Inner Demons

The demons previously only knew that this Li Yunxin had higher cultivation, but they had no concrete concept. Now, knowing he was in the True Realm and seeing him raise his hand to instantly kill the Red Serpent King, they finally realized how terrifying that must be—it was a power beyond their comprehension.

So, after a slight pause, they immediately scattered like birds, with only the Long Bend Valley Lord, the Crimson Flame Vermilion Toad King, standing still in place, as if watching from the sidelines.

This action saved his life. The fleeing demons could not escape the control of a True Realm great demon-fiend. Li Yunxin, in mid-air, waved his sleeve, and dozens of streams of demonic power went straight for several major named demon-fiends. With such a gap in realms, technique and scheming were irrelevant. His demonic power meant instant death upon contact; in just two breaths, all those Valley Lords and Stream Masters were completely eradicated by him. The smaller demons also dropped into the water like dumplings, thrashing around before disappearing.

An hour ago, the island was still brilliant and lively. Now, it was still brilliant. But the two words must be spoken separately—the firelight was bright, and the ground was a mess of rotten flesh. The white sandy beach was stained red, and the lake water had also changed color. Only five people remained standing—Bai Yunxin and her maid, Li Yunxin, and the Toad King, as well as the maid's birth father, the thousand-year-old Turtle Demon.

The two Valley Lords of this lake were not benevolent people, having countless lives of demons and humans on their hands. But had they ever witnessed such a slaughter? Li Yunxin was highly skilled and did not have a demon's heart, so he was naturally ruthless in killing demons, without the slightest hesitation.

He spared the Toad King because of his unusual attitude earlier, and he spared the Turtle Demon because of Bai Yunxin's maidservant.

Li Yunxin descended from the air, the blood and flesh under his feet squishing with "plop-plop" sounds as he walked up to the Toad King and looked down at him.

The Toad King, though not entirely composed, didn't seem overly panicked. He slightly raised his head and met Li Yunxin's gaze, saying, "They brought death upon themselves, and I had to obey. But it was only cheering, not a capital offense."

"That's why you seem like a smart person," Li Yunxin reached out and patted his shoulder, then turned to look at Bai Yunxin's little maid, "Little girl, what about your father?"

Seeing this situation, Li Yunxin sighed softly in his heart. In ordinary times, he probably wouldn't have used such bloody and brutal methods, bleeding out this beach. But in ordinary times, he also wouldn't have killed all the other demon kings, only leaving these two.

It was because of what Old Man Su had said to him in the Ziwei Palace earlier—although the actual situation and true thoughts might differ from what Old Man Su knew, it still touched Li Yunxin somehow.

Killing the demons was due to emotional turmoil, and leaving these two was also due to emotional turmoil. But looking at it now... demons truly seem to be heartless.

But their heartlessness was only in comparison to the "feelings" of the mortals—the cultivators of the Daoist Orthodoxy probably weren't included. He spared the Turtle Demon's life out of some intention, but he didn't know what kind of opportunity this meant for the Turtle Demon.

The maid ignored the old creature, and the Turtle Demon wasn't angered like a human would be. Instead, he had a look of relief, his eyes darting back and forth over Li Yunxin. This gaze was full of flattery and apprehension, yet it appeared on a wrinkled face—Li Yunxin felt an inexplicable surge of annoyance at his appearance and shouted, "Come out!"

As soon as the words fell, a demon-fiend suddenly drilled out of the blood-red lake water. It was Li Shan, whom Li Yunxin had tossed off the cloud earlier.

This demon had fallen into the water but hadn't left, following Li Yunxin all the way to this small island. Although he hadn't shown himself before—he actually hadn't fled for his life. For a demon, this seemed to be tremendous loyalty and courage.

Li Yunxin paid no mind to how the demon looked or what his intentions were. He simply said, "Since you three were old acquaintances, you should discipline these two well—deal with any remaining small matters in the lake as well. All I want is a compliant Dongting—if there's any trouble, just remember this bloodbath today."

Li Shan was overjoyed that his Great King didn't blame him and nodded repeatedly. Then, he raised his pair of invisible eyes, fiercely ordering the two demons to go into the lake.

Only three people remained on the red sandy beach—three demon-fiends.

Bai Yunxin had been sitting on the throne watching Li Yunxin work and speak. Only now did she speak.

But her voice was different from before. It had become more "human-like." The former Bai Yunxin was like a volcano that could erupt at any moment. When you heard her speak and watched her actions, she seemed no different from an ordinary person, but you couldn't tell if the next moment she would bare her fangs and claws or raise her hand and strike you dead.

