The day of the meeting between High Mother Lisha and Lord Wanghuo was drawing near. As such, Cao Yun and High Mother Lisha had left the Monastery of Bliss and Repose to get to the capital of the Nalupu Kingdom, Sidina. Considering that they weren't in any hurry, they would reach the city in around a month. There, the Sisters were already preparing everything for their arrival.
Since the induction ceremony of High Mother Lisha, Lord Wanghuo had stayed secluded in his harem and had let his ministers take care of all matters. Consequently, the Sisters of the Abyss were more or less ruling the entire Nalupu Kingdom as the ministers either didn't care to argue with them, were sympathetic to them, or were simply not influential enough. The death of High Mother Qin Xue could have dealt a huge blow to the Sisters. Thankfully though, the transition had been smooth, in parts thanks to Cao Yun's seals that had forced all the powerful Sisters to side with their new High Mother. But also, because High Mother Lisha was already respected and extremely competent.
On the other hand, the ceremony had not been very beneficial for Lord Wanghuo. Those with enough involvement in politics knew of his indolence but he had kept his halo of strength in the eyes of the population. Seeing him at the ceremony had broken that a little. Cao Yun had not found the time to attend it so he had not witnessed anything.
From the reports he had read, Lord Wanghuo had been a great warrior. Even today, he could kill any demon or demonic beast in the Desolate Sepulcher with his bare hands. For centuries, he had not been forced to take out any weapon to deal with his enemies. According to some stories from credible sources, he had already slaughtered a dozen middle Accomplished Demons back when he was on their cultivation level, not higher. Cao Yun could probably do so, but he had to admit that he had been extremely lucky with his cultivation.
Seeing their king and champion in his current had demoralized many commoners who had been fortunate enough to attend the ceremony. By contrast, High Mother Lisha had seemed like a much more reliable figure. However, Lord Wanghuo didn't care at all. He had dismissed any minister who had tried to make his appearance more kingly. Of course, he had still respected the ceremony and had not broken any ritual or custom. After all, this was an important part of their culture.
Despite his lacking aura and his indolence, Lord Wanghuo still respected the Sisters and their religious order. Although he wasn't a pious follower of their teaching, he had a lot of admiration for them and the Weaver of Souls. Unfortunately, something had broken in him and his behavior had gotten worse and worse over the years. He built a harem with thousands of beautiful women whom he changed frequently. And he had been spending more and more time with them.
For the demons, it was not a good behavior. Some would admit that a king could have several concubines, maybe even a small harem. So long as it wasn't too covert. But demons valued their blood and their essence. Having too much intercourse with too many partners was seen as a waste of one's essence. The worse thing would be to have too many children without any regard for their bloodlines and for the loss of essence one had to endure to give birth.
According to the Sisters, the problem hadn't come from his Turbid Demons as some could think. No, the problem was in fact rooted in his own strength. He didn't care much for politics. But he even came to disdain it completely. For a time, he tried to challenge himself. But after conquering the entire Nalupu Kingdom and eradicating some extraordinary demonic beasts, he had grown tired. There was nothing in life to stimulate him. Although he was alive, it felt as though he was dead.
Learning of all of that, Cao Yun was quite stricken. Indeed, he was working on his Fallen Arrow. And Cao Yun himself was wondering what meaning he would find in life, especially after saving his sister and killing Emperor Weide. He would obviously do everything to protect the Hongchen Kingdom too. But at some point, he would be done.
After all of that, Cao Yun wished to explore his cultivation even more, maybe travel through the universe and beyond. But how long could he stay driven? And if he got stuck in his cultivation, would he devolve slowly like Lord Wanghuo? He could completely lose his drive. After all, despite his mind cultivation, Cao Yun could lose his motivation. Cultivating Fallen Arrow was affecting his Dao Heart and putting doubts in his mind as to the meaning of everything, especially his own life. For the moment, he had a clear goal in mind so he could focus on this. But he also thought about the future...
Hopefully, he would find more answers as he would grow. But Cao Yun had now become certain that everything he thought was him was in fact the emanation of his ten souls interacting and clashing with each other. In fact, he could literally feel his Shuang Ling the Bright Spirit yearning for the knowledge of the Dao. At the same time, Tai Guang the Great Light was pushing him toward even more spiritual pursuits. Maybe he could become a monk. You Jing the Dark Essence agreed with it as it could create a new family for Cao Yun. However, it also had contradictory aspirations as You Jing also longed for Cao Yun to stay with the friends he was missing.
Other desires and emotions from his seven Po were clashing with his three Hun. Some times, the Hun were all in disagreement with the Po. Other times, some of the Hun and the Po were clashing with the rest. Cao Yun could somewhat feel this permanent battle in his own mind. The more he was aware of that, the more he was left aghast. What remained of himself? Was everything he was just the emanation of those souls?
Even when Cao Yun was using his mind cultivation to rein in those souls, he could tell that this was somewhat the product of their desires as well. More and more, he couldn't find the limit between what he always felt was him and those souls in him. And more and more, they appeared to be both himself and some external force. But if they felt like some external force, then that meant that there was really something remaining apart from them. Or was this very sensation itself caused by them too?
This existential crisis had already begun some time ago but it was simply growing more and more acute as Cao Yun was discovering his own soul. Honestly, he was a bit afraid of what he might discover. Maybe this was also a reason why some cultivators didn't persevere long enough. Besides, no cultivator in the Piaolu planet had any hope to break free from the shackles of their own mortality. Maybe ignorance was bliss for some... But not for Cao Yun.
