Chapter 491: Traveling with slaves

Deep down, Cao Yun wanted to kill those surviving demons. Without Dian Mo, he couldn't extract their memories from their souls though. Of course that didn't mean he couldn't get any information from them. From what he knew, demons had strong wills. However, since he could tell when they were lying, he might still have been able to get something out of them by torturing them. The young man had absolutely no qualm torturing and killing slavers. His problem however was that he had been bluffing earlier.

He had been able to kill the Tyrant Sun Scarab, as the slavers had called it, only because it had been incredibly weakened by their combined assault and because he had attacked by surprise. In a one-on-one duel, Cao Yun would have had no other choice but to run away. Of course, the mere fact that he would have been able to run away was a great accomplishment in itself. None of the demons around him would have been able to escape that 7-core demonic beast.

Begrudgingly, Cao Yun had to admit that he wasn't sure whether he was a match for the combined might of the surviving demons. Although they were also weakened, attacking them directly would probably result in some injuries. The worst case scenario would be if they were able to escape unscathed since Cao Yun knew nothing of this land. Right now, Cao Yun was weighing his options. Maybe the slaves could help him get the information he needed, but they probably knew less than the slavers. After all, they were all Blood Children. Unfortunately, he had absolutely no idea of the kind of technique being used around these parts.

Thanks to Dian Mo, Cao Yun had trained on many seals. There was no doubt in his mind that demons were able to use blood seals as well. Maybe killing the slavers could also kill the slaves. Or maybe the slaves could be tracked due to those seals. After all, Cao Yun had also been able to track his belongings using seals. Even now, Cao Yun had no way of being sure of anything. For the time being, he resigned himself to playing his part while observing and gathering data. In the slavers' eyes, he was a proud Accomplished Demon. They would never dare to disturb him.

If they knew he was only a 2nd-grade Golden Blood Child, they would most likely try to kill and rob him.

Alone in the empty caravan he had chosen, Cao Yun felt the convoy move. During the attack, the demonic beasts used to pull the caravans had been either killed or scared away. Thus, the slavers had decided to use their slaves to pull them. Now and then, Cao Yun could hear the lashes meant to 'encourage' them. His senses were good enough so he could literally hear the contact of the whips against their flesh. And he could vividly imagine their skin being either marked or even lacerated by those monstrous whips. They were designed to inflict pain and draw blood.

Only a handful of the men were used. Those were the men meant to be sold as miners. Since they were their property, the slavers would not injure their slaves too much.

For a long while, the young human was unable to take his mind off of those sounds. Hell, he could even hear the silent screams that the slaves fought not to let out. Obviously, he couldn't focus. If only he could get Dian Mo's help, he could kill those slavers and be done with it. The Palace Spirit would be able to devour their souls and extract everything from them. Unfortunately, he was still silent. In his sea of consciousness, Cao Yun could tell that the fight against Demon King Mo Wang was clearly won. But the remnants of his soul would not give up even though the situation was desperate.

Besides the men used as drudges, Cao Yun was also able to overhear the sobbing and moaning of some young women in one of the caravans. They barely dared to speak among themselves. Thankfully, the slavers' ears were not as good as Cao Yun who had worked on his senses and even had small spiritual senses. They were terrified of what would happen to them. From their conversation, Cao Yun's anger escalated. But he also discovered some important things.

Those slaves were from a small tribe hidden in the desert. From what he could gather, the place they were currently in was simply called the Desolate Dune Desert. They talked about some kind of cataclysm named the Desolate Pillar who had given its name to this part of the desert. Apparently, it was sacred in some way. And this Desolate Dune Desert was uninhabited by any demon. However, those slavers had crossed it as a shortcut in order to attack their tribe who lives on the other side, in the Green Star Desert.

Cao Yun also heard the name 'Boss Gui'. Most likely, she was the one who oversaw slave trading in this region. Her mere name was enough to terrorize even the strongest women of the group. Her nickname was quite friendly indeed, Gui the Smiling Flayer. Amongst their conversations, Cao Yun learned a bit more about the fate they were expecting. They could be sold as prostitutes in some brothel, to some nobles as brides or concubines, to the Sisters of the Abyss as acolytes, or to some wealthy demon for various works. In the worst case scenario, they could also be sacrificed to the gods or even used to breed more slaves for the mines. Obviously, those prospects were not very enticing and they made Cao Yun even more furious.

But he learned some things from those terrified women. He had to piece things together so it made sense, but from what he understood, they were in the Nalupu Kingdom ruled by Wanghuo. That man had thousands of brides and concubines, if not more. This 'Boss Gui' was part of the Xinian Confederation, an trading company somewhat similar to the Cherry Blossom Hall. The Nalupu Kingdom was not the only power as there were several city-states all around. But most of them were loyal to the crown. Indeed, Wanghuo was a powerful Accomplished Demon and he had put many of his sons in various positions of power. In fact, becoming his bride seemed to some as a good deal all things considered. But entering his harem was also incredibly dangerous and many of his favorites had been killed when they had lost his favor.

On the other hand, Cao Yun almost learned nothing about the Sisters of the Abyss apart from the fact that they were some kind of religious order. As the name suggested, they were only women. Apparently, they were in charge of protecting the bloodline of the demons somehow. Although Wanghuo was the absolute ruler of the Nalupu Kingdom, he was still respectful toward the Sisters. That alone showed how much influence they had. Apart from religion, they could also serve as political advisors, spies or even assassins. Of course, their price was incredibly high and they would always serve their own purpose first, refusing any mission that would go against their interest and the general interest they pretended to serve. As such, they were very secretive. In fact, most of what Cao Yun learned was based on his own assumptions.

