Chapter 183: Nine 9-cores

While Huang Cixi was recovering from the excitement, Huang Liyue flew back up and expanded her spiritual senses as far as she could. Her spirit delved deep underground and she followed galleries buried within the mountains. Unfortunately, they were too deep and she failed to see that far. If she wanted to track back the origin of this demonic beast, she would need to personally go down into those galleries. First of all, she couldn't abandon Huang Cixi, she needed to bring her back to Baziyun City as fast as possible. But more importantly, she couldn't go down alone. It was possible that other powerful demonic beasts were close. Usually, 9-core demonic beasts were rather solitary but there was nothing usual right now. No such beast should have been able to come so close to their city without anyone noticing.

Right now, the only things Huang Liyue could think about were the worst case scenarios. As such, she needed to warn the city immediately. Without losing any time, she sent a telepathic message to Huang Cixi.

"We're leaving now! I'll protect you with my Qi but you have to ask Elder Ying to use all of his speed. We must go back at once!"

Obviously, Huang Cixi understood because she had the same worries plaguing her thoughts. What if this was the prelude to a larger attack? Recently, she had focused on finding clues about the massacre of the Cao family and the potential presence of demonic cultivators within her own city. But even if they were not responsible for that Star Mole Dragon, the mere presence of such a demonic beast was a threat in itself. Cullings were not meant just to protect cities from powerful demonic beasts. They also served to prevent stampedes.

Indeed, if a powerful demonic beast appeared in an ecosystem, it could produce a chain reaction. Its mere presence would make lesser demonic beasts more aggressive as they would try to get far from it. Hence, they would cause territory disputes. And demonic beasts were, for the most part, unbelievably territorial. Then, even lesser demonic beasts would get threatened by this migration. And this would cascade into a full out chaos among the demonic beasts until they would eventually tread upon human territory.

Such an event was called a stampede. Thankfully, it had not occurred for hundreds of years, through the hard work of humanity. Besides, a stampede caused by a 9-core demonic beast would push the most dangerous predators out of their own territory. The damage would be enormous. The process could take some time as the beasts would gradually leave their own habitat. But if no one stopped it, it would get out of hand at one point and the stampede would suddenly occur. Despite many signs, it was impossible to perfectly predict such a phenomenon. Actions had to be taken as soon as possible. Some demonic beasts would have to be put down. But if hunters chose the wrong ones, they could accelerate the collapse of the feeble equilibrium among demonic beasts in the mountains.

Understanding all that, Huang Cixi did not discuss at all. As she had recently had an epiphany about her martial art, she would have loved to train more. Sadly, it was impossible right now. Instead, she would meditate on that in her chambers. The young woman looked at Elder Ying and saw that he got the severity of the situation too. With just one glance, they understood each other.

This time, Huang Cixi did not control her movement. She felt the invisible hand of Huang Liyue on her as her Qi and spirit levitated her. Then, she was put onto Elder Ying's back, just behind Huang Liyue who extended her Wei Qi around herself and her young mistress. Elder Ying gathered every ounce of energy he had left and concentrated everything on his wings and his head. Both to protect himself but also to increase his speed.

With a single flapping of his wings, Elder Ying caused a sonic boom. It had taken him around two hours to get here. But by burning away all his energy, it took him around a quarter of an hour to leave the mountains. When he got close to Baziyun City, he slowed down as much as he could. If he flew at that speed over the city, he would blow away several buildings, and maybe kill some people as well. Furthermore, his reserves of Qi were almost exhausted and he was in pain all over. A Blue Mane Falcon was the fastest demonic beast there was. But he couldn't maintain his full speed for very long. Usually, he used it for sudden attacks or in case of a crisis, like now.

Of course, all the experts of Baziyun City were alerted by the arrival of such a projectile. Some among the Governor's office even feared an attack. As soon as they recognized the Blue Mane Falcon, they knew that this was the Huang family. But it woke up new worries. If the Huang family acted in such a blatant manner, there had to be a huge catastrophe incoming.

When Huang Liyue got close enough to send telepathic messages into the Huang residence, she immediately explained everything to Family Head Huang Yi. Right now, she couldn't contact Matriarch Huang Yufeng. And, anyway, Huang Yi was officially in charge. Furthermore, he had proved his competence again and again over the years. Despite his own granddaughter clearly vying for the position of matriarch, nobody had asked him to step down. Everyone admitted that he was the right man for the situation and that he wouldn't favor his own kin against someone else.

Huang Yi did not lose a single instant and sent all the information he had received to the Governor's office. If a stampede was possible, they all needed to work together on this. In a matter of hours, all the main powers within Baizyun City were in the know and got ready to act.

Less than an hour after he had received the news, Huang Yi had gathered all the elders of the Huang family. And in the following days, he had meetings with Governor Leng and several great characters of Baziyun City.

They all agreed to repatriate all their forces just in case they needed to defend Baziyun City. For a few days, the atmosphere within the city got exceptionally tensed. Although they didn't have all the information, even the mortals knew that they were getting ready for a full-scale attack. Considering how far they were from the borders, they couldn't fear an attack by demons. This meant that they were worried about demonic beasts and, combined with the sudden arrival of Elder Ying, rumors spread.

In the meantime, nothing major happened in the Huang residence. Even Huang Si decided not to move at all. If she were to do something against Huang Cixi right now, this would be very poorly received by everyone. In times of crisis, assuring the stability and union of their family was primordial. And even without the fear of public opinion, Huang Si also believed in this principle. As much as she wanted the position of matriarch and was ready to use many tricks, she was fully loyal to the Huang family and would never do anything to compromise its safety and its name.

