Inner Demons?

"No, Brother Chen! If your cultivation is broken, how will you live on in the sect? Who do you want me to rely on to avenge Uncle Su, who will avenge your family? You can't leave me alone at this moment right?", Lin Qing'er hurriedly tried to stop Ye Chen from using his own cultivation base as the wager. Taking away a cultivator's cultivation base was the ultimate punishment that can be placed on any cultivator in this World of Cultivation.

Ye Chen knew Lin Qing'er was trying to play with him. He said 'embarrassedly' to Lin Qing'er, "I'm sorry, I got carried away in the heat of the moment. I will never make the same mistake again"

"I believe you", she replied.

"ENOUGH. ENOUGH, the two of you. You challenged me, now it's your turn to pay a price, but what are you doing? Do you consider me invincible?" Jiang Hou felt humiliated. 'These two are definitely doing it on purpose', he thought.

"Qing'er, have I ever wronged you? I said I would avenge you. I said I will carry all your worries. I have given you all of me. What else do you want?", the more he talked, the angrier he got, he didn't notice the red light flickering in his eyes and the slightly bulging veins. No one noticed yet.

"What you desired is at your fingertip, yet you chose the longer route. Am I so unassuming in your heart? Am I so unworthy in your eyes? TODAY, I will prove to you that even if I am at the same level as your "Brother Chen", I will not lose out", Jiang Hou roared.

"What great words! Would you have what you have today without the family behind you? What others had to struggle for was at your fingertips every moment. You've not tasted despair, you've not tasted fear. You've not faced an enemy more powerful than you and the family behind you! So what right do you have to question my choice. I only wanted to grow together with the one I love. Not to be picked up as a tool of affection", Lin Qing'er also raised her voice.

"Hahahahah! GOOD, GOOD, GOOD. Whatever I sent, you received. Whatever I gave you never returned. You kept pulling me in and keeping me out. Is there any justice in the world", Jiang Hou lamented. 

"How would you know I never tasted pain or despair? I can't experience heartbreak or despair just because I come from a prominent family? Are you not just jealous?" he continued.

His eyes now totally red, and a dark aura rose from his body. 

Turning to Ye Chen, he yelled, "IT'S ALL BECAUSE OF YOU. QING'ER DIDN'T WANT ME BECAUSE SHE ALREADY HAD YOU. EVERYTHING I GAVE HER, SHE SHARED WITH YOU. BUT INSTEAD OF GRATITUDE, YOU CHALLENGED MY HONOUR IN ORDER TO EMBARASS ME RIGHT? Then I will remove you today, then Qing'er will be MINE. SHE MUST BE MINE!!!". Jiang Hou lost it totally.

Before the words fell, his figure moved, down from the platform reserved for the Holy Son, unto the Competition Arena, where battles were fought. As he landed on the Arena, a billowing dark aura with a touch of red spiritual energy surged out from his body.

On the high platform where the Elders and Holy Lord sat. Seeing the change in aura of the Holy Son, the expressions of everyone changed, they all cried out,

 "OH NO!"

"The Holy Son's cultivation has deviated"

When they saw his figure move, it caught them by surprise. By the time they reacted, Jiang Hou's figure was already in front of Ye Chen.

"Not good", they shouted.

Ye Chen's eyes blurred, and before he could react, Jiang Hou was already in his front. Barely inches apart, he was scared, the Jiang Hou before him seemed to him like a vicious beast that would devour him in a moment.

Under the influence of inner demon, Jiang Hou's cultivation rose two great realms instantly, to the King Realm. He kicked at Ye Chen's abdomen. 

When Ye Chen noticed the trajectory of the kick, he was afraid. In a flash, something seemed to envelope him, especially his Dantian area where his Cultivation base was stored.

Jiang Hou noticed it but was too mad to care.

 The moment the kick hit Ye Chen, he felt as though heaven and earth was going to be crushed by a mighty force. All the meridians in his body, including the Major Veins that connected to his Dantian, broke. He was sent flying off the stage. His body flew in such a height that onlookers thought he would be sent out of the Holy Land itself.

