Cao Yun gave the three tribesmen clear instructions about they had to do. For an instant, he entertained the idea of lying to them as they would be forced to trust him anyway. However he rejected it soon enough. Not only wasn't he too happy about the idea given what they would risk in the upcoming endeavor. But if they were to survive, it would be useful if they told everyone that he had spoken the truth. Trust between Cao Yun and the Sand Wolves Tribe would be more easily achieved and the rumors about Tie Po would spread faster. Besides, he could tell that they would do everything they could to kill this vanguard, even if they had to sacrifice their lives. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that though.
Cao Yun was still hoping to catch at least one of those eight elite soldiers. Making the mercenaries run away in panic would be fairly easy as long as those core soldiers were in danger. At the same time, he had no intention of revealing his true cultivation to anyone yet. In the mind of those three tribesmen, Cao Yun couldn't be a mere Golden Blood Child. After all, he had freed them from an extremely powerful and complicated seal inflicted on them by an Accomplished Demon. Moreover, he was flying above them without being noticed at all and had summoned the power of the desert to conceal them.
Obviously, not a single of those things had been achieved through Cao Yun's own power as an Accomplished Demon. He was flying thanks to Hongyu, hiding thanks to Huang Liyue's technique, controlling the wind with his martial arts and freeing them through his advanced mind cultivation. To be fair, if they had known he was only a Golden Blood Child, their esteem for him might have skyrocketed instead of plummeting down. But he wasn't ready for anyone to know about his real strength. Hopefully, he could keep up appearances until he truly became an Accomplished Demon. He was halfway there after all.
Having observed the desert with great attention, Cao Yun knew exactly where he wanted the three of them to lead the group of mercenaries. On his way, he had found several demonic beasts such as Infernal Camel Scolopendras, Sun Staring Scorpions, Silver Six-Tailed Foxes and lesser demonic beasts. But for his plan, he had chosen a place where flying demonic beasts had established their hunting ground. Even if he had been seen by them, they wouldn't have dared to come too close to Hongyu. She was after all a powerful Fenghuang with a rich bloodline due to the effects of the Drop of Wrath. Other birds were intimated by her aura. Unless they truly wanted to kill her for some reason, or they were much more powerful than she was, they would not attack her out of the blue. Besides, they couldn't detect her anyway. But this instinctive respect would be useful to Cao Yun to keep his aura of an Accomplished Demon.
Once the sandstorm finally ceased, the group marched forward. The three tribesmen who had wholeheartedly agreed with Cao Yun's plan and were putting their lives in his hands kept acting as though their wills were broken. They didn't change their course by much. Thankfully, the sandstorm had disorientated the group enough that they didn't notice the slight variation in their trajectory. Instead of going straight toward the settlement of the Sand Wolves Tribe, they were going a bit to the south. According to Cao Yun's calculations, it would take them until the middle of the night to reach the place he had in mind. Thus, he decided to fly around in order to try and find more about the main force.
Unfortunately, the desert had concealed most of the tracks Cao Yun could have followed. But this wasn't a problem he had to deal with right now. As he was flying around, he was thinking of many ways to make the soldiers talk. But he could also use them in other ways. In fact, some of those ways seemed a bit too cruel even for slavers such as them. However, they had made their decision after all. For some time, Cao Yun tried to be sure that his mind wasn't being polluted by his Turbid Demons. At last, he concluded that those were his genuine thoughts.
In fact, he even took Dian Mo's words to heart. And he kept wondering why he was helping this tribe and to which extent he was willing to go. After seeing the state of the tribe and the faces of those three prisoners, he wasn't convinced he had the heart to leave them to their fate. Maybe he was being too soft like Dian Mo was suggesting. Deep within himself, he had no real reason to risk his very life for them as he had had other means to make sure his plans came to fruition. In fact, he might not even need the full strength of the nomad tribes. They were more like an insurance to increase his chances of success.
To be honest, he might even find ways to leave this Desolate Sepulcher without helping anyone. He could take over the slave trade completely and use it to weaken the Empyrean Asura Theocracy. Hell, he could also use an army of slaves to help him take down Emperor Weide. When those thoughts came back to him, Cao Yun knew they were the Stinking Lungs' doing. But this time, he wasn't worried about them. Instead, he let them flow through him. Some could be offended by such thoughts. Indeed, they were clashing with Cao Yun's image of himself. But he knew that those terrible thoughts were just that, thoughts. Everyone could have absolutely monstrous thoughts, that wouldn't define him.
Since he didn't entertain those ideas at all, they were just wild fantasies swimming around in the recesses of his mind, caused by his Turbid Demon. By refusing to clash with them, he made them weaker and weaker until they almost disappeared, becoming a silent whisper in the back of his mind. As he was cultivating his mind and soul, he was getting better at that. And each time, he was learning how to separate his thoughts and desires from his own conscious. He had already experienced a similar sensation of separation in the Palace of Supreme Wisdom.
At last, the group of mercenaries reached some kind of large tree. They saw it from a distance. Alone in the middle of the desert, there was a dead tee with white branches coiling around each other. This was exactly what Cao Yun had told the three tribesmen. But even without his instructions, they would have known where the tree was as they knew no to get too close to it. With its thick trunk and many branches forming a complex dome all around it, it was a Moon Sheltering Adansonia. Indeed, under the faint light of the moon, this white tree seemed like a smaller fainter moon on the ground. And this was precisely where the name came from. It was also a very good material for alchemy and even blacksmithing. In fact, it was a good material period.
