The frustration was swelling up inside Cao Yun. Even with the intent of the Drop of Wrath, he was unable to clearly feel anything. Yet, he had some vague impressions. Unfortunately, the pitch-black ocean was moving around. Although it was rather calm, there were still some currents and water was not immobile. And since he could not control his Qi outside of his body, he had to get all his sensations from the Drop of Wrath.
Thankfully, his connection with it was now very good, but it didn't mean that it was perfect yet. In a way, it was like trying to see through someone else's eyes. No matter how much they could detail what they had seen, you could not have the same exact and precise image in mind.
But Cao Yun also used his 'Shen Visualization' to try and piece together any shred of sensation he could obtain from the Drop of Wrath. He had gotten so good with it that by now he had a map of the deep currents. In fact, he also had a general understanding of the ocean floor. And it brought him some consolation because the ship was indeed in the deepest part of the ocean. This meant that there was nowhere deeper than that, in the vicinity at least. Thus, it reignited his hopes of finding Huang Liyue.
She had probably not sunk as fast as the ship. But considering the several hours Cao Yun had already spent trying to feel what was around him, she should had reached the deepest parts by now. Another good news was that he had not to search deeper. And he had not to search too high either given all the time that had passed. On the other hands, the current could make her drift far away from the ship. So the area to search would get smaller in depth but larger in terms of surface to cover.
With his 'Shen Visualization', Cao Yun was able to gather any piece of information from the feelings he received from the Drop of Wrath. Although the black water was literally made up of Evil Qi, Cao Yun was now able to control the Drop of Wrath so well that it never even tried to absorb a single drop of this water. Besides, it had probably already gotten its fill since entering in this dead world. But from its intent, Cao Yun was able to detect the disparities in different parts of the water. Like that, he could somewhat map out the area. However, it could hardly make out small differences and subtleties.
Hopefully Huang Liyue would have still enough Wei Qi to appear very clearly to this intent.
Paradoxically, as time passed by, Cao Yun was getting better at using the intent of the Drop of Wrath to feel the Evil Qi around him, but at the same time, he was losing hope. Even if he found Huang Liyue, if she was too far from the ship, retrieving her would be an ordeal he wasn't sure he could survive. As much as he wanted to save her, he didn't want to waste her sacrifice by throwing away his own life. In that moment, he didn't even think about his own goals and his own life. What troubled him was to not waste her efforts. He fully remembered what his parents had told him. Many people had died or risked their life for him to survive. There was no way he would throw away his life. Otherwise, he would have the impression of killing them once more.
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As he took a breather to analyze what he had felt with the intent of the Drop of Wrath, Cao Yun realized that his Five Echoes Pearl was now complete. He had last energized one of his chambers when he had entered this dead world. Since then, a bit more than two months, maybe three, had passed. And given his experience, his Five Agents had condensed this Five Echoes Pearl instinctively without Cao Yun ever needing to intervene.
Maybe this was the push he needed to finally find Huang Liyue!
For a very long time, he had decided on the order of the chambers. Indeed, only the last chamber was predetermined. The order of the other chambers was completely free, although 'Sealing the Seven Demons in the Nine Peaks' suggested a certain sequence. In practice, Cao Yun had chosen his own order so that it would help him best. And the next chamber he had wanted to energize was the Chamber of Heavenly Court.
According to his mind cultivation manual, it was supposed to help him make decisions faster, and even help him make decisions period. Since the death of his family, Cao Yun had been plagued with hesitations and he was getting tired of it. Although he knew what his main objective was, every small decision was difficult and Cao Yun felt like he had mostly gone with the flow. It wasn't exactly true because he had made decisions and had risked his life for his friends. But deep down, he felt like he had almost always reacted to events instead of causing them.
Ironically, in this very moment, his decision had been incredibly fast. He wanted to save Huang Liyue and was ready to go to great lengths for this purpose. But once again, it was in reaction to what had happened. Cao Yun yearned to be proactive. And even though this Chamber of Heavenly Court would not have magical properties on his personality, he still thought that it could help him achieve this goal.
But this chamber would be useless in this situation. On the other hand, there was a chamber that could help him more, the one he wished to open after that one. Changing the order of those two chambers was not that much of a problem. He would just have to wait three to four months before energizing the Chamber of Heavenly Court. By the end of the year, it would be done.
Right now, what he needed was to increase his ability to focus and stay focused. For that, the Chamber of Government was the best choice. Moreover, it was rich in Water element, just like Zhi the Water Will. Maybe it would be a good thing when he was deep in that immense ocean.
This Chamber of Government was located right in the middle between his Chamber of Medicine Field at the center of his Upper Dantian and the Chamber of Bright Spirit directly behind his glabella. As was his current goal, this chamber could enhance one's focus and concentration. As such, it would resonate with Zhi the Water Will because both of them were rich in Water element. But it would also have other effects like increasing one's perception. Of course, by having a better focus, it would be easier to perceive things.
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Thus Cao Yun did not hesitate at all and changed the order of his chambers.
Like he was now used to do, he slowly lowered the Five Echoes Pearl into the ocean below in his sea of consciousness. Without any problem, the same events occurred. As soon as the Five Echoes Pearl got dissolved into the ocean below, a powerful white flash inundated Cao Yun's entire sea of consciousness. As the Chamber of Government was rich in Water element, it was one of the easiest ones to energize. And as soon as it was energized, the effects could be felt.
