Inner Demons

Chapter 117: Void

The torrential Wei River rushes down from the northwest of Weicheng, heading southeast. As it flows past the west side of Weicheng, the Jin River and Luo River, two tributaries, merge into it.

The place where these three rivers converge is called "Three Rivers' Mouth." At Three Rivers' Mouth, the Wei River abruptly turns southeast. This turn creates a large lake, named Dongting.

Dongting Lake is known as the thousand-li Dongting, but it is in fact vast and boundless, almost like a sea. Between Dongting and Weicheng lies a dense forest called the Wild Plains Forest. Although it's called a forest, it is actually vast in area, covering a radius of a thousand li. There are also famous mountains in this forest—though not as tall and majestic as the mountains in the Wild Plains Mountain Range east of Weicheng, they have their own unique charm.

Besides famous mountains like Junshan, Bieshan, and Weishan, there are also some unknown small peaks like South Mountain, East Mountain, and Xiaozhu Mountain.

At the confluence of the three rivers, Three Rivers' Mouth, there is a point that juts out into Dongting Lake, like a sharp blade. Because this "blade's edge" is perennially inhabited by white egrets, it was named Egret Isle. Although it's called an "isle," it is actually a peninsula, with villages, farmland, and a population of about a hundred households.

Decades ago, someone said that this Egret Isle was too sharp and pointed, like a knife plunged into the Wei River and Dongting, ruining the local feng shui. So, a temple was built at the tip of Egret Isle facing the river's heart and the lake's mouth to suppress the feng shui.

This temple is the Three Rivers' Mouth Dragon King Temple.

Li Yunxin now stood outside the temple, puzzled by one thing.

The scenery outside this temple was excellent. The large temple faced the thousand-li misty waves of Dongting, the water glistening, the sky clear for miles, and there was a pale sandy beach where the water met the land.

One side of the temple had been turned into a garden, with a wooden pavilion, flower beds, and ancient, gnarled trees.At this moment, a few scholars were sitting in the wooden pavilion, drinking and laughing. Some tourists and worshippers had come to the temple to offer incense. They were mostly discussing the events of the past few days—how a street in Weicheng, Taoxi Road, was almost completely destroyed, how the Dragon King had manifested his true form, how someone had seen a white-robed monster cutting human flesh, and how Head Constable Yin had been killed—

Li Yunxin knew what the old Daoist had done; he had gone to see him yesterday.

But he hadn't shown himself. Now was not a good time—he had gone to see the place where Bai Yunxin and Lingkongzi had fought, and had also checked the residence of the Weicheng Shangqing Elixir Cauldron Sect.

Right now, the only cultivator in Weicheng, Cong Yunzi, was in a state of constant anxiety. Because the remains of Fairy Lingkongzi of Langya Grotto-Heaven were being kept at the residence. He was trying every means possible to prevent the remains from decomposing, waiting for someone from the Grotto-heaven to come and investigate, while also worrying that the newcomers would vent their anger on him—all cultivators understood what a peak Manifestation Realm cultivator under the age of twenty meant.

But now she had fallen in Weicheng.

This was good news for Li Yunxin—from an objective point of view.

But… Bai Yunxin's strength had exceeded his imagination, becoming a huge variable in his plan.

Originally, it should have been… the two of them injuring each other severely, and he would go and reap the rewards.

But now, the theoretically perfect plan had run into problems, and the situation had gone off track. A few people in Weicheng had seen him—he should have used one of them as a puppet to smooth things over after dealing with the two of them.

And he couldn't just kill them. Anyone who died not by another's hand risked exposing him, and he couldn't kill dozens of them… that would be like delivering himself directly to the Daoist Orthodoxy.

What the people of the Daoist Orthodoxy would know was that Lingkongzi had killed the Dragon's Son, and then killed Li Yunxin.

And Bai Yunxin had killed Lingkongzi.

Now they would also realize that a monster had appeared at the scene of the incident—it was definitely connected.

This blame… Li Yunxin realized, had to be shouldered by someone.

He had been thinking about this for two days, and now someone had delivered themselves to his door.

In his original plan, he was supposed to die. Let Liu Ling kill Young Master Nine, and then let Liu Ling kill him. By killing him, Liu Ling would definitely also scatter his soul—at that point, no one would doubt that his soul had truly been scattered and dispersed.

To kill Young Master Nine, he used the sword Bai Yunxin had given him.

To kill himself, he would still use the sword Bai Yunxin had given him.

During this time, he had used the sword to cut off his own finger, which was already a way to attract her.

The soft armor and the sword were both made from the scales and feathers of a demon, and were connected to his own vital energy. Bai Yunxin had given him the sword precisely so that she could find him later. He had stalled with Liu Ling for a long time at the end, finally waiting for Bai Yunxin to arrive.

So, he let those two fight, while he… went to possess a body.

In fact, the moment he was killed by Liu Ling, the plan had already succeeded—the most difficult part was killing Young Master Nine. Liu Ling was very powerful and accomplished this easily.

Young Master Nine, or the entire Dragon Clan, or rather, all divine beasts, were different from all other creatures in this world.

For example, humans have a physical body and a Spiritual Soul. Although the two are combined, there is still a soul after death. If the physical body is damaged, the Spiritual Soul may not be. If the Spiritual Soul is damaged, the physical body may not be either.

However, divine beasts only have a magical body—the physical body is the Spiritual Soul, and the Spiritual Soul is the physical body. A single body can transform into its original form, or into a human form. If the Spiritual Soul is strong, the physical body is extremely formidable. If the physical body is damaged, the Spiritual Soul is also damaged.

Therefore, when Young Master Nine, or any divine beast, dies, they die completely—not even a ghost remains.

But although there is no ghost, there is a "void"—Li Yunxin called it "godhood."

He didn't know how many other people in the world knew this secret, but his parents had never mentioned it—it seemed Liu Ling didn't know about it either.

The White Yama King had told him this secret. Therefore, possessing the Dragon's Son… was actually a very simple matter.

Godhood was like an "official position." The name of this official position was "Chiwen."

When Young Master Nine died, this "official position" became vacant.

But this thing was like "blessed fate" or "luck"—ethereal and intangible. You couldn't see a chair, an empty slot, or a golden seal.

It required a "key."

Young Master Nine had given his reverse scale to Li Yunxin, and it had in fact become Li Yunxin's property. When he died, this soft armor was preserved.

This was the "key."

He fused this "key" into the body he had constructed from yang energy and Spiritual Power, and thus opened that "door," took this "official position," and became…

Chiwen.

He didn't know if Young Master Nine was the first, original "Chiwen." But he knew that he himself was now, indeed, Chiwen.

He had no relationship with his former self, except for his appearance and memories. But for Li Yunxin, this was not a terrible thing.

He had even experienced something more terrible.

For example, "transmigration."

He had already become a "divine beast," or in other words, a "demon." He needed incense and willpower.

Because the original him had his soul scattered and dispersed, those thirty-seven portraits had lost his spiritual energy.

Because the original Young Master Nine had also died, the statues in these temples that had once worshipped the former "Wei River Dragon King" had also lost their spiritual energy.

But Li Yunxin did not plan to expose himself before the situation became clear. He had come today only for a tour.

But when he arrived at the gate of this Three Rivers' Mouth Dragon King Temple, he discovered…

The divine position of the statue, which should have been empty…

Had been occupied by someone.

This puzzled him greatly.

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