Chapter 704: Reminiscing

"He's finally moving."

Xun Lieren warned his companions. For quite some time they had been immobile. Indeed, Lu Xiaoya had detected a few array formations and they were thus certain of Cao Yun's position. But they didn't want him to know they were tracking him. Most of all, they had no desire to fight him where he had probably set up several array formations. They wouldn't get trapped in his array formations once again. Moreover, Xun Lieren had been able to detect the presence of many powerful demonic beasts. If they had to fight Cao Yun who had most likely fully recovered, along with his array formations and several demonic beasts, they would have no chance of killing him.

Silver Wolf Marshal Shanyin Guan had thus ordered them all to wait. On one hand, it would give Cao Yun more time to recover. But once on the move, he couldn't have several array formations set up all around himself. Of course, the Silver Wolf Marshal had no idea that the Empyrean Asura had located Cao Yun and had more or less forced him to leave in a hurry. Indeed, he had received some vision from the Empyrean Asura, but nothing absolutely clear. After all, they were quite far from the Saint Citadel Sidi. The Empyrean Asura could send vague messages and orders through his blood within the Silver Wolf Marshal, but he couldn't literally expand his soul that far. Even he wasn't that powerful.

Even though they knew that Cao Yun was leaving and his precise position before that, no one was able to see him. His stealth was simply too good. Only Lu Xiaoya and the Silver Wolf Marshal were able to get a sense that he was there somehow, but they couldn't actually see him without using their full spiritual senses, which would obviously reveal their presence too. As such, they had to rely on Xun Lieren's 'Blood-Scented Hunt'. No matter what kind of stealth Cao Yun was using, as long as he didn't discover and deal with those seals hidden within him, Xun Lieren would be able to track him anywhere.

Even though Cao Yun was able to conceal most of his presence to the Empyrean Asura, it wasn't the same for Xun Lieren. Of course, the Empyrean Asura was much more powerful than the hunter. But he had been using a very specific technique that was meant to track his prey. On the other hand, the Empyrean Asura had been able to sense Cao Yun because the young man had absorbed some of his blood essence. It had never been meant to track him in the first place. Otherwise, he would have added several seals and runes within it.

Since Xun Lieren could track Cao Yun anywhere, they were not worried that he could escape them.

Hongyu reached her brother near the cave where he had been meditating and breaking through. Seeing him fully recovered and even more powerful than ever, she was overjoyed. After all, even with his stealth, she knew him enough to tell that his bloodline had become even stronger. Apart from Huang Liyue and Cao Yun, Hongyu was probably the being on the Piaolu planet with the greatest understanding of 'Ashen Feather Seal'. Indeed, Cao Yun had circulated it in her several times to also conceal her presence while they were flying. And he did so once again.

Since he couldn't fly at full speed while concealing his presence as well, he would let Hongyu fly. As a 7-core demonic beast, a Heaven-Searing Fenghuang, Hongyu was the fastest being on the Piaolu planet. Even with his recent breakthrough, Cao Yun had no doubt that she would beat him when it came to flight speed. In fact, only the Empyrean Asura might be a bit faster, but even then, there was no certitude. Still, he would rather bet on his enemy being faster. If he were wrong, then everything would be good. But if he assumed the opposite and he was wrong, the situation would get dangerous very fast.

"Hongyu, we're finally going home. Fly straight ahead, I'll deal with array formations and stealth. Just focus on flying as fast as you can."

She answered with a small screech and lowered herself so Cao Yun could climb on her back. Of course, he could simply levitate on her back, but he preferred not to use any form of spiritual senses or even Qi if he didn't have to. He was painfully aware that a tyrannical demon had targeted him. They had to get to the Hongchen Kingdom as soon as they could. Honestly, Cao Yun felt a bit bad about the nearby regions.

