For hours, Cao Yun basked in this great sensation. It was as if he was experiencing all of his life's emotions all at once. For a mere mortal, this would have been overwhelming and might have even driven them insane. But, of course, a cultivator slowly worked on their soul bit by bit to reach such a stage. And Cao Yun had already worked on all of his Turbid Demons. Thus, he was able to distance himself from this wave of emotions and was mainly moved by the great vitality coursing through his veins. Indeed, he was like a spectator watching a show, although the emotions touched him, he wasn't taken by the current. In other words, he was following the philosophy of Ran Wuzi, as written in his 'Observing the Tides and Altering the Flow' treatise. Although Cao Yun didn't subscribe to all his views, his work was indeed fascinating and full of wisdom. In fact, Cao Yun loved the fact that Ran Wuzi, even though he had some opinions on the matter, wasn't peremptory on the nature of the self.
Honestly, Cao Yun had no intention of becoming a 9th-grade Accomplished Demon this fast. In fact, he was worried about progressing too fast because he wanted a firm foundation that would allow him to go further and further. His end goal wasn't to become the strongest cultivator on the Piaolu planet, he wanted to literally transcend the Piaolu planet. Although he had clear goals here, he was also looking at the stars. Like Emperor Nuwa, he wanted to cross the void and explore other worlds. He even wanted to follow Cleansed Asura's example and breach the veil between the universes. After all the memories he had seen and the questions raised within himself, Cao Yun was looking for knowledge, about the world, and about himself. He had found his purpose after saving his sister and the Hongchen Kingdom. And now, he was certain that he had the strength to achieve everything.
With his current breakthrough, Cao Yun's spiritual senses were stronger. Thus they could be sent further and further. And if he restrained them around him, they were almost tangible. Of course, his soul wasn't physical but the density of it was so high that it almost had a physical presence. However, he was also able to sense something. It was like he could see something from the corner of his eyes but if he tried to look at it, it disappeared as though it had never been there. Unfortunately, he couldn't put his finger on what this sensation was.
Then, the young man turned his attention toward his Demon Soul. It was really a full-fledged Demon Soul, no doubt about that. Some asura often considered that even one Turbid Demon could be deemed to be a Demon Soul, albeit an incomplete one. But the true Demon Soul was the amalgamation of all seven Turbid Demons. Moreover, his Demon Soul was extremely powerful as he had used Axiu Qian's drop of blood as a basis. Most likely, Cao Yun had the strongest Demon Soul in all the 8th-grade Accomplished Demons. What he lacked was just anchoring it into his own heart with blood chains.
An average asura would take somewhere between ten and twenty years and a genius might achieve it in half the time. Thus, Cao Yun was confident he could do so in less than five years. However, he was interested in exploring this stage further in order to develop his intuition of 'Soul Chains'. After all, they were very closely related.
For the time being though, Cao Yun observed his Demon Soul. He was trying to really understand it in detail. At the same time, it was already nourishing his Soul Embryo. So it would clearly improve Cao Yun's Qi cultivation, but he couldn't know how fast it would become now. Currently, Cao Yun was still a 5th-grade Spirit Warrior. This was obviously very good but insufficient. Indeed, the young man was planning on going back to the Hongchen Kingdom immediately. But once there, he couldn't showcase his full demon cultivation. Anyone would find out that he had a Demon Soul in that case. So he would have to rely on his Soul Embryo. Although it was strong, it was nowhere close to the strength of his Demon Soul. That being said, he could still use his Demon Soul internally without being discovered. Unless he projected it outward, Cao Yun could hide his Demon Soul, even from someone as talented as Xiao Xuefeng. Besides, he wouldn't even have to hide it from her...
As Cao Yun was exploring his new cultivation, he suddenly froze. He felt a large predator watching him. The next instant, a saber as large as his own torso pierced his chest and ruptured his heart in two. Cao Yun fell to the ground and bled to death as he was gasping for air with his lungs obliterated.
In his cave, Cao Yun was on the ground, both hands grasping his chest where there was no wound at all. Cao Yun was physically fine. But the very moment he raised his head, a hammer fell from the sky and crushed his skull. It kept on going and completely reduced his body to bloody mush.
Once again, Cao Yun found himself on the ground, holding his head in pain before realizing that he was fine and that nothing had happened. And yet, he kept dying over and over again. Fire rained from above as lava erupted from below and completely burned his flesh. He could feel the flesh slowly melting away from his bones. Then, he got his limbs torn apart one by one, he got strangled to death, his throat was crushed and then slashed. Cao Yun died in many horrific ways, being skinned alive, being cut in pieces, trampled, ...
All those had to be visions as, each time, the young man was awakening in his cave without any injury. But the pain was absolutely real. Using his newly formed Demon Soul, Cao Yun pushed back against those visions. And he finally understood everything.
All around him, despite his array formations, he could feel a gigantic presence. It was pure killing intent. Cao Yun had rarely felt such an intense killing intent. But now that he was fully aware of its presence, he could fight back those visions. They ceased altogether. However, the vivid sensation of a large predator watching Cao Yun as a prey who had no choice but to be killed remained with him.
-
In the Saint Citadel Sidi, the Empyrean Asura was meditating. He was alone and naked, with many runes all over his red skin. Honestly, his entire body looked like it belonged to a woman, although there was no distinct curve on his chest. Even his face was effeminate. However, there was no doubt that he was a man. For quite some time, he kept his eyes closed. Slowly, he finally opened them. And he turned his head in a specific direction before looking intently into the distance.
