Inner Demons

Chapter 138: The Young Taoist Priest

Normally, Li Yunxin was quite tolerant of these demons. He even felt a sense of closeness.

When he first saw the four demons "listening to the dharma" before Lady Sanhua, he found it novel and interesting, so he gave them names—Sheriff, Tuzki, Shuke, and Shan-ji.

The one who had come now was "Shan-ji."

At that time, he just thought it was interesting. When he went to see these demons again after possessing the body, he actually felt… closeness.

This closeness was not really related to emotion. In Li Yunxin's view, it was just a physiological identification born from similar identities. However, he knew very well that physiological feelings usually affect the psychological—and for someone like him to be so easily influenced by physiology meant…

He had a sense of loneliness in his subconscious.

Because he felt lonely, he needed the care and recognition of his own kind. Therefore, after seeing these few demons again, he felt "hmm, not bad"—this was a dangerous tendency. It was a sign that his emotions were on the verge of losing control, and he didn't like this sign at all.

So he was trying out a certain kind of relationship, one that was close yet detached.

However, it didn't seem to be very successful.

This Shan-ji was kicked to the ground by him, his round eyes wide, and he still said, “Great King, Great King, something terrible has happened!”Li Yunxin sighed and pulled him up. With great strides, he crossed several li in the jungle in the blink of an eye, then threw him to the ground. "I told you all to patrol the mountain properly and not to go within a li of Dongting—do you know how close you were to Dongting just now? If you dare to play like this again, if you dare to ruin my plans, I'll stew you into yellow-braised chicken tonight. Speak, what's wrong?"

Before the final battle with the Dragon's Son and Bai Yunxin, he had ordered Lady Sanhua and the other demons to leave Weicheng. Now that he had created the Divine Dragon Cult, he had these demons possess the portraits that the common people worshipped—while the Vast Sea Dragon Prince certainly had a "golden statue," in the eyes of the common people…

As a dragon prince, it would be a loss of prestige to not have any servants.

And what kind of person was that Old Daoist Liu? He immediately made up four guardians and one serving dragon maiden, and even created some nondescript clay statues. Thus, the four little demons and Qiao Jiaxin's ghost also had a place to stay.

Li Yunxin then ordered the four demons to patrol the wilderness between Dongting and Weicheng when they had nothing to do. Although the little demons didn't know what the Great King's intentions were, they did their best every day, reporting everything they heard and saw to him in great detail.

It was just that they often stumbled over their words. Li Yunxin always had to think carefully for a while to understand what these guys were trying to say—like now.

This Shan-ji stood up and said in a panic, “In the city, oh my, a baleful star has come to the city! And outside the city, another baleful star has come! Oh my, oh my—”

Hearing this, Li Yunxin thought for a moment. “You’re saying there’s a baleful star, who first wandered around in the city for a while, and then wandered around outside the city for a while.”

"The Great King is wise!" The chicken demon nodded like a chicken pecking at rice. "He wanted to beat and kill me as soon as he saw me, good thing I ran fast! Now he's in the city again, oh my, investigating everywhere—"

“Does he use talismans, or a sword?”

The chicken demon blinked. “Both, both! When he stabs with the sword, he’s also writing characters in his hand!”

Those who used talismans were from the Daoist Orthodoxy, and those who used swords were from the Sword Sect. Those who used both were wild Taoist priests. But these days, the Divine Dragon Cult’s incense offerings were flourishing near South Mountain, and hundreds of foolish men and women had come to worship—this powerful incense and faith power had greatly increased the cultivation of those few little demons.

If measured by the standards of human cultivators, this chicken demon was now at the peak of the Intent Realm—it was the same principle as leveling up in a game he used to play, low levels were always easy to raise.

A demon at the peak of the Intent Realm could take human form—albeit just a human illusion. A demon like this, who wasn't some ignorant, newly formed ghost causing trouble, was already a very strong opponent for wild Taoist priests.

But he was actually chased by this person to this extent?

Li Yunxin thought for a moment and smiled. "Good. This Great King will go take a look."

He knew someone had come to Weicheng—from the sky.

He had his own sources of information, not just limited to these few demons. Logically, there shouldn't be anyone—at least, not a certain type of person—who wasn't in his plans.

So the current situation… should be very interesting.

In today's Weicheng Prefecture, various forces were intricately intertwined. He was walking a tightrope—even more dangerous than walking between Young Master Nine and Liu Ling before.

