Chu Jinglan’s calm and peaceful life was disrupted by the inner demon.
In the morning, he would rise at the third quarter of the Mao hour15:00 AM to 7:00 AM, almost in sync with the sunrise. He would practice sword techniques, cultivate his spiritual energy, and have breakfast, all undisturbed. It was truly a quiet and beautiful time.
In the past, his entire day would have been orderly, but now, as the Si hour29:00 AM to 11:00 AM arrived, a small black mist ball leisurely floated out, even yawning as if it had just woken up.
Chu Jinglan coldly observed the inner demon, adding another label to it: “lazy.”
The descriptors for the inner demon increased. Now it was a wicked, alluring, murderous, annoying, and lazy inner demon.
At this moment, Chu Jinglan was in the study. He watched the black mist ball float around, then stop in front of his desk and comment on the book covers: “Hmm? Methods for Spiritual Sense Cultivation, How to Reinforce the Sea of Consciousness, Ten Ways to Deal with inner demons… Wow, so many books. Not bad, very hardworking.”
These words sounded highly provocative to Chu Jinglan’s ears. He coldly said, “I will kill you. I won’t give you a chance to possess me.”
Xiao Mo: “Mm-hmm, good luck with that.”
It sounded so perfunctory, but the more casual his tone, the more irritating it was to Chu Jinglan.
Chu Jinglan silently chanted in his heart: Stay calm and composed.
Xiao Mo gradually mastered the use of his mist ball body, effortlessly spinning on the table: “What did you have for breakfast?”
He wasn’t concerned about whether Chu Jinglan had eaten breakfast, but rather wanted to smell the aroma himself.
Yes, smell the aroma.
After all, he didn’t need to eat now, nor could he eat anything. Xiao Mo retained his human habit of enjoying three meals a day, but as a little black ball, being able to see but not eat sounded quite pitiful.
Being able to smell the food was good enough.
Chu Jinglan had already lowered his head, prepared to ignore him, but upon hearing this, he couldn’t help but look up and mock: “Breakfast at this hour?”
Lazy indeed.
Xiao Mo heard his mockery and found it puzzling. The system kindly explained: “Host, Chu Jinglan wakes up before dawn and starts cultivating very early every day. It’s long past his breakfast time now!”
Xiao Mo suddenly understood: “Oh, so he’s an overachiever too.”
The system caught the key word: “Too?”
Xiao Mo: “Yeah, I was like that in high school too, until the college entrance exam was over. Then I relaxed a bit.”
System: “Oh, I see!”
Young people nowadays are all so hardworking.
Xiao Mo: “So his achievements come not only from his talent but also from his own hard work.”
Just as the system thought Xiao Mo had developed a sense of kinship with Chu Jinglan as fellow overachievers, it heard Xiao Mo’s next cold-hearted statement: “So why did he waste his life for a scumbag protagonist?”
System: …It almost forgot, true overachievers can’t stand seeing others waste their potential.
Just from his voice, one could imagine how cold Xiao Mo’s expression must be right now, his beautiful brows surely furrowed, wishing he could just end Chu Jinglan and be done with it.
Since the conversation has reached this point, and Chu Jinglan initiated the conflict, the inner demon Xiao shouldn’t be blamed for taking action: “Alright, my mental attack for today is about to begin.”
He spoke with a tone even more mocking than Chu Jinglan’s, scoffing: “You wake up early? So what? After all these years, you’re still at the Golden Core stage. What’s the use of waking up early?”
Chu Jinglan: “…”
He gripped the book, slightly creasing it, enduring without responding to the inner demon.
The inner demon Xiao’s attack didn’t stop: “The cultivation stage divisions have been there for years, unchanged. If you can’t keep up, it must be your problem. Have you been truly diligent? How much has your cultivation increased each day? Sometimes you should reflect on your own issues. Hey, have you reflected?”
Slam!
Chu Jinglan forcefully slapped the book down on the desk.
Simultaneously, the system’s prompt sounded: [Mental attack successful, +10 points!]
Chu Jinglan couldn’t bear it anymore: “Then tell me, how many people in the cultivation world reach Golden Core at seventeen?”
And he was at the peak of Golden Core!
No one else had achieved this. He worked tirelessly from dawn to dusk, never slacking. He could say he needed to work even harder, but for this inner demon to tell him to reflect?
This lazy mist ball that couldn’t even maintain a human form in the outside world, where did it get the audacity!
Xiao Mo, hearing the background sound of the system’s points increasing, continued: “I’m your inner demon. If in your knowledge no one surpasses you, then of course I’d give the same answer. Why are you asking me?”
Although he didn’t say it explicitly, and the little black ball had no visible expression, the words between the lines all conveyed “Are you stupid?”
The veins on Chu Jinglan’s hand pressed against the table jumped.
System: [+15 points!]
