Chapter 435: Soul plagued in all directions

Gu Song was quite satisfied. His prey had not resisted at all. In fact, it was extremely easy to penetrate his mind. Some victims tried to close off their Bai Hui to prevent any intrusion. That was useless of course. Even an early Spirit Warrior wouldn't be able to stop him from invading their sea of consciousness, they could just slow down the process. Soon, Gu Song would rip every single memory from Guai Mo's very soul. Hopefully he wouldn't be too stubborn. If Gu Song could safeguard most of his soul, he would be more useful to fuel the black flames within his disciple.

In a single night, he might be able to discover new texts about the soul left behind by a demon of the past. And at the same time cultivate the Black Heart Flame that was still in Xue Rui. He had failed with Luo Jiang and some others. But finally, the flame had almost reached full maturity. With that, his alchemy would finally reach the 5-star Heaven grade. In fact, he was hoping to become at least a half-step Spirit alchemist. He might be able to become more talented than Xiao Xuefeng herself. And all he had to do was to rip apart two boys' souls.

At first, Gu Song didn't realize the situation he was in. To accelerate the Soul Memory Search he had used a large part of his Soul Embryo. As such, he was able to distinctly see what was within Cao Yun's sea of consciousness. In front of him, he could see nine large pillars covered in thin vines and pointing to the sky. Above his head were the seven stars of the Azure Dragon as well as many Insight Writings flying around. And between the two were Cao Yun's Five Agents as well as the Drop of Wrath.

Although he didn't recognize the five characters, the Drop of Wrath terrified him. There was something primal about it. And he was able to somewhat recognize the engraved rune in it, it was a tiny part of the Dao of Fire. That boy's soul was a real treasure trove! No wonder he was so talented in alchemy!

Finally, the trap closed itself around Gu Song.

All of a sudden, several array formations activated themselves all around the Xue residence. The very array formations meant to protect the residence had been hijacked thanks to Dian Mo's knowledge. Unfortunately, even with his help, Cao Yun had had no time to completely submit them to his will. Thankfully, he didn't need a lot of time. Instead of protecting the residence, the array formations closed it off. Each part of the residence was isolated. Even for Spirit Warriors, breaking down those defenses would take some time. Besides, those were their own defenses so they would be reluctant to do so in the first place.

Since he had entered the residence, Cao Yun had put his plan in motion. The moment his Bai Hui was violated, all the array formations were activated. But he wasn't just using the ones in the Xue residence. Thanks to Yong Ke, the array formations he had set up near the Deep Cloud Ridge also got activated. She had connected them all. And now the Soul Obsidian Nian Fish was linked to the Xue residence as well. Cao Yun had promised the beast that it could get its revenge on the one who had submitted it and tortured it.

All around the building Gu Song was in, a deep shadow appeared on the ground. Everyone present in there felt as though something was trying to suck their souls out of their body. But the suction wasn't strong enough to do so. Indeed, Cao Yun wanted all of it to be focused on Gu Song.

Sensing the danger, Gu Song tried to bring back his Soul Embryo in his body so it could be full again. That boy had deceived him, everything was clear now! He had meant for him to invade his sea of consciousness. Instead of lashing out toward his soul, Gu Song preferred to be cautious. He would first return in his body and use his full spiritual senses to kill the boy. Then, he would try to salvage what he could from his dead soul. However, it didn't work as he had intended.

The very moment he tried to escape, the Drop of Wrath activated itself. Chains of blood appeared and crisscrossed the space, trapping Gu Song's Soul Embryo with the center of Cao Yun's soul.

"Why would you want to leave so soon? We've barely begun!"

"You...! I'll burn your soul for centuries. I'll inflict upon your wretched soul every torture imaginable until you go insane and forget to your very name. I will find everyone you ever cared about and I will annihilate them all. I'll make you watch as they gargle their own blood. Even in death, they will suffer for your insolence!"

"Too many promises... But your anger is quite pleasing I must say. However, we're still waiting for more guests before I can really get to work."

"Vermin!"

