The Five Great Demon Gods

The first thing was that Hong Xuanji had forbidden him from practicing martial arts, yet he had secretly done so anyway. On the back of the Amitabha Sutra were many small pictures, each about the size of a palm. They depicted lifelike figures and settings, and complemented the scripture on the front with illustrations. The second thing was that he had not only practiced martial arts in secret, but had also used Princess Zhennan's influence to spy on Hong Xuanji's study. "What was that shriek just now? It was so loud I couldn't sleep." Hong Yi had seen the five illustrations on the back of the Amitabha Sutra. The first was the terrifying image of the Yaksha King he had just visualized, holding a steel fork. The Day Wanderer stage had to be reached one step at a time: first wandering beneath an overcast sky, without sunlight; then gradually wandering beneath the morning and evening sun; and finally training until one could wander beneath the blazing midday sun. Only then could one advance further, achieve a Yin Spirit, and gain the ability of Object Manipulation. "I thought that, before one achieved a Yin Spirit and mastered Object Manipulation, the art of confusing the spirit was just a minor technique. I never imagined it could be so dangerous! It can kill without leaving a trace. I'll have to be careful from now on." Hong Yi simply stopped thinking about those three matters and instead closed his eyes, focusing on the scene of his spiritual battle with Nanny Zeng. "Martial arts can't be mastered in a day. I already feel that my muscles are fully developed, and according to the book, I've reached the Martial Disciple stage. But I lack real combat experience, so I'm probably still no match for a true Martial Disciple. My spirit can already wander by day, but that was in the study, and the sky had grown dark and overcast, making it little different from night. Only when I can truly wander beneath the blazing sun will I have mastered the Day Wanderer stage." Two maids answered from outside. Hong Yi only sneered to himself, then lay flat on the bed. His thoughts churned, and he couldn't fall asleep. Once Hong Yi had grasped the principle behind confusing the spirit, he saw that it was a double-edged sword: first it wounded oneself, then it wounded others. One conjured an illusion, and if one couldn't suppress it, one was the first to fall under its spell. As soon as he lay down, Hong Yi knew that what had happened today was no small matter. "I actually killed someone today? Though there was no blood, Nanny Zeng's spirit has been scattered, so she clearly won't survive. Even if she does, she'll be a brainless idiot. What should I do now? That old hag Nanny Zeng is Lady Zhao's person. She won't let this go, and I'm finding it harder and harder to stay in this mansion." "We didn't hear any shrieking." "Maybe I should have gone after Nanny Zeng instead of letting her get away. She used sorcery to trap me in a nightmare, but I wounded her spirit. When she gets back, she'll surely tell Lady Zhao, and then my cultivation of the Dao will be exposed. That would be no small matter. When faced with two evils, choose the lesser: it would have been better to chase her down and root out the problem. But then, things might become even more dangerous for me." "The Five Great Demon Kings who attack the human spirit? First, the Yaksha King; second, the Rakshasa King; third, the Asura King; fourth, the Vajra King; fifth, the Wisdom King! If your cultivation is shallow and you cannot suppress your inner demons, you must never visualize these five forms, or you will suffer their backlash." "Consort Yuan will be visiting the mansion in a few days. Since she mentioned me, Father probably won't dare do anything to me for the time being. I hope things will take a turn for the better." Hong Yi thought of Consort Yuan again. "These matters are too complicated. Just thinking about them drains my spirit. I've done all I can; I might as well let things take their natural course." "Young Master Yi, were you having a nightmare? There wasn't any shrieking outside." As Hong Yi kept looking, he suddenly felt something shift before his eyes. The demon seemed to leap right out of the picture. The stench of blood filled his nostrils, and blood splattered all around him, as if he were standing in a sea of gore. The second illustration showed a demon of indeterminate sex, holding a saw-toothed wheel. It had three heads and six arms, blood-red eyes, fangs, and white hair. Its blood-red eyes glared at him, and at a glance, a chill rose