The Weiji residence was close to Sidina but not directly within the confines of the capital. As such, news of the events occurring there would take a few days before being reported. At the same time, City Lord Sihe and Nie Pian were both anxious while waiting to know how things had gone. More specifically, they were worried that clues of their involvement would be found. Although City Lord Sihe had decided everything alone, Nie Pian was well aware of his intentions. Strangely, through City Lord Sihe's paranoia, it never occurred to him that the only man who knew about his attempt on the lives of the Weiji family might betray him.
Considering all of that, Cao Yun and Lord Wanghuo were completely unaware of what was going on very close to the capital. Although it would take a few days for most cultivators, it would barely take a day for either of them as they could fly and knew the terrain perfectly well. Besides, they wouldn't need to fear any demonic beast so close to Sidina.
That being said, they were both preoccupied with the upcoming duel. Lord Wanghuo was clearly excited. On paper, Cao Yun wasn't the strongest opponent he had fought, but he could tell that there was something more. The mere fact that he couldn't exactly put his finger on what was different told him that it was worth his time.
After sparring with many experts, Lord Wanghuo realized a terrible truth he had hid from for a very long time. He wasn't the man he once was. Of course, he was still powerful enough as to suppress everyone in the Desolate Sepulcher. However, he had clearly let himself go. His boredom had led him astray in more ways than one. The worst part is that he couldn't even find the will to change his lifestyle.
Indeed, Lord Wanghuo had grown accustomed to the delicacies of the palatial life. Having an entire staff at his service at all time was extraordinary. He could eat and drink whatever he wanted. Even now, he could find new food thanks to great chefs. Moreover, he also had a prodigious harem. Among those women were the most beautiful girls one could imagine. All from various areas of the Desolate Sepulcher. In fact, he had even received girls from the God's Land thanks to his business with the Empyrean Asura Theocracy.
One might accuse Lord Wanghuo of wanting to preserve this business in order to receive even more kingly gifts. Those people would most likely be arrested and executed of course, because they would be absolutely right.
The main reason why Lord Wanghuo wasn't doing anything to prevent the slave trade was not boredom and apathy, although those were among his reasons. His main motive was that the Empyrean Asura Theocracy was extremely generous and knew exactly what kind of gifts this king wanted. Although Lord Wanghuo wasn't as depraved as some other kings of the past, he wasn't a model of virtue and self-control either. At the very least, he had the decency of respecting the Sisters of the Abyss to some extent. And his Minister of the Left was doing a very good job handling the political affairs of the kingdom.
Unfortunately, Minister Renhai didn't care much about the people either. Everything could be summed up by figures and paperwork for this man. Going out on the actual field might do him some good. But Cao Yun wasn't even convinced this could change the way he had been instructed. Minister Renhai could see real life in front of him and still claim that everything seemed fine on paper.
Even before a barren land, he could still look at his figures and argue that the land was fertile and the production plentiful. This kind of bureaucrat was hard to change. At the same time, he would be easy to manipulate for someone who understood his true nature. It was necessary to speak his language. Most likely, this was why the relations between the Xinian Confederation and the Nalupu Kingdom were so good while there were so much strain between them and the nomadic tribes. This was one more reason why forced slavery wasn't considered as a serious problem. Moreover, High Mother Qin Xue had not cared at all as it was providing her with many girls for her order and her sacrifices.
All those interests mixed together had completely destroyed the lives of many demons in the Desolate Dune Desert.
Thankfully, those interests were also easy to control so that such practices would stop. After meeting Lord Wanghuo and Minister Renhai, Cao Yun was now convinced that his plans could really work. This place wouldn't be perfect of course. But at the very least, people wouldn't be captured and enslaved without any reason other than profit. This was the best Cao Yun could do as he couldn't change an entire civilization alone, as an outsider of that culture. He had to make it so those changes could endure after his departure.
Lord Wanghuo and Minister Renhai had nothing against the nomadic tribes, they simply didn't care or didn't realize how severe the problem was.
With that in mind, Cao Yun could stop worrying about this. Instead, he was focusing on his upcoming duel. As much as Lord Wanghuo was claiming he wouldn't kill Cao Yun, the young man felt as though his life really was in danger. He had to at least please Lord Wanghuo's hunger for an interesting fight. Thus, he would have to use everything he had, but he didn't want to reveal that he was human. Obviously, this would limit his abilities a little. That being said, his asura cultivation was much more advanced than his human cultivation.
Indeed, Cao Yun was a 5th-grade Accomplished Demon and only a lowly 1st-grade Spirit Warrior. Besides, during the first two grades of the Embryo Realm, his silver Soul Embryo would not even be awake. Although he could feel it and its influence on himself, his Soul Embryo was in a state of deep sleep. In fact, waking it up was the point of the second grade. The difference between a sleeping and an awaken Soul Embryo was obvious. Such a gap in strength was similar to the gap between the eighth and ninth grades of the Accomplished Demon realm.
Cao Yun worked mainly on his martial arts and his martial state. Those were independent of his cultivation. And those were probably what Lord Wanghuo was excited about.
Finally, the day came. It literally happened two days after Weiji Fen had received City Lord Sihe's letter.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
A messenger was running like crazy in the small part of desert between the Weiji residence and the capital Sidina. This was a demon clad in a large gray cape. That demon was facing a powerful wind and the cape was protecting them from the burning sand. No demonic beast close to the Weiji residence could travel as fast so that demon had taken it upon themselves to run toward the capital. Such an important event had to be reported at once.
Oblivious to that, another messenger reached Cao Yun's temporary residence. This small boy gave his message directly to High Mother Lisha. The poor kid was shaking as though his soul was in grave danger. Although he was a royal messenger, political and religious figures were different. Right now, he was talking as though his very god was in front of him. At the same time, as messenger of the king, he couldn't lower his own status too much.
