The Birth of the Inner Demon

“So, did that Eldest Senior Brother of mine bully you?”

Seeing Lu Qiancha emerge from the immortal’s cave, Xuan Mo, who had been waiting outside, immediately approached, her tone laced with concern.

Lu Qiancha merely shook her head, but her thoughts were in turmoil. She had become somewhat wary of Xuan Ping.

“It’s good that you’re fine. Let’s go, Martial Aunt will take you back to Tianquan Peak.”

Xuan Mo breathed a sigh of relief. With a light tap of her slender finger, a small, flowing cloud boat appeared silently.

“After a whole day of fussing with the furnace, you should get some proper rest.”

“Thank you for your trouble, Martial Aunt.”

Lu Qiancha did indeed feel mentally and physically exhausted, so she nodded in agreement.

The cloud boat tore through the sky and arrived at the peak in an instant.

After bidding farewell to Xuan Mo, Lu Qiancha stepped into her new residence in the small courtyard on the back mountain alone. With a soft creak, she pushed open the door to the south wing and immediately dropped her disguise.

With a thud, she threw herself onto the soft bed, her consciousness instantly enveloped by a thick wave of fatigue. The various chaotic events of the day could only be escaped, it seemed, in a rendezvous with the Duke of Zhou…

The next morning.

Knock, knock, knock!

The rhythmic and slightly urgent knocking, like a stone tossed into the calm waters of her sea of consciousness, shattered Lu Qiancha’s sweet dream.

“Ugh… yawn…”

Lu Qiancha groggily buried her face deep into the pillow, trying to block out the annoying noise, and randomly rubbed her sleepy eyes with her paw.

“Honestly, who’s knocking so early in the morning?”

After a moment of struggle, she reluctantly got up, skillfully put on Lu Qiancha’s persona, and opened the door, still filled with a lazy drowsiness.

In the faint light of dawn, a figure stood, made even more slender and elegant by a moon-white Daoist robe. It was her master, Xuan Ya.

“Master… it’s so early. Is there something you need?”

Lu Qiancha tried to muster some energy, her voice still filled with the grogginess of just waking up.

Xuan Ya was full of vigor, an immortal aura lingering between her brows. Seeing her disciple in such a state, she smiled, “I’ve come to give you something.”

“Give me something?” Lu Qiancha was slightly taken aback, a little puzzled.

Xuan Ya did not answer immediately, but changed the subject, her expression turning serious, “Qiancha, you have already advanced to the Spirit Transformation stage, and within a few years, you have a good chance of reaching the Void Refining stage. However, the cultivation method you are currently practicing…”

She flipped her fingertip, and an ancient, warm, black jade token lay quietly in her palm. “…is no longer sufficient for your future cultivation. Keep this safe.”

“Thank you, Master.”

Lu Qiancha did not stand on ceremony and accepted the token as instructed. The token was cool to the touch, and faint Daoist runes seemed to flow beneath its deep black surface.

Xuan Ya nodded, “This is the ‘Guiyuan Manual’. It contains the essentials, which you will need to comprehend on your own. If you encounter any difficulties, you can come and ask me at any time.”

At this point, she paused slightly, her gaze sweeping over the quiet little courtyard. “I intend to enter seclusion for a few days to stabilize my divine soul. For now, I’ll leave the affairs of the peak to you.”

“Yes, rest assured, Master.”

Lu Qiancha clasped her hands and accepted the order, watching as Xuan Ya floated away as gracefully as a cloud.

Closing the door, Lu Qiancha immediately dropped her disguise. It was best to save spiritual energy whenever possible and not use it recklessly.

She sat down cross-legged, her spiritual sense gently touching the black jade token.

Boom!

A massive amount of information instantly flooded her sea of consciousness. The three golden, ancient seal characters, formed from Daoist runes, “Guiyuan Manual,” were imprinted in her mind.

‘This is the second half of the Tianyuan Art?!’ Lu Qiancha was somewhat surprised.

This was the core inheritance of the sect. It seemed that after her master’s promotion… her status within the sect had truly risen.

Returning to the origin and guarding the one, she focused her mind and calmed her spirit. Lu Qiancha sat cross-legged, the spiritual energy in her body slowly circulating along the path described in the “Guiyuan Manual.”

In an instant, Lu Qiancha’s mind sank into a profound and mysterious state.

Her Dantian was like the center of a Go board, quiet and vast. Her hundreds of meridians and thousands of channels transformed into the intricate, crisscrossing lines of a profound game.

Each natural circulation of her spiritual energy invisibly drew in the surrounding spiritual energy of the world. It was like picking up stars as Go stones, purifying, refining, and taming the impure and thin worldly qi.

With each breath, the scattered spiritual energy in her body was invisibly drawn towards the core of her Dantian. The resonance between the spiritual energy and the walls of her Dantian was clearer than ever before. The worldly spiritual energy she absorbed was like a stream flowing into the sea, rapidly assimilated, compressed, and condensed.

