427: Seeking inner demons

Gu Yanqing was somewhat bewildered.

"How could a person possibly achieve absolute absence of emotion?"

His disciple was killed by him; any human would be enraged.

"Even if these were just performances, could a person really remain unmoved by provocations at the level of the Realm?!"

Gu Yanqing was not merely speaking.

This was also a type of technique involving the Divine Soul.

This technique had no offensive power, yet through words or behavior, it could bury hidden dangers within a Cultivator's heart.

Burying hidden dangers for the opponent along their path of cultivation.

Even if he could not kill them this time, by planting the seed, one day the opponent would be injured, leading to stagnant cultivation, or they might suffer Qi Deviation, fall, and perish.

The next second.

Gu Yanqing felt his scalp tingle upon hearing Jiang Ning's words.

Jiang Ning said, "A Divine Soul Martial Skill that can quietly plant Heart Demon seeds in a person's heart is indeed hard to come by. Give this Martial Skill to me, and when I kill you later, I can leave you with an intact corpse."

Gu Yanqing frowned, "You know this kind of Martial Skill? That should not be; this should not be a Martial Skill you would know."

Jiang Ning smiled.

If he were a local, he truly would not know.

In the original novel, Gu Yanqing had backstabbed quite a few people relying on this Martial Skill.

This Divine Soul Martial Skill was called "Soul Demon Language," and Gu Yanqing had obtained it in a certain Realm when he was young.

Others could not comprehend it, but he had fully grasped it.

If one truly became emotional because of Gu Yanqing's words, then they had truly been planted with a Heart Demon.

The stronger the emotions, the easier it was to be planted with a Heart Demon.

Did this Martial Skill have a weakness?

It did.

As long as one remained unmoved, one could completely ignore this Martial Skill.

And one could even follow the Soul Power to plant a Heart Demon back into the opponent.

Jiang Ning thought Gu Yanqing would not use this move on him.

After all, this was only done when one knew they could not kill the opponent and the opponent would flee, so they planted a Heart Demon.

He thought Gu Yanqing was determined to kill him.

Jiang Ning asked Gu Yanqing with a smile, "Gu Yanqing, do you think I really do not know who you are? Do you think I was really just chasing Yun Qingyao to kill her? With my Realm, if I wanted to kill a Yun Qingyao, could she really have escaped?"

Boom—

Gu Yanqing felt as if he had been struck by lightning.

When the three words "Gu Yanqing" were spoken from Jiang Ning's mouth, he was no longer calm.

How could Jiang Ning know his name?

He had only told A Cai his name.

But A Cai and Jiang Ning were definitely meeting for the first time.

Could it be...

Impossible.

Gu Yanqing desperately denied it.

He did not want to admit that he had always been in Jiang Ning's scheme, nor did he want to admit that he had been played in the palm of Jiang Ning's hand.

Jiang Ning smiled.

"Gu Yanqing, do you think your death back then was solely because of the Demon Race? Have you never thought about who the Demon Race got your information from? Have you never suspected the Upper Realm Gu Family, your father?

What about your second younger brother, and your eldest sister?"

"Was it them?"

Gu Yanqing's brows furrowed tightly.

His body trembled uncontrollably.

Jiang Ning was from the Upper Realm; Jiang Ning was not a person from the Lower Realm!

Thinking about it this way, everything made sense.

That kind of knowledge, that understanding of him... everything was deliberate!

The events of that year—had his father, his eldest sister, and his second younger brother all participated?!

This was impossible.

Gu Yanqing's expression turned ugly.

Jiang Ning struck while the iron was hot, "Gu Yanqing, the background you are so proud of is worthless in my eyes. You seem to have obtained everything, yet you have obtained nothing.

On your path of cultivation, everything you think you have is actually a stumbling block on your path, a crack in your state of mind."

He began to crush Gu Yanqing's pride.

"From the time you were thrown into a septic tank, then used Possession to become a Dung Beetle, living with Yun Qingyao while covered in stench, and then being together with the young lady before you.

You constantly lied and deceived; you exude a stench that makes people loathe you.

You claim to be refined and noble, but there is not a single part of your body that has not been tainted by filth, and you have never for a moment stopped your selfish and self-interested thoughts.

Gu Yanqing, you are just a bug in a dark, damp place.

Your relatives will eventually raise their blades against you, your lover will eventually leave you, everything you cherish will leave, and everything you loathe will surround you forever."

Jiang Ning had read the novel, so he knew exactly what Gu Yanqing cared about.

Gu Yanqing's Dao Heart was damaged.

He looked at A Cai.

A Cai met his gaze, and then let out a "pfft" of laughter.

Gu Yanqing heard "mockery" and "insult" in that laugh... His Dao Heart was somewhat unstable.

Jiang Ning also did not expect the young lady Gu Yanqing brought to be so effective.

She actually helped him.

He did not think too much about what was actually going on.

Gu Yanqing took a deep breath.

"Jiang Ning, since you are from the Upper Realm, you should also know that I have a Divine Soul Martial Skill called Soul Demon Language. You want to follow my previous Martial Skill to plant a Demon seed back into me.

Do you think I do not know that?"

"I never thought you would not know."

Jiang Ning said seriously, "You should be very familiar with this Martial Skill. Even if you know about it, it is useless because this is inherently the vulnerable part of a Cultivator's heart.

Could it be that just because you know, you do not care anymore?

If you could really do that, what would be the point of this Martial Skill?"

Gu Yanqing frowned.

He tried hard to calm his mood.

The Demon seed had been planted by Jiang Ning; from now on, his cultivation would have a flaw in his state of mind, and it would likely be difficult to reach the highest level.

In the future, he would need to temper his state of mind to remove the Demon seed.

Now, only by killing Jiang Ning could he clear his thoughts.

"Jiang Ning, I do not care about what you said, but you must die today."

"The one who should die is you! You stinky Dung Beetle!"

The sentence A Cai suddenly shouted caused Gu Yanqing's just-stabilized aura to become chaotic again.

Through the conversation just now, A Cai also roughly understood that this was a battle of states of mind.

She had not planned on leaving alive today, as she was here for revenge.

That was why she mocked Gu Yanqing; her goal was to make Gu Yanqing die.

Now, she wanted to add more fuel to the fire.

A Cai did not care when the people from the Baoxu Merchant Guild would arrive.

The person before her had a deep grudge against Gu Yanqing. If he could kill Gu Yanqing, that would be best. If not, there would still be the Deity Transformation Realm of the Baoxu Merchant Guild to hunt Gu Yanqing down later.

Even if neither of them killed Gu Yanqing.

Planting a Heart Demon in Gu Yanqing, making him wish he were dead in the future, was also a form of revenge.

As someone at the Early Golden Core Stage, this was all she could do.

A Cai continued, "Do you know how disgusting the smell on you is? Every time you get close to me, I want to vomit. It is not just me; everyone looks at you with loathing.

They flatter you to destroy you.

Yet you believe it to be true and are still complacent. Just thinking about it makes me feel awkward and tremble all over.

You think I admire you?

In reality, I knew the truth long ago and was just waiting for this day to kill you.

Just as this Fellow Daoist said, everything you cherish will leave you, and the people you love will also raise their butcher's knives against you.

All of this is you reaping what you have sown."

Gu Yanqing retreated a few steps in the air.

He breathed heavily, yet he still could not conceal the "sense of death" in his heart.

He could not even bother with A Cai.

He only wanted to leave immediately and restore his state of mind.

Today, it was not suitable to continue fighting.