It took some time before Cao Yun realized what had happened. To be fair, it was surreal. As he was rising higher and higher within the Blood Abyss, he had felt Xixue's presence. But before he could get to her, her entire body had been consumed by the Blood Abyss. At the moment, he was quite literally bathing in her flesh and blood.
Among the demons he had met in the Desolate Sepulcher, Cao Yun had felt the closest to her. Besides, he related heavily to her and her sister's story. And now, she was gone, body and soul. There simply didn't remain anything of her but wild emotions floating around. Even those would be consumed as she would never have a ghost. Because Cao Yun was spreading his spiritual senses over the place at the moment of her death, he felt her emotions and even caught a glimpse of what had happened. After all, that scene had been ingrained in her mind.
Cao Yun saw High Mother Qin Xue throw her down the same pit he had been thrown into. But he also saw the face of Yinlü. She didn't bat an eye as her sister was sacrificed. Unlike Xixue, Cao Yun had absolutely no doubt that she had known about the ceremony. In fact, she had probably known from the beginning. Even before Xixue was lured into the Monastery of Bliss and Repose, Yinlü had known she would be sacrificed to what they believed to be their god. And yet, she had helped them all the way. She was fully committed to their Sisters of the Abyss and had thrown away her bonds with her blood sister.
Obviously, this affected the young man. After all, it could very well happen with his own sister. His worst fear wasn't that she was going to be killed, but that she would abandon any bond with the Cao family, that she would not even remember them, in fact. But this fear was snuffed out before it could even rouse Corpse Dog, the Po of Yin. Cao Yun's anger took over completely. Now that he had subdue three Turbid Demons, he could summon and use them without being consumed by them. Thus, he could feel anger and rage course through his entire being, not just his flesh but also his very soul. However, he was in complete control of the situation.
For the first time, Cao Yun circulated his entire comprehension of 'Abyssal Blood Veil Art'. He had not fully mastered 'Eternal Weaver's Ascendancy', but he had understood it enough to use some of it. Combined with his mind cultivation and his wrath, it became much more potent. His Drop of Wrath was also acting up a lot. He had already restored three of the seven Turbid Demons within thanks to the Weaver of Souls' mind cultivation method. So there was also a link between the Drop of Wrath and the Blood Abyss.
Cao Yun couldn't fully merge with the Blood Abyss, nor did he want to. He would have gladly merged with the Weaver of Souls' blood essence. But he didn't feel comfortable merging with a pool of blood full of resentment and torment. Most of the Blood Abyss had come from people who had been sacrificed, usually young girls at that. Using even an artifact created through demonic means wasn't considered demonic in itself, Cao Yun would simply not feel comfortable with that. Besides, it would even have averse effects on his mind cultivation. High Mother Qin Xue's methods had clearly corrupted the Blood Abyss beyond repair. Most likely, Cao Yun would be unable to extract more of the Weaver of Souls' blood essence. It was a shame, but he had still reaped much benefit.
Soon, he would be able to cross the Lesser Tribulation. He would be much more powerful than any 1st-grade Spirit Warrior as he was also already a 4th-grade Accomplished Demon. Cao Yun would transcend both cultivation systems. In fact, he would have loved to work on the soul cultivation system used by the devas. But he had no knowledge about it besides that it existed.
Circulating the 'Eternal Weaver's Ascendancy' while full of rage against High Mother Qin Xue, the Blood Abyss reacted beyond what he had hoped. The resentment, indignation and hatred from all her victims coalesced around the young man's naked body. The density of the Blood Abyss increased tenfold. If he had not broken through, he would have certainly been crushed to a pulp. But he had broken through. As such, he could control all of this power. And he indeed to put it to good use.
In the Blood Abyss chamber, Yinlü was observing the pit her twin sister had been thrown into. It had been less than a minute but the Blood Abyss was already reacting violently. Her sister might be the one to finally bring forth their god. If such a thing happened, her death would be a joyous occasion. Her sister would be immortal within the Weaver of Souls. On other hand, Sister Lisha was as excited, but she was still worried about her disciple. When she saw the excitement in her eyes, her worries didn't die down. Although she believed in the same things, she felt terrible about what Yinlü had gone through, and even worse about the fact that she was feeling excitement and not sorrow.
