The Spirit Condensation Barrier completely collapsed just as Cao Yun appeared in normal space. Some fragments of the Insight Writings were even hurtled toward him as the golden characters exploded. A few struck both Cao Yun and Hongyu who were thrown in two different directions. However, this wasn't the worst part and Cao Yun didn't even notice the pain despite suffering from some cuts. No, the worst part was the place they had emerged in.
Both Cao Yun and Hongyu were like two leaves entering a raging storm. All around them, there were billions upon billions of grains of sand. They had found themselves in the middle of a sandstorm. Worse than that, Cao Yun could not even know at which altitude he was. Since he had emerged randomly in space, he could be anywhere. Luckily, he had not emerged directly in a solid matter or he might have been crushed upon reentry. In fact, he could have literally reemerged in outer space. All things considered, he was indeed quite lucky. But to be more precise, considering that the bloody rift had not been stable, it couldn't have lead him too far off in space. Most likely, he was still on the Piaolu planet.
After what had happened in bleeding space, Cao Yun was completely spent. Thus, he was not even able to fetch his spear in his spatial ring. He had to recover for at least a few minutes. Unfortunately, the sandstorm did not agree with his wishes. He was thrown around as if he weighted nothing. In an instant, he couldn't see Hongyu anymore as she had been thrown somewhere else. And he had no idea how long this sandstorm would last.
Cao Yun tried to extend his senses all around him. Right now, he was in no condition to use his spiritual senses. They were too weak anyway to go far enough. But in theory, he should be able to sense Qi. However, there was a lot of Fire Qi in the sand all around him. In fact, the sand was also mixed with a lot of blood accumulated over centuries. Due to his experience in the Demon Palace, Cao Yun also recognized a killing intent very similar to the one given off by the blood beasts he had slaughtered for weeks. Even in his best condition, he would have had a hard time finding anything in this sandstorm. But in his current state, it was absolutely hopeless.
The sand was hitting him all over his body as he was thrown in every direction possible. All around his flesh, there were more and more shallow cuts. Thanks to his powerful constitution, he should be able to resist such torments even without his Wei Qi. Of course, it was far from being pleasant or painless. Furthermore, alongside the grains of sand, there were a few rocks here and there.
From his own wounds, Cao Yun felt something seep into his skin. This was the killing intent from this place. SUch a potent killing intent could cause death or insanity in weaker cultivators. Thankfully, Cao Yun's blood contained the property of the Drop of Wrath and his blood cultivation was firm. Thus, the risks were extremely low if not nonexistent. He had already absorbed the blood and corrupted soul of a 9th-grade Spirit Warrior when he was still in the bleeding space. That level of killing intent was nothing, but it was still burning him when it entered his flesh, adding to his exhaustion.
Thus it was affecting his mind and forced Cao Yun to mobilize his mind cultivation even though he only wanted to cut loose. For once, he wanted to let his full rage express itself. But even now, he had to keep it contained in order to keep his mind unaffected by this killing intent. At the same time, the sand around him was burning. Of course, he wasn't in the pool of magma where Dian Mo had once sent him. But he was still feeling the burning bite of the sand all over his body. There was no doubt that this place was rich in Fire element. Everything he knew for now seemed to indicate that he was in some kind of desert.
Unfortunately, Dian Mo's knowledge of the Piaolu planet's geography was as outdated as Emperor Nuwa's maps. In dozens of thousands of years, the topography and the climate of the planet could change drastically. Where there used to be a lake, there could be a dessert. Thus, Cao Yun was still completely in the dark and so was Dian Mo. Besides, Dian Mo was completely silent. Even now, he seemed to be locked in a fight against Mo Wang's ghost. Unfortunately, Cao Yun was too busy and exhausted to help him for the time being.