Even though Gu Song had only sent a part of his Soul Embryo, it was still powerful enough to obliterate the soul of a Mortal Warrior. His Soul Embryo had taken the form of Gu Song himself. Before him, a giant cauldron appeared. It was made out of many howling human skulls. Indeed, this cauldron had literally been formed by and tempered with human souls. Their agony had fueled the fire and he had every intention of adding Guai Mo's soul to the mix.

On the outside, the shadow got more and more focused on Gu Song's body. There was also another kind of array formation that was interfering with his weakened spiritual senses. Either he tried to keep Guai Mo under his control or he poured everything to fight off the shadow of the Soul Sucking Catfish. Thus, he decided to try and safeguard his soul, which was the worst choice he could make. Cao Yun had used Dian Mo's faint knowledge of the Devil's Prison, the Empyrean Human Emperor Seal.

Thanks to the Empyrean Human Emperor Seal, the Devil's Jail lowest level could completely prevent even a 9th-grade Spirit Warrior from using either their Qi or their spiritual senses. Of course, the array formations Cao Yun had built were not powerful enough to reach such an extreme. However, against an already weakened Gu Song who was fighting to keep his soul in his body, they were both terrifying and effective.

Now that he had a bit more freedom, Cao Yun activated his spatial ring. From it, a thick purple smoke appeared. Although he was focused on protecting his soul, Gu Song recognized it. This was the Heart Reversing Tormentor poison, the very 2-star Heaven poison he had used to subdue the Soul Obsidian Nian Fish to his will. Now, not only was his slave used against him, even his own poison. In itself, it wouldn't be too effective, but Gu Song was fighting many things at the same time while being weakened. Hopefully though, those array formations would collapse before long.

In times of crisis, the Xue family would sustain the array formations with high spirit stones. Right now, there was no one to feed the array formations used by Cao Yun. What Gu Song was unaware of was that thanks to Yong Ke who had gone back to the Huang family, he had had an advance on his agreement. Right now, his array formations were connected all the way to the new mines of the Huang family. Obviously, his array formations could keep working a long time unless someone was to break the connection. And since he had General Yun's support, he was certain this wouldn't happen before some time.

With all those assaults at the same time, Gu Song's Soul Embryo was desperately trying to protect his soul. As a 4th-grade Spirit Warrior, his Soul Embryo was fully awake but it had not fused with his own soul for now. If his soul and Soul Embryo left his body, he would die. Even if his soul could survive as long as he protected it inside his Soul Embryo, his physical body would be dead and his lifespan would be less than two centuries. In fact, as he was working with Evil Qi, Death Energy and Ghost Energy, his Soul Embryo would be weaker than average and it would probably only endure half a dozen decades.

No matter what happened, he had to fight this off. Even if he could kill Guai Mo in the end and maybe even steal his body, it would be useless if his soul died soon after...

Unfortunately for Gu Song, Cao Yun was not even done. Thanks to Xue Rui, he had thought about another weapon to use against Gu Song. And since Xue Rui had taken Cao Yun's True Essence Autumn and Springs Reviving pill, that last minute idea had born fruit. The distance between Cao Yun and Xue Rui was too vast for the former to use his Qi against him. However, he could use his array formations. Obviously, knowing that Xue Rui was a demonic cultivator, Cao Yun had already plotted against him too. Around his chamber, a bright light blinded Xue Rui who, like everyone in his family, was confused by what had just happened.

Then, he felt something move in his heart. The black flame that had been calmed by yet another soul suddenly turned violent. Try as he might, Xue Rui couldn't do anything to calm it, it was as though someone else was controlling it. Indeed, in the pill he had so avidly gulped down, Cao Yun had added a tinge of the intent of his Drop of Wrath. By working on seals with Dian Mo and on controlling his intent in others thanks to Hongyu, Cao Yun had created this seal in his own pill. Now that Xue Rui had ingested it, the seal had fused with the black flames. Unless Xue Rui's control over Evil Qi was superior to Cao Yun's, he had no chance at all.