Before leaving, he remembered Lan Duoyan. Hopefully, he would be fine. Cao Yun had helped the rebellion in the region. Even if he had not started it, he had probably caused more demons to join as they could now see hope. After all, the Temple of Grace and Submission had fallen. So Cao Yun was feeling guilty. Maybe he had given them false hope and they would be crushed with extreme violence and brutality. As much as he wanted chaos in the demon territories in order to help his Hongchen Kingdom, he did empathize with the demons. Indeed, he had spent the better part of the last decade among demons. Honestly, they were not that different from humans, apart from their culture and the way they were waging war against each other all the time. Humanity's greatest strength on this planet had always been its unity. But Cao Yun also knew that it wasn't the case in every world inhabited by humans. After all, he had memories from Cleansed Asura and Axiu Qian proving the opposite.

With some melancholy, Cao Yun got on Hongyu's back and she rose in the air. For so long he had thought and even dreamed about coming home. But now that he was finally achieving this goal, he felt some doubt. He was also afraid of learning about the fate of his brothers, his sisters and his friends. Hopefully, they were all alive and well, but the situation was extremely serious and dangerous for the Hongchen Kingdom.

Through Cao Yun's mind, the faces of all those he had met in the Hongchen Kingdom appeared one by one, even those who were already dead before he had left. He saw the Wubei Sect and his years and tribulations there. The face of his sworn brothers and sister under the bodhi tree as they drank to their brotherhood came back. The large Ren Chao who was always a bit clumsy with his words, but also so genuine, was laughing even in Cao Yun's mind. The young man wondered whether he had married Wang Mei from the Coiling Silk Faction.

Thinking back on the Coiling Silk Faction, Cao Yun obviously remembered the hard times he had gone through because of Lu Meihan. He saw former Chief Elder Bian Gui who had been so unfair to him. Most likely, his punishment had ended. Cao Yun wasn't thrilled at the idea of seeing him again... As he was thinking about a Chief Elder, he saw others. He saw Chief Elder Suxian Zheng and former Chief Elder Luoming Tian who had betrayed mankind. This brought him to think about his other brother, Sun Liao.

Ren Chao and Sun Liao were always teasing one another. After all, their first encounter had been quite something as well. But deep down, Cao Yun knew that they truly loved one another like true blood-related brothers. Unfortunately, Sun Liao was always a bit too arrogant and, although he was mostly playing with Ren Chao, this created a lot of arguments between the two of them. Maybe Long Huafang would have tamed him a little. After all, Cao Yun remembered that there was a small thing between the two of them. She might have been even more arrogant and commandeering than he was, but she was focused on fighting and not array formations.

Cao Yun also remembered Chief Elder Baishen Du, Instructor Meng Jia the Tree of Death and Chief Instructor Peng. The three of them had helped him tremendously, just like Sect Leader Xuan who had entrusted him with the fate of the Wubei Sect. And Cao Yun had utterly failed him. Hopefully, the Wubei Sect was still standing strong, but war had probably changed a lot of things.

Thinking about his masters and those who had helped him, Cao Yun obviously recalled Xiao Xuefeng. She was among the few who actually knew he wasn't Chen Guo but Cao Yun. Apart from her, Sect Leader Xuan, Matriarch Huang, Huang Liyue, his uncle Fang Shaolong and Feng Yingyue knew his true identity and his past. Cao Yun wondered whether he should tell his brothers and sister as well. This might put them in danger, but simply being close to him would put them in danger anyway if Emperor Weide were to learn of his identity. In fact, it was possible that he already knew. Before being taken away by the spatial storm, Cao Yun had indeed called his sister by name. Hopefully, no one had heard it... Well, he hoped that Xiao Xuefeng had heard his last message about it, but he couldn't be sure either.

Unbeknownst to Cao Yun, Huang Cixi also knew, but he didn't know that his small servant whose life he had saved was in fact Huang Cixi, the future matriarch of the Huang family.

Finally, after his two sworn brothers, Cao Yun saw the face of his sworn sister, Mei Hua. Her family had also gone through something terrible as her own father had tried to sacrifice her younger sister Mei Ying. She would probably be the most understanding of Cao Yun's plight.

