After spending a few months secluded in the caravan, Cao Yun had developed his Unclean Evil. In fact, he had mostly put aside his Qi cultivation and his martial arts since he was forced to stay confined. Besides, developing his blood cultivation would help him push his Qi cultivation forward faster. Indeed, his blood was getting richer and richer in Fire element so consequently his Middle Dantian was naturally getting filled with Fire Qi without his needing to do anything more. 'Drowning One's Heart in Blood' originally meant to send Qi, the 'energetic blood' inside one's Middle Dantian as it was situated in and around the heart and oftentimes the two were considered as one and the same. But Cao Yun had taken it quite literally by using it with the blood cultivation he had learned from the Huang family, 'Storms in the Crimson Furnace'.

Frequently, he was sending all of his blood, condensed as much as he could, into his heart. This both improved the quality of his blood, of his essence and even his Qi. Indeed, the property of the Drop of Wrath was always improving it. Over time, he had also discovered that using his Black Heart Flame to temper his blood was also very good. The Rune of Fire was helping a lot with that. One thing was in common with all those, his Drop of Wrath was a very important element of his blood cultivation. The stronger it was, the faster and higher Cao Yun would progress. Considering that it had belonged to a demon who had probably transcended the status of god, this wasn't too surprising.

Although the Drop of Wrath had been useful in tempering his body and advancing his Qi cultivation a little, it was incredible when it came to blood cultivation. The more he was corking with it, the more Cao Yun realized that he might become an Accomplished Demon before becoming a Spirit Warrior. At the time, he wasn't sure whether it was the best course of action or not. Although he needed to get stronger as fast as possible, he couldn't decide whether he should form his Soul Embryo or his Demon Soul first. The two were similar in concept but very different in practice.

A Demon Soul was more powerful than a Soul Embryo, but it was also volatile and not versatile at all. This was why demons were though to have powerful and obstinate wills. As a consequence, breaking a Demon Soul was difficult. However, it also meant that it wasn't easily bent to the will of its owner. Thus, it was difficult to really use it to perform minute works.

For now though, Cao Yun didn't care too much. Along the way, he would learn more about himself as he would develop his cultivation. Then, he could figure out the best course of action for him. Besides, no one had ever attempted to form both of those so he was truly in uncharted territory. In terms of Qi cultivation, he had three grades to go through and they seemed easy enough thanks to his current blood: filling his Middle Dantian with Fire Qi, strengthening his meridians, and finally his Extraordinary Vessels so they would resist the Lesser Tribulation. On the other hand, he still had to become a full-fledged 4th-grade Golden Blood Child and then cross six more grades. Even if his cultivation was faster than any other demon, it would still take some time. Hopefully, he would be able to get close to the third realm of both cultivation systems around the same time.

Concerning his next blood breakthrough, he had to form his Golden Blood. Usually, demons could only use their Kidney Fires, which was thus limited to their kidneys. They could only temper their blood within their Lower Dantian, far from the heart. Cao Yun could alter his blood in his heart using both his Black Heart Flame and his Drop of Wrath. But he couldn't bring his prenatal Jing and his marrow all the way up there. Thus, he would still need to merge marrow and blood in his Lower Dantian. Before that though, he would try to push his blood quality as high as he could.

Right now though, this wasn't the best place or time to cultivate. He still had all the slaves around him even though he was hidden within his illusory array formation. Before getting rid of it, he used 'Ashen Feather Seal' to hide his identity as much as he could. Cao Yun wanted to keep what had happened here as secret as possible. For an instant, the thought of killing the slaves even crossed his mind. The boy heard his own voice telling him that they were just demons after all. Immediately, he silenced it. As his mind cultivation was progressing, he was cultivating his Turbid Demons. Everyone could have strange and sometimes terrifying thoughts. But with his current cultivation, they were becoming quite loud, acting on his anger and his shame. At the same time, his will was stronger than other people.

Truly, 'Sealing the Seven Demons in the Nine Peaks' had been very well thought out. Without the first two layers, working on his Turbid Demons would have been very difficult. And he could imagine how the minds of Accomplished Demons could be torn by this inner battle. Cao Yun had learned and fully realized that someone's personality and even ego was the result of the perpetual dialogue, and sometimes conflict, between his ten souls. The seven Po were pushing one toward survival and earthly desires, while the three Hun were pushing him toward a more fulfilling existence, toward friendship, family and even a greater sense of accomplishment. Some might refer to it as a spiritual pursuit of enlightenment. The truth was that if any of those ten souls took over completely, the person would suffer.

Completely forgetting earthly desires lead to death since the body needed them to survive. Forsaking greater pursuits would lead to another kind of decay. Just as much as the body needed sustenance, so did someone's mind. Now that he was experiencing how strong his Turbid Demons could get, Cao Yun was able to appreciate the situation of demons. But unlike humans, they were used to having stronger emotions from infancy. Not only their anger, all their emotions were a bit enhanced. This wasn't much, so demons and humans were not so different at the individual level. But at a population level, this led to great differences between humans and demons.

From what Cao Yun knew, asura, and demons as well, had a greater sense of art than humans. To be honest, he was quite curious about that. Apart from martial arts, Cao Yun was also a connoisseur of poetry and he was looking forward to learning more about demonic poetry. Of course, this wasn't his priority at all. For the foreseeable future, Cao Yun made the choice to put his little sister as his number one priority and lifelong pursuit. In order to rescue her though, he would need to grow stronger enough to at least lead a rebellion against Emperor Weide. And before that, he would also need to find some deal with either the Xinian Confederation or the Nalupu Kingdom. Both organizations that he despised from the bottom of his heart. The mere fact that they were flourishing on slavery was enough to fuel his scorn. But what he had learned from Yaxue added several layers to his view on them.

