Chapter 260: Progressing in the entrails of the world
After a few hours training at the same spot, Cao Yun decided to move forward. According to his plan, this would take him a week to get to the yellow lake. Thus, he still had the time to train on the way there. Besides, he may be lucky enough to encounter small puddles of yellow water along the road.
Now that he was decided, he took Huang Liyue and the egg with him. Like before, he put the egg in his robe, close to his chest, and with the last remnants of a 6-demonic core. Thanks to their time in the second floor of the black pagoda, the egg had been able to absorb the Qi from the world-tree. So the 6-demonic core had not been completely consumed yet, but it was getting close to it. Yet, the egg had still not hatched. Hopefully, it would not hatch in the middle of a crucial moment. If this egg were to hatch right under the fallen palace, Cao Yun would be unable to hide it at all. As long as the chick stayed within the egg, it was difficult to detect because, like Huang Liyue, its vital signs were really low.
Regarding Huang Liyue, Cao Yun decided to carry her on his back. With the few clothes he had, he had made many bandages for her to protect her skin as much as possible. As they were in tunnels full of rocks and dust containing both Evil Qi and Death Energy, he had to try and cover her entirely. And with the few pieces of clothes he had left, Cao Yun tied her to his own back. As such, he was moving slowly so as to not shake her up too much. Although she had recovered a little, her condition was still critical.
His work on the bandages proved essential as many tremors shook the entire mountains. And because of those tremors, a lot of Death Energy and Evil Qi fell on Cao Yun and Huang Liyue in the form of dust and small rubbles. Thankfully, no tunnel caved in while the young man was walking in them. But traveling through those galleries reminded some memories to Cao Yun. Namely, he remembered what had happened in the Lunar Marsh. There, he had been forced to abandon a companion. And then he had to risk not only his life but the lives of his friends as well to go get her back.
The situation was a bit different. But he had once again fled in front of a threat. Huang'er and also Feng'er had both been killed. And in order to protect him, Huang Liyue, who had many reasons to hate his guts, had kept her word and given her life.
Along with the bad memories, Cao Yun's determination became more and more firm. If he could, he would kill Can Mouye to make him pay for everyone he had killed. But the priority was to help Huang Liyue.
Although he was still far from the fallen palace, Cao Yun used both his senses and the intent from the Drop of Wrath to scout out. In order to be sure that he would not be discovered, Cao Yun also circulated 'Ashen Feather Seal' to the best of his abilities. Moreover, he did not try to project his Drop of Wrath too far ahead.
Since he was not a Spirit Warrior, the only way he had to extend the intent outside of his body was through his Qi. But he wasn't a Mortal Warrior either. Thankfully, he had found a work-around. Instead of using his own Qi, Cao Yun decided to try and use the Evil Qi that was all around him. To do so, he simply used the Drop of Wrath and his mind cultivation to suck in a bit of Evil Qi and then control it like it was his own to send the intent outward. In that way, it would be improbable that someone would assume he was responsible for that. Ironically, the tremors were also helping him do so.
Each time the earth was shaking, dust flew everywhere and thus Evil Qi with it. Using that as a cover, Cao Yun could send the intent of the Drop of Wrath way farther without too many risks.
On the way, he also focused on 'Death Verses'. As he was slowly working on his ability to master the Drop of Wrath and to control Evil Qi, almost as a side effect of his attempt to detect enemies, he also put a lot of emphasis on Death Energy. While his Drop of Wrath was fully focused on the first task, Cao Yun dedicated a huge part of his mind to be able to feel and manipulate Death Energy. Once more, he didn't need to become a master. He just needed to be able to perform the task he had seen in Cleansed Asura's memories.
