After just losing his chance of becoming a Sage in the future, Cao Yun remained unnaturally calm. Indeed, he had shoved all his emotions aside to concentrate on that task that had been a complete failure at the very last step. And it had been the right call. Otherwise his disappointment would have washed over everything else and he couldn't have kept the rest of the Bai Hui from sustaining major damage. At the very least he had not completely screwed things up.
Even if he could not fully open it anymore, it was still technically open. In the technical sense, he had indeed broken through. But of course, there was none of the excitement because this was a breakthrough that was condemning him to a very slow cultivation progress with very few hopes of even becoming a Spirit Warrior. Handling Fire Qi before officially becoming a 3rd-grade Mortal Warrior had been a mistake. Unfortunately, he had no real alternatives.
Right now, the lava around him was already killing him slowly. If he found no way to contain the Fire Qi around him, this test would end up with him dead.
Now that he thought about it, maybe that was the point of the test. After all, Dian Mo had told him nothing at all. Even in the previous test, he had received some brief words to explain the situation. It didn't make sense for the Palace Spirit to try and annihilate Cao Yun. But maybe he just wanted to kill him or at least weaken him enough so he would be easier to kill.
Thinking about that, Cao Yun lost his concentration. All the pain, the strain on his mind and his emotions acting out against his intent trying to repress them even more, all of that had finally broken his focus.
He was now back in his sea of consciousness. And the blood lotus with ninety-nine petal was right above the Drop of Wrath.
As soon as Cao Yun realized where he was, he felt a wave of emotions going through him and really lost all control. If he did not gain it back, the blood lotus would be completely destroyed and his Bai Hui with it. But he had tried to repress it so much and for so long that even his mind cultivation had a hard time succeeding. Cao Yun was really at the brink of collapse both physically, mentally and emotionally.
Strangely enough though, the blood lotus did not collapse. However, it began to descend until it touched the surface of the Drop of Wrath. Before Cao Yun could react, the blood inside the lotus and inside the Drop of Wrath began to mix with one another. And the lotus even entered into the Drop of Wrath.
At first worried, Cao Yun was now completely transfixed. He had a good connection with the Drop of Wrath. He could feel that it was not being aggressive. In fact, he could even feel a warm and soothing sensation in his Bai Hui. The Po character within the Drop of Wrath also began to move around. And it called the one outside of it into action. All Five Agents started to move around without Cao Yun's action. At any moment he could stop it but he felt as though he shouldn't. Besides he had to deal with an extreme fatigue on all levels.
For the time being, Cao Yun needed to rest and his mind was acting on its own for purposes yet unknown. But Cao Yun was certain that it was for the better.
-
Sun Liao finally found some traces of Qi that were familiar to him. It was very close by and it looked like Ren Chao's Qi. Slowly, Sun Liao stood up. Before he could get fully standing though, some of his tendons in his leg ruptured. As he was about to fall back down, his bow appeared and he used it as a walking stick. Using a spiritual weapon in such a way was not very glorious. But right now, the most important thing was to get to Ren Chao. He could not stay sitting down with demonic cultivators all around as the space they were in was on the verge of collapsing, potentially killing them all. With his understanding of both array formations and this Palace of Supreme Wisdom thanks to his master's work, Cao Yun was probably the most suited cultivator to help in this crisis. But he could not really fight anymore and he needed help. Moreover, his friends might also need help.
Sun Liao was not worried for Cao Yun, but he would really like having him by his side right now. Ren Chao would do just fine as well. Deep down, Sun Liao cared a lot more about Ren Chao but he was just too stubborn and arrogant to admit it. Still, he had made some progress because he was aware of it.
Walking toward the direction shown by his compass, Sun Liao heard noises from a fight. Immediately, he looked back at his compass. There were two other Supreme emblems around the presence who was probably his brother. Even with his compass, Sun Liao was unable to determine whether they were using Evil Qi or not. The only problem was that he didn't recognize their Qi, but he hadn't remembered the Qi signature of every disciple. Maybe he should work on that when he became a Mortal Warrior, it would be easier.
Although he wasn't very competent in stealth, and he could not use any array formation to hide his presence right now, Sun Liao tried to be as discreet as possible. Thankfully, he soon heard something that made all his worries go away. Even he had not realized that this voice had this kind of power over him.
"Hmph! And you thought you could best me?! Die!"
This was Ren Chao's voice. Just after it echoed through that desolate place Sun Liao had landed in, the sound of a fist going through flesh was heard as well.
Immediately after, Sun Liao saw a head fly to his side and explode against a tree. In the direction it had flown from, Sun Liao saw his friend, his brother. Ren Chao was covered in wounds that were slowly healing. His upper body was completely exposed. And his muscles were not really bigger but still much more impressive than before. He truly looked like he had been sculpted in metal. There was even an odd aura of gold around him. Although extremely faint, Sun Liao was able to perceive him thanks to his training as an array formation master.
Despite this great appearance, the colossus was visibly exhausted. On the ground beside him was another young man. Sun Liao recognized him immediately. He was Xin Xiong, one of the ten disciples who had been at the top during the entrance examination. His face was bruised and pale. He had clearly lost a lot of blood. All around his chest and waist, there were makeshift bandages. Without an alchemist or a physician, Xin Xiong would not last very long. But Ren Chao did not seem to fare that much better. Of course he was still strong enough to fight though. The woman he had just killed had been a middle Mortal Warrior. No matter how much he had progressed, Ren Chao should not have been able to beat her, let alone kill her with a single punch.
Suddenly, Ren Chao's face turned toward Sun Liao. And all his anger and fear melted away into a huge grin.
"Brother Sun?!"
