Everyone was in terrible shape, except for Mei Hua. Sun Liao and Ren Chao had heavy wounds, especially on their arms. The Sun Blazing Cannon had scorched parts of Sun Liao's hands and forearms. Moreover, his right arm was clearly broken in several places. On the other hand, Ren Chao's exterior wounds were healed but his bones were still pierced all the way to the bone.
Some remnants of the Golden Threads Salvation pill's medicinal essence were still protecting the internal wounds from further complications. But they couldn't heal bones. Sadly, Mei Hua did not have a pill that was efficient enough for his wounds on hands. But she was sure that her master would gladly help him once they got back.
Instead of worrying about her friends who were safe, Mei Hua took care of the two human cultivators she had saved from the Soul Weaving Cyrtophoras' nest. They couldn't be more than fifteen. And they looked so alike with very light hair and round faces that she was convinced they were siblings. While treating them, she realized they were not even 3rd-grade Mortals. Yet they came inside the Lunar Marsh.
Most likely, they were the weakest of their small group. And sadly, with the destruction of Fulao, it was more difficult for hunters. They probably didn't have much choice to survive out there.
Their wounds were very heavy. During their stay in the cocoons, some Soul Weaving Cyrtophoras had already began to devour their minds. Their weak cultivation saved them as the spiders began by the stronger cultivators. A stronger cultivation generally meant a stronger mind and for the demonic beasts, a tastier mind. The boy also had had his right arm torn away. However, Mei Hua found out that it was not due to a Soul Weaving Cyrtophora. From the marks on his flesh, his arm should have been devoured by a Mirror Back Ancient Alligator.
There were even some traces of treatment. So his comrades had saved him once already, and then they got attacked again and all died. The young girl who was probably his sister was in a better physical state. But her mind was as damaged as his. Mei Hua could stabilize them but only her master or maybe the chief elder of the physician pavilion were competent enough to help them wake up.
The group needed to go back to the Wubei Sect. But she also needed to converse with Cao Yun.
The young man was still meditating to stabilize his sudden breakthrough. In the center of his Five Agents, he had almost formed a new Five Echoes Pearl thanks to the medicinal essence of the Eight Silky Rivers pill combined with the effects of the Solemn Celestial Lake array formation. Cao Yun was clearly the one who had gained the most but he had risked quite a lot. All over his body, there were small internal wounds. Just like before, he would probably need to rest several weeks or more. But it was also a great opportunity to focus on his mind cultivation and advance it quickly.
After him, Mei Hua was the one who had gained the most. Deep in her sea of consciousness, the mind of the Soul Weaving Cyrtophora was still being slowly burned by her Shen. She didn't want to assimilate it right away because she would rather have her master with her. First, she could maybe extract some more informations from this beast's mind. But she could also ensure that the process was without risk.
"Brothers, before we leave, I have to talk with you. I know this isn't the right time, but I think it's important."
All the others looked at her and gathered closer.
"What is it, Sister? You can tell us anything."
"We should focus on recovering and going back. But, I think Brother Chen should know about what I found. The Burrowing Deadly Typha's poison was hidden behind another smell. And I'm certain that this was Purity Ablution Aglaia perfume. The idea that 3-core demonic beasts could use Burrowing Deadly Typha as a defense mechanism was already very hard to accept. But hiding them with a perfume, that's just impossible. And they clearly seemed set on killing you, Brother."
In fact, Cao Yun had the same intuition of something odd. Considering that this cave had been used by demonic cultivators, he had thought about their possible involvement.
"So someone knew you would come back here and prepared all of this just to kill you without leaving any trace of their involvement... But wait! This would mean that..."
Sun Liao quickly understood the implications Mei Hua had left out.
"Indeed, he probably was a beast tamer, and at least a Mortal Warrior."
To tame an entire nest of Soul Weaving Cyrtophoras who were 3-star demonic beasts, a beast tamer had to be a Mortal Warrior and not just a weak one. Beast tamers were already rare, and a Mortal Warrior beast tamer demonic cultivator was thus an oddity.
"We have to tell everything we know to Spirit Master Xiao."
