As chaos and fire were spreading across the entire Wubei Sect, Cao Yun had just killed the pale man and taken his 'Tainted Heavenly Pillar'. Right now he could not take pride in his victory or investigate this new weapon. In fact, he could not even mourn his past weapon. 'Nine Chi Black Dragon Spear' had no conscious but Cao Yun had gotten attached to it nonetheless. And it somehow reacted to his martial art. Although that wasn't a conscious weapon per se, it still felt very similar, especially for Cao Yun who had a powerful mind cultivation increasing his sensations.
At that very moment, Cao Yun was way more busy with trying not to die. Because of the infernal realms in which Dian Mo had sent him, Cao Yun had been forced to advance his Qi cultivation earlier than he should have. Only a few months would have suffice for him to safely open his Bai Hui. But he had done so recklessly because of the emergency. As such, it had been damaged. Apparently the Drop of Wrath and his improved mind cultivation had both tried to do something about it. But even Cao Yun was not entirely sure what they had done.
Since then, he had barely had enough time to breathe. Just after this wound, Dian Mo tried to take over his soul and once again passed through his Bai Hui. When he should have had some time to meditate while he was healing, Mo Zi barged into the Demon Palace with his brothers chasing after him. Once more, he had been forced to focus his strength in order to heal his flesh and not his Bai Hui. During the ensuing fight, against his better judgment, Cao Yun found no other solution than abusing his Bai Hui to amplify his Qi Manifestation and win.
In Cao Yun's sea of consciousness, there was chaos right now. Thankfully, his mind cultivation was extremely stable. Although the ocean was in a storm, the Nine Soul Peaks were standing firm. Cao Yun was not even sure something could take them down apart from a Sage or an even higher cultivator who would attack his very soul. In the sky above, the Azure Dragon was now fully formed. Of course, this was only a silhouette formed by the seven stars, but it was there. And the Drop of Wrath was calm. A part of it was still binding Dian Mo to one of the Nine Soul Peaks.
In fact, Cao Yun had been worried about Dian Mo trying to take advantage of his moment of weakness. But Dian Mo was eerily calm as well. And Cao Yun could not imagine for one second that he had forgone his ambition of taking over his body. Although Cao Yun was human, he had a bloodline that even demons would envy. Indeed, Dian Mo wanted his body even more than before. But thanks to what he had seen outside, he knew exactly what the demonic cultivators were doing and he knew how to get out of this situation. At one point, Cao Yun would be forced to make a deal with him. Until then, he just had to make sure that Cao Yun was hurt but alive.
His current agony was a very good news for Dian Mo as it would limit his options. And he preferred not to add anything to the mix. He was a very patient spirit.
Sensing the death of their comrade, the other demonic cultivators all reacted differently. Neng Lue became even more aggressive against Ren Chao. Despite all her frustration and rage though, this simple Mortal's physical strength was just beyond her abilities. And she still couldn't keep her Qi calm enough to even manifest it. The blows from Ren Chao were so fierce, they vibrated through all her bones and meridians. With each one of them, her Qi was sent into turmoil.
On the other hand, Wang Jinhua had accepted her fate. She was too weak to even get out of the 'Ten Thousand Thorns'. Either Mo Zi would save her or her seals would activate and she would die in horrifying agony. Now, even her spirit had been broken.
Finally, Mo Zi was more worried by the wall being destroyed during the fight. The true void outside of the Demon Palace was consuming it faster and faster. Before long, everything and everyone within the Demon Palace would cease to be. It wouldn't be very different from being destroyed by the seals planted by his master. Hopefully, it would be faster and less painful, but his very soul would also be destroyed. Even space and time could not survive in the true void. This wasn't the mere vacuum of space.
