When Cheng Qian woke up, he found that it was very dark around him and it seemed that the sky had already turned completely black.

His first feeling was pain, followed by cold.

Logically speaking, he had lived by the icy pond for fifty years, and every bone in his body had been tempered by the icy pond, so he should have lost the sense of "cold" long ago. But this place was very strange.

Unlike the real freezing cold, there seems to be a chilly and life-giving chill here, long and fine, silently drilling into the cracks between people's bones.

It was like a gentle murderous intent that even a body of steel could not resist.

When people are here, their whole bodies become heavy, and if their minds relax for a moment, they will be plagued by fatigue and tiredness.

Cheng Qian frowned. What the hell is this place?

The Frost Blade was still hanging on his waist. Cheng Qian moved his stiff fingers slightly and found that the spear had turned back into dragon bones and the dragon soul had returned to the flag. The True Dragon Flag was being held tightly in his palm.

Seeing that these two things that shouldn't be lost were there, he felt relieved.

Cheng Qian was about to get up and put his hand on the ground, but he felt a sharp burning pain in the palm of his hand. Then he remembered the Demon-Slaying Array Eye that he was holding in his hand.

However, when he raised his hand, his palm was clean. Not only was there no charred blood and flesh as he had imagined, there was not even a small scratch.

This is really strange...

Cheng Qian's mind moved, and suddenly a white light flashed in the palm of his hand, passing by a small arc-shaped mark. Looking closely, it seemed to be the shape of a human ear. It only appeared for a moment and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Apart from the remaining burning pain and the inexplicable marks, there was nothing else unusual, so Cheng Qian had to put it aside for the time being.

As he struggled, the wounds of varying sizes on his back were torn apart immediately. He hissed softly and planned to sit in meditation to regulate his breathing and heal his wounds first.

At this time, Cheng Qian heard Yan Zhengming's voice coming from the side.

"Don't use your true energy recklessly." Yan Zhengming sat far away from him, his voice a little hoarse, "If I'm not mistaken, we may have reached the bottom of the Heart Demon Valley, near the No Regrets Platform - do you have any trauma medicine on you?"

"No, I'm not a wandering thief." Cheng Qian used his keel to support himself and stood up. "What's going on? Brother, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, just sit still." Yan Zhengming said, "The demon-slaying formation made too much noise, and we summoned the True Dragon Soul when we broke the formation. Han Yuan, that fool, also set fire to the Peach Blossom Miasma. Now that the 'Dragon, Earth, Demon, and Human Desire' are all together, they accidentally tore a crack in the outer seal of the No Regrets Platform. We were in a relatively inaccessible position at the time and were sucked in."

Cheng Qian: “…”

I must have not checked the almanac before going out this time, as all kinds of bad luck have happened to me.

Yan Zhengming seemed to be suppressing something. He took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly and heavily, and whispered weakly: "It doesn't matter. The Fuyao Sect has guarded the Heart Demon Valley for generations. The leader's seal is still on me. It must have a way to get out. Don't use your true energy casually. Treat your wounds first."

Cheng Qian's injuries were all on his back, and it was inconvenient to treat them using ordinary methods. He moved his shoulders slightly and felt that there were no injuries to his muscles or bones, so he fortunately left them aside.

Cheng Qian didn't take the flesh wound seriously, but he felt that something was very wrong with Yan Zhengming - when he was a kid, he had a fight with a group of casual cultivators and was only hit on the back by the Demon-Subduing Pestle. The eldest senior brother would curse and personally apply medicine to him. How come this time, when he was cut into pieces by the Demon-Slaying Array, he just had to "deal with it himself"?

Cheng Qian stood up and walked towards him: "Brother, what's wrong with you?"

Yan Zhengming said sternly: "I told you not to come over here!"

He shouted so loudly that his voice almost broke. Cheng Qian paused for a moment, then walked over without listening to him at all.

Yan Zhengming curled up in a corner that was darker than the surrounding area. If it weren't for the cultivator's amazing eyesight, he would have hardly been able to find where he was. The darkness made Yan Zhengming's facial features blurry, and only a mark of the inner demon that had faded for a long time between his eyebrows reappeared. The dark red mark was particularly conspicuous, like a bright scar.