Qin Bailong's figure flashed and appeared in the line of Ye Chen's trajectory. Using the aura of his Great Saint Realm, he formed an energy circle that ultimately resolved the residual power of Jiang Hou's King's power; he then received Ye Chen into his arms.

Ye Chen had lost consciousness, severely injured. What comforted Qin Bailong was that Ye Chen's Dantian was at least safe. The boy needed only to recuperate for some time before his cultivation was restored. But he didn't have time to observe anything strange in the body in his arms. He looked at the Holy Son whose aura was still surging and rising.

"This is bad. What made the Holy Son lose his mind so easily? Whatever, he cannot continue like this or the consequences will be severe".

"All Elders in the King Realm and above come forward and form the formation with me. The Holy Son is under the influence of the Inner Demon. You all know the dire consequences if it is not subdued in time", the Holy Lord shouted the order. 

25 figures rose from the platform and joined the Holy Lord. 10 of whom were Saints, and the rest are at least Late Stage King Realm cultivators.

"Someone, go call the Great Elder, else he might lose a disciple", ordered Qin Bailong.

"Yes, Holy Lord!", responded an Elder of the Early Stage of the King Realm who quickly rushed to the Great Elders retreat site.

The 26 figures surrounded Jiang Hou's figure in a hexagonal shape. This is the primary array for the Demon Suppressing Formation.

 They each formed seals from their hands, and these seals flashed with golden runes, engraved in the void. The runes connected with one another and the moment the connection was complete, a sage-like phantom, sitting cross-legged appeared above the formation. 

The phantom formed a spiritual chain and threw it at Jiang Hou, who was in a rage. Jiang Hou too, had noticed that he couldn't control his body at this moment. There seems to be a black entity in his Sea of Consciousness, totally controlling his actions. His true self seemed to be locked in the Sea of Consciousness.

 His cultivation was still increasing, now at the Half-step Saint realm. But he knew all of his potential for Cultivating is being drawn out at this time. Just for this false moment of strength that will soon vanish, he lost his future. He was angry. But he could not do anything, he could only watch as his strength continued to increase towards the Saint Realm.

Just as it was the last step of entering the Saint Realm, a Phantom chain wrapped him up, trying to suppress him. The Entity raged, trying to fight against the alien power, but to no avail. 

It thrashed the body up and down, causing severe injuries, Jiang Hou could feel the pain, it was his body after all. But he noticed that his spirit could move now, so he moved towards the black entity and started fighting against it.

The suppression outside and the turmoil inside soon exhausted the Black Entity. It was bound and taken out. The Holy Lord took out a Gourd and sucked the entity into it.

The freed Jiang Hou soon recovered sanity. However, he was severely injured and his spirit had also just been in a battle, so he lost consciousness immediately.

"Hou'er!"

The Great Elder arrived. He rushed to the unconscious Jiang Hou immediately. He took him up in his arms, fed him a pill to tender his injuries and fatigue. Jiang Hou's colour returned to normal instantly. But he was still unconscious due to exhaustion.

"Don't worry, he fainted because he was also fighting the Inner Demon from within, otherwise, you wouldn't be able to suppress that thing that easily. We all know what would happen if things had gotten out of hand", he said to the Holy Lord.

"Ha! At such a young age, who would have expected that the Holy Son would develop an Inner Demon", Qin Bailong said, his voice full of pity.

'Of course he would have an Inner Demon. The means of that Lord is beyond the capabilities of this world', thought the Great Elder.

But he said,

"Alright, everything's settled. Disperse the crowd. Hou'er will continue to be the Holy Son since the challenge didn't commence and both the challenger and Hou'er are now seriously injured", and left with the unconscious Jiang Hou.

"Yes, Great Elder", Qin Bailong replied.

He flew to the Platform of the Holy Lord and said to the disciples, "The Great Holy Land Competition is over. Your Holy Son remains the same. But what happened today should not be spread to the outside world. It would cause our Holy Land to be defamed"