Just before leaving the physician pavilion, Cao Yun had to get ready. He could still feel his Bai Hui that had been severely damaged. Hopefully, this wouldn't cause too much of a problem for him. In order to activate the Devil's Jail's ultimate array formation, he had to get close to it and then use his blood. But for that, he had to stay undetected by Mo Tian who was slowly fusing with Da Mo's body. No one could know for sure what the result of this operation would be. Maybe his perception would be reduced while he was focusing on the process. Or maybe it would be increased by Da Mo's body. After all, he was currently an Exalted Demon.
Thankfully, Da Mo's body had not yet reached the stage of Reborn Demon the real Da Mo had reached in his life. Otherwise, they would have probably all been killed fairly quickly, even with the suppression of the Devil's Jail.
Right now, Mo Tian had focused all his efforts on fusing with Da Mo's body so that he could get him out of the Devil's Jail as soon as possible. And the chief elders had momentarily reduced their efforts. It was obvious for everyone that they were getting ready for one final assault. But they had to focus their strength before that.
Just as Cao Yun was about to leave the room in order to find some place to meditate, Sect Leader Xuan's voice resounded once more.
"If everything works as intended, no one will ever know that Chen Guo was involved in Mo Tian's demise. And I ask of you that this holds true. If he fails, we won't be alive to tell the tale. But if he succeeds, no one can know that a Mortal helped take down a 9th-grade Spirit Warrior and the body of an Exalted Demon. We still don't know whether Mo Tian is the Demon King or his subordinate. If demonic cultivators were to learn of that, they would surely focus all their efforts on killing Chen Guo. And a young cultivator would never live up to his potential if he stays cooped up in a sect with no chance to train outside."
"Of course, Sect Leader."
Obviously, Cao Yun's brothers and sister agreed without any problem. Elder Meng was also very proud of his student and didn't need Sect Leader Xuan's words to know what shouldn't be told. Although he would have loved for Cao Yun to receive many praises, he knew that Sect Leader Xuan would reward him the same. Finally, Chief Elder Qinghe had already decided that he would not talk about anything concerning Cao Yun with anyone else other than Sect Leader Xuan.
"Then, there is the problem of the third-years. Chief Elder Suxian, are you certain that you can help them out?"
"Yes, as long as I can get to the Palace of Supreme Wisdom, I am confident in my ability to do so."
"Fine. Thankfully, the Palace of Supreme Wisdom has been deserted by the traitors. If you need anyone with you, tell me. For now, Sun Liao will accompany you." In Sect Leader Xuan's voice, one could sense some emotion. He had a vague idea of what Chief Elder Suxian was preparing to do and thought it a good idea for his disciple to be by his side at that moment. "Ren Chao, we need all the hands we can spare. You'll join Chief Instructor Peng in the defense of the physician pavilion. Mei Hua, you will assist Elder Meng and Chief Elder Qinghe in treating the wounded."
"This humble one accepts Sect Leader Xuan's orders."
"This humble one accepts Sect Leader Xuan's orders."
As everyone had something to do in that crisis, Cao Yun finally left the room and found a small chamber in which he could meditate. He had very little time, but he absolutely had to calm down his Bai Hui. The pain was so intense, his head kept on vibrating. The sensation of pain was not just in his flesh or he could have used his mind cultivation to completely push it aside, although it wasn't very healthy. However, the pain was in his very soul as well. Forcing the opening of his Bai Hui had been the worst decision he had ever made, but he had had no choice in the matter. Had he done otherwise, he would be dead, and Dian Mo would certainly be possessing his body.
Unfortunately, even Chief Elder Qinghe had no way of soothing his pain. Besides, they had no time either way. No one could predict when Mo Tian would be done. However, once he was, everything would be over. If Da Mo's body were to completely escape form the Devil's Jail, even all the 9th-grade Spirit Warriors of the Hongchen Kingdom would be powerless against him.