Cheng Qian was stunned, and raised his hand to touch the mark: "Is this... affected by the Heart Demon Valley?"

Yan Zhengming had nowhere to hide, so he had to close his eyes and remain silent like an old monk in meditation. If it weren't for the impetuous and violent look between his brows that was almost bursting out of his face, it would really look like that.

As Cheng Qian approached, Yan Zhengming's eyebrows trembled violently, as if he was enduring great pain.

Finally, he couldn't stand it anymore and grabbed Cheng Qian's wrist.

Yan Zhengming's palms were like iron clamps, and the temperature of his palms was scorching hot, almost burning. The dark red mark between his eyebrows became brighter and brighter, like blood, a deep red.

He grasped Cheng Qian's wrist, bent down in pain, and whispered in a low voice like a madman: "Don't come over...Xiao Qian, I beg you..."

Cheng Qian was not unaware of what "inner demon" was, but this was the first time he knew that someone could be tortured by an inner demon like this.

What is it that is trapping him in his heart?

Cheng Qian observed Yan Zhengming in doubt for a moment. Although he felt that it was not good for him to spy on him like this, he could not care less at this moment.

He thought to himself, "Brother, I'm sorry."

Then he activated his spiritual consciousness and connected with the soul fragments in the wooden sword.

Two strange perspectives appeared again. Cheng Qian saw Yan Zhengming's chaotic inner palace clearly through the fragments of his soul sealed in the wooden sword. He saw true energy running around, and even the sword energy was ready to move. If it weren't for the wooden sword that was barely suppressing it, who knows what would have happened.

The lingering inner demons were like wisps of black clouds, fluttering up and down beside Yan Zhengming's soul as he closed his eyes in meditation, entangling him tightly.

At this moment, Cheng Qian saw human faces one by one from the black and red inner demon cloud, and he was suddenly stunned.

The person who is possessed by the inner demon is himself.

The next moment, the lingering inner demon turned into a wisp of black smoke and fell to the ground in a human form. The man seemed to sense something, looked back at the wooden sword, revealing a familiar yet unfamiliar sneer, and then he slowly walked towards Yan Zhengming's meditating soul, knelt down lightly, and fell on his knees.

Cheng Qian: “…”

It was the first time he knew himself who was so good at flirting, and he didn't know how to react.

The inner demon with the appearance of Cheng Qian raised his head and twisted Yan Zhengming's chin, staring at him silently for a moment. Seeing that he refused to open his eyes, he suddenly chuckled, stretched out his pale fingertips, slowly stroked the lips of the meditating Yuanshen, and whispered: "Brother, why don't you look at me?"

Outside the inner palace, Yan Zhengming's fingers that were holding Cheng Qian's wrist suddenly contracted, causing his wrist bones to crackle.

Cheng Qian awkwardly withdrew his spiritual sense, half-knelt on the ground, and felt a blank in his mind.

He was stunned for a long time, recalling every clue one by one, and the seemingly rude reaction of the eldest brother when he asked that question in the small scripture building... It was unbelievable.

"So the inner demon is me?" Cheng Qian thought blankly, "Isn't that possible?"

Yan Zhengming bent down, with a thin trace of blood at the corner of his mouth.

Cheng Qian came to his senses and realized that he couldn't let him go on like this.

"Big Brother," Cheng Qian freed a hand, pressed Yan Zhengming's shoulder, and said softly, "Focus, this is the Heart Demon Valley, don't let it disturb you."

Yan Zhengming opened his eyes upon hearing this, looking at him blankly with a confused look in his eyes.

Cheng Qian's heart suddenly began to beat wildly.

As if by some strange coincidence, Cheng Qian asked in a low voice: "Brother, what exactly is your inner demon?"

For a moment, he saw Yan Zhengming's lips move slightly, and the answer was about to come out.

