The Devouring Robber was trying to squeeze Axiu Qian's neck to death. Thus the giant red asura grabbed the tendril connecting this hand to the deformed body of the Turbid Demon. As soon as he touched it, the torn skin began to burn. From Axiu Qian's hand, Cao Yun's Black Heart Flame erupted. Quickly, the hand was cut off from the Devouring Robber and Axiu Qian took it off his throat before crushing it.
From his six eyes, a golden light emerged. Each time this light touched the skin of the Devouring Robber, it boiled. One by one, the tendrils were destroyed. As the Turbid Demon's hold on Cao Yun's Nine Soul Peaks was released, the young man felt immediately better. His own mental projection was still flying all around the crouching demon, slashing apart every tendril that could appear.
At the same time, the six other Turbid Demons were also attacking the Devouring Robber from every direction. The chains holding them were almost alive. During the fight, those golden chains coiled around the Devouring Robber, trying to pin it down.
Although the fight seemed to go very well, Cao Yun's sensations were still numbed. Slowly, he was falling deeper and deeper into this feeling. It was as if he was being sucked into a swamp. All of his senses were being dulled, but more than that, even his emotions were being erased. At the moment, he was using all of his will just to keep his goal in mind. It was the only thing he was holding on to as much as possible. Everything else would be recovered after the fight, but he lost his purpose, he couldn't fight anymore.
Above his Nine Soul Peaks, his Zhi the Water Will was shining as the flames of his Shen the Fire Spirit were reflected in it. Most of his energy was focused on his Chamber of Medicine Field and his Chamber of Government, both to fight off this wave of emptiness and to push his will further and further. Directly beneath the Zhi character, the murky waters of his infinite ocean turned clear.
Cao Yun knew he could win this fight, despite still being a bit exhausted. But it wasn't his only goal. He didn't just want to break through, he was trying to push his understanding of 'Death Verses' and to form the best Demon Soul he possibly could.
Now that the Devouring Robber was being held back by Cao Yun's own strength, Dian Mo released more and more of the Turbid Demon. Despite the best efforts of the Devouring Robber, it wasn't able to push the Palace of Supreme Wisdom away from its body. However, Dian Mo was slowly pulling it away. In the end, the entire crushed body of the Devouring Robber was visible. It was almost like a huge slug with tiny arms all over its flesh. Indeed, it was lying on the ground with seemingly no leg and a large crushed torso that was completely disproportionate.
If one were to look carefully, they could see two legs. However, they were completely shrunk down and barely even look like limbs at all. There was no way they could support such a massive body. And indeed, they did not. The Turbid Demon was using its tiny hands all over its body to move around. That being said, it was incredibly fast, almost like a centipede. Thankfully, as soon as it tried to escape, all the golden chains around it jerked its large body and blocked its movement.
Although it could move a little, it couldn't escape the chains' hold on its body.
In the sky, Yi the Earth Intent shined with a golden light. It was even brighter than the six eyes of Axiu Qian. And all this light was focused on the Devouring Robber. Cao Yun was focusing all of his intent directly onto the Turbid Demon.
As the young man was focused, he paid close attention to his emotions and sensations, without obstructing them. He only clung onto his will and his purpose but let everything else be overwhelmed by the Devouring Robber. Then, he finally understood this emptiness. A deeper emotion seemed to be hidden under this seeming lack of emotion. This murky swamp was concealing a deeper truth. Within Cao Yun's Po of Death, he felt a stronger resentment than the one he had felt directed toward him.
This resentment was directed at life itself. Life was the root of all living beings' problems. Life was the cause of every pain and all suffering. Death was the relinquishment of pain, it was salvation. Cao Yun's Po was always fighting to maintain his life. And this part of the Po resented Cao Yun for it, but it resented life itself even more. If only it had no life to sustain, it could finally stop fighting. It could finally rest!
Soon, this resentment toward life spread throughout Cao Yun's mind. All his existence was seen through this prism. In death, all his worries would disappear. His doubts about his own identity would be extinguished. His very identity would dissolve. Death might be the best thing he could hope for.
