Cao Yun was seeing himself as though he was outside of his own body. For several hours, he had tortured Yang Tianyi. From an outside point of view, there was nothing to indicate it as he was literally using Evil Qi within Yang Tianyi's nervous system. Although he wasn't a physician, after activating all his cells in the 9th-grade Mortal stage, Cao Yun had a good understanding of the human body.
Yang Tianyi could not even scream while pain was inflicted on him because his jaws were clenched shut by the spasms of his muscles.
Although there was no exterior signs to show how terrible the pain was, Cao Yun could read it in his eyes. Now that he had energized the Chamber of Bright Spirit, he had an increased empathy. Just with a glimpse, he could imagine what Yang Tianyi was going through. However, he was unable to think about him as deserving of compassion. The only people he could think about were those who had suffered and died to form the blood runes he was now using as an instrument of torture.
But during the interrogation, Cao Yun realized that he was almost a spectator of his own body. And he wondered how he had come to do such things. Two years ago, this would have never even crossed his mind. The tragedy of his family had changed him. But there was also something else at work here. Yes, he was way more decisive. This time, he had not hesitated at all to cripple an unconscious man for life. Damn, he had even experimented on another man beforehand. Those were what demonic cultivators did regularly. For them, humans were expendable, mere tools or resources to use as they saw fit.
Of course, Cao Yun's goal and mindset was completely different. But at that moment he became cautious of himself. His mind cultivation was powerful but it could also be dangerous. After all, he could literally shut down his own emotions if need be. He had never done it except to stay calm during a crisis. And at this very moment, he swore to never do it. He had to face his emotions, not bury them, unless the situation was critical and he needed to keep his calm.
He had realized that his thoughts were not defining him. After all, everyone had thousands of strange thoughts, and dark thoughts on which they would never act. Then, he was wondering what could define him. His actions? His intentions? Like anyone else, he could do something wrong for the right reason, or even something right for the wrong reason. He could even change his appreciation of what was good and wrong from one day to the next. Right now, he thought it was right to torture Yang Tianyi because of what he had already inflicted on others and because getting the information he had was beneficial to the entire human race.
Could he really be defined at all? Could anyone really be reduced to a small definition? Cao Yun was not the same man he had been two years ago. And he had no idea of who he would be two years from now. Not only was he young and prone to change, but he was also actively cultivating his body and his mind. Everything about him would change with time. At some point, his very soul would fuse with a Soul Embryo, his body would not be made of flesh and bone anymore. For the first time, Cao Yun was wondering at which point would he cease to be him.
And it hit him! He was not the Cao Yun his parents had known. This Cao Yun was already gone. The worry he had completely dissolved as though he had found an answer to his interrogation. He didn't know what could define a human being completely. But he knew that his identity was not dependent on the things he was worried about. There was something deeper, a sense of continuation. With time a seed would cease to be a seed and turn into a tree. Just like that, Cao Yun would keep evolving and changing. This wasn't a bad thing. But like a tree, he had to nurture his changes to become what he really wanted to become, so that would not wake up some day hating the man he had turned into.
In his sea of consciousness, his Hun the Wood Ethereal Soul shined more brightly. For an instant, his entire sea of consciousness even radiated with three slightly different green lights. At a very unexpected moment, Cao Yun had gained some kind of illumination about the nature of one's character and identity.
As Cao Yun was having all those thoughts, he was also mechanically creating a mental map of all the names Yang Tiany was mentioning. Most of them had to be fake, but among them there also had to be true names. Once he would come out, this would be an excellent way for Xiao Xuefeng to root out the demonic cultivators all over the kingdom. She would probably get a lot of work. Hopefully, with what she had already gathered, this would allow the orthodox cultivators to completely destroy this infestation among their ranks. As the tensions with the demons were growing, they really didn't need an internal strife.
Finally, Yang Tianyi was done. He collapsed on his side, sobbing uncontrollably. For the first time ever, Cao Yun felt a bit of pity for him. He had no idea what had lead him to become a demonic cultivator. However, there was nothing to do for him now. No matter how much he had tried, Cao Yun had not been able to extract the seals implanted in his sea of consciousness. If he had been able to enter his soul, he might have had a chance, but he still wasn't a Spirit Warrior.
The moment Cao Yun would relinquish his ashes, the seals would completely consume the poor man. Although Cao Yun had tortured him, he thought more pain was not necessary. Since the man he was becoming was being modeled right now, Cao Yun decided that he didn't want to be cruel for the sake of cruelty. Even to his most terrible enemies, Cao Yun could be merciful.
Thus, he helped Yang Tianyi up and sat him up against a tree that had survived the earlier fight.
"Soon, the seals in your soul will completely eradicate you, robbing you of even the possibility of reincarnation. If you ask me to, I can kill you before this happens. To be honest, I do not know what will happen to those seals. But if I can hold them long enough for your ethereal soul to leave your body, you should find your way to the Heavenly Court. Although I do not know of your circumstances, I hope you'll be able to resolve this karma in your next life. This is more mercy than you gave to your own victims, what do you think?"
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Yang Tianyi's eyes were vague and unresponsive. Yet, Cao Yun was able to discern a tiny nod of approval.
Without losing any second, Cao Yun tightened his grip over the seals still trapped by his ashes. Then, he plunged his spear in Yang Tianyi's heart. Sending a bit of Qi with it, all of his organs exploded within his chest. Although Cao Yun had not a complete understanding of the soul, he knew that it was made up of several parts. For some, there was one soul that was acting in different ways while others believed there were several souls working together. But they still called their collective action as a singular soul. No matter what was correct, the fact remained that only the ethereal soul could leave the body upon death while the corporeal soul returned to the ground after the decomposition of the body.
