The first thing Cao Yun did was to go find Ren Chao. He waited for the sun to come out and went to his room. A young boy opened the door. Of course, he was the servant of Ren Chao.
"Is Ren Chao here? I would like to speak with him."
The servant had recognized Cao Yun without him saying his name. He turned back. "Young Master Ren, Mister Chen is here to see you."
A boom echoed in the room as a form intertwined in silk sheets rolled from the bed. "What?!" The big head of Ren Chao slipped through the sheets. As his eyes fought against daylight, he recognized his friend. All of a sudden, he jumped up.
"Brother Chen! Come in! Come in!" He quickly raced toward the door to show Cao Yun in. Below his sheets, he was still dressed with his uniforms. Most likely, he had fallen asleep in it.
Cao Yun walked in and the servant closed the door. He followed his friend and took a seat at his table.
"Ming Xiao will prepare us some strong tea. I really need to wake up!" Ren Chao nodded toward the boy.
"Of course, Young Master." The boy then went to the small kitchen to get everything ready. In fact, he had already taken out the tea since yesterday night. He knew that his master would need some to wake up.
"You won't believe it!" With his right hand, he grasped the chest of his uniform and displayed his blacksmith emblem. It had changed. "I'm officially a 3-star Earth blacksmith now! I celebrated with my faction last night. I would have loved to do so with you, but I figured you would be busy. As a matter of fact, it's amusing that you're here because I wanted to find you." Ren Chao bowed, his head hitting the table. "It's all thanks to you! I did exactly as you suggested and my progress just skyrocketed."
"Brother Ren, no need for such formalities between us. If I needed a weapon or an artifact forged, wouldn't you naturally do it for me?"
"Sure I would! Do you need anything?"
Cao Yun looked at the servant and back at Ren Chao. "I need to speak with you in private."
Despite his natural disposition, Ren Chao was not an idiot. He was somewhat straightforward but not oblivious. "Ming Xiao, could you leave us when you're done?"
"Of course, Young Master."
"For now, let's talk about you, Brother Ren. Is everything alright?"
With a hearty laugh, Ren Chao answered. "How could it be otherwise?! I'm sure that I can achieve 4-star blacksmith with your advice. I may even do so before the end of the year. Do you realize that I could potentially leave this sect as a Human rank blacksmith? Even in my faction they started treating me differently. I went up on the ranking scroll and I have more resources. My training will be even smoother now. It's just awesome!"
"And wait until I tell that to Wang Mei! She already has many 3-star and 4-star emblems in many artistic disciplines. I could maybe try to forge something for her now..." When he evoked the name 'Wang Mei', Ren Chao had an even brighter smile and then he pondered what he could actually forge for her that could be useful. He thought about an instrument but he knew nothing of music, then he thought about tools of calligraphy. Many ideas popped in his mind.
On the other side of the table, Cao Yun was embarrassed by this name. Without Wang Mei, what he had to say would have been easier.
Anyway, he waited for Ming Xiao to be done with the tea. The servant then left the room. Cao Yun got cautious to the point of using his senses in order to be sure that he had left.
"Brother Ren, listen to me without interrupting please." Seeing Cao Yun so serious, Ren Chao followed suit and fell silent. "No matter what happens, you must never go in the Coiling Silk Faction residence anymore. And more than anything, you must stay as far away as possible from Lu Meihan. I'm not kidding!" After many hesitations, Cao Yun had decided not to tell the whole situation to his friend. He did not know how he would react. Sometimes he was honest to a fault and way too direct. "I'm sorry I can't tell you why, but..."
"I trust you!" Cao Yun could not finish his sentence that Ren Chao had agreed wholeheartedly to his request. "We intended to go to the Coiling Silk for the celebration of my graduation. But I'll come up with an excuse. If you don't want to tell me the reason, you don't need to, I trust you!" He looked down for an instant. "What about Wang Mei?"
With a very dark face, Cao Yun answered. He was pained to see such a jovial young man looking so serious all of a sudden. "I do not know what she's a part of or not. I suspect that she may not know much. But, still... I'm sorry that it would be better to be wary of her." Cao Yun paused. "I mean, if she had to choose between you and her faction, who do you think she would choose?"