The young man was steeling his will, his resolve and his Dao Heart. He wouldn't let these feelings get in his way. Maybe this was also caused by his own souls battling each other. But so what? If that was the case, whether he let this hopelessness drown him or not would also be the result of those souls. If there really was nothing that was truly himself, things would still be better with more knowledge and more power. Maybe he could discover something along the way. And if he didn't, at least, he would probably enjoy his life even if he was simply being driven by those souls.
-
As Cao Yun was contemplating all of that while traveling toward Sidina, someone else was having a crisis.
In Siqian City, City Lord Sihe had learned about what had happened in Duma City. On one side he was happy that his greatest rival was dead, Boss Gui. On the other, he had lost a huge support within the army, Marshal Weiji He. This wasn't a small loss at all. Besides, he could probably be accused of somehow be behind this assassination. If he had not killed Boss Gui, he had his reasons.
Even Lord Wanghuo would think twice before killing a city lord. And City Lord Sihe was not on Lord Wanghuo's level at all. Moreover, the mere death of a city lord was bad news. After all, it proved to everyone else that this was possible. Thus, it would be met with extreme anger from all the other city lords. Of course, City Lord Sihe was afraid to be accused. He was already in a bad place.
Besides all this, Boss Gui's death was paradoxically not good for his business as it would create more chaos. It was good for no one's business as a matter of fact. But City Lord Sihe's business was already going down as getting more slaves was almost impossible now. He had already sold most of his slaves and was having a hard time getting more valuable slaves.
Thankfully, Nie Pian was salvaging his business with his knowledge about Boss Gui's trade and the Blazing Swallow. For months now, Nie Pian had been working like crazy. He had invested a lot of money in various places and had turned up a huge profit. With Boss Gui, he might even be able to divert more and more money from her own assets.
Indeed, Nie Pian was working like no other servant of City Lord Sihe. And he was being successful. Since Boss Gui's death, he had secluded himself in his study, sending orders through sealed letters to many others. City Lord Sihe had quickly ordered everyone to obey his commands as though they were his. And since then, everything was going well for his trade.
Nie Pian had bought some of Boss Gui's hidden assets. With her sudden death, she had not been able to warn anyone and Nie Pian was probably the only one who had a full picture of all her investments. As such, he might even be able to buy more than half of everything she once owned. This would be great for City Lord Sihe.
Although such news should have elated City Lord Sihe, he was still growing more and more worried. Consequently, he was also growing increasingly paranoid.
One day, he suddenly opened the door of his personal chambers and saw a servant slowly walking on the other side of the corridor. Without any warning, he jumped forward and crushed his skull with a wooden chamber pot while screaming like a madman.
"Who sent you?! Who are spying for?!"
With each scream, he crushed the bloody corpse. The poor servant had not even been a Golden Blood Child so he had no chance at all. And obviously, he had just been in this corridor by chance. As a matter of fact, he was cleaning chamber pots...
There were many incidents of this kind. It was to the point where the servants were forbidden from getting inside the residence alone. City Lord Sihe was given detail plans of their comings and goings. But there were still more minor incidents.
In several meetings, his counselors were simply afraid to speak their minds. Thus, Nie Pian was getting more and more influential. Although the counselors might have resented him, they did not. Indeed, they were quite pleased that someone else was keeping City Lord Sihe in check. Besides, Nie Pian was lining their pockets too. And he was always consulting with them as much as he could.
Each counselor felt as though Nie Pian had a very personal relationship with them. And so did City Lord Sihe.
Unfortunately, his madness didn't stop to his residence. When he left his residence, all of his counselors were filled with dread. It only happened a few times, but each day City Lord Sihe went in town, he caused a major incident. They were even forced to buy an entire restaurant because he had killed the manager and the cooks thinking they were trying to poison him.
Since then, he had also had a few cooks boiled alive after accusing him of assassination attempt. Clearly, City Lord Sihe had lost it and people were now really starting to plot against him. Ironically, his paranoia was now becoming warranted.
-
In the Weiji residence, Weiji Fen was holding the most important gathering of his entire life. After Weiji He's demise, the entire family was in uproar. They had been put under house arrest. At every door, there were guards ready to strike down anyone who would try to exit the residence. Most of their servants had been taken away. All of their slaves had been confiscated too.
For the time being, they were simply happy that Lord Wanghuo had not executed anyone, Lord Wanghuo of his ministers. Maybe he was simply too busy having some fun in his harem. But hopefully, he would remember the loyal services of Weiji He.
It was hard for Weiji Fen but he had to denounce his own father. Cutting blood ties with one's family was already hard for humans, but with the importance of blood and bloodline in their culture, it was even harder for demons. For example, adoption was much more widespread among humans and almost nonexistent among demons. For being adopted in one's family, it was necessary to engage in an ancient ceremony to forsake one's blood and accept another's.
Weiji Fen was surrounded by all the high members of the Weiji family. They were all wearing white and he was wearing red and white. Before him was small altar with various narrow and long wooden planks. Each wooden plank had a small drop of blood on it. This was the family altar with the blood of all their ancestors.
Obviously, Weiji He's blood was there as well.
Weiji Fen took out the wooden plank that used to be his. After chanting a few words in a language that no one could understand as it was a corrupted form of Antique Sixian, he raised the plank in the air. Weiji Fen turned toward the rest of the family. They all chanted the same words.
Those were ceremonial words meant to insult someone, denounce them and even curse them. From now on, Weiji He's blood was a blight on their own family. They would have to perform various rituals to clean themselves of such a diseased blood.
When this part was over, Weiji Fen literally burned the wooden plank down.
Even going to such extents might not be enough though. Maybe they would also need the support of City Lord Sihe...