Grandpa, times have changed.

Evil thoughts arise from the mind.

At this moment, the inner demons were amplified countless times.

The trace of jealousy that arose after observing the sword intent of the Sword of Annihilation should have been fleeting, but now, driven by the instinct of the inner demon, it grew stronger and filled his heart.

"Ah……"

A wisp of scorching gray-black air wafted from between his lips, its sinister and ghostly aura permeating the entire Zhengxu Hall, polluting the spiritual energy within.

Mu Chengfeng was completely unaware that his eyes had been dyed pure black.

His jealousy and resentment towards Chi Jiuyu's talent transformed into a raging demonic flame, scorching his soul.

A shadowy figure, utterly filthy and obscure, with a form exactly like Mu Chengfeng's, was like his dark side.

Nourished by the flames of jealousy, it quietly took shape deep within his heart.

The demon, its entire body dark and shadowy like a shadow, stood amidst raging demonic flames, a sinister smile playing on its lips, its eyes pitch black, like bottomless abysses.

Heart demon.

The so-called "inner demons" of the past are actually similar to "psychological shadows," both referring to the persistent traumatic reaction formed by an individual due to experiencing intense negative events, which manifests as fear and avoidance of situations related to those events.

But now the inner demons have taken on a concrete 'form'.

It is a special existence born from the dark side of a practitioner's mind, possessing a 'self'.

A murmur-like whisper arose from the depths of his heart, carrying boundless allure as it resonated within Mu Chengfeng's soul.

Encouraging, instigating...

The already raging flames of jealousy and resentment burned even more fiercely, with wisps of flame even overflowing from his mouth, nose, and pores all over his body, turning into black light that rose several feet high behind him!

The black light twisted and turned, and within it seemed that demons danced wildly and ghosts howled.

Call ~
A cold wind howled, and the once bright and magnificent Zhengxu Hall became dim, covered by a layer of gray light.

Mu Chengfeng looked pained and slowly let out a sound from his throat.

"Why……"

He raised his hand and grasped the blue jade tablet that floated silently in front of him. Looking at the sword mark in the middle, he felt as if his soul would be burned through at any moment.

At the crucial moment, an elderly man with white beard and hair, and an air of otherworldly wisdom, entered the hall.

Looking at the howling, eerie winds raging inside the hall, he was greatly alarmed.

"Ride the wind!"

A call immediately startled Mu Chengfeng awake.

As the gloomy wind subsided, the blackness in his eyes vanished instantly, and even the stream of flames that had coalesced into black light returned to his mouth, nose, and pores.

The Zhengxu Hall has returned to its former bright and magnificent state, as if nothing had ever happened.

Looking at the jade pendant in his hand, a hint of confusion flashed in his eyes.

But soon, Mu Chengfeng looked at the old man in front of the hall.

"Mr. Sheng, what I just...?"

Seeing the confusion in his eyes, Old Master Sheng's heart sank.

"You...don't remember what just happened?"

"do not remember."

All he remembered was comprehending the 'Sword of Annihilation', and then...

What happened again?

……

……

Deep within Mu Chengfeng's soul, a sliver of filthy and obscure black light lurked.

Within the black light, a figure with a form and appearance extremely similar to Mu Chengfeng sat quietly, completely ignoring the probing from the outside in.

Inner demons originate from the cultivator's heart and can even be seen as a part of the cultivator in some ways. With Mu Wujie's current supernatural abilities, it is impossible for him to detect them.

As a demon born from the dark side of Mu Chengfeng's soul, he knew his origins and what he should do from the moment he was born.

Mu Wujie's first inner demon from ancient times to the present...

In an era when practitioners had no means of defense against inner demons, his advantage was greater than that of any inner demon that would follow.

"As long as I take over this body..."

A smile played on his lips.

There are currently only two paths to inner demons.

One is the path of inner demons.

After corrupting the mind and erasing the original self, he takes over the body of a cultivator and thus usurps their place. He is Mu Chengfeng!
The second is the Heavenly Demon Path.

After eroding the mind, it devours the body, turning it into nourishment, and then constructs the Heavenly Demon Body, achieving the Free Heavenly Demon Body!

Although that small segment of erosion failed, it allowed him to stabilize his form and seize some of Mu Chengfeng's memories.

Given Mu Wujie's current situation...

"We can only take the first path, and then cultivate our demonic attributes."

While the Free Heavenly Magic Body is indeed powerful, doing so is essentially making an enemy of the entire world...

The risk is too great.

Instead of relying on the original owner's identity, we could plant demonic thoughts in the original owner's subordinates, thereby cultivating demonic attributes and gradually expanding our power.

Especially those Transcendent Gods from Beyond the Realm, each with their earth-shattering supernatural abilities, are perfectly suited for cultivating demonic beings.

