Chapter 347: Crimson Inferno Road

"Developing your blood cultivation only has benefits. It would allow you to fully integrate this Drop of Wrath with your body. And it might even prove useful in healing your Bai Hui. After all, blood cultivation gives great abilities in terms of regeneration. This is a huge advantage demons have on humans."

"And it would also give you great benefits as well. The closer I am to a demon the easier it would be for you to control my body, right?"

"Oh, of course. I won't hide that I greatly desire your body. But you also promised me to give me another one if you find a suitable body within a century. If you keep your word, I won't need to take yours."

That did not mean that Dian Mo would not try to do so anyway. Both knew that this promise was just a promise, there was nothing truly binding about that as it wasn't very precise. In fact, Dian Mo might even accept to take another body only to try and kill Cao Yun for the Drop of Wrath he had within. Yes cultivating his blood would probably help him develop his affinity with the Drop of Wrath and it was the right move. But Cao Yun would not forget that he also had to develop his mind cultivation to control his Drop of Wrath. He was finally at the stage where he could make this foreign blood his. But if it grew in strength faster than Cao Yun could submit it to his will, it would not be ideal.

The young man was able to clearly see through Dian Mo. But to be fair, he wasn't really trying to hide anything. Cao Yun had made a vow he could not break. As long as Dian Mo adhered to his word as well, Cao Yun could do nothing against him even if he admitted to wanting him dead after the end of the century. However, that didn't mean that Cao Yun would trust Dian Mo or allow him to see too many of his secrets. He had negotiated to have two full double hours every day during which Dian Mo was completely in the dark. This was perfect for his designs.

In fact, Cao Yun was even thinking about turning Dian Mo. He still seemed loyal to Demon God Da Mo and dismissive of humans. But he had also a heavy psychological trauma due to his entrapment in the Demon Palace. In a way, it had been Demon God Da Mo's fault. He had literally created him inside the Demon Palace knowing he might never be able to gain control over the Palace of Supreme Wisdom. And it turned out that he had indeed never been able to. The array formation had probably tried to isolate what it had sensed as being an enemy. On the other hand, Chief Elder Suxian's Soul Embryo had been accepted right away as he was human.

"Dian Mo, you probably know about the blood cultivation used by demons. Since it would serve us both, why don't you give it to me?"

"Of course, it might be useful to the two of us in the long run. But right now, I have nothing to gain by giving it for free. I will expect something in return."

"You still wish to negotiate? Fine, what is it that you want?"

Cao Yun had not been stupid enough to think Dian Mo would just give the blood cultivation of the demons to him. But he was not entirely sure what Dian Mo thought he could obtain and what he really wanted.

"My desire is very simple. Although we made a deal, I am still chained down to this rock. I wish for you to free me. In exchange I swear never to leave the confines of those Nine Soul Peaks. In fact, if I try to leave from their encirclement without your permission, I give you full authority to strike me down. I think that this is very reasonable."

Cao Yun had promised not to willingly harm him. But they could alter their deal at any given time. With this new version of the agreement, Cao Yun could destroy him if he tried to roam through his sea of consciousness. However, Dian Mo would earn a lot more freedom. That new agreement was very enticing. After all, Cao Yun was forced to keep a part of his mind and of the Drop of Wrath focused on Dian Mo to make sure he was trapped. But if he were to accept this change, he would not be forced to keep him trapped, he just had to monitor him.

On the other hand, Dian Mo would be free to launch an attack on his sea of consciousness. For now, Cao Yun was certain that his Drop of Wrath and his mind cultivation were enough to protect him. But in Dian Mo's mind he probably thought that at some point Cao Yun would show signs of weakness. Or maybe Dian Mo was sincere and truly wanted to be freed from this bloody chain and nothing else.

Of course, Cao Yun did not believe in Dian Mo's sincerity. But he did not see anything strange with this new deal.

"Fine. I'll let go of the chains. But if I detect an ounce of your presence outside of the Nine Soul Peaks, I will destroy it right away and have the Drop of Wrath devour and digest you whole. Do you agree?"

"Yes, I do."

Then, the bloody chains keeping Dian Mo trapped disappeared back into the Drop of Wrath. Dian Mo took on the shape of a small gate. It looked very similar to the gate in front of the Demon Palace but it was obviously way smaller. That ominous gate floated to the middle of the Nine Soul Peaks and lowered toward the ocean below. As soon as it touched the surface, it stopped moving.

"Here is the tome you want."

From the gate appeared a small book. It was written in Moshenhua. Thankfully, Cao Yun knew enough about the language to decipher everything. He was still actively trying to decipher the Antique Sixian of Cleansed Asura. Working with another language was a good thing for him. The more familiar he was with different languages, the easier it would be to understand another one.

That tome was named 'Crimson Inferno Road'. It was very short and without any complicated technique. In fact, it was very similar to the 'Universal Law of Immortality'.

"This is the most basic tome talking about the blood cultivation of the asura."

"Asura?"

"Yes, what you all call demons are in fact bastards between asura and humans. My master used his blood and the blood of his people, the asura, to try and create another breed of cultivators. But he never quite succeeded. Either the asura blood took over and they ended up being demons, or the human blood took over and they were just humans. In reality, what Demon God Da Mo tried to accomplish was akin to what this Mo Tian has been doing. And it is what you have accomplished without even trying to do so...

"You see, according to the legends, at the origin of reality, there was a species both favored by the Dao and envied by the Heavens. This species is only known as the Three Jade Saints. They had three great treasures allowing them to cultivate immortality as easily as they could breathe. They had Jin Xue, the Golden Blood, Tian Qi, the Heaven Qi and Hun Po, the Perfect Soul.

