Although it was faint and lacked strength, that voice was undoubtedly Dian Mo's voice. While still full of exhilaration, Cao Yun turned most of his intent inwards. Of course, a part of his intention was still with his newly formed Golden Blood as it was circulating in his veins, bringing force and vitality everywhere. This was a heavenly pleasure, like a parched man suddenly drinking crystalline water.
"Boy, I didn't mean to divert you from enjoying your reward. It seems that I was out for a lot longer than I thought... You'll have to bring me up to date."
"Dian Mo? How are you?"
Just as he was asking, Cao Yun immediately sent his senses all over the Demon Palace. His joy receded when he realized that the last shreds of Mo Wang's soul and spirit were still there. But they were clearly weaker than before. That being said, the mere fact that Dian Mo had not yet been able to completely get rid of them was worrisome.
"I don't know what that bastard found in Da Mo's library, but it sure helped him put up a good fight. In fact, he might even have found documents related to myself. I can't explain how much damage he's been able to do in any other way. I don't want to brag, but even a 9th-grade Spirit Warrior should have had a harder time doing so. Well... maybe your Xiao Xuefeng might have..."
The more he spoke, the more Cao Yun realized how weak he was. Even in his sea of consciousness, his voice was weak even though speaking didn't require to have any form of physical strength. Clearly, his spirit had been greatly damaged. But Dian Mo was a spirit. He had no physical form, so it was his very being that had been damaged. Obviously, Cao Yun could imagine how he had to feel.
"Is there any way for me to help you recover?"
"He he he... It seems like you've missed me... Well, boy, just by improving your blood, you've helped me a great deal. All that vitality woke me up. I should be able to recover naturally over time. To tell the truth, I don't think that young bastard has any fight left in him. Soon, I should be able to crack his remnants open. Then, I'll sift through what remains of his memories to know more about what he had discovered. That might even assist you later on. But first, tell me, really, how long was I out for?"
Thus, Cao Yun began to count everything that had happened. In fact, it was useful for him too. That allowed the young man to clarify his thoughts and his plans. Dian Mo barely reacted but there was no doubt that he was listening closely to every detail. Sometimes, Cao Yun could feel his attention drifting away so he paused for a while. Finally, they reached the end of Cao Yun's story.
"Boy, you're insane! But it might be worth it. In fact, it's slightly less suicidal than charging straight forward to get your sister back. By the way, you shouldn't worry too much. That bastard Weide won't harm her neither physically nor mentally. My guess is that he used some kind of mental block to keep her previous memories, like a form of trauma. Considering what probably happened to her if we look at her scars, it seems to be the case. But now, he won't do anything that might endanger her cultivation. Besides, he won't simply harvest her Soul Embryo as a mere 1st-grade Spirit Warrior. He'll wait for her to be at the very least a 4th-grade Spirit Warrior, maybe even a 5th-grade one. Most likely, he'll kill her just before she starts to imbue her own soul into it."
"In other words, it should take several decades."
"Yes. Even if he has ways to speed things up, he won't risk the stability of her cultivation. And thankfully, he won't try to have her produce any offspring. First of all, only the women in her family have this specific Soul Embryo. And even then, he can't know for sure whether all women will have that, and how pronounced it could be. Look at the Huang family, not every woman in their genealogy has the same degree of True Fiery Fenghuang blood. But carrying a child would obviously slow down her cultivation for some time and might even cause other problems. The first problem would be if he were to force her of course. That would have a huge impact on her mind and thus her cultivation."
"I'm not too sure whether you're trying to comfort or worry me by talking about that bastard whom she thinks is her dad abusing her, or having someone else abuse her..."
"Boy, precisely, I'm telling it won't happen!"
Cao Yun had known most of it, but it was nice to have a second opinion who agreed with him. Although Dian Mo wasn't neutral since he didn't want Cao Yun to run to his death, which would be his, Cao Yun knew he wasn't lying. In fact, he wasn't sure whether he could lie in his current state. That being said, he had now images he had tried to keep out of his mind, both of what Cao Huiying had suffered through when first abducted and of what kind of abuse Weide might inflict upon her to produce an offspring. Even though, he knew this wouldn't happen, thinking about the possibility had brought forth mental images that were revolting and fed his anger and shame.
"Boy, I also have to warn you. I'm not sure I'll be able to stay conscious all the time. Besides, do not count on me for any trick. I can share my knowledge, but that's more or less it."
"I understand. And I do need your knowledge."
Considering Dian Mo's state, the young man didn't press too much. He simply asked very simple questions about demons and their culture to get an even better idea of things. Unfortunately, he had never heard of Weaver of Souls. But Demon God Da Mo had many lieutenants and Dian Mo had not be privy to everything that happened during the Great War. Speaking of Demon God Da Mo, Cao Yun also realized that Dian Mo had stopped referring to him as 'Demon God'.
After that, he enjoyed his new blood cultivation for some time. With this Golden Blood, he would clearly improve his Qi cultivation as well. Tempering both his meridians and his vessels would be much easier. In fact, even as his Golden Blood was coursing through his veins, he could feel some more Fire Qi entering his Middle Dantian. By pushing his flames to the limit, he had created a lot of Fire Qi that had left his blood. There had been so much energy that not all of it fused with his new Golden Blood. Thus, his Middle Dantian was getting closer and closer to being full of Fire Qi. In fact, more than half of his chambers were already brimming with Fire Qi.
Slowly, that Fire Qi would also enter into the rest of the chambers. But with his Golden Blood, he might even try other methods. By altering his 'Storms in the Crimson Furnace' blood cultivation, he might be able to speed up the process. Besides, he also knew of several postures and routines that might be helpful. Sensing that his Qi cultivation could advance even faster than he thought, he was looking forward to testing it all. Unfortunately, he had to do it in a remote area where no one could uncover his meridians.