Chu Jinglan was clearly furious. He was the type whose tone got colder the angrier he became. His anger was like ice, freezing people with its pressure, without hysterical shouting. He suppressed his strength to avoid crushing the innocent table: “You act all high and mighty as if you know everything, but all your knowledge comes from me?”
Oh ho, Xiao Mo looked at him with interest: Is he trying to trap me with words?
Chu Jinglan’s mental state was truly impressive. Even when angry to the point of bursting, his rationality didn’t decrease at all. He could still use this opportunity to try and trap the inner demon’s words. He wasn’t just a cultivation genius, but also very clever in dealing with people.
What a pity.
Thinking of his fate, Xiao Mo dispersed that bit of admiration and gave Chu Jinglan an unpleasant answer: “It was before, but it won’t be in the future.”
Chu Jinglan frowned slightly, pondering what the inner demon’s words truly meant.
But if he followed that train of thought, wouldn’t he fall into the inner demon’s trap again?
Chu Jinglan suddenly realized that the mental battle with the inner demon had already begun.
Chu Jinglan took a deep breath, slowly sat back down, and picked up “Ten Ways to Deal with Inner Demons.”
He needed to quickly find a way to deal with the inner demon. Even if he couldn’t eliminate it immediately, being able to suppress it would be good.
His path of study was not smooth, because in the following days, he would often be provoked to anger by the inner demon’s words.
Chu Jinglan reminded himself countless times to ignore him, ignore him, but the inner demon’s presence was too strong to be completely ignored.
Chu Jinglan hurriedly learned a spell for calming the mind. It was said that as long as this heart mantra was imprinted, one could remain calm and reduce the chances of the inner demon appearing.
Chu Jinglan imprinted the spell on his palm, and then… then he saw the inner demon mist ball that appeared punctually every day at lunchtime.
Apart from him, no one else could see the inner demon. The black mist ball arrogantly traversed Chu Jinglan’s vision like a free-swimming fish.
Chu Jinglan talked to his attendant while pretending to ignore the inner demon ball lying on the attendant’s head.
This attendant’s hair texture probably wasn’t as soft as the previous one’s, so the inner demon rolled around, adjusting to a comfortable position.
Chu Jinglan: “…”
Being able to maintain his composure in front of others without showing any flaws, Chu Jinglan was truly talented.
Chu Jinglan expressionlessly wiped off the useless spell imprint and drew a big cross on this method in his list of ways to deal with inner demons.
The inner demon didn’t always stick close to Chu Jinglan. The first time he went far, floating out the window, Chu Jinglan’s gaze inevitably followed. Don’t misunderstand, he was just suspicious that the inner demon might be up to something bad.
Although according to the knowledge he had crammed these days, at this stage, the inner demon probably couldn’t do much besides harassing him.
The inner demon didn’t go far. He just floated to a tree outside the window, found a high branch, and settled there motionless.
Well, to be precise, he would lazily turn around occasionally, as if sunbathing.
A inner demon, when not causing trouble, was sunbathing.
While Chu Jinglan was struggling daily with increased pressure due to the inner demon’s issues, the inner demon was living quite comfortably.
Chu Jinglan: “…”
Chu Jinglan took a deep breath.
Stay calm, perhaps this was also the inner demon’s attempt to disturb his inner peace.
After the inner demon had enough sun and a good nap, he would float back to the room, challenging his mental state with a few words at any time.
The more he thought about it, the less calm Chu Jinglan became.
He angrily began to write furiously, pressing so hard the ink penetrated the paper: Why couldn’t the inner demon just hang himself on that tree?
However, in his struggle with the inner demon, Chu Jinglan wasn’t entirely without gain. After a few days of observation, he discovered a potential weak point of the inner demon.
The reason he hadn’t used it yet was that he felt it wouldn’t cause substantial harm to the inner demon.
But today, after seeing the inner demon comfortably sunbathing, Chu Jinglan decided that even if he could only irritate the inner demon a little, he would use it!
Otherwise, the long-term suppression of his emotions would be too detrimental to his physical and mental well-being and cultivation.
What Chu Jinglan discovered was: Whenever he ate lunch and dinner, the inner demon would be particularly quiet, circling around the dishes.
At first, Chu Jinglan thought he wanted to disturb his meal, but soon he realized that didn’t seem to be the case.
The inner demon would leisurely circle the dining table, sometimes lingering slightly longer over certain dishes. Chu Jinglan even heard an involuntary sigh of appreciation once.
Chu Jinglan’s hand holding the chopsticks paused, and an unbelievable thought popped into his mind.
Could this inner demon actually want to eat?
It’s said that inner demons are driven by desires, often greed, anger, or lust, but appetite is indeed a desire. A inner demon fixated on food… it’s not impossible?
Realizing his inner demon was both lazy and obsessed with food, Chu Jinglan didn’t know whether to feel relieved or embarrassed.
Having made his decision, at dinner time, when the inner demon circled the bamboo shoot and chicken dish for the second time, Chu Jinglan instructed his attendant: “Bring another serving of bamboo shoot and chicken.”