Then, the group decided on the best way to go back to the Wubei Sect. They had already traveled through the Heidai Peak and knew how to be safe.
-
In the middle of a rocky plain, there were several tents with a few people working around them. Suddenly a young man in his late twenties or very early thirties erupted into the main tent. Right in front of him, an old man was examining some maps and documents. Seeing the young man come in unannounced, he got quite angry.
The old man had only gray and white hair. His hair was shaved on the front half of his head and his beard only consisted of a very long strand hanging from his chin. All over his face, he had several scars he wore proudly. And despite his age, his body was huge and full of vigor. As he was a Spirit Warrior, it was almost impossible to know his actual age, but he should have been several hundred of years old. This old man had the air of an adventurer who had spent most of his time in nature.
On the other end, the young man seemed very well dressed and groomed. It was a great contrast as he appeared to be a scholar in comparison.
"Why are you disturbing me?!"
Immediately, the young man knelt on the floor.
"Master, my Soul Weaving Cyrtophora just died."
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"What?! Are you sure?!"
"Yes, I felt her contract blood dissipate. She's completely dead. I don't know what happened, but we can assume that Chen Guo survived."
Angry, the old man sent the table with all the documents flying while screaming out loud.
"This bastard will use that to curry favor once again! I can already hear his grating voice ridiculing me!" He then shifted his gaze toward the poor young man. "You told me you were sure of yourself! How dare you lie to me?! I should flay you alive for your failure!"
Hearing this, the young man thought back about the tortures his master had inflicted to other people. He had indeed assisted at a few flayings. Moreover, he knew that his master was very emotional and impulsive. In an instant he could decide to torture and slaughter him and then change his mind after he was already dead. In order to avoid this fate, he groveled even more.
"Master, this is all Mo Tian's fault. He's the one who told us to only use 3-core demonic beasts. If I had been allowed to send my most powerful beasts, these kids would be dead for sure! And I chose these Soul Weaving Cyrtophoras based on his reports. Everything is Mo Tian's fault!"
These words got the old man thinking. And as he stroked his long and narrow beard, he also nodded his head.
"You're right. This is all that bastard's fault. I'll report it directly to the Demon King. We're not responsible for this failure. First of all, we're already busy with our real mission and this is a pure success, right?"
"Right, Master. Everything is going exactly according to plan. We dispatched the beasts precisely where they were meant to be. No one can reproach anything to your masterful management." In fact, the young man had supervised a great portion of the operation but he knew that his old master would never let any credit go to someone else than him. He would rather be a tool than a corpse.
"Indeed, indeed! But on Mo Tian's part, this is just failure after failure. After all, this Chen Guo is also his responsibility and his failure! Let's see how he turns it around with the Demon King. Ha ha ha! Good work, Can Mouye. I'll only give you twenty lashes for your failure."
"How generous of you, Master."
"Aren't I?! Ha ha ha!"
Still groveling on the floor, Can Mouye left. Sadly, he was used to the lashes. But it was better than being eaten alive or dismembered. His master tended to be very imaginative when he was frustrated or angry.
Happy with the way he could present the news, the old man activated his spatial ring and retrieved a small array formation plate. This was very similar to the jade pendant some of the Wubei Sect's instructors or elders had. With these pendants, they could send their thoughts into array formations that were very far from them. Even though the old man was a Spirit Warrior, he couldn't use his spiritual senses to send a telepathic message too far. And right now, he was in a very remote part of the Hongchen Kingdom.
When he activated the plate, an array formation got activated in an isolated room deep underground. The place was empty. But as soon as the array formation lit up, a figure appeared inside of it. When he got inside, he heard the words of the old man.
"Demon King. This insignificant one is Xiong Nixie. I humbly request an audience with you, Great Venerable. I'll have my men prepare your Myriad Flying Sounds array formation right away. The news I have for you is important. I would never dare waste your precious time, Great Venerable."
