Cao Yun had done everything he had thought about in the Wubei Sect. One last time, he visited all of his brothers and sister, he went to his instructors, teachers and elders. Everything was done under the guise of going into seclusion for a few years in order to really become the Young Sect Master. Everyone believed this because this was indeed the custom.
Of course, every new young sect master in history had not gone into seclusion right away but since the Alchemy Conference was so close, it made sense. The news of Cao Yun passing the test to become a 1-star Human alchemist had spread. He would probably enter the Alchemy Conference. That meant that he only had around one year and a half to get ready. And he would need to both improve his alchemy and digest whatever it was that Sect leader Xuan had taught him.
Only Xiao Xuefeng knew the truth, apart from Sect Leader Xuan of course. After all, she had literally prepared his new identity of Guai Mo. Xiao Xuefeng, as a powerful alchemist, had many ties with the Myriad Cherry Blossom Hall, some more intimate than others. The Myriad Cherry Blossom Hall, like everything in the Hongchen Kingdom, was under the authority of the Imperial City. However, they were also the largest company and the most powerful economic force. As such, they had many operations even the Imperial City knew nothing about.
Although the Emperor was always respected and highly regarded by everyone in the Hongchen Kingdom, this didn't silence ambitions. Moreover, Emperor Weide had not appeared in public for seventy years now. And with the difficulties encountered by the kingdom recently, his prestige was rapidly falling. This had caused the Huang family to form a secret alliance with the Wubei Sect and the Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute. This was not strictly speaking forbidden. But it could be seen as seditious by some.
The Imperial City was always trying to balance out the influence of every major player in the Hongchen Kingdom. Their main tool was the threat of the demons at the border but also the memory of Emperor Nuwa to unify mankind around their rule. But Emperor Nuwa had always advocated for merit. The position of emperor could not be given according to blood ties but had to be given depending on the merit of the individual. That also meant that every great family hoped to one day join the Imperial City. Emperor Weide was around 1,500 years old now so in half a millennium, he would need to be replaced.
For mortals, this was an eternity but for cultivators it was between half or a fourth of their life. They could wait that long...
Once he was done, Cao Yun made sure to pack everything he needed in his spatial ring. He had literally taken enough to eat and drink for five years, just in case. After his time in the Yellow Death World, he was now ready. And he would preserve his reserves as much as possible every time he had the possibility. Just to be sure, he went to the demonic beast pavilion. It had been partially destroyed during the stampede and there had been no time to fully repair it yet. After all, they needed very specific materials in order to take care of demonic beasts.
Unfortunately, they had none to give to Cao Yun. To be more precise, the only demonic beasts that they could have lent to him were unable to fly. And considering his cultivation, he had more endurance and was faster than them so they would be useless.
Since everything was ready, Cao Yun left through the Shell Gate. One last time he looked at this gate. With his current senses, he was able to almost see the entire Wubei Sect from this point. He could even discern the shape of the Sect Palace behind the clouds. At that moment, he got the foreboding that he would not see this place before a long time. Even he could not tell where this was coming from but it was clear in his mind. It wasn't just anxiety. Maybe his mind cultivation had advanced enough for him to sense something his conscious mind was unable to notice. Anyway, a feeling was just a feeling.
This time, Cao Yun was determined to act. He was not waiting for the demonic cultivators or whoever to execute their plans. Now, he had leads and he was going to explore them all. Whether demonic cultivators were behind the massacre of his family or not, he would purge them from the Hongchen Kingdom. And he would also use this opportunity to uncover the ones behind that horrendous crime. Now he also knew about the Shui family. This crime would also be solved.
The first stop on his travel was the Wolf Head Sect.
When he had first reached the Lunar Marsh, Cao Yun had been met with fugitives from that same Wolf Head Sect. Unfortunately, he had already gone back to the Lunar Marsh two years ago to get information and had found nothing except for a trap prepared against him and his brothers and sister.
This time, when Cao Yun crossed the Lunar Marsh, no demonic beast got even remotely close to him. After the stampede, many had died, but those who had survived were more violent because they were still terrified. However, none dared getting close to the young man. All around him, Cao Yun had combined the intent from the Drop of Wrath with his Wei Qi. But more than that, there was a fire in his eyes that would deter even a Mirror Back Ancient Alligator.
Even if Cao Yun had completely concealed his cultivation, his eyes alone would have made them run away from him. He was working on his 'Bleeding Eyes' from 'Weeping Demons'. The demonic beasts were seeing a world of blood and violence when they looked at the young man's pupil. There was a domineering atmosphere all around him. He wasn't the child he had been three years ago. Now he was officially a man. Although this was just a social norm of the Hongchen Kingdom, this had also a psychological impact on Cao Yun.
When he had reached 20, he should have had a banquet and a whole ceremony with his family. This thought renewed the rage he was feeling. Thankfully, it was tempered by reason. With his mind cultivation, Cao Yun was able to feel the rage without being influenced by it too much unless he wanted to.
On his path, Cao Yun encountered an Icy-Scaled Lizard. This was a 3-core demonic beast. Usually, such a demonic beast was able to contend against a 9th-grade Mortal or even a weak 1st-grade Mortal Warrior. That Icy-Scaled Lizard had lost one eye and seemed absolutely desperate. It tried to hide by lowering the temperature of the air around him in order to create some mist. Of course, Cao Yun was able to sense it without any problem. He could feel the fear of the demonic beast. With its current wounds, it was going to die anyway, but if he could devour such a cultivator, he might have a chance to develop another demonic core.
