Chief Elder Bian was still standing on the platform faced with Chief Elders Baishen, Suxian and Luoming protecting Cao Yun. Everyone around the stage was watching him intently. He had never been so humiliated in his entire life. The sole purpose of his existence was to uphold the laws of the Wubei Sect. Right now, he felt like Cao Yun had in fact orchestrated everything. Luduo Bu had had runnings with the disciplinary pavilion but Chief Elder Bian had never been directly involved.
This time, it seemed to him as though Luduo Bu was reasonable and Cao Yun was the brute. Since he did not meet very often with the other elders, he also felt like Cao Yun had used his words to twist the facts just like in his testimony.
"No matter what Luduo Bu says, a trial must be held to judge whether Chen Guo acted in good faith or had any ill will."
Chief Elder Baishen was the first one to speak. "There is no need for any trial! All the chief elders and elders present here can decide by themselves. We all watched the same fight. What do you say?"
She turned around and all the elders agreed. They stood up and all declared "The fight was fair!"
After such an endorsement by everyone present, Chief Elder Bian had no more way to try and keep his face. His reputation was ruined and in his mind it was a danger to the integrity of the entire Wubei Sect. Ten thousand years of prestige would be ruined by a little outer disciple. Sadly, he had no choice right now. But Cao Yun would fall for sure. The law would prevail!
"I humbly accept the judgment of the elders. If I was mistaken, this is my fault."
After casting a heinous glare toward Cao Yun, he got off the stage and went to Luduo Bu.
"How are you?" He sent his spiritual senses inside the young man and found that he had lost a lot of blood, but other than that the injury wasn't so bad. Some alchemy pills would be enough to restore his vitality in a few days. Hence, he used his spatial ring to bring out a porcelain bottle.
"Here, take these pills. You'll be fine in no time." Then, as he had lost all face today, he did not want to stay here any longer. "I'm very tired, so Qian Longhua will take my stead." A tall man with an oblong face and long earlobe came forward. He was an elder of the disciplinary pavilion. Unlike the other elders, he was on the ground, watching the people looking at the duels.
"Chief Elder Bian, I humbly accept this duty."
Chief Elder Bian left and took Luduo Bu with him.
-
On the other side of the square, Cao Yun was exhausted. As soon as he left the platform, he literally fell on the ground. During the fight he had used every ounce of energy he had. This had been a true battle of attrition. If he had to fight Luduo Bu in a real fight, he would have died. Fortunately, within the Wubei Sect he was protected.
But now he was sure that there was a conspiracy by demonic cultivators within these walls. And he also wondered whether Chief Elder Bian was a part of it or not. Anyway, he would have to wait for Xiao Xuefeng's return to discuss it with her. She was the only one he could fully trust. And to root out a Spirit Warrior demonic cultivator, only she could do it. Also, she probably knew more than he did. If they were to share what they knew, maybe they could get somewhere.
Yet, he was still decided to investigate further into Lu Meihan's affairs. And during the fight, he had discovered new understandings of his 'Locking the Seven and Stopping the Waves'.
The chief elders went back to their seats, leaving Cao Yun with his friends.
Mei Ying was the first to go to him. She literally jumped on him and hugged him. "Big Brother, you were so cool up there. Nothing could touch you and threw the bad guy away!" In fact, he had been touched as his shoulder was still bleeding.
Mei Hua was smiling when she saw her little sister. It had been several nights since she had problems sleeping. But now, after letting go of Cao Yun, she was shadow fighting, mimicking Cao Yun's moves.
Sun Liao and Ren Chao also congratulated him.
"Brother Chen! You were awesome! I would have lost in a heartbeat against your techniques!"
"Indeed, I concur with Brother Ren for once. At the end, you almost manifested your martial art in reality. If your cultivation was higher, I'm convinced a True Dragon would have chewed on this Luduo Bu."
Sun Liao had other, more negative thoughts, but he decided that now was not the time.
"Thank you, all. I was lucky. But I'm really too tired right now. I think I'll take my leave." He stood up and saw Zhi Yin and Ling Hui walking toward him.
"Junior Brother. I saw your fight and you were indeed incredible. Since the time we fought, your progress is prodigious. I knew I made the right choice with you."
