When Cao Yun finally walked inside the wooden ovary, the branches closed behind him. And in front of him, he saw a singular seed attached in the air by two long vertical vines. One was coming from the branches intertwined among each other above in the form of a long style. The other vine came from down below.
The interior of this ovary looked like a grassland with myriads of flowers. Every imaginable color was represented among the flowers. Moreover, they seemed to be aligned according to some plan. Although Cao Yun was certain that this was natural, it really felt man-made. As a 5-star Earth array formation master, he could somewhat see a pattern within those flowers. But this didn't feel like an array formation.
Then, as he walked forward, he understood. This place was brimming with Qi. Of course, this place was equivalent to a Dantian. In fact, this was equivalent to his Upper Dantian. Through the flowers, what he had sensed was the same kind of organization his own Upper Dantian had with those nine chambers he was energizing one by one. And if the analogy was extended, this seed should be akin to some kind of Soul Embryo.
But while this entire place had the exact same vibe as the tree from the outside, albeit with way more strength and potency, that seed was different.
As soon as Cao Yun had laid eyes on it, he had felt the presence of his master. Thus, he kept on walking forward. Of course, he was extremely respectful and did not damage any flower. In fact, he even went to the effort of circulating his stealth technique to be as quiet and discreet as possible. He wasn't afraid to be detected because he had obviously been since the tree had literally opened the door for him. However, he felt as though he had to be extremely respectful in this place. In a sense, he imagined if someone tried to penetrate his own Upper Dantian. He couldn't just do anything he wanted in that place.
It felt as though he was in the den of an extraordinary legendary beast. After all, he had felt like he was the world-tree in those recent visions. And he could feel what kind of existence it had been. This tree seemed to be way younger although Cao Yun could not determine how old it was. It was probably already beyond what a Spirit Warrior could achieve in terms of cultivation. And given enough centuries or millenniums, this tree could probably transcend the equivalent of the Immortal realm. Obviously, the cultivation of that tree was different from what humans did.
Disturbing what seemed like its Upper Dantian was not something Cao Yun wanted to do. But he wanted to get to that seed. Although it was held in the air, it was relatively close to the ground. In fact, the cavity Cao Yun was now in was at least a hundred chi tall. Yet, that seed was literally at the level of his own head. Contrary to the fruit he had seen in his visions, that seed was the size of his own torso. From it, both Cao Yun and the Drop of Wrath were able to feel a familiarity. There was no doubt about the fact that this seed was related to Cleansed Asura.
Several possibilities crossed Cao Yun's mind. However, he did not know enough about that world-tree he had seen to come to any conclusion. He had felt its existence, but he had not witnessed its growth. On the other hand, this tree was still in the midst of its growth, despite its gigantic stature. After all, its progenitor had been able to completely recover an entire planet.
As cautiously as possible, Cao Yun walked closer to the seed.
Finally, he was close enough to touch it. And he did.
The very moment his hand came into contact with the seed, the world around him changed. He was now in a sea of consciousness that wasn't his. Looking all around, this sea of consciousness was bleak. Darkness hid most of the horizon. Even the sky was dull. And so was the ocean below Cao Yun's feet. The only trace of color was a tiny red dot right in front of the young man's hands that were still extended upward. The seed in the real world had turned into this red dot in this sea of consciousness.
Seeing this red dot, Cao Yun remembered that this was the very dot that had entered his soul to sift through his memories when he had met Cleansed Asura. This red dot was the last vestige of his master's soul. And right now, it was flickering in and out of existence. At any moment, it could get completely extinguished.
This apparent weakness moved Cao Yun, because he knew the real reason behind it. Yes Cleansed Asura had been lethally wounded. But the truth was that the current state of his soul was due to his kindness toward him. If he had done nothing and had let Cao Yun die, Cleansed Asura could have still lived a very long time. Yet, he had chosen to help this young man after witnessing his entire life through his memories.
How could he have doubted whether his master had allied himself with a demonic cultivator? Of course he had not! Back then in that crevasse, if Cleansed Asura had wanted to prolong his life, he could have simply devoured Cao Yun's soul. He was defenseless. But instead, his master had shortened the time he had left to live so that he could survive. There was no way someone like that would ever join hands with a demonic cultivator. Thus, it meant that someone had usurped his name and was soiling it.
The more Cao Yun knew about Can Mouye, the more he was seething with rage. For once, it wasn't due to his own actions, but it was because of his so-called new master.
Using this rage, Cao Yun tried to amplify it as much as possible. Unlike all the previous times, he was trying to voluntarily excite the Drop of Wrath. And he clearly succeeded. Besides his now more masterful control over it, this rage also activated it. Since Cleansed Asura had fallen into this deep slumber after gifting the Drop of Wrath to someone else, maybe it could be used to try and wake him up. Instead of burying him, Cao Yun could maybe try to save his life.
Cao Yun kowtowed in front of the red dot and presented his salutations to his master as was the convention in the Hongchen Kingdom. Although his master had probably other traditions, since he had seen his memories, he should know what this meant.
"This unfilial disciple salutes Master Cleansed Asura. Although you sacrificed yourself for my sake, I could not repay my debt. Yet, here I am asking for more... Please, forgive this unfilial disciple. But I do need to stay alive. I need to get out of here. And I need to protect the people I care about."
While he spoke, Cao Yun focused everything on the Drop of Wrath to try and draw out as much of its power as he could. A powerful vitality was permeating through his body. And in this sea of consciousness, Cao Yun's body began to shine red as blood. Both the ocean and the sky turned somewhat red as well. Although the darkness stayed deep, some life seemed to have come back to the world.
