Taiping Township.
After many days, Li Xiangxue once again set foot on this peaceful island.
Because the change in his appearance was so drastic, he had to spend a lot of time explaining it, and was finally able to escape when Qingyi, the Taoist master's personal guard, arrived.
Among the 19 guards, Keiichi is the oldest, with white hair and wrinkled face, and looks to be around 70 years old.
Unlike other guards, Keiichi not only dresses casually, but also has an easy-going personality. He does not have that cold and murderous feeling that keeps strangers away.
Because of this, Qingyi and Li Xiangxue are the most familiar with each other on the entire island.
Even the so-called master, Taoist Master Ji Qingzhi, had less contact with Li Xiangxue than Qing Yi.
"You must have suffered a lot on the way?"
Qingyi walked side by side with Li Xiangxue and asked with a smile.
“It was going pretty well.”
Li Xiangxue also responded with a smile, "We met the Fang family's branch clan members halfway through, and were chased for a long time."
"A branch of the Fang family?"
Qingyi's eyes flickered, "Why did you come into conflict with them?"
"I don't know either."
Li Xiangxue spread his hands and said, "That pleasure boat was packed with people. I had no intention of paying attention to it, but the other party was very alert and chased after me without saying a word."
"And then?"
Qingyi asked again.
"Later, I didn't want to cause any trouble, so I told my family from a distance, but who knew..."
Li Xiangxue frowned and asked in confusion, "They are chasing me even more closely, as if they are determined to kill me."
“…”
Qing Yi stopped and looked Li Xiangxue up and down, "Are you not hurt?"
"It's nothing serious, it's recovered."
Li Xiangxue waved his hand and asked anxiously, "I've been delayed for so long, Master..."
"Don't worry."
Qingyi gave him a soothing look, "The Taoist didn't say anything, he just asked the others to disperse and look for you. Now I am the only guard on the island, and they haven't come back yet."
"That's good."
Li Xiangxue seemed to be relieved. He quickened his pace and said, "Let's go see Master first. I have a very important discovery to report to him."
“As it should be.”
Qing nodded.
The two stopped talking and walked straight to Taiping Palace.
After half an incense stick.
In front of the hall deep inside the Taiping Palace, Qing Yi stopped and bowed, "Master, Li Xiangxue is back."
"Let him in."
Indifferent words came out from it.
"Go ahead."
Qingyi nodded to Li Xiangxue and turned to leave.
Li Xiangxue stepped in and walked all the way to the steps before bowing to Ji Qing who was sitting on the throne above.
"Disciple greets Master."
"explain."
Ji Qingzhi only gave one word.
No questions were asked, nor was there any instruction for Li Xiangxue to say.
Li Xiangxue has long been accustomed to this.
Immediately, he started talking about the moment he entered the Spring and Autumn Tomb.
"The Spring and Autumn Tomb looks like a black coffin."
"But the coffin has the ability to prohibit magic, just like the shackles used by the imperial court."
"So I suspect this is what was used to wrap the Spring and Autumn Tomb."
"The real body of the Spring and Autumn Tomb is inside the coffin."
"Unfortunately, I didn't have time to see clearly before I was sucked into the cave."
"And inside the cave..."
Li Xiangxue spoke calmly and seriously, describing everything he had seen and heard in detail.
Of course, a lot of things were hidden.
Everything related to Xu Chong and everything he learned because of Xu Chong were hidden by him.
However, if one wants to completely conceal Xu Chong's appearance, there is still a loophole that needs to be filled.
——After meeting Xu Chong, he did not enter Chunqiu Hall for more than half a month.
In other words, it is nearly five years.
In other words, these five years that should have been there did not leave any trace on him.
Would Ji Qingzhi ignore this?
Maybe, maybe not.
Li Xiangxue didn't dare to gamble.
But fortunately, he had already designed a perfect excuse.
“…After breaking through the Body Cleansing Realm, I suddenly felt that there was something extra here.”
Li Xiangxue pointed to his forehead and said, "The elder who taught me martial arts told me about the body cleansing state. I thought it must be the inner demon, so I stopped practicing and went to the residence arranged by the Fang family to recuperate. I was ready to resolve the inner demon before entering Chunqiu Hall..."
Ji Qingzhi remained unmoved.
Because he knew about it a long time ago.
In fact, as early as in Yongzhou, Li Xiangxue, like other refugees, was planted with the evil demon seed.
He discovered that the demon seed could restrain the inner demon only after he accepted Li Xiangxue as his apprentice.
