Sword Sect Outer Sect

Chapter 153 Demonic Thoughts
In the realm of Yin and Yang, Song Yan sat cross-legged beside the illusory image of the sword seed, pondering the origin of that eerie shadow.

After Peach Blossom Valley, the Yin-Yang Pearl dispelled the demonic flames on the "Heart Demon," thus forming the Ink-Colored Heavenly Waterfall and Ink Pool in the realm.

Looking back now, it's quite clear where all that demonic energy and flames went.

But Song Yan can't be blamed for neglecting this.

After all, the Yin-Yang Realm is filled with black and white, and at the time, it was only thought that the Yin-Yang Pearl had undergone some change because it had obtained a trace of intangible spiritual essence left behind by Senior Zhou Ziyin.

In addition, the subconscious overemphasis on the power of the Yin-Yang Beads led the user to subconsciously believe that the demonic flames had already been dealt with by the beads and no longer needed to be addressed.

Looking back now, even if this treasure was powerful, I was just a Qi Refining stage cultivator. How could I so easily ignore these demonic flames that had been scorching for thousands of years?

He silently warned himself, but did not blame himself too much.

One's low level of cultivation and narrow-mindedness cannot be improved quickly overnight.

Every great figure in the cultivation world has matured step by step from a novice.

As Song Yan calmed down, her thoughts became clearer.

The most important thing right now is to figure out these few things.

First, examine yourself to see if you have been corrupted or affected by this demonic energy.

The second step is to figure out what exactly the eerie shadow deep in the ink pool is.

Finally, the question is how to completely eliminate this thing.

He reviewed everything from head to toe and found that none of the cultivation techniques, secrets, or sword skills he had practiced seemed to have any effect.

The Daoist scripture he is currently cultivating is still that common Qi Condensation Chapter, and there has been no change in his cultivation speed.

Later on, his cultivation speed even improved considerably as he absorbed the intangible spiritual essence and supreme spiritual objects left behind by his predecessors.

The effects of spells such as Concealing Sword and Gathering Spirit Power remained unchanged and were not affected.

Before the appearance of the Ink Pool, Song Yan only mastered the Sword Dao True Essence and the Cloud Sword. After the appearance of the Ink Pool, the power of these two moves remained unchanged.

"It seems that this thing, at least in terms of cultivation, has no effect."

However, based on Xiao Song's experience in the cultivation world over the years, it is simply impossible for this level of demonic energy to have no effect on him.

"Could it be..."

His thoughts suddenly returned to Peach Blossom Village, to the day he obtained the flying sword from Qin Ying's Qiankun Bag.

The name of that flying sword is Inner Demon.

"Could it be affecting his mind?"

"No, no, no, it shouldn't be..."

Song Yan immediately wanted to deny this, because in his view, his thoughts and ideas seemed to have not changed at all, and everything was normal.

But after briefly recalling the events in his mind, he became somewhat hesitant.

Looking back carefully, his thoughts did indeed change after that...

Extremely radical.

When Senior Brother Sun Zhengfu told him that Shan Zifeng had swallowed the spiritual funds that Xuan Yuan Sect had compensated him, why did he not think of reporting to the sect first, but instead try to kill him?

When he went to explore the Foundation Establishment Realm cave with Rong and Wu, he had considered, from Che Ning's perspective, whether he could bury everyone inside and benefit himself alone.

A deal was struck with Liang Feng, a sinner from Linghua Valley in Beiya Mountain, in which Changping Guishan and Anian exchanged murders...

Looking back now, each and every one of these things seems so unlike what I, in my innocent self, could have done.

But he was completely unaware that things had come to this point.

Why is this happening?

"..."

Afterwards, Song Yan carefully reviewed everything and discovered something that surprised him.

That is, if all of these are the effects brought to him by his inner demons.

So all of these effects seem to be...positive.

Indeed, after the incident at Silent Valley, his personality did mature somewhat, but in the face of the current state of the cultivation world, it was insignificant.

But the inner demons...

Let him assume the worst about everything his enemy does.

Let him use the most extreme methods to quickly resolve the mess.

This allows him to face trouble in a way that maximizes his benefits.

Thinking about it that way, it's really strange.

Isn't inner demon the culprit that leads people astray, causes them to fail in their breakthroughs, and ultimately leads to their self-destruction?
Song Yan felt that everything that was happening to him was beyond his comprehension.

The most frightening thing is that he himself was completely unaware of these changes.

If it weren't for cultivating the Void-Observing Sword Eyes, which allowed me to follow the overflowing demonic energy and see the eerie shadow deep within the ink pool, I don't know when I would have discovered it.

"..." "Yan Yan?"

Just as Song Yan was pondering, Xiao He's voice came from outside, abruptly pulling him back to reality.

He opened his eyes and found that Snake Baby was gently touching his forehead with its little tongue.

"What happened to you?"

Xiao He said suspiciously, "Your face looks terrible, like you've seen a ghost."

This is truly bizarre.

"Xiao He, I'm going out for a bit, I'll be right back."

"Good~"

Song Yan stepped out of the cave and used his Lingyunyi movement technique at full speed to quickly pass through the mountain gate.

They went straight to the inner library.

The inner sect library has a much larger collection of books than the outer sect library.

He searched around, but couldn't find many books or materials related to the "inner demons" for a while.

The few books that could be found not only contained very little content, but their descriptions were also very abstract and esoteric, offering little reference value.

However, all the descriptions of inner demons point to one thing.

That is, inner demons can only be resolved by oneself; no one can rely on external forces or objects to dispel them.

Apart from that, the records are nothing more than about how those cultivators, manipulated by their inner demons, brought about their own destruction and met a tragic end.

Song Yan was terrified.

Is it that serious?

How come now he feels that his inner demons are helping him?

Could it be that my original personality was too gentle and kind, and the murderous desires and violent mind of my inner demons made up for this?
But surely among the countless people in history who went astray due to their inner demons, weren't there others just like me?

What distinguishes me from them?

Dao heart and sword intent...

No, that's impossible. There are also sword cultivators who have fallen into the demonic path.

"..."

Unable to come up with a result or find an answer, he couldn't help but sigh.

Just as I was about to return the book, I saw a sentence in it.

This is a comment, not the original text of the classic, but possibly the handwriting left by a predecessor.

"The most terrifying thing about inner demons is not that they make people evil."

"Instead, it will always use what the monk desires most deep in his heart as bait to subtly influence many of his decisions."

It is also a mysterious and enigmatic statement.

"..."

Song Yan returned the books and left the library.

"What do you want most?"

On the way back, he kept thinking about that sentence.

If I had to say what I want most, it would probably be freedom.

It can be said that this is even the foundation of his pursuit of the Dao and his will to wield the sword.

"in this case……"

Looking back on everything, so far, the inner demons have not brought him mental distortion, but rather helped him break free from their constraints.

It is the freedom to break free from the shackles of morality, the exhilaration of settling scores, and the decisiveness of no longer having to look back or hesitate.

This was precisely the most dangerous temptation that his inner demons brought him.

Freedom that moves downwards is not true freedom.

Chasing instincts and desires is actually indulging in self-destruction.

Having figured this out, Song Yan's pent-up frustration suddenly vanished.

Today, Song Yan possesses a clear and discerning swordsmanship, and his sharp edge is fully revealed.

The fear of inner demons originally stemmed from the unknown.

And now, since I can't find a way to get rid of my inner demons for the time being, then...

Why not find a way to utilize it and make it an asset?

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(End of this chapter)