As he was focusing on those sensations, Cao Yun finally felt what he had been waiting for. His own Po of Death began to turn into Death Energy before his very eyes. Although Cao Yun was alive, his Po of Death acted as though he had just died. Obviously, Cao Yun focused on it and tried to understand the entire process. This was his best chance to understand 'Living Death' before he became a Sage. Besides, he had no idea how long it would take for him to reach this realm. Although he hoped to reach it, he had absolutely no certainty.
Watching the process was extremely frustrating as the Po of Death seemed to magically turn from his soul into Death Energy. One instant, it was like any other aspect of his Po and the next, it was Death Energy. With his will alone, Cao Yun was unable to slow down the process so he used his Black Heart Flame and his understanding of 'Death Reeling'. Thanks to those, he was able to contain the Death Energy and only allow it to slowly turn the rest of his Po of Death. As a consequence, the Devouring Robber was getting more and more mad.
Circulating 'Death Verses', Cao Yun used 'See Through the Mud' to increase his perception of Death Energy. As the other Turbid Demons were connected to it, the Devouring Robber was also trying to turn them into Death Energy. Cao Yun allowed his Flying Poison to turn a little as it was the aspect of his Po he had tamed first and was most confident about.
There! For a mere instant, Cao Yun sensed something that was neither his Po nor pure Death Energy. It was fleeting, but he had definitely seen the moment the Po turned into Death Energy. He burned this sensation in his very soul. At the same time, he remembered the exact emotions going through him at the time.
All this time, he had protected his Soul Embryo. But at this time, he decided to use it. He pushed the perception of his Soul Embryo to the limit and tried to focus on what he had just sensed. The Soul Embryo would be the vessel used by one's soul in order to investigate the Dao. Thus, using it even though it had not fully matured could help Cao Yun.
Just as he was working on 'Living Death', the hymns of 'Death Verses' were echoing throughout his sea of consciousness. Cao Yun was repeating the 'Living Death' verse over and over again like a mantra.
While his Devouring Robber was trying to turn his Flying Poison into Death Energy, Cao Yun did the same. He used all the sensations he had just experienced. After isolating a tiny bit of Flying Poison, he tried to turn it into Death Energy. In order to help him, he used his Black Heart Flame as it was full of Death Energy. Over and over again he failed.
Cao Yun lessened his hold on the Devouring Robber. So the resentment toward life became stronger. Using it, he tried again and was finally successful. A tiny part of his Flying Poison had been turned into pure Death Energy. Overjoyed by it, Cao Yun lost the feeling of resentment toward life. It would be hard to find it again. But at the very least, he now knew he could achieve it. It was only a matter of work and discipline from now on.
Then, there remained to be able to turn his Death Energy back into his own Po. Hopefully, he was able to do so or he would have lost a small part of his Po in the process. Pushing his 'Death Reeling' to the limit, Cao Yun made sure to contain this newly formed Death Energy within his Flying Poison. Then, he focused on the Flying Poison itself. Using the Drop of Wrath that was very intimate with the Flying Poison, Cao Yun was trying to inject more emotions into the Death Energy.
Within the Drop of Wrath, Cao Yun had recreated his own Flying Poison so he was almost using it like a model to reform his full Flying Poison. After all, if he had created a new Flying Poison once, he could do so again. And he did! It was in fact, far easier than he had thought. By simply exploring the Flying Poison within the Drop of Wrath while focusing on his own, the Death Energy naturally turned back into his own Po. After all, Death Energy only appears at death and Cao Yun was still alive.
Although turning someone else's Death Energy back into a Po was almost impossible because the person was dead, Cao Yun was still very much alive. The mere presence of his Hun was also helping the process.
Technically, Cao Yun had understood 'Living Death'. It didn't mean that he had perfectly mastered it. But he had gotten the concept behind it. With his perfect memory, thanks to his mind cultivation, he could play this scene over and over again and develop his mastery over 'Living Death'.
