Cao Yun was now alone again. But this time, no other copy of himself appeared. No matter what he could think, nothing would happen. Looking at his mind cultivation, he saw that his Hun was a bit more brilliant than before. Also, he sensed a profound tranquility. His mind was akin to the ocean below the Five Agents, and each thought going through it emerged from the unknown depths of the ocean below. Now, each time it happened, they did not even make a single ripple on the surface of Cao Yun's mind. They were just fleeting images while he was permanent.
Deep down, Cao Yun had been able to perceive something that transcended the superficiality of what some weaker cultivators could think was their self. His Dao Heart was now more firm than ever and it was reflected in his Hun. The spiritual soul was connected to the aspirations to something bigger than oneself, either in connecting with the others, with the Dao, or even with oneself. And that was what had happened, Cao Yun had connected with a very fundamental part of his being.
Suddenly, Cao Yun felt a warmth sensation emanating from the Supreme emblem in his robe. It immediately entered his soul, it was so fast that Cao Yun did not even feel it in his body. Then, it penetrated his sea of consciousness. A tiny ball of light was now rotating in the center of his Five Agents. As it rotated, it extracted energy from each character. Of course, Cao Yun understood what it was. This thing was literally creating a Five Echoes Pearl.
But when it would take him two to three months to extract a single Five Echoes Pearl, in less than a minute, it was done. Unfortunately, the small ball of light disappeared as soon as the Five Echoes Pearl was done forming. If only he could have kept it... But clearly, this was part of the array formations making the Palace of Supreme Wisdom. And if he wasn't wrong, this was his reward for clearing the first test.
Surprisingly, he felt no response from the Supreme emblem. Wondering about it, he came to the conclusion that he had to use his reward right away. This place was extremely peaceful since it was absolutely empty. However, the next world he would be sent into could be completely different. As such, it was better to immediately improve his mind cultivation, just in case.
Like always, using the Five Echoes Pearl was as easy as thinking about it for Cao Yun now. His only problem was to determine which chamber of his Upper Dantian he would energize next. In the second layer, 'Climb the Nine Peaks', he had only one order to respect, the last chamber had to be the Chamber of Mysterious Elixir. It was similar to the Chamber of the Mysterious Elixir in the Middle Dantian in the sense that it was central to the Upper Dantian. It wasn't really in the exact center of it, but its role was central. As such, it had to be energized last. That way, it would complete the entire Upper Dantian and harmonize every chamber together.
Thus, he only had two chambers left, the Chamber of Bright Spirit and the the Chamber of Splendor. None seemed particularly interesting. The first one dealt with empathy and compassion while the other one with artistic sense. Maybe the first one could be useful to further develop his Hun. That being said, Cao Yun had no real incentive to do so quickly. After all, he would probably form another Five Echoes Pearl in two to three months. By the time he was out of this Palace of Supreme Wisdom, he would have completed the second layer.
So the question was to know which chamber was the most useful for the upcoming tests. And upon further considerations, the Chamber of Splendor seemed the best bet. Although he could appreciate art, Cao Yun was not a connoisseur at all. Apart from poetry, Cao Yun had no inclination toward art in general. However, he had an idea that maybe the word art could be taken in all its acceptations. In particular, Cao Yun was thinking about martial arts. Although it could be considered as a tool of death and destruction, this was also a form of art. Maybe this chamber would help him expand his comprehension of martial art.
And after the short training he had had with Chief Elder Baishen, Cao Yun had become impatient to reach the state of Spear Heart. He had not even fully mastered the Spear Aura yet and he still needed to form the seventh star of his 'Azure Dragon's Seven Piercing Stars'. Hopefully, this Chamber of Splendor would increase his development speed in martial arts.
Without any problem, Cao Yun focused on the upper back of his Upper Dantian. The Chamber of Splendor turned out to be rich in Wood element, the same element his martial art was related to. Nourishing Wood element with Water element was extremely easy. Cao Yun simply guided it and it just happened. A bright flash radiated through his sea of consciousness for an instant. As his mind cultivation was improving, Cao Yun was barely feeling any impact now, but he was certain that it had one.
Now that he had finally used his reward, the young man felt the Supreme emblem once more. He got completely enveloped by light and all his senses got dulled down until nothing existed anymore except himself.
-
Sun Liao was still in the same room that was repeating itself indefinitely in all directions. Sitting cross-legged in the middle of the room, he was surrounded by flags arranged everywhere around him and his compass right in front of him.
Suddenly, a thunderous sound spread through the room and the walls began to crumble. Then, they were completely wiped out. And now Sun Liao was sitting in a gigantic room with five pillars of stone all around him. Each one was as tall as the Heidai Peak itself and Sun Liao was at their feet. But there was something else in the center of the room, a small altar with a single scroll on it.
Before standing up, Sun Liao analyzed his compass for several minutes to be sure that this wasn't another trick. No, he had gotten rid of the maze.
"Hmph! Such a simple trick. And you thought this could trap me?! Hell, you thought it could even be worthy of being called a test for me?!"
Holding the Supreme emblem in his hand, Sun Liao talked as though the array formation of the Palace of Supreme Wisdom could hear him.
"I don't care about improving my array formations! Until I finally become a Mortal Warrior, there is no point to it. What I want is to increase my cultivation fast. Put me through your worst tests, I don't care. But you're supposed to give me what I need! And I need to become a Mortal Warrior, no matter what it takes!"
With a disdainful look on his face, Sun Liao still walked toward the scroll to inspect it. It would probably be some array formation art of some kind, maybe the same array formation that had trapped him. Ridiculous!
