Behind Cao Yun, the head of the Azure Dragon appeared as his spear was sent toward Gu Song's head. For that attack, he used everything he could. His blood was almost boiling in his veins and all of his Five Prodigious Gates were opened to their limit. Most of his Qi was being used. Even with all this strength, he wasn't sure he could injure the body of a 4th-grade Spirit Warrior, no matter how weakened he was.

Since Gu Song's Soul Embryo was within his sea of consciousness, Cao Yun had to be swift. If he was able to escape, then everything would be over. He asked taken a lot of risks by coming here. But they had been worth it considering Gu Song's current state. Now, he just had to be up to the task and he would get the answers he had been looking for, hopefully.

With his Spear Aura, the 'Tainted Heavenly Pillar' seemed to be covered in blood. With Cao Yun's Qi Manifestation, there was now scales appearing here and there on its surface. When finally it reached Gu Song's head, there was a powerful wind all around the tip of the spear. Engulfed in those winds, the Black Heart Flame began to spin in the air. In the Drop of Wrath, the Rune of Fire turned black as coal. By combining his mastery over Evil Qi, his knowledge of 'Death Verses' and his control over the flame, Cao Yun could direct the flame fairly easily.

Finally, the weapon pierced through Gu Song's Wei Qi. In that moment, even he was horrified. There was no way this attack could kill him, but given his current condition, a mere injury could be a problem. All around him, the Heart Reversing Tormentor was still saturating the air. For now, he had staved it off, but he was just too weak. Gu Song couldn't imagine that such a young boy could be his demise. Bloody hell, he had stolen from the Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute without any problem. Even a 5th-grade Spirit Warrior would be hard-pressed killing him. And yet, here he was, bested by a mere 3rd-grade Mortal Warrior.

In that moment though, he finally recognized the Azure Dragon behind Guai Mo. This boy had never been Guai Mo to begin with. Yes, he was Chen Guo, the Wubei Sect's new Young Sect Master. He had heard of him, of course. Mo Tian had meant to kill him but had failed. Could Mo Tian's ultimate demise have been his fault as well? What was wrong with this kid?!

As the spear touched Gu Song's skin, the Azure Dragon roared. All of the Black Heart Flame condensed at the tip of the spear and a powerful gust of wind assaulted Gu Song's head. It looked as though a dragon made out of wind was biting off his head. His teeth were made of black flames that were drawing blood. There was also a faint red hue around them. Despite all his efforts, Cao Yun's attack had not been able to kill Gu Song. In fact, the injury was rather mild. But this was enough.

Indeed, now that he was bleeding and that his Wei Qi was pierced through, the Heart Reversing Tormentor penetrated his bloodstream. Worse than that, it penetrated his head, where his Upper Dantian was. That very poison had plagued a 7-core demonic best. Even against a 4th-grade Spirit Warrior, it was potent. As it was spreading throughout his body, invading his Upper Dantian, Gu Song felt that this poison had been altered. He couldn't exactly tell what had been done to it, but it was faster than before. Gu Song had used it to torture the Soul Obsidian Nian Fish, so he needed it to act slowly.

By using the book of Tree of Death, Cao Yun had indeed refined the Heart Reversing Tormentor. Instead of diluting it like Gu Song had done, he had condensed it, increasing its lethality. Besides, he had also added a bit of the intent of the Drop of Wrath to improve his control over it so that Gu Song would have a hard time manipulating it. As he was an alchemist too, he was well versed in the art of directing medicinal essence and also poisons. But with his current state and the transformation of the Heart Reversing Tormentor, he couldn't do much against his own creation.

His plight wasn't over as the Black Heart Flame also entered through his light wounds. Some tongues of fire became thin enough that they were almost invisible. However, Gu Song could clearly feel their bite. They were insinuating themselves throughout his Upper Dantian. Acting alongside the poison, they were complementing each other. Right now, Gu Song's body became a prison in which his soul was being trapped and assaulted from every direction. Within his flesh, there was no respite from this torment. If Cao Yun could keep it up long enough, his soul and Soul Embryo would be destroyed even if he couldn't break his flesh. Gu Song's only salvation was to destroy Cao Yun's soul from within like he was trying to do.

