Honestly, Cao Yun felt very good and at the same time he resented it. Indeed, this really wasn't the place to have such positive emotions. All around him was death and desolation. Cao Yun was especially moved by what could happen to young people, girls in particular. Obviously, it would affect most people. But Cao Yun's past with his sister made him particularly sensitive to those things. As such, he didn't like the feelings he had right now.
He had to admit that it did feel incredibly satisfying to be able to destroy Golden Blood Children, the equivalent of Mortal Warriors, without any effort at all. Even without his cultivation, his mere Spear Heart was enough to slaughter them all as if they were nothing. Despite their battle formation, none of those demons had ever understood even a Martial Aura. As such, they were just too weak for Cao Yun. And this had felt incredible. At the same time, he couldn't just forget what had happened and the people suffering around him.
In fact, it ironically added to his satisfaction. The sensation that he had punished the wicked felt good. For once, the situation was very clear. There was no doubt as to who the bad guys were. Unlike in the Desolate Sepulcher, Cao Yun had no moral dilemma. He could simply slaughter the wicked and protect the innocent. Unfortunately, many had died before he arrived. And those who had not had still been horribly tortured. That being said, Cao Yun was happy with the resolution. And this didn't sit too well with him as it felt like it wasn't the place for that.
Without any hesitation, Cao Yun entered the seas of consciousness of the demons still alive. A Soul Memory Search could be a deadly technique even if one didn't mean to kill someone. The three demons before him were dying anyway. As such, Cao Yun didn't have to care at all about their survival. And even if they had not been dying, he would have gladly killed them with his Soul Memory Search. But he was also trying to improve his mastery over this technique.
In the first demon's sea of consciousness, Cao Yun used the orthodox Soul Memory Search, the same one used by Xiao Xuefeng. His own soul entered the demon's sea of consciousness. Despite their particular lack of Dantian, demons still had their sea of consciousness in their brain, where humans had their Upper Dantian. His sea of consciousness was in a terrible state after the fight. Even as the demon was still alive, his very soul was beginning to leave his body while his Po was slowly turning into Death Energy as it was starting his death process.
The infinite ocean had turned completely black. Bones were forming as though tiny particles in the ocean were coalescing into bigger masses. Those bones were perfectly white and contrasted with the somber ocean. As they appeared, they seemed to siphon the water more and more. Cao Yun felt as though he was back in the Yellow Death World. And, in a sense, he was. After all, the Yellow Death World had been Cleansed Asura's dying Inner World. Of course, Golden Blood Children had no Inner World but one's sea of consciousness was very similar. Indeed, one would turn their sea of consciousness into their Inner World in the higher realms of cultivation.
At the moment, Cao Yun was cultivating the Po of Life, the one responsible for the formation of the body. But before him, Cao Yun could observe the Po of Death, the final goal of the Corporeal Soul, breaking down the body, helping the Ethereal Soul leave the body. As negative emotions mixed with this process, one's Qi could turn into Evil Qi. And right now, Cao Yun could see everything before him. Obviously, he thought about his 'Death Verses'.
Thanks to his understanding of 'See Through the Mud', Cao Yun could easily perceive Death Energy. In fact, he could even control it to some extent with his mastery of 'Death Reeling'. Right now, he was observing the secret of 'Living Death', how Po could become a source of Death Energy. He had already observed it a few times, but this was different because he had reached the stage of Po of Life and Po of Death. His understanding of his own Po was revealing new things to him. He might be able to perform a rudimentary version of 'Living Death' if he could master both of those aspects of Po. However, Cao Yun wasn't going to work on both aspects at the same time. He had already tried and it had gone badly. That being said, he was impatient to work on his Po of Death. Finally, he could advance his understanding of 'Death Verses' without becoming a Sage. Even if he couldn't understand the Dao of Death, he could still progress in 'Death Verses' to some extent.