Now that he was satisfied, Cao Yun decided it was time for his breakthrough to end. Suddenly, all the golden chains went taut. The Devouring Robber was instantly crushed against the surface of the infinite ocean. Within Cao Yun, the Flying Poison shined brightly. Rage and anger spread through Cao Yun and chased away the feeling of resentment toward life itself. This despair and nihilistic desire got extinguished by Cao Yun and Axiu Qian's controlled rage.
Overwhelmed by this intense fire, the small part of the Devouring Robber that had become Death Energy turned back into pure Po instantly.
The six Turbid Demons were pinning down the Devouring Robber, sealed by all their golden chains. From the Nine Soul Peaks, the green branches of the world tree seed extended toward the Turbid Demon. From above, Axiu Qian also grabbed the deformed body, crushing many small hands at the same time. As they reached the demon, the green branches turned into chains as well. Bit by bit, the demon was dragged fighting toward one of the Nine Soul Peaks. Each peak was a manifestation of one chamber of Cao Yun's Upper Dantian.
Once the Turbid Demon was chained down to that peak, the golden chains coiled around it as well. Both Axiu Qian's golden chains and the branches and roots of the world tree seed made sure it couldn't escape.
Finally, Cao Yun had reached the pinnacle of the third layer of 'Sealing the Seven Demons in the Nine Peaks', 'Subdue the Seven Demons'. Indeed, the Devouring Robber was completely subdued. But that also meant that Cao Yun had succeeded in his breakthrough. At that very moment, he had become a full-fledged 8th-grade Accomplished Demon. And he could feel it in his soul.
What little fatigue had remained just disappeared. His Drop of Wrath was overflowing with energy. Although Cao Yun was ready to come out of his meditation, he realized that his Drop of Wrath was changing. All seven aspects of its Po had returned into the Drop of Wrath, it was now complete. And those seven aspects were attracted to one another like crazy. Even Cao Yun wasn't sure he could stop them from getting closer to one another. Moreover, he had no reason to stop them. Instead, he was elated because he knew what this meant.
The Drop of Wrath was a remnant of Axiu Qian's Demon Soul. And now, it was turning back into a real Demon Soul. Thus, instead of stopping it, Cao Yun tried to mimic what was happening within among his own Turbid Demons. This was the fourth and last layer of 'Sealing the Seven Demons in the Nine Peaks', 'Seal All Demons'.
The Nine Soul Peaks shined with golden, silver and green light that were suppressing the seven Turbid Demons. With each passing moment, the seven Turbid Demons were pushed further toward the center, as though they were being sucked in by the Drop of Wrath that had returned to being a drop of blood and not Axiu Qian's figure.
All the Turbid Demons were also excited at the prospect of being united. Soon, Cao Yun would have a proper Demon Soul. Even he was surprised by this outcome. From afar, Dian Mo was watching the scene, incredulous. Everything was thanks to the Drop of Wrath. Indeed, even the most talented asura would have to wait somewhere from five to ten years before being able to fully form their Demon Soul. And it was only when talking about the most talented asura, most asura would need several decades in fact.
The main problem wasn't exactly forming the Demon Soul as it was a natural aspiration of one's Turbid Demons. No, the main concern was to be able to keep it under control. But with the Drop of Wrath and the Weaver of Souls' soul technique, there was almost no risk in that regard. At every single moment, Cao Yun was keeping all of his Turbid Demons under control. He didn't let them do whatever they wanted. All of that was under the supervision of the Drop of Wrath.
At the same time, his Soul Embryo was getting energized. Indeed, the bright light of his Nine Soul Peaks was bathing his entire sea of consciousness, including his Soul Embryo which was also receiving light from the Drop of Wrath and the Turbid Demons themselves.
While all of that was going on, the Drop of Wrath lost focus of something else. Within Cao Yun's heart, the blood essence he had stolen in the Temple of Grace and Submission began to act up. All of a sudden, it lashed out and tried to tear through Cao Yun's heart.