After that, he indeed ordered his men to set up an array formation. It had been specifically created to communicate with their master, the one they called the Demon King. This Myriad Flying Sounds array formation was at least a 1-star Heaven array formation that allowed communications between two specific points. As long as the array formations had been built in the exact same way, they could communicate even across long distances. In fact, apart from demonic cultivators, it was safe to say that no one had heard of this array formation.
However, it took several days to set it up, even under the threats of Xiong Nixie.
-
At last, Xiong Nixie could talk with the Demon King. He waited inside the array formation for a few more days. But the moment he finally heard a voice, it made him mad. This voice was Mo Tian's. This was the master of Mo Zi who was inside the Wubei Sect.
"The Demon King asked me to take care of all operations for now. What do you have to report, Brother Xiong?"
Swallowing his pride, Xiong Nixie knew that Mo Tian wouldn't dare lie about the Demon King's orders. And he wasn't insane enough to discuss them, especially not with this Mo Tian he hated. However, he had to change his words. Instead of putting the failure on Mo Tian, he would put it on his disciple.
"My disciple failed. His Soul Weaving Cyrtophora died in the Lunar Marsh. You'll probably see Chen Guo come back alive very soon."
"Indeed. He's already come back this morning. In fact, all his friends are also safe. Their wounds were pretty serious for some of them, but they're fine. I'd like to add that Chen Guo seems even stronger than before."
Clearly, Mo Tian did not hide how annoyed he was.
"I gave you everything. I even predicted exactly what Chen Guo would do and you failed... I hope the preparations for our plan are going better!"
Xiong Nixie had to control himself not to insult him. But he had still a hard time controlling his tone.
"This was my disciple's screw-up, not mine. The plan is going perfectly. The 9-core demonic beasts are all precisely where they're supposed to be. In a few weeks, we'll be set to go. On our end, there won't be any problem. But I must remind you that this is your plan. I hope you'll take responsibility if it fails."
"I'm not like you. I won't push all of it unto my disciples. But I have another way for you to redeem yourself for this small failure."
"Why should we care about an insignificant Mortal?"
"Because this Mortal screwed a few of our plans. Yes, Luo Jiang was supposed to be discovered, but not like that. And Luduo Bu and Lu Meihan could have been great test subjects. I even had to sacrifice a pawn to protect my disciple. This boy is clearly a problem we should take care of before it's too late. And given his cultivation speed, he'll probably be stronger than all our agents in the Ancient Ruins next year. Remember, only youths will be able to enter it. If he survived your beasts, do you think our agents will be able to do anything against him? If this plan fails, would you be able to push your fault on someone else?"
"... Fine, I listen. What's your proposition?"
"I'll give you a list of towns and cities. When the operation begins, you'll have to cause chaos there as well. If you follow my instructions, I can tell you exactly where Chen Guo will be. And he will be alone, without his troublesome friends... The question is, are you sure you can kill him?"
"If I send a 9-core demonic beast, there won't be any problem."
"Are you stupid?! We need all of them for our plan! Unless you have some you've kept secret to the Demon King?"
"No, I wouldn't dare!... Wait, I know! I can send my disciple! This will also be a way for him to atone for his failure."
"Are you sure of his abilities?"
"I'd go myself, but I'm needed for our plan. And this boy is not even a Mortal Warrior. My disciple will either kill him or die trying!"
After the conversation, Mo Tian was not happy at all. First of all, he despised Xiong Nixie. Unfortunately, he couldn't be picky. Beast tamers were rare already, Spirit Warriors were also rare. Finding and training one Xiong Nixie had already cost them a lot. However, they needed him for their next plan. They could do it in other ways but it would take too much time. The best thing would be for Mo Tian to kill Chen Guo directly. But just like Xiong Nixie, he was needed for other plans. Demonic cultivators were too few to send any of the Spirit Warriors against him. Even sending a Mortal Warrior was a bit too much. And if Xiao Xuefeng was able to find him out because of that, this would be a disaster.
But Mo Tian was sure that Cao Yun had to be eliminated. Once he went inside the Ancient Ruins, he could endanger the plan they had worked on for centuries. If Mo Zi was able to do his part properly, it would diminish the risks but Mo Tian didn't want to take any chances.