Even Gu Song's control over Evil Qi wasn't as good as Cao Yun's. For a demonic cultivator who had already developed an inner demon and had let it pervert his own mind, there was no way of resisting. Since Cao Yun was in a hurry, he decided not to play around with Xue Rui. It was obvious that the fool knew nothing, only his master was of interest. Besides, by killing him that way, the blame would fall either on him or on his master, most likely both. Indeed, Cao Yun pushed the black flames within Xue Rui to their limit.

In a matter of seconds, the flames erupted from his heart. They even pierced his flesh and skin. It didn't take long for the dying screams of Xue Rui to echo throughout the Xue residence. By now, everyone was on high alert. Patriarch Xue Liu heard the screams of his junior. Because of the array formations, he was unable to see through what was going on. But there was no mistaking those. Xue Rui had died in horrifying agony. All of his body and even his very soul had been devoured by the black flames. No one could imagine what kind of pain this was. Later on when the few ashes remaining of his being would be found, even those who hated the man would have horror in their eyes, except for Cao Yun. Maybe it was his cultivation, or maybe it had always been his true nature. But he had no mercy for the likes of Xue Rui.

From his chambers, the black flames within Xue Rui's heart flew toward Gu Song's laboratory. Unlike Xue Rui, Cao Yun had full control over those flames. They burrowed underground and erupted under Gu Song's feet. In an instant, he had a new threat to fight. At first, he laughed.

"You think you can use my own creation against me?! I imposed my very own seal on this black flames! By bringing it to me, you've just brought your demise."

The moment he tried to control the flames, he became even more ecstatic.

"By devouring that fool, my flames have finally become the Black Heart Flame! You idiot! Die!"

The black flames flickered, but nothing happened. Instead of going engulf Cao Yun, they stayed under Gu Song. Maybe he could have wrestled the control of the flames back from Cao Yun under normal circumstances. Indeed, although Cao Yun had added his seal, Gu Song had still his in it. And although Cao Yun's mind and soul were stronger, they couldn't act outside of his own body, unlike a Spirit Warrior. But the flames had evolved so Gu Song's control over them had lessened. Furthermore, the Black Heart Flame was made of both Evil Qi and Death Energy.

Cao Yun's control over Evil Qi was beyond Gu Song's. More than that, Cao Yun had caught a glimpse of the Dao of Death with the 'Death Verses'. Controlling Death Energy was also easier for it. As such, he could easy tramp Gu Song's seal and control the Black Heart Flame himself. Unlike Xue Rui though, Gu Song was stronger and his Wei Qi was protecting him. But Cao Yun didn't want to burn him to nothingness. He just needed one more distraction. Right now, Gu Song was fighting the Soul Sucking Catfish, the Heart Reversing Tormentor, the Empyrean Human Emperor Seal, the Black Heart Flame and most of his Soul Embryo was still trapped within Cao Yun's sea of consciousness.

Even for a 4th-grade Spirit Warrior, this was way too much. But this wasn't over. Indeed, Gu Song had completely let go of Cao Yun. As such, he was free to act. In his sea of consciousness, he had let Dian Mo and the Drop of Wrath prevent Gu Song's Soul Embryo from leaving. Before going there himself, he had to make sure that Gu Song's body wasn't a problem anymore. And he intended to trap the full soul of Gu Song in him. From the ghost of Lang Shou, he had not been able to see every memory. And from Gu Song, he wanted everything.

From his spatial ring, he took out his 'Tainted Heavenly Pillar'. Several array formations activated all around the Xue residence to condense more and more energy around Cao Yun's spear. He fully mobilized his Spear Aura and focused all of his concentration on the Horn Star. In his sea of consciousnesses, even through the blood chains, Gu Song' Soul Embryo could see the star shine brightly. All around it, tiny dots of light appeared. Cao Yun was very close of forming the Horn Constellation. All this time, he had worked on a single move.

'The Pillar Piercing the Sky'!

Cao Yun's spear pierced toward Gu Song's Upper Dantian.