-

This tensed situation lasted several days. During this short period, Huang Cixi decided to meditate on what she had gained. Unfortunately, she had no way of getting inside her own sea of consciousness. As such, it was impossible for her to see all the changes that had happened. Her Shen the Fire Spirit was now surrounded by ethereal wings of fire that embraced all the other characters. Up in the sky, there were strange colors moving all over. This was a bizarre mix between an aurora and a rainbow. The lights, that intertwined with each other, were in fact feathers made of faint flames. Along these feathers, their barbs were difficult to make out as they danced with the wind and melded with one another.

And deep within the blue ocean, where even Cao Yun could not see in his own sea of consciousness, there were a few Insight Writings.

Her mind cultivation was progressing steadily though. And Huang Cixi felt as though she would probably be too late for her duel with Gui Bei. Even by applying the principles of 'Nine Chambers of Life Fire' to her Five Agents, she would probably need less than two months to condense her next Five Echoes Pearl. That was unfortunate as she would have liked to energize her Chamber of Jade before the fight. But she wasn't worried at all. She had gained quite a lot in her understanding of martial arts.

Moreover, as she worked on her Qi cultivation, Huang Cixi could now use the 9-cores Elder Ying had gifted to her. In fact, she only used one of them because it could last her for more than a decade. She would probably not need another one before reaching middle Mortal Warrior or even late Mortal Warrior, that was a long way down the line. Right now, she estimated that she would probably be very close to 9th-grade Mortal before her fight and would break through to Mortal Warrior in a year or so. Clearly, her speed was due to a lot of factors. The mind cultivation Cao Yun had given her was a huge one of course. But this was just one of them. Maybe the most important one was her Pure Golden Dantian.

When she tried to open other acupoints, she used her mind cultivation and the blood essence of the True Fiery Fenghuang in her. Applying the principles of 'Sealing the Seven Demons in the Nine Peaks' to her two True Fiery Drops, she noted that activating and feeling her acupoints were both easier. But she also felt that her own Lower Dantian had an impact. She shouldn't have been so fast, no matter what benefits she had besides that. After consuming the Life Boiling Cradle pill, her cultivation had soared all the way to 8th-grade Mortal around four months ago. In total, it would take her less than six months to break through again to 9th-grade Mortal.

Even compared with Cao Yun, this was fast. Deep down, she knew that it would slow down eventually. But she couldn't repress some dreams about her Qi cultivation. Even though it wasn't the main factor for the Huang family as blood was more important, it was a huge indication of power. Regarding strength, cultivation was not everything either, but it was the necessary foundation. Moreover, Huang Cixi felt that her cultivation was rather stable. It wasn't exceptional but manifestly above average.

Mind cultivation, blood cultivation, Qi cultivation and martial arts, there were now lots of aspects to Huang Cixi's strength. Even if one aspect of her strength was not exceptionally strong, it wasn't very important for her. Incidentally, after witnessing the Qi Manifestation of Huang Liyue and the similar ability of Elder Ying, she was convinced that she would win her upcoming duel even if her opponent were to reach 1st-grade Mortal Warrior, or even 2nd-grade Mortal Warrior.

Since the entire city was tense, nothing important happened. The Huang family even hesitated to push back the tea ceremony that was scheduled. It was an ancient tradition that went back all the way to the first ancestral matriarch. Every five years, a great tea ceremony was to be held. It was an opportunity for the young generation to show its competence in the elegant arts of tea brewing and tea tasting. Besides, this year, it would coincide with the current matriarch's birthday. Although she probably couldn't be present due to her seclusion, such an occasion was a great way to select the next matriarch.

Sadly, everyone was aware that Matriarch Huang Yufeng was approaching her death. She would be 2,000 year old precisely in a couple of days. This was the theoretical limit of a Spirit Warrior's lifespan. Even if she were to break through to 9th-grade Spirit Warrior, it wouldn't prolong her life very much. The oldest Spirit Warrior known had died at 2,384 year old. But in the last years of his life, he had slowly lost his strength and even his mind had showed signs of decadence. Such a fate was absolutely horrendous for proud cultivators. As much as they didn't want to die, like any other human being, they feared being powerless even more.

Many discussions took place but it was decided to maintain the event. After all, it was rather important for the future of their family. Moreover, it was intended for the younger generation and no matter what happened they would not have to fight. If worse came to worst, only the elders would fight. In fact, having all the young generation in one spot was not such a bad idea. It would be easier to protect them. The Huang residence was guarded by many array formations, including several 5-star Heaven array formations. Even 9th-grade Spirit Warriors would have a hard time breaking them through sheer force, and demonic beasts lacked understanding of array formations altogether.

Thus, Huang Cixi and Huang Si kept on preparing themselves for the occasion. Both of them knew that this was a decisive moment for their competition. Strangely, even though the stakes were so high, the two women had not met, ever. This tea ceremony would be the first time they would lay eyes on one another, in the flesh.

-

As all that was going on, Governor Leng sent the news to several other cities and to the Imperial City. If something had happened around Baziyun City, there was a risk that it could happen elsewhere as well.

Suddenly, a strange phenomenon was spotted in the nearby rocky hills. The sky turned black in broad daylight. Although the sun was high in the sky, everything got covered with dark and ominous clouds. Monstrous thunderbolts struck the rocky hills and sent fragments of rocks flying everywhere. All the way to Baziyun City, the sound of thunder echoed in the streets.

Suddenly, a pillar of light rose from the ground and pierced through the layer of darkness. Lightning tried to block this enormous pillar. All the electricity in the air condensed in the spot where darkness was fighting against light to push back this pillar. However, it was useless. With a huge boom, the pillar widened even more and broke through the ominous clouds of darkness.