Thankfully, the High Mother in front of him was Lisha not Qin Xue. As such, she was amused by his behavior. In fact, she found the little boy to be quite cute. So she made things easy for the boy who left with a huge grin on his face. Then, she warned Cao Yun.
The place and date of the duel had been chosen. It was in a nearby part of the desert. Lord Wanghuo, Cao Yun and High Mother Lisha would go alone. No one else would accompany them or witness the duel. This was somehow to be expected. Obviously, the all-powerful king of the Nalupu Kingdom could not let himself be seen fighting a young man. Most likely, this was Minister Renhai's doing.
The truth was that Lord Wanghuo had specifically asked it himself even before Minister Renhai told him to. Indeed, he was worried that Cao Yun would not dare to show his full strength. It was common for cultivators to hide some of their abilities as no one could know what their enemies could learn from those. Thus, Lord Wanghuo wanted their fight to be a secret. Almost no one knew about it and this was a very good thing.
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At last, the two men found themselves in an obscure part of the desert, not to far from the Divine Blood Ocean. The humidity in the air was much higher than what Cao Yun had felt in the Desolate Dune Desert. This also meant that heat was much more dangerous as sweat would have a harder time evaporating from anyone's skin. For cultivators such as them, this was not a problem at all. After all, they could literally jump into a volcano without suffering much, if at all.
All around the two men were large pillars of rock and various types of sand. They looked as though this place was once a vast temple, but only the columns had survived. They were all extremely tall but their shapes were varying. Some were large at the bottom and thin at the top while others were large or thin all the way. Others were completely different as well. Some were standing perfectly straight while a few were bent.
Cao Yun didn't really care about his surroundings. He had just made sure that there wasn't any trap or any hidden demonic beast. Now that he knew this was a safe place for their duel, he didn't care at all. After all, they could crush those pillars without even touching them directly.
Lord Wanghuo was finally wearing some clothes on his upper body. Over his shoulders, he had put some silk robe.
As soon as the two men were ready, High Mother Lisha flew high in the sky. She would be watching this duel from a safe distance. Deep within herself, she was worried about Cao Yun's fate while also wanting him to suffer. If he died, her order was done for, but at the same time, she didn't like being his servant. It really felt as though she was just a slave with a few extra privileges.
"Sir Mo, this is finally time to enjoy ourselves! I sincerely hope that you'll give me your best. Even though I'll restrain my cultivation, I won't go easy on you. So don't try and play it safe. No one is watching us except for High Mother Lisha, use all of your strength from the beginning, or this will be boring. And I won't accept to have gone to all the trouble of finding this place and coming here in person to be bored."
Of course, he had done none of the work finding this place. But Cao Yun didn't care about that. He had to admit that Lord Wanghuo was right. He had to use most of his strength from the beginning. However, he was still reluctant to use absolutely everything such as his Drop of Wrath, his soul and mind cultivation and his Qi cultivation. That being said, he was confident in his martial arts and he wouldn't hold them back.
"I understand, Noble Lord."
From his spatial ring, Cao Yun took out his spear, 'Tainted Heavenly Pillar'. As soon as it appeared in his hand, Cao Yun circulated his Spear Intent increasingly close to a Spear Heart. In his sea of consciousness, hymns and sutras were everywhere as well as golden Insight Writings forming complete verse.
In the physical world, Cao Yun looked like a general on a battlefield. Lord Wanghuo could feel his killing intent and could imagine rivers of blood and mountains of corpses and severed heads. Limbs were everywhere on the battlefield. Cao Yun's very weapon was covered in blood and the wails of the souls killed by 'Tainted Heavenly Pillar' could be heard all over the place. Most of it was due to his Spear Aura he was exuding, but also to the means used to forge 'Tainted Heavenly Pillar'. Indeed, it had been forged with Burning Soul Fire. Some parts of the souls burned for that fire were still attached to the spear. As Cao Yun's soul cultivation was growing stronger and stronger, he was also getting closer to his spear.
Slowly, this sensation diminished until everything was focused around Cao Yun. It was almost impossible to describe but he looked like he was one with his spear. It just felt natural. Obviously, Lord Wanghuo knew that this was the sign of one's mastery over Spear Intent. Cao Yun could focus his Spear Aura instead of wasting it.
But Cao Yun didn't stop there. From his spatial ring, ten thousands small swords appeared. They began to rotate behind him like eight concentric circles, alternating between direction and speed of rotation.
Finally, Cao Yun began to rise in the air slightly. In the sky above him, seven stars faintly appeared. He wasn't using Qi Manifestation directly so he was forced to rely on the movement of his own Golden Blood in order to produce some form of it. In his sea of consciousness, the Seven Piercing Stars of the Azure Dragon were vibrating and fully visible. But in the physical realm, they were much fainter.
Lord Wanghuo was still pleased with what he was seeing. In fact, the Spear Intent alone had rejoiced him. Clearly, this fight wouldn't be for nothing. Martial states didn't depend on one's cultivation. In theory, a mere mortal who would control the most powerful of martial state could kill a true immortal. Of course, reaching such a level required so much time, sensitivity and wisdom that no mere mortal could reach it. In fact, even some immortals who dedicated their life to this pursuit fell short.
As a matter of fact, Lord Wanghuo had only mastered the Fist Aura, and just barely. After all, his style was too brutal and not that much refined. That being said, he had no regret about it considering his fighting style had brought him where he was today.
As Cao Yun was going almost all-out, Lord Wanghuo did the same while restraining his own cultivation.
He immediately threw the robe on his shoulders and found himself naked from the waist up. His pants were even shorter and just went beneath his knees. Suddenly, his skin turned as red as blood while he was smiling like a predator before its prey.