Chapter 687: Fear of one's father

Dian Mo and Cao Yun stayed quiet for some time. At the moment, there was no immediate danger in the room so Cao Yun focused his intent in his sea of consciousness. As such, time seemed to slow down as his mind could process information at an incredible speed. Usually, he would talk with Dian Mo but after seeing this glimpse of the Empyrean Asura, the two of them couldn't utter a single word. Only the word 'master' had escaped Dian Mo's mind, but it felt like a whisper that lingered for too long.

In this whisper, there was a mixture of surprise, yearning, and fear. Honestly, Dian Mo didn't know how to feel. All his life, he had indeed worshiped his master, not as a literal god the way the Empyrean Asura Theocracy worshiped him, but as a parent. After all, Demon God Da Mo had created the array formation from which Dian Mo had emerged. Yes, he had used the preexisting array formation of the Palace of Supreme Wisdom left behind by the forgotten human civilization. But he had brought Dian Mo into existence. However, he had also condemned him to a life of eternal imprisonment in a sense.

Since he had inhabited Cao Yun's body, Dian Mo had changed a lot. He had stopped seeing humans as inferior. In fact, he had also seen demons as inferior to him. In his mind, Demon God Da Mo was the pinnacle and everyone else was inferior. Being humbled by Cao Yun and then seeing his life, his experience, but also reading a lot and experiencing the world with Cao Yun as a proxy had indeed changed his worldview. At the moment, Dian Mo didn't really want to see his master succeed. Although the Empyrean Asura's body was not Da Mo's, his eyes betrayed him instantly. Whatever that thing was, it had Da Mo's soul in it, or at the very least a part of it.

Obviously, Cao Yun had understood it. His main problem was that Demon God Da Mo was in fact a Reborn Demon. He had even been on the verge of becoming an Immortal Demon. The mere fact that the Hongchen Kingdom had not been annihilated yet proved that either he was weak, injured, or something else was keeping him away from the kingdom. Immediately, Cao Yun thought about the array formations left by Emperor Nuwa and Saint Duan Huang. Maybe this wasn't the only reason, but it had protected the kingdom for so long, even Demon God Da Mo might not be able to easily take the defenses down.

From what Cao Yun had discovered, especially within the Weaver of Souls' memories, Demon God Da Mo and his asura had kept on hopping from the Piaolu planet to another realm where the flow of time was dilated. While decades or even centuries could pass in the Piaolu planet, mere years flowed there. Unfortunately, the Weaver of Souls' memories had not been complete and Cao Yun had not been privy to every detail. Clearly, Demon God Da Mo had wanted something from there and had launched several campaigns that had all failed. But it was possible for his Demon Soul to have survived his physical death against Emperor Nuwa. In fact, no one was even sure whether his body or soul had been destroyed. The Hongchen Kingdom only knew that Emperor Nuwa had beaten the Demon God and founded the human kingdom.

Taking everything into account, Cao Yun had many theories. Although roughly twenty thousand years had passed since the Great War, it was possible that a small amount of time had passed for Demon God Da Mo. It could have been less than two hundred years for him. Maybe his soul or a part of it had endured and had now come back. Anyway, no matter what had happened, Cao Yun was now convinced that Demon God Da Mo was behind everything that had recently happened. He had most likely helped the demonic cultivators find his hidden library. But he might not know everything. He might not know about the drop of blood that had reconstructed his physical body. Hopefully he didn't; otherwise, this would be his first target. Or maybe he did but knew he couldn't take down the Wubei Sect. Maybe it was his next target...

Many thoughts were raging within Cao Yun's mind. But at the end, he reached the same conclusion. He had to warn the Hongchen Kingdom as soon as possible. After all, he had already done everything he could in the demon territories. Taking down the Temple of Grace and Submission would be a terrible blow to the Empyrean Asura. After that, more and more unrest would spread through the territories. Dominating them through fear and intimidation was already failing because they couldn't win the war against the Hongchen Kingdom as easily as they had planned. But when even their most sacred temples were defiled, the hegemony of the Empyrean Asura would be questioned. For some time, they would have to fight a war on several fronts.

