Cao Yun knew that this was dangerous but he was purposefully letting the ghost enter his body and then his sea of consciousness. For Dian Mo who was watching from within, this reminded him of what had happened to him in the Demon Palace. The boy looked completely powerless and terrified. But if the ghost had been smart, he would have realized that a terrified boy would not have become a 3rd-grade Mortal Warrior so young. A terrified boy would not have been able to even enter those tunnels and find this room.

After all, there was Evil Qi almost everywhere. Even someone who was not sensitive to it could feel it. That Evil Qi had permeated through the demonic beasts around. That was also the reason why no hunter came around here. But that ghost was desperate and confused.

As soon as he had sensed Cao Yun's presence, he had planned his attack. Now that his Soul Embryo was separate from his body, Lang Shou was doomed. But still, he hoped to maybe prolong his life even a tiny bit. Hopefully, he could join the Demon King. The Demon King was so powerful that he might have a solution. Otherwise, he would just kill Lang Shou. But he was dead anyway...

Lang Shou's Soul Embryo finally entered through Cao Yun's Bai Hui. Both of them felt a strange sensation from the acupoint. This time, Cao Yun was really worried because this point was probably his greatest weakness right now. Although he could feel a magnificent vitality radiating from this point, Cao Yun always felt as though it was on the brink of collapse. Even he knew that this sensation was purely psychological, like someone who had broken his arm and was now anxious to exert too much strength with it despite it being healed perfectly. After all, during his fight against Zhi Yin, he had used almost all his strength through this Bai Hui without any problem.

Although Cao Yun knew that this wouldn't cause the creation of an inner demon, it could still have a negative impact on his Dao Heart. Maybe he could use his mind cultivation to silence those feelings but he would always know what had happened. This wasn't the way to get rid of this weakness. The best thing for him was to overcome it on his own, like a mortal man.

Within this weakness, Cao Yun could still feel the powerful vitality of the world tree. Although he didn't know what it had done, the seed had added something to his body. Lang Shou himself felt it. When he went through the Bai Hui of this boy, he felt an intense pain. As a soul, he was naturally very Yin. Usually, a Soul Embryo out of the body could still resist sunlight that was extremely Yang. But it was for living cultivators who kept a huge part of their Soul Embryo inside, only stretching a fraction of their soul to produce spiritual senses.

First of all, Lang Shou had only been a 4th-grade Spirit Warrior. Although his Soul Embryo was awaken, it had not entered his Upper Dantian yet. Just before dying, he had been forced to cram it into his Upper Dantian, inject his soul inside and even use the soul of another disciple to make the 5th Imperial Brocade Guards believe he was thoroughly dead. Of course, all of that had caused great damage to his Soul Embryo and his soul. Since he had never tried to penetrate someone's sea of consciousness and considering his condition, he attributed the pain to this. But the reality was that the essence of the world tree was attacking him.

Cao Yun was even forced to rein in it. Indeed, he didn't want to destroy this ghost, he wanted to lure him in, just like he had lured Dian Mo in as well. Of course, Dian Mo was not very pleased with that situation. That reminded him what had happened to him. In fact, he felt stupid and humiliated. He was probably the oldest being on the entire Piaolu planet. Yet, he had been deceived by a young boy. Worse than that, he had been as stupid as a simpleton like this ghost. This really hurt his self-esteem.

Finally, Lang Shou entered the sea of consciousness he wanted to overtake. Cao Yun waited for his entire soul to enter. Then, he closed the trap on him. Since Cao Yun had never fought against a ghost, he was happy that the fight would happen within his sea of consciousness. For most cultivators, even early Spirit Warriors, this would be a nightmare. But not only had Cao Yun a powerful mind cultivation, he also had the Drop of Wrath. He feared absolutely no one in his sea of consciousness. On the other hand, he had no idea how he would fight a ghost in the physical world.

