The first weeks of this new month, Cao Yun kept following his training program. Right now, he was able to resist the 9th-grade Mortal setting of the Thousand Snakes Invade the Shell array formation. In his sea of consciousness, there was a very small white dot surrounded by a white vapor floating in the sky. The star was not entirely forged but it was getting closer and closer.
He also trained in his Seamless Qi Vortex array formation, always guarded by Huang Cixi. Several days after opening his tenth meridian, he opened the next one, the Small Intestine Meridian. Only one more meridian and he would officially be a 6th-grade Mortal.
Cao Yun thought about waiting for his breakthrough but he decided to sneak into the Coiling Snake Faction residence the next day. He had finally reached the highest level of 'Locking the Seven and Stopping the Waves'. No one in the Mortal realm should be able to perceive him if he did not want them to. He was still a bit worried about a potential Mortal Warrior, but unless they were 3rd-grade or higher, they should have a real trouble finding him thanks to his knowledge of array formations.
He had combined what he knew with 'Locking the Seven' and he could erase not only his presence but also a huge part of the Qi perturbations around him. His speed was even higher than from his fight with Luduo Bu and he could easily use half of it while performing 'Stopping the Waves'. At first, he had thought about using Ren Chao and his connection to Wang Mei in order to get intel. Eventually, he had decided not to involve his friends at all.
After losing his family, he became very protective of the people close to him. And if Lu Meihan was truly linked to the demonic cultivators as he strongly suspected, they would all be in grave danger. He would rather die alone than take them with him. However, he was not ready to die at all!
He chose a day he would be in perfect health and did nothing but visualize his attempt in his sea of consciousness. He had already deciphered all the places where array formations could be set up and had thought of all the array formations they could be. There was objectively no more reason to wait any longer. Cao Yun himself wondered whether he had delayed it for too long. He needed to be sure of course, but maybe he was a bit too safe.
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Cao Yun waited for Huang Cixi to fall asleep. As his cultivation and especially his mind cultivation were higher, he did not need as much sleep as she did. In fact, he could make do by sleeping two hours a night. He traveled toward the Coiling Silk Faction residence in the middle of the night.
There were always customers but they tended to be fewer and fewer as the sky became darker and darker. Cao Yun was hidden in a tree and used his sharper senses to observe the residence from atop. He memorized how everyone moved, trying to find every bit of information on them. From the way they moved around, he got a vague understanding of everyone's cultivation level.
In fact, he had already gathered intel in such a way. He already had a pretty good idea of some of the girls and their usual customers. The sect had not many outer disciples and inner disciples seemed to never come here. In a matter of days, Cao Yun could predict the movements of almost two thirds of the people in the courtyard.
Right now, he was confirming what he already deduced and trying to guess what the people he did not know would do. If he got caught, being punished by the disciplinary pavilion was nothing. If his suspicions were right, he could get killed and despite his attempt to protect them, his friends could also be implicated. Moreover, he was also suspicious of Chief Elder Bian who ruled over the disciplinary pavilion. In other words, he had to avoid being found out at all costs.
By watching how everyone moved, Cao Yun was able to eliminate possible array formations but the road he had chosen so that he wouldn't be detected could have two array formations on the path. And, of course, there could be array formations inside the building as well. His goal was the main pavilion where Lu Meihan had received and tried to trap him the first time.
The moment he felt the opportunity was good, Cao Yun let himself fall from the tree and walked toward the walls of the residence. Then he fully activated his 'Locking the Seven'. All his body functions slowed down terribly. A physician could have thought him to be dead. He could not stay in this state for more than an hour, and he had estimated that he needed ten minutes to get in. All in all, he would have forty minutes at best to search Lu Meihan's room.
Sneaking through the night, he easily avoided everyone's senses. At some point, he literally walked a few meters behind someone without the girl realizing he even existed. When he arrived to the first spot where an array formation could be set, he took out his 'Twenty-Four Eight Compass' and examined the spot. He was very careful and finally determined that no array formation was there.
Slowly walking through, he got nervous. Luckily, he had been right and no array formation got activated.
In a matter of minutes, he was at the second spot and this time, he found traces of an array formation. Thanks to his 'Shen Visualization' and his knowledge, he had been able to reduce the number of possible array formations. With his 'Twenty-Four Eight Compass', he tried to decipher which one was set up. However, he realized that he did not know.
This was an unknown array formation. This was something he knew possible because the first array formation that Lu Meihan had tried on him was in no book. In fact Sun Liao had asked his master about it and even he did not know about it. However, it wasn't a very powerful array formation. And from what Cao Yun could decipher, this array formation was at best 3-star Human rank. His own rank was only 2-star Human, but he was confident in his ability.
He aligned his compass with the eight directions and the stars. Aligning nature itself with the compass, the Twenty-Four Mountains showed where all the palaces could be. Further deriving the principles of array formations, combined with the principles of alchemy, Cao Yun had a rough idea of where the Gate of Life was.
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He had no idea what this array formation would do, so he preferred to neither activate nor break it. This time, he got very anxious but he knew that he needed to move soon as a regular was going to walk around here in no time. Calming his mind as much as he could, he walked through the path he had divined. Despite being fairly certain of himself, he walked very slowly. As all his senses were locked in and did not distract him, he vaguely sensed the fluctuation of Qi around him.
There really was an array formation here and he went through it without any problem. In fact, he had no way to know whether he had activated it. Some array formations were meant to detect people for example. Even if you activated them, you would feel no difference at all. And since Cao Yun was only a Mortal, he could not sense the Qi unless it was directly around or inside of him.
