Inner Demons

Chapter 195: A World Turned Upside Down

Kun Wuzi was slightly surprised. After a moment, he asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"The literal meaning," Li Yunxin paused again, looking up at the sky.

Then he muttered to himself, "The rain is heavy. At this rate, many houses in the city will collapse."

After saying this, his eyes suddenly turned golden-yellow. Fine scales appeared on his cheeks, and white strands mixed with his black hair. Clouds of mist rose from his hair, as if his white hair was drifting and turning into vapor.

"Stop," he said in a low voice.

The rain by Dongting Lake immediately abated, turning from a downpour to a drizzle, and then to scattered drops. The dense clouds in the high sky rolled back and shrank, becoming wisps of white clouds. And the lead-gray color that receded from the clouds seemed to have all run into Li Yunxin's hair—the originally black and white mixed hair turned back to jet black, the fine scales on his cheeks receded, and the golden-yellow in his eyes also faded, making him a handsome young man again.

Once the dense clouds dispersed, the sun came out.

Unfortunately, it was no longer a bright sun. He had started fighting with Yue Yunzi in the afternoon, and now it was close to dusk. The sky was dim, and the sun was setting to the west of the distant mountains, which were covered in a whole stretch of red clouds.

Li Yunxin sighed, "A pity."

Then he looked up and took a step forward, shouting loudly towards Jun Mountain in Dongting Lake, "I am the Wei River Dragon King Li Yunxin! Is the Lord of Dongting here? Come out and meet with me!"The sound rolled away, as if it had form and substance, dispersing the mist on the lake. The water's surface rippled with wind and waves, and the flowers and trees near the Dragon King Temple were shaken so much that their branches and leaves trembled. The people in Egret Town also heard the noise, but they dared not come out to look. Although this place was far from Weicheng, the thunder and golden light from Li Yunxin and Yue Yunzi's battle were visible. At this moment, hearing this sound like a muffled thunder, even the most materialistic person would have to realize that some powerful cultivators had created this grand spectacle.

It was also very likely to be the "Dragon King" they had been worshiping for more than a month.

But this sound startled the birds, beasts, and humans, and even broke through the mist on the lake, yet it did not make the Lord of Dongting appear.

Li Yunxin waited quietly for three breaths, then shouted again.

Still no response.

He turned to look at Kun Wuzi, "He's not giving you face."

The Profound Realm Taoist priest thought for a moment and asked Li Yunxin, "Is Ling'er really in this lake?"

"Her cultivation was crippled by Bai Yunxin, but her Spiritual Soul was saved by a Dharma treasure. I saw her in the lake before, she was herding clouds—do you know what herding clouds is?"

Kun Wuzi remained silent, but his expression gradually darkened. It was clear that he also knew some old stories.

He stared at the deep lake for a moment and said in a low voice, "Then I apologize for the offense."

This sentence did not sound like it was for Li Yunxin. Although the voice was low, it was surprisingly clear and loud.

Then he took a step forward and reached out his hand.

This was the first time Li Yunxin had witnessed the power of a Profound Realm cultivator.

Kun Wuzi's hand was fair and thin, as if his knuckles had edges. He first extended his palm upwards and obliquely forward, as if inserting it beneath something.

Then, after one breath, he flipped it over sharply.

Li Yunxin gasped—because he saw the sky above Dongting Lake.

It was originally a sky nearing dusk, the blue already a little yellow. But the moment Kun Wuzi flipped his hand, the sky suddenly went dark.

Because the lake water had gone into the sky.

It was as if heaven and earth had swapped places. A thin, mirror-like layer of water appeared in the sky, stretching from here to the far, far distance. Li Yunxin guessed that the size of that body of water should be equivalent to Dongting Lake on the ground. Kun Wuzi, with just a flip, had moved the surface of Dongting to the sky.

But things were not as simple as he thought.

The next moment, the water in the sky began to pour down. It was not a gentle drizzle, nor was it a torrential downpour. Even the fierce clouds and rain that Li Yunxin had previously created over the Wei River in Weicheng could not compare to this momentum. The entire lake water of Dongting, from the surface of the water in the sky—

Poured down in a deluge!

If Dongting Lake were a circle, then at this moment, a pillar of water appeared between heaven and earth.

If Dongting Lake were a square, then at this moment, a square pillar appeared between heaven and earth.

The water from the sky thundered down onto the lake, the colossal sound shaking the very ground. First, the branches and leaves of the flowers and trees fell, and then half of the Dragon King Temple collapsed in a violent seismic tremor. The energy that erupted when water met water was like an explosion—the waves that surged in all directions were like a spray of metallic currents, and those currents were incomparably sharp!