"You praise him too much Fairy Zhi. He was so-so." As Ling Hui spoke, it was obvious that she lacked confidence for once.
"Thank you, Sisters. I'm sorry I won't see your duels, but I must really get some rest." Cao Yun barely bowed as he was absolutely exhausted.
"Do not fret about that, Brother Chen. Your health is essential. And do not worry, we'll win!"
Cao Yun finally left the square, with Mei Hua and his friends helping him back to his room where Huang Cixi was waiting.
-
In the next duels, Zhi Yin, Ling Hui, Zhao Fei and Zhao Lin all challenged disciples higher ranked and all prevailed. Zhi Yin went from 167th to 121th. The fifth years of her first year were gone and the new resources she obtained made all the difference.
The other factions were a little bit worried, but it seemed as if the Heavenly Swallow was now a real player. And with Cao Yun in it, there was nothing much they could do against it.
Chan Weifeng also battled Long Jian. The fight lasted for almost an hour and in the end, Chan Weifeng kept his first place in the ranking.
-
As the sun was setting, the duels had ended. Chief Elder Suxian was full of life in the evening.
"Brother Luoming. Fate favored me this time, it seems." Chief Elder Suxian kept laughing and teasing his friend. For once, he had the upper hand. And in his hand, was the Exquisite Purple Jasmin. "What incredible tea I'll be able to savor!"
"Brother Suxian, I'm humble before you. It seems that the universe took pity on you after accumulating all these losses..."
"You!" He instinctively turned toward his friend, but rapidly turned back. "No! You won't spoil my fun! I won! YOU lost!"
"Since you seem so happy tonight, I'll even invite you to a nice restaurant."
"Oh? You just want me to take a look at your array formation plate, don't you?"
Busted, Chief Elder Luoming laughed it off. "Brother, you misunderstand me all the time. I would have given you the Exquisite Purple Jasmin anyway. If I had won, I would have invited you to take a cup of tea with me. Isn't there enough leaves for two this time?"
Chief Elder Suxian quickly looked inside the box and there was maybe barely enough for two. "You won't get me! I'll look into your plate, but you'll need more than a dinner to buy me off!"
-
Cao Yun also celebrated his victory but in his room with his friends. Huang Cixi had prepared a feast as though she knew her young master would definitely win. In fact, she thought he would be more injured. But he was mainly just tired.
Eating such a feast and laughing with his friends, the atmosphere was delightful. Ren Chao and Sun Liao were always teasing each other like Chief Elders Suxian and Luoming but this was particularly fun, even for themselves. They enjoyed the evening together and before leaving, Sun Liao arranged an array formation with several small spirit stones.
"This is the Blood Replenishment array formation. It will drain your spirit stones, but you'll get new ones very soon. In exchange, it should replenish your vitality in no time. If you sleep within this array formation, you'll be perfectly rested tomorrow."
"Thank you, Brother Sun." Cao Yun immediately went into the array formation and the effects were obvious. After several hours in it, he would indeed make a full recovery. "Your talent in array formations is incredible indeed."
"Even I must admit that you're sometimes useful!" Ren Chao tapped him behind the back and Sun Liao almost fell down. Despite his weaker cultivation, Ren Chao's body was monstrous.
Mei Ying gave a small kiss on Cao Yun's cheek. "Thank you, Big Brother." Then, they all left.
Cao Yun was alone with Huang Cixi. And finally, he let go. All of a sudden, he collapsed on the floor. Luckily he was already sitting on the ground. Huang Cixi ran to him. "Young Master, you could have shown how tired you were to your friends."
"No. I did not want to worry Ying'er." In Huang Cixi's mind, he was just like her older brother. But every time she saw his good side, she always remembered he had killed the only family she cared for, her older brother directly and her father indirectly. Anyway, she helped him up a little and gave him cushions to sleep within the Blood Replenishment array formation.
At last, he fell asleep and the Qi from the small spirit stones activating the array formation helped him recover his strength. As he slept, Huang Cixi was watching him, terribly conflicted.
-
The next morning, Cao Yun woke up surrounded by broken stones. They had crumbled while fueling the array formation. In exchange, he was in perfect health. All his vigor had come back. Of course, he would still rest all day long and would not train physically.
