Cao Yun decided to follow the small group as they were leaving the cave. Even though they were cursing the four guys who left, joking about them having a good time and all, their guard was up. After the recent destruction of their sect, they had become very cautious. Although they did not think that the four guys were dead, the possibility was still in their mind.
Hence, all of them had their weapons ready. Against ten 3rd-grade Mortal demonic cultivators, even Cao Yun who just broke through to 5th-grade Mortal was not too sure. If they were able to coordinate their attacks with each other, the fight could prove difficult, or even impossible. He had killed the four demonic cultivators because they were unprepared and he attacked by surprise. However, these guys were more vigilant despite their conversation. The way they laughed about their comrades was meant to comfort themselves and give themselves some courage. In the Lunar Marsh, there were many beasts or poisonous plants that could kill them.
They took the exact same path as their comrades, following their tracks. After three hours, they were standing above their corpses. As the sun had set, they were even more vigilant of dangerous beasts. The moment they saw the corpses of the four demonic cultivators, all their fatigue vanished and they took a defensive position, just in case.
One of the women seemed to have better medical knowledge and examined the wounds. Listening from afar, Cao Yun was surprised when he heard her describe precisely how each one was killed. She was even able to determine his own cultivation.
The moon was high and walking through the swamp in the middle of the night was not such a good idea. Thus, the group of ten decided to stay here and began to set up a camp. Showing their heartfelt camaraderie, they all went and searched the corpses, taking and sharing all of their belongings, before dumping them into the lake with the Embalming Lake Lotuses. The lotuses were partially blooming considering the moon was extremely dim and a new moon would occur very soon.
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Attacking their camp was very tempting, but too risky all things considered. Cao Yun used all of his senses to scan his environment and he got an idea.
The area they were in was full of ponds of water, more or less deep and large. By examining the different plants and animals, he was able to determine what kind of demonic beasts was roaming the swamp. Ten 3rd-stage Mortals could easily dispatch a 1-core demonic beast, but fighting off a 2-core demonic beast was another story. And depending on the beast, ten of them could not be enough. After all, each core in a demonic beast was equivalent to three stages for a human cultivator, so a 2-core demonic beast could rival a 6th-stage Mortal.
In one of the pond, the moon was shining even more. By examining everything around it, Cao Yun knew why. He took some plants here and there and mixed them together. He even killed off some small birds and mixed their blood in. Then, he proceeded in dropping this mixture along a path between the camp and this shining pond. Finally, he took the corpse of a bird and threw it directly into the pond.
It was a trick that Feng Yingyue had taught him. By mixing certain plants with blood, you could enhance the smell and make it even more appetizing to demonic beasts.
There was some movement in the lake and then, nothing for a while. In the end, the beast could not resist the smell of blood and a huge form emerged from the water. In the middle of the night, the form's back was very bright. It was a Mirror Back Ancient Alligator, a 2-core demonic beast. As its name suggested, this was an enormous alligator, the size of two buffaloes, and its back was so polished that it looked like a mirror. Obviously shown by its physique, the defense of this beast was one of the strongest amongst the 2-core demonic beasts. On the down side, it was very slow on land but it could have outburst of speed to pounce on a prey with its gigantic jaw.
Tempted by the blood, the beast followed the track for a while. It was not very bright but the beast still understood that something was fishy. As it was about to go back, Cao Yun jumped straight in front of it. Seeing a human cultivator, the beast immediately got wary. Given that no one else was coming, the Mirror Back Ancient Alligator still decided to pounce forward in order to engulf the human. Fortunately, Cao Yun was more reactive and jumped backward before fleeing in the direction of the camp.
Now salivating at the prospect of devouring a cultivator who seemed pretty advanced, the beast decided to risk venturing further inland.
Cao Yun was able to manipulate the beast to lead it to the demonic cultivators camp. Then the only thing to do was to enjoy the show. And he was not disappointed. As soon as they saw the Mirror Back Ancient Alligator, the demonic cultivators attacked. During the fight, three of them were mawed down by its fangs as others were hit by strong swing of its tail. Enjoying the fight, Cao Yun realized he had been right. Even though each one was weak, the demonic cultivators had a very effective battle formation.
The difference between a 2-core demonic beast and a 3rd-grade Mortal was pretty big. In term of pure strength, the beast was four or five times stronger. Each one of its strike was lethal. But the ten humans were able to contend with it by working together.
When the Mirror Back Ancient Alligator finally died, only four cultivators were still alive. Without letting them breathe a sigh of relief, Cao Yun launched his own offensive. Using their fatigue, the night and the surprise, he was able to kill them effortlessly.
This time he kept two of them alive. And he interrogated them separately to compare their answers.
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Cao Yun finally decided to go examine the cave. According to what he had learned, there really were only nine more demonic cultivators. The entrance of the cave was full of traps. And there was no more prisoner, alive. The remaining demonic cultivators were also 3rd-grade Mortals, except for their older brother who was a 5th-grade Mortal.
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He also learned that they were keeping Embalming Lake Lotuses in vials of Icey Horned Swamp Frog's blood. The blood of this 2-core demonic beast was especially Yin and being very opaque, it could both further nourish the lotus leaves and protect them from the sun and the moon. Apparently, these leaves were important for their demonic arts. They used human furnaces to refine these leaves by disgusting processes. This way, their victims became more Yin and the demonic cultivators who had a surplus of Yang could balance it out.
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After hearing all their crimes, Cao Yun's resolve was even stronger, as was his rage. This time, he would take the opportunity to launch a sneak attack. He had heard enough and he had a plan.