The wooden pavilion where they were standing was right next to the lake. In an instant, the pavilion was completely destroyed by the surging water, reduced to the finest fragments. Both men were submerged in the watery light. Kun Wuzi was not much affected, but even with Li Yunxin's powerful body...

A whole area of crisscrossing blood appeared on his chest!

He had never seen such a strange sight—a pillar of water standing between heaven and earth, as if solidified. But in reality, the lake water from the surface in the sky was being moved to a high altitude by some mysterious and terrifyingly powerful force, and then falling back into the lake!

But even so, the water level of the lake did not rise, but even slightly dropped...

It was truly the water from the lake.

Li Yunxin had flown back dozens of steps, but the terrifying sound still made his ears numb. A huge waterfall already sounded like thunder, let alone the entire water of Dongting pouring down from an extremely high altitude! Such a loud noise, such a sound wave...

He subconsciously looked behind him.

The Dragon King Temple had collapsed. Everything visible on the lakeside was gone. The ground was still shaking and trembling—the houses in Egret Town could not have withstood such a violent tremor. Many people would probably die.

Kun Wuzi still stood beside him, hands behind his back, calmly looking at the pillar of water in the sky.

In fact, even though they had retreated dozens of steps, the huge and boundless water pillar still pressed down on their vision like a high wall, as if it would collapse at any moment, engulfing people in that terrifyingly deep water—and the two of them were like two ants.

"When you reach the Profound Realm, you realize some things," Kun Wuzi said in a low voice after a moment of silence. "You realize that below the Profound Realm, they are just ordinary people. And the True Realm is considered to have barely grasped some power. However... it is not worth mentioning."

He turned his face to look at Li Yunxin, "Earlier, you said that I did not respect or take you seriously. You should know now—what kind of respect I gave you before."

Li Yunxin stared at the terrifying and strange sight in front of him for a while and said calmly, "Power doesn't mean everything."

Kun Wuzi smiled, "That's why you are one of the few smart people. And because of this, I didn't kill you. It was just because of that one sentence of yours."

Li Yunxin did not have time to respond, as an even more terrifying sound came from the sky.

The water seemed to have "run dry"—the water pillar standing between heaven and earth was rapidly getting shorter because the "water surface" on the top of the sky had disappeared. The last of the lake water was poured down, quickly falling back into the lake. And in that water, Li Yunxin saw an incomparably huge figure.

It had returned to its true form, and was a full three hundred feet long. What kind of concept is three hundred feet? Length might not be very intuitive. But if converted to height—it was roughly equivalent to a three-hundred-story skyscraper in his previous world!

With a dragon body of three hundred feet, a grown man standing in front of it would be like a speck of dust.

But the huge figure that appeared in Dongting Lake at this moment... could not even be described as "huge." This rapidly shortening water pillar was like a fish tank standing on the vast earth, and this great fish was held in the tank. But rather than saying it was held in the tank, it was more like being confined—because it was half the size of the fish tank itself, and even one of its whiskers was as long as Li Yunxin's true form!

The whole body of the great fish was crimson, and even its belly had a reddish-gold sheen. A single one of its scales was as large as the entire Egret Town, and the scales emitted a hazy golden light in the water, as if they were mixed with gold dust.

Its gigantic mouth could occupy a person's entire field of vision, but the blackness within was a bottomless abyss, a darkness that could not be formed by just a shadow.

It looked no different from a red carp, however...

Such a large "carp" had already surpassed all common sense!

Li Yunxin knew... this was the true form of the Lord of Dongting!

But such a great fish, which was "poured out" by Kun Wuzi from the sky, only appeared in front of the two for a brief moment. Almost as soon as Li Yunxin had a clear look at it, the great fish disappeared.

A dazzling red light appeared in mid-air and quickly transformed into a human figure—it was the "Taoist Priest Li" whom Li Yunxin had seen on Jun Mountain earlier.

The Lord of Dongting did not speak after appearing. Only after the lake water had completely rumbled back into the lake did a flash of red light appear, and he instantly appeared by Dongting Lake.

Li Yunxin stared at his feet—exactly one yard away from the lake.

The rumor was true.

His lair was turned inside out, yet he still did not step more than one yard outside of Dongting!

Kun Wuzi was in the Great Accomplishment Profound Realm. It was said that the Lord of Dongting was also in the Profound Realm, but it was unknown what stage of the Profound Realm he was in. But in any case, the seemingly effortless method of the Profound Realm Taoist priest had left a terrifying and profound impression on Li Yunxin.