All that was good, but Cao Yun focused on his Soul Memory Search. As he had taken the appearance of Axiu Qian, Cao Yun grabbed the void at the center of this decaying sea of consciousness. Suddenly, it turned into a globe of black light that had not been there an instant ago. Unraveling many strands of his enemy's soul and emotions, Cao Yun finally reached what he was looking for, he saw many memories in front of him. In an instant, he could see the life of the demon dying before him.
As he was watching this life unravel, Cao Yun felt even better about his death. Thankfully, there was no redeeming quality to his life. This Zhen Moyu was nothing special. Since he was young, he had been a bully. Then, older, he had turned for the worst. Their chief had ordered them to purge some heretics in nearby villages as they had received words from believers in Demon God Da Mo who lived there. Their orders had been clear, they had to kill them and nothing else. However, they were bored so they decided to have some fun. Besides, Zhen Moyu found some of the girls very attractive. He even proposed one of the girls to spare her for her company but she refused herself to him.
Sadly, this girl wasn't among those still breathing. Cao Yun could see everything he had done to that poor girl as if he was the one doing it. It was like being in a dream. The more Cao Yun experienced Zhen Moyu's memories, the more furious he became. At the same time, he could feel something else going on in his soul. Indeed, Cao Yun could imagine and almost feel the agony of the poor girl. As such, it arose the interest of his Yin Bird.
In fact, Cao Yun himself was in pain, but this wasn't a physical pain. Everything before him reminded him of what had happened to his sister. Even now, he didn't know what Emperor Weide had done to her to make her forget who she was. Seeing this poor girl suffer because of the lust of such a disgusting man, Cao Yun was indeed in pain. This helped his Yin Bird grow stronger. And Cao Yun knew it. But there was something more.
Once he was done, Cao Yun had obtained some information, but Zhen Moyu was just an underling, he didn't know much. That being said, Cao Yun had found out who was their chief in the region and where their camp was. He had also figured out that the war with the Hongchen Kingdom was still raging. No side had taken the advantage. Empyrean Asura had promised a swift victory but the demons had now been fighting for almost a decade. Morale was low among the demons and Empyrean Asura launched more and more internal campaigns to slaughter dissidents and heretics. The definition of heresy had also been extended over and over again.
What really surprised Cao Yun was the faith of the people who had just been slaughtered. Apparently, they believed in a Cosmic Buddha. In itself it wasn't too strange. However, his name was unmistakable. Although this was in another language, Cao Yun recognized it immediately, they were believing in the Wheel Sutra of Buddha Cangjing. Although Cao Yun wasn't religious, he still knew a lot about the Wheel Sutra. After all, it was the largest faith within the Hongchen Kingdom. Technically almost everyone followed the School of Ren Dao, but it was a philosophical school, not a religious one. As such, the Sutra Faith was indeed the largest religion.
According to the legends, Buddha Cangjing was a figure of the Legendary Era. But one night, a man had a dream where Buddha Cangjing gave him the Wheel Sutra. And the same kind of story existed among the demons. For them though, Buddha Cangjing came from the same world where Demon God Da Mo was born. In their faith, Buddha Cangjing was above Demon God Da Mo and had wanted to preserve the demons from his evil teachings. Their Sutra Faith was extremely similar to the one followed by humans in the Hongchen Kingdom. But they were oppressed and very few in the demon kingdoms. Before Empyrean Asura's conquests, they had more influence and power. But he crushed them.
Their Sutra Faith talked about how one could better understand the Way by living a simple and even solitary life. There were a bit more restrictions as demons had stronger emotions. But apart from that, it was almost the same Wheel Sutra. What truly differed were the rituals and the various practices around this Wheel Sutra. But the core teachings remained the same.
Obviously, this shook Cao Yun a little. He wondered if that Buddha Cangjing had really existed. At the same time, it was good evidence that someone had indeed given this Wheel Sutra to the people. But at the same time, the stories were very different. If Buddha Cangjing had truly existed, he probably wasn't either a man of the Legendary Era or an asura of Demon God Da Mo's birthplace. In fact, he might not be either a human nor an asura...
