For the following days, Cao Yun examined several maps to be sure of the best path toward the Sand Wolves Tribe. Those maps didn't show the location of the tribe of course, but Xixue knew where it was. Like most of the nomad tribes, the Sand Wolves Tribe was in fact semi-nomadic. In other words, they had several places they would occupy depending on the season and the time of the year. The tribe wasn't located at the exact same location either. Considering the increase risk of being enslaved, the nomad tribes had begun to split into smaller groups so that they wouldn't be all captured at once in case of an attack.
While the Nalupu Kingdom had grown richer and richer, the nomad tribes had suffered a lot. But they were not ready to die out just yet. Thankfully the Desolate Dune Desert was their best weapon against those slavers. Despite their best efforts, neither Boss Gui nor City Lord Sihe, not even Lord Wanghuo, had discovered all the secrets of the desert. On the other hand, the nomad tribes had lived thousands of generations there. Obviously, their understanding of the desert was way beyond what the Nalupu Kingdom could claim to know. However, no matter how Cao Yun was looking at things, they would ultimately disappear if things kept on going in that direction.
Although Cao Yun had taken them into consideration in his plans for the Desolate Sepulcher, he wasn't absolutely sure how useful they would be. From his understanding, they had barely any Accomplished Demon in their rank. Of course, this might also be a ruse to prevent the Nalupu Kingdom from exterminating them with their full strength. For the time being, the Nalupu Kingdom was satisfied with launching raids against them when need be. In fact, the rest of the time, they even had commercial relationship with the tribes. To Cao Yun, it was rather strange that people would interact positively with the entity that was reducing their brethren into slavery. But the world was indeed a complicated place.
Cao Yun himself didn't have all the answers to morality so there was no reason for others to do either. Just like he was cooperating with Boss Gui for his goal, so were the nomad tribes. To protect their lifestyle, they did need to keep in touch with the Nalupu Kingdom even though they sometimes launched raids to enslave some of them. In fact, some tribes had even launched raids themselves on other tribes to sell slaves to the Nalupu Kingdom. The more Cao Yun experienced the world, the more he was realizing that things were quite messy. Figuring out who were the good guys was difficult.
In the past, Cao Yun simply thought that the demonic cultivators and the demons were the bad guys and that the Hongchen Kingdom was overall good despite some crime here and there. After all, the Hongchen Kingdom was built on cooperation between humans for survival against the demons. Now he was aware that nothing was as simple. In a land that wasn't his, figuring out what was wrong and what was right was more difficult and this didn't feel too well to be honest. However, he would not falter and he would stay true to what he believed, even though his beliefs weren't many. If his plan went well, slavery would not disappear completely overnight, but most of it would be abolished. This would be a good thing for everyone as it would also affect the strength of the Empyrean Asura Theocracy. Besides, Cao Yun could also get some benefits for himself. In fact, he was thinking more and more about it now that he had met Boss Gui.
Once they were ready, Cao Yun and Xixue left with Hongyu. Before their departure, they tried to deal with the Blazing Swallow so that it could endure during their absence that could be very short or very long. They had no idea how long they would have to stay away. With Hongyu's speed, Xixue's knowledge of the desert, and Cao Yun's senses, they would be able to take the fastest way possible. But even then, it would probably take a few weeks to reach their destination. The Desolate Dune Desert was inhabited by powerful demonic beasts they really didn't want to face, just like the Divine Blood Ocean in fact. Those demonic beasts were ironically protecting the nomad tribes even though they were extremely dangerous. Besides, space was also quite strange, most likely because of the Desolate Pillar Cao Yun had first emerged in.
Checks and balances had been put in place to rein in Nie Pian's bad habits. Hopefully, he had learned his lesson for good. But still, Xixue insisted on many changes to make sure of that. Dan Yao was also given more power. All the time before Cao Yun's departure, the young man begged his master to not abandon him. No matter Cao Yun's efforts, the boy was convinced that his master was leaving because of him somehow. A bit tired of it, Cao Yun gave him several assignments to keep him busy. By setting up a deadline, he also showed him that he was expecting to come back. At that moment, Dan Yao changed and was suddenly worried about Cao Yun's safety.
After realizing that his master wasn't abandoning him but was flying into danger, Dan Yao became increasingly afraid for him. This time, it moved the alchemist. Although this boy could sometimes be annoying with his whining, he was earnest to a fault. In time, his hard work would clearly pay off. Anyway, Cao Yun had a soft spot for the kid for sure.
Then, they simply had to get things set with Boss Gui. So he refined enough pills for more than a year. Dan Yao had been taught how to refine most of them. Even if he still lacked the capacity to refine them in the same quality, he was successful in refining them. With his hard work and the assistance of the other two alchemists, Cao Yun had no doubt that he would reach proficiency before the reserve of pills ran out.
Finally, they left Duma City.
-
Weiji Nian was absolutely enraged by Cao Yun of course. But she couldn't directly act against himself for several reasons. In fact, she had finally received words from her uncle who was closer than her husband. He had forbidden her from doing anything. Even her attitude in the Blazing Swallow was unacceptable. Thankfully, her uncle didn't know for now. Hopefully, she could conceal it from him for some time. In fact, since this had been mostly kept quiet, she might be able to completely hide it. However, she was certain that at the very least the Sisters of the Abyss knew about it. They were always spying on everyone and Weiji Nian had not been discreet at all. Even Boss Gui might leak out the truth in some circles to pressure her and her family.
