If one was not careful, and a junior couldn't endure it, their Dao heart might crumble, or their mind might be polluted and controlled by the great demon, utterly ruining them.
Only Xiaoyao disciples, who were strictly trained from the very beginning, could withstand it; and only Xiaoyao mighty figures, who had experienced hardship themselves, could provide a safety net if something went wrong.
The little girl had suffered severe injuries from divine sense and spirit energy overexertion, which was why her sea of consciousness had been completely sealed. Only now was she exposed to the great demon's resentment.
Her four companions, whose seas of consciousness were not as severely injured, had a much tougher time.
On the day they returned, Martial Aunt Yi Shu had healed them with Mind-Nourishing Pills and deliberately left a small opening when sealing their seas of consciousness.
A wisp of the great demon's resentment would escape through that small opening, tormenting them day and night.
The longer they stayed on Alchemy Peak, the more painful it became. To keep themselves busy and distracted, they all quickly slipped away to the Wen and Mu families, not even waiting for the little girl to wake up.
Since Martial Uncle Yi Chu was here, he must have obtained the Demon-Purifying Flower, which Martial Aunt Yi Shu then refined into pills.
Calculating the time, those four little ones should have also been called back by their respective masters to have their seals completely removed.
Regardless, the four of them had a gradual buffer, which was still better than the little girl's situation.
Speaking of which, alas! The poor little girl was truly miserable.
Fortunately, it was an auspicious beast and didn't have to suffer this torment.
Gu Ningyun was unaware of the fat duck's thoughts.
Her eyes were tightly shut, her sea of consciousness already a battlefield engulfed in smoke and fire.
“Kill! Kill them all—!”
She broke out in layers of cold sweat, her long hair damp and clinging to her cheeks and neck.
She gritted her teeth, her brows tightly furrowed.
One, three, a hundred, a thousand voices roared in her sea of consciousness, as ferocious as evil spirits.
“Why! Why!”
“The Heavenly Dao is unkind, treating all beings as straw dogs.”
“How ridiculous, how lamentable. When did it cease to be its former self?”
“The Heavenly Dao is unjust, favoring the human race. What about our demon race?”
“What former self? It has never been fair.”
“Kill, kill everyone under heaven.”
“Slaughter, slaughter all humans!”
Within her sea of consciousness, her soul avatar sat in meditation, with its five hearts facing heaven, guarding the last shred of clarity in its mind.
She couldn't resist, couldn't speak.
It was like returning to that night in the Luan'an Mountain Range.
No, it was a hundred times more unbearable than that night in the Luan'an Mountain Range!
That night in the Luan'an Mountain Range, the songs had impacted her sea of consciousness.
Now, the great demon's resentment was eroding her spirit-soul.
Her Master's voice was steady, coming through the layers of resentment clearly,
“Even if you can't do it, you must try. Now, do as I say. Do not listen, do not look, do not think, do not dwell. Just like meditating normally. Ignore the outside world, return to your original self. Once you see your true heart, let nothing invade it.”
Her Master's words were spoken only once, but the last sentence exploded in her mind like a thunderclap.
Following her Master's guidance, she proceeded step by step, little by little.
It felt like an instant, yet also like a very, very long time.
The persistent, entangling voices gradually became indistinct.
“Once you see your true heart, let nothing invade it.”
Only this sentence, like a final beacon, guided her forward.
Step by step, she returned to her most tranquil true heart.
It was as if she had returned to that Dao Insight, where a long river traversed the sky, and an eternal will inquired,
“You, what Dao do you cultivate?”
She clearly remembered that question.
What Dao did she cultivate?
The eternal will's gaze upon her was like looking at a babbling child.
She didn't know, she couldn't answer.
Now, her Master was telling her to see her true heart.
What was her true heart?
Memories from her previous life, the storybooks she had read about being a female supporting character, seemed to have passed through thousands of dimensions, long since inscrutable and unclear.
She only knew the present, only knew the now.
She had to temper herself, she had to cultivate, she had to increase her strength to protect herself.
