Jiangnan, deep within the sea of clouds.
A magnificent streak of sword light tore through the sky, revealing a heroic and valiant woman. With bright eyes, white teeth, moth-like eyebrows, and a cicada-like forehead, she wore an emerald palace dress draped with a wide-sleeved silk shirt.
"The Sea-Farer Li Clan..."
As the woman sped along on her flying sword, she pondered inwardly, 'I didn't expect shallow waters to breed a flood dragon. To think the lands of Jiangnan could actually produce a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.'
'This person possesses great destiny.'
'Otherwise, the Clan Head wouldn't have specifically sent me on this trip. To be slain by me and then reincarnate into the Sword Pavilion—his destiny is truly not shallow.'
'However, after taking this person into our sect, his clan cannot be left alive. Otherwise, entangled karma will inevitably give rise to numerous troubles. Besides that, the various fortuitous encounter he obtained during his life should also be confiscated by the sect. Consider it his apprenticeship gift for joining the Sword Pavilion by my hand.'
Ye Guyue mused to herself.
However, just as she was formulating her plan, arranging the fates of Perfected One Xiaohai and the Sea-Farer Li Clan with crystal clarity, a sudden chill rose from the depths of her heart.
"Hm!"
As a sword cultivator at Foundation Establishment with three divine abilities, her spiritual sense was incredibly sharp. The moment she sensed it, she immediately realized something was wrong.
In the distance, the clouds abruptly parted.
A mass of dark light descended into the mortal world, dropping right in front of her. It then materialized into a figure—a man with an ordinary appearance.
The other party simply stood before her, yet it felt as if he had directly severed all eight directions. His boundless aura encompassed the heavens, leaving her entirely unable to find a way out.
Ye Guyue's expression instantly underwent a drastic change—
"Chong Guang...?"
As a direct descendant of the Ye family, she naturally knew of the former Acting Sect Master of the Saint Sect. But she couldn't fathom why this person would appear in this place.
Did he come specifically to intercept her?
Was that really necessary!?
Without any hesitation, Ye Guyue immediately activated a life-saving talisman hidden in her sleeve, intending to call for help. However, to her terror, the talisman yielded absolutely no response.
'How can this be!?'
Above the sea of clouds.
Ye Guyue's beautiful face was blank, her eyes unfocused. She simply stood there in the air, dazed and completely unresponsive to the outside world, looking as if she were about to start drooling.
Opposite her, Chong Guang made a beckoning gesture and pulled a talisman from her sleeve. He sighed with emotion. "I didn't expect she still had this trick up her sleeve. If this were before, and I rashly made a move, I might not have actually succeeded. After all, that fellow Vanquishing-Demon is holding down the fort here in Jiangnan..."
It was a pity that times had changed.
From the very moment he appeared, he had already used his inner demon divine ability to launch an invasion on Ye Guyue, effortlessly devouring more than half of her sea of consciousness.
The next second, Chong Guang opened his hand. A patch of dark light condensed in his palm, dreamlike and illusory, swirling and fuming with mist. Within it, countless malicious ghosts could be heard howling.
[Formless Realm]!
As the name suggested, an inner demon enhanced by this divine ability could detach from form and appearance. No longer bound by the material world, it mastered the ability to transform shapelessly.
This was exactly the second inner demon divine ability he had condensed after devouring Perfected One Xiaohai.
Ye Guyue had fallen victim to this very move. Completely caught off guard, her sea of consciousness was laid almost entirely bare to him. Naturally, she sank deep into the inner demon's illusion, entirely unable to extricate herself.
Yet outwardly, Ye Guyue appeared completely normal.
Only by utilizing his inner demon divine ability to view the world through its profound lens could he see the true scene. At this moment, Ye Guyue had already transformed into the appearance of a mummified corpse.
Not only that, but under the erosion of the inner demon, boundless black qi was constantly weaving in and out of her five sense organs, seven orifices, and every single pore on her body. When it entered, it carried endless filth; when it exited, it took away her mental clarity. This vicious cycle caused her to sink deeper and deeper into the abyss.
A moment later, Chong Guang finally withdrew the inner demon.
On the other side, Ye Guyue, whose brows had been tightly furrowed due to the inner demon's invasion, finally relaxed them. She opened her eyes, a look of bewilderment surfacing in them.
"Where am I?"
Witnessing this, Chong Guang immediately stabilized his newly mastered third inner demon divine ability. He then placed the light of the divine ability upon his lips and teeth, and spoke in an eerie tone:
"Have you forgotten, Fellow Daoist?"
