PID Chapter 16.1

All along, Xiao Mo had vaguely sensed the distance limitation between himself and Chu Jinglan. The further away he got, the more obvious the feeling became. He had only tried once, during Chu Jinglan’s meditation, to see what would happen if he exceeded the distance.

 

The answer was that he would be instantly teleported back to Chu Jinglan’s side.

 

Although the process squeezed and kneaded his entire misty ball form, it didn’t hurt at all. It was just that the flash teleportation was so fast, it made him a bit dizzy.

 

Afterwards, he strictly maintained the distance, and today was the first time he had forgotten himself and was forcibly sent back.

 

Xiao Mo was still full of longing. Those golden dragon pillars were indeed beautiful, with exquisite and grand carvings. He wanted to put a few in his sea of consciousness too!

 

But they were too tall to match the overall decor of his Eastern Villa. So maybe he could shrink them down as decorative pieces? Or change them to wooden ones and replace a few pillars in the pavilion with the same style?

 

Xiao Mo’s misty ball form bounced back onto Chu Jinglan’s shoulder, happily planning the new design for his home.

 

Just as he was pulled back, the Su family arrived.

 

Su Baimo left the Su family group and ran towards Chu Jinglan: “Brother Jinglan!”

 

Su Baimo had taken special care with his appearance today, wearing a water-blue robe with his waist cinched very thin. He had tied up his hair, probably to look more spirited, and wore sword sleeves. But his inherently delicate aura couldn’t be concealed at all.

 

As he ran over so flamboyantly, the gazes gathered on Chu Jinglan became even more intense.

 

Xiao Mo, perched on Chu Jinglan’s shoulder, was passively bathed in these gazes. He shuddered, snapping out of his design planning blueprint, and instinctively looked back at the sources of the gazes.

 

There was one from Chu Yusheng. As a side note, Chu Yusheng’s gaze wasn’t very steady, alternating rapidly between staring intently at Su Baimo’s waist and glaring fiercely at Chu Jinglan’s back.

 

There was also a gaze from a young man of the Bian family. His expression was as if Chu Jinglan had stolen his wife, looking like he wanted to swallow Chu Jinglan alive to vent his hatred.

 

The reason for identifying him as a member of the Bian family was that only they had arrived by flying boat, with the character “Bian” carved on it.

 

Using a flying boat at such a short distance was mainly to flaunt their wealth and power. Other families didn’t have one, but they did.

 

Xiao Mo’s misty ball form turned horizontally on Chu Jinglan’s shoulder, getting a 360-degree view of all the people openly and secretly gnashing their teeth at Chu Jinglan. In the end, he couldn’t help but sigh: What a beautiful disaster.

 

It was fortunate that Chu Jinglan didn’t have friends to begin with. Otherwise, if Su Baimo had staged a drama of brothers turning against each other for love, it would have been truly unbearable, like adding paint to dog blood, reeking to high heaven.

 

Su Baimo seemed completely oblivious as he stood in front of Chu Jinglan, swaying his head with his hands behind his back, shy and coy, with a touch of playfulness: “Brother Jinglan, remember to watch my performance later. If there are any shortcomings, you must point them out to me after the competition.”

 

Chu Jinglan, who was almost riddled with gazes from all sides, remained expressionless and nodded: “Mm.”

 

Hearing this, Su Baimo smiled shyly and sweetly.

 

The gazes on Chu Jinglan evolved from stabbing to flashing with sword light.

 

When two families were engaged, they naturally give engagement tokens. Chu Jinglan and Su Baimo had received a pair of jade pendants. Chu Jinglan had never worn his, while Su Baimo had specially worn his today.

 

After greeting Chu Jinglan, Su Baimo also bowed to the Chu family head and the grand elder, obediently and sweetly: “I should have greeted the elders first, but I was too happy to see Brother Jinglan. It was my mistake.”

 

The Chu family head and the grand elder liked him more and more as they looked at him, chuckling: “It’s alright, it’s alright!”

 

Su Baimo waved to Chu Jinglan and returned to the Su family group. The grand elder sighed: “Baimo is a good child. Jinglan, on such important occasions where you appear together, you should also wear the engagement jade pendant.”

 

Chu Jinglan neither objected nor nodded, just lowered his eyes and silently listened to the instruction. He appeared compliant, but in reality, it was a case of ‘you say what you want, I’ll listen, but whether I do it or not is my business.’

 

After all the families had taken their turns to enter, the selection tournament officially began. Chu Jinglan didn’t need to draw lots or fight, so he found a random seat in the audience area and sat down.

 

With him as the center, the seats around him were empty for a circle. No one dared to sit next to him.

 

Xiao Mo once again marveled at Chu Jinglan’s terrible relationships.

 

However, there was also an advantage. At least from this position, the view was unobstructed and clear. There was also no noise around, allowing them to fully appreciate the matches in the arena.

 

Xiao Mo was excited, ready to carefully study everyone’s fighting techniques.

 

The disciples from various families participating in the selection ranged from thirteen to nineteen years old, with most being sixteen or seventeen. Those like Chu Yusheng, who at nineteen were just at the age limit, actually had a slight advantage in terms of age.

 

After all, geniuses aren’t found everywhere. When talent levels are similar, being a bit older does have its advantages.

 

There were five arenas in total, and the competition could be completed in one day.

 

Xiao Mo observed attentively with a learning mindset, but once the actual fights began, he discovered it wasn’t what he had expected.