Two demonic cultivators were keeping watch at different positions inside the cave. Thanks to his intel, Cao Yun was able to pass through the traps without any problem whatsoever. As soon as he saw the first guard, he stabbed him in the throat and prevented him from sounding the alarm. The second one was a little trickier as he was standing deeper in the cave, right in the middle of a small room. There was no way to get near him without being seen.
Once again, Cao Yun used 'Bladeless Eternity' and threw the pike of the first guard to impale the second one, right through the heart as well.
He kept advancing carefully and finally saw the seven remaining demonic cultivators sleeping. That's when he saw their last victims. A least thirty bodies were laid on the ground. Many were women and children, easier to capture probably, and naturally more Yin than male adults.
With his sharper senses, Cao Yun was able to imagine the sufferings they had endured. No respect was shown to their bodies at all. After all, they received no mercy in life, why would they receive any in death?
As rage was building up in him, a cold sensation overwhelmed Cao Yun. Immediately he tried to calm himself down but it was too late. He had lost control of himself. The intent sleeping deep in the Drop of Wrath submerged him. Sensing the danger, he tried to circulate Yi the Earth Intent. But reality faded from his eyes.
He was now trapped in his own mind.
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All around him was an ocean. This was his sea of consciousness, above which he was floating. The sea was violent and huge waves erupted here and there. Everything began to turn red.
Once more, the red figure he had already seen appeared to him. It looked like a man with crimson skin. It had six arms and three faces, one more on each side of his head. In front of Cao Yun, its red blazing eyes were pure hatred and rage. One of the six arms took the boy. Each one of his hand was as big as Cao Yun himself.
Of course, none of this was real, it was all in his mind. But it didn't mean that it was harmless. This figure was the intent residing within the Drop of Wrath, the remains of the progenitor of this drop of blood. Oozing from the hand a dark and reddish blood started to engulf Cao Yun. Losing control over his emotions, he still tried to circulate Yi the Earth Intent.
He needed to calm himself as fast as possible, for he had no idea what was happening outside. But worse, he did not know what would happen to him if he let this rage take over his mind. Would he ever be able to come back to his senses?
The Yi character circulated in his mind over and over again. This time he did not care if he lost consciousness. It was better than to lose himself. His last attempt had ended with 103 repetitions.
Thoughts and images tried to invade his concentration again and again. Ironically, they were able to forge his intent, because they forced him to focus even more on the Yi character. He could feel the emotions boiling inside of him. One instant of carelessness and they would wash over him and completely drown him. He tried to focus everything on the Yi character, to suppress them.
Yi the Earth Intent was of course the ability to focus all your mind on a singular point. The stronger your intent, the more focused you could be. With this constant attack against his mind, Cao Yun was able to achieve a breakthrough. As he was fighting off the attempt to corrode his mind, his focus became stronger and stronger. He finally reached 108 repetitions, Perfection.
The last Yi character he had drawn stayed in his mind. It was now engraved in him. He opened his eyes and was still trapped in this gooey blood. The Yi character appeared in his eyes and all the chaos around him began to diminish. Everywhere he looked, the Yi character created order and focus. His sea of consciousness was a stormy ocean of blood but it slowly became a pure surface of calm water.
The gigantic red demon tried to squeeze even more. He screamed as loud as he could. But it did not faze Cao Yun who just looked at him and focused his intent. The Yi character began to engrave itself deep into the chest of the creature.
This thing was an image of the intent from the Drop of Wrath. And now, this intent was fully under Cao Yun's control.
Everything disappeared and Cao Yun woke up in a middle of a fight. He evaded a stab to his heart but got pierced through his left shoulder.
A quick look around and he realized that four of the seven demonic cultivators were already dead. The Drop of Wrath had taken over his mind and body long enough for him to slaughter more than half of them. But he felt several wounds all over him. This intent was pure rage and hatred, it had no intelligence whatsoever, so it could not fight, just brawl.
Now that Cao Yun was back in control, he could really fight.
'The Wind rises in the East.' His speed increased all of a sudden as his moves changed completely. One of his enemies was surprised and lost an arm and then, his head.
The other two took some distance to analyze the sudden change. One of them was obviously the older brother, the 5th-grade Mortal. His cultivation was the same as Cao Yun and he knew how to fight. If he had not been surprised in the middle of the night by this insane attacker, Cao Yun would have probably been killed during his absence. But now, the demonic cultivator realized that his opponent also knew how to fight. He turned from a mindless brute to a sophisticated martial artist, surprising everyone.
Cao Yun would not let them have any relief. They had been awaken in the middle of their sleep, he had to use their confusion as long as it lasted.
He ran toward them and at the very last moment, his movements changed once more. 'The Thunder rumbles in the West.' He easily dispatched the other demonic cultivator. Only the older brother remained.
Enraged, he rushed to slash Cao Yun in half. 'The Wind rises in the East.' His moves changed again and he evaded.
As the 5th-grade Mortal was expecting the other set of moves to come back, Cao Yun used a new set of moves altogether. 'The Ice hails in the South.' Surprised once more, the demonic cultivator got pierced in the stomach. He let go of his own sword and grabbed 'Star-Devouring Dragon' with his right hand. With his left hand, he took out a knife and slashed toward Cao Yun's throat.
At the last moment, Cao Yun dodged. He exerted more strength and took out his sword, letting the demonic cultivator fall to ground and bleed to death.
During the fight, Cao Yun had sustained many wounds and was losing a lot of blood. He really tried not to, but he lost consciousness, here in the middle of the cave.