All of General Si Hongdi's memories flowed into Cao Yun's mind. He got absolutely everything as he was devouring his soul. His Turbid Demons feasted on the fragments of her soul while Cao Yun was observing them and her memories at the same time. In particular, Cao Yun was focused on Yin Bird whom he had just formed and tamed. He was afraid that his cultivation would be too unstable. But it didn't seem that way fortunately. Still, he would take some time to make sure of it.
In General Si Hongdi's memories, he got a great understanding of the map of the entire God's Land continent. Apparently, the Empyrean Asura Theocracy also called it that way. Humans didn't really have a name for the continent. After all, they didn't need to refer to the continent itself and when they did, they simply said the Hongchen continent since it had the Hongchen Kingdom in it.
Now, he could travel directly to the border without much problem. Besides, he knew that the strongest demons were all near the border or the capital, the Saint Citadel Sidi. The Empyrean Asura remained in Sidi performing various rituals and religious ceremonies to bring about the rebirth of Demon God Da Mo. Honestly, General Si Hongdi was convinced he simply didn't want to face Emperor Weide on the battlefield. Although Empyrean Asura was extremely powerful, almost no one ever saw him fight in person. In fact, most people didn't see him once. General Si Hongdi was one of the few who actually met him, but it only lasted a few seconds.
Empyrean Asura's skin was completely red. In fact, it was as red as Axiu Qian's skin. In Cao Yun's eyes, he almost looked like a full-fledged asura. He had completely black eyes contrasting with white hair following on his shoulders and chest. On sis fingers were golden marks as well as short black claws. Empyrean Asura was never seen in armor, he was always in gowns or ceremonial robes. Despite his status, his clothes were extremely modest. But his attitude was incredibly arrogant. When General Si Hongdi had met him, he didn't look at her once, he never even talked to her or recognized her existence. He always talked to Marshal Shanyin Guan.
There was a powerful aura around him however. Although General Si Hongdi despised him, she was also genuinely terrified of him. In a sense, she had been happy that he had never talked to her once. His mere voice was grating her soul. Marshal Shanyin Guan had prepared her and even infuse her with some of his Wei Qi and yet, it had been a terrible experience. After all, Empyrean Asura was a 9th-grade Accomplished Demon, or maybe even a half-step Exalted Demon. In a direct fight between Empyrean Asura and Emperor Weide, Empyrean Asura might very well win. It would be very difficult for the both of them anyway.
What truly interested Cao Yun though was the fact that General Si Hongdi knew about most of the military camps in the region. Cao Yun now could see a map of the old kingdoms. Before Empyrean Asura took over, there were dozens of free kingdoms if not more. But he had subjugated them all. In fact, the only kingdom he had not been able to subdue was Marshal Shanyin Guan's, hence why he had a prestigious status. General Si Hongdi always wondered if Empyrean Asura was trying to have him die on the battlefield or not. After all he was a thorn in his side, but at the same time, he was essential for the war.
Before the war even started, there had been a lot of dissension among the demons, as usual. It had always been the demons' worst weakness compared with the humans. Since Hongchen Kingdom had a clear enemy to unite all mankind, with a tragic history as well, it was easy for them to be united. On the other hands, demons fought among each other a lot, just like in the Desolate Sepulcher. Most governments were fragile and flitting.
The only reason why they were united was through force and intimidation. But since the war wasn't going the way Empyrean Asura had hoped, more and more unrest had spread all over the continent. Empyrean Asura had dealt with it by mobilizing everyone on the front lines. Many dissidents had died on the battlefield. On the other hand, he had become more and more strict and fanatical when it came to religion, forbidding any other cult and even persecuting those who didn't follow his religious ways. As a result, fear had spread. Demons didn't trust their neighbors who could denounce them.
