During his time in the Palace of Supreme Wisdom, Cao Yun had been able to experiment with seals on demonic cultivators. By using his knowledge of 'Blood Runes' he had obtained after fighting Luduo Bu, of Evil Qi, and of Death Energy, he had deciphered a few of those seals. However, it had been rather instinctive. As such, this was still very unstable and very unclear in his mind. Despite all the books he had just read, he could not immediately formulate a perfect vision of what seals were.
Some seals were made with blood and were literally physical. In fact, even artifacts could be sealed or used as seals. For example, the Devil's Jail in itself was also a form of seal. Other seals were made of energy, like Qi, Evil Qi or Death Energy. There were probably other kinds of seals as well. In fact, Cao Yun knew that array formations could also be used to seal things. And the Devil's Jail had array formations on and in it, thus it combined different forms of seals. His 'Ashen Feather Seal' was also a form of seal made from energy.
Those seals were immaterial but could be felt and were somewhere in the physical body of the sealed demonic cultivator. However, there were also seals that could be placed in their minds or their very souls. Against those seals, Cao Yun had only been able to use his 'Ashen Feather Seal' to hide it from whoever had created it. Thanks to that and the intent from the Drop of Wrath, he had been able to cancel their effect for a little time. But in the end, they got activated anyway. After all, even Xiao Xuefeng had a hard time dealing with them, so it was not surprising that Cao Yun had been unable to completely wipe them out.
Dian Mo was not very useful on that matter but he did speak about 'Blood Runes'.
"While humans use array formations a lot, demons mainly rely on blood runes. The method used by those demonic cultivators is a very crude adaptation of this concept for humans. Demons can model their own blood but also the blood of others. As Qi circulates strongly in their blood, altering the blood itself by giving it a shape will create various effects. This is the same principle behind array formations. But the effects will also vary depending on the blood itself.
"And unlike array formations, you don't need to take the environment into consideration at all. Of course, it can also help you create better blood runes, but usually it's not that useful. The main difference with array formations is that those blood runes can be kept on hands and used when you need you. Once they're created, you don't need to set up a complex array formation. In fact, they could be compared with array formation plates in that regard.
"Their effects are very numerous. For example, they can just be used to strengthen your muscles, your flesh. They can be used to create powerful attacks. I remember a demon who used blood runes to cause explosions in the middle of a fight. Each time a drop of blood left his body, his opponent could not know whether this blood was going to explode to his face or not. Even without actually detonating his blood runes, he could get an advantage on his opponent."
The subject really interested Cao Yun, but it was not really helpful for his current problem. Demonic cultivators were not that good with blood runes. Their 'Blood Runes' method was a pale imitation of that as those blood runes were very limited. It had been created to allow humans to produce blood runes without the blood cultivation of demons. But as it was still young, this method didn't allow a wide variety of blood runes and it even limited to number of blood runes one could forge and use.
Against the blood runes produced by demonic cultivators, Cao Yun had no problem at all. Maybe he might face some hardships against the blood runes of a real demon though. For now, it was part of his considerations, even though the demons were getting more and more dangerous at the borders.
Since he was done reading the books of Sect Leader Xuan, he bade him farewell. As soon as he bowed and announced he was leaving, Sect Leader Xuan appeared in front of Cao Yun. His entire library returned into his spatial ring. In its stead, Cao Yun saw a tiny sphere he recognized immediately. It was a Spirit Condensation Barrier, the same shielding charm Xiao Xuefeng had given him. Without it, he would have been killed by Can Mouye several times.
"You already know this artifact. What you probably do not know is that this Spirit Condensation Barrier requires one to split a tiny part of his soul to make it. This is the reason why it's so rare and can't be produced often. Spirit Master Xiao is still young, her soul will recover over time. But if she were to create more than one every other century, it would have a dire impact on her cultivation. This Spirit Condensation Barrier is mine. I already created it a few decades ago in case I took in a disciple. Well, I did.
"Thus, this Spirit Condensation Barrier is yours. I put a larger part of my soul inside because, let's be honest, I'm old. I have very little hope of breaking through. And I'll probably be dead before I can even make another one, so this Spirit Condensation Barrier is the most powerful you can possess. Only use it if your life is in absolute danger. This is not something that can be wasted. Once you use it, you probably won't ever get another protection as powerful."
A Spirit Condensation Barrier was a very rare object indeed and Cao Yun had never read anything about it. When he had used it, he had not been able to sense what it was. But now he realized how precious it was. Xiao Xuefeng had ripped away a part of her soul to make it. Yet, she had given it to him. That showed how much she valued him. And now, that showed how much Sect Leader Xuan valued him.
His first instinct was to refuse the gift once more. This bad habit of his was still present. Xiao Xuefeng had told him never to punch a gift horse in the mouth. And she was absolutely right. Although his stealth could protect him to some extent, this Spirit Condensation Barrier was an absolute defense. Since it came from the strongest cultivator in the Hongchen Kingdom, almost no one would be able to destroy this barrier. Even Emperor Weide would probably take a few minutes, or even hours, to break it down.
"Thank you, Sect Leader. This humble disciple will make sure to use it wisely. You won't regret it."
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After leaving the Sect Palace, Cao Yun went directly to the soul and mind pavilion to learn more about seals. He was also interested in mental attacks as the ones he had seen Zhi Yin and Long Huafang use.
His goals were many. Getting a form of mental attack would be useful in itself and would also help him defend against them without relying too much on his Drop of Wrath. But to be honest, he was mostly curious. His other goals were to to improve his 'Ashen Feather Seal' and to find ways to neutralize or even get rid of seals created by demonic cultivators.