Weng—!

Inside her Dantian, a massive vortex of pure spiritual energy spun wildly, its density soaring. A point in the center even began to show a nearly solid, tangible quality. A dazzling, glass-like “Spiritual Core” was about to form.

At this moment—

A sudden inspiration, a thought flashed through her mind like lightning. Lu Qiancha released the suppression on this vortex of spiritual energy.

Crack—!

A faint cracking sound, almost imperceptible yet reaching straight to her divine soul.

The formless barrier of the Void Refining stage, under this natural accumulation, shattered like thin spring ice.

The accumulated spiritual energy, like a released flood, surged through, entering a new realm.

“Huu…”

Lu Qiancha let out a long, turbid breath. Her blue eyes shone brightly, and a purely satisfied smile touched her lips. Even the large, fluffy tail behind her couldn’t help but wag triumphantly a few times. “Early Void Refining stage! I’ve done it!”

“Hmm? You broke through?”

Can Xin’s lazy and slightly surprised voice sounded in her sea of consciousness at the right time.

“Mm, thanks to my master’s cultivation method.”

Lu Qiancha was in a very good mood.

“Well… that’s perfect then.”

Can Xin’s voice took on a strange tone. “I have good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?”

This opening… made Lu Qiancha’s just-relaxed nerves instantly tense up again. What was this demonic sword spirit up to now?

“…The good news first.”

She chose a conservative start.

“The good news is…”

Can Xin drew out her words with a hint of teasing, “Congratulations—on successfully advancing to the Void Refining stage, of course?”

“…”

Lu Qiancha’s lip couldn’t help but twitch as she complained inwardly, ‘Thanks a lot for repeating what I just celebrated.’

“Then what’s the bad news?”

She pressed on, suppressing her impatience.

“The bad news is…” Can Xin’s tone suddenly became subtle, tinged with the annoyance of having her sleep disturbed. “There’s a little pink thing that’s barged into your sea of consciousness! It’s fighting with my sword body for territory.”

“?!”

Lu Qiancha’s azure pupils instantly contracted to pinpricks.

Her spiritual sense plunged into the depths of her sea of consciousness without reservation.

Just as she suspected—

Above the vast, star-strewn purple sea of consciousness, apart from the towering, dark giant sword that pierced the sky, there was now… an out-of-place splash of—pink.

“What is this thing?”

The little wolf cub’s mouth fell open in astonishment, her mind instantly filled with question marks.

“You’re asking me?!” Can Xin’s voice was clearly filled with frustration and annoyance. “I wanted to ask you! I was sleeping soundly, and this little thing takes a ‘chomp’ out of my sword! It wasn’t a big commotion, just annoying! Get it away from here!”

Lu Qiancha couldn’t be bothered to listen to Can Xin’s complaints. With a thought, her divine soul’s avatar instantly materialized in the shadow of the giant demonic sword.

She focused her gaze—

The shape of the pink “invader” quickly became clear: a small figure, as if carved from crystal.

Curly pink hair, round pink eyes glowing with an innocent light, a small pink dress… even the baby fat on her cheeks was exactly the same as her own!

It was simply a—pink limited edition—of herself, Lu Qiancha!

And this little pink ball was currently hugging her knees, curled up by the base of the demonic sword, tilting her head and curiously observing the divine soul avatar that Lu Qiancha had materialized.

“Hmm? Hello there.”

The pink ball’s eyes lit up. She raised a small paw, waving with a bright and harmless smile, her voice soft and sweet.

“Hello…”

Lu Qiancha subconsciously returned the greeting, then suddenly realized!

‘Wrong.’

‘She wasn’t here to say hello.’

Her face instantly hardened. She put her hands on her hips, trying her best to put on an imposing and aggressive front as she questioned, “No, who are you? Why are you in my sea of consciousness?!”

The small pink ears on the little loli’s head twitched. She bit her finger, thinking hard, then said, “Hmm… I seem to be your heart demon.”

“Heart demon?!”

Lu Qiancha was stunned for a moment. She looked at the little loli before her, who could be called her pink replica, and then circled around her, examining her carefully.

‘This is her heart demon? It doesn’t look like it.’

In Lu Qiancha’s impression, weren’t heart demons the type to be bloodthirsty murderers who would cackle maniacally (“Jie jie jie jie”) the moment they saw their host? In short, thoroughly evil.

But this one… was a bit of a disgrace to heart demons.

Lu Qiancha’s expression shifted from horror to bewilderment. She hesitantly reached out a finger and gently poked the tip of the fluffy tail that was also sticking up on the pink furball.

‘Hmm, it’s soft, and has a bit of a fluffy elasticity… It feels exactly like her own tail.’