Thanks to Xixue, Cao Yun knew almost everything. Not only was he made aware of the stance of all the Chieftains, he even got a sort of history lesson on them all. Obviously, he wasn't fond of Patriarch Liang Lisheng. Apparently, the Chieftains were almost as uncertain as he was, if not more. This was reassuring. Knowing that people who were literally living in the Desolate Sepulcher weren't sure how to handle the situation made things easier for him. As a stranger, he had no way of finding the right answer. But hopefully, he would do more good than bad overall. In fact, Chieftain Sha Chai Ren's wisdom was also comforting. He was clear headed.
Apparently, Cao Yun's goals were more or less aligned with the Sand Wolves Tribe. However, there were still issues. First of all, the other chieftains had to be convinced and this Patriarch Liang Lisheng was clearly a threat. Although everyone knew it, they couldn't simply kick him out. After all, he had the best fighters. In fact, knowing Boss Gui's ways and the reputation of the Sun Scorpion Clan, Cao Yun was able to draw some conclusions. Many ideas were crossing his mind, but he wasn't sure of anything yet. His proximity with City Lord Sihe and the recent attempt to enslave a tribe as large as the Sand Wolves Tribe were giving Cao Yun some insight.
For a few days, he hid his recovery, and Xixue covered for him. Thankfully, the Chieftains were simply too busy and no one else was authorized in his tent apart from Xixue and a few handpicked servants. Cao Yun could now sense the people around his tent. They were too many, but Xixue confirmed that almost a fourth of all the tribesmen had once kowtowed toward his tent during his sleep.
All this worship didn't really please Cao Yun at all. In fact, it was making things for difficult. He now had both a political and semi-religious presence in the tribes. This could be useful, but this was also very dangerous both for him, for those who worshiped him, and even for those who didn't. The situation would be even more complicated to navigate. Besides, he would have even more pressure on his shoulders. Given his new status, Cao Yun tried to learn more about the Weaver of Souls.
This deified demon was a lieutenant in Demon God Da Mo's army. Some claimed that he was born on the Piaolu planet while others stated that he had come here along with Demon God Da Mo himself. There were different versions of his birth and his life. His death was an even more unstable story. The Weaver of Souls would have died during the Great War, what the demons called Gods' End. There were many epic stories about his last moments. But what happened after his death was almost always the same in all the stories. The Desolate Pillar in which Cao Yun had first appeared had been caused by the violence of the fight. According to the stories, his very soul was still inhabiting this permanent sandstorm. Thus there were often pilgrims trying to go near it.
His blood had covered the Desolate Dune Desert and had flowed into the Divine Blood Ocean, turning everything red. In fact, it was believed that the intense Fire Qi in the blood was the result of his blood that had been mixed into the sand. To be honest, Cao Yun was wondering whether this story was in fact true. After all, he had felt an intent within the sand when he had used his spiritual senses. Although everything couldn't be true, the story might not be pure fabrication.
The entire situation was a headache for Cao Yun. Not only was he unsure of what he should do, but now he had to deal with fervent supporters he had never asked for.
After a few days, the young human felt good enough to leave his room. And yet, he didn't as he didn't want to be confronted by the crowd. However, he had to cultivate in order to restore the Qi he had depleted. Now that his Dantian were properly trained, he could absorb both Water Qi and Fire Qi faster. But it would still be obvious for people around him that he was cultivating his Qi, a thing only humans could do. So he needed to be away from the settlement. Thus, he informed Xixue and decided to leave in secret. Thinking about it, Cao Yun still decided to tell Chieftain Sha Chai Ren. Through a servant, he could send him messages even during the never-ending meetings. Knowing that he had a lot of influence now, Cao Yun was reluctant when it came to interfering. As such, he didn't meet him in public.
Using his 'Ashen Feather Seal', Cao Yun was able to leave the settlement without being noticed at all. There wasn't any Accomplished Demon in the settlement aside from Chieftain Sha Chai Ren, another reason why he had warned him in advance. To be fair, Cao Yun would have probably been able to deceive him, but he was still lacking in Qi.
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Finally, Cao Yun and Hongyu reached a secluded spot in the Desolate Dune Desert. In a matter of minutes, he dug a cave and used various instruments to make sure that it was stable. After that, he set up several array formations all over the place. They were there to hide him, protect him and also, of course, helping him cultivate.
Since this place was full of Fire Qi, filling his Middle Dantian wouldn't be a problem at all. However, the Water Qi would indeed be a challenge. Because he wanted to recover as fast as possible, he decided to set up a modified version of the 5-star Earth array formation Tidal Gathering Mist along with the 2-star Human one Clouds in the Lake. Tidal Gathering Mist was meant to gather Qi while filtering the Water element. This was an array formation he had used when he had first gathered Water Qi in his Lower Dantian. On the other hand, Clouds in the Lake was an array formation meant to condense the water in the air. It was used to produce water out of thin air. In fact, it had been used on Cao Yun's gourds so they would never stay empty for long.
Although those two array formations weren't extraordinary, Cao Yun also combined them with Center of All Things. This array formation was able to make a specific location neutral in the five elements. As such, it was balancing out the excess of Fire in the air. By weaving those three array formations together, Cao Yun had been able to create a spot in which Water Qi was accumulating over time. Since it couldn't escape those array formations, the Water Qi was really getting denser and denser too, perfect for Cao Yun's training.
While it was being filled, the young human could still work on absorbing the Fire Qi. And for that, he went full out. Indeed, he literally buried himself in the burning sand. Now that his body had recovered, it was easy enough for him to resist the burning sensation. Besides, he wanted to make sure of something. Quickly, he was certain of himself. As he buried himself deep into the sand, he could distinctly feel the intent all around him. At first, it had attacked him. But as soon as Cao Yun had mobilized his mind cultivation, it had stopped altogether.