"You were originally a disciple under my command. Two hundred years ago, you reincarnated and infiltrated the Sword Pavilion to gain their trust. Now that your merits and virtues are complete, you have finally recalled your past."
"Are you still not awake?"
The voice of the divine ability rippled outward like an invisible hand, smoothing out the bewilderment in Ye Guyue's eyes in the blink of an eye. "Ah! Only today do I realize the events of my past life!"
Seeing this, Chong Guang nodded slightly.
On his lips and teeth, the light of the third inner demon divine ability was no longer dark and eerie as before. Instead, it was pure, flawless, and appeared incredibly bright and righteous.
[Five Poisons of the Heart]!
"The five poisons are greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance, and doubt. As long as one is human, they cannot escape these five poisonous emotions. And as long as one harbors the five poisons, it gives the inner demon an opportunity to invade."
At this thought, Chong Guang slowly exhaled, sighing inwardly. 'The methods of Immortal Lord Du Ye, Master of Tribulations, are truly unfathomable. A single [Sovereign Heart-Demon Scripture] can actually condense such divine abilities. And for some reason, they even share some similarities with the Buddhist cultivator methods of the Pure Land.'
[Heaven of Sovereign], [Formless Realm], [Five Poisons of the Heart].
Three divine abilities. The first enlightened the inner demon, the second allowed the inner demon to transform shapelessly, and the third allowed the inner demon to manipulate human thoughts, even deceiving and altering memories.
Every single one of these divine abilities was exceedingly profound.
If there was a drawback, it was that none of these three divine abilities enhanced the cultivator themselves; they were entirely used to strengthen the cultivator's inner demon.
Therefore, the stronger the divine abilities, the stronger the inner demon.
'It's becoming increasingly restless.'
As Chong Guang's thoughts stirred, his vision blurred slightly. He immediately saw a figure that looked identical to him, but was entirely shrouded in dark light.
It was impressively his inner demon.
However, compared to when it only had one divine ability, the current inner demon was already itching to make a move. He was entirely relying on his cultivation base at Foundation Establishment Perfection to forcefully suppress it.
'It's not a problem right now.'
'Even if I nurture it until all five divine abilities are complete, with my stature and willpower, I can at least match it evenly and won't be overtaken by it.'
But what about the future?
'Foundation Establishment Perfection is my absolute limit. If I truly have this inner demon devour a Perfected Lord's inner demon, will I really still be able to reverse-possess it?'
'Won't I be the one devoured by the inner demon instead?'
"This implies..."
Driven by the natural distrust a Perfected One of the Saint Sect held towards everything, Perfected One Chong Guang frowned deeply. Just as he was about to fall into deep thought, he snapped awake violently.
"...Such audacity!"
Instantly, majestic spiritual power roared outwards. Radiant light surfaced in Chong Guang's eyes, instantly wiping away all his suspicions. His momentarily wavering thoughts re-stabilized.
Seeing this, the inner demon before him merely grinned. But before it could say anything, Chong Guang sealed it away with a solemn expression.
'I didn't expect that with a single moment of inattention, I would actually fall for its trick and have my thoughts manipulated by it. But this is also because I originally had this flaw in my heart; it merely magnified the flaw... What a bizarre and treacherous inner demon! It truly originates from the heart, making it impossible to defend against. No wonder people pale at the mere mention of it.'
At this thought, Chong Guang's eyes turned icy cold.
His suspicions regarding the [Sovereign Heart-Demon Scripture] hadn't dissipated in the slightest. However, his resolve was already set in stone. Even if it was a trap, he absolutely would not give up.
Withdrawing his gaze, he called Ye Guyue to his side.
Chong Guang looked down at the lands of Jiangnan. His gaze shifted from Jiangbei back to Jiangnan for a moment before he exhaled a deep breath of foul air.
"Hong Yun, Perfected Lord Chengtian Zhengde."
"That Grotto-Heaven fragment in Gantang Channel seems related to the [Overturned Lamp Flame]. Hong Yun will definitely come. Jiangnan is the territory of the Sword Pavilion, so Perfected Lord Chengtian Zhengde will definitely arrive as well..."
"In that case, I will set my trap here."
Whoever comes, I eat! The shrimp eats the small fish, the small fish eats the big fish, until I eat my way up to a Golden Core Perfected Lord!
'Even if I truly can't suppress it when the time comes and suffer a backlash from the inner demon, it doesn't matter.'
'When that time comes, the inner demon is me, and I am the inner demon. If the true fruit is attained, whether it is me or not me, it is ultimately me. If the true fruit is not attained, whether it is me or not me makes no difference anyway!'