Now that all of Ruohe's economy was secretly controlled by him, Cao Yun was a bit more carefree. But he hadn't completely relaxed either. Thankfully, the first part of his plan seemed to go very well. What he wanted was to make Ruohe follow his rules because it was a small and yet somewhat important city to the Nalupu Kingdom. Among all the cities that were not officially recognized as states, this Ruohe was probably the most economically important as it was a form of hub between the Desolate Dune Desert and the other cities.
In other words, many goods sold by the hunters passed through this city. Of course, those were not essential to the general economy. But they were useful to lower the price of many other processed goods, such as pills, or even artifacts.
Apart from the twenty-one city-states of the Nalupu Kingdom, there were many smaller cities and even towns, sometimes barely settlements. Each one was attached to a city-state either directly or through other alliances. This was a complex network. In fact, even the Xinian Confederation and Lord Wanghuo would be hard-pressed to control everything. There was a lot of freedom. Even the City Lords were given more leeway than the Governors of the Hongchen Kingdom. This Desolate Sepulcher was more difficult to centralize and this gave Cao Yun more room to act.
He was certain he could subvert this city without letting any outsider know about it. This was why he had made sure that apart from the three men he had threatened and a select few, no one would know about the real contract. For the general population, Mo Yun would have lost this time and would have been forced to cooperate with those three men. But in the following weeks, two of them would die in strange circumstances. At least, this was Cao Yun's plan.
"Boy, you clearly dislike slavery, even though you commit arguably worse crimes... But isn't what you just did a form of enslavement? After all, you put seals in those men to force them to abide by their words. And you're even planning their murder already."
"Humph! You would talk of moral with me?! You?! Fine, you can think whatever you want. But the reason why I - all of us humans really - hate this barbaric practice is in the fact that you reduce a man to nothing more than a tool, a means to an end. You devoid them of everything that makes them, of their dignity and even of their humanity. By behaving like that, you slowly stop seeing other humans as individuals. This is exactly what demonic cultivators do. What I did was different. Of course, I won't say that threatening and killing are moral acts, far from that. But, I told you before and I tell you again. I am not some kind of virtuous warrior. I recognize the world we live in for what it is.
"Those men would have killed me to make more profit. After all, they had clear nefarious intentions toward me. The first one is an idiot. Such a man is dangerous even if he obeys. Didn't you see that he put his own comrades in a tight position by misunderstanding the situation back then. I saw it in their eyes, they were ready to kill him themselves so he would stop talking. Death is the only cure I know for such stupidity when it comes to someone his age.
"Then comes this Tu Jianhe. This sort of man is the most dangerous there is. He really is a cockroach. No matter what happens, he will try to profit and to survive. As soon as he sees a better situation for himself, he will take it while disregarding everything and everyone else. What's truly dangerous with this kind of man though is that he's very good at surviving. But now that I can track him easily, he won't escape and I will kill him in a few weeks when things will be settled."
"Well, I don't disagree with you, boy. Honestly, I don't. Even your assessment of those men seems to be on point. But, don't you think that you're a bit different from usual? Maybe your mind cultivation is affecting you? Or maybe it is something else?"
For an instant, Cao Yun contemplated the idea. Was he really different? He couldn't quite feel it. Yes, his actions were maybe a bit different. But in the end, he concluded that he had not changed at all. The situation was different. And it wasn't just that his enemies were demons. He was in a hostile land and he couldn't count on the law to help him. Maybe in the Hongchen Kingdom, he would have tried to settle things differently, but he had more security there. In this place, trying to be too civilized would probably get him killed. Besides, he already knew that his goal would be difficult and long to reach. While he was working toward it, his little sister was calling the man who had ordered their entire family slaughtered 'Father'. He couldn't accept that.
"I understand your worries. In fact, I am quite touched that you worry about me. But I am still the same man I was yesterday. And I will remain the same man tomorrow. This is the world around me that changed and will always change. In order to stay alive, one has to adapt to the ever changing world. I don't have a lot of principles to be honest. The only thing I truly despise is reducing an individual to a mere tool to be used and discarded. And I truly don't think this is what I do. Even if it could appear as such to you, I can assure you that this isn't how I see anyone, even if they're demons."
"Well, I hope future will prove you right. Many demons and asura lose themselves on their way to power. Blood cultivation can be trickier than you imagine. After centuries of cultivation, you might some day wake up and realize that the man in your mirror is someone else. This can be way more insidious than inner demons. Just keep that in mind, boy."
Although he didn't dignify that with an answer, Cao Yun took those words very seriously. While he was cultivating his mind, he was fully aware of what could go wrong with his blood cultivation. Whoever had written 'Sealing the Seven Demons in the Nine Peaks' had tried to make blood cultivation easier and less dangerous. Indeed, someone's personality and actions were the result of a perpetual dialogue between all the aspects of one's souls. By cultivating those souls, unbalance could happen as they were changing. This could very well turn someone into a monster or a saint. Neither of those was appealing to Cao Yun to be honest.
-
When he came back home, Cao Yun went to meditate a few hours. Dian Mo's words had truly had an impact on him. But Dian Mo stayed silent about it. He didn't gloat at all. Maybe he was sincerely worried about Cao Yun's future, just like Cao Yun had been worried about his fight against Demon King Mo Wang.