Since he had to send Death Energy into Huang Liyue's sea of consciousness, he decided to try that by sending Death Energy into his own sea of consciousness. It had already happened when the paper boats had tried to tear his corporeal soul away from his body. Then, he had been able to protect himself thanks to his control over the Drop of Wrath. Thus, Cao Yun was not too afraid of things getting out of hands. Each time, he was absorbing less Death Energy compared with that previous invasion of his mind. So if things escaped his control, he could always summon the giant red demon from his Drop of Wrath and contain the Death Energy.
As Cao Yun was trying to control Death Energy, he kept on thinking about 'Death Verses'. To be more precise, he was writing the first two verses in his mind over and over again. Although he was unable to understand the characters, he tried his best to derive meaning from them through his own experience. It was only thanks to the few Insight Writings that Cao Yun was able to get what the verses were hinting at.
And he realized that as he was getting better and better at sensing and controlling Death Energy, his understanding of the Insight Writings were also getting better. Of course, it would take him a lot more time to really understand this text. And the improvements were extremely small. But they were there nonetheless. As long as he was able to make even the tiniest bit of progress, Cao Yun would not be discouraged.
Slowly, Cao Yun was also able to see a small white dot appear around his Po character. At first, it looked like dust. But as he immersed himself in 'Death Verses', it became bigger and bigger. By the time Cao Yun had almost reached the end of his path, this small particle of white dust had formed a tiny bone. It wasn't bigger than a single phalanx of his little finger. And it appeared to be somewhat flat. But its shape was always changing. For now, it was not very firm. However, the young man could tell that it was also a form of representation of the technique he was working on. In a way, it was similar to the six stars high in the sky. But since his understanding was very shallow, the manifestation of his knowledge and mastery was unstable and tiny.
In a sense, it was reassuring because it proved that he was indeed progressing. But on another hand, it also proved that he had understood almost nothing. Hopefully, he had just understood enough to perform what he had seen from his master.
-
A day before reaching his destination, Cao Yun became way more wary of his surroundings. Most of his travel had been uneventful. But he would not lower his guard. With each passing moment, the chances of being discovered were increasing, especially now that he was getting near the fallen palace.
Now, he was able to feel Death Energy around him as well as he was able to feel Qi. Thus, he gradually used that to his advantage. Thanks to this, he was using not only Evil Qi with the intent of the Drop of Wrath but also Death Energy. Besides, it had also allowed him to blend a bit more with the energies around him. Even his 'Ashen Feather Seal' had benefited from it. Obviously, getting a better understanding of how to control a completely different form of energy also helped him to develop his ability to control Qi and the ashes manifested in his Qi by the technique.
Although the changes to his mastery of Qi were almost insignificant because he had already a great sensibility toward it, his mastery over those ashes increased quite a lot. Indeed, he had close to no experience with them so his progress could be impressive in a short amount of time. But even in a week, he had reached a plateau. Without using his blood, he would probably not be able to improve his 'Ashen Feather Seal' before becoming a Mortal Warrior. However, the 'Blood Withers While Life Flourishes' chapter was way too cryptic for him. Because of the changes made by Huang Liyue, it was too hard to comprehend and put in practice. Besides, he had already too many new things to juggle with.
Pushing his stealth to the limit of what he was capable of and still using his Drop of Wrath as a form of sonar, Cao Yun kept on advancing forward.
He was now inside galleries almost an entire li under the fallen palace. Because of the tremors and most likely the intervention of other things, the tunnels were a bit different from what Cao Yun had in mind. But he had been ready for that. And thanks to his perception, he was able to literally sense the rocks that were imbued with Evil Qi. Thus, he knew exactly what road to take.
In the tunnels, he also felt the presence of a few Bone Warriors that he was able to avoid. Although they were not a threat to him, it was best not to fight at all. Anything could alert his enemies.
At last, Cao Yun saw a few glimmers of yellow coming from a tunnel. With even more caution, he got closer and closer to the room in which the yellow lake had been formed. And for the first time since his return on the continent, the 9th-grade Mortal sensed a familiar presence.
