On the Inner Demon

“Thank you, Magistrate, we shall not stay any longer.”

Without another word, she collected the wooden token marked with the character “Heaven” from the desk, gave Magistrate Zhou a slight bow, and left the heavy-aired yamen with Shangguan Yunzhu.

Upon returning to the sect and passing through the main gate formation, the two parted ways with a tacit understanding.

Shangguan Yunzhu rode her sword, transforming into a streak of light that shot directly toward Creation Peak, while Lu Qiancha hurried toward the sect’s mission hall, returned the token, and then became a gust of wind, rushing toward the familiar mountain path of Tianquan Peak.

As she neared the small courtyard at the peak, she happened to encounter Xuan Ya, who was taking a leisurely stroll along a secluded path in the woods.

Lu Qiancha immediately restrained her aura, came to a sudden halt, and respectfully stepped to the side of the path.

Facing that elegant and otherworldly figure in blue robes, she made a proper bow: “Disciple Qiancha pays respects to Master.”

A gentle breeze rustled Xuan Ya’s robes.

She turned her head slightly, her gaze falling upon her respectful young disciple, and a gentle smile bloomed on her lips as she raised a fair hand: “You may rise.”

She took two steps closer, her tone carrying a hint of helpless sigh: “We have been master and disciple for many years. When not in a public setting, why must you adhere so strictly to such empty formalities? The thought is what counts.”

A slightly cunning smile touched the corner of Lu Qiancha’s lips.

“Master’s tolerance is Master’s grace, but this disciple’s respect is this disciple’s duty. Etiquette… cannot be abandoned, right?”

“Oh?” Xuan Ya’s brows arched slightly, and she raised the jade-handled horsetail whisk in her hand with a look that was half-admonishing, half-amused. “You little rascal, are you lecturing your master now?”

“Ah! Master, you wound your disciple!”

Lu Qiancha exaggeratedly shrank her neck, feigning fear of being hit, and said with a grin, “I wouldn’t dare, not even if you gave me ten times the courage! I’m just terrified of copying texts. I’m afraid that if I slack off even a little and displease Master, I’ll be punished with endless writing again. I only beg for Master’s pity; let this disciple abide by these small rules to feel more at ease.”

Hearing this, Xuan Ya raised the whisk in her hand, then let it fall gently on Lu Qiancha’s shoulder.

She shook her head helplessly, the fondness in her eyes deepening.

“You… you sly thing. You and that sharp tongue of yours.”

“Never mind, never mind. Address me however you wish.”

Xuan Ya put away her whisk, her gaze resting on Lu Qiancha.

Her expression suddenly turned serious, tinged with an imperceptible hint of apology, as she spoke softly, “Speaking of being master and disciples… I am often so absorbed in the path of immortality that I neglect to guide and care for you and your junior sister. You have both suffered many grievances on this peak because of it. It is I who have failed in my duty as a master. Qiancha, Gan Tang, your master apologizes to you.”

A warmth spread through Lu Qiancha’s heart.

She quickly bowed again, her tone utterly sincere, “Master’s words are too much for this disciple. Master has always treated my junior sister and me with generosity and kindness. Whenever we have had questions, you have always answered them without reservation and taught us all you know! How could there be any talk of ‘failing in your duty’? If we must speak of grievances…”

She pressed her lips together, a hint of shamefaced embarrassment on her face.

“Then it is because this disciple was dull-witted, stuck for over sixty years before finally reaching the Spirit Transformation realm, causing Master to exhaust your mind and spirit. It is this disciple who should be apologizing to Master.”

“You child…”

The smile on Xuan Ya’s face completely blossomed, like the first thaw of ice and snow.

Looking at this clever and considerate little disciple, a current of warmth rose in her heart, and she finally waved her hand with a smile.

“Enough, enough. I have some rare leisure time today, and I have no desire to debate with a quick wit like yours. Go on, tell me—have you encountered any difficulties in your cultivation? I have time now to clear up your confusion.”

Lu Qiancha was about to shake her head and say “no,” but the image of the little pink bunny in her sea of consciousness suddenly flashed through her mind.

Her heart skipped a beat.

She looked up, her expression growing more serious.

