Revolt against the Heavens

Cao Yun's 'Tainted Heavenly Spear' regained her original form as he was focusing every ounce of Spear Aura he had on the tip of the weapon. This was clearly Spear Intent. Indeed, the main difference between the two martial states was the ability to concentrate and control one's Martial Aura. At this stage, Cao Yun's Insight Writings were forming entire verses. After Spear Intent, the next stage would be Spear Heart when the Insight Writings would coalesce into a full-fledged scripture. But that was easier said than done of course. When someone's understanding of an art was already so high, improving it was like climbing to Heavens. But any small improvement could have tremendous impact on one's prowess.

The Qi Manifestation of the Azure Dragon was however still extremely clear. It was colliding with the 'Heavenly Spirits Ruin' sent by Xin Zhe. The two weapons were causing a terrible shrill to echo all over the place. Even where the 'Golden Cicada Sheds Its Skin' array formation had been set up, the soldiers could hear a bit of this irritating noise despite their own battle.

Obviously, this sound also helped Xixue find Cao Yun. Indeed, she was still going after him. Although she couldn't do anything to help him during a fight, she strangely wanted to be there to support him. He had done a lot for her and she wanted to repay him in any way she could. Since she wasn't nowhere as fast as Hongyu, it was taking her some time to get there. But thankfully, they had stopped moving. And hopefully, the fight wouldn't be too fast. In fact, if Cao Yun were to kill Xin Zhe quickly, she would appreciate it. But she had a foreboding that this wasn't going to happen like that. Otherwise, Cao Yun wouldn't have had to lure her away from the battle. Somehow, she felt as though he was expecting to lose. And yet, he had still lured her away.

In actuality, Cao Yun had intended to lure her into another array formation he had prepared. Although he sincerely wanted to help the Sand Wolves Tribe, he didn't want to give his life for that. At first, he had truly helped them with ulterior motives for his own schemes. But he had grown attached to this tribe while he had stayed with them and he also cared for Xixue. Even if their interactions were mostly professional, he could empathize with her when it came to her missing sister. That being said, he was no saint or self-sacrificing hero. As long as his own sister was in danger, he would do everything he could to stay alive. Hell, he had even accepted to work with Boss Gui who was selling slaves. Deep down, he hoped that he wouldn't have to discover to what extremes he was ready to go for his sister, but he could go far.

At this moment, Cao Yun's entire being was condensed at the tip of his spear. He was both at his most powerful and his weakest. Indeed, he had kept nothing to protect himself. Luckily for him, Xin Zhe did not attack at this very moment. She was simply transfixed by what she was seeing. That human had a blood cultivation similar to the demons. But more than that, his mind cultivation was extraordinary. As such, Xin Zhe was weighing her options. But one thing was certain, she didn't want to kill him, she had to get this cultivation method. But she couldn't let anyone else know about this method. Thankfully, Cao Yun was too weak to resist her. So long as she didn't fall prey to his traps, there shouldn't be any problem.

'Azure Dragon Tears the East Sky'!

Cao Yun's attack reached its pinnacle. Even Xin Zhe was surprised. A mere Golden Blood Child was able to contend with her most powerful attack. Of course, he was pushing himself to the limit and she had herself been wounded and exhausted. However, this was unheard of. Although a 9th-grade Golden Blood Child could exchange a few moves with an Accomplished Demon, and a small group of them could even fight off an early Accomplished Demon, Cao Yun was nowhere close to this stage yet. However, Xin Zhe could tell that he had several cultivation methods, he was cultivating both his Qi and his blood, while also working on his very mind and soul. She couldn't wait to pry all those secrets out of him. Besides, she could also make him pay at the same time.

While Xin Zhe was preparing her revenge and her torture as though Cao Yun was already in her grasp, his spear was slowly penetrating her 'Heavenly Spirits Ruin'. The golden and white bone disc began to get covered in small cracks. The Azure Dragon was screaming as much as Cao Yun was. The young man's skin was almost red as he was exerting himself as much as he could. His condensed Golden Blood was flying in his bloodstream at an incredible speed while his Qi was almost being depleted. Cao Yun was literally using all the Water Qi and Fire Qi he had already gathered in his Dantian.