By now, Cao Yun was absolutely certain that this Weaver of Souls was related to his mind cultivation. From the stories he had heard, it did make sense. After all, his name had come from his obsession with soul and mind. For millennia, he had worked on improving the soul and had run experiments on Turbid Demons themselves. Clearly, his experiments had bore fruit. Most likely, the calligraphy Cao Yun had in his spatial ring was also related to the Weaver of Souls. The fact that the Sisters of the Abyss had wanted to buy it so much was proof enough. At the very least, they knew it had a connection with the Weaver of Souls. For them, he had been a living god, just like Demon God Da Mo.
It only took Cao Yun three weeks to completely fill his Middle Dantian with Fire Qi. During the process, he also felt the Rune of Fire. It had probably helped him to fast things up. When he was done, he jumped out of his hole and went into the sand cave he had created. It was a completely different climate all of a sudden. Indeed, thanks to his array formations, the place was full of moisture, condensed in a specific location. While still covered in sand, the young man summoned the wind around him, performing a small version of 'Imperial Throne'. Then, he sat in the middle of his array formations. Despite his best efforts, Water was a very rare element in this desert. So it took more than a month for his Lower Dantian to be filled again.
Finally, he had recovered his full strength, and some more. Completely depleting one's Qi was a bad idea in general. Simply doing so had pushed his previsions for his cultivation farther in the future. But thankfully, he had not suffered any lasting injury. However, there was still a problem he had to solve. In his meridians and Dantian, there were still seals left by Dian Mo.
"I can't seem to see through all those seals... I would be interested in understanding them better."
"Oh, it's just that I crafted them in a panic. After all, I had to conceal your true nature, boy. If I had had any other choice, I would have done otherwise, I assure you. If you can't get rid of them yourself, I'll help you out, boy. No need for you to spend your time on those."
Obviously, both Dian Mo and Cao Yun were aware that such explanations were not enough. In fact, they were really just an evasion of the question. That being said, Cao Yun attentively observed as Dian Mo unraveled all the seals he had added. He made sure that they had all been taken care of, and really tried to understand them and what they meant in details. From now on, he simply couldn't trust Dian Mo at all. Besides, he had become almost useless when it mattered. Apart from the deal they had made, he had no reason to keep him within himself. However, he still felt bad for the Palace Spirit. Depending on the reason behind his recent change, Cao Yun might be forced to do something about it. Even now, he still wasn't entirely sure about his fate.
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Once he was done recovering, Cao Yun was reluctant to go back into the settlement. As much as he wanted to protect the tribes from slavery by the Nalupu Kingdom, he didn't like being entangled in their affairs. On the other hand, he had grown fond of some among the Sand Wolves Tribe. And of course, he cared about Xixue, probably because he could sympathize with her story.
For the time being, he took advantage of his solitude to advance his cultivation. Right now, he was a 5th-grade Golden Blood Child and a 5th-grade Mortal Warrior with one aspect of his Po fully formed and two others in progress.
In his blood cultivation, he was practicing 'Ascend the Cliff'. It meant that he had to send his Golden Blood, through his spine, into the region of his Middle Dantian and his heart. Sending his Golden Blood wasn't complicated at all, but going through his spine and increasing the flow was indeed dangerous. In the spine, there were three gates, the Flood Gates. He had already overcome Mingmen the Life Gate and was now working on Shendao the Heart Gate. Each gate was very delicate and forcing one's way could cause injury. Even with his control over his acupoints, it was a long process. Of course, he could speed things up thanks to his experience but it was still taking some time. And he really didn't want to hurt himself.
When it came to his Qi cultivation, Cao Yun was practicing 'Forge the Meridians' with traces of 'Forge the Pillar'. As the names suggested those were the two stages in which one would strengthen and temper their meridians and Extraordinary Vessels. In particular, the 'Pillar' was referring to the Conception and Governing Vessels that were parallel to the spine in the front and the back of the body. This step was probably the most important one before the Lesser Tribulation. Indeed, those were where the Soul Embryo would be born, where Cao Yun would have to make his Water Qi and his Fire Qi clash with each other. Any weakness there could literally mean death.
Although the young human was focused on strengthening his meridians for now, he was obviously also having an effect on his vessels as a consequence.
Now that his Water Qi and Fire Qi were full again, he used them in conjunction with the Wood element from the world tree in order to temper his meridians. Once again, he targeted specific acupoints first and was then working on tempering the portions of the meridians between them.
During his time alone in the desert, Cao Yun also decided to hunt in order to test himself. After all, he had developed his Spear Intent and had even forged his second constellation, the Neck Constellation. Besides, Hongyu would benefit a lot from eating some demonic beast's flesh and cores. And so he did hunt and she did eat her fill.
In fact, Cao Yun lost himself in those battles. As a matter of fact, he was finally enjoying himself to the fullest. He didn't kill every single demonic beast he met. In fact, he spared quite a lot of them. If he didn't need to kill one, he simply let it go once he was through with it. Hongyu was also having a lot of fun, fighting alongside her brother. Besides, she was also slowly forming her sixth core. To be honest, Cao Yun had absolutely no idea how long it would take her. But she would be very impressive with six cores!
For several weeks, Cao Yun lived an adventure of his own, walking through the desert to fight demonic beasts. When he met other demons, he concealed himself as he didn't want anyone to recognize him as Tie Po. In fact, he almost felt like he was on the run from the people who worshiped him, and he was, to be fair. Xixue and Sha Chai Ren were probably having it rough hiding his departure. In the end, he decided to stop having fun and went back toward the settlement.