As for whether doing this will be discovered?
The demonic thoughts of the mind can hide in the myriad desires of all living beings, or conceal themselves in a single thought. Even cultivators who are equal to the Great Freedom Demon King and have taken a step further beyond the Void Realm are extremely difficult to detect and eliminate.

Moreover, the upper limit of this world is the Returning to the Void realm. If he wants to go further and become the Great Freedom Heavenly Demon King, he absolutely cannot avoid those Nascent Soul cultivators from outside the realm...

Desire surged.

The inner demons, born from the dark side of a practitioner's mind, can almost be seen as an aggregation of negative doubts. Before they completely erode the host, greed will grow stronger over time.

However, he was still lost in his daydreams and didn't realize it.

An invisible and intangible thread, existing between reality and illusion, had somehow drooped down.

It gently wrapped around that point of black light, and at the same time bound him who was hiding inside the black light.

By the time he felt himself being 'bound', the connection with Mu Chengfeng's dark side had been completely severed.

Ok? !

Realizing this, he was startled and was about to extend a wisp of his consciousness outward.

But no matter how far his thought extended forward, it never seemed to reach the boundary. It was as if the black light he created was stretched outwards, and the distance he had to travel to reach the outside world became infinitely far.

wrong!

Inner demons are inherently suspicious.

Realizing something was wrong, he immediately got up and fled outside.

But just two seconds later, he reappeared in the same spot, still maintaining his forward posture.

……

……

Sword Sect Inner Sect.

The Sword Master's Hall is located halfway up the mountain, in a clearing among bamboo groves.

"Is this the tribulation of inner demons?"

Bie Xuening looked at the point of black light hanging from the immortal net thread in Meizu's hand.

"Ah."

Meizu also stared at the black light, observing the inner demon Mu Chengfeng that kept lingering within it.

"In my previous calculations, the inner demon tribulation should take advantage of the vulnerability when a cultivator advances to a higher realm, manifesting past karma like Dao Wang, and arousing the most feared things in people's hearts."

"But now it seems that the previous speculation was only one of them."

Mu Chengfeng did not go into seclusion to prepare for the future, but he still developed a demon in his heart due to a trace of jealousy.

This is the first inner demon in all the heavens and myriad realms...

To be honest, he was both lucky and unlucky.

In this era, cultivators have almost no means to deal with their inner demons. It should be noted that Mu Chengfeng's temperament is exceptional even in the Tai Xuan Realm.

But because they were caught off guard, the demon seized on a slight weakness in their mind and they were almost completely corrupted.

He was certainly very lucky to be born during this period.

As for bad luck...

Born right under the nose of a true immortal, who else but him is doomed?

"Has the influence of Junior Brother's 'Dao Wang' evolved to this extent?" Bie Xuening asked, puzzled.

Moreover, among so many worlds in the Chaos Sea, why was it Mu Wujie, who was chosen as the trial ground for the Immortal Sect Grand Competition, who gave birth to the first inner demon?
Isn't that too much of a coincidence?
“No,” Yuanjun said softly.

"The influence of 'Dao Wang' on the Chaos Sea has not yet reached the point of triggering the inner demon tribulation."

"The reason why the inner demon manifested was because Mu Wujie was currently in the Tai Xuan Realm."

She had already figured out why the inner demon, Mu Chengfeng, had been born.

Bie Xuening also realized what was happening:
"You mean...Junior Brother?"

"Yes."

Ultimately, the inner demon tribulation was caused by the Daoist brother's approach to the Dao Source and his choice to accept the 'Dao Bewilderment,' which triggered this change in the Chaos Sea.

The true path of immortality has been lost, transforming into the inner demons of all living beings in the myriad realms.

"Brother Dao's true form is in the Tai Xuan Realm, so Mu Wujie, who was detained in the Tai Xuan Realm, naturally suffered more from it."

In fact, the Tai Xuan Realm should be the first to be affected and undergo changes.

However, the Tai Xuan Realm is of a very high rank, free from worldly dust and calamities.

This also prevents the inner demons from arising at all.

It exists within the Tai Xuan Realm, yet due to the methods of True Immortals, it has preserved the integrity of the world under the strict laws and rules of the Tai Xuan Realm, with its internal rules completely independent of the Tai Xuan Realm.

If Mu Wujie is unaffected, who is?
"Among those in the Mu Wujie, Mu Chengfeng had the highest cultivation level, so he was the first to be affected, and a demon was formed in the dark side of his mind."

Throughout the entire Mu Wu Realm, only Mu Chengfeng and Mu Wu, the strongest 'near-saint' in the extraordinary system, are qualified to sense the changes and undergo the tribulation of inner demons. Those with lower cultivation levels are unaffected.

"I see." Bie Xuening nodded, seemingly understanding.

I don't know if she actually understood.

"Tsk tsk! But Jiu Yu is truly remarkable. In a way, this inner demon tribulation can even be seen as a result of her," Mei Zu exclaimed.

