In Cao Yun's sea of consciousness, Dian Mo was studying avidly what he was doing. As he was circulating the 'Crimson Inferno Road', his skin turned a bit red as more blood was pumped in his veins. But most of it was localized around his chest that was getting hotter and hotter. But both Cao Yun and Dian Mo could feel it.

Cao Yun had never seen a real demon in his life but as a child he had always imagined them to have red skin the color of blood. In fact, this wasn't strictly speaking true. His father had told him that most demons looked exactly like humans. Sometimes their skin truly was a bit darker and red, just like Yun Ping. However, their cultivation would create strange phenomena around them. One of the most common phenomena was a red skin indeed. In that aspect, they were different from asura. An asura always had red skin with golden lines.

Since demons were a breed of human and asura blood, it wasn't surprising that those asura characteristics would reappear during cultivation. Changing the color of one's skin was however very easy for powerful cultivators. In fact, an asura could easily pass off as human if he was advanced enough. Just like a human could pass off as an asura. What truly differentiated the two species was the presence of Dantian and meridians.

Cao Yun could have probably progressed extremely quickly through the Blood Child realm. In fact, in a matter of three to four months, he could have completed it. But he was not looking to go too fast. Right now, he was still a bit convalescent and was worried about his Bai Hui. Although the world tree seed seemed to have healed it, he wasn't sure how safe it was to use it.

Every so often, Cao Yun would try out a few Qi Manifestations. He would also work on his alchemy to play with his mastery of Qi. Now that he could control his Qi outside of his body, he could also easily manipulate small objects with it. Thus, he could now prepare ingredients without even touching them. Some were still too sensitive and fragile to be handled with Qi as the alchemist needed very minute control over his Qi. Unfortunately, Cao Yun was not there yet. But with his mind cultivation, it wouldn't be long before he gained an impressive control.

In fact, it would take him a few weeks to be able to control each strand of his Qi independently. From there, he could inject his Qi in the fire and mixing it with various powders, Cao Yun was able to turn a single flame into several different flames. Each one had a specific combination of elements and a very precise temperature. He could even use each flame to burn a localized area of the cauldron.

Cao Yun was still using his first furnace and his first cauldron. At some point he would probably need to take tools of a higher grade. But since he was still only experimenting, this wasn't urgent at all. Right now, he wasn't even working on his alchemy, he was using it to work on his Qi control to see if his Five Prodigious Gates were working well.

Everything really seemed fine. But Cao Yun could still feel that his Bai Hui was febrile. It felt as if it could break at any given time. And Cao Yun was unable to determine whether this was the case or just some unnecessary worry.

As he was continuing to train his Qi control, Cao Yun had completely pushed aside his Qi cultivation for now. He would need to work on it at some point but he had decided to take things slow until he was confident enough. Besides, his martial arts, his mind, his blood, his alchemy and his array formations all required his attention. Because the martial arts pavilion had been destroyed, Cao Yun decided to train in the Heavenly Swallow Faction. During the past year, Zhi Yin and the new recruits had done a very impressive work with the facilities. Given that there were more recruits, they had received more resources. Besides, other factions had finally decided to help them.

Of course, the Coiling Silk Faction had helped as Wang Mei was leading it. But the Dragon's Fire Faction had also helped a lot, probably to curry favor with Mei Hua and Cao Yun. By extension, they could forge a good relationship with Xiao Xuefeng as well.

Anyway, Cao Yun dedicated most of his time to his spearmanship. After losing the 'Nine Chi Black Dragon Spear', he needed to get more familiar with his new 'Tainted Heavenly Pillar'. The spear was even taller that his last one. There was also an ominous aura around this spear. But Cao Yun's mastery over Evil Qi and his meager understanding of Death Energy were able to completely get rid of it. The way this spear had been forged was horrendous. Hundreds if not thousands of people had been used, blood and souls. However, that didn't mean that Cao Yun could not use it for good now. The orthodox way did not reject everything made through the demonic ways. What it rejected was the means themselves. Creating the weapon was evil, not using it.

Still, Cao Yun preferred to keep this sinister aura under control.

The rest of the time, Cao Yun worked on his blood cultivation, and spent at least as much time on his mind cultivation, so that it would always be more advanced. Finally, he played around with both alchemy and array formations to test out his Qi control.

-

After a few weeks, the official end of the year was upon the Wubei Sect. This year, every event had been canceled. There would be no ranked duels either. Even now, the Wubei Sect was licking its wounds. What was most important was to get back up for the future candidates who would soon arrive. Most of the disaster had been kept secret. It had been less than two months since the attack. Sect Leader Xuan had used array formations to convey the news to the main powers of the Hongchen Kingdom. But for normal cultivators, this was not something they could do. The news would take some time to travel around.

Besides, no one was eager to share that their most powerful sect had almost fallen. Worse, if it had, all of the Hongchen Kingdom would have fallen. Even if Sect Leader Xuan had silenced the truth behind the giant red arm, the Wubei Sect was a strategic point. If it were to fail, the demons would get a perfect opportunity to attack the humans. In the last centuries, no demon had tried to attack thanks to the reputation of the Wubei Sect. All their efforts had been diverted to a few points in the defense of the Hongchen Kingdom. The Sunmen Province and the Subei Province were the most critical areas. The majority of the attacks was happening there. As such, these were the most militarized provinces. Even the Imperial City had fewer soldiers and weapons.

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In particular, the Sunmen Province was seen as the bastion protecting mankind. It wasn't surprising that both Long Jian and Chan Weifeng had both grown up in that province. It had created a lot of great warriors. Unfortunately, the weak soldiers were quickly killed. Only the strong ones were able to survive long enough to reach adulthood.

