Revolt against the Heavens

Deep within the Blood Abyss, Cao Yun was recovering. This fight had almost killed him. In fact, without the help from the Blood Abyss and the fact that the Sisters of the Abyss had deep ties with it, he would have lost. If Sister Lisha and the others had kept on fighting, he would have been forced to retreat into the Blood Abyss. In the end, he was certain that he would have triumphed as he could have simply cultivated his Turbid Demons. But this would have taken around a decade or more. Thus, High Mother Qin Xue would have had the time to prepare defenses against him.

Anyway, it wasn't important to think about it now. However, he kept the slight fear he had felt within his heart. After all, his next Turbid Demon would be the Corpse Dog, the Po of Yin associated with both wisdom and fear. This was the fourth of the Turbid Demons related to one of the Five Elements as well. Flying Poison the Po of Jing was connected to Earth, Unclean Evil the Po of Qi to Wood, Stinking Lungs the Po of Shen to Metal and Corpse Dog the Po of Yin to Water. After this one, remained Fallen Arrow the Po of Yang associated with Fire and related to the lack or absence of goal and self-worth. The ultimate two Turbid Demons were directly associated with Earth and Heavens, not the Earth element, but Earth as in the material aspect and Heaven the spiritual aspect of the world.

Unfortunately, Cao Yun could boast that he knew maybe more about Fallen Arrow than Corpse Dog. Indeed, even after everything he had thought about, he was still feeling a lack of purpose. Right now, his two main purposes were to save his sister and to cultivate. But cultivation and seeking knowledge were a bit too broad and he had no idea what it really meant except for the fact that he was sincerely in search of it. Maybe he was in search of a purpose as well...

Thankfully though, he could put his moral dilemmas to rest. His world view had both become broader and simpler at the same time. Now, he could accept that he didn't have all the answers. But that didn't mean that he shouldn't still try to do as much as he could based on what he knew. He wouldn't try to become the savior of the entire world as it was way beyond his ability and his wisdom. Also, he wouldn't like that kind of responsibility. However, he wouldn't turn away from what was in front of him. He wanted to be stronger to change what wrong had been done to his family. That being said, he couldn't stay blind to what was happening around him. Strength would also give him some amount of responsibility. Otherwise, he would become more and more detached overtime and he might turn into those who had disgusted him.

In the Desolate Sepulcher, he might not be able to change everything that he thought was wrong, but he knew that Sister Lisha had a heavy conscience about what her order had done. Thus, he was confident he could count on her to try and do better. Still, he had to make sure that she wouldn't turn against him. Most likely, she was still in shock. When she was level-headed, he would talk with her again. Moreover, he had to recover.

With High Mother Qin Xue's Golden Fate in hands, he focused on his blood cultivation. A large part of his soul left his body and surrounded him. Spiritual senses were extremely difficult to describe as he could feel the world with his very soul, without using his senses. From the Golden Fate, he absorbed High Mother Qin Xue's prenatal Jing. This was 'Fate Devouring Gate' from the 'Crimson Inferno Road' cultivation method. Thanks to his Drop of Wrath, it was extremely easy to crush her prenatal Jing now that most of her soul had left her body anyway.

In a matter of days, Cao Yun absorbed all of her Golden Fate. In the end, it didn't really improve his cultivation by much, but he had a bit of improvement in his blood and flesh. Maybe he had also strengthened his own Golden Fate, it was honestly hard to tell for sure. What was certain however was that he had fully recovered. The Blood Abyss and the Golden Fate had healed his body in full. Now, he simply needed to absorb enough Qi. But for that, he would need to leave. Indeed, his main concern was Water Qi, but down there, he could only absorb Fire Qi.

Cao Yun was also restless about the situation. He had to make sure that he was on top of things. Then, he would need to look for Hongyu and the other demons he had met in the Desolate Sepulcher. Xixue had died. If he had been faster, he might have been able to save her. So he didn't want others to die because he was taking his sweet time. Of course, he wasn't just thinking about Hongyu and the demons, but mainly about Cao Huiying.

