Cao Yun and his group were back in the Wubei Sect with the two vagrant cultivators they had saved. When they had come back, they were immediately brought to the physician pavilion. Everyone knew the importance of all of them, so no instructor gave them any choice. Those three disciples were direct disciples to chief elders and Cao Yun had become a celebrity. No instructor wanted to be even the slightest bit responsible for any injury or lasting wound.
Chief Elder Qinghe acted in person. Mei Hua insisted for him to examine the two unconscious youths first. Her pleads were so sincere that Chief Elder Qinghe agreed. Upon further examinations, it appeared that they were mostly safe. Sadly, their wounds wouldn't recover completely. To grow back an arm, it required Spirit medicines and even then, depending on the cultivation of the patient, it always had a risk of failure. About the mind, it was even worse. Spiritual wounds were always more difficult to heal than physical ones.
But once Mei Hua got satisfied with the diagnosis, she agreed to be examined. Chief Elder Qinghe quickly concurred with her own earlier analysis. Mei Hua was mostly fine, just exhausted. Sun Liao's wounds were also very easy to treat. It was just important to make sure his bones healed the proper way, and the burns were only superficial thanks to his understanding of his martial art. After all, the Sun Blazing Cannon array formation had been invented by using his 'Houyi's Nine Suns' as a reference. As such, the wounds were not too severe.
On the other hand, Cao Yun's wounds were very serious. With the naked eye, he seemed like the most healthy due to his increased cultivation. But internally, he had been deeply wounded.
"Chief Elder Baishen should have told you how dangerous your technique was, right?"
Of course, Cao Yun knew the consequences of using this technique. But this time, it hadn't been about winning a duel, it had been about staying alive.
"Yes, Chief Elder. However, I had no choice."
The only alternative he had back then would have been to use the Spirit Condensation Barrier that Xiao Xuefeng had given him. But it could only protect himself. Thanks to it, he could have run away. However, his friends would have died without any doubt.
"Humph! I guess Chief Elder Baishen will give you an earful. So there's no need for me to add anything. But I'll insist on the fact that you must rest for several weeks. Now that you've broken through, your vitality should be higher. Thankfully, your rampant Qi didn't go into your organs or this would be another story. Your meridians and acupoints are not too damaged. If you don't overdo it, they'll heal naturally." He then looked over at Mei Hua. "And with the right pills, you should be able to completely recover in a month or two."
Finally, he went over to Ren Chao. This time, Chief Elder Qinghe examined him longer than any other disciples. All his spiritual senses were focused on his bones. During the meeting of this new year, he had heard about the possibility but now that he was looking at his wounds, he got more convinced that this was true. Although Ren Chao's bones had been pierced all the way to the marrow, they were perfectly fine after only a few days. There were several possibilities, but combined with his incredible strength, the most likely was that he indeed had a Golden Silk Body.
A Golden Silk Body was a special constitution. Anyone with that constitution would have his muscle, bone, ligament and tendon tissues more permeable to Qi. This caused several things. First of all, his physical abilities would be insanely strong compared to another cultivator of the same grade. Secondly, his cultivation would get slower as a great part of his Qi would sink into his own tissues to nourish them. Theoretically, it was impossible to know for sure until he reached a sufficient cultivation level.
However, Chief Elder Qinghe was almost certain of himself. Such a physique was a double-edged sword. Yes his physique was exceptional but his cultivation would get more and more difficult until he finally reached Spirit Warrior in which Qi was less important. However, during the Forsaken Dao Era, even reaching Mortal Warrior could prove impossible for him.
Now that his constitution was known, they would have to take good care of him. If the Wubei Sect could nurture a Spirit Warrior with a Golden Silk Body, that would be an absolute ace!
As soon as he was done, Chief Elder Qinghe did not waste any time and went to report to Sect Leader Xuan at once. Thankfully, Chief Elder Tingyu had taken Ren Chao in as a direct disciple. Thus, the Wubei Sect had a very solid relationship with this boy. And his friendship with Mei Hua, Sun Liao and Cao Yun was so strong that they almost died for each other. His constitution was great but his morale was also on par. Such a loyal boy was perfect for the Wubei Sect.
