My little sect, which disappeared a thousand years ago, has become a sacred site!

"You've been stuck at the Golden Core stage for quite some time now."

Looking at the girl standing with her head bowed in front of him, Gu Changyuan's tone was no longer as indifferent and distant as before, but instead showed a touch of gentleness and concern towards a junior.

"Is it because you've been restricted in some way, or have you developed inner demons? After all, with your talent, entering the Celestial Holy Land shouldn't have been difficult for you."

He tapped his fingertips lightly on the ebony tabletop, his voice calm yet carrying an undeniable certainty:

"I can help you solve this."

Upon hearing this, Su Wanqing trembled violently, abruptly raising her head, her almond-shaped eyes wide with disbelief and shock.

The matter of her inner demons was the deepest scar in her heart, one that even her closest relatives in the Su family rarely dared to mention in front of her.

Over the years, in an effort to help her resolve her doubts, her father sought help from powerful cultivators throughout the Eastern Region of the Southern Continent. He even went so far as to plead with Elder Su Shuangyu of the Celestial Sacred Land, and even the Elder Su Shuangyu's master intervened, yet they were still helpless.

This senior colleague, whom she had never met before, saw through her problem at a glance.

The inner demon was deeply rooted, almost fused with her soul, and difficult to remove by external forces; only she could break through it herself.

But how could she possibly see through it all?

That bloody scene, the mother's last look at her, a complex mix of pain, reluctance, and resolve, and the warm touch of the dagger piercing her chest...

It had long become a nightmare that haunted her every night, and the most hideous crack in her Dao heart.

She once thought that this might be the end of her life.

But at this moment, this mysterious senior in front of me spoke in such a calm tone, saying, "I can help you solve this problem."

Reason told her that this was almost impossible. Even the Supreme Elder of the Holy Land was helpless...

But for some reason, a voice inside me was screaming: Believe in him! Believe in him!

Perhaps it was the absolute sense of security brought by his unfathomable strength, perhaps it was his previous combination of kindness and severity, perhaps...

It's merely the instinct of a drowning person grasping at the last piece of driftwood.

Su Wanqing's lips trembled, opening and closing repeatedly, but no sound came out.

She gripped her sleeves tightly with both hands, her knuckles turning white from the force, her eyes filled with a turbulent mix of struggle, fear, and longing.

In the end, the pain that had been buried deep in his heart for more than ten years and had never been fully confided to anyone burst forth like a flood, overcoming all defenses.

Her voice was dry and strained as she began to narrate.

In the cultivation world, it is not uncommon for cultivators to have multiple Daoist partners.

Her father, Su Yunhao, the current head of the Su family, has three legally married wives.

Her mother was the second child, and the three wives got along quite well.

She was her father's seventh child, with three older brothers and three older sisters, hence she was known as "Fourth Miss".

"When I was twelve years old..."

Her voice suddenly dropped to a low pitch, filled with unbearable pain.

"My mother took me out to visit friends, accompanied by eight family guards, all of whom were experts at the Integration Realm. On the way back... we were ambushed in 'Falling Moon Gorge'."

The opponent was an evil cultivator from the Blood Soul Sect. The leader was at the late stage of the Integration Realm. They came prepared and their methods were strange and ruthless.

The guards fought desperately, suffering heavy casualties. Su Wanqing's mother protected me as we fought and retreated.

As a result, she was struck by the evil cultivator leader and was critically injured and on the verge of death. So, as a fellow cultivator at the Integration Realm, she fought back desperately, using a secret technique to ignite her natal fire and perish together with the evil cultivator.

Before Su Wanqing could rush towards her mother, she saw a twisted and ferocious gray shadow shriek as it burrowed into her mother's body, attempting to forcibly possess her.

Her mother, clinging to her last shred of clarity, fought with the evil cultivator's soul for control of her body within her sea of ​​consciousness.

Not wanting her daughter to be hurt but unable to control her own body and commit suicide, she ultimately let Su Wanqing end her life.

But before the evil cultivator's soul completely dissipated, it used its last resentment and evil magic to plant a curse on Su Wanqing.

The image of killing her mother was etched into the young Su Wanqing's soul, making her forever unworthy of peace and the Great Dao.

That curse, along with that unforgettable scene, transformed into the deepest inner demon, imprinted on the depths of my soul.

From then on, every time I reached a crucial point in my cultivation, every time I tried to break through, that scene would appear before my eyes, and that voice would ring in my ears.

Upon hearing this, Gu Changyuan's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.

The curse of a demon planted in the heart by a mortal cultivator's resentment and evil magic at the moment of death, targeting the unsuspecting soul of a twelve-year-old child, is indeed extremely insidious and almost impossible to cure.

It doesn't attack directly, but rather constantly distorts and amplifies that instinctive guilt and pain, causing it to torment and deny itself, thereby stifling all hope for the future.

When the Su family arrived, they only saw corpses scattered all over the ground and Su Wanqing crying bitterly while holding her mother's body.

Upon seeing this, Su Yunhao, the head of the Su family, flew into a rage.

In order to avenge his wife and daughter, he mobilized all the Mahayana and Integration Realm experts of the Su family, launching a storm to purge evil cultivators in the Eastern Region of the Southern Continent.

Within just three months, most of the evil cultivator strongholds in the eastern region of the Southern Continent were destroyed, and the evil cultivators were almost all killed or wounded. In addition, the forces that were involved with the evil cultivators were also severely punished by the Su family.

No amount of revenge can erase the wounds in Su Wanqing's soul.

The inner demon left behind by that evil cultivator at the Integration Realm, using remnant souls and curses as a catalyst, had long since merged with her soul.

The Su family searched for powerful figures from all walks of life, and even the Supreme Elder Su Shuangyu personally intervened to ask her master for help, but they still could not eliminate it.

Perhaps only Yue Lingxi, the Eighth Ancestor of the Celestial Sacred Land, can solve this problem in the entire human realm.

However, in recent years, the other party has been away from home, and since the other party is the patriarch of a sacred place, the Su family cannot invite him.

As for the Celestial Holy Land, the selection of its disciples is extremely rigorous, consisting of three stages.

The first test is the Spirit Test, which examines one's innate talent and cultivation foundation; the second test is the Question Test, which assesses one's character, comprehension, and purity of heart; the third test is the Question Test of the Heart.

The "Questioning the Heart" test will trigger the cultivator's deepest obsessions, fears, and desires, creating illusions to test whether their Dao heart is firm and flawless.

"Every time I step into the illusion of the Gate of Inquiry, the scene that appears before my eyes is the image of me killing my mother with my own hands."

Su Wanqing lowered her head, her voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz.

"Once the inner demons are stirred, the Dao heart is completely lost, and every time it ends in defeat."

Even with the connection of a Supreme Elder, the Holy Land's rules are strict; if one cannot pass the test of conscience, one will ultimately be unable to step through the mountain gates.

After saying all this, Su Wanqing seemed to have unloaded a huge burden, standing there as if all her strength had been drained, tears silently soaking her skirt.

This story, which had weighed on her heart for decades, was finally able to be revealed today.

Gu Changyuan slowly raised his hand, and a gentle spiritual energy drifted toward Su Wanqing, softly wiping away the tears on her face.

His voice remained gentle, but with a touch more determination:

"This is not your fault. Your mother's choice was to protect you, and your actions at the time were in accordance with the wishes of your loved ones, and were also a last resort."

The curses and inner demons of those evil cultivators are nothing but despicable tactics.

It's just a mere mark of inner demons; dealing with it is a piece of cake for me.