Instead of panicking, Cao Yun decided that the only thing to do was to stop resisting. Since he had not the strength to fight this sandstorm, he would not try to do so. Even if he had his 'Tainted Heavenly Pillar' in hand, he had no idea where up and down were right now. And he also thought about Hongyu. If he let the wind currents take him, he might have a chance to stay close to his mount. On the other hand, if he tried to go in an unknown direction, it would be more likely for him to go in the wrong one. Of course, he had no way of knowing if the currents would take him in the same direction as her. But panicking would just lower his chances.
Now that he was calm, Cao Yun focused on feeling all the sensations around him. All over his body, there were wounds. Some had just been caused by exiting the bleeding space itself. And others were being caused right now by the sand and by rocks of varying size being hurtled around just like Cao Yun was. None of those wounds were too deep and they barely drew blood. In fact, they healed almost as fast as they were caused.
As a 1st-grade Golden Blood Child, Cao Yun's blood was now extremely heavy and it was difficult for it to be shed by such shallow cuts. In his veins, he now had mercury-like blood. Moreover, the property of the Drop of Wrath was everywhere in his bloodstream, although it stayed stronger in his Chamber of the Mysterious Elixir, right in the center of his heart. But at that moment, Cao Yun was focusing his Drop of Wrath in his kidneys where the golden pellet he had formed with his prenatal Jing was being tempered.
While he was working on his blood, Cao Yun was still being assaulted by innumerable grains of sands. He had contracted his Wei Qi around his skin to focus it as much as possible. Even his mind had been completely focused in his sea of consciousness. Right now, he was only worried about surviving this ordeal.
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The sand's touch was both painful and hot. All around Cao Yun, the winds were saturated in Fire Qi as well as killing intent. As it turned out, as a 4th-grade Mortal Warrior, Cao Yun was in the process of gathering Fire Qi in his Middle Dantian. Although he had the last remnants of the Frozen Fire pill still in his heart, he wasn't against absorbing Fire Qi from his environment.
Just as the stand was assaulting his skin, Cao Yun was stealing Fire Qi all around him. Despite the violence with which he was thrown all over the place, he was able to keep his composure and even cultivate his Qi at the same time. This was mainly thanks to his mind cultivation. Besides, he was completely exhausted. Absorbing Qi would help him recover faster despite the ordeal he was currently in.
The Rune of Fire in his Drop of Wrath got excited as the Fire Qi was penetrating through Cao Yun's acupoints. Through his Five Prodigious Gates, the quantity of Fire Qi was impressive. Indeed, there was Fire Qi all around him so it was entering through everywhere all at once. Some of the Fire Qi helped nourish his blood some more. But for the time being, he had no time to do anything fancy. He was simply trying to recover. Maybe he could use this place to cultivate later though. Hopefully that sandstorm was not eternal. At the very least, it had to calm down at some point.
As he was slowly recovering, Cao Yun tried to talk with Dian Mo. However, he was answered with only silence. Focusing his will in his sea of consciousness, he saw Dian Mo's shape. Like always, he had the form of the Demon Palace. But this time, it was covered in fissures all around. A few columns had even exploded and the roof itself was crumbling down. The palace was completely in ruins. Obviously, Cao Yun got worried.
Not only had he found Dian Mo very useful, he had to admit that he had grown used and maybe even a bit friendly with the spirit. Besides, if he really was in some demon territory as he suspected, Dian Mo would become that much more useful. After all, Cao Yun didn't know much about the demons and their cultures. Even if Dian Mo had spent the last millenniums trapped in the Palace of Supreme Wisdom, he had been created by Demon God Da Mo. At the very least, his insights into the demon culture would be much more informed than Cao Yun's.
"Dian Mo?! How are you?!"
As he still didn't get any answer, Cao Yun tried to send a bit of his will inside the Demon Palace. There, he felt that there were still two souls fighting each other.
"Boy... This brat is too cunning..."
Finally, Cao Yun heard Dian Mo's voice. But it wasn't exactly his. Intertwined were the two voices of Dian Mo and Demon King Mo Wang. Using his understanding of 'Death Verses', Cao Yun was able to sense that the ghost had almost merged with Dian Mo's spirit. Because of that, Cao Yun could not help him. With the Drop of Wrath, he wasn't sure whether he would be able to crush the soul of a 9th-grade Spirit Warrior. But against a mere fragment of a ghost, he had absolutely no doubt.
