In a small courtyard of the Monastery of Bliss and Repose, Yinlü and Xixue were practicing their 'Abyssal Blood Veil Art'. While Yinlü had reached the stage of 'Crimson Pact of Subjugation', her twin sister was still practicing 'Blood Mirage Manifestation'. But she was very close to finally reaching her sister's level. However, it had been decided that she would follow the 'Devouring Abyssal Embrace' path. As such, after practicing it enough, she would be sacrificed to the Blood Abyss. Although Yinlü knew it, she didn't protest. In fact, she didn't even warn her sister. Instead, she was helping her advance as fast as possible as if she wanted her to be sacrificed at the earliest.
Sister Lisha was observing it from afar. For a few centuries now, she had witnessed the sacrifices. They had begun before she even joined the Sisters of the Abyss. Many of Sister Lisha's sisters who had enrolled at the same time had been sacrificed in order to maintain the Blood Abyss. However, the sacrifices were less and less effective with time. She had hoped that Mo Yun's strange bloodline would improve the Blood Abyss. But it had had almost no effect. Since then, they had been forced to kill even more girls. And soon, she would have to watch as Yinlü killed her own twin sister. As much as Yinlü seemed to accept it, Sister Lisha knew that it would have lasting consequences on the girl, and she was quite fond of her. But she too was loyal to the Sisters of the Abyss. She couldn't go against High Mother Qin Xue. Thus, she simply had to be there for Yinlü after the sacrifice.
At the same time, more and more demons were being enslaved throughout the Desolate Dune Desert. In fact, even the poor demons in the small cities of the Nalupu Kingdom had been enslaved with higher rates. Even small offenses could lead someone to being enslaved. There were rumors that officials were sometimes making up charges to convict a demon as to force them to be either enslaved or sell their own family members. Although economy was going very well in the large cities, the smaller towns were becoming increasingly poor.
Apparently, the Empyrean Asura Theocracy needed more and more cannon fodders. They even paid good money for dual cultivation partners. But they had to be young and beautiful. Their bloodline wasn't even considered. It was easy to guess that cultivation wasn't the main reason behind it. City Lord Sihe had diversified his slave trade. He wasn't just selling slave warriors but also sex slaves. Of course, officials were hiding it, but this didn't stop the rumors. Even the Sisters of the Abyss were starting to have problems with City Lord Sihe. Indeed, they needed those girls after all.
High Mother Qin Xue had absolutely no problem with City Lord Sihe's practices so long as she wasn't affected. To be honest, Boss Gui didn't care either. Apart from the victims and those close to them, no one seemed to really care. This was absolutely disastrous. Besides, Lord Wanghuo didn't lift a finger. His own laws were being broken so daringly and he didn't mind. The Sisters of the Abyss whose religious precepts had to deem such acts appalling didn't mind either. All those who should have opposed this abomination were in fact profiteering from it and turning a blind eye, or worse, partaking in it. The only thing they cared to defend were their own interests.
Thankfully, Boss Gui didn't stoop to City Lord Sihe's level. But it was difficult to know whether it was because of the practice itself or because she knew she couldn't fight him when it came to quantity and she had to keep working on quality. Moreover, the Blazing Swallow had indeed helped her improve the quality of her own slave warriors. Recently though, she had been forced to keep most of them instead of selling them. After all, the market was being flooded by City Lord Sihe so she had to reduce her offer so the demand for her warriors didn't die down completely. At the same time, she needed more and more bodyguards. In a month, she suffered from eight assassination attempts. Although she knew who was behind it, she had no proof.
Most of the would-be assassins had died. And they were all from nomad tribes. But it was an open secret that the tribes had all fallen under City Lord Sihe's thumb. Indeed, Liang Lisheng from the Sun Scorpion Clan had slowly gained in influence and had gathered all the tribes under his banner. In truth, he was really working for City Lord Sihe. And he used Boss Gui as a scarecrow. Because of him, the nomad tribes focused their effort and hatred on her instead of City Lord Sihe. Nothing was going well for the woman, apart from her relationship with the Blazing Swallow.
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Almost a year later, Xixue was finally ready. The Sisters of the Abyss had chosen the perfect day for her sacrifice according to the movements of the Moon. In two months, she would be sacrificed. Sister Lisha encouraged her disciple to spend as much time as she could with her twin sister so she would not regret it later on. But Yinlü's answer was exactly what the Sisters had taught her.
"When Xixi gives her Blood for the Weaver of Souls, she will inhabit the Blood Abyss. So I will always be close to her. She will know bliss for all eternity and I will be able to feel her presence with me forever. There is no reason to be sad, Senior Mother. You've taught me well and I understand the responsibilities we have. I am just sad that Xixi won't know the chance she has until the last moment. I just hope that the ritual is quick so she can know the pure bliss promised to us all by the Weaver."
Somehow, those words and promises rang empty to Sister Lisha's ears. After all, they were her own words. But as she grew older, they became more and more distant. Although she could quote and teach them, she didn't think she still believed in them. So many sacrifices had occurred, and yet the Blood Abyss had barely improved. Worse than that, it oftentimes even regressed because a sacrifice had been of poor quality. However, Sister Lisha still believed in High Mother Qin Xue. So she didn't falter. She reined in her emotions and kept moving forward.
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Within the Blood Abyss, Cao Yun had reached a high proficiency in 'Blood Abyss Manifest'. Thus, he could easily absorb huge parts of the blood within. In fact, he mainly absorbed the true blood of the Weaver of Souls. It wasn't entirely pure but it wasn't as corrupted as the rest of the Blood Abyss. The more he absorbed it, the more he got memories from the Weaver of Souls, and the faster he could cultivate.