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Cao Yun got chewed out by Chief Elder Baishen, and even by Xiao Xuefeng. The sect confined him in his chambers until his full recovery. He could only cultivate his Qi and his mind. Thanks to his 'Shen Visualization' he could also train his martial arts though but it was not as beneficial as an actual fight. He also used this opportunity to train his his array formations and his alchemy, even though his instructor was not available. Moreover, he read every book he had access to in the library. Now that he had broken through, he had gained enough points to get to another section.
But Cao Yun was not the only one who got reprimanded, Sun Liao also got destroyed by Chief Elder Suxian. Sun Liao had never seen him as worried as he was. The technique he had used could have backfired. If he had made any mistake, Sun Liao could have simply been burned alive.
The only ones who were not scolded were Mei Hua and Ren Chao. After all, none of them had done anything crazy. No chief elder thought it had been a wrong decision to go save one of their friends, quite the opposite. If the group had come back without Mei Hua because they had abandoned her behind, they would have been way more furious. Loyalty was a great value of the Wubei Sect and the Hongchen Kingdom as a whole. Deciding not to risk your life to save a complete stranger could be understood but abandoning your friends was a coward act. Anyone who did that could not walk the great path of cultivation.
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However, they still received several sermons on everything they could have done better.
In the end, Mei Hua told Xiao Xuefeng everything she suspected. And it did not surprise her master in the slightest. Demonic cultivators seemed to be everywhere these days. Even Director Ge thought that Xiao Xuefeng's presence in the Wubei Sect had been orchestrated by them. She had the disgusting feeling that no matter what they did, they were playing right into their hands.
"Master, I still have some remnants of the demonic beast's mind in my sea of consciousness. I thought that you might be able to get more information on the matter."
The fact that Mei Hua could now enter her sea of consciousness had been a very pleasant surprise. However, as long as the mind invading hers had not been completely dealt with, Xiao Xuefeng would not feel at ease.
"Mei Hua, you have to relax your mind as much as you can. I'll crush this parasite. Then, you'll be able top absorb it easily. Unfortunately, I do not think that this beast knew anything. From what you described, the most likely possibility is that this pseudo-4-core demonic beast had been tamed by a demonic cultivator. The other ones only obeyed. I'll probably just be able to confirm your theories..."
Hearing her master, Mei Hua relaxed as much as she could. From her spatial ring, Xiao Xuefeng took out her guqin. Gradually, her music filled the air and Mei Hua's mind relaxed even more, to the point where she was almost unconscious. Everything around her felt like a dream.
Slowly, the music penetrated her sea of consciousness. Of course, Xiao Xuefeng could have gotten into her mind in a more direct way, but it would traumatize her. This soothing approach was also meant as a form of therapy. Around the cauldron Mei Hua had formed, the music became solid. It was very hard to describe because it wasn't the real world. But the notes in the air seemed to form strange and yet beautiful and enticing geometrical shapes. In a matter of seconds, the cauldron was completely encased in this physical music.
Within the music, Mei Hua who was barely aware heard her master's voice asking her to release the cauldron. The moment she did, the nightmarish spider tried to run but collided with the music. All this monster's screams got silenced by the melodious rhythm and very slowly, its body was torn apart. There was no blood at all. The geometrical shapes simply separated the body into tiny parts until there was only a cloud of black and red dust. Everything had been incredibly calm.
In reality, the mind of the demonic beast had not been calm at all. It had tried everything it could in a desperate attempt to stave off its ultimate doom. Now that its body was dead, the only thing this mind could hope for was to become some sort of ghost. Unfortunately, against Xiao Xuefeng's spiritual senses, all its efforts became useless. It was absolutely powerless and got destroyed without doing anything.