When Lang Shou entered, he saw the seven stars forming the shape of an Azure Dragon high in the sky. Flying peacefully all around were the golden Insight Writings making up Cao Yun's Spear Aura. Beneath those stars were the Five Agents covered in the flames of Shen the Fire Spirit. Po the Metal Corporeal Soul was also surrounded by a mist of bone dust, this was soon to be the Flying Poison Cao Yun was working on. In the middle of those Five Agents was the Drop of Wrath. Below those things Lang Shou understood nothing about, there were nine large pillar of stones, looking like a claw that was coming out of the tranquil, almost transparent, infinite water. Those were the Nine Soul Peaks.

Finally, he saw a small palace floating on the surface of the water, trapped inside this stone claw.

As a Spirit Warrior, Lang Shou had been able to explore his own sea of consciousness. Yet, he had no idea what those things were. The stars were clearly the manifestation of some martial art. The golden Insight Writings also shocked him. There were many for a simple early Mortal Warrior. But that just meant this boy was a martial art genius. It didn't mean he could resist his invasion. However, those incomprehensible things were clearly a threat to him. That was when he felt it.

Although he was inside Cao Yun's sea of consciousness, he was still aware of the outside world to some degree. But suddenly, all connections to the physical world were cut off. He was now completely trapped in there. Without thinking, he tried to escape. His soul had taken on the shape of his physical body. He was a bald middle-aged man with a frail body. Lang Shou had never been much of a fighter. His main competence had always been administrative in nature. That was why he had been chosen to lead the Wolf Head Sect. But, that also meant that his death had not caused any major problem in the organization.

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In fact, Mo Tian had been warned of the attack way before it happened. Yet, he had kept quiet. And so had the Demon King. Lang Shou's demise had been a good way to divert the attention of everyone. Although many people believed the Wolf Head Sect had not been responsible for the Cao massacre, or at least, not alone, they could blame it all on them. That way, they could keep the people happy, they would feel safe.

When Lang Shou tried to fly away, a giant hand grabbed him. Looking behind him, he saw a vision of hell. The water had turned to blood. Where the Drop of Wrath used to be, there was now a red demon ten times larger than he was. He had three faces on his head but only the front face had its eyes open. There were also golden lines everywhere on his body. From the piercing eyes Lang Shou was staring at, there was a terrifying light. Lang Shou even saw the vision of a world covered in corpses and blood. The very air tasted like iron even though he had no mouth and no nose.

Cao Yun had not only used his Drop of Wrath, he had also performed his newly acquired 'Bleeding Eyes'. This was terribly efficient when coupled with the transformation of the Drop of Wrath into this figure similar to Axiu Qian. Lang Shou was completely traumatized.

Then Dian Mo spoke.

"You idiot! You've crammed your soul into an unprepared Soul Embryo... You think you've survived?! You literally killed yourself by doing so. At the moment of death, the Hun slowly leaves the body. Although many people believe it goes into the cycle of reincarnation, no one really knows that for a fact, it just disappears. Even my master had tried to follow the traces of a dissipating Hun, but it just simply vanished without leaving anything behind. But if the Hun is damaged, it doesn't dissipate completely and it can create a ghost which can linger for quite some time. Eventually the ghost will also dissipate of course."

Once again, Dian Mo's talkative nature appeared. But this wasn't displeasing Cao Yun. Dian Mo was way more knowledgeable than him on many subjects. In fact, the young man was interested in hearing about this.

"You wanted to safeguard your soul, but you literally broke it. Right now, your soul is in shambles within your Soul Embryo. You're not a soul inside of Soul Embryo, you're a ghost trapped in it."

"No! I remember who I am! I am Lang Shou, Sect Leader of the Wolf Head Sect!"

"Oh, yeah? Then, tell me 'Lang Shou, Sect Leader of the Wolf Head Sect', can you remember any specific event prior to your death? I'm not talking about vague information. No, I'm talking about actual events, actual faces, actual people. Can you remember anything at all?"

"I..."

