Senior Chu transmitted her voice, and said, [Why would I even lie to you? This group of twisting tentacles is undoubtedly ‘love,’ it’s the inner demon of love.]
It was precisely because this type of love was taboo and twisted that it had to be avoided. This type of love was not the same as normal love, and it was this type that could produce an inner demon.
If it had been a normal type of love, it would have been very difficult for the cultivator to have gotten an inner demon—because they generally had immunity to such things.
Love was a very important emotion in the life of a young cultivator, and it could give birth to strong emotional fluctuations.
Love was a double-edged sword. It could make a person burst out with outstanding potential, but it could also dampen their dao heart.
Therefore, when it came to the aspect of love, every major force had special courses on it.
The psychology of love had been an important subject in the cultivation world since ancient times.
Improving one’s character, developing one’s dao heart, and cultivating the heart before cultivating immortality.
At present, in some proper cultivation forces, there would usually be seniors who would deliver lectures for younger cultivators. Occasionally, there would be lessons in these lectures on how to correctly view the concept of love, how to view one’s dao companion, how to resolve a lovelorn state as quickly as possible, how to deal with heartbreak, and many other topics concerning love.
There were also some forces who would teach their disciples to look down on love. They would frame it such that as long as you were strong enough and lived long enough, you could fall in love and have a 20-year-old dao companion even when you were 1000 years old.
A portion of the old-fashioned forces would even publicize the statement that “only the strong are worthy of love.”
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Ding Gan frowned at the sight of the tentacles in the water mirror.
An inner demon?
Love?
Fortunately, I came to see Profound Sage Tyrannical Song this time… Otherwise, I would not have even known that I had an inner demon. If I wasn’t careful, I might have gone astray and died.
He looked closely at the tentacles in the mirror, and began to think about the reason for the birth of this inner demon.
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[Taboo love?] Song Shuhang, Pavilion Master Chu, and Senior Scarlet Heaven Sword entered a small-scale group voice transmission state.
Pavilion Master Chu also involved Su Clan’s Sixteen, Senior Turtle and the others who were watching from upstairs in the scope of the group voice transmission.
Scarlet Heaven Sword said, [Love is such a troublesome thing: it will bring people hope and strength during times of despair, but it can be the one to bring despair and make people lose their desire to live… This is why it’s better to be a sentient weapon like me.]
[However, it seems that little fellow daoist Ding Gan doesn’t even know about his inner demon. Does he not know about such a taboo or twisted love in his heart?] Song Shuhang asked curiously. [If it is related to love, what kind of love was it for it to have turned into an inner demon? Does it have something to do with a person he loved? Or does it have more to do with himself?]
The black-skinned Scarlet Heaven Sword reminded Shuhang, [Don’t go around calling everyone little fellow daoist, call him big brother.]
Su Clan’s Sixteen, who was watching from upstairs, could not help but laugh.
Song Shuhang habitually used the ❮Saber-Nurturing Technique❯.
“Aaaah~ Good~~” the black-skinned Scarlet Heaven Sword mumbled, its voice cute and crisp.
The three little fellow daoists facing them were dumbfounded.
Pavilion Master Chu transmitted her voice, and said, [That’s because his heavenly tribulation is imminent. When one’s heavenly tribulation is imminent, some minor emotions in the cultivator’s heart will emerge. As long as there are loopholes in their heart or mind, sometimes even small loopholes that they do not notice would be magnified during such periods and transform into an inner demon tribulation. This is why the inner demon tribulation is the most hated tribulation of cultivators.]
In other words, little fellow daoist Ding Gan’s loophole was one he did not even know of.
Su Clan’s Sixteen asked, [But there normally isn’t an inner demon tribulation in a Third Stage heavenly tribulation, right?]
Some time ago, Su Kongjun had transcended his Third Stage heavenly tribulation. Normally, the inner demon tribulation only began appearing in the Fourth Stage heavenly tribulation.
Senior Turtle replied, [Regardless of which heavenly tribulation it is, if the cultivator has an inner demon before their heavenly tribulation, there is a chance of it transforming into an inner demon tribulation.]
Pavilion Master Chu remarked, [Even if you are lucky, and your inner demon does not transform into an inner demon tribulation during the heavenly tribulation, your inner demon will undoubtedly grow larger… If you aren’t careful, you can still end up experiencing cultivation deviation.]
“Senior Tyrannical Song,” Ding Gan said, “is there a way to resolve my inner demon?”
“At present, if you want to deal with your inner demon, you can only rely on your own dao heart to resist it,” Pavilion Master Chu answered in Song Shuhang’s place. “Now that you already know that you have an inner demon, and that it is related to love, you can be prepared for it when it comes.”
As long as one had precautions in their heart, and their dao heart was firm enough when the time came, then they would not have a problem resisting such a weak inner demon.
His inner demon was nothing serious. In fact, it was even so weak that he, himself, did not notice it.
Scarlet Heaven Sword added, “If you can know what your inner demon is related to, then simply strengthen your mental defense in that regard.”
Song Shuhang and the others all looked at Ding Gan with some curiosity.
What was the love that caused the young man to form an inner demon?
Such gossip could always arouse people’s curiosity.
“Actually, even I have no idea in that regard.” Ding Gan smiled wryly after sensing everyone’s curiosity.
Senior Turtle jumped down from upstairs, and asked curiously, “You are at that phase when the feeling of love would be overflowing within you. Have you never fallen in love with someone else?”
Song Shuhang said, “Senior Turtle, you need to deal with that disease of jumping down from windows. Next time, you should take the stairs.”
Senior Turtle waved its forelimbs, and said, “It’s fine. I’m a turtle, not a human. Isn’t it normal for animals to jump out of windows? Cats, and all those other animals, they all go out through windows, don’t they?”