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Finally, he took down his illusory array formation. Suddenly, he was being observed by a bit more than twelve slaves. Xixue had done a very good job and none showed any sign of fear. At the very least, they were hiding it very well. The very first thing they did was to try and find Yaxue. They all knew that if he were to die, their Slavery Brand would activate and they would die in agonizing torments. Unfortunately, they had seen it happen with their own eyes. Yaxue had slaughtered the elderly people when his group had captured those slaves because they had no value on the market. However, he had kept one of them alive just so he could demonstrate that very specific death. It had left a huge impression on them.

"I killed Yaxue."

Hearing those words, the slaves were shocked. When they realized that they were still alive after that, they looked at each other in disbelief. Of course, they were happy with this outcome, but they were still unsure of Cao Yun's next actions.

"Unlike that beast, I do not dabble in slavery. Although I got rid of his master seal, the Slavery Brands are still in you. If you so wish, I could get rid of them all. As a compensation, I only ask that you swear never to speak of what transpired today. For all intents and purposes, Yaxue and his group was killed by a Tyrant Sun Scarab. No one even needs to know that they had captured any slave. They were all slaughtered before they could get to any of the nomad tribes living in the desert."

From Yaxue, Cao Yun had learned that there were indeed many nomad tribes. Still a few decades ago, some were almost sedentary, moving only when the season required it. But they had a few villages already prepared beforehand in a few different areas. However, this had changed because of the Empyrean Asura Theocracy. As much as they preached hatred toward humans, they were not very lenient toward demons either. And for their wars, they needed a lot of cannon fodder. First, they bought many slaves for their campaigns against other demons. Then, they paid for slaves against the Hongchen Kingdom.

Ironically, this was somehow good news for Cao Yun. Indeed, this trade had made the Nalupu Kingdom so filthy rich that they had invested a lot in their harbor and their boats. Since Cao Yun wanted to go back, this was a good thing. But this almost meant that the Nalupu Kingdom had subjugated the entire Desolate Sepulcher. In fact, only the Xinian Confederation and the Sisters of the Abyss were officially recognized as independent organizations. On the other hand, everyone else had to bow in front of Lord Wanghuo or suffer for it. The nomad tribes had indeed been suffering from it for a long time.

That too could help Cao Yun. He had no involvement with either party. The nomad tribes seemed clearly more to his taste. Unfortunately, they had no way to help him cross the Divine Blood Ocean. The Nalupu Kingdom and the Xinian Confederation were both founded on the slave trade. Thus, they were both despicable in his view. He wouldn't bat an eye f they were reduced to dust blown away by the desert. Concerning the Sisters of the Abyss, he was a bit more torn. Apparently, they were indeed buying slaves but nothing was known about what really happened in their midst. To be honest, Cao Yun was intrigued.

Anyway, for now, he wanted to maintain a neutral relation with everyone. Thus, no one could know what he had just done to Yaxue's party. After all, they were under Boss Gui's command. And she might be the easiest party to deal with. Putting aside her sadism, she was level-headed and very rational. As long as there were benefits to be gained, she could be reasoned with.

First, some slaves were a bit hesitant. A young woman was the first one to walk forward. With an uncertain confidence, she got closer to Cao Yun.

"Do you plead never to reveal anything about this day?"

"I do."

"Fine, I will get rid of your Slavery Brand now. Do not put up any opposition."

It was easy enough for Cao Yun to enter into her flesh and mind, especially if she didn't do anything to stop it. Even if she had done so, she wouldn't have been able to do anything significant. However, she might have suffered from it. Unfortunately, like in medicine, it was easier to damage than to repair. That being said, it didn't take long for Cao Yun to get rid of her Slavery Brand. Even the little woman was surprised by it. After all, she had thought that the process would be long and painful and she had steeled herself to it. But in the end, she had only felt a burning sensation enter her head. Then, a small pressure was a bit uncomfortable and everything was done.

As a Blood Child, she couldn't see her own sea of consciousness. But she could clearly feel that the anguish of the Slavery Brand was gone. Contrary to some seals, this one was meant to be felt so as to always remind the slaves of their status. This truly was a wicked thing.

For some time, Cao Yun had hesitated whether he should try to place another seal to ensure no former slave could talk about this day. In the end, he decided against it. Deep down, he knew this was the smart thing to do. But he was still feeling guilty about everything he had let Yaxue's group do to the slaves while he was accompanying them.

When the little woman told everyone that it had worked, they were all astonished. After all, only a late Accomplished Demon could forcibly get rid of a Slavery Brand. And even then, there was always a chance of failure. Once again, a Demon Soul was powerful but not easy to control. The Xinian Confederation had mastered the Slavery Brand to the point where they had literally created blood runes destined to put one in someone's mind. Even Golden Blood Children could use those blood runes. However, to get rid of them, it was necessary to be a talented Accomplished Demon. Obviously, Cao Yun had learned a lot about seals thanks to Dian Mo, who was still silent.

It didn't take a lot of time for Cao Yun to get rid of all the Slavery Brands. The only one remaining was Xixue. She had waited for all the other former slaves to pass before her. In their eyes, Cao Yun saw that they could barely believe what had happened. Looking at their eyes, he knew that they would never betray their oath to him. For them, he had to be a powerful Accomplished Demon. Besides, he was also their savior. Contrary to him, they didn't blame Cao Yun for not rescuing them earlier.