For Cao Yun, his future plans were clear. Right now, he would stay in the Wubei Sect to stabilize his cultivation and prepare himself. After becoming the direct disciple of Sect Leader Xuan, he had access to many more resources and books. However, he still needed to perform well during the ranking duel to be accepted by everyone. In theory, the Sect Leader could impose anyone he wanted. But to avoid any opposition and make things smoother, it would be better for Cao Yun to show everyone his competence.
Besides, he was going to fight against Zhi Yin. She was calm and respectful, unlike her first supporter Ling Hui. In fact, the little brat would probably be the most problematic factor. As such, Cao Yun would wait for Zhi Yin to be alone to talk to her. He had no intention of ambushing her with a last minute duel. No, he would warn her as soon as he could so that no one could imagine there had be any foul play. People could imagine he had trained with her in secret to steal all her moves and be ready for the fight.
Just as he didn't know how much she had progressed, she had no idea how far he had gone either. This duel was not about life and death. Even if he were to lose, as long as he could show how powerful he was, this would be a success. Furthermore, he had really loved fighting against her during his entrance examination. Since then, they had sparred some times and each time had been interesting and challenging. For someone who loved martial arts, fighting her was a great occasion.
Once he was officially the Young Sect Master, Cao Yun could freely go in the library to parse through all the books without any restriction. In fact, he could probably do so right now in secret. Sect Leader Xuan just wanted to avoid having to deal with an opposition or having inner disciples challenge Cao Yun repeatedly to prove he was unworthy. With such a show of strength, he would silence everyone before they could even speak. As such, they still needed to be discreet for now, and Cao Yun didn't want that kind of attention either.
After this first task was done, he knew exactly what he was going to do. The map of the Hongchen Kingdom appeared in his mind. On his path, the first stop would be the former lair of the Wolf Head Sect. It had been investigated again and again. But no one had his sensitivity toward Evil Qi. He also had another secret, Dian Mo. Maybe he could find something no one else could. Even if he didn't find anything, it was on the way to Baziyun City anyway.
Indeed, after that, he would go to Baziyun City. He would probably get some news on the Mountain Fenghuang egg. And he would investigate the different leads he had gotten. Someone was using the Myriad Cherry Blossom Hall to find information about past massacres. In the end, it had helped him because he had learned about the Shui family. Unfortunately, it was old enough that no trace would remain. In fact, Cao Yun had thought about going where the Shui family lived and died as well but there would be nothing at all. However, the name Shui was staying in his mind. It was very similar to his mother's name, Cao Shui. This wasn't the same character, but he couldn't stop himself from sensing a relation.
After all, the Shui family had been killed near the Wu Province. And the time was within the time frame when his mother and his father had met. Furthermore, Cao Yun had never heard anything about her family. It was as though she had appeared out of thin air. This thought caused many more doubts in Cao Yun. For now, he had no certainty. Before investigating, it was best to keep an open mind and not narrow down his vision.
While dealing with the Myriad Cherry Blossom Hall, Cao Yun could also get some things in order. He would need another identity for his investigation. Xiao Xuefeng had many contacts in the Main Hall. She was positive she could obtain a credible identity for him. In order to uphold this identity, Cao Yun would need to train his 'Ashen Feather Seal'. Although he couldn't completely erase his presence in front of a late Spirit Warrior, he could alter it. Thanks to that, he would be able to create the illusion of a different aura. But he had to work on it so that this aura was stable and always the same. The ashes acted as a form of mist, warping the perception of others.
Thankfully, his face was not very well-known. Besides, he could easily use the 'Ashen Feather Seal' to also make his features less noticeable. His face would not change but unless someone studied his face for a long time, his features would appear very ordinary.
Finally, he would need to get ready for the Alchemy Conference. Hopefully, he would have found interesting leads to explore by then. Otherwise, he would have to rely on his presence in the Imperial City to learn more. Maybe he would explore the kingdom or simply partake in the cleansing of the demonic cultivators. After all, it wasn't clear whether the Demon King was still alive or not. They had still not figured out why they had stolen from the Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute. Maybe Cao Yun could go there to know more. The idea of seeing Feng Yingyue caused him to pause. He wanted to see her but he was also afraid. He was afraid that if he saw her, he would realize that he had fallen for her in a moment of despair and didn't really care for her. But worse than that, she might realize that of herself.
Cao Yun had little to no experience with women. At the time, becoming Dao companion with her seemed natural and even wonderful. But now he had many doubts. The fact that they had not seen each other for a long time and that their letters had even stopped did not help at all. Xiao Xuefeng even told him that Feng Yingyue would stay in seclusion until the Alchemy Conference. Her talent was impressive so Hua Fenfei and Director Ge had authorized her to practice in the legendary Hall of Poison and Cure. This was a secret in the Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute. Training there was dangerous but one's alchemy would skyrocket. It was said that a Mortal Warrior could become as masterful as a 1-star Heaven alchemist without breaking through to Spirit Warrior, if he survived.
Considering that she had the same mind cultivation as Cao Yun, he was not too worried about her. In fact, he was way more worried about his emotions. Despite his mind cultivation, he was not certain of what they were. But by seeing her, he knew that all his doubts would dispel. The problem was that he could not know in which way...
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Since he had nothing more to do than to train, that was what Cao Yun did. He also helped out Xiao Xuefeng with the seals of the few demonic cultivators. He worked secretly with her and Chief Elder Lümian. Both women were interested by the way he could handle the seals. Of course, Cao Yun could not share his Drop of Wrath, and he could not either share his 'Death Verses'. That being said, those women were geniuses when it came to mind and soul. Just by watching attentively when he preformed his art several times, they were able to determine many things on the seals themselves. Very quickly, they became even more competent than Cao Yun, which helped him also understand a few things. But in the end, their knowledge eclipsed his.