At the same time, revolts were brewing all over the continent. The tension was at its highest. Any event could set it off. Obviously, this pleased Cao Yun a lot. Now, he knew most of the weaknesses of his enemies. In fact, everything would crumble if Empyrean Asura were to die. The demons would fall into a great civil war and the Hongchen Kingdom would be spared. The humans would have enough time to rebuild and to prepare. Besides, Cao Yun even knew which demons could become allies of the Hongchen Kingdom.
Marshal Shanyin Guan was level-headed. Despite his fights against the Hongchen Kingdom, it might really be possible to convinced him to negotiate. If the Hongchen Kingdom could sign new treaties with the demon kingdoms, it could insure peace for centuries to come. In fact, the fear induced by the Forsaken Dao Era was mostly to blame in the civil unrest throughout the Hongchen continent. As a matter of fact, it had also been the cause of Demon King Mo Wang's treason, as well as former Chief Elder Luoming Tian, and most likely Emperor Weide himself. If they had been able to cultivate past the Spirit Warrior realm, they wouldn't have fallen so.
Anyway, Cao Yun also had a deep understanding of many soldiers. General Si Hongdi was a good general and she knew a lot about her soldiers. For an officer, it was a great thing, but when it fell into the hands of the enemy, it was clearly a problem. General Si Hongdi had had seals in her to protect her memories, but they had been nothing like Yao Baiyi's seals. As such, they didn't impede Cao Yun at all. They would have been a problem for most middle Spirit Warriors but to Cao Yun or to Xiao Xuefeng they were absolutely nothing.
Among those memories, Cao Yun now knew every soldier in the camp around him as well as many others in different camps. In particular, he knew how they fought, which battle formations they could use, and above all else, he knew where their loyalties lied. In other words, he knew exactly who to kill in order to cause chaos both within the camp and in the region. Indeed, deserters could become bandits and cause unrest among the rest of the population. But they could also join other revolts against the Empyrean Asura Theocracy.
Now that he had everything he had been looking for, Cao Yun was ready to cause some chaos among the demon kingdoms. Since he couldn't kill Empyrean Asura, he would make sure that his theocracy was too busy dealing with internal conflicts. It would take off a lot of pressure from the battlefield. At the same time, it would make sneaking in the Hongchen Kingdom that much easier. Honestly, Cao Yun wasn't sure his stealth could conceal him from Marshal Shanyin Guan. On the battlefield, his senses would always be focused on potential threats. Moreover, he was also surrounded by powerful demons.
Marshal Shanyin Guan's cultivation was only one stage higher than Cao Yun's level. Indeed, he was an 8th-grade Accomplished Demon. However, Marshal Shanyin Guan was also a great strategist and tactician. He had waged war among the demon kingdoms for centuries at this point. Facing such an opponent was extremely difficult. Clearly, he was even more powerful than Lord Wanghuo at his peak. Besides, he had an entire army around him with other powerful Accomplished Demons. If the combined efforts of Emperor Weide, General Long Cheng and General Yun Po couldn't get rid of him, Cao Yun was certain he wouldn't fare any better. But he could force the Empyrean Asura Theocracy to reduce Marshal Shanyin Guan's forces in order to deal with internal strife.
Finally Cao Yun left the tent while maintaining his stealth. He flew above the camp and saw every soldier going on with their duties. If he fought them head-on, Cao Yun was almost certain he could still kill them all. But it would be a bit difficult and some might even be able to escape. Besides, he didn't intend to kill them all. Indeed, some would become extremely useful to create chaos all over the place. At the moment, Cao Yun only thought about the Hongchen Kingdom, there was no moral dilemma. He was deep into the enemy lines where they thought that they were safe. This young man would prove them that they were wrong.
Among the soldiers, there was no slave from the Desolate Sepulcher. Most slaves were either on the front lines, some were used to secure a few positions within the Empyrean Asura Theocracy but they were few. Finally, the weaker or injured slaves were sacrificed to Demon God Da Mo by the priests. Freeing the slaves would also help Cao Yun achieve his goal. He would create as much havoc as he could.
