Despite their apparent trust, both Cao Yun and Huang Liyue were hiding things. For example, Huang Liyue would not tell that she was pursuing Gui Bei in order to assassinate him. In fact, she somehow felt that it would make her look like an hypocrite. She could not forgive Cao Yun for killing her distant family members even though he had acted in justified self-defense. On the other hand, she had been sent to kill a boy who was a threat to her family. Yes, the boy had committed some heinous crimes but the reason of the assassination was not so noble as to punish him. The main reason was indeed because he was a threat.
Besides, Huang Liyue had failed because she had not found any trace of Gui Bei after coming into this Yellow Death World. However, she had searched the place as much as she could. She had even used some flying boat she had in her spatial ring to cover more ground. In around three months, she had literally traveled almost nonstop. The only moments she had slowed down were during the frequent black rains and the awakening of the bone monsters after those events.
Aside from Gui Bei, Huang Liyue explained exactly what she had witnessed during her travel.
In the documents from what she had called Merciful Deity Temples, she had been able to decipher a handful of Insight Writings thanks to her own understanding. In her travel she had also come across some steles and some engravings. Thankfully, she had also found some drawings which she was able to understand way better. As such, she had been able to get a better grasp on what was going on in what she had called the Plagued Plains.
"Those bone creatures are related to the Yellow Sorrows Water. Apparently, whoever wrote those documents had been studying this water. But I found almost no mention of the creatures themselves in the most ancient documents. They only appear in recent engravings. Apparently, whoever studied them decided to call them Bone Demons. Indeed, what I found strange was that the most recent documents have been written in a mix of that unknown language and Nuhua.
"The crows are Bone Children. Then, they can cultivate Death Energy through bone dust and become Bone Warriors. Those humanoid creatures further absorb and refine Death Energy until they turn into gigantic monsters named Bone Generals. After that, I found no mention of the things sleeping inside the Desolate Palaces. But they should probably be called Bone Kings if I use the same logic."
Cao Yun decided that Huang Liyue loved naming things. He wasn't even sure whether the names she had given had truly been invented by whoever had written the documents she had found, or by her. Anyway, it wasn't very important. But what was important was the fact that she had found some recent engravings. Questioning her, Cao Yun was able to determine that what she had found had been written after he had met Cleansed Asura.
Cleansed Asura had probably learned Nuhua after sifting through Cao Yun's memories. As such, it was possible that he had written those documents. But Cleansed Asura should have been in a very deep slumber. Maybe someone or something else had written those documents.
However, what truly interested Cao Yun was not the explanation about the Bone Demons. No, what was truly interesting for him was the fact that Huang Liyue had found documents written in both Nuhua and Cleansed Asura's language. Reading and analyzing them would probably help him decipher Cleansed Asura's memories he had in him.
Just like Huang Liyue, Cao Yun had not revealed everything. Obviously, he had not revealed that he was in fact the sole survivor of the Cao family. But he had also hidden the existence of Cleansed Asura and his relation with this place. Neither did he talk about the Drop of Wrath. Even though he had used it to save Huang Liyue's life, she had not been able to see through it. She probably thought it was his superior mind cultivation. And she would probably think that he had gotten it from Xiao Xuefeng.
He was right on both accounts. Moreover, Huang Liyue had been able to observe the efficiency of his mind cultivation in Huang Cixi herself. So, although she had been shocked by Cao Yun's abilities, she attributed it solely to his relation with Xiao Xuefeng and his own talent, not to some incredible heritage he had in him.
Since Cao Yun was close to Xiao Xuefeng who had saved Huang Cixi, after Cao Yun had asked her, it made Huang Liyue even more conflicted. Because of her duty as a bodyguard and of her past, she could not forgive Cao Yun for the killings of her own blood. But he had also saved the woman who would become the next matriarch. However, no matter how much she wanted to get over it, she couldn't. Intellectually, she knew she shouldn't blame him, but she still held negative feelings against him. In that sense, she was similar to Huang Cixi when she had gone to the Wubei Sect. And she was painfully aware of that. Would the boy end up convincing her as well?
Anyway, she put all that aside and decided to start talking about her quest to find an exit.
"As I said, I have several ideas about what this place is. So I decided to make sure. That's why I tried to infiltrate a Desolate Palace. If my hypothesis is correct, there should be some breach toward the outside world in those Desolate Palaces. But my hypothesis is not that good, because if I'm right, there should be nine palaces not just eight.
"Maybe one of them fell from the sky at some point. When you look at the current state of those palaces, that's really a good explanation. But again, maybe I'm simply wrong.
"Anyway, despite my stealth, some kind of array formation was in place. I was absolutely unable to sense anything before walking into it. Yet, I spent more than ten days just to make sure there was no trap of any kind. Apart from the giant King Bone sleeping inside the Desolate Palace, I have been unable to find anything out of the ordinary. But once I got inside, it woke up instantly and attacked me. Thus, I could not explore the Desolate Palace at all."
"So you don't know whether there's any exit there?"
"That's not what I said. I said I wasn't able to explore. But there is indeed something hidden, and even guarded by this Bone King. In fact, I would surmise that every Desolate Palace is hiding something under the protection of a Bone King."
"Now that one of them is destroyed, maybe we could find something in the corresponding Desolate Palace."
"This is indeed my hope. But even if there is no more guard, I won't risk entering any Desolate Palace before I have been able to recover some of my strength. For now, I can barely use my stealth techniques after all. Moreover, with you by my side, this will be a real problem..."