High Mother Qin Xue was using all of her spiritual senses and understanding of 'Abyssal Blood Veil Art' to probe the Blood Abyss. It had never reacted as it was doing right now. The very surface of the Blood Abyss was like the ocean during a storm. Impatient, High Mother Qin Xue was ready to kill even more girls. Sister Lisha wasn't the only one in charge of training future sacrifices.
Before she could give any such order, High Mother Qin Xue's mind was blown away.
All of a sudden, the Blood Abyss quieted down. The next moment, it erupted like a volcano. From all the pits in the chamber, towers of blood rose into the air. Those geysers flooded the entire chamber. Reacting in time, Sister Lisha and other Senior Mothers spread their spiritual senses to help the sisters. They flew above the ground so they wouldn't be attacked by the Blood Abyss. On the other hand, High Mother Qin Xue was slow to act. Dumbfounded, she was covered in the Blood Abyss. Her cultivation and her Wei Qi protected her somewhat. But the real blow was to her mind. She was now convinced that she had succeeded.
Indeed, high in the air was the shape of a man. He was naked but covered in a thick layer of blood. There was no doubt that this was the blood from the Blood Abyss. And yet, the man was not affected at all. There could only be one explanation in the Sisters' minds, this was their god, the Weaver of Souls.
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In the air, all the Sisters still bowed to their divine master. Even High Mother Qin Xue was full of respect. She floated higher than all the other Sisters, trying to get closer to her god.
"Lord Fangzhi, this humble servant welcomes your return. This servile old woman hopes that Lord Fangzhi was pleased with the Blood offered to him."
"You...!"
Two golden lights pierced through the blood covering that naked man. Of course, he was Cao Yun. At the moment, his Drop of Wrath was fully activated. His blood cultivation was circulating as much as it could while using 'Abyssal Blood Veil Art' at his current limit. Even his Qi was circulating like crazy throughout his body. He was probably as strong as a late Accomplished Demon, especially with the Blood Abyss all around the place. Unlike the Sisters, he was now completely impervious to its corrosiveness. In fact, he could even control it. Even without any weapon, he was also circulating his Seven Piercing Stars.
From Cao Yun's hands, the Black Heart Flame began to appear. His Rune of Fire was amplifying its potency. And the flame itself was being fed by the deep hatred of the Blood Abyss all over the place.
High Mother Qin Xue was so dumbfounded in front of this miracle that she failed to sense the tone in Cao Yun's words. In fact, no one recognized it apart from Sister Lisha. Even with a single word, she had identified Cao Yun's voice and a deep fear spread throughout her body, freezing the blood in her veins. All the Sisters had some tiny traces of the Blood Abyss in them as they all trained with it, or fed it through their sacrifice. As such, Cao Yun's presence had some influence on them. While the Sisters and even High Mother Qin Xue took it as their own devotion having an impact on them, Sister Lisha felt what it really was. Cao Yun was actively suppressing their bloodline.
Without saying another word, Cao Yun used his 'Axiu Qian's Blood Wrath', the martial art he had crafted himself from his understanding of 'Cultivation of Wrath'. 'Abyssal Blood Veil Art' had no martial technique as it was purely a blood cultivation method. However, Cao Yun incorporated it in his techniques in order to submit the Blood Abyss to his will. Thus, each one of his movements was accompanied by the Blood Abyss itself.
In an instant, Cao Yun's elbows sank into High Mother Qin Xue's sternum. Because she didn't expect it at all, she was taken by surprise. Her bones cracked and literally pierced her lungs and heart. Such a wound would have been lethal to any Golden Blood Child, but High Mother Qin Xue was a 7th-grade Accomplished Demon, even beyond Cao Yun's current cultivation. If she had not been dumbfounded by her own devotion to the Weaver of Souls, Cao Yun would have not been able to wound her so much in a single move. However, he did have the control of the Blood Abyss, and unlike her, he was a fighter.