"Me!" Without any hesitation, Ren Chao answered. "I trust her as much as I trust you, Brother Chen. I know for a fact that she would never bring me harm. If you don't know which side she's on, I can tell you that much."
All Cao Yun's doubts disappeared when he looked in Ren Chao's eyes. Yes he was very honest and direct, but he was no fool. If he trusted her that much, he had to have his reasons.
"I will believe you, Brother Ren. Anyway, be careful nonetheless. Even if she doesn't try to bring you harm, her faction could use her without her knowing. I'm sincerely sorry to bring such bad news while you're still celebrating your graduation."
"Brother Chen, you don't have to apologize for anything. I'm sure you're worried about my safety. That's why you came first thing in the morning."
"Brother, one more thing."
"I know! I won't talk about this to anyone. Anyone at all."
Cao Yun leaned back and got relieved. This way, he could probably gain some time.
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"I'll just stay in my faction and in the blacksmith pavilion as much as I can. I swear I'll be very careful. But I must talk with Wang Mei at least one last time."
The two men kept talking for a while. But their conversation was now way lighter.
-
During the day, Ren Chao wanted to go find Wang Mei, but she found him first. Soon after Cao Yun's departure, she came knocking on his door. As Ming Xiao had not come back yet, Ren Chao himself answered.
"Ren Chao, I have to speak with you. It's very important." He did not recognize her usual self. When she came to him, Wang Mei was always happy and radiant. But right then, on her face, he saw worry and conflict.
"Come in." He knew why she was here, but he had promised his friend not to tell anyone and there was one thing he was good at, keeping his word.
Fidgeting and walking nervously, Wang Mei did not even take a seat. She looked around to see if anyone was here with Ren Chao.
"I'm alone. Ming Xiao just left." Usually, he would be delighted to be alone with this woman, but he could not enjoy it right now.
"Please, do not ask me why, but... Stay away from me and the Coiling Silk Faction."
"Is it because of Lu Meihan?" Hearing the name of her faction leader, Wang Mei's face was horrified.
"Please! I can't tell you anything! Don't make me choose! Just trust me!" Wang Mei tried not to shout but still raised her voice while closing her eyes.
"I do trust you!" Ren Chao took her and hugged her frail and shivering body. "But do not make this face again. It's too painful for me!"
Wang Mei let go of all her tension and burst into tears in his chest. Ren Chao did not know what was going on but he knew Lu Meihan had his friend worried and his woman crying. Even though he had never met her, from this day he deemed her his enemy. Ren Chao knew he wasn't the smartest or the most cunning. After all, he had been raised in a small town and there was no plot like that. However, he could guess that Lu Meihan intended to get to his friend through him.
He would keep his word and try to stay as far away as possible from this Lu Meihan.
-
Cao Yun kept on training with a renewed urgency. The only way he had to really protect his friends was to get strong enough to deter the threats.
His martial art was progressing very smoothly as the third star was almost condensed. He had continued to train in the Thousand Snakes Invade the Shell array formation. Several times, he tried the 1st-grade Mortal Warrior setting but it was still too intense for him. With this setting, his defense could endure only three strikes. In fact, this was still very good for his current level, but not good enough. Nevertheless, he always challenged himself with this setting from time to time.
The third star appeared to be very gaseous. It was a huge white blur in the sky of his sea of consciousness. But the mere fact that he was able to see it allowed him to study it a little. With such an advantage, his 'Azure Dragon's Seven Piercing Stars' was advancing by leaps and bounds. In a matter of days, the star would be fully condensed. Then he would have to observe it even more attentively in order to decipher its true meaning. For now, he had always found a superficial technique and a more profound variation for each star. It did not mean that every star had two techniques. Some could have only one or several other variations.