The development of his Unclean Evil was going very well. The process was steady and Cao Yun could see that it was starting to appear in the Drop of Wrath itself. It would still take some time of course, but there was no problem at all. Besides, with shame, he couldn't go berserk as was the case with anger. However, it could have a bad influence on him and his behavior alright, by itself and because it was causing unbalance. Thus, he decided to be very careful when it came to working on his very soul. In a way it was strange, because this prudence and caution all came from the discourse of his souls. Although he couldn't really experience it, he was aware that his very thoughts all came from there.
Even when he was convinced that he was the only one to take a decision, intellectually he knew this wasn't the case. But it sure felt like that though. This was very terrorizing in a way. Several times, he had realized that he was truly separate from his thoughts and emotions. But even now he couldn't define who he was beyond all of those. And he was even convinced that this need to know more about himself also came from his very souls, most likely his Hun as they were more spiritual. But his Po were always forcing him to care about the material world, the here and now. To be honest, the here and now was also putting a lot of work to force him to stay focused on it, with his current predicaments.
Anyway, Cao Yun was careful and vigilant, but he wasn't anxious or worried. After being literally burned by his eagerness to cultivate too fast, he was cautious. On the other hand, he wouldn't slow down too much either. The answer was moderation and restraint, not fear and stagnation.
Since he was already cultivating in a safe environment, Cao Yun decided to focus a bit on his Qi cultivation. Every single day, he could feel that he was able to manipulate his blood with more and more ease. Since it was extremely rich in Fire Qi, it was helping the young man a lot. After only a few breaths in his meditation, Cao Yun was able to feel his entire chest as though it was in fire. The sensation was quite pleasant though, there was a bit of discomfort but nothing more than Chief Instructor Peng's workout sessions. This was a good kind of discomfort.
By using 'Storms in the Crimson Furnace', he was able to condense all of his Golden Blood in his heart. Then he used the Black Heart Flame and the Rune of Fire. While it was almost impossible to improve his blood at this stage, it allowed him to extract more Fire Qi so that it could fill his Middle Dantian.
And precisely, at that moment, something happened. On the outside, his chest began to vibrate as it was red hot. Even the air around his torso was turbid because of the heat. Within, it was even worse in a sense. His heart was palpitating like crazy. Since his blood was condensed in it, it should have had almost no effect on his body, but it had. The beats of his heart were so intense that the rhythm spread throughout all his muscles. His entire body was beating with his heart. Although this was good news, it was also dangerous.
This was a sign that Cao Yun had finally filled his Middle Dantian so much that it was overflowing a little. Once this phenomenon was over, Cao Yun would officially be a 5th-grade Mortal Warrior. But the process could also leave lasting scars and wounds. Indeed, his heart was overly excited and if Cao Yun couldn't keep it and his own mind under control, this could endanger this vital organ.
The truth was that Cao Yun was excited. He sincerely didn't believe that he was going to breakthrough tonight. Otherwise he would have prepared differently. But predicting the exact moment when his Middle Dantian would be full wasn't so easy to begin with. So for someone who was using two different cultivation systems, it was almost impossible since he had no frame of reference.
Thanks to his mind cultivation he had calmed beforehand, the young man was able to keep his excitement from interfering with his already loud heart.
Cao Yun completely let go of his control over his blood. Then, his powerful heart sent it all around his body. At that moment, Cao Yun didn't need to control his Golden Blood at all. His heart was so powerful that it was being sent everywhere without any action on his part. Despite it heaviness, his Golden Blood was flowing as though it was normal, even mortal, blood.
While it was coursing through his veins, his Golden Blood also had a positive effect on his meridians and even a bit on his Extraordinary Vessels. At the same time, it was endangering the Water Qi in his Lower Dantian. Water and Fire Qi could easily clash. In fact, that was the whole theory behind the Lesser Tribulation. But now, he had to keep a very Fire Dantian and a very Water Dantian close to each other without causing any problem. Obviously, it would be rather hard at first. But he just had to make sure that their Qi would be balanced out by other elements before touching each other. And for that, Cao Yun had the perfect solution, his world tree that was rich in Wood.
In fact, by sending the Water Qi and the Fire Qi through various acupoints, he could easily control them without causing any clash. This was why controlling one's acupoints was also very important. Every step in Qi cultivation was meant to make things easier and easier. In theory, some speculated that it would be possible for a human being to reach the very last level of cultivation without any intermediate steps. But the truth was that it was so difficult and dangerous that no real human being could achieve such a feat. It was well and good in theory but simply impossible in the real world. Even becoming a Mortal Warrior without intermediate steps was impossible outside of the theoretical world.
And as it turned out, blood cultivation was very similar. Each step was meant to allow or make easier the next steps. Cultivation was, in a way, like building a pyramid. Depending on the stability of the inferior levels, the pyramid could get higher or not.
At last, Cao Yun's heart calmed down. His body was full of strength and vigor. And he truly needed to fight something. Because he knew that he had a bit of time before Lady Gu Xue would make her move, he decided to leave the city for a few days. All around the city was the desert, he could go fight in the desert to his heart's content without hiding his real cultivation, his human cultivation.
Before leaving though, he gave orders to Xixue. He also visited his young student Dan Yao. The young boy was a mere early Blood Child. His eyes were injected with blood and circled like he was a panda. Clearly, he hadn't slept for too long. Although he had no special talent for alchemy, he was working damn hard on it. It might have been excessive. Cao Yun had even been forced to give him sleeping pills and had crafted a very strict schedule for him to sleep. But it didn't change his face too much.
"Student Dan, here is your assignment while I'm away. And don't overdo things. This is an order!"