Only then could she protect everything she cared about.
Only by being powerful could she achieve true freedom.
“Why!”
“The Heavenly Dao is unbalanced; it should be the most impartial, yet why is it so unfair?”
“Kill everyone under heaven, slaughter all humans!”
The ghostly voices entangled her again, dense and numerous, trying to drag her into the abyss.
Gu Ningyun's soul avatar slowly opened its eyes. “You have resentment, but what does that have to do with me?”
In her sea of consciousness, every voice was filled with malice, deadly to the touch.
She couldn't hear them, nor could she understand them.
The only thing she could do was find a focal point, a safe anchor for her attention.
Focus only on the matters of the true heart; let all evils pass by unheard.
She finally dared to listen, to see, to speak.
The edges of her soul were stained black, a result of the ancient great demon's resentment erosion, which only the Demon-Purifying Flower could resolve.
But no matter how much the resentment eroded, her soul always retained a sliver of clarity.
As long as that sliver remained, the Demon-Purifying Flower could save her.
The myriad voices of resentment surged even more fiercely, and the soul avatar declared, “Is that all you are? You are merely passersby on my cultivation path.”
What if it was the remnant thoughts of an ancient great demon? It was just resentment mixed in with songs, not the great demon itself.
The resentment could no longer shake Gu Ningyun's inner clarity.
Ignoring the irritation and discomfort of her soul being eroded, she opened her eyes and looked at the immortal before her.
“Master.”
A clear, transparent pellet was offered to her lips. “Open your mouth.”
A small spell flashed at his fingertips, and the pill was sent into her mouth.
There was no taste of any herbs.
Gu Ningyun had only one feeling left—purity.
A purity she had never experienced before.
As soon as the pure medicinal power entered her sea of consciousness, the resentment reacted as if it had met its natural enemy.
No, not 'as if,' it was its natural enemy.
Like an octopus retracting its tentacles, the resentment curled into a ball, scurrying around in her sea of consciousness, covering its head.
The medicinal power flowed like water and mist, washing over her soul and permeating her entire sea of consciousness.
All darkness, all resentment, vanished without a trace.
Only after the familiar divine sense had finished inspecting her sea of consciousness and the hand on her forehead withdrew did Gu Ningyun twist her neck and stretch her body.
Having been sealed for so long, once released, her divine sense bolted like an unbridled wild horse, soaring over mountain after mountain.
“Master, I'm better!”
“Mm.”
“My divine sense seems to have gotten stronger. Not an increase in divine sense cultivation, but the divine sense itself feels more compressed, more refined, stronger, and more obedient to my command. I can now perceive much greater distances.”
“Mm.”
“Master, I feel super strong now, invincible!”
“......Mm.”
She turned her head and saw the fat duck still there, making her even happier.
“Senior Brother Linchuan, are there any more deep mountains or old forests? Let's go find demon beasts to fight again. This time, I want to go by myself!”
Unlike a certain doting, elderly cultivator master, the fat duck was an auspicious beast with principles.
“...Junior Sister, the great demon's resentment tempers your willpower, not your eyes. Open your eyes and look at your cultivation level. Can you beat a rank five demon beast, huh?”
It puffed out its chest. “Such trivial matters as beating demon beasts, leave them to your Senior Brother.”
At Yi Chu's helpless shake of his head, Gu Ningyun chuckled.
Getting back to business, she recalled her recent experience and asked a question she had been holding back for a long time, “Master, there's a merit bundle in my sea of consciousness. Doesn't merit dispel negative energy? Why was it useless against the great demon's resentment?”
“This isn't ordinary resentment, but a curse.”
She was even more puzzled. “A curse?”
“This involves a major event from ancient times, and the surviving remnant scrolls don't record it very clearly. You just need to know that if the demon race doesn't generate resentment, then fine; but once it does, that resentment is definitely a curse, and only the Demon-Purifying Flower can resolve it.”
So mysterious, and something she couldn't delve into right now?
Never mind, if Master said so, she would just obey.
Rate on N.U.