Cao Yun had hesitated to go to the Saint Citadel Sidi to gather more information. But after seeing the Empyrean Asura's eyes, he wouldn't dare. If that truly was the soul of a Reborn Demon, he could do nothing against him, no matter how powerful he could get. Hopefully, Demon God Da Mo's soul was at least injured. But then, why would he come back without his full strength? Maybe he had felt his body after all... Indeed, his body had already been on the verge of being fully reborn. Former Chief Elder Luoming Tian had taken over the body, but it might be Demon God Da Mo's goal...

As he was thinking about that, Cao Yun was interrupted by Dian Mo's words.

"Boy, we should leave for now... Those demons had already called in reinforcements from their capital. We don't know who might come nor when. Let's be cautious."

Cao Yun could feel the fear in Dian Mo's words. He was still shaken. For an instant, Cao Yun was worried, but Dian Mo was still suppressing the Devouring Robber. It was time for Cao Yun to break through, but not here. Until he was in a safer place, he had to keep suppressing it. But he would have to break through within the demon territory. Indeed, Cao Yun had to keep his demon cultivation so he wouldn't risk breaking through in the middle of the Hongchen Kingdom while an active war against demons was being waged.

"I know, but first..."

Getting out of his own head, Cao Yun looked at the room. The very first thing that struck him were the scorch marks on the walls and ceiling. Only a few instants ago, he had completely destroyed the corpses of Yu Xiangling's poor victims. Even their souls had been consumed. As much as he could claim he had purified them, a bitter taste stayed in Cao Yun's mouth. He wanted to scream his frustration as loudly as he could and some more. However, he didn't have that luxury. All those emotions and resentment kept on feeding his Devouring Robber. For a moment, Cao Yun even thought about destroying the Temple of Grace and Submission and killing everyone in it. But there were also slaves who were innocent of those crimes. Obviously, Cao Yun wanted to free them. That being said, it was also dangerous to stay here too long.

Moreover, those slaves were all relatively weak. Even if he did free them, they would be recaptured fairly easily and Cao Yun could imagine their fate. On the other hand, staying there might lead to the same outcome for them. Holy Cardinal Ling Weisheng and Yu Xiangling weren't the only monsters in this temple. They might have been the worst, but the other monks and priests weren't favorable to slaves or heretics either.

Anyway, Cao Yun chased those thoughts. Even after something that seemed so obviously good, the situation remained complex. But at the moment, he was worried about something. His mind was focused on two things, the pool of blood and the black orb.

"Boy, you intend to take that thing with you?!"

Dian Mo's voice was almost shaking. If it had been a real voice and not thoughts within Cao Yun's mind, it would have even cracked. Being close to his master's presence was terrifying Dian Mo. Recently, he had almost died, but somehow, Demon God Da Mo's presence was more terrifying than death. In Dian Mo's mind, he had associated Demon God Da Mo with his millenniums spent inside the Temple of Supreme Wisdom. It was the same thing that was keeping him from actually wanting another body. Although he might claim he'd like to walk free, he was completely paralyzed by this idea. Living through Cao Yun in the comfort of his mind was much better in fact. He could see the world while not being directly in it.

"I need to know as much as I can. So yes, I have to take that orb. And some of the blood for that matter."

Dian Mo seemed to recoil, making himself as small as he could. In the meantime, Cao Yun had walked to the pool of blood which was called Burning Blood by Yu Xiangling. From her memories, he could see what she had done to maintain it. But at the very center of this pool of blood was essence blood from the Empyrean Asura. He had claimed that it was blood gifted to him by Demon God Da Mo. But Cao Yun knew that this was false. Indeed, he had been in the presence of his actual body and the sensation was a bit different. There was an aura of Demon God Da Mo in the blood, but it wasn't as strong. In other words, it was blood that had come directly from Empyrean Asura, proving once more that his body was different from Demon God Da Mo.