But now her voice sounded calmer and gentler, as if the ripples and storms in her heart had been greatly smoothed, or as if she had lost interest in many things and was simply watching the world lazily.

"Those two are not simple. You should talk to them properly," Bai Yunxin looked at Li Yunxin, a strange light in her eyes, "I knew you weren't simple, but I didn't expect you to be this not simple. However... it's also uninteresting now."

Li Yunxin pondered her words briefly, "Are you saying those two might be involved with the Dragon Soul in this lake?"

He couldn't think of any other reason why Bai Yunxin, a True Realm demon-fiend, would find them "not simple."

"Yes. But you don't need to worry about it; you won't have to worry about this matter soon," she paused here and tilted her head to look at Li Yunxin again.

Li Yunxin realized that this moody True Realm demon-fiend seemed to be hiding something else in her heart, so he waited quietly—it was probably related to the phrase "you are also uninteresting now."

The little maid stood beside Bai Yunxin, silent against the firelight.

The little black donkey stood behind the throne for a while, finding it dull, and lowered its head to sniff the sand. But there was no grass—it sniffed some blood and paste that had splashed onto it, licked it with its tongue, and slowly ate it.

Then Bai Yunxin sighed softly, "Why did you become a demon-fiend? Wasn't living well enough?"

Li Yunxin thought for a moment, "What happened?"

Bai Yunxin stood up. Her true form might be a crane—known for its slender elegance. Thus, her human form was also tall. She wore a white dress and slowly paced the blood-stained beach, her hands clasped behind her back, head bowed... She looked exactly like an ordinary girl taking a stroll in the night wind.

After walking a few steps, she turned to look at Li Yunxin, "You know that I am the adopted daughter of the Peng King."

Li Yunxin slowly walked over and walked side by side with her on the beach, "I know."

"The Daoist Orthodoxy and the demons are going to war," Bai Yunxin slightly turned her face to look at Li Yunxin. The bloody wind swept past her cheek, and a strand of fine hair brushed her lips. This gave her a look of decadent and hazy beauty—but her eyes were sparkling.

"The people of the Daoist Orthodoxy have set up many spell formations outside Weicheng. They probably intend to use the Yang energy of hundreds of thousands of people in Weicheng, supplemented by the formations, to destroy the Dongting restriction."

"The Yang energy of hundreds of thousands of people and formations..." Li Yunxin followed her thoughts, "Equivalent to the full-force strike of a Broad Life Profound Realm cultivator? It would still be somewhat difficult to destroy the Dongting restriction with that kind of force."

Bai Yunxin still didn't answer him directly, but said, "My foster father told me to retrieve something. Once retrieved, I must leave immediately—because this restriction is not as strong as you think. The Taoist priests outside have made their preparations... this place cannot be defended."

Li Yunxin was slightly stunned, "You came to retrieve the Dragon Soul?"

"Yes. My foster father is the Peng King. The lord of all winged creatures in the world," Bai Yunxin whispered, "The demons of the world revere the True Dragon. But my foster father is not a subordinate of the True Dragon, but an ally. For the war between the demons and the Daoist Orthodoxy, the True Dragon needs my foster father's help. But my foster father does not want to get involved in this matter. So—"

Li Yunxin thought for a moment, "He plans to do something else, pay some other price, in exchange for his detached position outside of this conflict."

Bai Yunxin smiled faintly, "Talking to you doesn't require much effort."

It was the first time Li Yunxin had seen her smile like this—a smile without any malice, only to release goodwill or emotion. This made him feel even more unusual—there must be something else in Bai Yunxin's heart.

"So you came to retrieve the Dragon Soul to ensure it doesn't fall into the hands of the Daoist Orthodoxy. This counts as helping the True Dragon—but why didn't the True Dragon come himself? Why didn't the Dragon's Son come himself? Ah... I guess you can't answer that," Li Yunxin frowned, "Is that the only thing?"

"There is more. There are not many great demon-fiends—you are one now. The True Dragon needs more great demon-fiends. But among demon-fiends of the same realm, they are also different—the Dragon Clan is the strongest," Bai Yunxin exhaled softly, "The True Dragon needs more of the Dragon Clan."

Li Yunxin stopped. After a moment of silence, he asked, "Don't tell me... there are also things like marriage alliances and intermarriage among demons?"

Bai Yunxin turned to look at him, "Why wouldn't there be?"

"You and a True Dragon?"

"And a Dragon's Son."

Li Yunxin was silent for a moment, then asked, "Which one?"