As the preparations were almost complete for the new year, Cao Yun received an invitation. His servant Kang Cai brought him a letter from her master Xiao Xuefeng. She had received orders from Sect Leader Xuan to invite him for a conversation.

During the chaos of the battle, Sect Leader Xuan had called Cao Yun by his real name. Since then, nothing had been said about it. Sect Leader Xuan and Xiao Xuefeng hadn't talked about how Cao Yun was able to manipulate Evil Qi and save Chief Elder Suxian's Soul Embryo, nor about how he knew so much concerning the Devil's Jail. Clearly, that discussion would go over these subjects and some more. Because Cao Yun did not know about Sect Leader Xuan's character he was a bit apprehensive, but he trusted Xiao Xuefeng completely. And both of them had risked their lives for the sect and mankind. However that was during the crisis and now was another time.

-

Cao Yun was walking up the Heidai Peak. In front of him, he finally saw the Meridian Gate. This was the only gate leading to the Sect Palace where Sect Leader Xuan and Xiao Xuefeng had summoned him. Usually, only chief elders or more rarely elders could have access to this Sect Palace. An outer disciple had almost never been called into it. But outer disciples didn't need to speak with the sect leader in person. Even among the inner disciples, only a handful who were exceptional could get this honor. And most of the times, it was through a proxy holding the Seal of Authority.

The difference today was that Sect Leader Xuan could not let anyone else hear this conversation.

When Cao Yun reached the Meridian Gate, an elder was waiting for him.

"Your spatial ring, please."

Cao Yun bowed, saluted the elder and gave him his spatial ring. He had no doubt that no one would even look inside. Anyway, if they wanted to steal from him, they could do so without any stratagem. In their eyes, Cao Yun was still just a child. As a matter of fact, Cao Yun had not officially become a man yet. Indeed, in the Hongchen Kingdom, a boy became a man when he turned twenty. Cao Yun was still short a couple of months.

The Meridian Gate opened without anyone pushing it, and a gong echoed throughout the Sect Palace. The elder showed the way to Cao Yun but stayed outside. With a bit of apprehension, the boy walked forward only to have the Meridian Gate close itself behind him. Naturally, he walked forward and up the stairs directly in front of him.

Then he found himself in the room where Sect Leader Xuan and Xiao Xuefeng were waiting. Sect Leader Xuan was not hidden behind a curtain, but he was sitting down. His posture was not very good and it was clear that he was tired. For a 9th-grade Spirit Warrior to show signs of fatigue indicated how exhausted he truly was. Even Xiao Xuefeng seemed in a better condition despite everything she had done during the previous battle and since then.

Cao Yun knew the protocol. He walked until the authorized limit and kowtowed.

"This humble one salutes Sect Leader Xuan. This humble one salutes Spirit Master Xiao."

As he was done speaking, Cao Yun felt a powerful wave pass through him. All around the Sect Palace, an array formation had just been activated. But this wasn't all, Cao Yun could also feel the Qi of Sect Leader Xuan. He had first sensed it during the previous battle. It was so powerful and mysterious that there was no way to be mistaken about it. Sect Leader Xuan was altering space all around the Sect Palace.

"From now on, no word spoken here will ever leave those walls, Cao Yun."

There was no surprise per se because the boy knew his real name had been found out already. But it was still strange for him to be called that way, especially in such an official place. He quickly looked at Xiao Xuefeng who was not reacting either.

"Spirit Master Xiao has not betrayed your trust."

"I never doubted that, Sect Leader."

"Cao Yun, I heard a lot about you. And I had also heard a lot about your family. As a matter of fact, I even met your great-grandfather when he was a child. What has happened to your family is a tragedy. And you have been wise to keep your name a secret. You probably already spoke with Matriarch Huang on that matter, right?"

"Indeed, Sect Leader. She recognized me easily."

"Of course, she did. And she probably told you how close she was to your family. Let me tell you something. Huang Yufeng is a noble woman and a very powerful cultivator. However she is also crafty and cunning. Her main concern will always be the survival of her family. Thankfully, it passes through the survival of mankind and the Hongchen Kingdom. But you shouldn't trust her every word. Even if the gist of what she told you is probably true, it should also be full of tiny lies to gain your trust and make you a useful tool for her family.

"But do not get me wrong, I too want to make you a useful tool for my Wubei Sect. However, I will be direct with you. There are more and more doubts about the ones responsible behind the massacre of the Cao family. It is best that the Imperial City does not learn of your survival. If you wish to know the truth, you will be forced to operate in the shadows for quite some time.

"The Hongchen Kingdom is under a lot of pressure, both from the outside and from within. Even if Mo Tian was the Demon King, which is still unclear right now, demonic cultivators are still a threat. But the Imperial City is also a threat. Despite how unified our kingdom may appear to its citizens, there are always struggles for power. Most of the times they are bloodless, but this should not make you believe that they are peaceful.

"The truth is that there are many strange things happening all over the Hongchen Kingdom. Even the Imperial City is affected. It's been several decades that the Emperor did not appear in public and no announce of his seclusion has been made. Some even fear whether he is still alive or not... For one, I do not believe in his death. Although I am still more powerful than he is, he is younger than me by at least four centuries. There is no way he would go down without a fight. And if he were to fight, we would all know about it.

"Unfortunately, we won't be able to learn more about the situation anytime soon. With the demons at our borders and the internal threats, almost no one has enough manpower to act. Our Wubei Sect was the last power that could manage to spread its forces, but this is over. We will be forced to focus our efforts on the sect for a while. An attack from the demon kingdoms is imminent. This intelligence is true, no matter how we look at it.

"Then the question is, are you ready to try and uncover the truth by yourself?"