Painting of the Nine Immortals
chapter-658

An inner demon is created from stubborn thoughts.

Once an inner demon appears, the cultivator would be affected. Especially during the cultivator's breakthrough, the inner demon likes to come out and stand in the way of the cultivator's breakthrough. So much so that the cultivator may even die from it.

This was what was happening to Ling Xian.

When he was about to have his breakthrough just now, the unforgettable image in his mind came back, which meant the suppressed inner demon was making a comeback. The moment his inner demon came out, his face turned pale and he puked out a mouthful of fresh blood.

From this, it became obvious just how terrifying it is when the inner demon explodes.

What scared Ling Xian, even more, was that he was right at the critical point of the breakthrough. All of his energy was focused on trying to break the bottleneck and he had no energy to try and fend off the inner demon. The only way out now was for him to switch his focus from cultivation to repressing those stubborn thoughts of his.

But if he chooses to do that, he would be missing a great opportunity and he will 100% weaken in terms of cultivation.

However, if he doesn't do so, he may lose his life.

In other words, he was between a rock and a hard place. No matter which path he chooses, he will have much to sacrifice.

"Dammit, why must the demon show itself now!"

Ling Xian's expression was dark as he cursed. His condition was awful right now, as his stubborn thoughts were interfering with his consciousness.

In the blink of an eye, three of his meridians were broken by his own Qi.

This made his face pale and he began to puke more blood.

"Dammit, I have to make a decision now. Or else I might actually die here."

Ling Xian couldn't advance nor could he retreat, he had to choose one out of the two paths. But no matter what he chooses, he will regret his decision.

If he decides to continue the breakthrough, he will likely lose his life. If he chooses to save his own life, then he would be missing a great breakthrough opportunity, and his cultivation will fall.

He might even fall straight down to the foundational level!

To him, that price was equally high!

However, compared to his own life, cultivation was really nothing. As long as he survives, he will get the chance to rise up again.

Therefore, Ling Xian instantly made a decision.

"Whatever, if I lose my cultivation, I can re-train myself. But I only have one life. It's better for me to repress my inner demon."

Ling Xian puked out two mouthfuls of blood. He then forced himself to inhale and his expression turned more serious.

However, just as he was about to refocus his spiritual energy, a strange series of words were being spoken right in front of him.

"Ná mó, hē luō dá nà, duō luō yè yé. Ná mó, ā lì yé. Pó lú jié dì, shuò bō luō yé."

A spell was being summoned, and a strange wave of energy traveled through the air. The wave of energy had calming energy about it.

The mysterious man had spoken.

He saw Ling Xian's face turning extremely white and guessed that Ling Xian was being bothered by an inner demon. He has been there for thousands of years and finally found someone to talk to, he didn't want to just watch the person die.

Therefore, the mysterious man decided to step out and recited a strange incantation that specializes in taming inner demons.

The Incantation of a Calm Soul.

This spell could sooth someone's heart and stabilize their soul. Normally speaking, when someone's inner demon explodes, this incantation could be used to tame the situation.

Therefore, the moment the spell was spoken, it broke through Ling Xian's hearing barrier and entered his mind.

Like a clear stream, the series of words entered his Dantian along with its mysterious energy. It stabilized his fluttering emotions at once.

The next second, however, his inner demon exploded again in an even more aggressive manner. He was reacting in ways that the incarnation couldn't even stop.

This made the mysterious man frown, it also made Ling Xian frown.

However, that man's action made Ling Xian remember that he knew a similar spell.

When he was a kid, he once encountered a mysterious nun. Chances would have it that the woman passed down a mysterious spell to him.

When his ancient majestic blood boiled uncontrollably, he used the spell once to ease the pain. Liao Cang Qiong told him later that it was called the Incantation of a Calm Heart.

It was one of the nine great spells in the Taoism community. It had the ability to calm one down and helps the cultivator to remain collected. It was a spell that was very sophisticated and not at all well known.

Now that he was being bothered by the inner demon, it was a good time to use that spell.

Ling Xian did not hesitate. He quickly calmed himself down and recited the incantation.

Immediately, another strange wave of energy began to dissipate through the air. Especially when the mysterious man began to speak another series of words, Ling Xian's breathing was no longer flustered and he regained his normal self.

The Incantation of a Calm Heart was an unparalleled spell, coupled with the strange man's Incantation of a Calm Soul, the demon was being tamed to a point like never before. The combination of the spells formed a powerful resistance against the inner demon.

It became a form of repression. No matter how much the inner demon's strength grew, there was no way for it to explode again under the alliance of the two spells.

Just like that, Ling Xian continued to recite his spell and a murky white backdrop began to form behind him and rippled out. Another giant buddha like silhouette also began to generate. In the blink of an eye, it expanded with an unmatchable amount of energy.