"Not you," Bai Yunxin smiled, "You said you considered me a good friend earlier; I know that was nonsense. I'm not like Lady Hong, so easily fooled. The first time, you were afraid I would kill you; the second time, you wanted to use me. Now, you probably want to ask me how to enter and exit Dongting—my foster father told me all these things in detail, and after thinking it over, I believe he is very right."

"Now I've only come to tell you how to leave Dongting. I found you interesting before, and although you are uninteresting now, you have at least relieved my boredom."

After Bai Yunxin finished speaking, she suddenly moved closer to him and whispered a few words in his ear—this reminded Li Yunxin of the first time he met Bai Yunxin in the forest.

The warmth of her breath still lingered after the whisper. Then, Bai Yunxin said no more, waved her sleeve to summon a demonic wind, and carried her donkey straight up into the sky.

Those few words were to tell him how to leave Dongting. The method was simple, only that no one had told him as he was new to being a demon-fiend.

Li Yunxin stood frozen in place for a while, but the little maid hadn't left yet. She seemed to have something she wanted to say but hesitated, seemingly standing there thinking whether she should speak or not—suddenly looking at Li Yunxin, then looking in the direction her mistress had flown. After repeating this several times, she finally sighed softly, stomped her foot, and prepared to fly away as well.

Li Yunxin said, "Please wait."

His words were like a life-saving straw; the maid breathed a sigh of relief and stopped.

Li Yunxin stepped on the blood on the beach and walked closer to her, bowing, "You saved me before, Miss. I haven't thanked you yet—what is your name, Miss?"

The maid wasn't in the mood to be polite with him. She first looked in the direction Bai Yunxin had flown, then moved closer to Li Yunxin, her eyes wide, "Do you know why my mistress asked you if you were uninteresting now, and why she asked you, 'Wasn't living well enough'?"

Li Yunxin bowed again, "I was about to ask about that."

The maid sighed, "Alas. I heard you've been quite famous in Weicheng recently, so why do you seem so stupid now? I ask you, you've met quite a few demons and become one yourself—have you ever heard of any great demon-fiend couples?"

Li Yunxin was slightly stunned, then realized what the maid meant. In all this time, he had indeed never heard of a "demon-fiend couple"—two demons getting married and living together.

Lady Hong and that Du Sheng counted as a couple, but Lady Hong said she hadn't touched him after the ghost marriage—Du Sheng didn't really count as a true demon-fiend, did he?

He frowned and asked, "I haven't heard of any. Why is that?"

The maid stared straight at him, as if trying to see his reaction to the following words, "You know that demon-fiends are not human. When humans marry, they become pregnant and give birth. When demon-fiends marry—if they are the same kind of demon, they will naturally get pregnant and give birth. But there are so few demon-fiends in the world, and their realms and cultivation vary; where would so many of the same kind of attained demon-fiends come from?"

"For example, he is a green ox who attained the Dao, and she is a mother lion who attained the Dao. The two marry, transforming into human form and engaging in intercourse—the green ox's demonic energy essence enters the mother lion's body, and forms a fetus with the mother lion's demonic vital Yin... But the fetus is neither a green ox nor a mother lion; it's only known as a demon fetus, and who knows what it will become?"

"Such a thing will inevitably clash with the mother lion's demonic power—the bigger the demon fetus grows, the weaker its mother becomes. The day it is born is the day its mother dies!"

"...Are you even listening?!"

When the maid reached this point, she finally couldn't help but become anxious.

Because as she spoke, she kept watching Li Yunxin—but found his expression calm, and she couldn't discern any emotional fluctuations.

After a moment, she saw Li Yunxin step back slightly and whisper, "Oh. So that's how it is. This kind of thing... no wonder your mistress was too shy to speak of it."

Seeing his reaction, the maid was already three points disappointed. Hearing his words added another three points, and she finally revealed her demon nature and became angry. She suddenly narrowed her eyebrows, "You, Li Yunxin!"

She yelled this but didn't know what else to say. After holding it in for a long time, she finally said, "Do you think my mistress wanted to say it but wouldn't, and wanted me to say it instead?! Bah! She didn't want to say it at all—I only told you because I thought you were human before and had some conscience!"

Li Yunxin smiled, "Conscience? Where do demon-fiends get conscience?"

With this sentence, the maid was completely disappointed. She seemed to want to fight and kill Li Yunxin based on her nature, but she knew she was not his match. She wanted to curse and swear, but she felt that getting angry at such a person would only make her a laughingstock. Her emotions were intertwined, and she actually started to cry. Two large tears dripped into the blood, and she stomped her foot and followed her mistress.

Only Li Yunxin remained in place, illuminated by the pervasive firelight... gradually frowning. (To be continued.)

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