In the entrance of the cave, Cao Yun immediately recognized the demonic cultivator who had been chasing him in the woods. He was the man who had killed both Feng'er and Huang'er. And he had probably killed several cultivators who had come to help Yinmen City. Besides, he probably knew a lot about what was going on with the stampede. For once, Cao Yun had a real lead in front of him, but the man was way too powerful for him, even with his recent breakthrough.

Quickly, Cao Yun sent a meaningful look to Huang Liyue. Obviously, she understood that this man was the demonic cultivator the young man had talked to her about. Trying to suppress her wounds, she stood up firmly and exuded an intimidating aura. With just her bloodline, she gave off the impression of being an ancient monster ready to tear apart those who would dare oppose her. Even Cao Yun felt as though the temperature had risen and his skin was burning a little. It was as though he was getting closer to the sun. If he got any closer, he would turn into white ashes.

The intruder did not try to enter the cave. Instead, he bowed respectfully toward Huang Liyue. However, he never acknowledged Cao Yun's presence. The only time he ever laid eyes on him, the young man felt as though he was already dead in the eyes of Can Mouye. Despite his permanent smile, or maybe because of his permanent smile, Can Mouye's face looked ominous.

"Senior, please excuse my intrusion. I sincerely hope I did not disturb you. Would you please kindly relinquish this young man into my care?"

Huang Liyue's aura intensified a little and she talked back.

"Why would I ever listen to a demonic cultivator like you?! Surrender or die!"

Hearing her response, Can Mouye did not get angry in the slightest. In fact, he even chuckled a little.

"Senior, please do not make this difficult for me. My master asked me to take care of this little boy. His life is of no concern to you, right? Besides, if I really wanted to take him from you by force, could you really stop me?"

While he was still bowing and smiling, Can Mouye's tone was slowly changing. But he always kept up an appearance of politeness. On the other hand, Huang Liyue's face became quite sinister. Unfortunately, he wasn't entirely wrong. In her current condition, she was not sure she could fight off this man, especially because he was a demonic cultivator. Such cultivators were often stronger than their actual realm because of the perverse techniques they used. And they could more or less manipulate Evil Qi. In this place, this was a true advantage he had over her. She was limited to pure Qi but he was not.

Since she had already been weakened by Evil Qi, this advantage would get multiplied. In fact, unless she used her spiritual senses, she was almost certain that she would indeed die by his hands. Her only option would be to try and flee. Giving Cao Yun up did not even cross her mind for an instant. And deep down, she was furious! Fleeing from an enemy she could had literally killed with a single wave of her hand just a few weeks ago was infuriating. If she had been alone, she might have taken her chances and fought him, but she had to consider Cao Yun. Although she still kinda resented him for spilling Huang blood, she had sworn to protect him and admitted that her feelings were irrational. As a bodyguard, she could not disregard that duty and that promise.

"Senior, I have absolutely no reason to fight against you. To be honest, if you were to use your spiritual senses, you would probably kill me on the spot. However, you would at the very least destroy your Soul Embryo. Even if you survive that, you will then die in this world. But I can offer you something in exchange for the boy's life."

"What could you offer me to buy my dignity and honor?"

"Please, Senior, do not put it like that. In this world, aren't we all in the same boat? I imagine that just like me, you wish to see the light of day again, right?"

Suddenly, both Cao Yun and Huang Liyue got interested. Did he have a way to get out of this world?

"My new master is able to help us get out of here. He controls most of this world already and very soon, he will control all of it. And he already told me he was ready to help you leave this world alive, if you agreed to help him until then."

Cao Yun was shocked by those words. Could this Can Mouye have been talking about Cleansed Asura? No, although Cao Yun knew almost nothing about Cleansed Asura, he was clearly an orthodox cultivator. After all, the 'Cultivation of Wrath' was an orthodox method. And he had chosen Cao Yun because he had read his memories and liked his character. If he had been a demonic cultivator himself, he would have probably tried to take over Cao Yun's mind instead. But then, who could control most of this world if it wasn't Cleansed Asura?