“This disciple does indeed have a question, concerning the matter of ‘heart demons.’ I ask for Master’s guidance.”

“Heart demons? Have you encountered a heart demon?”

Xuan Ya’s eyes held a trace of astonishment as she looked at Lu Qiancha.

“This disciple only happened to hear a senior mention them, saying that heart demons can bewitch the mind and cause drastic changes in one’s temperament. This disciple wishes to take precautions, and thus wants to learn more about how to deal with them.”

Seeing her master’s surprised expression, Lu Qiancha certainly didn’t dare to admit that she had actually encountered a heart demon.

Xuan Ya stared at her for a moment, and seeing that her expression was frank and did not seem feigned, she relaxed slightly and murmured, “I see.”

She pondered for a moment, organizing her thoughts, then slowly began to speak, her voice flowing like a clear spring: “Do you know where heart demons truly come from?”

“This disciple is ignorant. I ask for Master’s enlightenment.”

Lu Qiancha held her breath and listened with rapt attention.

“A heart demon, to put it plainly, is an accumulation of impure thoughts that have silted up in the lake of the heart.”

Xuan Ya’s voice carried the clarity of one who has insight into the Dao.

“For an ordinary cultivator, even if they have a thousand distracting thoughts, they are like mere ripples in a clear pond, hardly a great threat, not enough to become a ‘demon’.”

“However,” her tone shifted, taking on a more solemn quality, “once your cultivation reaches the Void Refining realm, and you begin to touch upon the mysteries of the laws of heaven and earth… the water in this lake of the heart deepens.”

“At this time, a single strand of aberrant obsession, a wisp of desire that goes against your Dao heart, a piece of unresolved karma… any such dross that refuses to dissipate is given a chance to take root. They become the foundation of a ‘demon seed’.”

Xuan Ya paused, looking at the attentively listening Lu Qiancha before continuing her explanation, “However, the demon seed at this stage is, at most, a persistent and indescribable speck of distracting dust. It might surface when you are meditating, disturbing your mind and making it difficult for those with weak wills to enter a state of cultivation, even breeding irritability. But in the end, it is merely a tiny speck of dust, with no form to speak of.”

“But when a cultivator breaks through to the next realm, entering Integration, and their control over the laws of heaven and earth is further strengthened, the power of the laws scours the Dao heart. That speck of distracting dust then absorbs the immense power of the laws… and gains the chance to turn from illusion to reality, for the thought to coalesce into a demon!”

Xuan Ya’s tone was heavy.

“This is the great heart demon tribulation that Integration realm cultivators must face! It originates from within, a demon formed from the cultivator’s own obsessions, directly confronting their Dao heart. It is exceptionally perilous!”

Hearing this, although Lu Qiancha’s face remained expressionless, her internal thoughts were a whirlwind of activity.

She glanced at Xuan Ya’s expression, confirming that her master was definitely not joking.

Then she looked inward at the little pink bunny in her own sea of consciousness…

‘What happened to “indescribable specks of distracting dust”?’

‘What happened to “no form to speak of”?!’

‘Then what in the world is this thing?’

“Master,” Lu Qiancha suppressed the tempest raging within her and asked cautiously, “do you mean… only upon advancing to the Integration realm will a ‘heart demon’ of this sort… actually manifest… and plague a cultivator?”

“That is correct.”

Xuan Ya nodded, her tone certain.

“The distracting thoughts of the Void Refining realm have not yet taken form. Only during the breakthrough to the Integration realm, when the Dao heart and the laws are in violent turmoil, is it time for the demonic thought to take shape and cause trouble.”

Lu Qiancha: “…”

She silently sensed the steady flow of early-stage Void Refining realm spiritual light in her dantian.

Then, as if refusing to believe it, she glanced again at Chacha, who was huffing and puffing, diligently cultivating in her sea of consciousness…

Finally, a thought emerged with absolute clarity in her mind: ‘This is definitely, definitely, definitely not some indescribable thought!!!’

Lu Qiancha felt a phantom ache in her teeth.

The path of cultivation was already fraught with countless difficulties, a road covered in thorns, and now the damned heavens had arranged for a heart demon to block her way in the Void Refining realm.