The inner demons of high-level cultivators
Dream World, Qiupu Town, Tanjia Village.
Before dawn, a thin mist, like a soft veil, gently enveloped the village. The sky was still a pale, fish-belly white. The distant mountain outlines appeared and disappeared in the haze, while the stream beside the village flowed gently, its surface shimmering. The village houses were scattered among the green hills and clear waters, their gray walls and black tiles appearing even more rustic, elegant, and tranquil in the morning light.
Just then, a large red rooster crowed first, its loud "cock-a-doodle-doo" growing ever louder with each crowing. After one rooster took the lead, the other roosters in the village followed suit, their loud crows rising and falling in waves. Awakened by the roosters' crows, the barking of dogs under the eaves shattered the pre-dawn tranquility of the village.
Soon, the subtle sounds of early risers echoed from every house in the village. Quickly, wisps of smoke rose from the chimneys of the farmhouses. At the well, an early riser was drawing water with a wooden bucket. The tin bucket, tied with a hemp rope, was skillfully tossed into the well, accompanied by a splashing sound, before being deftly pulled back up. Woodcutters, carrying their loads, set off along the winding path into the mountains, their shadows long in the morning light. By the stream, young girls and middle-aged and elderly women diligently washed clothes by hand, then spread them out to soak in the flowing water, letting the gentle stream wash away the stains. Occasionally, their chatter and laughter could be heard. On the ridges of the fields, dewdrops shimmered on the tips of the grass blades. An old ox walked slowly along the path to the fields, its back laden with plows, its hooves leaving deep footprints in the damp earth. In the fields, farmers toiled, their clothes soaked with sweat, but they remained silent, focused solely on their work. From the academy came the clear, resonant sound of children reciting their lessons, young yet determined. Two- or three-year-old children, rubbing their sleepy eyes, crawled out of bed and chased each other, laughing and playing in the courtyard and alleyways. Even the cats and dogs joined in, running and frolicking around the yard, playing alongside the children.
As the entire village was immersed in a lively morning atmosphere, Lin Shi woke up.
She had been sitting cross-legged in meditation, but now she found herself lying on an unfamiliar bed, no longer in the magnificent palace where she and Lian Zheng had once lived.
Lin Shi was a little surprised and quickly called out softly, "Lian Zheng." But there was no familiar voice in the room to answer her.
Could she have fallen into an illusion? Lin Shi wondered to herself. As she pondered this, she tried to examine her spiritual power. Upon checking, Lin Shi was so startled that she sat bolt upright in bed. She was astonished to find that her divine sense and spiritual power were gone. She couldn't help but mutter to herself, "Where are my spiritual power and divine sense? Where did they go?"
Only then did Lin Shi take in her surroundings. It was a very ordinary room, neither too big nor too small, elegantly decorated but not opulent, like the room of a wealthy commoner in the mortal world. Besides a simple table, stools, dressing table, lacquered clothes rack, clothes box, and soft couch, the only other thing in the room was the canopy bed she was sitting on. Lin Shi felt the room looked familiar, but couldn't quite place where she had seen it before.
"What's going on? Is there really a technique in this world that can suddenly cause a Mahayana cultivator to lose their cultivation without them even realizing it? Or am I trapped in some secret realm?" Lin Shi muttered to herself. After speaking, she tried to relax her shoulders and let her elbows hang naturally. With her head slightly lowered and her expression focused, she placed her right hand under her left hand, and then gently placed the index, middle, and ring fingers of her right hand on the cun-kou point of her left wrist. She allowed her fingers to make gentle and full contact with her skin, meticulously probing her own pulse as if using a precision instrument. The result was that her pulse was steady and orderly, with a regular rhythm, but she could no longer feel the abundant spiritual energy that used to flow joyfully like a vast ocean.
Lin Shi's face turned completely pale.
Most cultivators in the cultivation world suffer from inner demons. When a cultivator advances to the Nascent Soul stage, they face a tribulation of inner demons, but the inner demons of low-level and high-level cultivators often differ. Lin Shi, as one of the high-level cultivators in the cultivation world, perhaps fears most that he will wake up to find himself back at square one, back to a stage where he is humiliated and powerless to resist!
Just thinking about this possibility is enough to crack one's Dao Heart! If it were to actually happen, it would be difficult for one's Dao Heart not to shatter.
The next greatest fear for cultivators is death and the annihilation of their cultivation, with no hope of reincarnation. While lower-level cultivators might fare better with such a devastating blow, high-level cultivators who have diligently cultivated for hundreds or even thousands of years—for example, a Mahayana cultivator failing their tribulation and ending up with death, annihilation of their cultivation, or complete destruction of their physical body and partial dissipation of their soul—rarely manage to rise again. Those who do manage to start anew are invariably exceptional individuals with willpower far surpassing that of ordinary people.
"Lin Shi, calm down! There will be a way back! Think of Wen Zhao'an, you are nothing now!" Lin Shi reassured herself again and again, trying to calm herself down. Her turbulent Dao heart, which had almost cracked, finally calmed down.
After calming down, Lin Shi lifted the quilt embroidered with a hundred birds paying homage to the phoenix, got up from the bed, picked up her clothes from the lacquered wooden clothes rack, put them on, washed up, tidied her appearance, and then pushed open the door and went out.
As soon as Lin Shi went out, she saw that the courtyard was decorated with lanterns and colorful ribbons everywhere, as well as large paper-cut "double happiness" characters, as if someone was getting married.
"Miss Shi, please wait a moment in your room. Soon someone will come to do your makeup and help you change into your wedding dress. Then, the young master will ride a tall horse and a grand sedan chair to welcome you back to the Xu family!"
As soon as Lin Shi reached the courtyard, a butler hurriedly came to her side. However, after exchanging only a few words with her, he rushed off again, busy preparing other matters related to the wedding. Lin Shi recognized the butler's face and realized that he was the butler from Xu Yuxian's dowry estate, where she had stayed for a few days.
Lin Shi wanted to say "no" to the housekeeper, but she said "okay" first, and then her body involuntarily walked back into the room.
Lin Shi then realized that she was actually hiding inside her mortal body. Having figured this out, Lin Shi calmed down, observing the unfolding events with a detached eye while actively seeking a suitable opportunity to escape her predicament.
If Lin Shi hadn't embarked on the path of cultivation, she would most likely have become Xu Minghao's wife or concubine, living a simple and ordinary life as an mortal. However, fate played a cruel trick on her, and she ultimately escaped the life of an mortal, becoming a high-ranking female cultivator.
Lin Shi had wondered what her future would be like as a mortal if she didn't become a cultivator. This time, she might have a chance to find out. Lin Shi couldn't help but feel anticipation. At this moment, she imagined herself as an observer, watching as a mortal live out her life, like a fleeting glimpse of a scene. Unfortunately, her consciousness as a cultivator quickly blurred, and she utterly fell into the darkness of unconsciousness…
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