Gu Song could tell that something was wrong as he had been unable to recover the large part of his Soul Embryo he had sent into Cao Yun's sea of consciousness. In the panic though, he sent even more of his Soul Embryo and soul into Cao Yun's mind. Once again, he didn't do anything to stop him. In fact, Cao Yun was welcoming it, opening his Bai Hui in full to allow him entry. As easy as it was to enter Cao Yun's sea of consciousness, Gu Song would never be able to leave.

Within the dome made out of bloody chains, Gu Song's Weeping Demons Trove was starting its assault. From the ethereal cauldron formed by tortured human souls, there was a sinister blue light coming out. This wasn't strictly speaking a fire, but it looked like a dancing light moving around. It was going straight toward Cao Yun's Five Agents and Nine Soul Peaks. Although Gu Song had no idea what those were, he was smart enough to guess that they were important.

The blue light wasn't being reverberated by the clear water below. This was a condensed form of Ghost Energy. Unfortunately for Gu Song, Cao Yun had met Death Energy quite a lot so he was familiar with corrupted souls. Even if they were different in nature, Ghost Energy and Death Energy were still close enough that Cao Yun was not powerless against it.

From his Hun the Wood Ethereal Soul, a hymn echoed within Cao Yun's sea of consciousness. Neither Gu Song nor Dian Mo recognized the language as it was Antique Sixian, Cleansed Asura's mother tongue. Those words came from 'Death Verses', they were from 'Death Reeling', the verse about controlling Death Energy. As it was facing that melody, the blue light began to flicker. It wouldn't die down, but it was clearly weakened. Then, the vines from the Nine Soul Peaks extended. Full of vitality, they went toward the blue light and shined a bright green. Most of the sinister light was drowned in this vitality.

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"It seems you're more talented than I thought... But every treasure and secret you have will be mine, boy!"

All the skulls around the Weeping Demons Trove opened their mouths. Blue flames began to spew out of all their cavities as the cauldron itself was starting to burn with a cold blue fire.

"Gu Song, you won't get anything today. But what I reap from you will be plentiful. Since your kind slaughtered my family, I have been ready. Deep within, I bottled up all the rage I felt against you all. Today, you will feel it in your very soul."

"Your family? Boy, we've killed so many, I don't even remember them. But like all the others, your soul will join my cauldron. I will use it for fuel for as long as I can, making sure you torment never ends as long as I draw breath."

"I imagine that killing innocent people is quite usual for you. However, do you remember the Cao family?"

"The Cao...? Oh, yes, I do remember. Unfortunately boy, we weren't behind that one."

"Who killed them? And why?"

"This is none of your business, boy. How I wished I had taken their souls, I would make them howl in agony before you. But rejoice, if we are successful, the man who ordered the murder of your kind will die as well. This is all the comfort you will get though..."

Right there, Cao Yun had his confirmation. His family had not been slaughtered by the demonic cultivators but by this 'Traitor'. More than that, Gu Song seemed to know about him. It reignited Cao Yun's desire to rip apart his soul in order to get to his memories.

Now he could execute his plan as he had meant to. Even with his mind cultivation, he wasn't sure he could deal with the Soul Embryo of a 4th-grade Spirit Warrior. Of course, he could use his Drop of Wrath to destroy it, but he wanted to preserve it as much as possible so that Dian Mo could perform a Soul Memory Search. Thus his goal was to weaken his soul enough for the Demon Palace's former spirit to get right to it. For weeks if not months now, Cao Yun had thought about it. By using this opportunity, he might also advance his mind cultivation and even take full control over the Drop of Wrath.

