Now that he was alone with Boss Gui, Cao Yun was ready to be much more direct. But first, they needed to make sure that no one was going to listen in on their conversation. Thus, Boss Gui activated a few array formations. Once again, Cao Yun was quick to analyze them. The alchemy and the array formations were both rather poor in this continent. Their isolation had cost them a lot. If they had been on the main continent, the Nalupu Kingdom would have surely been conquered by the Empyrean Asura Theocracy. Thankfully for them, the Divine Blood Ocean was so dangerous that no one could invade them from the mainland.

In fact, Cao Yun had learned that a few expeditions had been sent since the beginning of the Forsaken Dao Era. However, they had all been destroyed by the ocean itself. Only a handful of boats had reached the shores and the cultivators there had been easily dealt with. In fact, this was during one of those expeditions that the Nalupu Kingdom began to forge ties with the Empyrean Asura Theocracy. The Sisters of the Abyss weren't too happy with that at first, but the prosperity it brought was well worth compromising with a foreign religion as long they were not on the same land.

In order to be really sure that no one would listen in on their secret conversation, Cao Yun also used his 'Ashen Feather Seal' all around them while expanding his spiritual senses. Boss Gui also expanded her own spiritual senses. Now, they could talk through their mind. To pierce through their thoughts would require a powerful cultivator. Besides, even a late Accomplished Demon would get detected if they tried to do such a thing. Among the humans, Cao Yun wasn't even sure whether Xiao Xuefeng would be able to do it. But she might, all things considered. Thus, Cao Yun became a bit more paranoid. After all, although demons were said to not control their spiritual senses very well, he had no idea what the demons on this land could do. He had met a girl who could literally change her form, so he had to be extremely careful.

What reassured Cao Yun was the fact that Boss Gui herself was extremely careful as well. She had a good idea what Cao Yun wanted to talk about and she didn't want anyone else to overhear it. Even Miss Wo couldn't hear that. When it came to poison and venom, no demon in the entire Desolate Sepulcher could be trusted. Of course, not all of them were so averse to the use of poison. Like in every culture, people were not agreeing with everything. However, this was such a great taboo that even Lord Wanghuo could be overthrown were he to use poison and be discovered.

"Mister Mo, you hinted at something that is of great interest to me. Do you know what I'm referring to?"

"Of course, Miss Gui. As you correctly guessed, I was able to determine the composition of this blood mixture you give your slaves. Honestly, I don't have that much experience with the scorpions so I can't tell which species you used. Maybe you even mixed several species' venom in that mixture. That being said, I ascertained the effects of the venom. Your mixture of herbs is very ingenuous. Would you be willing to tell me how you came to invent it?"

"Since you've not been able I'll give you a hint. The venom comes from a Sun Staring Scorpion."

Sun Staring Scorpions were 5-core demonic beasts. Now that she had given him the name, Cao Yun was indeed able to put everything together. Unlike other scorpions, this one could also spit out its poison and it would enter the victim's body directly from their skin. Everything made a lot more sense, including Boss Gui's blindness.

"So this is how you discovered its other uses... A Sun Staring Scorpion took out your eyes with its poison."

"Precisely. At the time, I was a lowly Golden Blood Child. My entire caravan was destroyed by demonic beasts but I escaped in the Desolate Dune Desert. Unfortunately, a Sun Staring Scorpion spat its venom in my face. My eyes were corroded in a matter of minutes, so I tried to save my life by any way possible. I used many medicinal herbs to try and clean the wounds to prevent the poison from going further in. By the end, I literally took out my own eyes in order to protect my life. And it did work, I survived it. A nomad tribe even helped me recover faster. My eyes were lost. However, I found some great secret hidden in that venom. Our traditions were holding us back. They still are. By using this venom, I could forge great warriors. And so I did."

"Boss Gui, why are you telling me this? Why have you let me watch your training? If words of your use of poison got out, the Nalupu Kingdom would annihilate you. The Sisters of the Abyss themselves would raze your residence to the ground."

"Indeed, they would. But I do feel like there are other things you wouldn't want them to know. Deny it as much as you like, but I do believe you're not from this continent. Lord Wanghuo wouldn't take kindly to spies infiltrating our continent. You're probably unaware that the Sisters can sense blood with extreme minutia. Maybe our alchemy and other arts seem poor to someone from the God's Land. However, I can assure you that the blood arts of those witches are absolutely insane."

"Miss Gui, I won't even dignify your accusations with a response. However, I am indeed very intrigued by those Sisters of the Abyss. Besides, if you sold them my assistant's sister, I will have to deal with them at some point."

"So you promised your assistant to help her rescue her tribesmen... How very noble of you. But since the Sisters have them, she is either dead already or have joined them. In both cases, she is lost to your assistant, no matter what she might think or hope."

"Maybe, maybe not. It is not up to me to decide on the matter. I promised her my help and I will give it to her. But let's go back to more practical matters. I can help you improve your mixture while even better hiding the poison. In fact, I could achieve similar results with much less venom. However, I cannot get rid of all the side effects."

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Cao Yun looked intently at Boss Gui's wounds and then stared at her few wrinkles.

"Even you have suffered a few of them. Your essence has been corroded by the poison. Although you survived and even gauged out your own eyes, the poison still exacted a heavy toll. Of course, you've also been rewarded with this increase in cultivation. But I imagine that it is mostly stagnating now. Your body should be getting weaker and weaker preventing you from really cultivating your Turbid Demons."