In order to allow Li Xiangxue to grow more smoothly, he even took action personally and replaced the demon seed in Li Xiangxue's soul.
As for the level...
Only slave level.
It’s not that Ji Qingzhi doesn’t want to be replaced by a minister, but that he can’t do it.
Li Xiangxue only respected him, which did not reach the level of faith at all.
He had not anticipated this.
You know, his appearance is like a savior to Li Xiangxue.
Besides, Li Xiangxue is still young. Even if he is mature beyond his years, after spending so much time together, he should have been completely convinced by him.
So much so that even now, he is still a little curious.
"But I don't know why, I have never encountered the kind of illusion that the elder who teaches me the skills said."
Li Xiangxue continued to speak on his own.
"No doubt, that is the inner demon."
Ji Qingzhi raised his hand and said, "In fact, it existed not long after you started practicing, but it has been bound by my power and cannot affect you."
"Is that so..."
Li Xiangxue's eyes lit up and he said, "No wonder I can control it. It turns out it was a trick of my master."
???
control?!
Two sharp rays of light shot out from Ji Qingzhi's face which was blocked by white light and locked onto Li Xiangxue's brows.
If he hadn't paid attention, he wouldn't have noticed. But once he paid attention, he immediately realized that something was wrong.
He was unable to sense Li Xiangxue's inner demons!
No, it’s not just the inner demon!
The magical power and magic seed that he left in Li Xiangxue's soul to restrain his inner demons could also not be sensed!
how so?
A question flashed through his mind, and Ji Qingzhi couldn't help but take it seriously.
If he said that he couldn't feel Li Xiangxue's inner demons, this could be explained.
But the demon seed is his power, and he can't even sense it?
With this doubt, Ji Qingzhi knocked on the armrest and motioned Li Xiangxue to continue.
"When I first broke through the Body Wash, I thought that I could control it but it was just an illusion, or that this feeling of being able to control it was also a kind of illusion of the inner demon."
Li Xiangxue continued, "After all, this is completely different from what the elder who taught me the skills said."
"But as time goes by, this feeling is always there, and it is the only feeling."
“No other demonic illusions have ever appeared.”
"I couldn't figure it out, so I just ignored it and entered the Spring and Autumn Hall to practice again... After all, it won't hurt me."
“But later, as I continued to make breakthroughs in the Body Cleansing Realm, I felt that my inner demons were growing stronger and stronger.”
"And as it grew, the feeling that I could control it became clearer and clearer."
"I want to try it, but I'm afraid it might cause some bad news... After all, this is the Fang family's cave, not Taiping Township."
"Later, not long after I broke through the ninth level of body cleansing, Qing Wu came."
As he spoke, Li Xiangxue looked up curiously and asked, "Qingwu said that it was Master who asked me to come back and report what I saw and heard at the Spring and Autumn Tomb."
"It's my order."
Ji Qingzhi nodded slightly and gave an affirmative answer.
"I see."
Li Xiangxue nodded and said, "After I came out of the Spring and Autumn Tomb, I used the Taiping Guide to sail all the way to Taiping Township."
"But I didn't expect to meet a pleasure boat on the way."
"Judging from the shape, it should be the sub-body of the building ship of the six major families."
"At that time, I wanted to return to Taiping Township as soon as possible and ask Master to help me find out what was in the center of my eyebrows, so I deliberately stayed away from this pleasure boat."
"But I didn't expect that once they spotted me, they came over to me."
"even……"
Li Xiangxue was somewhat helpless. "Even after I introduced myself, a master immediately rushed out from the pleasure boat and came directly to kill me... He even said he wanted to avenge the direct lineage."
Ji Qingzhi frowned.
He could understand encountering a branch of the Fang family and being hunted down by them after revealing his identity.
But riding the wind is obviously a skill that only Huangting Zhongdao can use. How did Li Xiangxue, who is at the Xishen realm, survive at the hands of someone who is far stronger than him?
Could it be the inner demon?
Thinking of this, Ji Qingzhi ordered: "Tell us what happened in detail."
"yes."
Li Xiangxue nodded and began to tell the story.
The whole process, from the chase, to communicating over a distance, to the other party's furious pursuit.
Something that had never happened was described by Li Xiangxue without any flaws.
"...the clouds fell and formed a giant hand that grabbed me."
"I know this is Huang Ting's method, and I am definitely not capable of defeating him. Once I am caught, my life and death will no longer be my own."