While the soldiers were still unaware of Cao Yun's presence, he spread his spiritual senses all over the camp. With his recent breakthrough, he could push his boundaries even farther. Moreover, he also took over the array formations all around the camp. Now, everything in the camp was within his grasp. All the soldiers were trapped in his web and didn't notice it at all. After all, not a single one of them was even an Accomplished Demon.
Cao Yun focused on the soldiers who were cornerstones of battle formations and the morale of the troops. Every soldier who was loyal to Empyrean Asura was already dead. He wouldn't spare a single one of those. However, he had decided to spare many of the other soldiers. According to his estimations, two thirds of the soldiers would die at his hand while he let the last third escape in various directions. General Si Hongdi would be in disarray.
After this camp, Cao Yun wouldn't stop. He had already chosen several other military camps he would raid. In the region, no one was strong enough to deal with him. Moreover, with his stealth, no one would even know what had happened. After all, no demon would think that a human had infiltrated them from the Desolate Sepulcher, it didn't make any sense at all. By the time they would realize that something was amiss, it would be too late. The Empyrean Asura Theocracy would be at war with itself. Unfortunately, Cao Yun was certain that it wouldn't destroy them, it would simply delay them.
That was still good enough. Considering Cao Yun wanted to kill Emperor Weide, he had to make sure that the Hongchen Kingdom could survive his death. And now, he was much more confident in it. Besides, he was getting incredibly close to the strength needed to kill Emperor Weide by himself. But that wouldn't be enough and he knew it.
Anyway, Cao Yun waited for the right opportunity. When he saw it, he didn't hesitate. It felt incredibly good to not have any moral conundrum at all. In front of him were just soldiers. Besides, he had seen what they had done in General Si Hongdi. Every soldier below him had killed both humans and demons alike. Of course, each soldier had its own circumstances, but they had made their choices. Now, they would face the consequences of those choices. Before mere mortals they were tough and fearless. But before Cao Yun's wrath, they would crumble without a fight. To be exact, they wouldn't even have the chance to fight.
All of a sudden, the array formations around the camp activated. The soldiers were all trapped. Before they could even react, hundreds of silvery swords rained down from the skies. A few dozens of demons were killed in the first wave. Cao Yun wasn't subtle at all about it. Demons were cut apart in gruesome way in order to induce fear and panic in their comrades. What they didn't realize was that Cao Yun had targeted those he wanted to kill with utmost care.
When the demons finally understood that they were under attack, they had already lost their greatest soldiers. Panic and confusion spread like wildfire. Using this confusion to his advantage, Cao Yun threw the body of General Si Hongdi in the crowd. Their morale completely collapsed. But no one understood what was going on as not a single demon could even perceive Cao Yun's presence.
At that moment, he sent his Turbid Demons into the minds of a few demons he had chosen. He completely broke their minds and birthed inner demons in them. They went insane and began to slash anyone around them. Soon, the soldiers were either fighting each other or trying to claw their way out of the camp. This was an absolute bloodbath.
A few soldiers tried to calm down their comrades. Obviously, Cao Yun targeted them and killed them all. There was no place for calm and discipline. Thankfully, the disciplined soldiers and the veterans were on the front lines. Beneath Cao Yun, those soldiers were mostly glorified bandits. Without a strong leadership, they couldn't stay cohesive. And indeed, they completely collapsed under Cao Yun's assault.
Since he didn't want to kill them all, he made sure that the array formations began to weaken under their frantic attacks. Soon, they were broken and many soldiers escaped in every direction possible. At the same time, Cao Yun was slaying all of the targets he had chosen. His flying swords were cutting their throats, their heads, slicing their hearts. Not a single one survived his onslaught.
Soon, the camp was deserted and covered in dozens of corpses. It had been incredibly easy. With the intel Cao Yun had, dealing with this level of cultivators wasn't a challenge at all. And he had other camps to visit.