The Blood Abyss entered High Mother Qin Xue's body through the shock and tried to devour her organs from within. Circulating her own version of 'Abyssal Blood Veil Art', she dispelled it, but the pain was still present. Completely shocked, she didn't know how to react. Her very god had appeared before her thanks to all her efforts. And his first act was to attack her. What did that mean?!
Before she could get her thoughts in order, Cao Yun kept attacking. His left elbow was still deep in her sternum when his right palm struck her in the throat. From his Lao Gong, the Labor Palace, the Black Heart Flame erupted and invaded the old woman's body. It immediately tried to get into her sea of consciousness. Instinctively, she used her own Turbid Demons to fight it back. Unlike Cao Yun, she had almost formed her Demon Soul.
Humans created their Soul Embryo during the Lesser Tribulation. For demons it was a bit different. Technically, even one Turbid Demon was considered a Demon Soul. But in truth, the real Demon Soul was the amalgamation of all seven Turbid Demons. As a 7th-grade Accomplished Demon, High Mother Qin Xue was almost there as she had begun to work on her seventh Turbid Demon.
Relentlessly, Cao Yun grabbed her head and hit her with the full strength of his knee. As they were both flying, their strength was mostly coming from their spiritual senses anchoring them in the air. But Cao Yun's body was also exceptionally strong, much stronger than High Mother Qin Xue's. As such, his strikes were devastating. By now though, she had almost come back to reality. The knee was aimed at her face. before the strike connected, she pushed with her spiritual senses and raised her arms. Both of her forearms got cracked by Cao Yun's violence. And her very soul was still under assault by the Black Heart Flame, while her skin was being attacked by the Blood Abyss.
Suddenly, a voice cut through the chaos of the scene.
"This is Mo Yun!"
Sister Lisha didn't even try to conceal her words. Instead of telepathy, she used her real voice. This finally jolted High Mother Qin Xue back to the real world. Indeed, she recognized the golden eyes in front of her. And the face hidden behind the blood belonged to the one man she had sacrificed almost three years ago. But this caused even more confusion. He had survived down into the Blood Abyss for three years, his cultivation had clearly skyrocketed and he had the aura of the Weaver of Souls all around him, to the point where he was controlling the Blood Abyss. High Mother Qin Xue knew his mastery over 'Abyssal Blood Veil Art' had absolutely exceeded hers but had no idea how he had done so. After all, he shouldn't even have known anything about this cultivation method.
His breakthrough was also worrisome. Although he had lied about his real cultivation, Sister Lisha and High Mother Qin Xue knew he had not been an Accomplished Demon at all. And yet, in three years, he had become, at the very least, a middle Accomplished Demon. Worse, his strength was on the level of a late Accomplished Demon. Moreover, they also both knew that he was a human, not a demon. Obviously, the two of them were extremely confused and, to be honest, terrified.
They had been waiting for their gods and the worse kind of devil had come out of the Blood Abyss.
"My name is Cao Yun!"
Cao Yun's voice thundered throughout the chamber. It was clearly the voice of a wrathful devil ready for a slaughter like no one had ever witnessed before. Along with him were the resentments of all the sacrifices of the Sisters of the Abyss. They were all after revenge and blood. Something even deeper was acting at the heart of the Blood Abyss. The last shreds of the Weaver of Souls were also furious against those who had claimed to serve him. First of all, he would have never liked to be worshiped as a god, unlike Demon God Da Mo. But more than that, he would have been repulsed by the ways of those women, especially High Mother Qin Xue.
Right now, the Monastery of Bliss and Repose was no longer their place of power. This place belonged to Cao Yun fully. In here, he was even more powerful than a 7th-grade Accomplished Demon.
The Sisters in the air were getting ready to help High Mother Qin Xue. But Cao Yun didn't let them any time to act. He was still pummeling down the old woman who was about to react at last.