Hearing Huang Liyue, Cao Yun thought about what he was looking for. The woman had given him protection, a clue on how to leave this dead world, even a clue on how to translate the language of Cleansed Asura, provisions of course. And now, she was giving him a sliver of hope on his stealth. Being stealthy was almost a prerequisite for the young man. If he wanted to investigate the death of his family, this would be essential. Besides, she was a powerful cultivator with a profound background. And as a bodyguard, she probably had extensive knowledge in the matter of stealth.
Teaching her technique to someone else was maybe not what she had in mind, but her phrasing made Cao Yun think about it. Thus, Cao Yun bowed before the woman.
"Senior, thank you for all the information. But as you said, without a good stealth technique, I may become a burden to you, especially with your injuries." Immediately, Huang Liyue knew what was coming. "If I may be so bold, may you teach this incompetent one some of your stealth techniques?"
As soon as he spoke, Cao Yun was ready to give something in exchange.
"I do not know how useful it could be, but I can give you some pointers concerning mind cultivation."
Even without spiritual senses, Cao Yun could tell that Huang Liyue's Soul Embryo, or even her very soul perhaps, had been damaged. It was obvious considering the amount of Evil Qi and Death Energy that had entered her body. From what he had experienced, Cao Yun knew he could potentially give her an altered version of 'Sealing the Seven Demons in the Nine Peaks' based around the Po character. With this, she would not be able to fully control Evil Qi like him, because she had not the Drop of Wrath. But if she combined it with her Chamber of Medicine Field, she could achieve something.
After all, as a Spirit Warrior, she had a way closer relation with her Upper Dantian which was probably brimming with Qi. Even without the Five Agents and their Five Echoes Pearl, she could probably be able to activate any of her nine chambers. Maybe it wouldn't be to the extent Cao Yun could reach in the future, but she could imitate the process.
Huang Liyue hesitated for some time. But after seeing the effects of the mind cultivation on Huang Cixi, she had to admit she was intrigued. On the other hand, stealth techniques were very dangerous. Indeed, it could be used for infiltration and assassination. But again, as a member of the Wubei Sect, he would probably get access to powerful stealth techniques.
And in a very short amount of time, he would not be able to master her technique. Maybe she could accept such a trade...
As she was trying to decide on the matter, Huang Liyue felt a stabbing pain in her sea of consciousness. Right in the middle of their conversation, she suddenly collapsed while holding her head. The Death Energy had caused even more serious injuries to her Soul Embryo than she had initially thought.
Immediately Cao Yun went to help her. The injured woman literally fell into his arms.
"Senior..."
"It seems like I'll have to take you up on your offer."
Huang Liyue had suffered way too many injuries. If Cao Yun's mind cultivation was as great as she thought it was, it could probably help her subdue those injuries until she could receive a proper treatment.
-
For several hours, Cao Yun explained an altered version of his mind cultivation. It wasn't that he was intentionally keeping the true version for himself. But Huang Liyue needed only a specific part of this mind cultivation right now. No matter how talented she was, she could not learn the full version in a matter of hours or even days. So for now, Cao Yun focused on the Po character and the Hun character. To be honest, he had no way of knowing how this mind cultivation would react with her Soul Embryo.
But he used his own experience with Evil Qi and Death Energy to try and make a comprehensive technique which he called 'Death Souls in the Ten Directions'. By injecting some Qi in the Chamber of Medicine Field, Huang Liyue made some foundation for both the Po and Hun characters. That chamber was related to the Earth element so it was a good chamber to develop both Metal and Wood elements. Still, this could cause some unbalance as Wood could deplete Earth. In order to resolve this issue, Cao Yun developed a special way to circulate Qi through some other chambers.
On the spot, this was the best he could do. And it was still very good.
Thanks to Huang Liyue's own knowledge, she was able to fully understand what he tried to explain. In fact, she was able to understand the underlying principles and everything made sense. As a Spirit Warrior, she had not specifically trained her chamber. Instead, she had seen her Upper Dantian as a whole. But she was still able to isolate each chamber easily.
In just a matter of hours, she had formed very faint Po and Hun characters. Then, she focused their energy on her Soul Embryo. Right away, she noticed an improvement. It was not miraculous but there was indeed something.
Since Cao Yun had done what he had said, Huang Liyue would not go back on her words. From her spatial ring, she took out a small manual. It had been written by her in person to develop 'Ashen Feather Seal', her unique stealth technique. Although it was still in development, this technique had been created thanks to her experience and through the knowledge of several dozens of powerful techniques.
It was still lacking a bit as it was not a Heaven rank technique yet. But this was her technique. Among the other techniques she knew, there were some she could simply not share with an outsider. In fact, some could even attract problems to Cao Yun because of their origin.
Thus, she decided to give him a modified version of her own creation, 'Ashen Feather Seal'. The only problem she could see was that mastering the technique had two prerequisites. The first one should be achievable considering Cao Yun's talents. He had to manifest his Qi inside his own body. Unless he became a Mortal Warrior, he could not do so outside, but it should be possible within. In fact, even Huang Liyue was not entirely sure of that. But since Cao Yun was very close to breaking through to 9th-grade Mortal, it should be feasible.
But to master the full extent of 'Ashen Feather Seal', he needed a powerful bloodline like her True Fiery Fenghuang blood. Even without that, he should still be able to acquire a profound stealthiness. But it was such a pity to not develop the technique to its highest point. Still, she decided to tweak her own stealth art a little. And like that, she could also hide some parts that referred to her blood cultivation. The technique would be less effective. But that didn't matter that much. After all she wasn't expecting him to master it in a few days.
Anyway, if she was able to recover enough, she could help him hide his presence. As long as he could hide enough, it would reduce the burden on her and make everything smoother.
"Chen Guo, here is the technique I created. It's not perfect yet, but I do believe it should give you some benefits."