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What the mercenaries were unaware of though was that such a tree was dangerous not only because it attracted very specific demonic beasts, but also because of its own nature. And this was exactly why there was no demonic beast on that tree during a night where the moon was visible.
Seeing the tree, the mercenaries even though that this would be a good place to rest. Since the three tribesmen were not looking worried at all, they had no reason to worry themselves. Thus, they decided to set up a camp. As much as they could survive long periods of time without drinking and eating, this desert was taking a toll on them. Moreover, they had already fought several battles against some tribes and they were getting both tired and complacent. This Desolate Dune Desert wasn't so bad after all...
What truly infuriated some mercenaries was the fact that they had been forbidden from touching the women. Hell, even among the three slaves they had taken to guide them, their superiors had made sure that there wouldn't be any pretty girl. The male mercenaries were not as disciplined as the elite soldiers sent by City Lord Sihe. So they would probably had given in to temptation. However, City Lord Sihe couldn't have that, he had clear plans for his slaves. By using new form of seals, he hoped to achieve better results in his training regimen. Hopefully, he could rival City Lord Gui. Besides, just making sure that she couldn't get more slaves easily was also a good point. If need be, he was ready to eradicate the tribes close to Duma City.
He wasn't forced to kill them all. By frightening them enough, they would naturally be pushed away from City Lord Gui. For the time being, despite the fact that she paid to get slaves, she had not organized raids herself. So the tribes were still more afraid of City Lord Sihe. Contrary to City Lord Gui, he was counting on quantity not quality so he had enslaved much more tribesmen than she had.
Anyway, they set up their camps. Despite their relaxed attitudes, the mercenaries were kept in order thanks to the eight elite soldiers. They were always making sure that everything was done properly. In the Desolate Dune Desert, they knew that they were never safe. Although they were using those three slaves who knew more about the place, their wills had been broken so the soldiers weren't absolutely sure about their cognition. This was a relatively new seal their master had used and she had warned them that there could be side effects. In fact, this was why they had taken three of them. If one or even two were to die suddenly, they could still carry out their mission.
As they were setting up their camp, they didn't notice anything. After all, unlike Cao Yun, they couldn't see what was going on literally under their feet. Since the very first moment they had reached the Moon Sheltering Adansonia, its roots had been active. By now, they had encompassed the entire area where the mercenaries were. Thanks to Fire Qi rich sand, no one could sense anything. However, the Moon Sheltering Adansonia was able to resist the aggressiveness of this sand despite his very Yin nature. It wasn't due just to the strength of the moon it was absorbing but also to the blood it was drinking often.
When Cao Yun sensed that it was moving around, he didn't move. Instead, he kept his focus on the three tribesmen. And as soon as the roots stopped moving, he knew that it was time.
All of a sudden, the roots stabbed through the sand and went straight for the demons' hearts. Not a single target was omitted. All the mercenaries, the eight elite soldiers and even the three weakened slaves were attacked by the roots of the dead white tree shining under the moon. Just as its roots were attacking from below, its dome also sent forth many branches, flying through the air like knives. They also targeted the demons, just in case.
At least a third of the demons were caught off guard. In an instant, their hearts were pierced and the Moon Sheltering Adansonia immediately began to drink their blood. Under the shock, they were unable to put up much resistance. By the time they had realized their plight, it was too late. Their cultivation level wasn't high enough to survive long without their heart, especially not when their blood was being drained at the same time. When those first victims were dead, the roots went back into the sand, carrying the corpses with them. They would slowly decompose and merge with the sand.
Those who had survived the first assault were now faced with the thrown branches. Like javelins, they were less accurate than the roots. After all, they were now attacking moving targets. A lot of demons were still stabbed, but only a handful died on the spot. However, those who had been stabbed felt as though they were getting weaker and weaker. Even though they were disconnected from the Moon Sheltering Adansonia, those branches were still absorbing their blood. The main tree could then easily pick them up and drink the blood for itself.
Many demons were still strong enough to take the branches out of their bodies. But not a single one tried to help each other. Apart from the eight elite soldiers, all the mercenaries were caring for themselves.
Unfortunately, it changed when the eight soldiers issued orders. Contrary to the other demons, they had been able to fend off all the attacks. Although they had not felt the first attack coming, they had been able to react in time to avoid any injury. With conviction and strength in their voices, they helped raise morale. Soon, the mercenaries found a semblance of order as they were cooperating with one another.
What the elite soldiers failed to realize though was that the three tribesmen had been completely spared by the Moon Sheltering Adansonia. In fact, they had even disappeared completely. And they had certainly not been devoured by the vampiric tree. Of course, they had no time to care about them at the moment as they knew what kind of danger they were in. Although they still hadn't recognized what tree it was, they had understood what it was doing. And now, it was targeting them with its full attention. However, if they had known what this tree was, they would have focused on escaping. Right now though, they were afraid to move too fast, afraid that the tree would pick them up easily if they broke formation.
High in the air, Cao Yun was still standing on Hongyu's back. Now, there were three other persons behind him, the three tribesmen. They were watching the massacre down below. As soon as the slaughter had begun, they had felt a powerful aura around them. The moment Cao Yun told them to, they had jumped with every bit of strength they had left. Since he had timed it perfectly, Cao Yun had been able to conceal their disappearance with 'Ashen Feather Seal' while retrieving them in the middle of their jump as the tree was killing the mercenaries. Although delicate, it had been a huge success. Now, he was still hoping to capture at least one elite soldier.