Chapter 261: First attempt to tame Death

For a very long while, Cao Yun observed intently what was going on in this cave. Can mouye was attempting to break through the Lesser Tribulation in order to become a Spirit Warrior. And Huang'er's skeleton stayed perfectly still at his feet, as a bodyguard. But that wasn't all. Although Cao Yun had no spiritual senses, he was now extremely sensitive to Evil Qi and a little bit to Death Energy. With his Drop of Wrath, he had almost reached the level of sensibility of a middle Mortal Warrior toward Evil Qi. And 'Death Verses' was just barely mastered so that he could sense Death Energy a little. However, he could still not sense Qi as a Mortal Warrior, just what was directly around him.

Thankfully, this world revolved around Evil Qi and Death Energy. Consequently, Cao Yun was almost comparable to a Mortal Warrior while he was here.

Thanks to those senses, the young 9th-grade Mortal finally felt something underground. Just below the surface of the ground, there were at least a hundred small bones buried in various places. Obviously, Can Mouye had not attempted such a breakthrough without several layers of protection. The Huang'er's skeleton was most likely a misdirection. After all, it was barely strong enough to rival an early Mortal Warrior. But it could push someone to lower their guard and go forward. Then, several array formations would activate.

The strongest array formation in the cave was a 5-star Human one. And the weakest just barely reached the 2-star Human rank. In theory, they were not array formations Cao Yun could contend with. But he was now able to sense them almost perfectly. Although he was not able to physically see the Evil Qi circulating through them, he was able to feel it through his Drop of Wrath. Then, he just had to use his 'Shen Visualization' and the entire array formations appeared in his mind.

Unfortunately, he knew none of them. Of course, Cao Yun knew of no array formation that was able to manipulate Evil Qi. And those array formations had been formed through the use of bones and even some organs. Here and there, Cao Yun realized that there were demonic beast and human organs. Clearly, such array formations were not taught in the Wubei Sect. Hopefully, no one taught those in the Hongchen Kingdom apart from demonic cultivators.

But that didn't mean that Cao Yun could not go through those. In his mind, he analyzed them as much as he could and was able to slightly understand their inner workings. They were both illusory and attack array formations. The illusions would render an intruder powerless while the attacks from the other array formations would kill or maim them. Can Mouye would not even have to wake up. In fact, there were smaller array formations directly around Can Mouye. One was meant to create some kind of barrier to protect him from both attacks and even any form of disturbance, noise included. Others were probably here to try and help him. Among them, Cao Yun even identified one that was drawing energy from the very yellow lake he was after.

For some time, Cao Yun studied this last one in details. Ironically, it could provide him with a better way to extract what he needed from the lake. But most of his efforts were still focused on finding a path through the several layers of array formations so that he could reach the yellow lake. With his ability to feel and manipulate Evil Qi to an extent, those array formations, although powerful, were not impenetrable. As a matter of fact, it took him less than three hours to find what looked like a secure route.

The main problem was Huang Liyue and the egg. He could easily take them with him, but they would reduce his stealth. On the other hand, he wasn't sure whether he would be able to carry the drop of Yellow Sorrows Water with him all the way back to Huang Liyue if he were to leave her there. And leaving the egg alone was not a good idea either. After all, Cao Yun had crossed paths with several Bone Warriors on his way there. He had been able to avoid them. But if some of them came into this cave, the egg, and Huang Liyue for that matter, would be completely powerless.

Thus, the young array formation master decided to use the array formations to his advantage. His stealth wasn't perfect and he couldn't hide someone else's presence either. But because he could manipulate Evil Qi, he would be able to influence the flow of Evil Qi within the array formations themselves. And if he was doing it in the right way, he would be able to completely erase their presence. Of course, such a process was not easy at all. The slightest mistake would expose them. Worse, it could trigger the array formations. While Cao Yun was not that afraid of illusory formations thanks to his Drop of Wrath, the attack arrays were a real threat. Even with his advantages in this place, triggering a 5-star Human attack array formation would most likely mean instant death for him.

Even then, Cao Yun had not all the time in the world with him. Not only was this very world about to crumble, Can Mouye would end up breaking through at one point. Cao Yun was not ready to wait for him to maybe fail. What if he happened to succeed instead?

Because he had been able to decide himself earlier, Cao Yun used this determination to stop his hesitations. He had a clear goal in mind and he was going to see it through, no matter what! Although he wasn't ready to die yet, it didn't mean he wasn't ready to take risks. After all, doing nothing was probably even more risky than acting with an intelligent plan. And his plan was intelligent indeed. After many observations, he was very sure of himself in that regard.

Cao Yun waited for the flow of the array formations to be in a certain configuration. He had realized that all the array formations were harmonized with each other and cycled through a certain flow of the Evil Qi within. Whoever had set them up, whether it be Can Mouye or his master, had done an excellent job. But ironically, it allowed Cao Yun to better see the patterns within and use them at his advantage. And he realized that an array formation that was too perfect was also too predictable. When he would create new array formations, he should introduce some chaos, some randomness in them.

As soon as the right configuration was reached, Cao Yun walked forward with Huang Liyue and the Mountain Fenghuang egg with him. Each one of his steps was meticulously calculated and chosen. Within himself, he circulated 'Ashen Feather Seal' to the best of his ability, while using a bit of 'Locking the Seven and Stopping the Waves' with it. None of his steps produced any sound. They didn't even disturb the dust on the ground. In his chest, his heart had stopped beating and his breathing had ceased. Of course, he couldn't stay in such a state very long, but long enough to cross over the cave. His goal was the opposite point of the yellow lake, the farthest place from Can Mouye still close to the Yellow Sorrows Water.