Right now, his Po of Jing was almost perfectly synchronized with the Drop of Wrath, but there was one final bit of resistance. It wasn't too powerful but it was highly dangerous, like a feral beast trapped into a corner. The last vestiges of Axiu Qian's Flying Poison were still within the Drop of Wrath. And the more Cao Yun was trying to take over, the more threatening it was becoming. Even if it had lost most of its control over the Drop of Wrath, Cao Yun wasn't sure how to deal with it. For all intents and purposes, this was an inner demon within his sea of consciousness. Even great cultivators were afraid of inner demons.

With Gu Song in front of him though, Cao Yun's plan could come to fruition.

"You've played with corrupted souls for quite some time apparently... I'd like to see how you deal with this one."

Cao Yun's Po the Metal Corporeal Soul got engulfed in the flames of Shen the Fire Spirit. The fragments of white bones around it spun like crazy. The young man focused all his thoughts on the rage and pain he had felt when his family had been killed. Along with those memories, he saw images of Axiu Qian's past as a slave, how he had watched his friends die, sometimes by his own hand, how everyone he had ever known and loved had been slaughtered like animals. This time, he wasn't being careful at all, he was pouring all of those feelings directly into the Po character within the Drop of Wrath. The surface of the Drop of Wrath became tumultuous as a sea attacked by a hurricane.

Gu Song didn't understand what Cao Yun was trying to do. From his point of view, he saw that the young man was losing control of that heavy drop of blood in the middle of his sea of consciousness. Thus, he prepared his attack with the Weeping Demons Trove. However, that was when he felt a cold sensation all over himself. As he was literally a Soul Embryo right now, this was terrifying. He had no idea what manner of creature could induce such a phenomenon. Because he had been working with the soul a lot, he could vaguely sense that something monstrous was coming his way.

Within the Drop of Wrath, the Po character got covered in fissures. Out of them, thick green bushes started to spring forth. But that green was a sickly green, completely different from the vitality of the vines around the Nine Soul Peaks. The Po character completely exploded with pieces of white bones all around the drop of blood. In its stead, there was now a disfigured creature. It was also made of blood but its blood was blackened as though it had coagulated a long time ago. Across this figure, shadows were moving around. It had three tails and many bony spikes all over its surface.

Although it had no real head, there was something resembling a neck sticking out of its strange body. From it, a hole opened and bony teeth appeared. Slowly, the blood condensed into a thick skin. And here and there on that reddish skin, patches of green hair began to grow. There was nothing good about that thing. It was pure rage and blind hatred made form. Even Cao Yun was terrified by that monstrosity. Thankfully, he wasn't the one who would face it. If he had tried to really take over the Drop of Wrath, he would have been force to confront that thing as it was the last trace of Axiu Qian's Flying Poison.

Once that inner demon was subdued, Cao Yun would fully control the Drop of Wrath. But if he played his cards right, he might even reap way more than just that.

Within the Drop of Wrath, the Flying Poison roared. Cao Yun's sea of consciousness was altered by its fury. The skies and the sea turned red. Although there was no real air, the atmosphere became saturated with the thick odor of blood. Cao Yun's mind had become hell. It greatly resembled what he had lived while fighting the blood beasts in the Demon Palace. With an incredible brutality, the Flying Poison punched through the surface of the Drop of Wrath. It was about to attack Cao Yun's Po character.

Thankfully, Gu Song reacted exactly like Cao Yun had anticipated. Of course, he had thought of other ways to unleash the Flying Poison on Gu Song, but the easiest part was for that ignorant alchemist to do as he was doing. Indeed, terrified by the vision of horror in front of him, Gu Song activated his Weeping Demons Trove. From his cauldron, a giant skull emerged. It was made of blue Ghost Energy. In one swift move, he sent it against the abominable creature. Even a demonic cultivator was horrified by this vision. Maybe it was even worse for demonic cultivators as they were more prompt to develop inner demons. Thus, deep down, Gu Song was more afraid of an inner demon than anything else.

As the skull came hurtling toward the Flying Poison, Cao Yun did nothing to try and stop it. It was what he wanted.