-
Finally, Cao Yun left his cultivation room as a middle Golden Blood Child. During this new stage of his blood cultivation, he would practice 'Flows Take the Gold'. It was clear enough as it consisted in being able to fully control one's Golden Blood. It was way heavier than normal blood and incredible rich in Qi and Jing. Obviously Qi was precious, but Jing was much more precious than it. Thus, Cao Yun had to learn to use his Golden Blood without wasting his Jing. Even though they were intertwined, he had to rely more on his Qi, while allowing his Jing to naturally replenish the Qi he was using. Some explained it as circulating mercury in one's body.
For that practice, there were also routines and strange postures as well as various exercises to control one's mind. Most of them consisted in visualizing Golden Blood as different things, like mercury for example. Cao Yun was much more interested by the use of blood runes he had already met several times. But he also had the marks in Xixue's skeleton in mind. Since he had an exhaustive map of her body, he was thinking of ways to translate those marks into his own practice. For the routine, he would simply work and develop his 'Axiu Qian's Blood Wrath'. This was the martial art he had created himself based on Axiu Qian's memory and the 'Cultivation of Wrath''s 'Dance of Slaughter'. Moreover, it would be a perfect art for demons, they would love it and would never suspect Cao Yun of being a human.
Cao Yun practiced a few moves and quickly changed his clothes that were covered in his sweat and were honestly exuding a foul smell. Thankfully, his spatial ring had many clothes and he could simply wish them to appear while the others disappeared. This was a neat trick he quite liked.
When he ultimately opened his chambers again, he was met with Xixue. The small woman had been waiting for him for a few days now. She had found the perfect slaves to manage his shop and help him become big fast. With scorn in her eyes, she was still defiant of Cao Yun. The young man had decided that it would stop today, one way or another. He was tired of being looked at in this manner while he had done nothing to deserved it. Furthermore, he knew where that gaze was coming from.
Reading the reports of the young woman, he realized that she truly was professional. That was no wonder City Lord Sihe wanted her as a spy by Boss Gui's sides. All the slaves she had chosen were criminals of some kind who had either been enslaved as a sentence or had sold themselves to repay a debt. There was not a single one who wouldn't be useful in a shop. Although they had no specific knowledge of alchemy, they had knowledge about business and money. Of course, Cao Yun didn't want to become a criminal as he didn't care much for money as long as he had enough. He was not greedy at all. And he knew that his competitors would everything to make him fail. He simply had no time to play around. This shop was a means for a goal, nothing more.
"Bring them in."
Xixue brought eight slaves. Their clothes were already marked by the emblem of Cao Yun's shop, the Blazing Swallow. The name was a reference both to his former faction, the Heavenly Swallow as it reminded him of his brothers and sisters as well as the Hongchen Kingdom itself, and to Hongyu of course. For the customers, this would only be a reference to Hongyu. Since the moment of his arrival, Lord Mo Yun had been associated with his mount, a fiery and noble bird. Most demons would only think that the species chosen, the swallow, was either only poetic or had some personal meaning to Lord Mo Yun.
In fact, Cao Yun had already read a few poem anthologies. Demon poetry was rather good, and sometimes even exceeded human poetry. Although Saint Dashan remained his favorite author, he had found many interesting new authors among the demons. And he had found a particular poem talking about fiery birds and mentioning the swallow as a way of referring to all birds in general. Obviously, he was putting this poem forward to advertise his shop. He was sure that this would add something to its identity in the eyes of the customers.
Anyway, here they were, eight slaves were facing their new master. While Xixue stayed in the room, he closed the room and made sure that no one was listening. He had accepted to buy slaves as it was easier for the shop but also because it would give the right kind of message to the other demons. He was like all the other businessmen of the Nalupu Kingdom. In fact, he was most worried about the way Boss Gui would see him since she was mainly dealing in slaves. He couldn't look like someone who had a problem with slavery.
That being said, he did have a problem with slavery. But he had found a way to compromise with that. After all, he didn't intend to stay on this continent for too long and he had plans for it. If his plans were successful, slavery would be a barbaric practice of the past. But, to be honest, this wasn't his main goal, only a very enticing consequence, that would also have positive effects on his future plans for the main continent.
The slaves were precisely four men and four women. Of course, Xixue had chosen them for their abilities, and their sex had never entered her considerations. As he was inspecting them, he could feel that the women were a bit more nervous than the men. That mere observation irritated him because he knew the reason behind it. He was not some great saint or savior. He couldn't save everyone or make right every injustice. That being said, he could take care of what he had in front of him. As much as he didn't want to become a paragon of moral and virtue, he wouldn't stay blind and deaf to what was happening in front of him.
"You will all enter my service to take care of my alchemy shop, the Blazing Swallow. From this day onward, you will be treated as though you were legitimate employees. Although you will remain slaves on paper, I do not intend to treat you as such. However, I will punish you harshly, as I would punish any employee. And if you commit any crime or personally cause any trouble of any kind for my shop, you will suffer the consequences of your actions. Other than that, you will be paid as any other employee will be paid. And from a year from now, I will allow you to pay for your own freedom. At that moment, you'll have a choice to make, either to keep working for me or to go back to the life that brought you here in the first place."
As he spoke, neither Xixue nor the slaves fully registered what he was saying. According to their slave contracts, they had to stay slaves for twenty to seventy years depending on their crimes. Yes, they had heard of slaves buying their freedom. But those were generally people of rich family paying their way out of situation.