Finally, the young human decided to close his mind to the sufferings he could hear outside. Convincing himself he had no other choice, he left the slaves to their agony and misery. No matter how much he tried to tell himself they were demons as well, he couldn't accept their current fate. Humans had been used like that for millenniums, worked to death in some mines or used to entertain the sadism of some powerful demon. Now that it was happening among demons, it didn't feel any better. However, he tried to rationalize his situation, thinking about his little sister being manipulated by Traitor Weide before being sacrificed to his ambitions. The bitter taste in his mouth didn't disappear.

In fact, Emperor Weide had probably rationalized his actions in the same manner. Although Cao Yun was not actively taking part in the pain of those poor demons, he was doing nothing to help them. And as much as he told himself that he was no savior, no saint, there was a difference between being some saint trying to save everyone and ignoring those who suffered under his very nose. To be fair, even after saving those slaves, he didn't know what they would do. They could be enslaved once more and their fate might even become worse if such a thing was possible.

In his sea of consciousness, Cao Yun planned to help Dian Mo recover as soon as possible so he could get his help. Of course, he was convinced that Dian Mo wouldn't care at all for those slaves. But he needed his advice on some matters to either take a decision or accept the one he had taken. He had already used a bit of his Drop of Wrath to help Dian Mo, but this wasn't fast enough. Just as he was about to focus on his Flying Poison, the young man felt something in his Po the Metal Corporeal Soul.

This was his Po of Qi, the clean version of Unclean Evil. While Flying Poison was related to rage and anger, Unclean Evil was related to shame. Considering the current situation he was in, Cao Yun did feel some shame well up in him. But there was also fear, the fear that one day he would not feel any shame at all. Thus, Cao Yun clung to this shame in order to retain what he deemed to be his moral. In his shame, he could also feel a deeper emotion. Was he using his sister as an excuse?

That thought obsessed him for some time. From now on, to what lengths would he go? How low would he go in order to go back to the Hongchen Kingdom, all in the name of his sister?

The more he thought about that, the more he could feel the Unclean Evil. Somehow, this was a good thing. Indeed, feeling this shame was allowing him to develop his second Turbid Demon. With it, he would be able to strengthen his Drop of Wrath. Thanks to that, he would help Dian Mo recover faster than before. Thus, he clung on to that shame. Besides, he wanted to ponder about his decision and his future. There was a line he didn't want to cross but he couldn't tell exactly what it was.

As he was circulating his 'Sealing the Seven Demons in the Nine Peaks', Cao Yun was also using 'Death Verses' to try and sense everything that was going on. Because it was connected to Death Energy, it was also a great tool to control one's Po. At that moment, he was precisely using his understanding of 'See Through the Mud' to see how his Po was reacting. But more than that, he was also trying to understand the cycle of the Po. This was the mystery behind 'Living Death', how the Po who brought life was able to turn into an instrument of death and Death Energy itself. At birth, the Po was forming the body, helping it grow and mature. Then, it was maintaining it alive. Those were the easiest parts to understand. Indeed, even now, Cao Yun's Po was keeping him alive and helping him grow and mature even though he had reached adulthood.

Finally, at the end of one's life, the Po would turn into a bringer of death. It was helping the body to die and rot. That was a part that was very difficult to understand for many. And it was impossible to experience for oneself. Besides, without a small understanding of the Dao of Death, it was hard to even sense the Po and the Death Energy in someone else's body. Right now, Cao Yun was trying to do exactly that. After all, he had Death Energy in himself, which was almost impossible for any other Mortal Warrior.

Unfortunately, it wasn't very fruitful. He could tell that there was something similar between Po and Death Energy but that was it. Several times he had observed the Po of someone else turn into Death Energy but somehow, he was unable to clearly see it. It was as if the Po had suddenly changed. In fact, he had been able to see that there had been a moment during which that energy within their bodies was neither Po nor Death Energy. But he simply couldn't comprehend what had happened. Piercing the secret of a Dao was truly something only a Sage could do. Anyway, he thought that having the 'Death Verses' with him would help him. It had to some extent, but it was insufficient.

On the other hand, he was able to extract his Po of Qi in a swift manner. His experience on the Flying Poison was clearly helping him. As he was extracting this Unclean Evil, Cao Yun was also focusing on the Drop of Wrath. This time, the Po within the Drop of Wrath was missing this specific part of itself. Thus, the young man was trying to rebuild it using his own Po. This was something he had never tried before. Even if he couldn't fully form this Unclean Evil in a short amount of time, this would still help his Drop of Wrath become stronger. Hopefully this would be enough for him to wake up Dian Mo.

According to what the slavers had told him, crossing the desert would take at least a few months. In the worst case scenario, it might even take them up to half a year. Indeed, this Desolate Dune Desert was very dangerous. After all, they had almost died because of that Tyrant Sun Scarab. From now on, they would be even more careful. Of course, Cao Yun wished to get to the city as fast as possible, but he also needed to cultivate in order to be strong enough. If he wanted to go back to the Hongchen Kingdom, he had to become stronger. In fact, just to survive in demon territories, he would need to become a real Accomplished Demon.

By using his Flying Poison, he could somehow reproduce the sensation of an early Accomplished Demon around himself. Developing his other Turbid Demons could help with that. But powerful demons would be able to call his bluff. At the very least, he had to form his Golden Blood. And for that, he had to become a 4th-grade Golden Blood Child. Since he was left alone, he would work on it in the months to come. There was no doubt in his mind that he would be progress swiftly thanks to his overall cultivation. After all, he could already control his Mingmen and he had the Rune of Fire to help him with the Kidney Fire.