While he was meditating, Cao Yun felt something. His Bai Hui had been somewhat repaired by his Drop of Wrath. But the repair was very rustic. It had only allowed him not to die back then. However, it couldn't maintain the acupoint functional. In fact, it had even caused numerous other problems. Unfortunately, Cao Yun had no idea how to deal with it. That being said, he sensed something familiar. The Drop of Wrath had been trying to tell him something. And his mind cultivation was giving him a strange impression. He knew that he was forgetting something. He knew that he had the solution. This was more like an intuition, but it was extremely powerful.
Then, it finally clicked. In the Death Yellow World, he had found something that could potentially help him now. It had saved Huang Liyue's life and could help him out in his plight. But he wasn't sure how to use it or what to do with it. Since it had some connection with Cleansed Asura, his Drop of Wrath apparently had some relation with it as well. And because it was alive, Cao Yun had not been able to put it in his spatial ring. Right now, it was in the alchemy pavilion. Indeed, as a third-year, he had no personal quarter this yer. He could have left it in the Heavenly Swallow Faction but he had preferred the safety of the alchemy pavilion, knowing Xiao Xuefeng was in charge.
Although he wasn't sure of its effects, he was convinced that it would help him restore his Bai Hui at least partially. He couldn't be sure whether that would be enough or not. Anyway, he decided to listen to his intuition. Thankfully, the alchemy pavilion was close to the physician pavilion. In fact, it was literally on the way to the Devil's Jail. Thus, it wouldn't take him much time. However, on the way, there was much chaos. Thankfully, most of the fights were around the physician pavilion. Indeed, after Da Mo's body got out of the Devil's Jail, a huge portion of this part of the Wubei Sect had been destroyed. And now the traitors were targeting the physician pavilion in order to prevent the orthodox cultivators from being treated.
Hopefully, Cao Yun could leave undetected, pass by the alchemy pavilion, retrieve what he needed, repair as much of his Bai Hui as possible in a short amount of time and then finally get to the Devil's Jail. The plan was very clear in his head. But he still didn't really know what he would do precisely while inside the alchemy pavilion or while inside the Devil's Jail. He would burn those bridges when he got to them.
Cao Yun activated his 'Ashen Feather Seal' to the maximum and set out toward the alchemy pavilion.
When he left, he saw dozens of disciples and instructors defending the physician pavilion. Leading them was Chief Instructor Peng. The middle-aged man was covered in blood, most of it belonging to others. But he still had some impressive wounds on his flesh. From them, black veins were spreading while some physicians were working on antidotes behind him. All around him, there was a set of the Eighteen Classical Weapons flying all over the place. He was moving alongside them. Each time, he would appear beside a weapon and then immediately in front of one of the traitors while brandishing this weapon. Chief Instructor Peng had mastered them all to the level of Martial Intent. Even if he wasn't using any martial art, he would be deadly. But he was using martial arts and even Qi Manifestations at the same time.
Alone, he was a one man army. Yet, he still had the help of several other cultivators. Among them was Ren Chao. He had been able to wrestle against a 6th-grade Mortal Warrior. He would never lose a contest of strength with any of the traitors besieging the physician pavilion. From time to time, they had to clear a way for some wounded disciple to get in. But most of the time, they were just defending. Thus, Ren Chao's presence was a huge help in that situation. Although he could not beat the traitors, they would have a hard time passing him.
While he was leaving, Cao Yun was cautious. No one seemed to notice him. But for a split second, he felt Chief Instructor Peng's eyes on him. He was too familiar with the man not to recognize it. That meant that his stealth was not good enough. And Cao Yun could tell that it was inferior to what he had been able to do beforehand. It was not that different, but his injury had clearly reduced his ability to control the technique. According to logic, he should have been more proficient with time, not less. Indeed, not only had his Qi cultivation progress, his mind cultivation had too. However, the injury was just too severe. Trying to take care of it was the right decision. Otherwise, the plan would never work out.