Obviously, thinking of his sworn sister and her past, his mind wandered toward his actual sister, Cao Huiying. Although she thought of herself as Yong Ke, Emperor Weide's daughter, Cao Yun had to save her from this surrogate father who was just raising her in order to rob her of her Soul Embryo. Hopefully, she had not yet reached a sufficient level of cultivation. With Emperor Weide to help her cultivate, she would have all the resources in the world, so she might be much faster than any other cultivator, apart from Cao Yun himself.

The very last face he saw was Feng Yingyue's, his lover. They honestly had been apart much longer than they had been together. Honestly, she might have moved on completely. After all, she probably thought that he was dead. And they had met when they were still very young. The only reason why they had felt so close was because Cao Yun had suffered a traumatic event and had saved her life from Huang Lixin. Ironically, it had also sealed his fate with Huang Lixin's sister, Huang Cixi. Inadvertently, he had more or less eradicated her whole family, or rather those very close to her, her two brothers and her father who had died mourning his sons.

Even now, Cao Yun wasn't sure whether what he felt toward Feng Yingyue truly was love. He cared deeply about her, just like he cared deeply for his sisters. Of course, they were much more intimate. In fact, each time he had seen her, he had been unable to control his desire for her. But he was wondering if there was something deeper than that. To be fair, he had never truly thought about love and he had much more practical goals than that. But after working on his soul and his emotions for so long, he was obviously asking himself all those questions. Besides, he would not stay on the Piaolu planet for more than a few centuries, maybe even less time than that. He had to explore the entire universe and beyond. On the other hand, Feng Yingyue might not want to leave her father's world. Anyway, it wasn't the right moment to think about that.

Cao Yun was seeing every face he had ever met in the Hongchen Kingdom, even some faces he had almost forgotten. Unfortunately, he didn't know who was alive or dead. Everything he thought he knew might be quite different. At the very least, he hoped for those who were very close to him to still be alive. That being said, it would be great if everyone he had known was still alive as well. Sadly, it was very unlikely.

Since Cao Yun had to focus on detecting array formations and other traps during Hongyu's flight, he pushed all those nostalgic memories to a corner of his mind and took out his compass. Even without spiritual senses, his understanding of 'Twenty-Four Mountains' and 'Twelve Earthly Branches and Ten Heavenly Stems' would help him find most traps before they even got close to them. With him guiding Hongyu's course, they would reach the Hongchen Kingdom faster than anyone else could. In other words, they would get there in less than a month, a full month at most.

On the ground, the Six Fangs Generals and the Silver Wolf Marshal were observing attentively. Unfortunately, they couldn't see a thing and even sensing Cao Yun's presence was almost impossible. Suddenly, Xun Lieren sent a telepathic message to everyone. He was flabbergasted. Cao Yun was much faster than any other beast he had ever hunted. Indeed, he was flying on Hongyu's back after all.

"He's already far away from any array formation I've sensed."

Lu Xiaoya responded immediately, knowing what was going through everyone's mind. If Cao Yun was as fast as Xun Lieren claimed, he would escape from them even without knowing they were tracking him. They had to act as fast as possible. With his current speed, the Silver Wolf Marshal might not even be able to get to him in time.

"Go!"

His order thundered through their minds. Acting like one man, all the Six Fangs Generals flew into the air. They were forming a battle formation and unleashed all of their strength at the same time.

'Maw of Absolute Bond'!

From the sky, six large white wolf fangs fell to the ground down below. They were emitting a strange silver light that was containing a substantial part of each general's soul in it. All around Cao Yun, they created a form of array formation. But it wasn't exactly the case. It was more akin to Qi Manifestation or even Blood Incarnation. All the Six Fangs Generals had poured a tremendous amount of their own soul and blood into this technique. They were in no state to fight. But now, Cao Yun was completely trapped and surrounded on all sides.

Then, within those six fangs, the shape of Silver Wolf Marshal Shanyin Guan appeared.