Cao Yun was quite literally in the belly of the beast. After going through the space between its flesh and its shell, Cao Yun had found the wound he had inflicted upon the Stormriser Leviathan Emperor and was now making his way deeper and deeper. Not only was the beast wriggling around trying to get rid of this intruder, everything within the creature was trying to kill Cao Yun.
First of all, fluids of varying kinds were assaulting Cao Yun. The young man couldn't tell if it was just blood, but these fluids were extremely corrosive. Even his Wei Qi was being attacked by those. No matter how strong his defense was, some of this blood touched his skin. Once again, the young man was being devoured alive by this corrosive substance. Apparently it had become some kind of routine. Cao Yun was always being corroded by something, whether it was lava, a blood pool, or the literal innards of a demonic beast. However, no matter how many times it happened, it never felt good.
With his regenerative abilities, Cao Yun could regrow his layers of skin a bit faster than they were being eaten away. That being said, it was still extremely painful, thus it taxed his mind that was already busy fortifying his defenses. All of his Turbid Demons were being used as well as energy directly from his Soul Embryo. Since Cao Yun had mastered his Fallen Arrow, his Soul Embryo had not awoken, but it had clearly grown stronger. Maybe he could use his Turbid Demons to speed up his Qi cultivation. But, at the same time, Cao Yun didn't want to risk injuring or damaging his Soul Embryo. Anyway, this wasn't the proper time nor the proper place to think about it.
Regrowing his skin also demanded energy from his body. Although he had taken some pill to recover, Cao Yun was still exhausted. So he decided not to lose any time at all. The young man was trying to go straight toward the Stormriser Leviathan Emperor's ninth demonic core, the one he had damaged. This initial injury had probably reduced the strength of this 9-core demonic beast. But it had still been extremely powerful. If such a creature could practice real martial arts and could think as a human being, it would be a disaster.
With his current blood cultivation, Cao Yun was the equal of an 8-core demonic beast. Adding his Qi cultivation to that, he could indeed slay an 8-core demonic beast without too much problem, especially if he used his stealth to attack it by surprise. That being said, some beasts were more dangerous than others. But against a 9-core demonic beast, Cao Yun wasn't stupid enough to think he could easily win. As much as he was confident in his ability, he might be severely injured. Thus, Cao Yun would try to avoid such a direct confrontation. Unfortunately, in this case, he had had no choice.
Since the Stormriser Leviathan Emperor had wanted this fight, Cao Yun had no qualms ending it. Besides, he had even broken through in the middle of the fight. And now, this gigantic monster would give Cao Yun even more benefits.
Finally, the young man cut through several layers of tissues that had grown back after his initial attack. They were even weaker than they had initially been. Indeed, the beast had not the same regenerative ability as Cao Yun. Besides, it was much larger so it would require more time and energy to recover. But now, it would be much more difficult. Indeed, the young man was literally in front of the ninth core.
Before Cao Yun's eyes was a demonic core the size of his own chest. It looked like a kidney stone. And indeed, it was close to the kidneys of the beast. But it was something else entirely. A demonic core was similar to spirit stones. Spirit stones were natural condensation of Qi into special minerals. Demonic cores were the same kind of condensation but by the very body of the demonic beasts. The process was purely instinctive but many compared it to cultivation. After all, it allowed demonic beasts to grow stronger and stronger just like cultivation helped human beings. But, by some strange properties, the demonic beasts also changed. Many thought that they simply awoke their dormant bloodlines with each new demonic core.
In that pulsating purple crystal, there was a huge crack caused by Cao Yun's initial attack. Now that he could admire his work in person, Cao Yun realized that he had almost cut it in half. If his attack had been more powerful or a bit more to the left, the demonic core would have truly been shattered in several pieces. This was no wonder why the Stormriser Leviathan Emperor had been so mad toward him. And it would probably get madder yet.
Without any hesitation, Cao Yun controlled all the swords in his back and cut off every tissue linking the demonic core to the body of the Stormriser Leviathan Emperor.
Outside, the beast was wriggling with fury in the Divine Blood Ocean. Hongyu was watching it, not knowing what it should do. Clearly, this episode was due to her brother acting up within the beast itself. But Hongyu had no idea what was really going on so she was unsure of what to do. Thus, she simply observed the situation and tried to recover her strength with the effects of the pill still coursing through her body. She focused on her Evil Core and Wrath Core to replenish her Qi and her flames, ready to help Cao Yun if need be.
Once its ninth core cut off from the rest of its body, the Stormriser Leviathan Emperor lost in strength. However, to Hongyu, it looked like it had grown in fact stronger. This was just due to its fury. The Stormriser Leviathan Emperor was simply furiously spending, and wasting, more and more energy. As it had no way of using any soul attacks, or even using its own intent inwards, the demonic beast couldn't do anything against the intruder within its body. And it was aware enough of that fact to be filled with fury and despair.
Usually, any creature stupid enough to enter its body on its own would simply die, being digested by its bodily fluids. Unfortunately for the 9-core demonic beast, Cao Yun could resist those natural defenses. Thus, the demonic beast could only move around in the desperate hope that Cao Yun would somehow get crushed. But Cao Yun could easily cut through the muscles that would contract around him. Besides, the beast was ironically too big. The young man could evade most of its frantic movements.
At last, the demonic core was completely severed. Now that it was floating within the fluids of the beast, Cao Yun engulfed it in his spiritual senses. He made sure to completely isolate it. Severing the mental connection between it and the Stormriser Leviathan Emperor wasn't too hard at all, especially with Cao Yun's mind cultivation. Once it was done, Cao Yun was able to store it in his spatial ring.