Thinking about Xixue and his sister, Cao Yun was terrified. What Yinlü had done to her own sister filled Cao Yun with fright. Maybe his own sister would also turn against him. Her situation was worse than Yinlü's as she was being manipulated by Emperor Weide and had lost all her memories. She might never remember her brother. And she might never believe him until it was too late. Worse than that, even if Cao Yun were to kill Emperor Weide, she might still consider him as an enemy, unable to accept her 'father''s evil designs. Something even worse could happen, she could be dead by the time Cao Yun went there. Instead of worrying about everything, he had to make haste. He would have enough time to think on the road.

-

Sister Lisha and the others obeyed Cao Yun's command. They completely closed off the Monastery of Bliss and Repose and recalled all the Sisters. Of course, the news traveled fast throughout the Nalupu Kingdom. In a matter of weeks, Lord Wanghuo would even be informed. But it would be after Cao Yun left the Blood Abyss.

A few days after Sister Lisha had witnessed her mentor's death, a presence surrounded her. She immediately recognized it. There was no possible doubt. High Mother Qin Xue's Demon Soul was in the room. Thus Sister Lisha let her enter her sea of consciousness without any resistance.

"High Mother?"

"My daughter, you have to save me! I need a new body as soon as possible."

"A new body?!"

Sister Lisha already knew what it meant, but she had to be sure.

"Our Sisters all practiced 'Abyssal Blood Veil Art' so they will be perfect. But the body shouldn't have reached the Accomplished Demon realm. Still, it needs to be sturdy enough to support my Demon Soul for a few centuries. If I can take this bastard's soul and bloodline, I know that I'll find a way to stay alive. Hell, I might even be able to break through. With our god's inheritance, I could reach the pinnacle and become an Immortal Demon."

"You want to sacrifice one of our Sisters to stay alive longer?"

"So what?! This order is nothing without me. They are nothing without me. I would rather they all die than to let our order fall. Think about the Weaver of Souls' ideals. We are doing all of this for the greater good of the demons, not just in the Desolate Sepulcher, but also in God's Land."

"You're insane! The only thing we've achieved is to hasten his intent's ineluctable demise. You only see us all as sacrificial pawns for your own ambitions. You would betray every single demon and every single principle we have just to attain your desires!"

"Silence, girl! I made you! I made all of you! My ambitions are what turned our order into such an influential force!"

"Lies! You killed all the Sisters in your way. Without you, we would have become even stronger. And the Nalupu Kingdom wouldn't have fallen in such a state of decadence. For the Weaver's sake, we are thriving by enslaving and selling our own kind to the Empyrean Asura Theocracy. They would slaughter us all as much as they slaughter humans. After all, Demon God Da Mo is known to be an enemy of the Weaver of Souls."

"Enough! If you refuse to help me get a body, I can still get yours. I'll just have to erase your Demon Soul! I will become the new god of all demons. And I won't just stop at the Piaolu planet!"

Although High Mother Qin Xue was more powerful than Sister Lisha, her Demon Soul had suffered a lot during her fight with Cao Yun. Besides, she had grown weaker after leaving her body. At the moment, Sister Lisha's Demon Soul was probably as strong, if not stronger than hers. As soon as they began to fight, Cao Yun's seal activated. Deep within the Blood Abyss, he felt it. His seal wasn't very powerful and had been used as a symbolic gesture more than anything. That being said, it was not absolutely trivial.

Sensing that High Mothers Qin Xue's Demon Soul had invaded Sister Lisha, he felt even more confident than ever. Now, she would be easier to convince. Since he had recovered, he left the Blood Abyss. Using his stealth, he easily reached Sister Lisha's chambers. Thankfully, the woman's soul was powerful. He simply had to help her a little. High Mother Qin Xue realized too late that she got trapped into Sister Lisha's sea of consciousness. Indeed, Cao Yun had produced new seals. Then, he shared a bit of strength with the woman, even giving her a pill.