Most of Cao Yun's attention was on the array formations themselves. But he still split a tiny fraction of his intent on the corpse of Huang'er. For now, he had repressed his anger. But one way or another, he would free the poor mother from this fate. She had already died and he couldn't bear to imagine her serving her murderer forever. Well, hopefully, Can Mouye's life would be very short as well. But, still, the idea of her serving him for even one more second was painful for Cao Yun. He could not accept that she remained in such a state. When the egg finally hatched, both of his parents would be free to rest in peace!

Nothing unexpected happened. Cao Yun's understanding of array formations had not failed him there. With his new sensibility toward Evil Qi, he was able to navigate those array formations with even more ease than before. If they had been circulating Qi, he would never have been able to perform such a trick. Once more, the irony of his situation was very apparent to him. Although this world was hostile to life, Cao Yun was way more powerful in here than in the Hongchen Kingdom.

While he was circling around the yellow lake, Cao Yun also used his meager understanding of 'Death Verses' to try and sense the Yellow Sorrows Water. He knew that the kind of drop he had to extract from the lake was not just any drop. Like what he was doing with his mind cultivation, he had to extract the very essence of this lake condensed in a single drop, just like the Five Echoes Pearl. In fact, it was also exactly what 'Nine Chambers of Life Fire' was about. But Cao Yun knew nothing about this blood cultivation reserved to the Huang family, even if it could have been useful right now.

With the help of the first chapter, 'See Through the Mud', Cao Yun was able to sense some things. But as a late Mortal, his sensibility was not that high. Even by boosting it with the Drop of Wrath thanks to the Evil Qi all around him, Cao Yun could only scratch the surface. However, he was able to recognize that this Yellow Sorrows Water was different from the small streams he had seen at the surface. It was way more concentrated in Death Energy. And the yellow water itself was as heavy as mercury, or even more. Extracting a single drop would be difficult in itself. But Cao Yun had to extract the very essence of this lake condensed within a drop. Bringing Huang Liyue with him had been the right decision. There was no way Cao Yun could carry this drop with him. In fact, as soon as he would extract it, he would need to let go of it.

Before even realizing it, Cao Yun had reached the place he wanted to go to. He was literally in several gates of the array formations overlapping each other. However, they happened to be moving around. According to his calculations, he had four hours before this particular spot became dangerous. Before that could happen, he had to extract the drop of Death Energy thanks to the second chapter of 'Death Verses', 'Death Reeling'.

The idea was simple enough while being incredibly difficult to perform in practice. Just like Qi or Evil Qi, Death Energy was made up of countless filaments weaved together to form strands. What Cao Yun had to do was to slowly unravel those strands and extract very specific filaments of Death Energy from this yellow water. And the first step was of course to identify them.

Using his Drop of wrath and what little he had been able to understand from the 'Death Verses', Cao Yun was able to feel the Death Energy in the yellow lake. However, he could not perceive it very far. And even the intent of the Drop of Wrath was slowly being corroded by the Death Energy within. It was even more concentrated than the Evil Qi in the Ocean of Turbid Anguish.

So that he could succeed, Cao Yun pushed his mind cultivation to the limit. In particular, he put a lot of emphasis on both the Chamber of Government to increase his will, and the Chamber of Medicine Field to control the Death Energy.

Bit by bit, Cao Yun was able to attract the filaments of Death Energy he needed. Unfortunately, he was not good enough to control them with his mind yet. If he had been a Mortal Warrior, he could have probably done so to some extent. Right now, he was only able to slowly influence the Death Energy, making it drift closer to him. Then, he used the intent of the Drop of Wrath to try and absorb it within itself. Of course, he stopped before it could enter his body.

The process was incredibly frustrating. But at the same time, Cao Yun was able to see great progresses in a matter of minutes. Everything else around him had disappeared. In fact, even his stealth began to subside. And as the process was going on, his mind got more and more absorbed by the yellow lake, to the point that his Qi started to leave his body a little.

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Finally, Cao Yun had created the drop of Yellow Sorrows Water he required, according to the visions he had seen from Cleansed Asura. Now, he had to control it in such a way as to send it in Huang Liyue's sea of consciousness. To be honest, he had no idea of what would happen after that. But he had decided to trust his master completely. After all, he had sacrificed the last remnants of his soul to improve Huang Liyue's state. It wasn't to just make Cao Yun kill her a few days later.

What Cao Yun was worried about the most was a mistake on his part. As a matter of fact, he wasn't sure how he should proceed to send this drop of Yellow Sorrows Water into Huang Liyue's sea of consciousness. Because he was not a Spirit Warrior, he could not enter someone else's sea of consciousness. However, he had been able to enter his own. Maybe he could use this as an example to try and send the drop into Huang Liyue's soul.

To do so, he channeled every sensation he had felt when the Death Energy had entered his sea of consciousness. And using the intent from the Drop of Wrath, he tried to replicate the feeling within the drop of Death Energy itself. In a way, he was doing what he had done to enter his sea of consciousness the second time. By focusing on the same sensations, he hoped to achieve the same results. Hopefully, the Death Energy itself would try to penetrate Huang Liyue's sea of consciousness, as it had done when Cao Yun had seen the paper boats.

Using everything he had, Cao Yun was able to extract the heavy drop from the lake using the Evil Qi around controlled by his Drop of Wrath. It floated very close to the ground while Cao Yun's face was crimson with blood. Slowly, it drifted toward Huang Liyue's head. That drop was not bigger than a tear. Yet, it was heavier than Cao Yun and his spear together. Just keeping it above the ground required insane amounts of efforts. Now, he had to let it go as smoothly as possible.