"At the last moment, I thought of the inner demon in my heart, the one that I could always control."
"So I controlled it and rushed towards the nearest person from a distance."
"It had no substance, no color, and was incredibly fast, rushing directly into the man's body."
"Then, the cloud hand that had just grabbed me suddenly dispersed."
Li Xiangxue shook his head and said, "The man who was chasing me was also like this. He suddenly fell into the sea."
"It must be a relatively important identity. When the others saw it, they gave up chasing me and turned to saving people."
"I will take this opportunity to do my best to distance myself from them."
"I don't know why, but they never chased me again after that."
"I was afraid of running into him again, so I changed direction and took a long detour, so I didn't come back until today."
At this point, Li Xiangxue lowered his head in shame, "I heard from Qingyi that the others went to look for me and haven't returned yet, my disciple..."
“That’s not important.”
Ji Qingzhi suddenly waved his hand, "Since your inner demon has disappeared..."
"Well……"
Li Xiangxue was stunned for a moment, then said, "Well, Master, it didn't disappear."
"Um?!"
Ji Qingzhi's eyes suddenly became stern.
"After I let it out, about an incense stick of time passed...it came back again."
Li Xiangxue pointed at his forehead and asked curiously, "Isn't this your method, Master? Don't you know it will come back?"
"this……"
Even though Ji Qingzhi had a calm and composed character, he couldn't help but sway at this moment.
He has read many records about the research on inner demons.
These records come from different historical periods, and there are many of them.
But there are only two research directions.
One is to prevent the birth of inner demons, and the other is to utilize the power of inner demons.
The former is not so bad, and it can be done through some special rules of the paradise.
It has to be said that this somewhat subverted his cognition.
However, Li Xiangxue's next words shocked him even more.
“Also, I don’t know if I’m overthinking… I feel like after the inner demon returned, my Zifu, Huangting, and Zhongdao have all been strengthened.”
Li Xiangxue gestured on his body as he spoke, "It's not the kind of strengthening of the seed of Tao, it's more like the essence of the Tao seed has been improved, or strengthened?"
"What did you say!!!"
Ji Qingzhi stood up suddenly.
"Well……"
Li Xiangxue was startled and said hesitantly, "I haven't cultivated the Dao yet, so I don't know if I have really improved..."
"That's easy."
Ji Qingzhi flew down directly and put his hand on Li Xiangxue's shoulder: "I will check your Dao Seed now, and then find a few people to repeat it for you to see if there is any change."
At this moment, he could no longer maintain his calm and composure.
There was no way. The information revealed by Li Xiangxue was too shocking and too important.
If it was just the strengthened inner demon that could be exploited, he wouldn't have lost his composure like that.
But if the use of the inner demon can strengthen the three great Dao seeds, he will have no choice but to pay attention to it.
After all, his Zifu has been incomplete until now.
If it can be fixed...
Ji Qingzhi was thinking about it and felt a little excited.
"Master, there is one thing I forgot to mention just now."
Li Xiangxue suddenly spoke.
"Hmm? Anything else?"
Ji Qingzhi's eyebrows slightly raised.
"The range within which the inner demon can leave the body..."
Li Xiangxue's eyes instantly turned cold, "Only three feet!"
Only three feet?
Oops!!!
Ji Qingzhi reacted suddenly and responded almost immediately.
Push forward with your right hand and move backward with your feet.
This response is correct, but unfortunately...
It's simply too late.
Because Li Xiangxue had already released his inner demons while he was speaking.
“…”
Ji Qingzhi froze in place, and failed to implement any response.
He could clearly feel that his soul was enveloped by a force filled with endless evil thoughts.
This power severed the connection between his soul and body, causing him to completely lose control of his body.
No, it's more than that.
Isolating the connection between the soul and the body is only the most basic ability of this power.
Its real use is not to isolate, but to devour!
In Ji Qingzhi's perception, the Demon Lord's mark condensed by the magic power of the Tao Heart was the first to be hit and gradually melted under this devouring force.
Ji Qingzhi had a premonition.
When the mark of the Demon Lord is completely dissolved, it will be his soul's turn.
When the spirit and soul are annihilated, there will be three Tao seeds.
Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do now and he could only try to reveal a hint of doubt in his eyes: Why?
"You are the only one who can remain sane after being infused with the inner demon."
Li Xiangxue laughed, and his laughter was extremely sad. "As expected of you, you are the common ruler of the world, the emperor of Daqing."