Sword Sect Outer Sect

Chapter 54 "Inner Demons" (Part 2)
"Inner demon."

Song Yan raised an eyebrow.

What an eerie name.

Upon careful recollection, during the great battle that day, when Senior Sister Qin Ying fought against that demonic cultivator, this flying sword indeed possessed power far exceeding that of a mid-grade magic weapon.

Now, its overwhelming arrogance has subsided considerably, and the spiritual essence of this flying sword has returned to the level of an ordinary mid-grade magic weapon.

In the world of cultivation, magical artifacts and treasures are also divided into different grades. Different grades of magical artifacts represent the understanding and skills of the artifact refiner.

Normally, a Qi Refining stage cultivator like Song Yan would be considered very wealthy if he had a complete set of low-grade magic weapons for defense, offense, and support.

Mid-grade magic weapons are usually obtained by inner disciples who have advanced to the late stage of Qi Refining, by chance if they are lucky.

It's a small place after all.

Song Yan heard that in the Chu Kingdom, there were many Foundation Establishment Realm rogue cultivators who were doing relatively poorly, and they all used ordinary mid-grade magic artifacts.

Song Yan activated his spiritual power, preparing to begin the refining process, but the spiritual power suddenly surged towards the Yin-Yang Pearl.

"Ok?"

Just like the strange phenomenon during the great battle, the Yin-Yang Pearl began to slowly emanate mysterious fluctuations.

Song Yan didn't know what was going on, but the Yin-Yang Pearl had already helped him a lot, so he simply held the spirit stone in his hand and poured all his spiritual power into it.

The surrounding fluctuations and suction forces grew stronger, and strangely, these fluctuations seemed to affect only the black flying sword.

"Om-"

Finally, in a fleeting moment, the flying sword "Inner Demon" suddenly hovered in the air.

A flash of inspiration, and it vanished...

"?"

Song Yan frowned, his face full of doubt.

His consciousness sank into the Yin-Yang Pearl.

"what……?"

Compared to the last time I entered the Yin-Yang Realm, the scenery here is quite different this time.

At some unknown time, a dark-colored waterfall appeared near the illusory image of the Dao Seed.

The ink pool beneath the waterfall extends all the way to a spot not far from the illusory image of the Dao Seed.

"This is……"

He manipulated his consciousness, trying to touch the surging darkness.

Before he could even get close to the Heavenly Waterfall, merely hovering above the Ink Pool, he felt his mind become unsettled and his head throbbed with pain!
hiss……

Slurp...

A series of malicious whispers, miserable wails, and painful screams seemed to echo throughout the entire Yin-Yang Realm.

"what?!"

He quickly flew backward and returned to the shore of the Ink Pond.

Song Yan was still shaken, staring blankly at the dark waterfall cascading down.

"Such strong malice..."

What exactly are these, and where did they come from?
He looked at the illusory image of the Dao Seed, above which hung the "Inner Demon" that had vanished from the outside world.

Unlike the tranquility outside, in the Yin-Yang Realm, the dark sword body currently suspended above the Dao Seed is once again engulfed in raging demonic flames, just like it was in Peach Blossom Valley that day.

The small sword that was formed from the nascent Dao Heart floated slowly around it.

It seemed to be gradually dispersing and peeling away the dark demonic flames on the sword!
However, perhaps because his Dao heart was not perfect, this speed was very slow.

Everything in front of me was something I had never seen before...

It doesn't matter. There are many things in the cultivation world that Song Yan doesn't know or hasn't seen.

But one thing that truly puzzled him was...

Why……

That gluttonous demonic flute will also appear in the Yin-Yang Pearl?!
Song Yan looked at the Taotie flute hovering at the edge of the ink pool and felt it was truly absurd.

"The Yin-Yang Pearl... isn't it only related to swordsmanship?"

In his original understanding, the Two Elements Pearls should have been a small inheritance device created by the ancient Sword Sect to ensure the continuation of its lineage and to contain some ancient texts and secrets.

Some special functions are related to sword cultivation, which is understandable.

For example, after refining, one can project the illusory image of the Dao Seed within their own Dao-Suppressing Sword Palace. Although it doesn't seem to have any use at the moment, it's related and makes sense.

For example, like the current evil sword "Heart Demon", it can store certain flying swords into the Yin-Yang Pearl, which is also a function related to swordsmanship.

But this taotie flute...

what's the situation?
Could it be that they discovered there was an evil cultivator's aura, and it was brought in along with the flying sword?
Song Yan had no choice but to re-examine this two-colored pearl.

Perhaps it's not as simple as you imagine.

He began to think back carefully.

"The first change in the Yin-Yang Realm occurred when the nameless incantation was cultivated to a certain level..."

"It seems that it has passed the most basic test."

"The second change was..."