He didn't particularly like this kind of life of hiding and sneaking around, but he liked even less becoming a corpse after a grand and glorious battle. Hmm… if he died now, he probably wouldn't even leave a corpse.

—Just kidding, who wouldn't like a life of roaming the four seas, being answered with a single call, and being revered by everyone.

It's just that he had to deal with these people and these matters.

The Lucid Jade Slip was what the Daoist Orthodoxy and the Sword Sect wanted, and he, Li Yunxin, should be on their list now. If he really showed his face and became famous, a steady stream of trouble would also come.

No matter how strong he was, he couldn't fight against the Daoist Orthodoxy and the Sword Sect alone.

But from another perspective, the Daoist Orthodoxy and the Sword Sect wouldn't use all their strength to deal with him alone. Such behemoths, a single move could affect the whole body. Many things were not determined by "can," but by "is it worth it."

Since his parents had been hunted for over a decade while in seclusion, it meant that the Lucid Jade Slip was "quite worth it" in the eyes of the Daoist Orthodoxy and the Sword Sect.

But there seemed to be a bottom line to this matter.

Otherwise, it wouldn't be just a few Taoist priests coming to look for them privately. If the Daoist Orthodoxy and the Sword Sect mobilized all their forces in the world to do this, no matter how powerful his parents were, they couldn't have hidden for over a decade.

So, for the purpose of being able to live openly in the future, he now needed to know what price the Daoist Orthodoxy and the Sword Sect were willing to pay for this Lucid Jade Slip.

The previous price was a few cultivators from the Lingxu Sword Sect—who didn't seem to be taken very seriously.

Then there was the genius young woman Liu Ling, at the peak of the Manifestation Realm from Langya Grotto-Heaven.

But Li Yunxin knew that this was not enough.

He had already thought of today after plotting against Liu Ling—someone stronger would come.

Getting this Chiwen body was an unexpected bonus—he had unexpectedly merged with another force.

Demons. If used properly, they could be a great backer.

What he needed to do now was… kill another one, this cultivator who was currently in Weicheng.

Li Yunxin only knew that such a person had come to Weicheng, but he didn't even know if they were male or female, old or young.

He also didn't know if he would like this person's personality.

But he only knew one thing—this person must die. And they must die a tragic death, a death that was unexpected.

In the Thirty-Six Grotto-Heavens and Seventy-Two Schools, the number of cultivators at the Dao-achieving Master realm and above, but below the Perfected Master realm, would not exceed a thousand. And the number of cultivators at the Profound Realm and above would not exceed a hundred.

These people, scattered among the one hundred and eight Grotto-heavens and Schools, were already considered treasures.

So he planned to kill a Master right here in Weicheng Prefecture, for them to see.

As long as the decision-makers of the Daoist Orthodoxy and the Sword Sect weren't chunibyo youths, they would realize how painful it was, how strong he was, and what a greater price they would have to pay if they wanted to continue to forcibly seize this Lucid Jade Slip.

Of course, a Profound Realm expert could still come to kill him. But they would also understand that he would not let himself die silently. This matter would inevitably become known to the world. Li Yunxin didn't know what the Daoist Orthodoxy and the Sword Sect were afraid of, but he knew they didn't like to see this matter being blown out of proportion.

Then, they would switch to a relatively gentler approach. For example, playing with schemes or mind games.

At that time, it would mean… he had been acknowledged by the Daoist Orthodoxy and the Sword Sect as "a feudal lord."

However, the premise was still that the Master had to die.

This would be a vast and meticulous project. Right now, he had only just built the framework and was planning to go and see this extra screw that had appeared in the framework.

…

…

Li Yunxin returned to the former Dragon King Temple on Taoxi Road, which was now a ruin, without much particular emotion in his heart.

The ruins were still ruins, and they would probably remain ruins for a long time to come. The speed of manual cleanup was very slow, and green grass had already grown between the broken walls.

Some homeless people had found houses that had not completely collapsed in these ruins to live in. They didn't seem to worry that the houses might collapse while they were sleeping.

Li Yunxin walked on these ruins for a while, then told the chicken demon to go out of the city to patrol the mountain.

Some people were discussing the miraculous event that had happened here earlier today. They said that a handsome young Taoist priest had captured a ghost from a haunted house in broad daylight. Then he seemed to have fought with some evil spirit and displayed his great power.

This was exactly what the chicken demon had talked about.