Right now though, Mo Wang had been smart enough to got completely entangled with Dian Mo. Unless they were separated, it was impossible for Cao Yun to get rid of the ghost. And trying to extract him as he was moving around all the time would be very difficult. Hopefully, Dian Mo seemed to have been able to suppress it for now.
"Boy... I will need... some time... I have to... rest..."
After that, Cao Yun didn't hear anything. However, he kept feeling Dian Mo fight Mo Wang's influence. Despite his mind and soul cultivation, Cao Yun didn't know much about soul attacks. Even his 'Weeping Demon' was more of a mental attack. Still, he had a bit of knowledge about it because he had been extracting the different aspects of his own Po. However, doing so on his own soul and doing so on a spirit intertwined with a ghost were two very different things. Hopefully, Dian Mo would get rid of Mo Wang. But at the moment, Cao Yun did the only thing he thought about to try and help him.
Cao Yun used a small part of the Flying Poison with 'Death Verses'. That part of Flying Poison entered within Dian Mo's palace. Since it was from the Drop of Wrath and not directly his, Cao Yun was not forced to keep his focus on it. He gave him the order to destroy the ghost and Flying Poison got to work. However, Cao Yun didn't use all his Flying Poison, otherwise he would lose his ability to use spiritual senses. Since he had lost Hongyu, he might need them. And since he didn't know anything about this place, losing such a trump card would be a mistake even though Dian Mo was useful.
At one time, the young man collided with what felt like a small cliff flying around and covered in razor-sharp edges. The shock was extremely violent. For the first time, Cao Yun's blood erupted a little. His body literally flew through the object. It was very voluminous and had probably been ripped apart from a mountain. Or maybe, it had been formed by many rocks colliding with one another. Although he had flew through and through, Cao Yun couldn't see the full shape of that object.
By getting out of it, his forearms he had used to protect himself were now covered in his own blood.
As the sandstorm didn't seem to calm down at all, Cao Yun decided to be pro-active. Despite being thrown all over the place, his body was strong enough to resist. But even with his cultivation, it was a very dangerous place. If he was thrown into other objects, he might really suffer great injuries. Most of Cao Yun's awareness was retracted back in his sea of consciousness and within his own body. On the outside, he only maintained a very low awareness of what was going on because his senses simply couldn't pierce through the sandstorm.
Although Cao Yun didn't want to get separated from Hongyu, he had to do something. Considering the violence of the sandstorm and that they had spent more than two incense sticks in there, they were doomed to be separated anyway. Thus, he had to try something. Thankfully, they were connected by their blood since Cao Yun had used the Drop of Wrath to help her. Besides, she also had the Frozen Fire pill's medicinal essence in her.
Thanks to the burning sand, Cao Yun was gathering a large amount of Fire Qi. And its quality was also rather good. Of course, if he had been able to set up an array formation, the results would have been even better. But unfortunately, he couldn't do so while he was lost in the storm. If only he had been able to fly around, he could have tried to orientate himself. Cao Yun truly wanted to become a Spirit Warrior as fast as possible. But his main reason for that was his desire to kill Traitor Weide.
In order to find Hongyu, Cao Yun tried to spread his senses as far as he could. However, it was still useless. Even by trying to feel the flow of Qi, everything was just too chaotic... Instead of sensing the Qi around him, Cao Yun focused on his blood and on Evil Qi. Despite the killing intent all around him, only Hongyu should have Evil Qi in her. Ironically, because he had almost sealed it, she would be a bit more difficult to find. Besides, he really wasn't in the best environment to concentrate.
Using his Fire Qi, Cao Yun excited his Rune of Fire and then focused on his Black Heart Flame. Hopefully, that evil fire would help him locate Hongyu. But in that sandstorm, she probably couldn't fly at all, if she was conscious in the first place. He would need something else to get to her.