"Unfortunately, you are right. The dose of venom I received - in a very weakened state no less - was just too much for my body to handle. And after that, I realized that cultivation had become easier. To be honest, I didn't use slaves for my experiments as I needed someone willing to describe the effects in details. Otherwise, the experiments would have been pointless."

"You used yourself as guinea pig..."

"Indeed. But it pushed my cultivation faster than I thought possible, half the efforts for double the results. Although I was aware that there would be a price to pay, I still went forward with it. I even tried different kinds of scorpion venom. The Sun Staring Scorpion was the only one with the right effects that I could counter with the herbs I had found. The nomad tribes had helped me as well. They know a bit more about poison and venom than we do. After all, they live in the Desolate Dune Desert where those demonic beasts roam free. Thus, they already knew a lot of herbs to counteract the venom. Unfortunately, they are poor alchemists and also believe that poison is some heresy. For them, such demonic beasts are evil creatures. In fact, they also despised me because of my injury."

"So they were your first slaves, I imagine."

Boss Gui chuckled.

"I am not that cruel. They had saved my life after all. No, I didn't enslave them at all. And I didn't even kill them to hide my secrets. No, another tribe slaughtered most of the men and took the younger women for themselves. This is the tribe I first attacked. Since many other tribes were unhappy with them, I had no problem. In a matter of months, they were all dead and a few of them surrendered to me as willing slaves. That is how I first built my business. Cruelty was obviously a great tool in order to show that I wasn't as weak as others would believe me to be. But fear isn't a good tool to control people. In the end, a revolt from my own slaves could have taken me down."

"You didn't just refine your mixture, you also refined your training regimen. All the slaves I saw in your courtyard seem to truly respect you. In fact, I'm sure a good number of them would even refuse to be set free. Subduing so many people is worthy of praises."

Even Boss Gui detected the annoyed tone of Cao Yun.

"I had heard that you had freed your own slaves. So I take it you do not like our practices... But do not forget that I simply train them after others enslaved them. Then, I sell them to people who will treat them as mere weapons. However, my warriors do have a chance of reclaiming their freedom thanks to my training. Without me, they would stay enslaved all their lives. And their lives would have been even more miserable for some of them."

"Miss Gui, are you trying to convince me, or yourself?"

Once again, Boss Gui laughed out loud.

"Mister, I could care less what you think of me. Judge me all you like. What matters is that I have the power to control my existence. I won't apologize for anything else. Many do much worse than me. I don't judge them. We're all trying to survive and thrive in the world we're born in. Even City Lord Sihe doesn't have my hatred. Let him use all the underhanded methods he likes. If he wins, then he'll be in the right no matter what he did. But if he loses, I will annihilate him completely."

Boss Gui resonated with Cao Yun as he almost heard a voice calling for him to listen to her. What truly mattered was strength. He should get rid of all his scruples. In fact, he could kill her right here and now and take over her business. If he revealed the reality behind her blood mixture, he would unite a coalition against her and then take over her entire city. In his mind, he had visions of him as a great ruler over the entire Piaolu planet.

Cao Yun knew exactly what those were. This was the influence of the Stinking Lungs, the Turbid Demon related to corruption. It was telling him to get rid of his morality in order to achieve his goals. But by doing so, he would turn into a beast. In fact, Cao Yun had seen it in Cleansed Asura and Axiu Qian's lives. Ambition wasn't a bad thing, but he was not ready to sacrifice himself to it. Even then, Cao Yun felt as though he had compromised too much.

Hell, he was ready to ally himself with a slave dealer in order to execute his plans. Looking away was the best he could do. He wouldn't directly partake in slavery. But the more he was trying to convince himself of that, the more he realized that his conviction was shaking. Could he really claim that he had nothing to do with slavery?

On many other subjects, Cao Yun had no clear idea of morality. He knew that the world was complex and that there was no universal truth on all matters. After all, killing was bad, and yet he had killed a lot and so had others. There were circumstances in which killing felt right after all. Worse, there were circumstances in which killing was the right thing to do. In his mind, there was no doubt at all that killing Emperor Weide was the right thing to do. However, this could throw the Hongchen Kingdom in absolute chaos and Cao yun also realized that this was wrong. Then, what was the moral thing to do? Would he sacrifice the entire kingdom for his sister? If not the entire kingdom, how many people would he sacrifice for his sister?

That was with the goal of protecting his Hongchen Kingdom while killing the vile traitor Weide that he was planning his actions and accepting his compromises.

Dian Mo's remarks about his personality shift was also influencing him. But he had decided to be more decisive and less passive for quite some time. Even if his actions were not perfect, he didn't care too much. Cao Yun had no intention of becoming a saint after all. As long as he didn't lose himself in his quest for his sister, he could live with himself.

"I am not here to talk about morality, Miss Gui. I don't like slavery one bit, but I have to admit that I do want an alliance with you. Your army could be useful. And unlike City Lord Sihe, you absolutely need me. First of all, my alchemy will help you and your business. Although I can't get rid of all the side effects, I am confident in my abilities, enough to promise you that I can improve your condition. It might not be miraculous, but there will be improvement. Besides, I could reveal your use of poison. In that situation, we would probably destroy each other though."

"I see. As allies, we'll be stronger than any city lord. But as enemies, we'll destroy each other completely. Indeed, allying yourself with me seems like a good idea. But what is your goal? You didn't come here just to do business, right? You have something else in mind."

"Miss Gui, I don't think my intentions are too different from yours."

A large grin appeared on her face, but she didn't laugh this time.

"You presume to know my ambition... Mister Mo, no matter what you think I desire, you are still seeing too small."