"After returning from Silent Valley, I severed my spiritual root, condensed a sword seed, and later comprehended the rudimentary form of the Dao Heart..."

"This time it is..."

"You obtained a flying sword?"

Song Yan felt that this guess was somewhat hasty...

"no no……"

"During the battle at Silent Valley, the flying sword shattered. Later, I spent some contribution points from the sect to obtain a new flying sword, and after complete refinement, there were no abnormalities..."

Song Yan murmured to himself, "It's because this flying sword is of a higher grade, a mid-grade magic weapon..."

"still……"

Gazing at the small sword that slowly floated up, dispelling the demonic flames, he couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

"Is it still this 'inner demon'? What's so special about it?"

……

The State of Chu, Sheyang Sect.

Sheyang Sect is located at the border of Xin'an Prefecture and Guangling Prefecture.

Today was the day for the new batch of disciples of the Sheyang Sect to undergo their entrance examination, which has now concluded.

The group consisted of thirteen people, including young boys and girls from various places who came to offer sacrifices, and a brother and sister who came on their own. Only three of them possessed spiritual roots, and one of them was a person with all five elements of spiritual roots who had no hope of cultivating immortality.

Therefore, only two people can be accepted into the sect.

Sheng Nian and Sheng Yun, the two siblings, stood at the entrance of the mountain.

Sheng Yun's face was covered with pleading and reluctant tears: "Brother, please don't stay here, okay?"

"Anyway, I have three spiritual roots, so I can go to the Dongyuan Immortal Sect and find Brother Yesheng..."

"no……"

Sheng Nian shook his head, his gaze resolute.

“When Ayan returned to her hometown before, she said that the six major sects of Chu were all the same. The inner sect and the outer sect were worlds apart.”

"That immortal said that with this Sheyang Sect disciple token, and with your talent of three spiritual roots, you can be promoted to the inner sect without any special privileges."

In his prime, he is not indecisive when it comes to important matters.

Ever since he and Song Yan joined forces to kill Tong Chuping, more and more strange martial arts figures have been coming to Shiliang Town, and even cultivators have appeared!

If Song Yan hadn't arrived in time, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Although he was unaware of the situation in the cultivation world, he also didn't understand why this "Xinshan Sanren" was going to such lengths to find him.

But he knew one thing: if he didn't leave Shiliang, the townspeople would only get closer and closer to the conflicts in the martial arts world and even the cultivation world.

So he took the disciples of the Sheyang Sect, Ling and Sheng Yun, and traveled all the way to the Sheyang Sect.

In the recent sect entry test, Sheng Yun was found to have three spiritual roots, while she herself had no spiritual roots.

With no hope of achieving immortality, one naturally falls into despair.

However, if he could take this opportunity to keep his biological sister away from him, and with the protection of the sect, he might not think it was a good thing.

"Ah Yun, listen to me..."

Sheng Nian looked intently into the girl's eyes.

“Brother has no hope of cultivating Tao in this life, but Ah Yan said…”

"There are some reclusive masters in the cultivation world, or ancient lineages, who have methods to enable mortals without spiritual roots to embark on the path of immortality."

"If you dedicate yourself to cultivation and find an opportunity in the future, you might be able to help me embark on the path to immortality, right?"

Not far away, an inner sect cultivator was waiting to guide Sheng Yun.

She listened to their conversation and sighed silently in her heart.

A recluse in the clouds, a master of profound Tao, a relic from the Middle Ages, and a successor of unorthodox methods.

Which one is so easy to obtain? Which one wasn't born amidst the bloodshed and turmoil of the cultivation world?

Even if this little girl possesses unparalleled talent and extraordinary luck, and one day she does find a trace of immortality, and has the strength and qualifications to seize the destiny of immortality...

By then, her elder brother was probably already very old and his path to immortality was over.

The Great Dao is desolate, and the so-called relatives and friends in the mortal world are like flowers in a mirror and the moon in the water. Who knows, when you emerge from seclusion after your cultivation, a hundred years will have passed in the mortal world, leaving only a handful of yellow earth to express your longing.

She'll understand someday...

Watching Sheng Nian's departing figure on the mountain trail, Sheng Yun burst into tears.

……

"how?"

……

"The path to immortality is now severed..."

A gentle breeze blew along the mountain path, and a faint voice echoed in the boy's heart.

"You should give up now and accept me as your master..."

……

"So what if I don't have spiritual roots?"

"In demonic cultivation, everything on the path to immortality is simply taken from others..."

Why should we care about what others think?

……

"Cultivating immortality is defying the heavens... Cultivating demonic arts, seizing spiritual essence, and killing all those in the world you wish to kill!"

"Everything is for the sake of becoming an immortal! This..."

"Only then can it be called defying fate!"

……

……

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(End of this chapter)