"Buzz~~~"
Gu Lingyu stood atop the Great Array of Books, suddenly feeling his mind go blank. A thread of inner demon power eroded his physical body and directly enveloped his state of mind. Although he knew this was a trial of the undefeated inner demon, a test of his heart, Gu Lingyu still felt as though his soul was being scorched.
"..."
He frowned, his body suddenly plummeting, eventually landing in a forest of stone tablets filled with text. All around, the Confucian literary energy of heaven and earth was abundant, and even from the distance, the sound of clear reading echoed from the Confucian academy. This scene was far too familiar.
This was the Literary Forest of Confucianism, the place where Gu Lingyu had grown up.
"Teacher."
His heart suddenly trembled. As he looked into the distance, he saw an old man standing outside the Literary Forest. He wore a tattered Confucian robe, his body gaunt and as thin as could be. His hair was white, and his eyes lacked any divine radiance. This was Gu Lingyu's teacher, Master Zihuai of the Confucian Literary Forest.
Seeing his teacher's desolate state, Gu Lingyu's heart twisted like a knife. He rushed forward several steps, but his feet seemed to sink into mud. Tears streamed down his face as he cried, "Teacher! Teacher, why have you become like this?"
"..."
Master Zihuai slowly raised his head, his eyes filled with sorrow as he looked at Gu Lingyu. "So it is... my Lingyu... This is no place to linger, hurry... hurry away..."
"Teacher!"
Gu Lingyu knelt on the ground, his body unable to move.
At that moment, the surroundings began to change. The forest of stone tablets slowly vanished, transforming into black trees covered in thorns. It was still the Literary Forest, but it was the "Forest of Cautionary Words" that scholars disdained the most, a place for Confucian scholars who had made mistakes to reflect on their transgressions.
Master Zihuai still stood there, but bloodstains oozed from his shoulders. A pair of golden shackles had pierced through his shoulders, sealing his cultivation.
Guilt Gold Shackles were the severe punishment inflicted upon those with great sins and transgressions in the Confucian Literary Forest. Anyone bound by the Guilt Gold Shackles was considered expelled from the Confucian Literary Forest, and from then on, Confucianism would no longer recognize them as practitioners of the Confucian Way.
"Teacher..."
Gu Lingyu's voice began to tremble, tears streaming down his face. He looked up at the sky in anger and said, "Teacher, what transgression have you committed to be treated like this? I, Gu Lingyu, am not convinced! Even if I have to appeal to the Supreme Sage Teacher, I will definitely seek justice for you!"
Master Zihuai's face was filled with sorrow. "It's all in vain... does justice truly exist in this world?"
In an instant, Gu Lingyu's state of mind trembled and wavered. His peak twelfth realm began to shake precariously.
...
"Lingyu!"
Lin Zhao stood in the sea of books, shouting hoarsely, "Don't sink deeper! It's all inner demons, all illusion! You must see through it!"
Alas, his shouts could not reach Gu Lingyu's eyes.
At that moment, he suddenly turned his head and saw Fu Zhi's delicate body swaying in the wind, her pretty face as pale as paper. In this moment, Fu Zhi had also fallen deep into the inner demon.
"Lord!"
In the realm of inner demons, Fu Zhi seemed to have transformed back into the white-clothed maiden. Her right arm had grown back, and she held her sword, Cheng Xin, in her hand. Her twelfth realm peak sword intent erupted, but alas, Fu Zhi could not see the person she wished to see. That commander of the three armies, clad in white, had disappeared.
"Lord..."
Fu Zhi wept heartbrokenly. She had never imagined she would face such a catastrophe again, nor had she imagined that Lin Zhao, who had died and reincarnated, would perish once more. She looked ahead, where a half-mountain stood, filled with black mist, teeming with inner demons.
Lin Zhao had died in the mountain.
"How could this be? How could this be?"
Fu Zhi's tears flowed like a river as she stood alone.
At that moment, a sword tip suddenly pierced through Fu Zhi's chest. Then, flames erupted from the sword tip, directly burning through Fu Zhi's heart and turning it into ashes. Behind her, the voice of a thirteenth realm great demon sounded.
"Hmph, the legendary left-handed Sword Immortal Fu Zhi, nothing more than this. What a demon-slayer, the strongest twelfth realm in the world, turns out to be someone who can be killed with a single sword. Little ones, load Fu Zhi's body onto the cart, and transport it back to the ancestral mountain with her pathetic master. Burn it to sacrifice to heaven!"
"Hahahaha~~~"
A group of demon soldiers laughed wantonly.
Then, Fu Zhi felt her body being lifted by the demon soldiers and unceremoniously thrown onto a corpse cart.
This corpse cart reeked of putridity, a smell that was deeply imprinted in Fu Zhi's heart, a nightmare of hers. She just hadn't expected this nightmare to return.
And this time, the nightmare was even more soul-crushing. The moment Fu Zhi was involuntarily thrown onto the corpse cart, she turned her body and saw a sight that broke her heart.
She saw Lin Zhao's corpse. Clad in white robes and silver armor, he still carried the Dragon Slaying Sword on his back, but his white robes were almost entirely stained with blood. He lay prone on the corpse cart, half of his face sliced off by a demon sword cultivator, his death appearing incredibly tragic.