Even if he survived this fight, it would take months for Cao Yun to gather as much Qi. Thankfully, replenishing one's Qi was easier than cultivating. In a sense, cultivating was not only about gathering Qi in one's Dantian, but also training said Dantian to take it. Thus, cultivating Fire Qi could take years, or even decades, while replenishing it, especially with array formations and pills, could only take weeks, or months in the worst cases. Unfortunately, Cao Yun was facing such a case.

At last, his spear broke through. The disc ruptured. As the cracks crisscrossed its entire shape, the weapon broke apart. A loud explosion echoed throughout the place and countless fragments of bone got sent in every direction. Xin Zhe's 'Heavenly Spirits Ruin' had been utterly destroyed. Even she suffered a bit of a backlash as the technique was still linked to her since the Qi in her blood had manifested it. However, she didn't mind at all. Indeed, Cao Yun had used absolutely everything he had. Just staying conscious was difficult for him. But worse than that, Hongyu had also poured most of her strength, if not all, in that attack.

The flying demonic beast could barely stay in the sky. Trying to stay strong, Hongyu controlled her fall and landed on the burning sand of the Desolate Dune Desert. During said fall, Cao Yun was unable to move a single muscle. He was quickly separated from Hongyu as they plummeted to the ground. In fact, Cao Yun was so tired that he couldn't even send his spear back in his spatial ring, neither could he grip it. Thus, the heavy spear stabbed into the ground and almost entirely sunk into the sand. Cao Yun also sank a bit in the sand and could feel it burning his flesh directly as his Wei Qi was gone.

In his sea of consciousness, he could only hear Dian Mo frantically trying to tell him to escape. But they knew it was hopeless.

"You stupid brat! You'll get us both killed! I told you to abandon those ruffians! What are you going to do now?! I can't die like that! Not after everything I've done! Not after everything I've sacrificed! Brat, come on!"

Dian Mo's words barely registered in Cao Yun's mind. If they had, he would have been more upset than before. There was clearly something wrong with the Demon Palace. And it was getting worse. But now wasn't the time to worry about that. Now wasn't the time to do anything at all. There was nothing Cao Yun could do. He was going to die here in this desert, unable to save his sister.

That was his only thought at the moment. He could hear the screams of his little sister as Emperor Weide was ripping her Soul Embryo from her body to feed his own. Then, he heard the maniacal laughter of said Emperor Weide as he ascended to the Sage Realm. Although he might never have enough time to become an Immortal, he would probably get strong enough to subjugate the Empyrean Asura Theocracy. Emperor Weide would become a hero of mankind, just like Emperor Nuwa. But his fame would rest on the corpses of the Cao family and even the Shui family, and many more Cao Yun could not even count. He couldn't let that happen! He couldn't let his name disappear like that!

No matter how much he was trying to do anything, Cao Yun was unable to move a single muscle. He could barely breathe in that moment. Only his will had prevented his Qi and blood from damaging his internal organs. But there were still some injuries here and there.

Even in his condition, he was aware of his surroundings. Xin Zhe appeared above him. She was floating right above his broken body with a sinister smile on her face. In her confidence, she had even retracted most of her cultivation.

"Human, you've given me a fright I have to confess. But in the end you were just bluffing... Do not worry, I will use your gifts way better than you ever could. Either you relinquish them willingly or I will have to take them from you. The process will be slow and painful. And not just for you... If you give me what I want, I will give the mercy of a quick death to those savages. But if you don't, you will be able to enjoy every single instant of torment they go through because of your stubbornness. What say you? ... Oh, I'm stupid! You don't even have the strength to talk. I'm not even sure you can think clearly either..."