Anyway, Cao Yun wasn't too interested in theology at the moment. If his cultivation progressed enough, he could leave this planet and sail through the universe and even beyond to find all those answers.
After getting the memories of Zhen Moyu, Cao Yun hesitated. In the end, he decided to use a technique he had learned in Cleansed Asura's documents, 'Melting the Shattered Mirror'. It was very similar to 'Fate Devouring Gate' but it was about souls. In 'Fate Devouring Gate', one would absorb the blood, and if possible the essence, of a stronger cultivator in order to improve their own blood and essence. On the other hand, 'Melting the Shattered Mirror' was about devouring one's very soul in order to improve one's soul as well. It was more dangerous as souls contained traces of the person's mind and ego. It wasn't just pure energy.
As such, Cao Yun was more confident using it with someone with a weaker cultivation. The technique was simple enough but hard to master. One would start by shattering the enemy's soul as much as possible. Then, they would melt every fragment of it to get rid of the person's ego completely. When their soul was just pure energy, then it could be absorbed.
Without any hesitation, the giant figure of Axiu Qian smashed the very air before him. Cracks appeared in the void and spread all over the place. From Axiu Qian's figure, five chains emerged and Cao Yun's Turbid Demons appeared out of the blood that was Axiu Qian's body. From all of them, black flames emanated. They spread like wildfire throughout the cracks, causing more and more cracks.
Cao Yun had the idea of using his Black Heart Flame to thoroughly destroy his enemy's soul. This Black Heart Flame was full of Evil Qi and Death Energy. It consumed his enemy's soul while splitting it into tiny fragments. Everything that was Zhen Moyu was consumed by the flames until only raw soul remained. In a sense, it was similar to his Soul Embryo as it was devoid of any personality or memories. Once Zhen Moyu's soul had reached this stage, Cao Yun decided to absorb it. But he wasn't willing to pervert his own soul by this ingestion.
Instead of using the fragments to improve his own soul, he used them for the Drop of Wrath and the Turbid Demons in it. After all, although it was now a part of him, it wasn't his soul. In a sens, it could be said to be his Demon Soul. Considering the amount of rage and negative emotions in it, Cao Yun had no doubt that it couldn't be perverted by Zhen Moyu's soul at all. Besides, almost nothing of Zhen Moyu remained, if anything at all. Cao Yun's Black Heart Flame had been extremely effective.
In Zhen Moyu's collapsing sea of consciousness, the five Turbid Demons were devouring pieces of bones and swallowing vast amount of the ocean water. At the center of everything was Axiu Qian. At the same time, Cao Yun was observing the spectacle, trying to perceive a bit more of his 'Death Verses'. Seeing Zhen Moyu's soul being destroyed in such a fashion, Cao Yun was absolutely cold. In the first place, he had not cared about this man's fate. But after seeing his entire life, he reveled in his demise. Maybe he could have been reincarnated into someone better, but Cao Yun thought it was even better to just get rid of him completely. There would be no reincarnation for this abomination.
As his Demon Soul was growing stronger, Cao Yun could feel that his Soul Embryo was also improving. The changes were extremely subtle, but his Soul Embryo seemed to echo what was happening within his Drop of Wrath. Unfortunately, those changes were much more minute and subtle within the Soul Embryo. It was always too hard to know what was really going on within the Soul Embryo without risking damaging it.
When the Black Heart Flame had completely consumed Zhen Moyu's soul, Cao Yun controlled them with his Rune of Fire. They emerged out of his skull and engulfed his entire body. In a matter of seconds, Zhen Moyu's entire body was consumed by the flames. Cao Yun extracted all of his blood and crushed it into a tiny drop before turning his sight toward the other two demons who had witnessed the scene with terror in their eyes.