According to him, at that time, he had transformed into a large rooster with a red crest and colorful feathers and was walking in Weicheng, following Li Yunxin's instructions to investigate if there were any highly skilled Taoist priests.

Then he saw a handsome young man walking down the street, waving a willow branch in his hand. He didn't seem very happy, his brows were tightly furrowed, as if everyone on the street owed him a string of cash.

Then, the young man stopped in front of an inn.

This was a fairly prosperous inn, and people were coming and going at that time.

He stood in front of the door, staring at the two doors of the inn for a while, then walked straight over, ignoring the waiter at the door. It just so happened that a scholar with a sword passed by him, and the young man snatched the sword from the scholar's waist.

That sword was also a good sword, worth a month's expenses for a middle-class family in the city. How could this scholar let it go after his sword was suddenly snatched? He was only slightly stunned for a moment, and without fear of what the young man might do, he lunged forward to retrieve his weapon.

But the young man didn't even look at him, just kicked the scholar five or six steps away.

The crowd was in an uproar, thinking he was a madman—robbing and assaulting someone on the streets of the old city in broad daylight, perhaps he would start swinging the sword randomly in the next moment.

Who knew that the young man just took the sword, raised his hand, and nailed it into the door panel of the inn.

With a thud, the sword was embedded in the door panel—the inn waiter instantly gasped in pain. This was a century-old shop. On the door, there was a pair of door gods carved on the left and right, looking lifelike. It was said to have been made by a great master in the early years. After that person passed away, the value of this pair of door gods became even higher.

Everyone who came and went knew the story behind this door, and it slowly became a signboard for this inn.

Now, the young Taoist priest's sword was stuck right in the forehead of the door god. Even if it were pulled out, it would leave a big hole. How could one not feel heartbroken?

The waiter hurriedly called out the owner. The owner also gasped in pain and hurriedly called for someone to report to the authorities.

But just at this moment, they heard the young Taoist priest frown and shout in a low voice, "Still not coming out?!"

This shout was like a clap of spring thunder. The people watching him were all deafened by the sound, and couldn't understand how this seemingly ordinary young man could produce such a sound.

And after this shout, blood also overflowed from the corners of the young man's mouth—as if that one shout had also ruptured his own throat. But he seemed not to care at all, only using his already hoarse voice to shout again, "Out!"

With this shout, even more blood flowed from the corners of his mouth.

Who had ever seen… a fellow who could rupture his own throat with just two shouts?

—It was as if this body was not his own, and he didn't cherish it at all, but only used it as a piece of clothing, ready to be changed at any time!

But then, people's attention was no longer on the young Taoist priest.

A cloud of black gas… slowly emerged from the door god carving on the door.

Immediately after, right under the bright blue sky and clear daylight, a strange whirlwind suddenly arose. Then the cloud of black gas suddenly shrank to a point, landed on the ground, and grew in the wind. In just a breath's time…

It turned into a Great Ghost with a green face and fangs!

This sudden change almost scared everyone to death! Some were struck dumb, turning to flee with terrified faces; others couldn't move at all, their legs feeling weak and their crotches about to get hot and wet; still others lost all consciousness, their legs stiffening as they fainted on the spot.

But just as these people were about to flee but hadn't yet, the young Taoist priest had already pulled out the sword stuck in the door with his backhand. Holding the sword in his right hand, he formed a sword finger with his left hand and drew a talisman in the air—

The blade of the sword instantly shone with a brilliant golden light, as if it had just been taken out of a blacksmith's furnace!!

Then the Taoist priest slashed with the sword—this Great Ghost with a green face and fangs immediately turned into a puddle of foul-smelling black water, which splashed onto the ground!

Everything happened in a flash of lightning.

Only then did people realize they had encountered a master. After taking a few steps back in succession, they began to shout—nothing more than expressions of having eyes but failing to see Mount Tai, and being fortunate to have a master slay the demon.

But the young Taoist priest didn't even look at them, just flung the sword away and said to himself in a voice that was already hoarse beyond recognition, "...What's so usable about this? Another broken Human Skin Bag. If I can't find one that's good-looking and suitable, hmph..."

After saying this, he raised his hands and held his own face.

With a quick exertion of force—

There was a cracking sound.

This young Taoist priest had twisted his own neck.

The crowd was dumbfounded. After a good while, someone walked over in disbelief to check his breath.

He was really dead. (To be continued.)

***