Chu Jinglan usually ate very quickly and rarely made requests. Although the attendants found this unusual, they promptly brought out a steaming new dish.
When the new bamboo shoot and chicken dish was served, Chu Jinglan watched as the inner demon mist ball eagerly approached the edge of the new dish, its circling becoming more fluid and joyful.
So it really wants to eat?
Chu Jinglan felt his guess was correct.
He deliberately slowed his eating pace. Not only that, but he also called over the attendant, something he never did while eating, and said:
“The bamboo shoots are fresh, crisp and refreshing, tender yet not mushy, very appetizing.”
The attendant, not knowing why the young master was so interested today, still played along enthusiastically: “I’m glad you like it, young master. These are picked fresh daily, with the dew-covered ones being the best. Fresh and juicy, that’s how they stay tender and crisp.”
Xiao Mo: Wow.
Nonexistent saliva threatened to spill from the corners of his mouth.
“And the chicken,” the attendant continued eloquently, “raised on spirit grain, the free-range chickens have tender, melt-in-your-mouth meat. This dish uses green juice to thicken the sauce, the aroma makes your mouth water, the rich flavor lingers in your mouth, leaving a fragrant aftertaste—”
Xiao Mo: “Mmm!”
He involuntarily made a sound again. Hearing this, Chu Jinglan’s mood oddly improved: after being tormented by the inner demon for so many days, he finally took the initiative and scored a point against the annoying inner demon.
So, following the attendant’s introduction, Chu Jinglan leisurely picked up a piece of chicken and put it in his mouth. A meal that would usually be finished in minutes took the time of burning an incense stick today.
The plate had a temperature-maintaining spell carved underneath, so there was no worry about the food getting cold.
Xiao Mo watched eagerly as Chu Jinglan picked up the last piece of chicken with his chopsticks. The silver chopsticks made the chicken look even more white as jade and appetizing. His gaze followed the chopsticks, but he saw Chu Jinglan’s hand pause mid-air.
The attendant had already retreated outside the door, and there was no one else in the room. Chu Jinglan, maintaining this posture, spoke: “You want to eat?”
Xiao Mo, immersed in the aroma of bamboo shoots and chicken, suddenly came to his senses.
In Chu Jinglan’s eyes, he only saw the black mist ball suddenly shudder twice, as if startled.
Good, the movement of the black mist had already betrayed the inner demon.
Chu Jinglan: “Heh.”
Then, right in front of Xiao Mo, he slowly savored the last piece of chicken.
Xiao Mo: “…”
He did it on purpose? He actually did it on purpose!
Xiao Mo belatedly realized, so angry that he rolled in the air two and a half times. The system, seeing Chu Jinglan’s mental counterattack succeed for the first time, immediately consoled Xiao Mo: “Calm down, host. It shows that your daily harsh words are very effective. See, Chu Jinglan’s mentality is improving!”
Xiao Mo was not comforted: “I do it for the points, not because I care about him.”
The system had quickly learned how to respond: “Yes, yes, yes, but it still shows how powerful you are!”
It was professional at praising people!
Chu Jinglan finally won a round against the inner demon. After all, he was still young, and no matter how mature he acted, there were times he couldn’t hide his feelings. His brow lightened up, and when someone came to clear the dishes, he deliberately stretched out his hand, letting the plate brush past the edge of the black ball.
Can see but can’t eat, huh? Heh.
Xiao Mo: …
Very well, he decided to double his harsh words tomorrow. He would let Chu Jinglan know how vicious a inner demon can be, that a inner demon is not to be trifled with!
Chu Jinglan’s mood had just improved a bit, so much so that when the steward entered the room and saw a faint smile on Chu Jinglan’s lips, he was taken aback.
After all, in his impression, he had seen Chu Jinglan smile without it reaching his eyes, or give cold smiles, but rarely saw him smile relaxedly.
However, the steward didn’t care about this. He cupped his hands and said: “Young Master, Young Master Su has arrived and is looking for you.”
The faint curve on Chu Jinglan’s lips instantly vanished.
He resumed his usual expression and replied indifferently: “I see.”
Xiao Mo, who had been sulking, suddenly moved, sensing the change in atmosphere: Hmm?
The steward, estimating that Chu Jinglan was in a good mood today, advised: “Young Master, if I may say so, you should be more attentive to Young Master Su. After all, he is your fiancé.”
Xiao Mo’s entire mist form perked up: What did he just hear?
Young Master Su, who is also Chu Jinglan’s fiancé, isn’t this the absolute protagonist of the original novel, the one who brought dog blood to the entire cultivation world, the universally loved scumbag shou Su Baimo?
hahaha this story is so funny. thank you for translating this
( ˶ˆᗜˆ˵ )
That’s cruel ahahahah
The mutual bullying LOL 😂
I love these two (~￣³￣)~