There were a couple of weeks before the duel between Zhi Yin and Cao Yun. Each one was training and anticipating the fight while the entire Wubei Sect was in uproar. Everyone was waiting for this fight. Many had thought that this would only happen at the end of the year, but it was during the first duels of the year. Even the first-years who didn't know who Cao Yun and Zhi Yin were started to get excited when they heard all their achievements.
With each passing day though, more and more rumors spread about Cao Yun. The first-years were especially receptive to them. During the crisis, Cao Yun's brothers had been seen fighting but he had simply disappeared. People had seen him get into the physician pavilion but no one had seen him fight. Some disciples even claimed they had seen Cao Yun run away or hide in some place. Each time, they were soon found out by older disciples, and sometimes even members of the disciplinary pavilion. Spreading falsehood about a fellow disciple was not taken lightly, especially given the nature of those lies. They could claim that they had just mistaken someone else for him but they were still harshly punished.
Thankfully, most disciples did not believe that he had acted like a coward. However, they didn't know what he had done. And what they heard from the sect didn't make sense. Other rumors began to spread. Luduo Bu had tried to kill him. Lu Meihan had tried to kill him. Lü Bai had tried to kill him. All had been either demonic cultivators or manipulated by them. There was maybe some deeper secret behind all this. It was possible that the sect was hiding something in order to protect Cao Yun from the demonic cultivators. Then, rumors accusing Cao Yun of being a coward and rumors claiming he had acted in the shadows to save the Wubei Sect began to clash.
Meanwhile, Cao Yun was unbothered by all this. In fact, he didn't even know that a war of rumors was being waged. His duel would silence all of them anyway.
Since the duel was soon, Cao Yun had focused on his martial arts and his blood cultivation. From time to time he did work on his mind cultivation, but he spent most of his free time on his alchemy. Right now, he didn't care about improving his alchemy though. He was working on it in order to improve his control over Qi.
As a 3rd-grade Blood Child, Cao Yun was now working on using his blood to nourish and strengthen his superficial tissues. Because he had also gone through the 9th-grade Mortal stage, he could feel every single one of his cells. Instead of nourish his muscles, tendons and even skin, he worked on each individual cell. He was increasing his control over his blood and Qi. At first, he sent his blood into his cells, a single drop went into each cell in his muscles. At some point, all of his blood was literally inside his muscles all over his body.
Then, he got a better idea. Instead of using his blood alone, he also sent his Qi. Although there was already Qi in blood, this wasn't as pure or concentrated. With the intent from the Drop of Wrath, the results were impressive. Since he had already forged a powerful body, his strength did not increase by much, but the increase was real. However, Cao Yun could feel his body in a completely different light now. At the same time, he could indeed feel much more excitement. Demons were always more emotional than humans, but cultivating blood could heighten it. And it was working on Cao Yun.
The young man could feel his emotions become stronger and wilder. Thankfully, his mind cultivation was strong enough to resist it. But it still felt different. A year ago, Cao Yun would have been afraid to lose himself, to change beyond recognition. But now, he was not at all worried by these things. He had found out that his true self was not bound by his emotions or his random thoughts. It was deeper than all of that. Although he had still not quite figured out who he was, he certainly knew who he wasn't.
Soon, he would officially be a man since he would soon be twenty. This number seemed arbitrary, and it was. But somehow, it still had an impact on Cao Yun. When a boy turned twenty, there would be a ceremony with the entire family, as a form of rite of passage to adulthood. Everyone in his family was dead...
Anyway, Cao Yun wondered if something would change for him. But it was unlikely. Another day would pass and he would realize he was the same person, still looking for answers both on the world and on himself.
One week before the duel, Cao Yun felt a powerful tremor in all his muscles. Even his tendons shook like crazy. Goosebumps were all over his skin as well. This sensation lasted for several hours. It was as though he was in a trance. According to 'Crimson Inferno Road', this was the sign of a breakthrough into the 4th-grade Child Blood stage. Usually, it could take half a year or even a full year to reach this level from the 3rd-grade Blood Child. Cao Yun had done so in around two months. But again, he had already cultivated his Qi to the 3rd-grade Mortal Warrior and his mind cultivation was strong. It wasn't such a surprise, not even to Dian Mo. What would have been a surprise would be that he had failed.
Once again, the changes were not very noticeable. Still, Cao Yun could clearly feel them. As he had a great understanding of his own body, he could sense how much stronger he had become and how precise his control over his muscles had become. His physical strength had increased by around five percent. This wasn't much, but considering how strong he had already been, this was a great progress. But what was really important was his better control over his own flesh and blood. Besides his control over Qi, he was now able to activate every part of his muscles independently.
The next level of the Blood Child realm would be to now nourish his internal organs with blood. Those two grades were very similar. But of course, the effects of this new grade would be stronger on the psyche. After that, Cao Yun would need to make his entire being transparent to blood, just as he had done with Qi. Such a body was known as being a Blood Body. Even now, in Cao Yun's body, the boundary between blood and Qi was getting blurry. But with each grade in his blood cultivation, the two of them would slowly become one and the same. His blood would turn into a liquefied Qi.
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As he was practicing his blood cultivation, Cao Yun decided to stop his Qi cultivation. He wanted to make sure that his Bai Hui was strong enough to endure. Although it was full of vitality now, it was still weaker than his other Prodigious Gates. In a sense, it was like a newborn. His Bai Hui had a great potential but it was frail right now. In order to help it grow, Cao Yun used his richer blood to try and sustain it. And it worked. His Bai Hui took in the blood and grew stronger and stronger. However, Cao Yun still felt as though it was too weak compared to his other Prodigious Gates. Besides, he had to admit that he was anxious about using it too much.