Cheng Qian broke out in a cold sweat on his back. The wound he had sustained from the killing was both painful and itchy. He had never been so nervous in his life.

But soon Yan Zhengming's eyes became clear while struggling. He suddenly loosened his hand and pushed Cheng Qian away fiercely... but he didn't push him.

Yan Zhengming's hands were shaking uncontrollably, and he was completely exhausted from the torture of his inner demons. His fingers pressing on Cheng Qian's shoulders accidentally slipped into a knife wound on his arm. The cold blood had not yet dried and stained his hand. Yan Zhengming quickly retracted his hand: "You..."

Cheng Qian didn't even look at the bleeding shoulder. His dark eyes were darker and deeper than any darkness. The brief and sharp pain seemed to stimulate him. Cheng Qian knew that he shouldn't do this, but his heart still couldn't help boiling.

He pressed on, "You know that the more you hide your inner demons, the more serious they will become. Why can't you speak up? What is there to hide?"

Yan Zhengming: “Let go…”

Cheng Qian: "Senior Brother!"

Yan Zhengming roared with red eyes: "Cheng Qian, you want to rebel..."

Before he could finish his words, Cheng Qian suddenly pushed him against the wall, lowered his head as if to risk everything, and kissed his mouth before he could close it.

All of Yan Zhengming's words were blocked at once.

Cheng Qian had never understood romance, let alone the ways of the world. He was very good at not looking at anything inappropriate, and he didn't even dare to take a close look at the fake Pure Tranquility Sutra in the Sutra Building. It wasn't even a kiss, just a touch like a dragonfly touching the water, but Yan Zhengming's head made a buzzing sound, and his soul was scared out of his wits.

He gasped sharply, and involuntarily tightened his fingers, tightly grasping Cheng Qian's collar.

"Forgive me for offending you, brother." Cheng Qian was already too nervous. On the surface, he seemed calm, even speaking in a tone that was as calm as a dead pig. "Are you going to lock me up for reflection, or are you going to clean up the mess, or just beat me to death? I promise not to fight back."

Yan Zhengming: “…”

The shock was so frightening that even the inner demon that was stirring up trouble seemed to have to retreat.

After Cheng Qian said these outrageous words, he suddenly felt happy. He made up his mind and held Yan Zhengming's hand that was holding his collar: "In the Demon Slaying Formation, you asked me who would be struck by the peach blossom calamity. Big Brother, I'm telling you now. Do you dare to listen?"

At this time, in Yan Zhengming's inner palace, the inner demon condensed into the appearance of Cheng Qian again, leisurely hugged his soul from behind, and whispered in his ear: "Brother, I will give you whatever you want, do you dare to take it?"

Caught between these two attacks, Yan Zhengming simply couldn't tell what was true and what was false.

The inner demon in the inner palace stretched out his finger, gently stroked his soul body, and whispered: "Brother, I have no distractions, and I have practiced for a hundred years. Even the heavenly tribulation cannot shake me. Now I am destroyed in your hands. Are you happy?"

Those words were like a basin of ice water, mixed with the boundless chill from the Heart Demon Valley, falling over his head and seeping into every inch of his bones.

Yan Zhengming's face turned pale and he was speechless.

The inner demon would occasionally say with a soft smile, "Brother, you have been coveting me for so long, why do you have to be so hypocritical now?"

Sometimes he would angrily scold coldly: "Master Yan, you are a shameless person who steals from the public!"

Sometimes he transformed into the appearance of the young Cheng Qian, with an empty bloody hole on his chest, and looked at him dimly: "Brother, didn't you tell me not to worry, and that you would take care of everything?"

“Brother…”

Yan Zhengming swayed back and forth between extreme cold and extreme heat, sweat appeared on his forehead, and for a moment his eyes were almost red.

Cheng Qian had not expected that his words would make the head master so angry. He was feeling a little helpless when he suddenly caught a glimpse of the Heart Demon Seal between his eyebrows. He saw that the thin gap was so red that it was about to bleed.

Cheng Qian frowned slightly, then he brazenly used the soul fragments on the wooden sword to extract his spiritual consciousness and broke into Yan Zhengming's inner palace again.