"And you think that I will trust the words of a demonic cultivator?"

"You misunderstand me, Senior. My master is not a demonic cultivator, he is something else entirely. Besides, he can also help you with your Soul Embryo. You see, he knows a lot about souls. If you help him, he might even be able to bring you to 7th-grade Spirit Warrior."

Can Mouye paused for an instant before adding some more promises.

"Senior, I do realize that believing me may be hard for you. So I will add some information to my proposal. I can tell you everything I know about the demonic cultivators in the Hongchen Kingdom, even the Demon King. For example, I could tell you why we caused this demonic beasts stampede all over the kingdom."

"Are you mocking me?! Your master probably left many seals in you to prevent you from spilling any information."

"Oh, that he did. But as I said, my new master knows quite a lot about souls. It only took him two weeks to erase every single seal in my body and soul, without any damage. And I had more than a hundred of them..."

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Huang Liyue had no spiritual senses right now, so she couldn't scan Can Mouye's body to ascertain that claim. But if that were true, his new master's abilities were really incredible. Even Xiao Xuefeng could not claim to be able to erase a soul seal without any complications, let alone do so in less than a month. If his new master had indeed gotten rid of a hundred seals in two weeks, his ability was just beyond what Spirit Warriors could do.

Although Cao Yun's understanding of seals was beneath Huang Liyue's, he could still understand how incredible that statement was. And it reinforced in him the idea that this new master might have been connected to Cleansed Asura in some way. Another idea popped up in his mind. Maybe that mysterious master had acquired some of Cleansed Asura's knowledge that Cao Yun could not read...

"And you want me to believe you so easily? If your master really were so powerful, he wouldn't need my help, right?"

"Senior, my master does not need your help. He just thinks it would be easier if you were to join us. But, with or without your help, everything will be fine. As to whether you believe me or not, it is beyond my control."

Huang Liyue's face changed. She appeared as though she was seriously thinking about the offer. Right now, they were in a stalemate. She could kill Can Mouye, but she would die sooner or later after. Without her, Cao Yun would not be long for this world either. In fact, he would not have access to food anymore and stuck in this world, he was doomed to die of hunger. That was really a pitiful way to go for a cultivator. But even if they survived, Huang Liyue had not found any way to leave this place. So, assuming that they were able to get rid of Can Mouye, they would still be stuck in this world.

And if his master was really as powerful as he claimed, that would be the end.

Moreover, he was probably not lying. Although it was difficult to ascertain it from his demeanor, Huang Liyue could somewhat tell.

"What is your master's name?"

"My new master does not want his name to be revealed. But you may call him by his title, Cleansed Asura."

Even with his mind cultivation, Cao Yun could not hide very subtle signs of surprise and shock. Could Cleansed Asura really be working with a demonic cultivator? Maybe he had turned desperate. After all, this world was clearly dying, just like Cleansed Asura had been when they had met. But then again, just because he was using the same title, that did not mean that that mysterious master was truly Cleansed Asura.

Both Huang Liyue and Can Mouye had noticed Cao Yun's reaction, no matter how subtle it had been. But to be fair, it had been a real shock to Cao Yun. Cleansed Asura had saved his life and now someone claiming to work for him was here to kill him... If that were truly Cleansed Asura, maybe he just didn't know who Cao Yun was. Can Mouye had probably used his fake name, 'Chen Guo'. If that were true, maybe there was a way to resolve this peacefully.

"Senior, you see, this young man received something from my master. And my master wants it back now. I'm sure he never mentioned anything to you, right?"

Huang Liyue looked at Cao Yun who was now beyond shock. That mysterious master truly was Cleansed Asura! Only he knew about the Drop of Wrath.