At the same moment, Sun Liao also left the physician pavilion with Chief Elder Suxian. The Soul Embryo could use his own spiritual senses to try and hide Sun Liao. Against a 9th-grade Spirit Warrior like Mo Tian, this wouldn't have worked but against the traitors down below, this was easy. Chief Elder Suxian's stealth was not on par with Huang Liyue's personal achievement. But it wasn't necessary for what he was doing right now.
Sun Liao and Chief Elder Suxian easily went in the direction of the Palace of Supreme Wisdom. The young disciple could imagine what his master had in mind, but there was no other choice...
-
Cao Yun crossed a lot of rubble. The sect he had spent several years in was now in ruins. Most of the damage was concentrated around the Devil's Jail but the radius was rather large. And even in the periphery, the demonic cultivators were causing a lot of destruction as well. Once Mo Tian was dealt with, Sect Leader Xuan and the chief elders would easily get things under control though. Although the situation was critical, at least all the traitors had revealed themselves. This was their master plan after all. No one would remain hidden for this part of their scheme.
If the Wubei Sect could survive, they would root out every single traitor. And they could even find more about the demonic cultivators and the Demon King.
For now though, Cao Yun was fully focused on his mission. And without any problem at all, he was able to enter the alchemy pavilion. Almost everything was destroyed. And he even saw several corpses. Some disciples had been within the pavilion when pieces of the Devil's Jail had taken it down. Cao Yun had no time to lose but he still tried to check whether they were all really dead. He recognized many faces, including Guo Lüye. She was a fourth-year now and had reached the stage of 1-star Human alchemist. He remembered the first time they had met, she had almost thrown him out of the alchemy pavilion. But since then, she had always been pleasant and helpful, and not just to compensate for this first impression.
The poor woman had her hair dyed in blood. Some part of the building had crushed her abdomen. She was utterly dead. Cao Yun could still see a look of incomprehension on her face. Passing by her, he closed her eyes and said a few words. Dying in such a way was an indignity for a cultivator. She was literally just collateral damage. Cao Yun's rage peaked. Mo Tian had been behind a lot of what had happened to him. Although it was possible that demonic cultivators had nothing to do with his family's massacre, they had committed many atrocities nonetheless. Once again, Cao Yun's determination to get rid of their filth had been renewed.
Walking through the rubble, Cao Yun found the safe he had used to protect his possession. Spatial rings could only hold dead or inanimate things. If one were to try and put a living organism inside, it would simply die. And what Cao Yun wanted to retrieve was alive.
Thankfully, the metallic safe had survived the collapse of the alchemy pavilion. Cao Yun finally got what he had been looking for. There was a tiny seed. This was the seed from the world tree where Cleansed Asura had hidden his soul for a while. Cao Yun had lived through a huge part of the world tree's existence by experimenting his memories. And the world tree was also connected to both Cleansed Asura and his Drop of Wrath because it had been within Cleansed Asura's sea of consciousness.
The moment he touched the seed, Cao Yun sensed his Drop of Wrath react. It was trying to pull the seed toward itself. The young cultivator had heard that some powerful cultivators could integrate physical objects inside their sea of consciousness, but he had never thought it would happen to him. And he was a bit apprehensive.
"Let it work its magic!" Dian Mo's voice resounded. "If you die, you're useless to me. Hell, I'll probably die with you. So you can trust me when I tell you that you have to let this blood absorb the seed you hold. It should be able to fully heal your Bai Hui. Trust me!"
"Trust you?!" Cao Yun almost laughed out loud.
But what Dian Mo said was true. He still wanted a new body. At worst, Dian Mo would try to overtake Cao Yun's body. But he wouldn't try to get him killed.
Besides, Cao Yun had a certain level of trust in the Drop of Wrath. And he had established a powerful connection with it. Thus, he decided to keep trusting it. He completely let go of his defense. All of a sudden, the seed disappeared and entered his sea of consciousness. This was very strange. His sea of consciousness was acting as though it were a spatial ring, but the seed was alive and had stayed alive. As soon as it entered, the seed went toward the Drop of Wrath. It was full of vitality.