"Keep it down! We don't want others to find us."
As soon as he heard his brother calling for him, Sun Liao felt at peace. But he immediately started to take an annoyed tone to speak with him.
Seeing that Sun Liao was walking with much pain, Ren Chao went to help him. Because he was so much taller, he lowered himself and helped his friend toward Xin Xiong. The poor man was sitting against a tree, barely conscious of what was going on around him. He was just awake enough to know he was among allies.
"What happened?"
"I don't have all the details. But demonic cultivators infiltrated the Palace of Supreme Wisdom and apparently collapsed all the realms into a single one. But as you can see." Sun Liao showed the sky full of red auroras and small tears where the storm walls were violent. "Such a vast realm is too much for the array formations. One way or another, they won't be able to keep it together for very long. And since I don't see how we could put the realms back to the way they were, this one will probably crumble. Then, it's everyone's guess. Considering what happened, I can't be sure whether we'll die or whether the Palace of Supreme Wisdom will have enough power to keep us safe. Hopefully my master is working on that and he will get us out."
"In other words, we're screwed!"
"Pretty much, yes."
"Do you have any ideas?"
"I can use my compass to try and locate Mei Hua and Chen Guo. If you can help me, we can join with them. Then, I would advise gathering all our fellow disciples, but some might have turned traitors. Finally, I would suggest finding the demonic cultivators responsible for this. I don't know if that situation was planned. Probably not... But they should have a way to get out of here. Apparently, they found a way in. And they did not come to all this trouble just to die."
"... Sounds like a plan."
-
Within Cao Yun's sea of consciousness, the blood lotus was now in the very center of the Drop of Wrath. Even he had no idea what was going to happen next.
From Shen the Fire Spirit, tongues of fires formed and went all around the Drop of Wrath. It was as though the blood was attracting them. And it probably was because it had taken control over the Five Agents. From the Po character, some tiny fragments of bones started to detach themselves under the heat. In a sense, it looked like the Po character was being dissolved, but only a tiny part of it.
Then, those bones that were clearly refined Death Energy as Cao Yun could feel with his 'Death Verses', went toward the lotus. There was still a small remaining part of the hundredth petal that had been destroyed. The Death Energy gathered around it and the blood from the Drop of Wrath began to coagulate around those fragments of bones. Amazed, Cao Yun barely understood what was going on. But his Drop of Wrath was repairing his Bai Hui. Although it was just a visualization of his mind, he could also feel the blood condensed at the summit of his skull. It was becoming warmer and warmer without burning.
Before long, the hundredth petal had been rebuilt with the blood of the Drop of Wrath. In the physical world, Cao Yun could also sense that his blood had seeped through some of his tiniest meridians to repair them. Even he had not realized the Drop of Wrath was able to do such a thing. Until now, he thought his blood could only help wounds of the flesh. But clearly, they could even heal meridians. In fact, they might be able to heal Dantian as well. If his servant had had this blood, she might have been able to heal without the legendary Life Boiling Cradle pill.
Very slowly, the lotus left the Drop of Wrath. When it emerged, some blood dripped down from it back into the Drop of Wrath below. And as the blood was still flowing on its surface, the blood lotus finally bloomed completely. It was as though all the petals were now heavier with blood and had naturally opened.
At that very moment, Cao Yun felt a powerful suction force from his Upper Dantian. Suddenly, his Bai Hui opened completely. In harmony all of his Five Prodigious Gates opened as one. The feeling was incredible, but Cao Yun was terrified. After opening, they naturally drew in all the Qi they could around them. But that Qi was almost pure Fire Qi. Cao Yun could already see his meridians melting under the heat. Not even the Drop of Wrath could save him then.
Despite his expectations, the Fire Qi did not burn at all, it was surrounded by the intent from the Drop of Wrath. And it gathered all of its intent around this Fire Qi. It even formed some kind of wall with its intent to protect Cao Yun's heart from the heat.
Now, Cao Yun was beginning to understand. The Drop of Wrath used to act on instinct alone to accomplish Axiu Qian's last will, reforming his soul. But now that Cao Yun had bonded with it, it was starting to act out his will. Not only had it saved his cultivation, it had even only taken in Fire Qi in an amount that would not endanger Cao Yun. His efforts to tame this Drop of Wrath had been highly successful and he wasn't even done with it yet.
At this very moment, Cao Yun had truly entered the realm of 3rd-grade Mortal Warrior. His next step would be to strengthen all five of his doors. Although the drop of Wrath had healed his Bai Hui, Cao Yun could still feel some weakness from it. Some of it was probably psychological but it was also physical. As such, even if his cultivation had not been doomed, it would slow down significantly in the next level. He would need some time to be sure that his Bai Hui was fine. It was especially true considering that the realm after that consisted in taking in huge amounts of Fire Qi in his Middle Dantian. And he was not going to risk it right away.
After his breakthrough, Cao Yun felt an intense energy wanting to go out. It wanted to fill the void of his collapsing Wei Qi. However, Cao Yun controlled himself. Maybe he had to play in Dian Mo's hand. If he believed that he was on the brink of death, maybe he would finally do whatever he was wanting to do to the young demon he believed Cao Yun was.
Thus, Cao Yun strengthened his Wei Qi beneath his skin and focused it on vital parts. Then, using 'Ashen Feather Seal', he hid most of his vitals. He was very steady with it to give the impression that he was slowly dying.
It worked like a charm. Indeed Dian Mo had sent Cao Yun into this lava pool with nefarious intents in mind. He didn't want to kill him or incinerate him. No, he just wanted to weaken him while preparing him for the final tempering. After blood was fire and after fire was death. Only then could he finally accomplish his ultimate goal.