in the heart. Just as the scripture described, visualizing the light of the stars entering three inches through the crown of the head would bring forth the Asura Hell. After all, the inner demon was nothing but one's own illusion, closely tied to the spirit. If another person destroyed it, the spirit would naturally suffer damage. This was the first time Hong Yi had used the art of confusing the spirit. Though the contest had been decided in an instant, now that he thought it over carefully, it had truly been dangerous. Yet reflecting on it had also given him new insight. "I need to come up with a plan." On the back of the scripture was an image of a jade beauty so alluring that anyone who looked at it would be unable to tear their gaze away. "The art of confusing the spirit first arouses the inner demons and all manner of illusions within oneself. Then, instead of destroying them, one suppresses them and brings them to heel. Once one has mastered them, one can use the art on others. If they can't resist, they'll immediately sink into the illusions, and their spirit will be badly wounded. Of course, if they're resolute enough to destroy the demon's illusion outright, I'll suffer a counterattack and be wounded myself." Seeing that he had grown adept at it, Hong Yi put away the Amitabha Sutra and rested with his eyes closed. He slept soundly until dawn. The third thing was that he had now scattered Nanny Zeng's spirit. Though that left no witness, and her secret sorcery attack in the dead of night couldn't be publicly connected to him, who knew what might happen behind the scenes? It was only a minor skirmish, and it seemed nothing had happened, but their resentment would surely deepen. Still, even if it did, that was a problem for the future; for now, it couldn't touch him. Nanny Zeng had done exactly that: first she had confused him, then she had been destroyed in an instant and gravely wounded. Earlier that day, he had beaten Hong Gui and Rong Pan, who had been riding horses, and used Princess Zhennan as a shield. It had all been planned in advance, and he had managed to get away with it. He had also established his authority in the mansion and, at the same time, secretly angered Lady Zhao. Hong Yi turned those three matters over and over in his mind, but couldn't think of any foolproof way to settle them. Yet he had no choice but to act. If he did nothing, his situation would only get worse. "Cultivation has to proceed one step at a time. The back of the Amitabha Sutra teaches how to summon demons and use the art of confusing the spirit. I won't use it to harm anyone, but I should still learn it, so I'll have a way to fight back if I encounter evil spirits or demons that harm people." Once Hong Yi understood the method of suppressing illusions that entranced the spirit, a thought stirred in his mind, and he visualized another Yaksha: a three-zhang-tall figure with a green face and fangs, holding a steel fork. He immediately subdued it. "Not good." Hong Yi stirred in his heart and immediately visualized the Amitabha Buddha, dispelling his thoughts. The illusions before his eyes vanished. Hong Yi quietly took out the Amitabha Sutra and laid it on the bed. This time, he opened it to the back. In the scripture, visualizing the light of the stars entering deep through the center of the brow would bring forth the jade beauty. Hong Yi visualized, subdued, and directed the Yaksha again and again. After who knew how many tries, he finally became so adept that as soon as he visualized the Yaksha King, it would fly out at once and attack wherever he directed it. "Yaksha King!" After returning his spirit to his body, Hong Yi deliberately turned over in bed, pretending to have just woken up, and called out drowsily to the outside. At dawn, Hong Yi wandered around the mansion and heard people whispering among themselves: "Nanny Zeng, the First Madam's personal attendant, suddenly suffered a stroke last night. Now she's a brainless idiot." He knew that staring at the lifelike illustration had drawn him in, and that he had unconsciously entered a state of visualization, conjuring an illusion. Hong Yi was shocked, and didn't look at the Asura King, the Vajra King, or the Wisdom King in the later illustrations. The three great demon gods were far beyond what his spirit could visualize at his current level. What Hong Yi was worried about now came down to three things. If one successfully suppressed and subdued the demon, then attached it to another person, and that person destroyed it outright, one's own spirit would still be wounded.