Cao Yun immediately focused on his Zhi character and felt that it was even sturdier. Right now, this character looked like a statue of onyx. But after energizing the chamber, it somehow looked similar to the Zhi character of Ren Chao. Of course, Cao Yun had never seen it but he had heard his brother describe it. Unlike his, Ren Chao's Zhi seemed to be an amalgamation of several metals. Right now, this was what was happening with Cao Yun's Zhi. However, it didn't stay like that. Indeed, his Zhi character now looked like it was made of molten metals flowing around each other.
At one instant it appeared solid, but the next it could turn liquid. This was very strange to describe because it was more about sensations than actual reality.
However, something was very clear, Cao Yun's will had evolved. And this change greatly affected him.
To try out the effects on his mind, he began by trying to feel his own body. Then he realized that all of his sensations were now deeper. His ability to focus had increased way beyond his beliefs. In fact, he was able to feel almost all of his individual cells. Such a result was beyond Cao Yun's expectations. With this chamber, he would probably be able to break through even faster. His friends would greatly benefit from energizing this chamber as soon as possible. In fact, Cao Yun should have probably done the same. But he had never thought that the difference would be so great.
Besides, he could increase his focus and stay focused on tiny details far longer than before.
Now that he was both astonished and satisfied by those results, he tried to use them in order to find Huang Liyue. Using his intent, he mobilized the one from the Drop of Wrath and mixed it in his own Qi. With his new chamber energized, Cao Yun realized that he was able to clearly feel each individual strand of Qi and their subtle movements and relations with one another. Hopefully, he would get the same results with Evil Qi.
And indeed, when he tried to map the surrounding area, he realized how much more precise he was. Combined with his 'Shen Visualization', he now had a perfect image of what this black ocean was around the ship. In fact, he was even able to make out the perfect shape of the ship and how the hull had been broken. Although he couldn't directly feel the ship itself or the Qi infused with it, unless it was very close to him, he was able to do it in negative. By sensing where the Evil Qi was stopped and where it couldn't go, he had the perfect shape of the ship in mind.
Gradually, he extended this intent farther and farther. Even if he had already mapped the vicinity, he wanted to make sure he had not missed anything.
It turned out to be the right decision.
As he was now way more accurate in his mapping, Cao Yun realized that there was a tiny area where Evil Qi was both absent but also a bit more violent. The shape was clearly human and all around it, the Evil Qi seemed aggressive as though it was attacking something. Moreover, fate was with Cao Yun because this abnormality was less than two li away from the ship. And just like the ship, it was right at the bottom of the sea, directly lying on the sea floor.
There could be no doubt about this. Although Cao Yun could not detect Huang Liyue's Qi with his current cultivation, it could not be anyone else. And now that he had detected her so close to the 'Feng Soaring Junk', he had high hopes of retrieving her. With his current cultivation, he had absolutely no way of controlling the ship. Considering where the ship was and its state, even an early Spirit Warrior would have had some trouble trying to move it around, let alone a late Mortal.
But since Huang Liyue was so close and on the sea floor, Cao Yun could literally go there on foot.
In theory, a late Mortal could breathe underwater. Indeed, Cao Yun had enough strength to fill his lungs with water and still make it flow as easily as air. In addition, although there was way less oxygen in water than in air, a late Mortal could survive with those amounts for a very long time. Just like water and food, as one's cultivation progressed, one would need less and less of those as his body would also improve. In fact, a late Mortal could probably stop breathing altogether for more than two hours.
The problem was not to breathe underwater. The problem was to breathe in this black water. If Cao Yun tried to breathe this black water, he would literally breathe in Evil Qi. As much as the Drop of Wrath could protect him, it would probably be way too concentrated for it. Besides, his lungs would be corroded almost right away, and so would his skin. Even if he survived, he would get badly injured.
Thus Cao Yun breathed as much air as possible from what had been trapped in the Wei Qi surrounding the ship. Even under the pressure of the entire black ocean, Cao Yun could not believe it would take him more than an hour to get to Huang Liyue and back. From what he had felt, there was no life form of any kind in this part of the ocean. Maybe there were things elsewhere, but not there. Hence, he would only be threatened by the pressure and nothing else.
Before going, Cao Yun took off some of his clothes and left any object he had on him. Then, he focused on his acupoints and tried to voluntarily increase his Wei Qi. Although he was not a Mortal Warrior, he could still send surges of Qi around him. He did not really need to control them. Indeed, as soon as he left the Wei Qi of the ship, the intense pressure of the ocean tried to crush him. And to resist it, Cao Yun used his 'Dragon's Heart' and periodically sent small surges of Qi to alleviate the pressure here and there on his body.
Still, the pressure was absolutely terrifying. Thankfully, Cao Yun's body was way stronger than an average 9th-grade Mortal. But it didn't meant that it was easy by any stretch of the imagination. His body felt incredibly heavy and every single movement required all of his strength. As such, it forced him to make as few movements as possible. Cao Yun's understanding of martial arts became also a great tool, especially his movement techniques. Both 'Locking the Seven and Stopping the Waves' and 'Walking in the Mud Without Staining the Silk' he had received from Chief Elder Baishen came in handy.
As he was walking on the sea floor, Cao Yun was completely blind. After less than a minute, he could not even see the 'Feng Soaring Junk' anymore. This ocean abyss was a realm of pure darkness. But Cao Yun still could count on the intent from the Drop of Wrath. Besides, he also used his Drop of Wrath to try and protect himself against the Evil Qi. Because the Drop of Wrath could attract it, perhaps it could repulse it as well.
Sadly, the effects were not that great. But it still helped Cao Yun resist through his Wei Qi and periodic surges of Qi. In all of them there were traces of the intent of the Drop of Wrath. Furthermore, this intent was almost always present in his own blood that had received some of those properties as well.
Finally, after the time of a cup of tea had passed, Cao Yun had reached Huang Liyue's body.