The morning after the forbidden library incident found Ai Baoni sitting in lotus position in her carefully darkened meditation chamber, surrounded by her stolen scrolls and trying to make sense of a passage about inner demons.

"To advance in cultivation, one must face and overcome their inner demons," she read aloud, her voice echoing for dramatic effect despite the small size of the room. Shadows-Upon-Shadows-Darknight-Void - now sporting four heads, a mohawk, and what appeared to be tiny black leather wings - perched nearby, occasionally bursting into flames.

"Finally!" she declared, standing up so quickly her specially crafted black robes billowed without wind. "A cultivation technique that speaks to my soul! Unlike those boring meditation methods Elder Deng keeps trying to teach us."

She pulled out her sword, which she had named "Tears-of-Infinite-Sorrow." It was a standard-issue sect sword, but she'd carved lots of dark runes into it.

"Come forth, inner demons!" she shouted, striking what she hoped was a suitably ge-de pose. "Face me if you dare!"

Nothing happened.

"YOU'RE ALL COURTING DEATH," she repeated louder, "COME FORTH, INNER DEMONS!"

Still nothing.

"UGH!" She kicked her skull-shaped incense burner in frustration. "Why won't my inner demons manifest? Is it because I'm not brooding hard enough?"

Nothing.

Nothing.

Nothing.

Then, still nothing.

Suddenly, her ever-changing birthmark began to glow with an ominous red light. The air in front of her shimmered, and several shadowy figures materialized.

"Oh dark heavens," Ai Baoni gasped. "It actually worked! Good, good, g-I mean-whatever."

The first demon looked exactly like her, but it was wearing pink cultivation robes and had its hair arranged in a perfectly proper style. "You should really try following the orthodox path," it said in a horrifyingly cheerful voice. "Think how proud your mother would be!"

"NOOOOO! YOU'RE COURTING DEATH!" Ai Baoni screamed, swinging her sword at the apparition. "Never!"

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The second demon appeared as Ha Li, his jade ornaments tinkling with righteous superiority. "Your cultivation technique is inefficient and draws unnecessary attention. Also, black is not a proper color for cultivation robes!"

The third demon took the form of Ma Fen, but wearing pristine white robes instead of his usual crimson. "Perhaps we should both return to orthodox cultivation. Think how powerful our combined bloodlines could be if we just followed the rules!"

"STOP IT!" Ai Baoni slashed wildly with her sword, her spiritual energy fluctuating with pure angst. "These aren't my real inner demons! My inner demons would NEVER suggest wearing pink!"

Just then, her meditation chamber door burst open. Elder Deng stood there, his beard askew, possibly from running up all those stairs to her isolated chamber.

"What in the name of the Dao is going on here?" he demanded. Then he saw the manifested demons. "Ai Baoni! Are you... are you fighting your inner demons?"

"Obviously!" she retorted, still trying to stab the pink-robed version of herself. "The scroll said to face them!"

"That's a metaphor!" Elder Deng's beard bristled. "You're supposed to meditate on your internal struggles!"

"Well, maybe YOUR inner demons are metaphorical," Ai Baoni said, dodging a lecture about proper cultivation etiquette from demon Ha Li. "But mine are clearly very real and trying to make me wear BABY BLUE ROBES!"

Elder Deng opened his mouth to respond, but then he noticed something strange about Ai Baoni's manifested demons. Their eyes were glowing red, and there was something about their aura that seemed... familiar.

"Impossible," he whispered. "Those markings... they're the same as the ones in the ancient texts about the Dark Phoenix Demon Emperor!"

"AHAHA!" Ai Baoni declared triumphantly, still swinging her sword at the demons. "See? My unorthodox techniques are totally valid! Also, YOU'RE COURTING DEATH!" This last part was directed at her inner demon that kept suggesting she try meditation instead.

But before Elder Deng could respond, Ma Fen appeared in the doorway, his crimson robes somehow looking even more dramatically billowy than usual.

"Ai Baoni," he said urgently, "Ha Li knows about the stolen scrolls. He's gathering the other disciples to report you to the Sect Master!"

"Whatever," Ai Baoni replied automatically, but her heart wasn't in it. She was too busy noticing how Ma Fen's eyes seemed to glow with the same red light as her inner demons' eyes. Also, was that the same ever-changing mark on his wrist?

Her raven chose that moment to die again, this time from the sheer dramatic tension in the room. As it burst back to life, now somehow sporting a tiny spiked collar on each of its four heads, Elder Deng stroked his beard thoughtfully.

"Perhaps," he said slowly, "these unorthodox manifestations are not entirely without merit. The prophecies did speak of one who would unite the powers of light and darkness..."

"They also spoke of two star-crossed cultivators whose tragic love would either save or destroy the sect," Ma Fen added helpfully, giving Ai Baoni a meaningful look that caused her spiritual energy to fluctuate wildly.

"If you're all done being cryptic," Ai Baoni said, still fending off her inner demon's attempts to fix her deliberately messy hair, "I have some very real demons to fight. Also, does anyone know how to get black lipstick stains out of sacred texts? I am asking for a friend, of course."

Elder Deng's long-suffering sigh could probably be heard all the way in the orthodox cultivation archives.

To be continued with more demons, like DOOM.