Unfortunately, he was at the end of his rope there. To complete his mission, he had used every card his master had given him. Even now, he was trying to use his last array formation plate to set up the Eightfold Torrents array formation. But Sun Liao was thwarting his plans. Although he was weaker, Sun Liao was annoyingly smarter. Chief Elder Suxian had prepared him to becoming a 5-star Human array formation. The only thing he was missing was the cultivation. In less than a year, he would get there. And with Cao Yun's mind cultivation and his new ability of getting inside his sea of consciousness, he might even be able to imitate a Heaven array formation master to some degree.
Just like Sun Liao, Mei Hua was also an exceptional genius. Since she had broken through to the Mortal Warrior realm, she was now, for all intents and purposes, equal to a 5-star Human alchemist. And if she pushed it a bit, she would indeed be a 1-star Heaven alchemist. Right now, she was still playing her guqin. But her goal had changed. She was now focusing some of her music on Cao Yun while giving support to Ren Chao and Sun Liao. Her melody was harmonious and could appease the mind. As such, it helped all of them keep their head cool. Thanks to her, they had a huge advantage on the demonic cultivators who were exhausted physically and mentally.
On the other hand, Mei Hua had been able to identify Cao Yun's problem. With her perception, it wasn't hard for her to sense that his Bai Hui had been completely destabilized. Because she wasn't a physician, she couldn't be sure of the actual damage, but she knew it was critical. If he kept on forcing on it, it might never heal properly or at all. However, she was also optimistic because she could sense a powerful vitality emanating from Cao Yun. She wasn't sure what it was, but his blood had changed a lot.
Mo Zi was about to try one final idea when he halted everything. A devious smile appeared on his face.
"It seems like my master is happy with me."
A blood javelin pierced through the void and went straight into the Demon Palace. The entire roof exploded and the void began to invade the whole palace. Right now, the javelin was stuck in the floor as though it was waiting for something. Without any hesitation, Mo Zi ran toward the blood javelin with all of his strength, even pulling the blood runes back into his body to increase the strength of his legs.
"Stop him! Don't let him touch it!"
Sun Liao had understood right away. And he screamed as much as he could. At the same time, he changed his strategy.
"Diri and Chunsheng."
For now, he still couldn't manifest his Qi with the mantras of his 'Houyi's Nine Suns' beyond the three first ones. However, that didn't stop him from using any other mantra. From the arrow he shot, many small arrows pierced the air. They were directed at specific positions to try and impede Mo Zi's movements. It was effective but not nearly enough. Mo Zi just accepted to receive several arrows if it meant getting to the javelin fast enough.
Ren Chao was too busy with Neng Lue, but Mei Hua was completely free. And she had understood what her brother was hinting at. Suddenly, her melody changed completely. It became faster and more aggressive.
'Worldly Crane's Nest'!
All of a sudden, Mo Zi found himself in a nest. He was surrounded by small twigs, weeds, grasses and various plants. The nest didn't seem very vast and all around it, there was something that was impossible to understand. This was either water or air, even Mo Zi could not see through it. Around the nest was a vast expense of pure azure. But it wasn't very important, because no matter how long he was running, he was unable to exit the nest. In the real world, he was simply moving in a circle. This was an illusion caused by Mei Hua's attacks. Usually only Spirit Warriors could attack the soul. But 'Otherworldly White Crane' was a martial art practiced by her master. It required a very profound mind cultivation, but as long as one was able to send Qi into the melody, it could induce many mental effects. In fact, it was theoretically possible to even impact the soul.
Unfortunately, Mo Zi was an array formation expert so this kind of illusion would not keep him distracted for very long.
Both Sun Liao, Mei Hua and Cao Yun knew that. Ren Chao was keeping Neng Lue busy. Seeing Mo Zi running around, she had become much more anxious to end the fight but she still couldn't find any opening to use her Qi Manifestation and be done with this annoying brute.
Although Cao Yun should not have been moving around right now, he had no other choice because the Demon Palace was being destroyed and he had to help his brothers or die with them. Sun Liao immediately took out his compass and examined the blood javelin. He had been right, this contained some kind of array formation that would allow the group to exit the Palace of Supreme Wisdom. He had recognized it quickly because it was similar to what the demonic cultivators had been using to pierce through the void and enter the Demon Palace.