Xiao Xuefeng was able to sift through its memories. However, she had been right. There was nothing interesting. The only things she saw were the poor victims of the spiders mentally destroyed by their psychic torments before their bodies were literally drunk. In fact, there was only one tiny memory that was interesting. This pseudo-4-core Soul Weaving Cyrtophora was not originally from their nest. But she forced them to accept her and brought many fresh victims to the nest. Clearly, it had been tamed and nurtured by a beast tamer. Thus it confirmed what Mei Hua had suspected. All of this had been a trap, and from what she understood, it was specifically targeting Cao Yun.
When Xiao Xuefeng was done, Mei Hua came back to her senses. All over her sea of consciousness, there was a fine powder slowly being dissolved in the ocean. With this nourishment, her mind would get even stronger.
"I see that you've advanced far in Chen Guo's mind cultivation. And now that you can enter your sea of consciousness, there are many techniques that I can show you. The most interesting for you would be a modified version of 'Spiritual Sea Refinement'."
This 'Spiritual Sea Refinement' was almost the same technique Cao Yun was calling 'Shen Visualization'. An alchemist could use it to imagine his refinement process over and over until he was satisfied with the result. Considering Mei Hua's knowledge in alchemy, if she could master this technique, she would probably be able to refine all Earth pills with True Essence grade.
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On the other hand, Cao Yun had decided to focus on his mind cultivation. His Five Echoes Pearl was almost formed after the recent events. After only a few days, he was able to complete it. Once more, there was a perfect pearl of pure white floating within his Five Agents. With as much care as he could, he slowly lowered this pearl into the ocean below. At the same time, he was focusing all his intent on the Chamber of Ultimate Truth. It was located at the top of the Upper Dantian, just below the Bai Hui point at the summit of the skull, the Gate of the Hundred Convergences.
While the Chamber of Jade was mainly Water, the Chamber of Ultimate Truth contained a lot of Fire element. As such, it was a good idea to energize them one after the other to stabilize the Upper Dantian and allow the rest of the process to be smooth. But that wasn't Cao Yun's main concern to be honest. He had been more practical. This chamber pertained to knowledge and wisdom. He was sure that it would help him in his martial arts, but not only. With all the knowledge he had absorbed, he remembered a lot, but having read something did not mean he fully understood it or could apply it in real life. Thanks to this chamber, he was convinced that his ability to understand the materials he had read would be faster.
Energizing this chamber was a bit more difficult because of the contradicting elements. The Five Echoes Pearl was liquid and the chamber was rich with Fire element. They were just imageries of course, but picturing the right images was important to improve the chances of success. For that purpose, Cao Yun imagined that this drop was in fact a ball of steamed water that would nourish the fire.
The moment it mixed with the clear water of the ocean below, his entire sea of consciousness turned pure white as a flash erupted. Finally, the Chamber of Ultimate Truth was energized.
The next moment, the way Cao Yun saw the world had once again changed. The Chamber of Jade had increased his intuition. And now the Chamber of Ultimate Truth had increased his understanding of what he was watching. The first thing Cao Yun did was to look back at the five stars high in the sky of his sea of consciousness. Right now, he could clearly perceive the real Azure Dragon behind these simple stars.
Cao Yun's guess was absolutely right. Whoever had created this martial art had done so by observing a true Azure Dragon. And these mansions, these constellations and stars, they were not just celestial bodies, they were the actual body of the beast. As Cao Yun only had the five first stars, he could only see a vague figure of the legendary beast. However, thanks to his mind cultivation, he was still able to see how the dragon was breathing. He could understand how its muscles were twitching, how its body was moving. In fact, he even saw how its heart was beating. For now, he couldn't see the flow of blood in its body, but he could imagine it a little. This new vision completely changed his approach of the martial art.
Thanks to this, he was convinced that he could exert more control over 'Dragon's Heart'. The sensation was insane. It was as if all the training he had done was washing over him all of a sudden and he realized a truth that was right in front of him from the very start but was eluding him. Right now, Cao Yun felt like he had a perfect understanding of this star. In truth, he wasn't quite there yet, but this was a powerful epiphany nonetheless, and quite exhilarating.