Chapter 0171

Tempest wanted to curse when she behind landed on the cold hard ground, but before she could even get a sound out a hand covered her mouth. She was about to complain when she noticed Fenix had her mouth covered by Starm, who had his mouth covered by Graden, who had his mouth covered by Li Ming, who had her mouth covered by Bei Ting Mao, who was looking into the cave with a tense expression.

Tempest knew the let’s-play-being-one-of-the-three-stooges wasn’t meant to be funny. They were in serious trouble.

At first, Tempest couldn’t see what the problem was.

Everyone was looking at a strange man practicing his sword skill in the lava pool below. The youngish looking man - Tempest can tell the age of cultivators because at two-hundred-year-old cultivators might look like an old grandpa while a thousand-year-old monster might look like a teenager - could be considered handsome if he cleans up a bit. Right now, he looked like a beggar, bloody clothes, messy hair, dirty face, and glazed black eyes. Change that, he looked like one of those runaway teens addicted to drugs.

Then she saw the trouble.

Madness.

It was the only word Tempest can use to describe the crazy cultivator slashing at the shadows below.

His movements were nimble and skilled; his sword skills were elegant and wild; his attacks were controlled to a precise degree. Despite his brilliant fighting style, he was attacking at demons only he can see.

The inhuman screams coming from him ricocheted off the cave wall and burrowed its way deep into Tempest’s bone, chilling her to the core.

The following conversation felt so wrong to Tempest.

“What kind of man are you? Can’t even protect the one woman you love.”

“I will kill anyone who does her wrong. Including you!”

“You don’t even know how she died, much less take revenge for her. You’re so inept you created me to lash out for your weakness.”

“I am not weak! I am strong. Strong enough to be her shield, to be her protector.”

“What shield? What protector? You left her to pursue your own goals. You left her unprotected!”

“It is what she wanted!”

“You could have taken her with you.”

“I…” Here the man faltered.

Tempest wasn’t sure it was a good thing or a bad thing. All she knew was that she couldn’t listen to the conversation anymore. The voice of the cultivator was enchanting. Even a siren couldn’t compete with the hypnotic quality of the voice. Furthermore, as a wind mage, Tempest knew it was all voice. There were no enchantments used when the man speaks. It would have been fine if the man spoke about everyday mundane things, yet he spoke about failure and heartbreak. The sadness and despair in his voice burrowed deep into Tempest’s bones, making her heartache for the man below.

The voice that answered the man emanate a domineering aura filled with hatred and mockery. It wouldn’t be wrong to say the voice belongs to the devil himself.

Worse of all, both voices came from the same person.

She cast Sound Barrier before ripping off Fenix’s hand from her mouth and mumbling to herself, “How can a man hold a conversation with himself and sound like two different people. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was being tormented by the devil.”

“Is it safe to breathe?” It might sound like an exaggeration from Bei Ting Mao, but Tempest knows the man doesn’t exaggerate. He must be truly scared out of his bones to say those words.

“I cast Sound Barrier. Unless the guy below is a stronger wind mage than I am, he should not be able to hear us.”

“Oh good.” Li Ming said, “I don’t want to be the target of a deranged cultivator fighting his inner demons.”

“He’s just insane. What’s wrong with that?” Tempest asked in a confused manner. She knows no one wants to fight with an insane person. They are unpredictable in their moves and actions. One minute they might be hacking away at you like their life depended upon it and another they might be smiling at you like you were their long lost friend. Their thought process follows no logical explanation.

“He’s not insane. He’s fighting his inner demons. There is a difference.” Bei Ting Mao spoke softly, all the while never taking his eyes off the mad cultivator below.

“Care to explain for the mages and the clueless?” Fenix asked. Tempest figured she was the clueless Fenix was referring to. She didn’t protest because it was the truth and she wanted an explanation more than she wanted to debate her knowledge or lack thereof.

“It is not obvious at the early stages of cultivation, especially for those cultivating the body as their immortal potential, but it takes a strong mind and a tranquil heart to break through from one stage of cultivation to the next. And before you say anything otherwise Tempest, I don’t include mages in that assessment.”

“I wasn’t going to say anything.” Tempest protested. She really wasn’t!

“Inner demons can be the regrets, unconscious longing or unfulfilled love the cultivator experiences during their lifetimes. Most of the time, inner demons come into play when cultivators try to breakthrough from one realm to the other, although it is most notably important when a cultivator is forming their nascent soul or when they are deciding their cultivation method when they are on their Dao Path.

“During these times, the inner demons of a cultivator makes itself known and tries to take over the cultivator. Should the cultivator lose to their inner demons, they become what we call demonic cultivators. From there on out, they cultivate a different path from the so-called orthodox cultivators.

“Demonic cultivators are much stronger and more vicious and cruel than orthodox cultivators. They recognized no bonds of loyalty, friendship or love. All they seek is to accomplish what the original personality desired and once they do, their hold over the body is complete and they become the new owner.”

Tempest thought about Bei Ting Mao’s explanation and the situation with transmigration. Doesn’t the new, better person takes over the body and accomplish the wish of the original body then they have complete control over the body? Well, Tempest was glad she didn’t have the original's personality or she would doubt herself.

“Doesn’t seem like much,” Fenix commented.

“A cultivator fighting their inner demons can erupt in power. They can easily kill a cultivator two realms higher than themselves. Since most cultivators fight their inner demons when they are forming their nascent soul, it means they can kill an immortal quite easily.”

“Oh.”

“Yes, oh.” Bei Ting Mao sneered at Fenix. Still, he never took his eyes off the man below. It was almost like he was compelled to watch the man below until the bitter end.

“Is he a nascent soul cultivator?” Tempest asked.

“No, he isn’t.” Bei Ting Mao responded.

“Then what are we worried about? Let’s just get out of here.”

“We can’t!” Bei Ting Mao whispered frantically. “Interrupting a cultivator fighting with his inner demons is almost like suicide.”

Tempest stared at Bei Ting Mao for a moment before making her statement, “You nearly got taken over by your inner demons before.”

When Li Ming heard Tempest’s statement, she reared back, trying to get as far away from Bei Ting Mao as she possibly could. Li Ming knew Bei Ting Mao left a lot out of his explanation, the most important being demonic cultivators grow by acting as a disease. They plant inner demons in other cultivators and takes their cultivation when the cultivator succumbs to the inner demons.

“I’m not a demonic cultivator.” Bei Ting Mao said, his eyes beseeching his group members to believe him. He didn’t realize how much he had grown attached to this odd lot in just a few short days, but he truly did consider them people who would have his back.

“Well, yeah, you aren’t.” Tempest said like it was obvious, “You cultivate the heart now. Your spirits won’t tolerate inner demons.”

Bei Ting Mao stared at the people who are becoming more than just group members. He saw acceptance in their eyes, even Li Ming accepted him after she got ahold of herself after her instinctive reaction towards demonic cultivators. It made the next part easy to confess. “I did fight with my inner demons after my dan tian was destroyed. I didn’t want to admit it, but I was going to lose to my inner demons.” Pause. “Then the spirits should up and ate my inner demon like it was the most delicious meal it had in a long time. That was when I found out I could cultivate as a mage. It is also the reason why I’m more attuned to my elements than normal mages.”

“Yeah, yeah. Nice sob sorry, but get to the point. How are we going to get out of here?” Tempest turned to survey her surroundings. She can’t see a way out of their predicament.

“What?” Tempest asked when she saw the weird stares everyone was giving her.