Anyway, he kept going and soon arrived to the rear of the main building. He put his ear against the wall, trying to hear the people walking inside and to get a rough idea of what was going on. When he got positive that no one was near, he climbed through a window and hid himself in the ceiling. Fortunately, his memory of the layout from the very little time he had been there was spot-on.
This time, he had no idea about the routine of anyone in here. In fact, he did not even know what most of these rooms were used for. From his first time in this building, he remembered the sounds he had heard through the walls and the doors. Thanks to that, he could vaguely guess how many people could fit into each room and had a rough idea of the layout. He focused his senses to their utmost and slowly progressed through the first floor until the room of Lu Meihan.
Luckily, she had not changed her room. It used to be on the upper floors but she had moved to the first one after her backlash. Even though she had taken the Life Essence Phoenix Balm, this room had not changed as she got used to it. Cao Yun did not know any of that and finally found the room. After several seconds listening to everything around him, he decided to get inside.
In fact, he was ready to search the room even with Lu Meihan in it. Given her condition, it was obvious that she had to sleep a lot more than even mere mortals. However, Cao Yun got surprised. Despite his days passed looking at the Coiling Silk Faction residence, he had not seen Lu Meihan. Indeed, she tried to keep her recovery as secret as possible. Only her most trusted members knew of both her backlash and her sudden recovery. Of course, she did not want Cao Yun to know about it considering he was her prey.
Both of them had partial intel. Cao Yun sensed that something was not right but he could not miss this opportunity. With a slight hesitation, he still got to search the room. Inside the room, he let go of his 'Locking the Seven'. He could only keep it up for an hour at most. This technique slowed down everything in his body, including his heartbeat and his breathing. As such, keeping it up for too long could be dangerous.
Opening the drawers and looking through everything, he found several elements. First, he discovered some incense sticks very similar to the ones that were used against him. Using all his knowledge from the books he had read, he tried to figure out what they were but failed. Since he couldn't just take one, he tried to cut off a very small part. As they were all the same size, he cut a tiny portion of all of them to hide it.
He also found the manual explaining how to set up the array formation these incense sticks were used with. With ease, he was able to memorize it completely. Thanks to his newfound knowledge of array formations, he scanned through the document and found out where were every gates and palaces. This was a 3-star Earth array formation. Apparently it only served to concentrate the medicinal essence of the incense sticks. Moreover, it slowed down the mind resistance of the person inside with a relaxing effect. What made this array formation effective was the combination of its own effects with the fragrance of the incense coursing through it.
Finally, he found two manuals, the Life Essence Phoenix Balm manual and the 'Reversing Two Universes Dance' manual. The manual about the balm had nothing extraordinary on it, it only showed which acupoints needed to be rubbed with it. The effects were not described, neither was the composition of the balm, so it was useless. However, the 'Reversing Two Universes Dance' manual showed clearly what the point of the technique was.
It truly was a demonic art. By using specific postures and breathing techniques during a dual cultivation, it was possible for a woman to absorb the life force of her male partner. In fact, she absorbed so much Qi and Jing that the male could be severely injured and in the worst cases, he could probably die. Of course, the manual did not say that, it only indicated that the partner would be weakened for some time. But with his knowledge, Cao Yun understood the truth.
Given how weak Lu Meihan had been, the dual cultivation necessary to heal her would most likely kill him. She would absorb every single ounce of Qi from his body and even most of his essence. This would heal her but be lethal to him. In fact, Lu Meihan did not understand that. She had been clouded by her condition and only thought that the consequences on Cao Yun would be mild. In her mind the worst thing that could happen would be to hinder his future progress. Maybe that would limit his cultivation.
The truth was that she did not really care whether it was true or not. And since she had recovered, she began to ponder about it but decided that she was better off not knowing.
While Cao Yun was searching through the room, he heard footsteps in the corridor. Abruptly, he jumped inside the ceiling and circulated his 'Locking the Seven'. Two people walked into the room, Lu Meihan and a man in black and purple. Cao Yun sharpened his senses and tried to pierce through this person's disguise. The only thing he could see was his chest emblem. On it was the image of two fangs biting into a red flower. Looking even more closely, this flower was an orchid. Immediately he thought about Hidden Orchids, but the emblem was different, even the flower had another shape. The Hidden Orchids Faction was very secretive despite being in the top three with Red Cliff and Purple Northern Cloud.
Lu Meihan sat down as the man in black and purple stayed up.
"So, Luduo Bu was your idea, I guess?"
"Indeed. But everything is not over. This Chen Guo has become a problem. It's essential that you take care of him quickly." Cao Yun tried to remember his voice but he realized that there was something strange. Focusing his senses, this voice was a mix of several voices. This person was really hiding very well. But he didn't seem to be the Spirit Warrior who gave instructions to Luduo Bu after their fight. Well, Cao Yun wasn't sure whether there was such a mastermind but it was his deduction, and he was right. If this person had been a Spirit Warrior, Cao Yun would have been discovered instantly. At most, he should be an early Mortal Warrior but it was impossible to tell.
"Do you have any idea? Even though your balm gave me back my strength, I'm not a fighter and Cao Yun is protected by Xiao Xuefeng."
"Xiao Xuefeng is not a problem for now. It will still take her several months before she's back. Do not worry about her." The way he talked suggested that the demonic cultivators were really behind her departure. Most likely, they created false intel or even used other demonic cultivators as decoys. "And yes, I have a way to attract Chen Guo... He has friends, right?"
Lu Meihan was shocked. "Mei Hua and Sun Liao? Are you insane?! Both of them are direct disciples of chief elders..." Suddenly, she remembered something. "Do you mean?" She leaned forward as she spoke.
"Yes. Ren Chao!"