Finally, he fully opened his three Flood Gates, Mingmen the Life Gate right behind his Lower Dantian, Shendao the Heart Gate right behind his Middle Dantian, and Fengfu the Palace Gate right below his Upper Dantian. With those three Flood Gates opened, he circulated the blood he had just absorbed and refined through the Drop of Wrath throughout his bones, in particular his spine. This was the last part of 'Celestial Palace Accepts the Offering'. Indeed, using this circulation, he propelled his own Golden Blood with it.
At last, his Golden Blood entered his real Upper Dantian, in other words, his brain. All of his sea of consciousness turned red. But this wasn't an ominous red. Instead, it was the scarlet light of life. There were even golden streaks within this red inner world. Since he had an acute sensation of his nine chambers, the young man could feel the Golden Blood feel them all one by one. Each time, this activated his mind and elevated it even further.
While the process was going on, his Turbid Demons fully appeared in his sea of consciousness. Flying Poison and Unclean Evil were both chained down to the Nine Soul Peaks with golden chains and green vines. However, the Stinking Lungs was relatively free. And this was the moment Cao Yun chose to end this.
For months now, he had worked on his emotions and memories. Because he was completely alone down there for close to three years by then, he had started to talk to Dian Mo. Unfortunately, he was still absolutely silent. Indeed, the Palace of Supreme Wisdom was still in his sea of consciousness but it had no sign of any life within. There was just a golden palace with many cracks in it that was floating in the ocean, surrounded by Cao Yun's Nine Soul Peaks. However, the young man took the habit of talking to him as someone would talk to a person in a coma. Cao Yun was almost certain Dian Mo was dead, but he couldn't be entirely sure.
"You think I'm an idiot... The arrogance I had to think I could change an entire civilization... But I couldn't just do nothing. I couldn't stand the crimes around me. And yet, I did turn a blind eye to them, in the hope of stopping them in the future. But that future might never come. Maybe I just tried to justify my apathy. Of course, I'm not some naive kid who wants to be a great hero. I won't solve the entire world's problems. Still, I could have saved more people if I had just tried to do something right away.
"On the other hand, I could have saved many more through my plans. What is better? To have clean hands but to be powerless, or to dirty oneself in the hope of doing better? Even now, I'm not sure I could have done it, but... I don't know. I didn't like when I was just reacting and not acting. But now that I act, I'm still unsure of what I should do. Acting just for the sake of not being passive is ludicrous.
"In the end, what I really care about is my own blood, my friends, the people I know intimately. Yes, I do care for the suffering around me, but in a different way. Maybe I shouldn't have gotten involved in this. Should I choose between a bigger evil and a lesser evil?
"But once again, I need power to influence things. But if I get power, I can't just stay idle by while terrible things happen all around me. I'm not a philosopher, a moralist or a monk. I don't have grand ideas about right and wrong. I do think real corruption is certainty. Being certain of something makes people stop thinking about it. There is no absolute answer to what is right and wrong, it always depends on the situation.
"One can be corrupted by evil but also by good, deciding to only apply your own moral to the world without imagining that you might be in the wrong or that others can see things differently or simply be in difficult situations. I won't be sanctimonious. I won't be a valiant hero saving everyone. But I do want to do what's right. On the other hand, I have to take responsibility for my actions. I might not do the right thing, or the best thing. But I can't just take my moral from some old monks who wrote about a world they have no stake in. Although I've been brought up within the School of Ren Dao, I don't agree with all their teachings. But I do agree that slavery is appalling. In fact, treating intelligent beings as though they are objects, mere resources is what's so disgusting with it. It's just like what Emperor Weide is doing with my own family. He killed us all because we were an obstacle. And now my sister is his cattle, simply waiting to be slaughtered without even knowing neither her past nor her future fate.
"Corruption is not just becoming evil, it's also trying to always be moral and upright without doing anything. Some monks decided to become apathetic to the world so it doesn't corrupt them. I don't want that for myself. I can't by apathetic. Maybe I'm just too young, but I really can't. So I have to tread a thin line. I don't have all the answers and this is what I must accept. I will err, but I won't let it corrupt me."
Cao Yun had realized that he had tried to change the reality of the Desolate Sepulcher in the worst possible way. He had let the filth of the world corrupt himself instead of fighting it. He could have kept clean hands by simply never engaging with the slave trade. But by doing so, he would also have been powerless to do anything against it either. Being pure but powerless wasn't helping anyone but his own conscience. Accepting to feel guilty was necessary. He would fail and make mistakes. Cao Yun felt as though being shameless and guiltless were just as bad as being self-righteous and pure without ever taking any action. One had to take action but not shirk away from the consequences of said actions.
Refusing rewards was one thing, but refusing responsibility was not something Cao Yun could do. He would not delegate his moral responsibility to anyone, not even a philosophy or a religion. This was why the Sisters of the Abyss could do such evil. They felt that this wasn't their responsibility, they were simply following the orders of their gods who was conveniently speaking through High Mother Qin Xue.
If the Weaver of Souls had been able to speak, he would have admonished them until they died.
All those thoughts caused the Stinking Lungs to move around. Several times, it tried to shriek but couldn't. Cao Yun's own voice echoed throughout the sea of consciousness. At last, golden chains emerged from the Nine Soul Peaks and chained down the disgusting monster. Its distorted chest and throat were pierced in many places by the chains. They then constricted it and completely trapped the creature within another one of the Nine Soul Peaks. Like Flying Poison and Unclean Evil, each Turbid Demon was trapped in a peak. And Cao Yun could summon them as he saw fit.
Technically, the young man had subdued three Turbid Demons. Soon, he could work on the fourth one, Corpse Dog that was related to fear. But before that, he knew he could finally master 'Blood Abyss Manifest'. In fact, he might even be able to push his blood cultivation further thanks to the Blood Abyss.