At this moment, Bai Qiao's soul was covered with numerous black patches, which were continuously eroding her.
Those black patches were the inner demons that Bai Qiao had manifested. Once Bai Qiao's soul turned completely black, it would signify that her will had been devoured by the inner demon, completely replaced by it.
Seeing the black patches on Bai Qiao's soul, Ye Ling frowned and said, "Tsk... the situation is worse than I imagined. This inner demon hasn't split into independent entities but is directly eroding Bai Qiao's soul from within. This is troublesome."
Generally, when inner demons grew powerful, they would split into independent entities with equal power to the original body. Whether the original body devoured the inner demon or the inner demon devoured the original body, the victor would gain double the strength and thus step into a new realm.
However, Bai Qiao's cultivation was too low. The inner demon lacked the sufficient power to split into independent entities and could only transform into these patch-like forms to erode the original body.
Logically, such unformed inner demons were the easiest to deal with. As long as the original body's will was sufficiently tenacious and maintained its original heart, the inner demon would naturally recede.
Of course, precisely because such inner demons were easy to resolve, the original body's strength would not change much even after overcoming the inner demon. At most, their Dao heart would become firmer.
But the problem now was that after a series of tragic events, Bai Qiao's heart had become nearly twisted, and her will was already extremely weak.
When she encountered such an inner demon, she could easily be completely replaced by it, turning into a bloodthirsty monster.
For Ye Ling to help Bai Qiao resolve the inner demon, he had to operate on Bai Qiao's soul, carefully removing the black patches from it.
Souls were inherently the most fragile things. Even the slightest injury could inflict immeasurable damage. Now, for Ye Ling to manually remove the inner demon for Bai Qiao was as difficult as a surgeon removing a bullet from a patient's brain without harming any brain tissue.
It was as difficult as mortals ascending to heaven.
As Ye Ling pondered where to start, the black patches within Bai Qiao's soul had grown significantly larger. It wouldn't be long before Bai Qiao's soul was completely blackened.
Time was running out for Ye Ling.
"Forget it, overthinking is useless. I should start clearing the inner demon... think of it as manual labor."
Seeing Bai Qiao's state, Ye Ling no longer hesitated. He released his soul power, enveloped Bai Qiao's soul, and carefully peeled away the black patches from it.
Operating on the soul level was not easy. Even Ye Ling had to concentrate fully, and a slight mistake could injure Bai Qiao's soul.
Of course, Ye Ling could have boldly scraped away the inner demon from Bai Qiao's soul. Even if he injured her soul, he had enough ability to reshape it and restore her to her original state.
However, if he did that, half of Bai Qiao's soul would be artificially created by Ye Ling. It was uncertain whether the revived Bai Qiao would still be her original self.
After all, Bai Qiao was the daughter Sword Spirit deeply cared for, and Ye Ling had also taken her as his disciple. In good conscience, Ye Ling could not do something so lazy.
Thus, the office fell silent.
Ye Ling focused all his attention on removing the black spots from Bai Qiao's soul. Time ticked by, and the sun soon set and rose again.
Ye Ling spent a full three days here removing the soul's black spots!
After removing the last black spot from the surface of Bai Qiao's soul and sealing it with spiritual power, Ye Ling finally let out a long sigh of relief and returned Bai Qiao's soul to her body.
Manually removing the inner demon without harming the original body's soul, after completing such a meticulous operation, Ye Ling felt more exhausted than after a major battle!
Upon completion, Ye Ling carefully checked Bai Qiao's physical condition. Confirming that she was merely temporarily unconscious, he then shifted his attention to a mass of black spiritual energy suspended in the office.
This mass of spiritual energy contained Bai Qiao's inner demon, filled with an endless aura of ferocity. Ordinary people would likely go mad if they touched even a trace of it.
"The Shadow Hall targeted Bai Qiao, likely for this inner demon. I wonder what caused this inner demon to form..."
As Ye Ling examined the mass of black spiritual energy before him, it began to stir, as if something was trying to break free.
"Is the inner demon about to take human form?" Seeing the abnormality of the black spiritual energy, Ye Ling's heart stirred, and he immediately withdrew the spiritual energy surrounding the inner demon.
The black spots within had turned into black mist, spreading outwards and slowly condensing into a human form.
Ye Ling stared at the black mist before him, not letting his guard down. He stood in front of Bai Qiao, preventing the inner demon from re-entering her.
This inner demon was something he had spent three days removing. If it went back in, he feared he would spit blood.
Bai Qiao's inner demon seemed to fear Ye Ling's power as well. After Ye Ling blocked Bai Qiao, it obediently transformed into a human form.
The transformed Bai Qiao inner demon, except for its red eyes and a more confident, alluring demeanor than Bai Qiao, was identical to Bai Qiao in all other aspects.
After taking human form, Bai Qiao's inner demon glanced at Bai Qiao's original body behind Ye Ling, then smiled and bowed to Ye Ling, saying, "Disciple Bai Qiao pays respects to Master."
Seeing Bai Qiao's inner demon bow to him, Ye Ling chuckled and said, "A mere inner demon dares to call me Master?"
Bai Qiao's inner demon smiled and replied, "Ah, Master... you can't be biased. The Bai Qiao behind you is your disciple, so why am I not your disciple?"
"Master, you can't disown me just because I am the embodiment of the original body's negative emotions, can you?"
As she spoke, Bai Qiao moved closer to Ye Ling, linked her arm with his, and squeezed his arm with her chest, giggling, "Disciple has finally gained human form and hasn't had a chance to show filial piety to you, Master. Can you truly bear to kill me?"
Ye Ling glanced at Bai Qiao's inner demon, who was starting to seduce him, and simply shook his head and smiled, gently pushing her away with his spiritual power.
"Oh!"
Bai Qiao's inner demon fell to the ground with a thud, letting out a cry. Tears immediately welled up in her eyes.
She looked at Ye Ling pitifully and said aggrievedly, "Master, why are you so heartless? Do you not want me anymore?"
Ye Ling condensed a demonic sword in his hand and walked up to Bai Qiao's inner demon, saying, "An inner demon is an inner demon. No matter how eloquently you speak, it cannot change your evil nature..."
"Let me end you and put an end to all this."
With that, Ye Ling raised his sword and slashed down!
Seeing Ye Ling's heartlessness, Bai Qiao's inner demon cried out, "Master, my father entrusted you to take good care of me. Even if I am an inner demon, I am still Bai Qiao. Must Master kill me simply because I am the original body's negative emotions?"
"Even if you kill me, Master, if it's not an inner demon overcome by the original body herself, a new me will appear. Will Master continue to help her?"
Bai Qiao's inner demon shouted, and Ye Ling's sword blade stopped precisely at the center of Bai Qiao's inner demon's forehead.