Mu Chengfeng, who has reached the pinnacle of a realm, may not have particularly powerful supernatural abilities due to the limitations of that world, but his temperament is absolutely no less than that of a top-tier cultivator who has returned to the Void Realm.

There are very few flaws in their character.

If Chi Jiuyu's talent hadn't been so extraordinary that it aroused a trace of jealousy in him when he was observing and comprehending the 'Sword of Annihilation', this inner demon would not have been born.

Bie Xuening: "..."

That's my apprentice. I haven't even said anything yet, what's with that proud look on your face?
"Shouldn't we have told our junior brother about this?"

"You mean Brother Dao? He should have already noticed."

Because the nature of the inner demon tribulation is similar to that of the 'Dao Blindness', it is relatively difficult for Xu Xing to detect the initial birth of the inner demon.

But the changes in the threads of the Immortal Net could not be kept from him.

really.

As soon as Meizu finished speaking, two figures walked in from the entrance of the bamboo forest.

"Hehe! You're back so soon? Why didn't you stay and wander around a little longer?"

Ning Ruo merely glanced at her indifferently.

"We'll go later."

She had actually noticed it just now, but Meizu's cultivation was higher than hers, so she hadn't had time to make a move to capture him before he beat her to it.

“I’m going with you later!” said Meizu.

She did give them a chance to be alone together!
Ning Ruo had no intention of continuing the argument with her, after all, this person was not a Sword Venerable or a Yuanjun, and would be difficult to deal with.

He immediately looked at the strand of immortal net that Meizu was holding in his hand.

"Heart demon?"

"Yup!"

She twirled the threads of the celestial net in her hand twice.

"This is the first inner demon born after the Chaos Sea was affected. It's quite a commemorative item. Do you want to collect it?"

Ning Ruo did not reply.

But only two seconds later:

"It seems that this Heavenly Demon appeared because Mu Wujie was detained in the Tai Xuan Realm, and Mu Chengfeng, who had the highest cultivation, had his mind broken by Jiu Yu's talent."

She deduced the cause and effect.

Meizu couldn't help but glance at Bie Xuening.

"..."

What are you looking at?

Watch as I stab your eyes with my sword!
Bie Xuening looked at her coldly.

Ning Ruo turned her head to look at Xu Xing beside her.

"Speaking of which, now that the inner demon tribulation has appeared, does it mean that Brother Xu is getting closer to the Dao Source boundary?"

"..."

Xu Xing stared at the Heavenly Demon that Meizu was holding, and pondered for a long while.

"maybe."

perhaps?

The group was taken aback; none of them had expected Xu Xing to give such an ambiguous answer.

"I don't know how to explain it to you in detail, since I'm not entirely sure myself."

Since realizing that he had touched the boundary of the 'Dao Source', he could feel that he was getting closer to that step every moment, but the 'distance' had never changed.

It seems as if you could reach out and touch it, yet it also seems as if it's at the ends of the earth, impossible to reach even in a lifetime.

Very contradictory.

This feeling cannot even be explained in any known way.

He always feels...

I am still missing an opportunity to reach the realm of Dao Origin.

"Emm... alright, let's talk about something practical then." Meizu said with a serious expression, "Brother Dao, who are you planning to seduce first to unlock special abilities..."

call out!
Before she could finish speaking, a wisp of sword energy pierced directly towards her.

Having already understood what this meant, Bie Xuening naturally wouldn't let her continue being so mischievous.

Fortunately, Meizu was quite agile and dodged the sword energy with a twist of her waist.

"Just kidding! Just kidding!" she quickly said. "I was just trying to lighten the mood since the topic was getting a bit heavy!"

What's so heavy about this topic?

"What I really wanted to ask you was how you planned to deal with this little demon?"

She lifted the celestial net in her hand and shook it; a point of black light hung at the end of the four lines.

If it weren't for the protection of the Immortal Net, the strict laws of the Tai Xuan Realm alone would have been enough to annihilate this little demon.

"Let's keep it for future research."

Although there is only one Heavenly Demon at present, it is foreseeable that the changes in the Chaos Sea will not stop here.

The Tai Xuan Realm is indeed unaffected, but what about the other worlds?
Moreover, the ascended messengers are destined for other worlds to carry out missions, and they may encounter inner demons and tribulations.

Now that I've acquired a demon in my heart, I can study its characteristics to find ways to deal with demonic tribulations, which can be considered as preparing for future situations.

"Brother Dao, are you planning to use him to create a method to avoid disasters and overcome tribulations?" Yuanjun suddenly asked.

"Well, after all, we still don't know how far the inner demon tribulation will develop..."

Before Xu Xing could finish speaking, a hazy, holy white light appeared in Yuanjun's palm—

"The True Secret of Crossing Calamity Through the Illumination of the Pure Soul" (End of this chapter)