s someone else who could understand.”

After a brief ritual, my brother swiftly created the Third Seal, Frenzy, which appeared on his forehead, glowing with black, ghostly red energy.

“Hooo…” he sighed, carefully balancing his energies and merging them with his Ki. “So this power can make me go Berserk and gain more strength?”

“Yes, but your sanity remains,” I explained. “Your body and spirit may go berserk, but you’ll stay conscious. It’s part of this Cultivation Method’s ability to separate Consciousness from Negative Emotions and seal those emotions into weapons.”

“Incredible… Ah, it’s about time we get going, right?” my brother asked. He appeared far more at peace now.

His Aura had grown immensely in the two and a half hours we spent together. He had so many accumulated Negative Emotions that they surged the moment he channeled them.

He was indeed more talented than I was… I felt a twinge of jealousy but also joy. I know my master would have been thrilled to see such a gifted disciple master the principles of his martial arts.

“One thing that’s different is that he seems unable to grasp the principles of the reversed seals as I did…”

He was exceptionally talented, but he couldn’t master that… my master struggled with them too, so I suppose it’s nearly my unique talent.

“Yes, let’s go, Jack! There’s a dragon we must slay.”

“And eat! Hahaha!”

Fenrir, linked to my brother, could also channel the seals’ powers, manifesting into an even larger, more spectral form than before.

Once everyone was awake, we did a brief warm-up to fully rouse them, then left my Realm, entering the Volcanic Draconic Realm created by Vulcanus.

Having absorbed ample Draconic Mana, our bodies could now withstand the Realm’s pressure and move freely, reaching deeper with ease.

The second layer teemed with elemental beasts shaped like serpents and dragons, their blazing bodies housing glowing internal cores. Vulcanus no longer appeared to greet us, but I knew he was silently observing.

We pressed forward as I watched my brother hone the power of his seals, growing exponentially.

Unsurprisingly, he was a genius.

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