When he read the scroll though, Sun Liao was surprised as he read the title. 'Crossing the Three Chasms in the Eight Directions'. This was not directly an array formation. Instead, it was presenting how to use array formations to cultivate each realm, from the Mortal realm to the Spirit Warrior realm. But more than that, it explained in details what to do for each small grade of every realm. And Sun Liao had never heard of any of the array formations mentioned in the treatise he was now reading avidly.
Moreover, those array formations all had different aspects. Each one had an external but also an internal aspect. Apart from setting it up around the cultivator, the cultivator could also manipulate his Qi according to specific paths to produce similar effects within or amplify the effects from the external array formation.
According to the treatise, if he was good enough, Sun Liao could become a Mortal Warrior in less than twenty months. But he was still not out of the Palace of Supreme Wisdom. Once he was done reading, Sun Liao found himself engulfed in light as well.
-
Finally, Ren Chao had broken his rock. Within, there was an ore he had never seen before. Still, his instinct as a blacksmith told him that this was the most precious metal he had ever laid eyes on in his entire life. With this, he could forge an incredible weapon. Besides, there was enough ore for way more than a single weapon. If he was using it with reason, he would probably be able to make five or six weapons, depending on which ones of course.
In his bones, Ren Chao could still feel the thunder. It had completely activated his marrow and great quantities of Qi as well as particles of Jing were flowing from them toward both his bloodstream and his meridians. The thunder had also tempered his meridians. Clearly, he was on his way to becoming a 6th-grade Mortal and not even a month had passed by. Thus, he basked in this sensation for some time.
As soon as Ren Chao took the strange metal though, his Supreme emblem activated.
-
Finally, Mei Hua was now faced with a giant tree. All around its circumference, there were vines, pulsating like veins. Everything in this jungle was linked to this tree. By analyzing the ecosystem, she had tracked the very center of this world. Just by getting there, she had gained a lot of knowledge. Although those species did not exist in the Hongchen Kingdom, just training herself to observe and understand had been beneficial. Moreover, she had become way more competent in manipulating poison. That also meant that her medicinal essence control should have improved as well. Even she had thought it impossible before breaking through further.
And she still had a few poisons in her. She had been able to turn them into small balls of essences she was keeping in her Lower Dantian, trapped in several layers of Qi.
Looking directly at the tree, Mei Hua was still wondering what she had to do precisely to pass the trial. She had found the tree at the center of everything. Maybe that was it...
When Mei Hua put her hand on the tree, she felt its life. Then, the sensation spread without her having any control over it. She was able to feel every plant in the jungle as though her own intent had fused with the intent of the giant tree. Then, this sensation seemed to be reversed. Everything went back to her sea of consciousness. And on the surface of the water, a seed formed. Mei Hua had no way of knowing what it was, but she could see it, thanks to what had happened in the Lunar Marsh.
Mei Hua took some time to examine it but she didn't know what this seed was. As she was doing that, her Supreme emblem got activated as well.
-
Outside the Palace of Supreme Wisdom, at the summit of the Heidai Peak, Xiao Xuefeng was talking with Sect Leader Xuan. The old man was still behind some kind of curtain while he addressed her.
"Spirit Master Xiao, I received word from Director Ge. The walls of your Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute have been repaired. Soon it will be back to its former glory. Sadly, I fear that we may need alchemy now more than ever with all the tensions I see on the horizon."
"Sect Leader, you're not talking only about the demonic cultivators, are you?"
Suddenly, both of them started to speak in their minds. Sect Leader Xuan was a 9th-grade Spirit Warrior and Xioa Xuefeng boasted the most powerful spiritual senses. No one in the Hongchen Kingdom could hear them when they used telepathy.
"Although our Heidai Peak has been preserved for ten thousand years, I do hear calls for war on the side of the demons. In the border provinces, those calls have been more and more powerful recently. The Sunmen and Subei provinces are especially threatened. War is upon us. If they hear that we've been weakened, they will strike even sooner. Yet we still haven't dealt with the demonic cultivators. While we are betrayed from within, our enemies get stronger. I got words about a new ruler among the demons, unifying several kingdoms against us.
"But I only see dissension among our ranks. The Imperial City is now full of secrets and shrouded in darkness. Even the Emperor may not be the young man I remember. From Director Ge and even Matriarch Huang, the news that come to me are all alarming. It is even possible that the Imperial City had a hand in the matter of the Cao family. Nothing is clear. Either they partook in it, ordered it, covered it up or simply knew without doing anything to prevent it. The least paranoid theory would be that they used the incident after it had happened to blame it on some demonic sect they wanted to get rid of quickly.
"I thought that your little friend 'Chen Guo' might appreciate some of it."
It was no surprise to Xiao Xuefeng that Sect Leader Xuan knew about Cao Yun. Probably from the very start, he had not been blind to his identity. But if Sect Leader Xuan wanted someone dead, they had no way of hiding from him anyway. Despite his old age, some still thought he was the strongest fighter in the entire Hongchen Kingdom, superior even to Emperor Weide.
"But I did not call you to talk about this. If I called you today, it is for this."
The Seal of Authority appeared before Xiao Xuefeng. Although it had been entrusted to her once, she had returned it when she had left the sect for her Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute.
"We have no idea what the demonic cultivators plan to do this year. Even what we know is subject to caution. However, I fully trust you. Until this crisis is resolved, you have full authority over the entire sect. Many of our array formations had been depleted or damaged because of the stampede. I suspect that our traitor has guided this stampede to target the array formations themselves. Their goal wasn't to destroy us but to weaken us for what's to come.
"While I try to repair our defenses, I will give you all my authority. I know you will use it wisely."
"Thank you, Sect Leader."