And the Profound Realm Great Demon, the Lord of Dongting... what kind of person could confine him in Dongting for two thousand years?!

At this moment, the furious Lord of Dongting was radiating red light all over his body. His eyebrows were raised, and his already large nostrils were even wider with extreme anger. When he learned of Chiwen's death, he exhaled steaming mist, but at this moment, even that mist had turned a light red... just like a cloud of fire!

"Kun Wuzi, you are too audacious," the voice of the Lord of Dongting was like charcoal rubbing together, as if every word would collide in the air and send sparks flying.

"I didn't want to deal with you, but you came knocking on my door yourself—you are going too far!"

The Profound Realm Taoist priest just smiled, "The Lord of Dongting is also very bold. He dares to seize a Dharma treasure of my Daoist Orthodoxy and imprison a cultivator of my Daoist Orthodoxy. As I know... she's also herding clouds."

Kun Wuzi's voice lowered, "Doesn't the Lord of Dongting know there's a path to self-destruction?!"

As the two powerful Profound Realm individuals faced off, Li Yunxin took two steps back and kept silent.

The Lord of Dongting heard Kun Wuzi's threat and laughed in extreme anger, "Your Daoist Orthodoxy cultivator, Lingkongzi, killed my water race's Chiwen, and now you dare to come to me and ask for an explanation? Even though the Daoist Orthodoxy is strong, they can also be unreasonable. But in front of me, I am not afraid of you being unreasonable."

"I have managed this Dongting for three thousand years. Do you think a Profound Realm demon like me is some small demon or monster that you can slaughter and bully?!"

Kun Wuzi glanced at Li Yunxin and spoke.

Li Yunxin did not have time to stop him.

"Chiwen?" Kun Wuzi sneered, "He's not dead. But I don't blame you—even I didn't know how he managed to possess Chiwen's body. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have even considered that possibility."

"And since this young friend next to me could design a way to possess Chiwen's body, he can probably kill it too. In my opinion, my Daoist Orthodoxy's Lingkongzi and your water race's Chiwen were both schemed against by him. Instead of directing all your anger at me, you should direct it at him!"

For a moment, Li Yunxin wanted to reveal his true form and immediately flee back to Weicheng.

He hadn't figured out Kun Wuzi. At least, he hadn't fully grasped him.

He did not know if Kun Wuzi said those words about him possessing Chiwen's body and scheming against Lingkongzi to the Lord of Dongting unintentionally, or if he was truly trying to harm him.

It was possible that, as a Profound Realm cultivator, he was so accustomed to powerful strength that he was not good at conspiracies and schemes. Thus, he casually mentioned the matter of "possessing Chiwen's body and scheming against Lingkongzi" as if it were a minor detail.

It was also possible that he truly wanted to divert the trouble to himself.

Li Yunxin would have to eventually reveal this matter, but definitely not now. He would rather borrow the "momentum" of killing Yue Yunzi to make Kun Wuzi temporarily "talk" with him, and then borrow Kun Wuzi's "momentum" to talk with the Lord of Dongting—to get back what he wanted, to get back the person he wanted, to gain sufficient understanding, and then guide the situation to his advantage.

Kun Wuzi should not be unaware of all this.

But now, he disregarded his situation and just casually mentioned it as an "interesting story."

Li Yunxin sneered in his heart.

Before leaving the city, on the roof of Wang Sheng's bookstore, he had said some things to Kun Wuzi. He hoped that the other party would take the power he wielded seriously.

But at that time, the other party smiled faintly, and Li Yunxin was not sure if Kun Wuzi had truly taken it to heart.

And just now, the Profound Realm Taoist priest demonstrated his power, telling Li Yunxin... "Below the Profound Realm, they are just ordinary people."

And now.

Li Yunxin completely understood.

He had never won the respect of the Profound Realm Taoist priest. The other party might have been cautious because of some things he knew and did not attack, but that did not mean that he regarded him as an equal opponent.

He took a deep breath and sneered in his heart again.

This feeling was very bad.

And he would never again act like a child who pleads with adults, or even throws a tantrum and breaks things to tell those adults, "I'm really not a child anymore." He would not repeat the same words to Kun Wuzi.

He would use a real, tangible event to make this Profound Realm Taoist priest pay a price for his underestimation and give him a long, good memory—to let him know that he could have been his ally, but his foolish and stubborn arrogance ruined that opportunity.

It could be tomorrow, or it could be ten years from now.

But in any case, he was not a magnanimous person.