As such, even when Cao Yun was working on his martial arts, he limited his own Qi Manifestations. During the fight against Zhi Yin, he would probably have no other choice than to push his limits. But he was still a bit apprehensive. That being said, he had fully realized that this was part of Sect Leader Xuan's plan. He was clearly trying to force him to use his Bai Hui. After all, even Chief Elder Qinghe had said that this was perfectly fine. Cao Yun knew he had to overcome this trauma. Maybe he could have used his mind cultivation to do so, but he wanted a more permanent solution. After he had been forced to take a shortcut which had almost cost him his cultivation, Cao Yun did not intend to do so ever again.
The upcoming duel would be a great way to deal with his apprehension though. In the middle of an epic fight with a powerful martial artist, his instincts would take over. He was fairly certain she would be able to push him beyond his comfort zone. Moreover, she was not an enemy. Even if they were going to fight against each other, Zhi Yin was an honorable opponent and maybe even a friend.
Speaking of martial arts, Cao Yun had also solidified his stars. In his sea of consciousness, the seven stars were now forming the shape of the Azure Dragon. For some, this would be considered Perfection, but Cao Yun intended to practice the full 'Azure Dragon's Seven Piercing Stars'. Thus, it was only Small Success. Now, he had to turn each star into a full constellation. The manual was not very helpful on the matter. This was also one of the reasons why everyone had forgotten about this part. There was only one double page on True Success and one single page on Perfection.
In order to turn a star into a constellation, it was necessary to have reached a high level of mastery over the techniques related to this star. There was also some cryptic allusion to Spear Intent. Now that Cao Yun knew what it was, this passage had become way clearer. For the moment, Cao Yun had only reached Spear Aura, but he had some sensation of what Spear Intent was. The difference was simply on the control over it. Spear Aura was spread everywhere. The martial artist could unleash it but not really control or focus it. Spear Intent was the level above. A martial artist who could control his Spear Aura and focus it all on a single point had reached Spear Intent. Even beyond that was the state of Spear Heart.
The first star he had to turn into a constellation was the Horn Star. It was related to the simplest of techniques with the spear, a stabbing motion. During each one of his training sessions, Cao Yun dedicated at least an entire hour to working on his stabbing motion. Instead of practicing some fancy form, he was simply assuming a fighting stance and he would stab thousands of times in the air. Although each attack seemed similar, it wasn't.
His Yi was fully active and Cao Yun was attentive to every single variation in his attack, in his mind, in his breathing, in his body, in his Qi, even in the Insight Writings in his sea of consciousness. Since he was working on reaching Spear Intent, he only used his Spear Aura without any form of Qi Manifestation. Many cultivators would have been bored simply doing the same motion hundreds or thousands of times over a couple of months. But Cao Yun was interested in learning martial arts since he was a very young boy. In fact, this form of training was almost as enticing as a fight for him.
He never let it become a routine. In every single movement he was making, he was able to find something new to work on and improve. From the outside, it seemed tedious and as though Cao Yun was not progressing at all. But within, it had a real impact on him. He was polishing his technique as a painter was polishing a painting. It might seem already perfect for a neophyte but in the eye of the expert, it was pathetic and inelegant.
As he was training, Ling Hui sometimes saw him in passing. She still had that frown on her face each time, but Cao Yun was too engrossed in his practice to pay her any mind. Despite the look on her face, her eyes had no enmity toward Cao Yun. Maybe she had been annoyed by something else. Since he had last met her, she had truly changed. To be honest, after seeing that he was truly capable, her attitude toward him had slowly shifted. Although she was idolizing Zhi Yin, she was not that antipathetic toward everyone else anymore, especially toward Cao Yun.
Finally, after his blood cultivation, his attempt at restoring his Bai Hui and his martial art training, Cao Yun also trained his mind cultivation and his Qi control through alchemy.
In terms of alchemy, Cao Yun would take the exam to become a 1-star Human alchemist after his duel. He still wasn't sure whether he would participate in the Alchemy Conference though. Anyway, he was going to be present if only to meet Feng Yingyue. Mei Hua would also probably take part in it. Although he liked alchemy, and although he was good, he was nowhere as good as Mei Hua. If he wanted to be, he would have to dedicate a lot more time to the study of alchemy. But he had already so many things to work on and alchemy was more like a hobby to him. He knew this was important, but not as important as his own cultivation, his mind or his martial arts. He also had to investigate so his stealth technique was more important than alchemy too, in his eyes at least.
That being said, he sincerely liked alchemy now. And he was really good at it. With his current cultivation, he was able to activate his furnace without moving a muscle. Through his Qi, he worked on flame control alone. Later, he would also need to work on the other four Golden Elixir Principles. Yin-Yang Balance and Five Elements Wheel were indeed highly important and they were in accordance with what Cao Yun was trying to achieve. Right now, he was using alchemy as a means to work on his Qi control. As such, Cauldron Maintenance and Ingredients Preservation seemed irrelevant. Those two principles were essential for a great alchemist though.
Some alchemist masters claimed that the refinement of a pill was decided before the flame was even lit up. If the cauldron was not maintained properly or if the ingredients were neglected, no level of mastery would be able to produce a great pill. The quality would always be poor. In fact, there were more books and treatises on Cauldron Maintenance and Ingredients Preservation than all the other Golden Elixir Principles combined.
The last weeks before the duel passed quickly as Cao Yun was always busy with something. The entire Wubei Sect was brimming with excitement. Finally, everyone was now waiting around the platform where the duel would take place today.