Despite her bravado, Xin Zhe was sincerely afraid of entering Cao Yun's mind. Somehow, she could tell that there was something strange in his sea of consciousness. What she instinctively feared was the Drop of Wrath. But in Cao Yun's current state, it wouldn't protect him for long. Besides, Xin Zhe was an expert when it came to seal, she would be able to seal the Drop of Wrath while taking what she wanted. In fact, she might even be able to take the Drop of Wrath itself with enough time. All of his strength would be passed over to this woman. What a tragic ending...!

As Xin Zhe was towering over Cao Yun's body, Xixue finally arrived. She saw the scene of carnage. Hongyu was almost buried in the sand too with her blood soiling the desert. Cao Yun was completely powerless, all his aura gone. At that moment, Xixue was even able to guess what he had been hiding all this time. Cao Yun wasn't an Accomplished Demon. To be honest, she had her doubts as she had known him for some time now. But seeing him like that, she was certain of it. Cao Yun was only a Golden Blood Child. However, something else shocked her. With his weakened state, he was unable to hide his true bloodline and his meridians. The demon Mo Yun was in fact the human Cao Yun. Xixue was unable to process it.

Before her eyes, Cao Yun's broken body rose in the air under Xin Zhe's control. Witnessing it all, Xixue wanted to yell something but she was overtaken by shock and surprise. It was as though she was paralyzed. And it probably saved her life as Xin Zhe would have killed any witness in a heartbeat.

Just as she was about to try and take away Cao Yun's secrets, Xin Zhe stopped moving. Cao Yun's body heavily fell back to the ground. From Xin Zhe's mouth and nose blood flowed. then, her very eyes started to bleed. However, she stayed perfectly immobile. Suddenly, her blood coagulated and from her very body, blades of her own blood pierced through her flesh. In an instant, Xin Zhe had turned into a porcupine. Without any scream, Xin Zhe had barely enough time to register what had happened to her as her dead body got crushed by an immense pressure. The next instant, only a small ball of bright blood remained from what was a 2nd-grade Accomplished Demon just a minute ago. Although Xin Zhe had spent around half of her strength and had relinquished all her defenses in front of Cao Yun, not just anyone could have killed her in such a manner. Clearly, her killer was at least a middle Accomplished Demon.

Early Accomplished Demons were already rare in the Desolate Sepulcher, but middle Accomplished Demons were even scarcer. And there were only two known late Accomplished Demons, Lord Wanghuo and the High Mother of the Sisters of the Abyss.

The already shocked Xixue was completely paralyzed at the moment. Now, there was no chance at all for Cao Yun, or for the Sand Wolves Tribe. They would all die or be enslaved. In fact, they could not even resist a middle Accomplished Demon so they wouldn't even have a choice between the two. All the slaves Cao Yun had freed would be thrown back into this living Hell. However, what Xixue was waiting for did not happen.

Cao Yun's body fell back to the ground. Since he wasn't too high, this fall wasn't dangerous at all. But no one came to claim his life or his body. Whoever had killed Xin Zhe seemed to have simply left. In fact, Xixue wondered whether she had imagined that. Indeed, there was no trace of Xin Zhe at all. Maybe the gods had intervened. Maybe Cao Yun truly was the reincarnation of Tie Po. After all, he was a human who could also cultivate his blood like demons. Surely, there was some strange magic behind it. Chasing this superstitious nonsense from her mind, Xixue ran toward Cao Yun.

What Xixue failed to notice was that a woman was floating above the scene. To be fair, even with Cao Yun's senses, she would have been difficult to notice either. Indeed, she was using a technique similar to 'Ashen Feather Seal' to conceal herself. But if Xixue had seen her face, she would have recognized her right away. She was Sister Lisha from the Sisters of the Abyss.

In her right hand, she was holding the bead of blood that Xin Zhe had turned into. For some time, Sister Lisha kept observing to make sure that Cao Yun was alive. After that, she did everything she could to erase any trace of her presence at all. Despite her technique, she might have left some ounce of her bloodline in the air. When she was satisfied with the situation, she rose higher and higher to see the battleground. Then, she simply flew away without anyone ever knowing she had been there at all.