And at that moment, Cao Yun was able to feel the three seals he had captive trying to also leave the body of Yang Tianyi. It was very strange because Cao Yun could not feel anything different in his Upper Dantian. It was as though a foreign force was attracting them but everything else remained the same. Without those three seals, Cao Yun would have even doubted whether Yang Tianyi's ethereal soul had left or not.
At the same time, Cao Yun realized that this was also a good opportunity to test out his 'Death Verses'. In death, Po would slowly turn into Death Energy. Usually it was dispersed in the earth before it could fully become Death Energy. But as he was witnessing the process before his own eyes, Cao Yun tried to feel the slow transformation of the Po. Maybe he could gain some insight from it. This was called 'See Through the Mud', the ability to sense Death Energy. Although there was very little of it, Cao Yun was still able to get a vague feeling. From time to time it disappeared as though it was eluding his senses, but there was indeed something going on with Yang Tianyi's Po.
Unfortunately, Cao Yun would not make an habit out of killing people to observe the formation of Death Energy. So he would not get many occasions to practice his 'Death Verses'. Maybe if he got more control over the Drop of Wrath, he could somehow find another way. After all, it was made of corrupted Po.
Despite this distraction, Cao Yun never let go of the three seals. However, with Yang Tianyi's death, they became more and more violent. They really wanted to follow his soul and destroy it. Cao Yun had no idea how long he should keep them under his tight leash. Indeed, he had no way of feeling Yang Tianyi's soul and could thus not know whether it was safe for him or not. Just like Cao Yun was able to change along his life, Yang Tianyi had been a completely different man at some point and in another life, he would also be someone else entirely. Robbing him of this chance didn't sit well with Cao Yun, there was really no reason at all to do such a thing, except cruelty and self-satisfaction.
But what Cao Yun had not thought about was that as soon as Yang Tianyi's soul was truly gone, the seals would find another target. Those seals were not smart at all. They had been created with a single purpose. Although Cao Yun did not know exactly how they had been created, he knew that they were meant to extinguish someone's soul completely if a certain condition was met. Now that they had been prevented from doing their task, they turned their attention toward Cao Yun.
All of a sudden, the three seals burned through the ashes. By fusing together, they became much more powerful and Cao Yun lost control for an instant. The next moment, the new seal left through Yang Tianyi's glabella and tried to penetrate Cao Yun's body. Quickly, he tried to retreat and increase his Wei Qi around his Upper Dantian. But the seal was just too fast.
In a flash, it was already within his sea of consciousness.
Ironically, this was the best scenario for Cao Yun. He had been worried that the seal would damage his physical body, but it was only attacking his sea of consciousness. Its goal was probably to destroy his soul. But now, the seal was doomed.
In his sea of consciousness, Cao Yun saw a giant wolf with an emaciated body. Its head was very long and full of fangs, and the rest of its body was thin and slender as though it was famished.
Without any delay, Cao Yun activated his Drop of Wrath to the maximum. He would not take any risk with the seal created by a Spirit Warrior demonic cultivator. Immediately, the Drop of Wrath turned into the figure of Axiu Qian. It still only had two arms though.
The wolf was not a threat at all against this red demon. Both the sky and the ocean had also turned red. The Heart Star was filling the infinity of the sky and was being reflecting in the water below. The seal could not even react in time. With just one hand, the red demon grabbed and shut its mouth. Some of its fangs broke under the violence of this grip. Just after that, the other hand landed on the slender body of the creature. Without any hesitation, the red demon lifted the seal in the air and tore it apart. His mouth opened and he drank from the blood flowing out of the two halves of the strange wolf.
-
Somewhere in the Wubei Sect, a Spirit Warrior felt as though someone had assaulted his Soul Embryo. This man was Mo Tian. Just in case, he had personally engraved several seals in the disciples sent into the Palace of Supreme Wisdom. Although he could not feel what was going on inside of it, the violence that had destroyed some of his seals had been so intense, that even through space he was able to feel it.
What was going on? Could some of those idiots have angered the spirit of the Palace of Supreme Wisdom? No, he had been clear with Mo Zi. But then, who else could destroy his seals? A very bad feeling began to rise within him. This plan had to work no matter what! Mo Tian was ready to risk it all. After more than a century of waiting, he would finally get everything he had ever wanted. Nothing could stop him this time. If need be, he had even prepared several over contingencies.
-
Just as Mo Tian was alerted by the brutal destruction of his seals, the Supreme emblem in Cao Yun's clothes began to react as well. Surprised, he took the emblem in hand. For the first time since he had entered this place, he felt something ominous from this emblem. It only lasted a brief moment but he felt as though a pair of eyes was fixating upon him. And they were looking right through him, trying to see deep within his soul.
But even that piercing gaze could not see his Drop of Wrath. However, he felt that gaze on his blood and deep into his heart. These eyes were trying to gauge out his blood cultivation.
Then, the Supreme emblem got activated. Although he had not finished the current test, Cao Yun felt the familiar sensation he had felt before every teleportation. Somehow, someone had forced his emblem to activate. And Cao Yun could not suppress a foreboding premonition in his heart. However, he used his mind cultivation to remain as calm as possible. Without any hesitation, he took back his spear within his spatial ring and he even extended the blue light to the corpses of the demonic cultivators and a few plants. He took as many as he could before the scenery disappeared in front of him.
The next moment, he woke up in a giant palace. He was right in front of the entrance, on a tall stair. The palace was floating in the void. And then he heard a voice in another language. It had spoken in Moshenhua, the language of the demons.