In order to store something in a spatial ring, its owner had to spread their spiritual senses around the object and take it in. If something else was trying to stop it, it was impossible to do so. For example, during a fight, it was theoretically possible to simply steal one's opponent's weapons. But any living being would have some Wei Qi around them. And it would naturally extend to the weapon they were holding. In other words, only if the opponent was much weaker could one steal their weapon. But in this scenario, there was no need for that as they could simply crush the opponent in an instant.
Right now, Cao Yun had stolen more than a weapon from the Stormriser Leviathan Emperor. In a sense, he had stolen one of its major organs. And the worst part was that Cao Yun wasn't finished. Now that he had had taken one demonic core, he had no reason to stop. The Stormriser Leviathan Emperor was now insane, but it was also weaker. Thus, it became even easier for Cao Yun to go after its other demonic cores and so he did.
The young man traveled through the body of the poor beast. Using his compass, he easily found the other demonic cores and simply reaped them as though they were grass. Cutting all the flesh around the pulsating crystals, Cao Yun stored them all in his spatial ring.
Outside, Hongyu could clearly see that the beast was growing weaker and weaker. It had used all of its fury to flail around but it was over. Now, the poor beast seemed to simply wait its own death. It had been a major predator within this area of the Divine Blood Ocean for several centuries. And yet, it had been killed so easily by a mere human it could barely seen because he was too small. But the Stormriser Leviathan Emperor didn't die full of resentment. It was simply the way things were in the wild. There was always a better predator.
Soon, weaker demonic beasts would fight over the carcass of the Stormriser Leviathan Emperor. Then, other 9-core demonic beasts would fight to get its territory. The Divine Blood Ocean would get very interesting in the coming months and even years. Demonic beasts would wage war against each other for the scraps.
Cao Yun was well aware of that. And it might even cause the Divine Blood Ocean to become much more dangerous. It wasn't a very good thing, especially for the Desolate Sepulcher who relied on its trade with the continent. But, then again, their trade would naturally diminish now that they had stopped selling slaves. Cao Yun simply hoped that Jing Baiyu and Fading Fang would have no problem on their way back.
Anyway, the young man had not had much choice in the matter as he didn't want to be devoured by the Stormriser Leviathan Emperor. Moreover, the demonic beast would have destroyed Fading Fang and killed her entire crew without his intervention. At least now, they had a real chance. Besides, the demonic beasts would not go all-out right away, most likely. As long as Fading Fang came back home soon enough, they shouldn't have too many issues.
Once all nine demonic cores were inside Cao Yun's spatial ring, the young man still wasn't done. He would have loved to take the entire body in his spatial ring. But none of his spatial rings were large enough. Besides, he had already taken a lot of resources with him. But he knew which parts of the Stormriser Leviathan Emperor were the most important an the rarest. As an alchemist, and as an array formation master, this body was a treasure trove. Thus, Cao Yun made sure to take with him the best parts of the demonic beast. He literally filled his spatial rings with everything he could, prioritizing the best organs and bones.
Finally, the young man left the dead body of the beast. It was now resting on the ocean floor, lifeless. Looking at the giant creature, Cao Yun did feel something. He had killed a 9-core demonic beast himself. Of course, it wasn't as impressive as killing a 9th-grade Spirit Warrior, but this was something. And he had gained a lot, both for him and for Hongyu. Indeed, devouring demonic cores from a 9-core demonic beast would be an incredibly beneficial thing for her. At the same time, in his current cultivation, amassing Qi wasn't very important to Cao Yun.
Indeed, Cao Yun's cultivation was now much more spiritual. Working on his Qi, blood or physical body were still important aspects but they were clearly secondary now. Any advantage he could obtain, he would try to get it. But his main concern was his soul. Both in the asura cultivation system and the human cultivation system, the third realms put the emphasis on one's soul. And the next realms didn't rely heavily on Qi either. In fact, Qi and blood were the main concerns of the first realms. And this was why it was essential to have a firm foundation during those realms. Afterward, there was no time for that, most of a cultivator's time should be used to work on their mind and soul, not on material things of any kind.
Sighing deeply, Cao Yun abandoned the rest of the body. The Divine Blood Ocean was already turning red as the blood of the Stormriser Leviathan Emperor was spilling outside of its carcass through its wounds. Soon, there might be another Blood Storm around here. Still covered in the blood of this demonic beast, Cao Yun left the Divine Blood Ocean. As the young man was leaving, he saw that Hongyu had already eaten some of the flesh of the demonic beast while he was still inside. Clearly, she was as disappointed as he was about the idea of leaving such a large piece of meat at the bottom of the ocean. Still, Cao Yun had kept some great pieces of the body in his spatial ring. He had indeed thought about Hongyu's appetite.
For some time, Cao Yun had thought about using the blood of the beast to try and keep other demonic beasts away. But it would have the opposite effect. Now that the ruler of this area was dead, all the demonic beasts would want a piece of its body. Using its blood might indeed frighten some weak demonic beasts. But powerful 8-core demonic beasts, or even another 9-core demonic beast might be attracted to it instead, which would cause them even more problems.
At last, Cao Yun got back to Fading Fang. Jing Baiyu had waited for the young man all this time, despite the threat of the Stormriser Leviathan Emperor.
"Boy, you... you've done it...!"
Although he was leaving the Divine Blood Ocean, Cao Yun still had some of the beast's blood on him. He would wash it carefully afterward of course. But he had something else in his hand. The young man threw it at the captain.
The White Whale received the gift. It was a piece of the Stormriser Leviathan Emperor's fangs. In fact, it was the absolute extremity of its teeth. Jing Baiyu looked at it intensely. That beast had almost destroyed him twice. And now it was dead, just like that. Squeezing the fragment of teeth, Jing Baiyu got emotional. Although he had saved almost everyone, some of his crew had died during his first encounter with the beast. They were now avenged.