Just like him though, they would still have a hard time getting rid of a powerful seal, especially one in someone's soul. But maybe there was hope for these few disciples yet. That meant that there was hope to save other demonic cultivators. They were known to force and coerce cultivators into this life. Once they had agreed to a small thing, they were trapped because they had seals in them. But if they could find a way to protect people from those seals, or simply eradicate them before they could kill the victim, they might be able to convert back some demonic cultivators. Of course, they would be judged and sentenced according to what atrocities they had already committed, but this would not necessarily mean death.
Apart from this help, Cao Yun trained with Chief Elder Baishen. She was still shaken by Chief Elder Suxian's death. Although she was excited by Cao Yun's prowess, he could feel that there was something somber in her now. With the prospect of a huge war in the near future, Cao Yun would probably be confronted to this depressing aura more and more. The Hongchen Kingdom had been struck by a demonic beast stampede recently and the fallout of it was still echoing throughout the provinces. The rumors of a war were also spreading. Many were imagining that the human race would soon either be enslaved or completely annihilated.
Cao Yun did not only train his martial arts, he cultivated his blood as well. In a month, he was able to fully fill his heart with all his blood. At some point, he felt a powerful tremor in all his bloodstream as his heart pumped like crazy without sending a drop of blood. This form of spasm was the sign of a breakthrough to the 3rd-grade Blood Child. After that, Cao Yun would need to use his blood rich in Qi to nourish his muscles and superficial tissues first and then his organs. All of that was not new to him, but he wanted to do it slow in order to create a very stable base.
Because he had cultivated his blood through various methods, he now wanted to adhere to this 'Crimson Inferno Road' as closely as possible. He would avoid any deviation in his training.
The last part of his training consisted in cultivating his mind. Now that he had completed the second layer, Cao Yun had to practice 'Subdue the Seven Demons'. Another reason why he was taking his time with the blood cultivation, besides the trauma of his Bai Hui, was that he wanted his mind to stay more powerful than his blood. Even now, he could feel that his emotions were deeper. He could get excited way more easily, and by any emotion, anger, sadness, love, anything. Thankfully, his mind cultivation was strong enough that those mood swings had no impact on him, for now. If his blood cultivation went too far too fast, he might be in trouble.
After all his efforts to calm down the Drop of Wrath, Cao Yun didn't want to have to start all over again but with his very blood now.
'Subdue the Seven Demons' was the third layer of the 'Sealing the Seven Demons in the Nine Peaks'. After this one, there was one final layer during which Cao Yun would use those Seven Turbid Demons and seal them in his Nine Soul Peaks.
In this third layer, the training was rather straight forward. The Po, the corporeal soul, was made of seven smaller souls called the Seven Turbid Demons. In fact, this name referred more specifically to what they could turn into. Each Po could be perverted into being a demon. In a way, this was the origin of most inner demons who were more often than not a combination of several Po. Thanks to the Po character, it was possible to examine the corporeal soul in detail. And the Chamber of Mysterious Elixir was necessary to have a powerful perception of one's own soul.
The cultivator had to examine his Po in order to clearly identify each smaller Po inside. Then, he had to extract each one and subdue it so that it would never be corrupted by emotions. From Dian Mo's perspective, this was incredibly similar to what demons did in order to create their Demon Soul. But in a sense, it was the opposite. Indeed, demons would corrupt each Po in order to turn them into the Seven Turbid Demons. They would become way more powerful but they would also require to be tamed. The more Dian Mo learned about this mind cultivation, the more doubts he had concerning its origin. In fact, he was almost certain about it. But he had no reason to tell anything to Cao Yun.
The young man began with the Flying Poison, the Turbid Demon associated with the Po of Jing. This was the last part of Axiu Qian's corporeal soul still present in the Drop of Wrath. His goal was clear. He didn't want to just study and strengthen each one of his seven Po. No, Cao Yun wanted to use this third layer in order to implant them into the Drop of Wrath.
As it was trying to repair itself, it would probably be very receptive to it. Cao Yun just had to be careful to always stay in control. But if he could recreate the entirety of the Drop of Wrath's corporeal soul, its power would be increased beyond measure. Besides, he would be fully in charge of it. Even now that he was able to contain it effortlessly, it was still a foreign object under his control, not a true part of him yet.
The young man started the third layer by focusing all of his senses on the Po character outside of the Drop of Wrath. It was still surrounded by a small cloud of bones. This was Death Energy. Maybe he could learn more about Death Energy and the 'Death Verses' by doing this. It would kill two birds with one stone.
His Po character was now made of billions of intertwined filaments. This was like a true bone. Observed closely, it was similar to a giant network of small white filaments, like a spider's web. According to his mind cultivation, Cao Yun had to map out the entire character in order to recognize the parts that were related to the Po of Jing. Without any surprise, its Turbid Demon, the Flying Poison, was related to rage and wrath. This was the main root of the Drop of Wrath.
As he was studying his Po character, he could feel the Drop of Wrath react at the same time. It could feel the presence of the Flying Poison within its host. And it didn't seem happy about it, like two feral animals on the same territory. For now, Cao Yun was able to keep the Drop of Wrath under control. But if he tried to complement the current Flying Poison with his own, the Drop of Wrath would not react very well to what it would perceive as an aggression.
Anyway, in order to really extract and subdue this part of his Po, Cao Yun estimated that he would need somewhere between two to three years. This was the hardest layer yet.