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Not only would he survive, he would even become stronger than ever. But the Icy-Scaled Lizard was not stupid at all. It could feel that Cao Yun was way above him in the food chain. Without its current desperation, it would have fled immediately. That being said, it was not rash at all. Patiently, it was waiting for even the tiniest breach in Cao Yun's focus to attack him.
The young man did not even take his spear out. He locked his senses on the Icy-Scaled Lizard. The demonic beast felt its blood congeal in its veins. All three of his cores had been targeted by Cao Yun's intent. At that moment, it knew it had been foolish to have any ill intent toward that human, but it was too late.
'Axiu Qian's Blood Wrath'!
In an instant, Cao Yun moved and dashed through the Icy-Scaled Lizard's body. Blood erupted everywhere but Cao Yun was perfectly clean as his Wei Qi was protecting him. In his right hand, he was now holding one of the 3-demonic cores while the Icy-Scaled Lizard was split in two. Tendrils of Qi entered its convulsing body and relieved it of the other two. The shock and the violence of the attack had completely stunned the demonic beast. Despite the brutality, it died almost instantly.
All around, several weaker demonic beasts had observed the scene. Some had been waiting to see if they could maybe use the opportunity. Maybe the Icy-Scaled Lizard could injure the human enough for them to kill him and devour his flesh. Right now, they were happy that they had listened to their fear rather than to their desperation. The corpse of the Icy-Scaled Lizard, even without his cores, was enticing. Yet, they all waited for Cao Yun to be far enough. Even then, they were strangely civilized. No fight broke out and they shared the feast, terrified at the idea of annoying the beast in human form.
-
It would take three to four weeks for Cao Yun to reach the Wolf Head Sect, then it would take one more month to Baziyun City. Without the ability to fly, his travel would take a very long time. He only had two years before the Alchemy Conference and he truly intended to go there. Everything he had heard made him think that there was indeed a connection between the Imperial City and his Cao family. Entering into the Imperial City was not that easy, even with 'Ashen Feather Seal'. Thus, the Alchemy Conference was his best opportunity.
After some research, Cao Yun had found out that every province would choose an alchemist to represent them at the conference. A huge part of this conference was in fact a competition to develop the young prodigies of alchemy. As such, this Alchemy Conference happened every century and allowed every alchemist under the Spirit Warrior realm to compete.
The easiest way to enter was to be chosen by a province. Some schools had the ability to take one or several spots for themselves. For example, the Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute had three spots. However, the Wubei Sect was a martial sect so it had no spot. Since Cao Yun was the Young Sect Master, he couldn't really enroll into the Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute, neither did he want to. Alchemy was interesting but it was still a side occupation for him.
Then, the best thing for him would be to be chosen by a province. But his alchemy was probably not on par right now. There was also a harder way. Just before the Alchemy Conference, there was a tournament designed to find young prodigies. Everyone could take part in it but the number of spots offered was limited and decided just before the Alchemy Conference. It could be one spot, it could be ten spots. This would be Cao Yun's last chance.
To improve his alchemy, Cao Yun used his travel to find more and more ingredients. It reminded him of his first travel through the woods with Feng Yingyue. But this time, instead of speaking with a charming young lady, he was discussing with an incorporeal spirit trapped in his sea of consciousness. However, it turned out to be very pleasant anyway. Dian Mo knew a lot about alchemical ingredients, but his knowledge was purely academical since he had never left the Demon Palace before. This was an entirely new world in front of his eyes, well, he was seeing through Cao Yun's eyes.
Anyway, Dian Mo was so excited he simply couldn't contain himself and spoke with Cao Yun almost every single minute of every single day. Luckily, Cao Yun could spend almost an entire month without sleeping now. Thus, they kept on traveling like that. All the tension and the danger surrounding the entire Hongchen Kingdom seemed to disappear.
From time to time, Cao Yun stopped to refine a few pills of varying qualities. He also worked on understanding his 'Aureate Grove' better by injecting his Qi within.
He also played around with Dian Mo. Dian Mo would create different seals. Each time he was trying to be more imaginative and he was really good at that. After all, he was extremely old and had a lot of knowledge. Cao Yun would then try and unravel them while using as little of his mind cultivation as possible.
After that, he often worked on his mind cultivation. The more he worked with seals, the more he realized how closely they were related to 'Subdue the Seven Demons'. Dian Mo was convinced that a demon had written this manual and Cao Yun was inclined to believe him.
Apart from his mind cultivation, Cao Yun also worked on his blood cultivation while walking. Right now, he was a 4th-grade Blood Child. That meant that he was nourishing his organs with his own blood. Of course, it was more delicate than nourishing his muscles and superficial flesh. However, he could feel the properties of the Drop of Wrath become more and more ingrained in his body. It wasn't just in his blood now, it was even in his flesh. The Drop of Wrath had made him able to heal faster and to develop a tremendous strength. Although it wasn't progressing by much, Cao Yun could still feel the difference.
The rest of the time, he was thinking about his martial art, observing the seven stars in his sea of consciousness while focusing both on the Horn Star and the Insight Writings floating all around. Just like Chief Elder Baishen had told him, he should not try to force his Spear Aura to turn into Spear Intent. It would naturally evolve as his understanding of the spear would deepen. As such, he was focusing on it while training with his 'Tainted Heavenly Spear'. As his blood cultivation and his mind were developing, he felt closer and closer to the spear.
Finally, when he had some time, he tried to read the many books he had memorized. And he was focusing most of his efforts on alchemy. The sooner he would understand all the books, the sooner he could try it out and improve his craft. Then, he would have more time to study other things.
-
After those three weeks, Cao Yun sensed death lingering in the air. According to his map, he was one day away from the Wolf Head Sect. Yet, the air was already polluted by death and evil.