“…” Song Shuhang.
Ding Gan said embarrassedly, “Actually, I already have a dao companion, and our relationship is very stable. Our relationship should not have had the conditions to foster an inner demon.”
Senior Scarlet Heaven Sword said, “If it’s not your fault, it’s Shuhang’s fault.”
“???” Song Shuhang.
What does this have to do with me? What did I do? I have no fault in this.
At this moment, the virtuous lamia swooped out from behind Song Shuhang, and said, “What is love!”
Fairy Creation followed right after, and said, “What is filial piety!”
The two fairies floated beside Song Shuhang on his left and right, flaring out their arms like white cranes as they stood on one leg like a golden rooster. Their eyes then stared straight at Song Shuhang’s shadow.
After a while, the black-skinned Soft Feather shyly emerged from his shadow, and assumed the same pose before saying, “Do you know the greatness of maternal love?”
On the opposite side, Ding Gan’s face suddenly turned pale.
Senior Scarlet Heaven Sword said slowly, “Exactly.”
“…” Song Shuhang.
“No, it can’t be this. I’m sure of this, and I don’t have any psychological problems when it comes to maternal love.” Ding Gan waved his hands again and again.
Pavilion Master Chu pondered for a moment, and then she suddenly plucked a hair from the top of Song Shuhang’s head.
Then, she placed the hair in Ding Gan’s hands. “Take this strand of hair, it might bring you a little luck.”
“Thank you, Senior.” Ding Gan happily accepted the strand of hair.
This is Profound Sage Tyrannical Song’s hair, it should definitely work as a protective amulet, right?
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Pavilion Master Chu put away the water mirror.
The three polite young cultivators bid their goodbyes to Song Shuhang and took their leave.
“Senior Chu, does my hair have a lucky effect? Can it really defend against inner demons?” Song Shuhang asked curiously. If there was such a function, he could grow it… He had the ❮Hair Growing Technique❯, and he could get rich just by selling his hair.
Pavilion Master Chu shook his head, and said, “No.”
“…” Song Shuhang.
Pavilion Master Chu said slowly, “However, after all, it is the hair of the first Sage in a thousand years, Profound Sage Tyrannical Song. Moreover, it was a cultivator of my level who endorsed it. As long as I say that it brings good fortune, ordinary little cultivators will definitely believe it.”
In the case of this peerless expert’s endorsement certification, what was fake could be made real.
Pavilion Master Chu continued, “As long as he believes, there will be a sort of ‘hint’ in his heart. Even if he encounters an inner demon, with the strand of hair in hand, he will subconsciously think that it can help him resist the inner demon and boost his confidence. It’s a small trick, but sometimes it’s practical.”
“So that’s the case.” Song Shuhang raised his posture, and wrote this action down in his notebook—in the future, when his disciples Chu Chu and Little Cai transcended their tribulation, he could invite a peerless expert to appear to consecrate them with blessings as a “protective amulet,” boosting their confidence in transcending their tribulation.
The seniors truly are worthy of being seniors. There is still a lot for me to learn from them.
Pavilion Master Chu continued, “In addition, I placed a ❮Divine Weapon Appraisal❯ mark on the strand of hair. When this young man transcends his calamity, we can watch him from a distance. Perhaps we can crack the mysteries of his inner demon and extract it.”
Whenever they made a move, reliable seniors truly were impeccable.
Song Shuhang still had a long way to go before becoming a reliable senior such as that.
Song Shuhang said, “Then let’s wait for the 22nd.”
He could not provide little fellow daoist Ding Gan with help. The little fellow daoist had to overcome his tribulation on his own.
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Seeing that it was still early, Song Shuhang prepared to go to the vegetable market to buy some ingredients to try out and show off his cooking skills.
Sixteen got ready to go with him.
The other seniors stayed at home.
Song Shuhang opened the door, and stepped out of the building.
Suddenly, the sound of loud rumbling filled his ears.
In the next moment… a normal immortal shuttle suddenly emerged from the void.
It was an imitation of the [Universe-Piercing Flying Shuttle].
Before becoming enlightened, the sixth Wielder of the Will possessed the fastest flying shuttle in the world… Now, this flying shuttle was in the hands of Senior White Two.
Later on, the current Senior White and Senior White Two exchanged some technology, and he acquired an imitation. However, it was not much worse than the real one.
The shuttle appeared in an instant, stopping right as it reached Song Shuhang’s stomach.
“Aaah~ Ah~” Song Shuhang screamed four times, and was knocked back and fell into the yard.
“Shuhang, are you all right?” Su Clan’s Sixteen ran beside him.
Song Shuhang got up from the ground, and touched his stomach. “Ugh… I’m fine.”
…When the flying shuttle appeared, it had immediately stopped by the entrance. While the force from the impact might have seemed like it was a lot, in fact, it did not even harm a single strand of hair on his body.
True Monarch Eternal Fire hurriedly jumped out of the immortal shuttle, and said, “Little friend Shuhang, are you okay? When we left, I set the immortal shuttle’s navigation destination to the entrance. I wasn’t able to stop in time… It was simply too fast.”
Song Shuhang asked curiously, “Senior Eternal Fire was the one driving? Where is Senior White?”
True Monarch Eternal Fire smiled bitterly, and said, “Fellow Daoist White was indeed the one driving it initially, but as we were flying back, the immortal shuttle stopped on a meteoroid, and he began to go into a daze. Therefore, I had no choice but to take over in driving the immortal shuttle back. By the way, it’s already about time. Let’s go to the scholarly faction. Who wants to drive the car? This immortal shuttle is a bit too fast for me. I feel uncomfortable driving it.”