Lang Shou's shape began to waver as he was trying to recall anything at all. Try as he might, he was only able to pull off general information about his life. He remembered that he was working for the Demon King and that he was in charge of the Wolf Head Sect. But there was nothing else. In fact, he even realized that he could not remember his own death in details. He knew what he had done, but he didn't remember what had actually happened. He couldn't remember the faces of the 5th Imperial Brocade Guards or the disciples around him.

"You see? You're just a pitiful ghost who thought he was a man."

Lang Shou was of course mortified. But Cao Yun was not better off. From what he knew about ghosts, they retained no memory from their life. Some might imitate who they were before death but they had no actual memory, just vague impressions. Some could not even speak and had no intelligence at all, not very different from mindless beasts. Ghosts were extremely rare on the Piaolu planet, just like Death Energy was. In a way, ghosts were similar to Bone Demons. Bone Demons were born from corrupted Po, ghosts were born from corrupted Hun. Some even called this corrupted form of Hun Ghost Energy.

That meant that Cao Yun could not get any information out of this thing. However, he could still make this encounter useful. Cao Yun was working on his soul. Although there was no trace of Po within this creature, he might still analyze it to get a better understanding of souls in general. Besides, he was able to sense Evil Qi within. Even though Lang Shou's soul had ruptured under his attempt to force it inside his Soul Embryo, some seal left by his master had endured. It had not activated yet but it was clearly there. And now, Cao Yun could work on it without any problem.

Outside, he couldn't expand his mind and soul and was forced to rely on his intent alone, mixed with his Qi. Of course, the intent from the Drop of Wrath was more powerful than pure intent, and it was efficient on Evil Qi. But right now, he could work on a seal within his own sea of consciousness. This was an opportunity he could not pass on. Thus, he began by activating his 'Ashen Feather Seal' to the maximum. A literal tempest of ashes emerged from the water below. The Nine Soul Peaks were in the eye of the tempest.

Cao Yun had isolated himself from the outside world as much as he could. The main goal was to prevent the seal from being activated by someone else or from sending any kind of information out, just in case.

"What are you doing?!"

Without any mercy, Cao Yun tore apart the Soul Embryo of his captive. He ripped Lang Shou's form to pieces. With his senses, he could literally see the filaments of Evil Qi within the fragments of his soul. The Soul Embryo itself was absorbed by the Drop of Wrath. Axiu Qian opened his mouth and devoured them all as Lang Shou was screaming. He wasn't feeling pain but anguish. Till the very end, he had wanted to refute Dian Mo's words, but as he was seeing his Soul Embryo get devoured, he was forced to admit it. Lang Shou had been dead for more than three years now. What had lingered behind was just an empty shell.

Lang Shou had completely lost any will to survive. His very mind collapsed and he even forgot his own name. Without the Soul Embryo to prevent a total fragmentation, his corrupted Hun fell apart even more. Now, he was truly what a ghost looked like for most people.

Considering what he had been in life, Cao Yun had no mercy or pity for the man. Although he wasn't sure whether the Wolf Head Sect had truly slaughtered his family or not, he knew what atrocities they had committed. Because he could not get answers from this thing, hopefully, he might get some from the documents he had uncovered.

For now though, he focused on unraveling all the filaments of Evil Qi. Dian Mo also watched as he was doing so. But unlike Cao Yun, Dian Mo was more interested in observing how this seal had been crafted. In it, he saw many signs of what this technique originated from. Clearly, someone had adapted some sealing technique from his master. Humans could not use the seals of Da Mo as they required the cultivation of the demons. However, they had been able to emulate it by using Evil Qi. Dian Mo was forced to admit that they had been very imaginative and intelligent.

But that also gave him more ideas on how to create seals. He had some nefarious ideas in mind, but he also surprised himself. Indeed, for an instant, he thought that this would make his sessions with Cao Yun more pleasant now that he had new ideas. Quickly, he dispersed those thoughts. He was just slowly lowering the boy's vigilance. He wasn't really playing with him!