Sister Lisha accepted it all without thinking. After all, it was a huge help for her. For several hours, the fight raged within her own soul. Sister Lisha was sitting cross-legged, covered in sweat while Cao Yun was concealing her ordeal and his own presence. No one questioned what was going on inside as she had already stayed in her chambers for several days at this point. That was how High Mother Qin Xue died, without any grand fight or any audience at all.

Sister Lisha disregarded all her pleas for mercy and crushed her Demon Soul completely. In the upcoming months, she would slowly absorb it all. Although she wouldn't become a 7th-grade Accomplished Demon, Sister Lisha would indeed break through into the 6th-grade Accomplished Demon stage.

After her internal fight was over, the woman opened her eyes and met Cao Yun's. For some time, they stayed immobile. Then, they began to talk using their spiritual senses.

"I am sorry about Xixue... I should have done something... I knew it was wrong, but I... The truth is that I hoped that her death would help us. After so many sacrifices, it had to bear some fruits. I couldn't accept that all those girls had died for nothing. And... deep down, I wanted it to work no matter the cost..."

"I know!"

"Then, why aren't you killing me?! You probably recovered a lot. You could have killed us both while we were fighting each other. Hell, you could have let the High Mother kill me and then kill her after she had exhausted herself. This would have been easy!"

"It would have been, indeed. But this wouldn't have achieved anything. If I kill you, where should I stop? Should I kill the entire Monastery of Bliss and Repose as well? Should I slaughter all the tribes of the Desolate Dune Desert and then go on on massacring the whole Nalupu Kingdom? Your own conscience will hold you responsible for what you've done. If I had not seen it in your eyes, you would indeed be dead by now. By keeping you alive, I'm not helping you at all, I'm helping the world. You have the power to change things here, and now, you have the incentive to do so with all your might, just to redeem yourself in your own eyes. Of course, there are those whom I will kill for sure. But I refuse to become a bloodthirsty savage. I've seen what it can do to others."

Indeed, Cao Yun had seen how Axiu Qian had turned into an absolute monster because of his hunger for vengeance. There was no way he was going to become like him. But that didn't meant that he wouldn't kill anyone. In fact, he already had a few ideas about those he would kill soon. Killing Sister Lisha and the Sisters of the Abyss wouldn't help anyone though. And then, he would need to ask himself whether he should kill Yinlü too. This was a moral dilemma he didn't want to deal with. However, he couldn't forgive them anything either.

"From this day forward, you will follow the true ideals of the Weaver of Souls, and my orders! Disobedience will be mete out with death without any mercy. Your order did enough damage to this land and you're going to rectify it. Besides, I refuse to see Yinlü. No matter what happens, she must never appear before me."

"I... I understand."

"Do you pledge your allegiance to me?"

"I do."

At the moment, Sister Lisha was at her weakest and Cao Yun had no qualms using it to his advantage. As much as he didn't want to kill her, he completely despised her and her order. They had bought so many slave girls and had sacrificed a good number of them. He wouldn't shed a tear for any of them. However, he could make use of them for some good for a change.

Since she was submitting, Cao Yun could easily plant far more complex seals in her soul. Besides, her fight against High Mother Qin Xue's Demon Soul had weakened her and she had accepted a lot of Cao Yun's soul in her already. It didn't take him very long to create such a complex seal that no one in the Desolate Sepulcher could unravel it, not even City Lord Sihe. From this moment forward, Sister Lisha would have only two choices, obedience or pain and death.

-

In the next days, she officially became High Mother Lisha. But Cao Yun was the one secretly commanding the Sisters of the Abyss. He also put seals in all the Sisters who had witnessed High Mother Qin Xue's death. Only one of them opposed him so he killed her with no hesitation at all. No one knew who was behind the Sisters of the Abyss and it was what Cao Yun preferred. He didn't want to rule or to have any political importance. He was tired of politics. But he wanted to have power and influence to change what needed to be changed.