However, he decided to train his Qi cultivation. With his new vigor and the last spirit stones he had left, he circulated the 'Cultivation of Wrath' and opened his ninth Meridian, the Bladder Meridian. He just lacked three meridians to enter into the 6th-grade Mortal stage. His fight with Luduo Bu had shown him that martial arts could help him against a stronger cultivator, but they could not completely fill the gap. With almost three stages higher than him, Luduo Bu was too strong. He could maybe fight him and win, but the cost would be huge, if not lethal.
Although his cultivation had progressed really fast, it still wasn't enough and he wanted to progress even faster.
-
In a room of the disciplinary pavilion, Luduo Bu was resting. Suddenly a voice echoed in the room.
"You did good." Right in front of his bed, the man in black and purple was back. In fact, the only thing that allowed Luduo Bu to know he was the same man was the voice. But his voice was different from the one who gave him instructions after the duel.
"I want to kill Chen Guo!" Leaping from his bed, rage was all over Luduo Bu's face. "I played along earlier because the elders were all here, but I need to kill him myself! I want to kill his friends before his eyes and put an end to his sufferings with my bare hands! I want to drink his blood and eat his flesh!" As he spoke, the Blood Runes circulated in his blood and his eyes became redder and redder.
"I understand, but the timing is important. Today you were able to lead Chief Elder Bian a little closer to us. But if you were to kill Chen Guo within the sect, it would all fail. Next year, Chen Guo will most likely leave the sect, then you'll kill him. And we also need him for a small matter. But I assure you that next year, by cultivating the 'Blood Runes', you'll be so much more powerful than he is that he won't be able to do a thing except grovel at your feet."
Even after this attempt at appeasing him, Luduo Bu had a terrible time just calming down. His 'Blood Runes' cultivation method was clearly affecting his emotions. And the hatred he felt toward Cao Yun amplified it. When you looked into his eyes, you could almost see his sanity disappearing.
Like all demonic cultivators, he was slowly losing his mind. This hatred and the feeling of humiliation were now fueling an inner demon. The man in black and purple immediately saw it in his eyes. Developing an inner demon could be a double-edged sword for a demonic cultivator. The 'Blood Runes' method could be tempered by using an inner demon. But on the other hand, it could make your cultivation go berserk and literally devour yourself, taking over your body.
Fearing for his plans to be foiled by Luduo Bu's uncontrolled rage, he had to find a way to send him away for a while. "Brother Luduo, you should leave the sect right now and focus on training the 'Blood Runes'. If you're able to reach the third or even fourth layer, no Mortal cultivator will be able to stand in your way."
-
In an entirely different place, Lu Meihan was pondering over her next course of actions. The man in purple and black had told her to wait for Cao Yun and Luduo Bu's duel so that he got weaker. But Cao Yun had won the duel and from the intel she got, he recovered in a night. Right now, he was even more powerful than before. And he became a 1-star Earth array formation master. That meant that the array formation she used would be completely useless.
Lu Meihan was even wondering whether he had decided to learn it because of her. It made sense, but if he knew, he could have talked to Xiao Xuefeng and with her spiritual senses, she probably would have found some clues on the matter.
Right now, she was eying a small wooden box. This was the Life Essence Phoenix Balm that the man in black and purple had given her. By using this, she would get her strength back and some more. But then, she would only have less than half a year to live.
Her only way to survive then would be to dual cultivate with some very talented young man. Cao Yun was the best candidate. And even though she was confident in her ability to seduce anyone, she wasn't sure to find a better candidate than him. Her best course of actions would be to get Cao Yun to dual cultivate with her.
In the eventuality that he were to refuse, she would need to resort to other less enviable means. Many possibilities wandered into her mind.
Finally, she looked at her frail body and got sick of herself. She took the box and opened it. The smell of blood was very faint and an early Mortal would probably not even smell it at all. The faction leader took out her small bell and rang it.
A small girl entered almost immediately.
"Yes, Mistress?" She was kneeling on the floor awaiting her instructions.
"Ren Rong. Take this manual and rub this ointment on my acupoints according to it." She laid down on her stomach and let Ren Rong approach her. "You have to keep quiet about this. Do not tell anyone, not even the other members of the faction. They would worry about my health... But this balm is the last chance I've got."