Sitting cross-legged near the yellow lake, Can Mouye was meditating. Laying at his feet, there was a skeleton that Cao Yun recognized immediately. It was the corpse of Huang'er that that demonic cultivator had bent to his will. And right now, it was guarding its master. Although it was only bones, Cao Yun could tell that it was fully awake and ready to act.
For now, the skeleton had not sensed the young man's arrival. However, Cao Yun on the other hand was able to clearly see everything from his position. Thankfully, that defiled corpse was not as sensitive as he was. And Can Mouye seemed to be in a sort of trance. Watching him for a few minutes, Cao Yun was able to identify what was going on. The current situation of Can Mouye was well-known to him. He had seen it once before, when his father had attempted to finally cross over the Lesser Tribulation to become a Spirit Warrior.
If he were to succeed, that would be a disaster for Cao Yun. Not only would he get way more powerful, but his senses would also increase because he would develop spiritual senses. Right now, Can Mouye was so absorbed in his meditation that he was not perceiving the world around him, hence why he was being protected by Huang'er's skeleton. Although that skeleton was guarding the yellow lake, this was the best opportunity for Cao Yun. His enemy was right in front of him, powerless.
During the Lesser Tribulation, a cultivator's body was at its weakest. Contrary to the tribulation to become a Sage, this one was self-inflicted in the sense that it was happening within one's body. That Lesser Tribulation would prevent the cultivator from using his Qi. And more than that, it would cause powerful shock waves through one's body. Those were powerful enough to sometimes literally kill the cultivator from within, completely destroying his very organs. But once the Lesser Tribulation was crossed, the cultivator would exhibit the whole might of a Spirit Warrior. That was, if the breakthrough was a success of course.
That Lesser Tribulation was so dangerous that even Cao Yun's father had failed once. Seeing someone who was at least ten years younger than his father attempt such a tribulation annoyed Cao Yun. Of course, demonic cultivators tended to be faster at cultivating. But in return, they were susceptible to many more dangers, such as inner demons. Most demonic cultivators died or went insane way before reaching the Spirit Warrior realm. Another Spirit Warrior demonic cultivator was not a good news at all.
Since that man was right in front of Cao Yun and at a clear disadvantage, this was the perfect moment to strike him down. Considering his strength, Cao Yun could probably not inflict very severe wounds under normal circumstances, but by using this Lesser Tribulation, there was a way.
Still, he refrained from doing so yet.
Although he desired to kill him with every fiber of his being, Cao Yun had his priorities straight. Right now, he needed to attempt to save Huang Liyue's life. And to do so, he had to somehow get close enough to the yellow lake without being detected.
For a while, he observed the situation without doing anything. Especially, he observed the engravings that had been made in Huang'er's bones. In his mind, it was clear that they were somehow used to both let them move as though they were still alive and control them. Can Mouye was a beast tamer but this kind of technique to raise the dead should not be something he knew. So his master had to be the one who had given him this knowledge, the fake Cleansed Asura. After all, the engravings were pretty similar to what he had seen in 'Death Verses', but somewhat different.
Looking at the engravings more closely, Cao Yun recognized some he had seen from Huang Liyue's findings. On stone tablets and in some tunnels, she had seen them. Someone had been researching the Bone Demons and the Yellow Sorrows Water. For some time now, Cao Yun had had his suspicions, but now it was apparent. That researcher had been the fake Cleansed Asura for sure.
'Death Verses' had probably been a basis considering how the characters looked. They were not identical but they were similar to both some Insight Writings and some Antique Sixian characters. All of that was interesting but it did not provide him with a great way to extract some of the yellow water for Huang Liyue.
Right now, he had only one chance. He would have to count on his stealth to disappear from the perception of this skeleton. Since it was just bones, it had no eyes, no ears, not even skin. Hence, its perception was probably due to something similar to spiritual senses in a way. Cao Yun would have to be able to blend perfectly with his environment if he wanted to stay hidden.