Cao Yun had tried to think of everything, but to be sure, he had High Mother Lisha send Sisters with a few groups. In particular, several Sisters had infiltrated the nomadic tribes and two of them had been sent with the Blazing Swallow to protect them. The Sisters were exceptional when it came to infiltration and information gathering, but they were not all good fighters. However, almost no one would dare to directly fight anyone from the Sisters of the Abyss, at least in the Desolate Sepulcher. After all, they were servant of their god, the Weaver of Souls.
While everyone was slowly leaving the Oasis of Life, Cao Yun was busy cultivating. In his mind, there were many doubts, but he had decided not to let them control him. Although he couldn't be sure whether his acts were the right things to do, he had to act. Still, he was plagued with hypothetical questions. Until now, he had been able to avoid killing innocent people. But he knew that some would die because of his actions, and some time he might even be in the position where he would have to choose between his plan and killing someone who had one nothing wrong. Hopefully, it wouldn't come to this. But, the worst part was that he wasn't sure what he would choose. Of course, he wanted to believe that he would never cross that line, but deep down, he had doubts.
All those thoughts were fueled by Unclean Evil's shame and Stinking Lungs's corruption. Although he could have stopped them, he didn't want to as those thoughts were necessary. If he didn't question himself and his actions, he could go down a terrible path. In his mind, he still had visions of Axiu Qian's life. The asura had slaughtered slavers at first, but soon his rage engulfed him completely. By the end, he was killing almost everyone and he destroyed all who were close to him in his fury. Despite good intentions at first, he had become a true monster.
When someone was absolutely sure that what they were doing was the right thing, or that they were responding to a higher mission, then they could become worse than the vilest criminal. And Cao Yun was acting with the idea that he was doing good indeed. Thus, he knew that he had to keep himself in check. Not every means could be justified by the goodness of his goal. Knowing it was a good thing, but it would not be enough.
Besides those two Turbid Demons, Cao Yun was also cultivating his Corpse Dog, the embodiment of fear. And there were many fears in his young mind. First of all, he was indeed afraid of becoming what he had once despised, using others as though they were insignificant resources he could play around with. But he was also terrified by the story between Xixue and Meiyue. If twin sisters could be pushed to such a tragic end, he was afraid for his own sister. Her mind had been poisoned by Emperor Weide for years now.
In fact, Cao Yun wasn't too afraid about her survival. Emperor Weide would do everything to keep her alive and well until he needed to consume her Soul Embryo. And considering how much time had passed, it was almost impossible for her to have forged a Soul Embryo, even with the best teachers and alchemists. Maybe she was closer than anyone else, but no one could match Cao Yun's speed in that regard. After all, his mind cultivation and his asura cultivation had helped a lot. Throughout history, he might find some genius who had maybe been faster than him. But in the current era, there was absolutely no doubt in his mind. Moreover, luck had also played a part in his cultivation, he could not deny it. But he could not rely on luck all the time, so he had to consolidate his cultivation.
Using the calligraphy of the Weaver of Souls and his own emotions, Cao Yun was slowly working on his Corpse Dog. As much as he wanted to advance as fast as possible, he was also afraid of working on two Turbid Demons again. Ironically, it helped him develop Corpse Dog faster. Being afraid was not a bad thing as it would help him avoid doing anything stupid. But fear could be all-encompassing and completely paralyze someone. This was a thin line to walk, just like he was doing when it came to the morality of his actions. He could easily fall on the wrong side of the line and he might not even realize it until it was too late. However, he was confident in himself, for now...
Corpse Dog was the Po of Yin, related to the Water element. Water was able to calm down, but it could also freeze someone. On the other hand, Fire would excite but it could also burn. With the Flying Poison, the Unclean Evil and the Stinking Lungs, Cao Yun had developed the Po of Jing, the Po of Qi and the Po of Shen. In other words, he had already strengthened the three treasures of the human body. The Po of Yin and the Po of Yang were a bit more difficult to master. After them would come the Po of Heaven and the Po of Earth who would also be a bit more difficult. But of course, they would also increase his overall strength by quite a lot. There was a qualitative change, not just a quantitative one.
Obviously, Cao Yun also worked on his human cultivation. In his upper abdomen, he could feel his Soul Embryo. From the tiny silver embryo, he could feel surges of pure energy coursing through his body. Those surges were very faint though.
As a 1st-grade Spirit Warrior, Cao Yun had to nourish it with care. In its current state, his Soul Embryo was still extremely weak, just like a newborn who had not even breathed once. His first task had been to fill up his Dantian again since they had been mostly depleted by the Lesser Tribulation. This hadn't been too difficult to be honest. With alchemy, it had even been an easy process. Slowly building one's Dantian was difficult and long, but filling them up once again was easier as one simply needed the right amount of Qi. With his current body, Cao Yun could absorb large quantities of Qi without much problem. Compared with his time as a Mortal, it was like night and day. What would have taken him months to absorb, he could do so in a matter of hours, if not minutes.
By the time everyone had left the Oasis of Life, around three to four months had passed and Cao Yun's Dantian were full and vibrant. Besides, he had been able to balance Water Qi and Fire Qi. Now, he would use the combination of Water Qi and Fire Qi to nourish his Soul Embryo. In this process, the only important thing was to be patient. By over-nourishing the embryo, one could damage it. But it also had to receive enough to grow.
This stage wasn't just about nourishing it though, it was also about connecting with it, listening to it. By nourishing it, one had to be attentive to its needs and its reactions. In its current state Cao Yun's Soul Embryo seemed lethargic but it really wasn't. There were many small and subtle details one had to be aware of in order to understand the small life within them. This Soul Embryo was an empty soul that would later become the vessel for the cultivator's soul itself. Thus, it was imperative to be extremely familiar with it.