Taking the Burning Blood was the easy part. In the air, Cao Yun formed several runes and seals, using some of Yu Xiangling's knowledge to help him. After an instant of hesitation, he decided not to ask for Dian Mo's help. The poor spirit was clearly cowering in fear and just wanted to be out of there as fast as possible. But Cao Yun had other plans.

Once more than six hundred seals were complete, Cao Yun performed various mudras and they all flew directly into the pool of blood. Those seals contained Death Energy, Evil Qi but also the intent from the Drop of Wrath, a superior asura. The seals quickly surrounded the drop of essence blood. Although it had no consciousness, it had some form of instincts. Suddenly, it became violent and tried to escape but it was too late. Cao Yun's seals easily contained it and dragged it out of the pool. The drop itself was so dense and heavy that it felt as though he was dragging an entire body. In a single drop, there were five sheng* of blood.

Still, with his spiritual senses, it wasn't difficult for Cao Yun to extract this drop of essence blood. Then, he simply forced the seals into the drop itself and guided it within his body. As though it realized what was happening, the drop stopped resisting. It was like a venomous snake, waiting for the right opportunity to bite. As soon as it was within Cao Yun's body, it would attack. But it never got the opportunity. Faced with the Drop of Wrath within Cao Yun's heart, it couldn't do anything but submit. Even Demon God Da Mo couldn't compare to Axiu Qian so a single drop of his essence blood had no chance against the Drop of Wrath. Later, Cao Yun would work on fully absorbing it.

After taking the blood essence out, Cao Yun didn't disregard the pool of blood. He had other ideas for it. The many seals he had sent disappeared within the pool. Then, from his spatial ring, he took out several poisons and he sent them into the blood. This pool of blood was only used by the priests for their cultivation. So if he could put a trap in it, they would be the only ones affected by it. Not only did Cao Yun put many seals in the blood, he also poisoned it.

Of course, he made sure that the poison wasn't too obvious. Yu Xiangling would have seen through it but she was dead. Still, he used her knowledge to find the best way to conceal his trap. The cultivation of anyone using this blood would be slowed down a little, but the main point was that they would all die in a matter of months. Hopefully, by the time they found out the truth, many priests would have already sealed their fate.

Once he was done with the pool of blood, Cao Yun turned toward the black orb still on the ground. Although Yu Xiangling was dead, the black orb was still active. Since it had left her hand, the spiritual pressure emanating from the orb had not really lessened but it was a bit more diluted, although still focused on the black orb itself. Thankfully, it couldn't do anything without someone controlling it. And Yu Xiangling had only been able to use it to protect herself due to her lower cultivation.

Dian Mo was observing everything and shaking. Unlike the blood, this black orb contained a true part of his master's soul. It was obviously rather small, but it was still extremely dangerous. For a moment, Dian Mo hesitated to remind Cao Yun. But he soon found out that it was unnecessary. Cao Yun was much more careful when he dealt with the black orb than when he took out the drop of essence blood.

From Yu Xiangling, the young man had taken the wooden box in which she had kept the black orb originally. It wasn't just a wooden box, it had been made to contain the black orb specifically. Thus, Cao Yun decided to use it to take the black orb with him. In his mind, he had several reasons why he needed this orb. His first reason was simply to get as much information as possible. By studying this black orb, he might find more about the Empyrean Asura and Demon God Da Mo. But the orb itself might have other uses.

This time, Cao Yun didn't just write seals and runes in the air, he took out all the swords he could. Thousands upon thousands of swords of varying quality appeared in the air. Some had already been used and others had remained in Cao Yun's spatial ring. They formed a kind of array formation around the black orb. As though responding to this threat, the spiritual pressure around the black orb condensed tighter. Since no one could give any order to the orb, it was simply instinct, like the drop of blood, or a carnivorous plant.

* Approximately 1 sheng = 1 L