Furthermore, Weiji Nian needed Cao Yun's alchemy to help her son's condition. However, her reason was clearly failing her when it came to her son. Despite his best efforts to dissuade her, his mother had called in Sister Lisha. In order for their meeting to stay as secret as possible, Sister Lisha had come in person. As much as Weiji Nian thought it was the proper thing to do considering her own status, this wasn't Sister Lisha's view of things. Apart from a City Lord, almost no one was worthy enough to be visited by her. In the Sisters of the Abyss, her rank was Mother Lisha. She was directly under the High Mother, the supreme leader of the order.
Even the ranks of the Sisters were kept secret. Thus any Sister would be called 'Sister' just because she was part of the order. Only within their own midst would they call each other's ranks.
"Sister Lisha, I would like to hire you to spy on someone."
"On Mo Yun."
"Indeed."
Weiji Nian wasn't surprised at all that the Sisters knew about her intentions. This order of witches was always watching everyone. Although they were respected by the entire Desolate Sepulcher, it didn't mean that every single individual liked them. For one, Weiji Nian wasn't too pleased with the fact that she was even interacting with one. Most likely, she was frustrated by the honor and respect they received. Of course, no one would point out to Weiji Nian that she was receiving a lot of honor and respect that she clearly didn't deserve.
"I'm ready to pay a lot to get this information."
"500 Heidai Coins."
"What?!"
Now, Weiji Nian was surprised. Even though she had imagined that the price wouldn't be cheap, such a sum was simply extortion.
"This isn't negotiable. This is the price necessary for us to give you the information that will be useful to you. If you cannot pay, this is fine. I'll take my leave."
"Wait!"
Sister Lisha had already turned around and was about to leave the Weiji residence. Whether she was paid or not, she would need to spy on Cao Yun either way. But if she could get some money out of it for her order, she had no reason to refuse. Knowing how Weiji Nian was when it came to her son, Sister Lisha knew she could get as much as she wanted out of her so she had decided on a vast sum of money that Weiji Nian could still pay. Besides, she had not promised her to tell her everything about Cao Yun, just what could be useful to her. Of course, Sister Lisha would be the judge of said usefulness.
"I agree..."
"Good. I will follow Mo Yun personally."
Weiji Nian kept quiet while Sister Lisha took her leave. As soon as the Sister was gone, Weiji Bao entered the room to confront his mother.
"Mother, you shouldn't go down this path. Father and Great Uncle wouldn't be happy with you."
"Boy, it's sweet that you care so much about me. But I'm only thinking about your future. The way he treated you... This Mo Yun is a threat to you, and to our entire family. I'm not sure whether City Lord Sihe really has some ties with him, but one way or another, he will want to get rid of this alchemist. If I can give him some information he could exploit, this will be beneficial to us all. Do not worry about me, my sweet boy. Just focus on recovering. I'll buy any servant you desire."
Even Weiji Bao wasn't appeased by his mother. Usually, he was carefree because his mother was pampering him way too much. But he had some feeling that things would go poorly if they kept associating with Cao Yun. Although he didn't know why, since Mo Yun had treated him, he felt terrified of that man. Maybe it was the Black Heart Flame that had coursed through his flesh. But of course, Weiji Bao had no way of identifying what that sensation had been. What he knew for sure was that he didn't want to be faced with this man. And he didn't want his mother or his family to do either. But he also knew that nothing could stop his mother when it came to his fate. Usually he liked that, but not this time.
-
Hongyu was extremely glad to fly around with Cao Yun on her back. While he had been busy in Duma City, she felt a bit alone. Of course, she could fly around as much as she liked and she even explored around the city. She was always careful of course, but she had enjoyed her time to its fullest.
She had subdued all the demonic beasts around Duma City. After all, she was a 5-core demonic beast. In that time, her cultivation had finally stabilized and she could even use her Evil Core, balanced out by her Wrath Core. In actuality, she was probably as strong as a 6-core demonic beast. At the very least, no demonic beast who had less than five cores could be a threat to her. Besides, even among the 6-core demonic beasts, they were not all able to fly. And this gave her a huge advantage. Even if she couldn't have killed a 7-core demonic beasts, she might still be able to escape, just like Cao Yun. In fact, the two of them together might be able to kill such a demonic beast, as they could probably fight off an early Accomplished Demon as well.
Thanks to her strength, she had really enjoyed herself around Duma City. However, she still felt alone without Cao Yun. Despite her cultivation, Hongyu was still quite young. As much as her body had evolved fast, like most demonic beasts, her mind was still immature. For her, Cao Yun was her big brother and she had no other family. Although she wasn't sad about her parents' death because she couldn't remember them, or their death, she had a feeling of emptiness from time to time. Cao Yun could also feel it and obviously felt guilty about it, further improving his work on the Unclean Evil, the embodiment of his shame.
Taking the right course, they crossed into the Desolate Dune Desert. Despite his great senses, Cao Yun failed to notice Sister Lisha who was following Hongyu in the desert. Even without a flying demonic beast, she was able to fly fast enough to stay on their tail all the time. The Sisters were proficient in many occupations. Sister Lisha seemed to be great at sneaking around. If Cao Yun had been able to see her, he would have realized that she was using the same principles behind 'Ashen Feather Seal', but she was applying it to her own blood. And her proficiency in the art was greater than his by a large margin. Only Huang Liyue could have surpassed her in that domain.
It would take around three weeks for Hongyu to reach the destination Xixue had designated as the Sand Wolves Tribe's location. Instead of flying directly into their camp, Hongyu stopped some distance away. Xixue walked at the front while Cao Yun and Hongyu were following her, alert to any threat.
In a tongue a little different from the local Moshenhua, Xixue yelled some words toward the camp. All around them, men and women appeared out of the sand. Even Cao Yun was surprised. He had failed to notice them. The sand itself had completely masked their presence. Obviously he was a bit afraid. Even though those cultivators were no threat to him, other cultivators or beasts could hide in the sand and he might be blind to them.