"But as they were so terrifying for the Heavens, they tried to strike them down. No one knows what happened or even if it really happened at all. The Three Jade Saints were spread throughout all the worlds of all the universes. But a huge calamity befell them. As I said, no record of this exists. There are only legends here and there. Some claims that ruins from that time have been discovered and pillaged, leaving no proof behind. But it is as though those Three Jade Saints have been erased from reality itself. Some believe this story is just a pure fiction. But Demon God Da Mo firmly believed in it and was convinced that recreating the body of the Three Jade Saints was the secret to true immortality.

"So when he conquered this planet, he got excited about it, trying to fuse together humans and asura. You see, according to the legends, the Three Jade Saints have been split into three different species, the humans, the asura and the deva. Those three species are the most common ones in all universes. The only explanation for the fact that humans exist on different worlds that never interacted with each other is that someone brought them there. Thus, some believe that humans, asura and deva are mere remnants of the past empires of the Three Jade Saints.

"The humans would have inherited their Qi. That is why humans have meridians and vessels which no other species has, at least not in this form. The asura would have inherited their blood. Once again, it would explain their powerful blood cultivation that even demonic beasts can't equal. Finally, the deva would have inherited their souls. Although I have never met a deva, they are renown for their soul cultivation."

"So Demon God Da Mo has not only been using us as slaves but also as guinea pigs..."

"Precisely. This is why many humans have asura blood in their veins and why all demons have human blood in theirs. But it never worked, one blood was always taking over the other one. I'm not even sure whether this Mo Tian could have succeeded. His plan was not stupid, but I don't think his soul and the body of Da Mo would have been ever able to be in harmony. Even if he had advanced his cultivation, I think this would have created more and more unbalance. He might have reached a higher level than other humans and demons but he would never have reached the apex. You, on the other hand, have this ability thanks to this Drop of Wrath."

After hearing Dian Mo's little history lesson, Cao Yun began to read the 'Crimson Inferno Road'.

Just like humans, the asura had divided their cultivation into nine realms. The first three were Blood Child, Golden Blood Child and Accomplished Demon. Exalted Demon was the equivalent of Sage, the realm no one had reached since the beginning of the Forsaken Dao Era.

The first realm was known as 'Making the Blood Flow'. Its main concern was in circulating the blood and making the entire body transparent to the flow of blood. Because asura had neither meridians nor vessels unlike humans, they could only transport their Qi through their blood. In that aspect, they were similar to demonic beasts. However, they could freely control their blood and had no demonic cores. Thus, they were using their blood as though it was Qi. In the Foundation Realm, Mortals were trying to make their body transparent to Qi. Well, asura were doing the same thing but with blood. There were also many similarities with his own blood cultivation, 'Storms in the Crimson Furnace'.

The second realm was called 'Forging the Marrow'. From the control of blood, the asura would switch to the control of marrow. Slowly, they would turn their marrow into a golden marrow that they would spread all the way to their skull where humans had their Upper Dantian. By doing so they could open the way to cultivating their mind and soul. But unlike humans they could not develop their Soul Embryo at that level. In fact, the development of their soul was slower compared with humans. This realm reminded Cao Yun of Ren Chao's physique. His marrow had been greatly enhanced giving him regenerative abilities beyond normal humans and a strength that even early Spirit Warriors would be envious of.

Finally the third realm was the one that truly astonished Cao Yun. It was known as 'Conquering the Seven Demons'. Even without reading it in detail, he immediately saw the resemblance with his 'Sealing the Seven Demons in the Nine Peaks'. In this realm, an asura would cultivate his soul. He would work with each one of his Seven Turbid Demons in order to fuse them into a Demon Soul. Then they would trap this Demon Soul in their heart using blood chains. Not only was it reminiscent of 'Sealing the Seven Demons in the Nine Peaks', but it also reminded him of what he was planning to do with the Drop of Wrath. But it was very difficult to understand without performing the first two realms first. The further he was trying to read, the more Insight Writings there were.

Unless he had become a Golden Blood Child, he would have no way of understanding the Accomplished Demon realm.

Thus, Cao Yun began to read the first realm, the Blood Child realm. Just like for humans, this realm was subdivided into nine grades. Reading them, Cao Yun realized that he had mostly cultivated this realm already. But he had done so in a very different manner. If he wanted to go far with this blood cultivation, Cao Yun would need to start from scratch. Of course, he would not need to lose all the benefits he had already gained. However, he would start from the basis and only advance when his cultivation was firm and solid.

After what had happened with his Bai Hui, Cao Yun had decided not to take any shortcut.

The very first step of the Blood Child realm was named 'Heart Beats'. As the name would suggest, it was revolving around the heart. Humans and asura both believed that the heart was the source of the blood. In order to increase the quality of one's blood, it was necessary to work on the heart. More and more blood would flow through the veins and it would also be richer in Qi.

According to this first grade, it was necessary to be able to control the heart to the point of either stopping it or accelerating it at will. But this training could cause various health issues as well as excite the passions. The heart was often associated with many emotions. Working with it for a young asura would awaken many passions and desires that could lead the cultivator astray. To begin with, demons and asura were way more emotional than humans. And humans could be very emotional. But again, some demons could also be very rational as well. There was no absolute.

Although Cao Yun had already a good control over his heart and even his blood flow in general, he decided to practice this cultivation method from the very first grade. It would not take him more than a few weeks. Without using his mind cultivation or the Drop of Wrath, Cao Yun decided to work on controlling his own heart consciously. He had already done so with 'Locking the Seven and Stopping the Waves'. But he was also paying close attention to his blood now.