The mysterious man was not so weak himself. The attack of the two spells was not something the inner demon could fight against.

Slowly, under the dominance of the two spells, the inner demon was slowly being forced back. Ling Xian was also starting to drift back to focusing on his breakthrough.

Currently, his heart was at utter peace and there was no trouble floating inside his mind. Like a lotus that was untainted by dirt, his entire being was clean, flawless, and unbothered.

"This guy knows the Lei Yin Temple's Incantation of a Calm Heart? Could it be that he is a descendant of that Clan?"

The mysterious man once ruled the world and has seen everything in the world. Naturally, his knowledge was beyond the realm of ordinary people. Therefore, he naturally recognized the spell Ling Xian was summoning.

He knew very well that the Lei Yin Temple's spell was not allowed to be passed down. Unless the person was specifically raised and trained to be a descendant of the Clan, they wouldn't easily teach others those spells.

As for studying such spells in secret, that wasn't realistic. In the entire world, the Lei Yin Temple was ranked to be a superpower. As strong as Ling Xian was, he still wouldn't be able to learn in secret.

Therefore, he was very confused.

Just as he was confused, Ling Xian finally repressed his inner demon and he couldn't help but smile.

One could say that this was the most dangerous situation he's been in since he began his cultivation journey. Though it may appear mild in appearance, it was, in reality, extremely dangerous. If he was the slightest bit reckless, he would've fallen into a state of misfortune.

Now that he overcame such difficulty, he finally could breathe again.

"Finally it's gone. Damn you, my inner demon."

Ling Xian's eyes shone with coldness, "Yu Wu Xiu, I have to reach a conclusion about you sooner or later. Or else, if I attempt to have a breakthrough next time, I might not be this lucky."

As he spoke, he became determined – he has to end his troubles with Yu Wu Xiu. Only then, will he be able to diminish his inner demon completely and stop being troubled by it.

"Now, let me peacefully have my breakthrough."

Mumbling, Ling Xian realized that he cannot miss another opportunity. Therefore, he collected his thoughts and once again focused.

HOMMMMM!

His inner blood began to boil as his spiritual energy rolled up into the sky like waves. All of his Qi was crushing onto the bottleneck and attempting to break it.

Sadly, the barrier between the advanced stage of the completion level and the peak was far too sturdy. In a short while, there was no way for him to succeed. However, Ling Xian predicted this. Therefore, he was not at all impatient and merely focused on breaking the barrier.

HOMMM, HOMMM, HOMMM.

Like a thousand soldier army, like a million horses galloping, his energy attempted to break through the heavens and startle the earth.

His spiritual energy was rushing out of him endlessly like the ocean and crashed crazily against the bottleneck. It was as if his energy was infinite and restless.

"At this rate, I cannot have a breakthrough unless I have years of time."

Ling Xian sighed softly, realizing that he had to wait again. However, he also knew that he couldn't do anything about that.

Once one reaches the completion level, all breakthroughs become extremely difficult and time-consuming. Therefore, he had to be patient with this.

"Waiting is something that requires patience. I better enter my dormant state."

Ling Xian softly grinned and once again entered his dormant state.

Of course, this dormant state only meant he was mentally going into rest. The spiritual energy inside his body continued to wash over the barrier again and again as if he would never rest.

Just like that, time passed little by little.

The sturdy barrier, under the clash of spiritual energy, was starting to get fatigued.

After about two years, the barrier finally gained a crack. However, to completely break the barrier required an even longer time.

Luckily, Ling Xian was in a dormant state. If he wasn't, then all this time of waiting would feel like torture for him.

Time passed by for another two years, and the small crack on the door turned into a bigger crack. In other words, he was halfway to the peak of the completion level.

As for the other half, he required more time.

After all, to be breaking through was already a difficult feat. Any cultivator would need to spend an extremely long time. The speed Ling Xian was going at was already very impressive.

Just like that, another three years passed by and the barrier was finally broken down by him. The spiritual energy in his body entered an even higher level. They turned purer and more powerful!

At the moment of his breakthrough, Ling Xian's eyes opened. They shot out two rays of light that pierced through the void.

At the same time, a wave of murky and ferocious energy suddenly approached him and converged with his undefeatable Qi. They formed into an almighty force.

It was like the powerful God himself was descending. His strength could suppress everything within three meters and startle all nine levels of Heaven!

Since he first began this isolation, he used three years to train, then used seven years to break through. In total, he used an entire decade.

Without a doubt, this was a long time. Perhaps to other people, it was nothing. But to Ling Xian, it was the longest he's been in isolation.

However, compared to his gains, all of this was worth it. From this moment on, he was no longer a completion leveled cultivator of the advanced stage, he was a completion leveled cultivator of the peak!

A decade of waiting just for that one breakthrough!

Now, his distance to being an undefeatable completion was merely one step away.

His distance to being the almighty original level was now also measurable!