Although he was in a perfectly secluded room, he seemed to be able to see through the walls. His eyes were piercing. Anyone in front of him would have felt much more naked than the Empyrean Asura himself was. He could see through bone and flesh, he could stare directly into someone's soul. This wasn't just a late Accomplished Demon. The Empyrean Asura was a half-step Exalted Demon. In other words, the only thing keeping him from breaking through was the current curse of the Forsaken Dao Era. One could tell that he might actually be the first one to break that curse. After all, he looked extremely young. And the fact was that he wasn't even five hundred years old.
Deep within his eyes though, Cao Yun and Dian Mo would have been able to see an older soul. Although the body was young, his mind and soul were old. And they undoubtedly belonged to Demon God Da Mo. There was no mistaking it. Within the Empyrean Asura resided the Demon Soul of the legendary conqueror and slaver of all mankind on the Piaolu planet. It was the soul of a Reborn Demon, almost ready to step into the Immortal Demon realm.
Just like humans, asura didn't expand their lifespan in the fourth and fifth realms of cultivation. They could roughly live for two thousand years, more or less. But if they could step into the sixth stage, the Immortal realm or the Immortal Demon realm, then they could finally live longer. Even a 1st-grade Immortal could live for five thousand years at the very least. And each stage from this point forward would expand one's lifespan to the point where one might actually be considered immortal.
Between someone who could live longer than any mortal civilization and true immortality, it was difficult to see the difference.
Thankfully, asura's cultivation relied on one's blood much more heavily than humans. Obviously, Demon God Da Mo's Demon Soul was much superior to anyone's soul. But, his physical cultivation was still limited. Because of the Forsaken Dao Era, even Demon God Da Mo had a hard time improving the cultivation level of his current body. That being said, he was much more powerful than anyone on the Piaolu planet. And he could crush the soul of almost any enemy. But he wasn't all-powerful, not yet.
His eyes were staring in the distance with killing intent in them. They were filled with bright red blood and one could see bright silver irises in both of them.
Those were exactly the eyes Cao Yun was now seeing in front of him. Cao Yun and Dian Mo had already seen the Empyrean Asura's form. So they both knew that he was staring at them, even through the array formations and the large distance between them. It was as if he was physically there in the cave and Cao Yun could feel the intense oppression of his killing intent. It was even hard for him to breathe despite pushing back with his own Demon Soul.
Looking inward, the young man realized what was going on. The blood essence he had absorbed had spread throughout his entire blood. Without the direct influence of the Drop of Wrath to restrain it, it had somehow caught the attention of its owner, the Empyrean Asura. From now on, Cao Yun could not hide from him. He would know exactly where Cao Yun was at every moment, unless the young man could fully restrain this blood essence.
The young man mobilized every seal and runes in his body and tried to crush this scattered blood essence. Since his Drop of Wrath had silenced it once, he could silence it twice, especially now that he had broken through. However, he had to do so while being assaulted by this powerful and terrifying killing intent. Honestly, Cao Yun had felt worse, but only within the memories of Axiu Qian. There was so much hatred and anger in that stare, that Cao Yun was physically shaking. Although he could control his emotions, his own body was betraying them, instinctively.
If Cao Yun had been in front of the Empyrean Asura himself, he would have died in a matter of seconds. Demon God Da Mo could simply suppress his soul, even his Demon Soul, and use his full strength to erase Cao Yun from existence while he was fighting back against his mere killing intent. In fact, this was exactly what the Silver Wolf Marshal had felt when he had met with the Empyrean Asura and had resolved himself to the pact.
Speaking of the Silver Wolf Marshal Shanyin Guan, he had just left the servants and slaves of the Temple of Grace and Submission in a nearby town. With his status, it was easy to make sure that no one would dare do anything against them. And he even gave them a letter with his seal of authority so they could enter his Langyin Region and live there in peace. He had seen what the temple did to its servants and slaves and he pitied them. As long as it wasn't against his mission, he had no reason not to help them. But now he had to go back to his mission. Before him was a choice. However, he had no desire to chase down the rebels.
While he was hesitating, the Silver Wolf Marshal felt the same killing intent that had broken his resolute will. It was much more diffuse than what Cao Yun was feeling because the Marshal only had received a tiny bit of Demon God Da Mo's blood. Indeed, by agreeing to the pact, the Empyrean Asura had gifted the Marshal with his blood. More than a gift, it was a chain. The Silver Wolf Marshal could never escape the Empyrean Asura's presence.
Although he didn't hear any word or order, he could clearly tell what was asked of him. The Empyrean Asura was asking him to kill the young man. In his mind, Marshal Shanyin Guan could see the face of the young man who had attacked the Temple of Grace and Submission. Thus, his decision became clear. Honestly, Marshal Shanyin Guan preferred that. Instead of chasing down poor demons who were just trying to fight for themselves, he was about to challenge a powerful cultivator who was both strong and cunning.
"Generals! I made a decision! Brother Xun, lead the way toward our target, we're hunting the man who attacked the Temple of Grace and Submission. Sister Lu, you'll be extremely careful, we don't want to fall into another one of his traps. But once we've found him, I'll deal with him in person. You just all make sure he can't run away during our fight!"
Finally, the Six Fangs Generals saw fire in their Marshal's eyes. He was looking forward to a fair duel against a powerful cultivator. Although they didn't want to do the Empyrean Asura's bidding, they could all get behind that mission. And they did.
-
In his cave, Cao Yun was too busy dealing with the deadly stare of the Empyrean Asura to even notice the seals left behind by Xun Lieren. Using his own seals was difficult, even with his full Demon Soul. But he was confident he could succeed. That being said, he wasn't opposed to getting some help.
"Dian Mo, what are you doing? I'd really need you right now... Dian Mo...!"
Hearing Cao Yun's words, the palace spirit wanted to respond, but he was frozen. He could feel the killing intent of his former master and he was terrified. If Demon God Da Mo felt his presence, could he eradicate him with a mere thought?