From what he could see, the key to activate this array formation were the blood runes. And as much as he was trying to, there was no clue to save his fellow disciples still trapped in an unstable realm. If he couldn't get them out, all of them would die crushed when the realm would ultimately collapse. However, he was forced to make a decision. The only solution he could think of required for him the leave as fast as possible. If he stayed there trying to figure out something else, he might just die with the others without being able to help at all.
The problem was that he had no way of using the blood runes. They were pure Evil Qi and they were under Mo Zi's control. Maybe they could use the blood runes from Wang Jinhua but Mo Zi had the ability to take over as he had already done to create the blood needle.
With no time to think, Sun Liao exposed his problem to his brothers.
"This javelin can take us out. But I need to control the blood runes to activate this thing. Any ideas?"
"Let me do it!"
Cao Yun was decisive. Despite his current condition, he was the only one who could control blood runes. As soon as he spoke, Mei Hua and Sun Liao looked at him. Although Sun Liao was still a Mortal, he could tell that there was something wrong with Cao Yun. On the other hand, Mei Hua knew exactly what was the problem.
"Brother Chen, your Bai Hui will..."
Because she had been distracted for an instant, Mo Zi broke Mei Hua's 'Worldly Crane's Nest'. He did not even try to boast or anything. His life was hanging in the balance and he ran toward the bloody javelin. In his hand, a blood rune appeared. He was going to activate the array formation and exit alone.
At that moment, Cao Yun activated his blood and his 'Dragon's Heart'. Then he used 'The Dragon's Belly is Contorted'. Trying to mobilize as little Qi as possible, along Cao Yun's movements, a long Azure Dragon manifested itself. It was constricting all around Mo Zi in order to seal his path.
Before he could try and break the technique, Mo Zi was met with the 'Tainted Heavenly Pillar'. Now in Cao Yun's hands, the spear appeared to be even bloodier than before. It was a weapon of slaughter and massacre.
'The Pillar Piercing the Sky'!
Using 'Dragon's Heart' at the same time, this simple stab became way more dangerous in Mo Zi's eyes. He had no time to think and Mo Zi conjured up some of his blood runes. The only thing he had in mind was to get to the bloody javelin. All around him, he could see the Demon Palace being consumed. As long as he got there, he would be taken to safety and all his enemies would die a miserable death.
At the moment his blood runes appeared, Cao Yun ceased his attack. He had used his Spear Aura to induce more fear into Mo Zi who had already been shaken by Mei Hua's technique. His mind was still unstable right now. In fact, he had even forgotten what his master had told him about Cao Yun. But when he saw his hand grab one of his blood runes, he remembered all of it. Cao Yun had somehow consumed Luduo Bu's blood runes. Although Mo Zi thought Luduo Bu was a brute and an idiot just good enough to experiment on, he knew that not anyone could have taken his blood runes.
Right now, Cao Yun was trying to do the same to him.
The worse part was that it worked. Mo Zi had not enough time to retract his blood rune. As soon as Cao Yun touched it, all the blood runes inside Mo Zi's body started to react as well. It was as though they had met their worst enemy and were cowering in fear. That enemy was the Drop of Wrath within Cao Yun's heart.
This time, Cao Yun spared his Bai Hui. He could still feel the worst pain he had ever felt stabbing the summit of his skull and even reaching into his Upper Dantian. But he focused only on his blood and the Drop of Wrath. He could immediately feel all the blood runes connected to the one he had. With a sudden jerk, he pulled on it. All the blood runes within Mo Zi exited his body. They left his body causing intense pain but they created no wound whatsoever.
Feeling almost all of his strength exiting his body, Mo Zi fell to the ground in despair.
"Brother, tell me what to do with them!"
Everyone was dumbfounded, not just the demonic cultivators. Cao Yun was holding Evil Qi with his bare hand and seemed to have more control on it than their own master.