As soon as he entered, he was frightened by the inner demons all over the place. All of them looked like him, but their expressions were different. An increasingly thicker black air was swirling up and down in the sword cultivator's inner mansion, greedily absorbing the true essence here and transforming into more phantoms.

At first, Cheng Qian just felt his scalp tingling. Anyone who saw hundreds or thousands of himself gathered together would feel chilled, but the next moment, he heard clearly what those inner demons were saying.

Cheng Qian's eyes suddenly turned cold, and he felt an inexplicable resentment in his heart.

He waved his hand, and through the original spirit in the wooden sword, he activated the wooden sword in Yan Zhengming's inner palace. The wooden sword rose up, a layer of white frost gathered on the sword body, and rushed into the inner demons like a whirlwind, knocking away the dancing demons.

The inner demon fled in panic, then gathered into a thick black gas again, which stubbornly occupied Yan Zhengming's inner palace.

Yan Zhengming's qi surged, his throat felt fishy, ​​and a surge of blood almost rushed to his throat and tongue, but he managed to hold it back.

He regained consciousness briefly, waved his hands at Cheng Qian in a self-deprecating manner, and said weakly, "Stop messing around."

"I never mess around." Cheng Qian stared at him with burning eyes, "Big Brother, I will never give up until I die."

Yan Zhengming frowned and was about to say something.

Cheng Qian's eyes narrowed, and he suddenly smiled: "If you are willing to expel me from the sect, it will be more convenient."

Yan Zhengming: “…”

He himself had thought this way before: if he were not the head of the sect and could switch places with Cheng Qian in terms of status, he would be able to face his inappropriate feelings without any burden. If he was expelled from the sect, he would be able to do whatever he wanted. Who would have thought that Cheng Qian would say exactly the same thing out loud.

This strange "telepathy" made him laugh and cry for a moment.

But after the initial shock passed, Yan Zhengming still realized that something was wrong - Cheng Qian was the most straightforward when he was insulting others or taking action. He was actually very introverted and rarely showed his emotions. If he did, they were mostly fake... Even if he was sincere, it was only what he meant in his heart, and he would never say it again and again.

What's more, the two of them had inexplicably fallen into the Valley of Demons and didn't know how to get out.

Yan Zhengming regained consciousness and his mind became active. He suddenly remembered the strange frost hanging on the wooden sword in the demon-slaying array. He immediately threw everything aside and asked, "What did you know? Cheng Qian, I'll ask you again, what's in that wooden sword?"

Cheng Qian: “…”

If he had not seen with his own eyes the thousands of incarnations of the inner demon in Yan Zhengming's inner palace, he would have thought that it was all his own wishful thinking.

Yan Zhengming: "How did you put the Fuyao sword intent into the wooden sword?"

Cheng Qian, who had been arguing confidently just now, fell silent.

The two men were in a stalemate for a moment. Yan Zhengming was exhausted for a moment, so he pushed Cheng Qian away and stood up shakily.

Yan Zhengming said, "If you don't want to tell me, forget it. I don't care why you know it... but it's just a demon in the heart. When a sword cultivator enters the Sword God Realm, he always has a demon in his heart with every step. So what? Since I have come this far, I can still suppress it. You... you don't have to pity me."

Cheng Qian was speechless. He suddenly wanted to knock open his senior brother's embroidered pillow-like head to see if the inner demon had gnawed away the inside until only a lump of paste was left.

Yan Zhengming glanced at him, took out a thumb-sized seal stone from his bosom, and gently put his palm on it. A faint layer of white light rose from the seal stone, illuminating the dark bottom of the Heart Demon Valley. He turned his back to Cheng Qian and said casually: "I won't bother with you today. Let's go and find a way out..."

Cheng Qian suddenly hugged him from behind. Yan Zhengming's back stiffened and he was about to scold him.

Then he heard Cheng Qian gnashing his teeth and saying, "You eat and drink all day long, and you are a spendthrift and conceited. No one would pity you! I just like you and want you! What else can I say!"