As soon as he got to the pavilion, everyone recognized him. A servant immediately went to the chief elder in charge of the soul and mind pavilion, Chief Elder Lümian.
Like all the other chief elders, she knew what Cao Yun had done during the battle against Mo Tian and Da Mo's body. As such, she was very respectful. Without this young man, the Wubei Sect might have really fallen. At least, she was certain that she would have died. Thus, she lead him into her private study. Sect Leader Xuan had already told her what Cao Yun was here for. With his spiritual senses, he could cover the entire Wubei Sect from his Sect Palace and the array formations within.
"Chen Guo, read this first."
Cao Yun received a few pages handwritten by Chief Elder Lümian.
"Unlike alchemist or array formation master, seal master is not an official occupation. As such, it's not as codified. There are no official grades and no official principles. The main problem is that seals can be almost anything. Personally, I specialize in seals to the soul and mind. I heard that those are specifically the seals that cause you trouble. And that's understandable. Although I've spent a long time working on them, I would never say that I could destroy one of them without any consequences to the person afflicted with it.
"Those seals can have various degrees of potency and many usages. For example, some seals are meant to completely erase the sea of consciousness if it feels like the cultivator is about to betray the creator of the seal. But then, how does the seal know? Once again, there are many answers and varying degrees of seals. A seal can literally have a tiny part of the creator's soul in it. Of course, those seals are exceedingly rare and can't be put into everyone.
"A lesser form of such a seal would be to inject one's intent into the seal. Let's take an example. If I want you to never expose my identity, I could use my intent to focus on this thought and integrate it inside your own mind. That way, it would be your own thoughts that would trigger the seal based on my strong intent. It's less damaging than literally ripping away a part of your soul, but that still takes a toll to create such a seal.
"Apparently, most demonic cultivators have a seal I had never seen before in them. By using Evil Qi, they created something inside their sea of consciousness. As soon as they feel like they are betraying the demonic cultivators, the disciples unknowingly trigger this. Then, Evil Qi seeps through their entire sea of consciousness and destroys everything. With Spirit Master Xiao, we've analyzed it. It seems like they are literally using the regret and the negative emotions intertwined with the Qi as though it was a form of intent.
"In a sense, it could be seen as possessing their disciple with the regret and resentment of the dead. It is as though there were a ghost in them that would only awaken if the disciple feels guilty or even afraid enough that it would activate. It's ingenious. But it also means that the only way to get rid of this seal is to either make sure that the disciple completely forgets about it, or to completely unravel the complex structure of the Evil Qi."
Those explanations made sense to Cao Yun. But more than that, they gave him ideas on how to deal with it. Since his control over Evil Qi was so good, he might be able to pull it off. The only problem was that he could not enter someone else's sea of consciousness. Indeed, within his own body and mind, that was not a problem at all because he could use the Drop of Wrath. But outside, even by projecting its intent, it couldn't enter someone else's mind, only spiritual senses could.
Cao Yun got a strange idea though. He could work on it in his own mind. He could absorb Evil Qi and let Dian Mo mess around with it before trying to unravel it safely. Of course, this was a wild idea because Dian Mo could take advantage of it to create a trap for him. But if he caused harm to Cao Yun, it would ultimately affect Dian Mo as well. And Cao Yun could not yet manipulate Evil Qi to the point of forming a seal. His Drop of Wrath could just get rid of the regret and resentment, not model it. However, he had started to work on manipulating Evil Qi thanks to the Chamber of Medicine Field.
For now, the young man did not talk about this to Dian Mo, but he got the exact same idea.
As he was still in Chief Elder Lümian's private study, he talked with her about doubts he had while reading her personal notes. And she was impressed by how fast he had understood what she had written down. There was no surprise Xiao Xuefeng had favored that boy. He wasn't just powerful, he was curious and smart. In fact, he was probably powerful because he was curious and smart.
She had heard that he was interested in mental attacks and she had thought of a good technique for him. Until now though, she had been hesitant to give it to him but he might actually be able to use it even though he wasn't a Spirit Warrior yet. If that were the case, it would be very useful to him.
"Here, take this."
Before he realized it, there was a small jade slip levitating before his eyes. He touched it and injected his Qi within. With the Qi, he was able to read the content of the jade slip by following the carvings within. It contained a technique known as 'Weeping Demon'. This was a form of mental and spiritual attack. Since his fight with Zhi Yin, Cao Yun had been curious about those and he intended to ask for such a technique. However, Chief Elder Lümian had been faster than he was.
"It seems like you don't really need my help. But if you ever have any question, do not hesitate to ask me or Spirit Master Xiao. We would both be delighted to discuss this topic with you."
As she was done speaking, she left, leaving Cao Yun alone in her private study.
Looking through this 'Weeping Demon', Cao Yun was surprised as it seemed to be perfect to go along his 'Sealing the Seven Demons in the Nine Peaks'. But he was certain that Chief Elder Lümian had no idea what his mind cultivation was. Of course, she had talked to Xiao Xuefeng beforehand. Although she did not know the specifics of Cao Yun's mind cultivation, it was obvious that it was powerful. She had to admit that she was incredibly curious about it, but she had controlled herself. After all, he was the new Young Sect Master.
This 'Weeping Demon' was able to use one's own Po against an opponent. By using one's own emotions in relation with his Po, a cultivator could induce terrible emotional sways in his enemies. There were several layers to this technique. And the first one could be practiced, in theory at least, by a Mortal Warrior. It was called 'Bleeding Eyes'. Just like Zhi Yin's new 'Drowning in the Lake of Heaven' or Long Huafang's 'The Moon in the Eye', it was a technique that would attack someone's mind. But it didn't require the user to send his own soul or mind into the opponent's sea of consciousness. It was more like an intimidating aura.