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Bai Ye rubbed his chin and kept going:
"So, once I realized this wasn't the real world, I made a guess."
He looked up at Hei Ye, who seemed very intrigued, and continued:
"What if I didn't die? What if the Taoist Sect saved me at the last moment?"
"I don't know exactly how—maybe some powerful technique protected my heart and they tried to find a cure after that."
"If that's the case, then my body was basically taken over."
"But my Yang Spirit—where would that go?"
He looked straight at Hei Ye and said slowly:
"There's only one answer—into my Inner World."
"This is hands down the safest, most convenient place."
"Once I realized that, everything clicked."
Bai Ye took a breath and said:
"I'm going through my inner demon trial, aren't I?"
Hei Ye started clapping slowly.
Then he waved both hands, and the whole world shifted back into its original Inner World form.
Looking at Bai Ye, Hei Ye smiled.
"Well, since you've figured it out to this point…"
"You've probably made up your mind already, haven't you?"
Bai Ye nodded.
"Yeah. I should've decided a long time ago."
Every practitioner who forms their Inner World eventually faces this kind of trial.
If you fail, you get trapped inside forever, unable to escape.
Important point:
The Inner Demon Trial isn't about how strong you are.
In other words, no matter your cultivation level—
As long as the conditions are met, the trial will come.
And for Bai Ye, that condition was life and death.
There is immense fear in that line between life and death.
Even though Bai Ye willingly sacrificed himself, when the moment actually came, fear and desire still crept in.
And that's where the inner demon took root.
In Bai Ye's trial, the demon manifested as peace.
In his heart, he believed—if he'd never traveled to this world, if he'd stayed in that little temple, he wouldn't have died.
So the inner demon reshaped the Inner World into that temple, and became his master.
All just to protect him.
That's right—this kind of trial isn't about battling some evil threat.
The inner demon isn't an enemy that has to die.
In Taoist teachings, "demon" doesn't always mean "evil."
The inner demon represents freedom, rebellion, judgment, and protection.
Put another way:
The inner demon is a second personality born the moment the original self feels fear.
Slaying the demon isn't about throwing hands in a showdown.
In the Taoist path, the usual way to overcome the inner demon is through realization.
Understand it—and it stops being a demon.
The terror between life and death is born in the heart, then spreads to the body.
So the moment Bai Ye truly made up his mind, the inner demon began to dissolve.
To defeat it, he had to see himself clearly—reach inner clarity.
Which really meant... making a choice.
Would he return to the One Piece world, and keep living a dangerous, uncertain life?
Or stay here, in the safe illusion the demon created?
In the end, the enemy in the Inner Demon Trial...
Was never anyone else.
It was always himself.
Bai Ye looked at Hei Ye and grinned freely:
"That's right—I've made my decision."
"I've rested long enough. It's time to go back."
He paused, and a playful smirk curved his lips.
"Otherwise, some idiots are gonna get really upset."
Hei Ye stood up too.
"In that case, I should go as well."
He looked at Bai Ye and said,
"Be careful out there. Try not to die again."
Bai Ye rolled his eyes and replied,
"Relax. Thanks to you, I've gotten a whole lot stronger this time."
"Mm!"
Hei Ye didn't say anything else. He took one step forward, merged into Bai Ye's body—and vanished.
Bai Ye stood there, quietly feeling the long-lost strength return to him.
The Inner Demon Trial... was complete.
Next step—leave.
He closed his eyes and reached out to the world beyond.
After a moment, he opened them again, a bit of complexity in his gaze.
"So... would this count as a rebirth?"
He muttered to himself—then something suddenly came to mind.
"Wait a sec, isn't it called 'complete metamorphosis' when a caterpillar turns into a butterfly?"
His eye twitched slightly, but he still shut his eyes—
And left the Inner World.
When he opened them again, the first thing he heard were six very familiar voices:
"BAI YE!!!" x6
The entire Straw Hat crew had rushed to his side.
Leading the charge—snot running down his face—was none other than Luffy.
"Waaaahhh! Bai Ye, you're finally back!!!"
Luffy rushed forward to give Bai Ye a big hug.
BOOM!!!
[Golden Light Spell — Vice-Captain's Wrath!!!]
"Don't wipe your snot on me, you idiot!!!"
Bai Ye just couldn't hold back—he threw a punch.
Luffy: "I'm so sorry~"
"Yeah yeah, you always say that. But have you ever seriously thought about what you did wrong?"
Bai Ye looked at Luffy, who had that "I-don't-give-a-damn" face, and felt his blood pressure shoot through the roof.
"Get over here and die already!!!"
[Golden Light Spell — Intelligence Correction Punch!!!]
BAM BAM BAM!!!
"Hey! Bai Ye, I'm fighting back this time!!!"
"Oh? You dare fight back?"
[Gum-Gum — Pistol!]
"Oh you really dare hit me?! You know who I am?!"
[Golden Light Spell — Taste My Staff!!!]
Pretty soon, the whole room was echoing with their shouting and yelling.
Chopper wanted to step in and stop them, but before he could take a few steps, Usopp stopped him.
Chopper looked up and saw Usopp smiling through teary eyes.
"Don't worry, Chopper. Look at them. Aren't they having a blast?"
Chopper turned to look—and sure enough, Luffy and Bai Ye were actually laughing while they fought.
Chopper didn't really get it… but he was honestly shocked.
Meanwhile, Robin was sipping her tea, watching the chaos unfold, and chuckled softly:
"This pirate crew… is kinda fun."
Sanji, who was pouring more tea for Robin, paused and lit a cigarette with a grin.
Zoro and Nami just stood there, full-on "auntie smiles" plastered on their faces, watching the two fools brawl.
Nami even wiped away a tear as she said:
"Seriously… this is the real Straw Hat crew."
Zoro, arms crossed, looked over at the glowing white-haired man and muttered:
"Welcome back, Vice-Captain."
Honestly? Kinda regret it.
I could've just taken the original plot, tweaked it a bit, and wrapped this arc up easy.
But in the end, I chose to write this whole thing from scratch.
Why? Well, chalk it up to Old Xiao just writing for fun.
I really wanted the main character to be truly accepted by the Straw Hats—not just a babysitter or a tool for the plot.
That's why I wrote the whole "Bai Ye breaks through his inner demons" arc.
It wasn't just a turning point for Bai Ye—it was for the whole crew.
When I was posting earlier chapters, so many comments were asking, "When's Bai Ye coming back?"
That honestly made me happy. It meant people really saw Bai Ye as part of the crew.
From here on out, things are only gonna get more exciting.
Thanks for all your support!
"....."