Then a voice resounded.
"Unfilial?"
As soon as he heard that voice, Cao Yun raised his head. Although he had heard it only briefly the first time, he had recognized the voice because that could have been no one else. This was the voice of his master, Cleansed Asura's voice.
"My memories... in shambles but... when asked you... bury me... knew too weak yet... Even Spirit Warrior... could not..."
"Master..."
Not only was the voice breaking up and weak, Cao Yun could clearly hear pain in it. And since Cleansed Asura had no more body, that meant that this pain was from his very soul, what remained of his soul at least.
"Please, Master, stop."
"Important things to say... This place... ... Inner World... Zhaoluyou jianghe... ..."
Cleansed Asura's strained voice was still trying to convey some meanings but some of his words were now spoken in his mother tongue. Since Cao Yun had barely started to make sense of this language, he was just able to recognize that these words were indeed spoken in Antique Sixian. Apart from that though, he had no way of understanding his master.
"Master, please save your strength. I can't even understand you anymore."
Then silence ensued. It did not last very long but that seemed like an eternity to the young disciple. Here he was in front of his master but he had no way to communicate with him. Worse, if his master tried to speak, he would quickly lose his consciousness and drift into an even deeper slumber, or even death.
Cao Yun had to communicate with him though. Otherwise, he had no way of getting out of this place. Many people needed his help right now. There was Huang Liyue down there of course, with the Mountain Fenghuang egg as well. But he also thought about his friends. It was possible that they were already fighting off a demonic beast stampede in Yinmen City. But they did not know that there was a traitor among their rank. He had to warn them before something terrible could happen.
But just as much as Cao Yun wanted to ask all sorts of questions to Cleansed Asura. His master also desired to talk with his disciple. Without the information he had, he may never get out of this world alive. Not only would his legacy die down with this young man, but it would be tarnished and perverted by the one who would claim his name. He needed to make Cao Yun understand. But now he could not even find the right words in Nuhua. His soul had been way too damaged. He could feel that he was at the end of his existence. Just staying conscious was painful. But if he let go for one instant, he would never wake up.
Considering how damaged his soul had been, Cleansed Asura was almost certain that his very soul would soon dissipate. After his death, he would never reach the cycle of reincarnation. Everything that he was would disappear with him. In fact, the only chance he had to leave any positive trace of his life behind was through the young disciple he had chosen by chance.
The more Cleansed Asura tried to gather his thoughts, the more clouded they became. He had to find a way to tell what he needed to the young boy in front of him. There was a way for him to survive. He had to tell him!
...
But he did not need to use words to tell him...
As the thought emerged in the weakened Cleansed Asura, an image appeared in Cao Yun's mind.
Suddenly, he saw the sea of consciousness he had right before his eyes change. This time, it was full of life. There were billions of golden characters flying in the sky and reflecting in the ocean below. Both the sky and the ocean were so pure that the boundary between them was almost nonexistent. The only way for Cao Yun to see it was thanks to the Drop of Wrath. Indeed, just like it was now in his sea of consciousness, in that one it was floating above the ocean. Due to its reflection, it was possible to make out where the ocean ended and where the sky started.
Looking all around himself, Cao Yun saw many strange things and phenomena. In the sky, the golden characters seemed to form wind and fire wheels. But there were also more intricate wheels with spikes on them. And they seemed to rotate like stars in the firmament. Most likely, all of those things were related to Cleansed Asura's martial art, just like what 'Azure Dragon's Seven Piercing Stars' could produce in Cao Yun's sea of consciousness. What the young man did not know was that he also had some golden characters deep in his inner ocean. However, they were currently too deep for him to even feel their existence.
Then, the scenery changed. From the ocean, a giant red and golden pagoda began to emerge. At first, there was only one floor, but quickly more and more appeared. It was as though that pagoda was being built right in front of him. The more floor the pagoda was forming, the more the sea of consciousness changed. Before long, nine floors were built in total. Thus, the entire world had changed.
Cao Yun's view had also completely changed. He was now seeing everything from above. Under his eyes, the world kept on changing again and again. All of a sudden, the pagoda exploded. The entire world trembled but endured and the pagoda got reformed as fast as it had been destroyed. And after that, the world seemed to be even more active than before. Many lands appeared everywhere.
The seed from the world-tree appeared and a giant tree began to grow from the water below. Mountains protruded from the ground as more and more lands were getting rid of the ocean below. Slowly, the waters formed into a powerful stream descending from the mountains. As such, a great river and a giant lake appeared slowly.
Cao Yun could feel that hundreds if not thousands of years had passed as all those changes took place. And just as it had appeared, this nature began to die. But each time, it reappeared even stronger and grander. Many more cycles occurred.
Finally, the young man started to see what he had guessed. This world's structure was extremely similar to the map Huang Liyue had showed him. The mountains were almost identical to the black mountains they had taken refuge into.
Just as the world was fully formed, from the waters that remained all around it, nine palaces rose. With great power they emerged from the ocean and began to float in the sky, higher and higher.
With time, more and more phenomena happened as the entire world seemed to grow and spread. In more than thousands of years, this world became an entire planet. But suddenly, everything changed!
A giant scar lacerated the clean skies. It was a somber purple scar that crisscrossed the entire world. One of the palaces was even struck down and fell down with intense power right into the mountains. Due to this fall, a gigantic cataclysm engulfed the entire world. All light seemed to disappear and violent winds swept the entire world.