There were pills to help nourish the Soul Embryo. Cao Yun had found several of them throughout all the documents he had. But in 'Cultivation of Wrath', he had read how harmful those pills were in the long run. Indeed, they were deprive the cultivator of this occasion to better understand their Soul Embryo. And this could cause many problems. In particular, it could make crossing into the fourth realm almost impossible. So of course, Cao Yun abstained from such pills even though he could have forged them. Instead, he used array formations to completely isolate himself from the outside world so he could focus all on his mind on the Soul Embryo.
He entered into a meditative seclusion. Although he had planned to stay in this state for a few days, when he left it, more than a month had passed. He had been so engrossed in his exploration of his Soul Embryo, that time had flown by. This was something every cultivator knew about. But Cao Yun had not thought that this would happen to him to such an extent. Spending a week or two meditating instead of a few days was fine, but he had almost stayed confined for two whole months, short of a few days. Thankfully, his preparations had been good and High Mother Lisha had handled everything well.
Coming out of seclusion, he could feel his Soul Embryo all the time and was constantly feeding it with a stream of Water Qi and Fire Qi. At the same time, he was also using the Drop of Wrath to send its intent to it so his Soul Embryo would also become acquainted to it. Cao Yun's plan was clear. He intended to fuse his Drop of Wrath, that was slowly turning out to be his Demon Soul, and his Soul Embryo. Instead of just having them work together, his plan was to merge them into one soul. He didn't know exactly how to do so, but he knew that this was possible, especially after spending so much time knowing his Soul Embryo. They were made of the same substance and had basically the same purpose, becoming a vessel for one's real soul.
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When he left his seclusion, Cao Yun pushed all those thoughts aside. It would take a few months for his Soul Embryo to be nourished to the point he could call himself a 2nd-grade Spirit Warrior. But it wouldn't be difficult, the Lesser Tribulation had been the difficult stage. Unless Cao Yun grew impatient, the first stages of the Embryo Realm would be smooth. So obviously, he would keep himself in check an rein in his impatience. After all, he could probably fight a late Spirit Warrior or late Accomplished Demon with his current strength. Although a 9th-grade Spirit Warrior like Emperor Weide was out of his league, he might still be able to overcome this gap through strategy, array formations, seals and martial arts. His Spear Intent would also be a great weapon as it didn't rely on one's cultivation.
He received reports from High Mother Lisha and saw that everything was going as planned. Hopefully, only City Lord Sihe would suffer from the consequences of said plan. And Cao Yun could even send the Sisters of the Abyss to try and protect the civilians when the war would begin. Because, it was almost impossible to avoid a war. However, instead of being directed toward Boss Gui, City Lord Sihe would be the target.
Right now, Cao Yun had to deal with the nomadic tribes. From what he had read, the Sisters had done their duty. And so had Sha Chai Gan. There was no doubt that she had listened to Cao Yun as she had slowly distanced herself from the Sun Scorpion Clan and Patriarch Liang Lisheng. So the time was ripe for Cao Yun to act. Since everyone thought Mo Yun dead, he didn't want to change that. But after much consideration, revealing himself as alive would be a good way to get what he wanted fast. After all, he would need Lord Wanghuo to give him a boat and a good navigator. And for that, he would have to reveal himself to him. Using an identity that was already known by many would be the easiest and fastest way. At least, Cao Yun was convinced of that.
Of course, it could also arise suspicion. But the point wasn't to be clean of any suspicion. The point was to make sure that no one could prove anything. By controlling the Sisters and soon the Xinian Confederation, this wouldn't be an issue at all. Cao Yun would completely control the narrative. From what he understood, Lord Wanghuo wouldn't really care as long as his own interests weren't impacted. In fact, Cao Yun was almost certain that they would be impacted positively.
Hongyu had now a better control of her improved body. As such, she turned out to be a bit faster than Cao Yun. With her, he was now that fastest man in the entire Desolate Sepulcher. Considering how long travels could take, even a small advantage could go a long way. Most likely, Cao Yun could travel from one corner of the continent to the other in around four months while many others would spend from half a year if they dared to cross the Desolate Dune Desert to an entire year, or even more for weaker cultivators or large caravans.
Of course, Cao Yun and Hongyu were able to get to the nomadic tribes before they had even reached their own settlements. This time, he didn't try to be discreet at all. He knew, thanks to the Sisters, that there were a few spies from different factions hidden among the tribes. And he wanted to make a true spectacle out of his appearance. He didn't just want to win over the tribes, he also wanted to send a message to everyone else watching through those spies. So he had no intention of harming them. Instead, he had to make sure that they would live to spread the news, especially City Lord Sihe's men.
In the desert, Cao Yun saw the caravans before they noticed him at all.
In the night sky, there were three streaks of fire left by Hongyu's fiery tails. On Cao Yun's command, the Sky Tyrant Fenghuang burned as bright as day. Everyone in the caravans turned around, surprised that the sun was rising so soon. But the sun was getting dangerously close to them. The nomads were afraid that a powerful demonic beast was attacking them. Technically they were right, but it wasn't a wild demonic beast. And the main concern they should have had wasn't the demonic beast itself.
From his spatial ring, Cao Yun sent thousands of swords all around the caravans. They stabbed into the ground, forming a large and complex array formation all around them. In his hands, he had a small plate in which he had engraved a 5-star Heaven array formation. It wasn't perfect at all. In fact, Cao Yun wasn't too proud of it, but it would be enough right now. After all, he didn't want to confine the nomads for too long and there was not a single Accomplished Demon among them. Besides, he knew for a fact that they wouldn't work well together, thanks to Sha Chai Gan and a few others who were on her side.