 

There were indeed sharp blades and magic spells, but it was neither thrilling nor exciting. From a cultivator’s perspective, their battles were utterly unremarkable, full of flaws and openings.

 

Xiao Mo initially stared intently, but his gaze soon wandered, taking in the situations across all the arenas. The mist that had perked up earlier now settled back down softly.

 

There was nothing to learn, and it could easily give the demon a false impression: I could do better if I were up there.

 

By the time the third round of matches began in the arena, Xiao Mo’s form had completely flattened out on Chu Jinglan’s shoulder, yawning: “Watching them is less educational than watching you practice sword techniques.”

 

Chu Jinglan had recently increased his cultivation regimen. Besides the mandatory morning classes, he had added afternoon training sessions. Xiao Mo would recite heart method in the morning and watch Chu Jinglan practice sword techniques for a while in the afternoon.

 

Chu Jinglan noticed Xiao Mo’s listless tone. When people are unmotivated, their vigilance tends to decrease as well. Although he wasn’t sure if this applied to inner demons, it was another good opportunity to probe.

 

Since the others were sitting far away, Chu Jinglan spoke softly: “You should be quite familiar with my sword techniques by now.”

 

This time, he didn’t question or interrogate, nor did he use any sarcasm. He changed his approach, speaking in a casual, conversational tone.

 

Xiao Mo replied lazily: “Not really, if I could watch a few more times—”

 

He suddenly realized something and abruptly stopped speaking.

 

But it was too late.

 

Chu Jinglan’s voice was like an ancient well, not stirring even a ripple, yet carrying the characteristic chill of well water: “I started learning the sword at three years old, and it’s been fourteen years since then. How many more times do you have to watch to ‘learn’ it?”

 

The arena was filled with the clamor of drums and horns, but Chu Jinglan’s voice was like frost and snow, making Xiao Mo’s scalp tighten.

 

This was the downside of dealing with someone who had countless tricks up their sleeve—one careless moment could lead to a big mess. As Xiao Mo inwardly berated himself for being careless, his mind raced frantically. The system also wailed: “Host, host, quickly use your clever brain to fix this!”

 

Fix it, fix it… Wait a moment.

 

Xiao Mo’s rapidly spinning thoughts gradually settled down, transforming into a light yet substantial truth in the zen-like atmosphere of distant mountains—why should I fix this?

 

He shouldn’t forget that he only had two main tasks to complete: letting Chu Jinglan know he had an inner demon, and making him kill himself at the right time.

 

As long as Chu Jinglan believed he was an inner demon, the specifics of what made an inner demon special didn’t really matter.

 

They had already been honest once when he said he didn’t want to possess Chu Jinglan anymore, so what harm could come from revealing a bit more?

 

He didn’t want to constantly be on guard against Chu Jinglan’s probing and mind games, accidentally stepping into a trap and giving himself a fright.

 

Seeing that the inner demon had been silent for a while, Chu Jinglan thought he had finally caught onto something important and was about to make more mental notes. However, he heard the inner demon suddenly exhale and then speak frankly: “Alright, I admit it, I don’t have all of your memories.”

 

Chu Jinglan was taken aback.

 

“You’ve read many books about inner demons these past few days, and I’ve learned along with you. I know I’m different from other inner demons,” Xiao Mo said leisurely from Chu Jinglan’s shoulder. “I don’t have any precedents to fully reference. You see, an inner demon appearing at the Golden Core stage is already an exception. I don’t think I need to hide things from you or pretend to be a normal inner demon anymore.”

 

Xiao Mo continued: “I am who I am, different from all other inner demons.”

 

The system: “…”

 

This… this might work? Indeed, if Chu Jinglan was suspicious, let him be suspicious. As long as Xiao Mo’s inner demon identity was firmly welded in place, nothing else mattered.

 

Chu Jinglan was silenced by Xiao Mo’s frankness.

 

He had prepared himself to be fooled, but instead, the inner demon turned around and admitted it.

 

To be honest, Chu Jinglan had indeed formed some bold ideas amidst the many illogical discoveries, revisiting his initial suspicion: whether Xiao Mo was truly an inner demon or not.

 

But with Xiao Mo admitting it so openly, the suspicion seemed to have completely missed the mark.

 

The inner demon was still an inner demon, just possibly different from the ordinary variety.

 

Chu Jinglan: …Had he been mistaken after all?

 

As Chu Jinglan was pondering, an attendant of a grand elder approached him respectfully and said: “Young Master, the Grand Elder requests that you go observe the match at Young Master Su’s arena.”

 

The audience seats were at a distance from the arena, and many disciples who wanted a closer view of the matches would stand directly by the arena’s edge. After all, there were protective arrays in place to prevent any harm from the battles.

 

Chu Jinglan didn’t even raise his head, responding indifferently: “I can see clearly from here.”

 

“The Grand Elder said that while away from home, we mustn’t let others think you’re neglecting Young Master Su.”

 

The attendant kept his head lowered, speaking without much inflection, as if he was just dutifully delivering a message. However, upon hearing this, Chu Jinglan frowned slightly before slowly standing up.

 

The attendant, having anticipated his response, said: “Young Master, please take your time.”

 

Xiao Mo, perched on Chu Jinglan’s shoulder, looked at the attendant and then at Chu Jinglan.

 

As long as Chu Jinglan lacked the ability to take his mother away from the Chu family, he would have to endure these people’s restrictions.

 

Chu Jinglan’s profile revealed no emotion, his features handsome and sharp. He remained silent as he walked to the edge of Su Baimo’s arena.

 

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