"You ask whether you can trust me, Senior. But may I be so bold at to give you an advice? This is this young man you should doubt. I never lied once. Yet, this young man whom you are ready to protect with your life, can he say the same thing? Senior, are you even sure that Chen Guo is his real name?"

Everything was lost! Can Mouye even knew Cao Yun's real identity. That master truly was Cleansed Asura. No matter what could happen now, how would Cao Yun fight against a literal God-Monarch. Even if he were weakened, hundreds, if not thousands of late Spirit Warriors probably stood no chance of winning. Cao Yun was not sure of the actual strength of Cleansed Asura. But he had some memories of Axiu Qian's life. As such, he could imagine the strength of a God-Monarch, someone able to cross the void. Even close to death, he had been able to read Cao Yun's memories with no problem at all.

"Preposterous!" As Cao Yun was starting to feel really anxious and desperate, Huang Liyue answered in rage. "Do you think I would reveal all my secrets to someone I just met?! Then, why would I expect it from someone else?"

In Cao Yun's mind, the Chamber of Medicine Field and the Chamber of Moving Pearls shined. Suddenly, the despair and shock almost disappeared from Cao Yun's mind. He could still feel them, but those feelings seemed to belong to someone else now. They had no more sway over his mind.

"You say that you never lied once?! If your master really were so powerful, I would be dead by now. Even if he indeed erased your seals, it doesn't necessarily means he is extremely powerful. Maybe he has some restrictions that prevent him from doing what he wants. After all, why would such a powerful entity accept a Mortal Warrior as his ally?"

For the first time, Can Mouye fully stood up. Until now, he had always stayed somewhat bowed as a sign of 'respect'. But now, he had thrown that pretense away. Even his tone changed a little. But his eerie smile remained.

"Senior, are we really going to do that?"

"I think we are!"

Just as she finished her sentence, hundreds of iron fans left her spatial ring. Those were the 'Myriad Inferno Feathers' set. As soon as they left her spatial ring, they ignited into flames of myriads of colors.

'Exploding Feathers'!

Several dozens iron fans went straight for Can Mouye.

'Surrender to Compassion'.

Can Mouye assumed a strange position with his two palms. Right in front of him, a giant palm appeared with a character in it. The palm was golden and yet it exuded a sense of death and desolation. As soon as the iron fans touched the palms, they completely stopped. Although they were still in the middle of the cave, Huang Liyue did not put an end to her attack. Suddenly, all the iron fans exploded.

At that very moment, Huang Liyue took out her 'Ironclad Wheel'. Using it closed, as a small stick, she stabbed toward the ceiling of the cave Cao Yun had dug. 'Blazing Beak Strike'. A column of fire pierced through the mountains above and the gray light of the scarred sky appeared.

While Can Mouye was still distracted by the earlier explosion, Huang Liyue took Cao Yun and the egg with her and leapt into the sky through this new tunnel. Although she could not really fly in her condition, she could still jump extremely high. And as soon as they were in the sky, she opened her 'Ironclad Wheel' and controlled it with her Qi.

It was now floating in the sky with them on it. Even without her full strength, she was still able to manipulate her weapon well enough to fly in the sky. Can Mouye was still a Mortal Warrior. No matter how advanced he was, he would not be able to fly. This gave Huang Liyue an advantage. Despite her desire to get rid of that demonic cultivator, she had to keep Cao Yun alive. And she knew she could not fight and do that at the same time, not in her current condition at least.

Cao Yun had had barely any time to register what was going on. But this greatly reminded him of what had happened in the woods. Huang'er had risked her life to fly away with him. Hopefully, the conclusion this time would be different.

Just as he thought that, a whip of black energy attacked Huang Liyue.

'Inferno Blows the Feather Away'.

The 'Ironclad Wheel' flew away, leaving a trail of fire behind it. And Huang Liyue was able to avoid the whip with no problem. But then, the giant figure of a Buddha appeared behind them. And his palms tried to swat away the flying iron fan with Huang Liyue and Cao Yun over it.