He also focused on his mind cultivation of course and it was still progressing at a steady rhythm of one more repetition per day. By keeping a steady pace and not rushing it, Cao Yun was tempering his control over the Drop of Wrath. Once more during his sneaking into the Coiling Silk Faction residence, the Drop of Wrath could have cost his life. He was very aware of its dangers. It had once saved his life, but since then it had been more of a burden than a blessing.
Just to fight against it, he had devoted a huge part of his training to his mind. Ironically, without that, he would not have advanced as fast as he had. And this Drop of Wrath had allowed him to discover how to enter his own sea of consciousness. Such an event had changed his life and his talent forever. In a way, the Drop of Wrath was a double-edged sword.
Finally, the last part of his training was his Qi cultivation. He had to advance faster in order to be able to contend with the threats hidden in the sect. Only then could he really take control of his fate and start to act rather than react.
Every grade in the cultivation system was a leap in power. Of course, the gaps between the lower grades were not extraordinary. However, a 6th-grade Mortal still had an advantage over a 5th-grade Mortal even though it wasn't that big. The difference between two realms was usually greater than between grades. For example, a 9th-grade Mortal was at a real disadvantage against even a 1st-grade Mortal Warrior. The gap was not unconquerable but it was best for Cao Yun to get to a higher grade quickly. He did not want to be too fast though. Stability was more important than the grade itself. After all, many alchemists cultivated through pills and had high cultivation but low fighting prowess.
Using his Seamless Qi Vortex array formation with Huang Cixi standing guard a bit farther, he finally opened his twelfth and last meridian, the Large Intestine Meridian. As soon as he achieved this, he was officially a 6th-grade Mortal. In his body, he felt his Qi circulating naturally throughout his vessels and meridians.
He did not need to focus at all for the flow of Qi to be rich and powerful. All of a sudden he felt full of life and all the Qi from his Lower Dantian moved on its own. It felt like the Qi itself was happy and it coursed through his now perfectly opened meridians. The feeling was exhilarating! All of a sudden, the Qi around him got absorbed at least twice as fast.
The meridians were all linked to the vessels at various locations and they all seemed to emit cracking sound. The sensation was heavenly, as though all the parts of his body were one. Even Huang Cixi could hear small cracking sounds. She knew that Cao Yun had succeeded in breaking through. His vessels and meridians were now perfectly aligned with each other. While the Qi passed from one vessel to a meridian and the other way around, the process was so smooth that it didn't feel like anything had happened.
Right now, Cao Yun could circulate way more Qi and way faster. His reaction time had at least doubled if not tripled. He would have to test it out at the Thousand Snakes Invade the Shell array formation.
Transfixed by this prodigious feeling, Cao Yun used his Po character to feel his Qi even more deeply. He tried out several of his moves with this new Qi. His 'Dragon's Twin Horns' could now send more than a dozen of small vortexes of wind. And they were all closer in time. Even his movement techniques were now faster.
Cao Yun knew that each grade was stronger than the last, but it was beyond his expectations. If he were to fight against Luduo Bu right now, he would never be hit even once. His attacks would do more damage but probably still couldn't cut him much deeper though.
Then, Cao Yun would have to focus on the 6th-grade Mortal. This grade was pretty straightforward. Its main goal was to accumulate Qi inside the Lower Dantian. It had been forged during the 3rd-grade to accommodate more Qi. And now that all the Qi was coursing freely through his meridians, Cao Yun understood that he was indeed lacking in quantity.
But this step was not just about quantity. Quality was also important. As an alchemist he understood that Qi itself had properties. Just like all things, it contained all five elements as well as the concepts of Yin and Yang. The Lower Dantian was stronger in Water element, but a good balance had to be kept. And then, there was the question of the density. The more dense your Qi was, the more energy you could store in your body.
The space was limited so you had to compact your Qi and still be able to control it as well as before. All these points were explained in length in the 'Cultivation of Wrath'. The techniques were pretty classic but effective. In fact, the 'Dance of Slaughter' could be used once more to absorb and compact the Qi within the Lower Dantian. Then, he would need to use his mind to expel any unbalance of elements within his Qi.
Thanks to his Po character, this process would be very easy. Cao Yun decided to not waste any time and started to cultivate immediately.