Then, more corpses were dropped, burying Lin Zhao's body.
"Lord... Lord..."
Fu Zhi wept, her heart torn apart. At this moment, her innocence had completely collapsed. What was the point of living in this world anymore?
...
"Fu Zhi!"
Lin Zhao watched, his fists clenched. He reached out to shake the drowsy, vacant-eyed Fu Zhi, but he was helpless. Fu Zhi was deeply ensnared in the inner demon. Furthermore, as Lin Zhao placed his hands on Fu Zhi's shoulders, his hands felt as if they were plunged into flames. The scorching inner demon flames were unbearable.
He hastily withdrew his hands and shouted, "Fu Zhi, it's all an illusion! Don't lose heart! You must pull yourself together!"
However, Fu Zhi, shrouded by the black vines of the inner demon and bathed in the flames of the inner demon, kept her eyes closed, tears streaming down her face. She merely murmured, "Lord... if you are leaving, take Fu Zhi with you. I don't want to live alone in this world anymore..."
Lin Zhao's eyes turned red. He had known for a long time that Fu Zhi was very dependent on him. It wasn't exactly love, but it was a pure emotion. He just hadn't expected her dependence on him to be so deep that he had become the source of her greatest inner demon.
Could he resent her for being useless?
No, at this moment, Lin Zhao only felt heartache and guilt for Fu Zhi. His death back then might have been swift, but those who lived had to endure a hundred years of torment.
Just then, Lin Zhao suddenly turned and saw Tang Guangjun "plop" to his knees, his face filled with remorse. He held a sword aloft, tears streaming from his eyes. Tormented by immense guilt, he was on the verge of drawing his sword and ending his own life.
"Tang Guangjun!"
Lin Zhao quickly rushed forward, grabbing Tang Guangjun's sword-wielding arm and shouting, "It's an illusion, it's not real! No matter what you see, it's what the undefeated inner demon wants you to see! Don't fall deeper!"
Alas, Tang Guangjun couldn't hear Lin Zhao's voice.
In the realm of inner demons, Tang Guangjun stood in the back mountains of the Military Sage's ancestral land, kneeling on a large blue stone. Not far away, an aged figure swayed unsteadily. He was disheveled, his armor tattered, and his military aura was very faint, while his ghostly aura was quite strong.
That old man was none other than Tang Guangjun's teaching master, Li Xin, one of the seventy-two generals of the Martial Temple.
Unfortunately, although Li Xin had achieved great military success and made many contributions to the Military Sage's ancestral land, he seemed to be not very proficient in military cultivation. Despite being ranked among the seventy-two generals, he remained only at the Star River realm.
In the Martial Temple, among the seventy-two generals, Huo Piaoyao and Old Master Huangfu Song were true thirteenth realm cultivators. Military cultivators were generally very difficult to defeat, otherwise they wouldn't be worthy of being called military scholars. Throughout the Martial Temple, the Four Sages were fourteenth realm, and the Ten Sages started at the thirteenth realm.
Therefore, even though Li Xin was ranked among the seventy-two generals, his realm was too low. What could a Star River realm cultivator do besides lead troops in battle? With the proliferation of inner demons from beyond the heavens, there was no shortage of people in the Military Sage's ancestral land who could lead troops. He, Li Xin, was not indispensable.
Moreover, there was a rule in the Military Sage's ancestral land: a disciple's rank could not exceed that of their master. Therefore, no matter how powerful Tang Guangjun's military cultivation was, even if he was already a peak twelfth realm sword cultivator, he still couldn't be included in the Martial Temple's seventy-two generals.
Li Xin had both enabled Tang Guangjun and become Tang Guangjun's restraint.
Hence, later, there was a quarrel and a test of conscience between master and disciple in the Military Sage's ancestral land. After that quarrel, Li Xin actually committed suicide and his soul dissipated. It was precisely because of this turmoil that the Military Sage exiled Tang Guangjun to the Snow Region Heavenly Pond as a gatekeeper.
In essence, Li Xin was Tang Guangjun's inner demon.
"Old man!"
Tang Guangjun knelt on the giant rock, tears streaming down his face. He thought of his past as a competitive youth, following his master Li Xin in cultivation. Even when he climbed onto Li Xin's shoulders, his master never blamed him and doted on him immensely.
Once, Tang Guangjun got into a fight with another apprentice in the ancestral land, and Li Xin, a mere Star River realm cultivator, went to argue with the twelfth realm master of the other party. If not for the intervention of the Military Immortal Han Xin, Li Xin would have been beaten.
Alas, the Tang Guangjun of that time was ignorant and complained, saying, "Old man, your biggest problem is your low realm and weak combat power. You can't even protect your own disciple."
That night, Li Xin wept alone in the back mountains for an entire night.
Now, Tang Guangjun recalled past events and understood his sin. He knelt on the stone and wailed, looking at Li Xin's disheveled, vengeful spirit. He felt no fear, only cried loudly, his heart filled with remorse.
Although the old man was weak, he had always tried his best to protect him.