Chapter 143: Slaying the Inner Demon

Over the years, a bond beyond words had slowly formed between Meidie and Ge Qian. It was a partnership forged in adversity; one cannot truly understand the preciousness of such a connection without having faced life and death together. Under the coercion of Cui Yun, they had narrowly escaped death time and again. Ge Qian had risked everything to pull her back from the brink, and her growth from an ordinary little white fox to who she was today was inseparable from his sacrifices and devotion.

Yet, she had to leave. For the sake of her younger sister, she had to return to the Ten Thousand Demon Mountain. Once there, her father would perform the secret empowerment to restore her full strength, and her uncle, the Witch Demon King, would lead the entire demon race to wage war against the Renyi Sect. She could wait no longer, but the journey was long and fraught with danger, leading deep into the heart of human territory.

After much deliberation, Meidie finally made up her mind. She chanted in the demon tongue, sending countless runes into the void. Then, she slit her front paw, allowing a drop of her vital essence blood to merge with the emptiness. Solemnly, in the ancient demon language, she intoned: "My supreme Lord of the Heaven Foxes, I beseech you to grant me the power of summoning, that the Shadow Guards of the Ten Thousand Demon Mountain may come to my aid. Le-le-ni-ni-a-la-hong..."

As she finished the incantation, a massive blood-red rune vanished into thin air, fading as it tore through the void. Meidie instantly collapsed, drenched in sweat and utterly drained. She let out a bitter smile, thinking to herself, "To use the summoning technique at the third rank—the toll is indeed immense. I have exhausted my mana completely just to cast this single spell."

With no other choice, she found a secluded cave to hide in. She estimated it would take half a month for the Shadow Guards to receive the message and arrive.

Ge Qian was quite satisfied with the cave the little white fox had excavated; it was almost identical to the one he had built himself. He resolved that the next time he underwent a tribulation, he could not use his old lair—the losses this time had been significant. Fortunately, the Chaos Spring had remained untouched, which brought him a small measure of joy.

Sitting cross-legged, he began to practice the Six Paths Sword Arts to stabilize his cultivation. Ge Qian was most adept at consolidation. He took a large quantity of "Yuan Gathering Pills," swallowing them all at once. With the help of the small tree to convert the energy into his Dantian, after three months of monotonous cultivation, his mana was finally fully restored, and his Asura Core had firmly stabilized. It hovered at the highest point of his Dantian, slowly rotating and suppressing the other five vortices of energy.

Suddenly, Ge Qian felt the presence of a pure, beautiful woman appearing before him. Her purity was like crystal; her beauty was beyond the reach of any words.

Pointing a finger at him, she said, "You tarnished my purity, ruined my promising future, and dragged me into the demonic path. Now, I give you two choices: first, fly away with me and cultivate the demonic path together; second, give me your heart, so I can see just how important I truly am to you."

Ge Qian, his expression dazed and sympathetic, asked, "What is your name?"

The woman smiled coldly. "You have been intimate with me, yet you do not know my name? I will tell you, but you must agree to cultivate the demonic path with me."

"Very well," Ge Qian blurted out without thinking, his voice sounding increasingly wooden.

The woman approached gracefully, bringing with her a heart-stirring fragrance. With a shake of her robes, they fell away, revealing a figure of seductive curves. Her peaks were high and lush, her waist slender, and her hips full and supple. Her face was capable of toppling empires, yet it possessed a pure and innocent charm that catered to every primal desire; she was a creature who could make even an angel fall.

Ge Qian’s breath quickened. The woman sat in his lap, her arms like lotus roots draped around his neck, her jade-like fingers tracing his face. Pressing her cheek against his, her eyes shimmering like silk, she whispered, "My darling, remember: my name is Guo Xiaojing. Do you understand now? Come, fall into the demonic path with me."

Suddenly, she transformed into a wisp of black mist and lunged into the center of Ge Qian’s brow, entering his sea of consciousness, intending to take over his soul.

Within Ge Qian’s sea of consciousness stood a Hun-Tun beast, the size of a fist, with thick limbs, a round body, a giant mouth, and sharp fangs. Atop its head sat a lifelike manifestation of Ge Qian, his primordial spirit radiating an eerie power of destiny. Seeing the black mist enter, the Ge Qian manifestation smiled slightly and said, "Just in time."

The beast opened its mouth and spat out a black silk thread, instantly binding the mist and jerking it back.

The black mist cried out in terror, "How did you discover me?"

Ge Qian replied, "Your illusion was very realistic, the atmosphere you created was indeed intimate, and the aura you simulated was seamless. But you forgot one thing: you knew her name, but you could not simulate the bond of reincarnation that exists between her and me. I cultivate the Dao through cause and effect; I practice the Six Paths, define reincarnation, and master the past, present, and future. How could I be swayed by a mere inner demon like you? Die."

"Ge Qian, I am the 148th great-grandson of the Lord of Inner Demons! If you spare me, I promise that no inner demons will bother you during your future advancements!" the black mist shrieked.

Ge Qian gave a cold laugh. "Would you believe the words of an inner demon? Even if you were the Lord of Inner Demons' own son, I would kill you just the same."

With a flick, the thread pulled the mist into the beast's mouth, which chewed it up as if it were a delicious treat.

Ge Qian’s eyes regained their clarity. Having overcome the trial of the inner demon, his aura surged, and he officially entered the Core Condensation stage. His divine sense expanded, capturing everything within a three-hundred-mile radius clearly in his mind. His lifespan had increased to nine hundred years, and his mana was three times that of an ordinary Core Condensation practitioner, with a quality far superior to the norm.

With a thought, the King of the Six Paths appeared before him. Ge Qian performed the hand seals and incantations, casting "Fate Bound for Three Lifetimes" and "Drawing the Fire from Under the Cauldron," pulling four supreme wills from the Asura Realm and imbuing them into the King of the Six Paths. The King sat cross-legged, enveloped in a cocoon of baleful light, slowly refining the four wills of the Asura Kings.

Ge Qian nodded with satisfaction and retrieved a soul bowl from his storage bag, which exuded a chilling aura. Inside, countless primordial spirits struggled in agony, suffering unbearable torment.

Ge Qian’s eyes flickered as he said, "Whatever sins you committed in the past, today I shall grant you deliverance and send you back into the cycle of reincarnation."

He began to chant the "Nameless Heart Sutra." The spirits within the bowl grew quiet, forgetting their pain and the passage of time as they bathed in the soothing tranquility. Suddenly, the chanting stopped. Black mist began to rise from the spirits—this was the complete memory of the souls, which he was preserving so they could enter reincarnation with their essence intact, leaving behind only their will and karmic luck.

Suddenly, one wisp of memory took the form of a middle-aged man and said to Ge Qian, "I, Lu Jie, was wronged! Old Master Lu Fei was not killed by me; it was Xie Jiu who betrayed the Tianxing Sect, murdered the Old Master, and abducted the young mistress, Lu Xiaoxue. Whoever you are, please, listen to me—do not send me into reincarnation yet!"

Ge Qian’s heart stirred, wondering what secret lay hidden here. "I am the Grand Elder of the Tianxing Sect. Tell me of your grievance. If it is true, I have no qualms about eliminating the wicked."

The middle-aged spirit bowed gratefully to Ge Qian and began to tell his story.