Despite making sure that the array formations would collapse so the other soldiers could escape, Cao Yun did not let a single one of his targets out. Every demon he wanted dead had died that day. Now, their corpses were rotting on the ground. Since everyone else had run away, Cao Yun gathered all the blood throughout the camp and condensed it into a single drop of blood. He wasn't done though.
Cao Yun also manipulated all the Death Energy and Evil Qi still lingering around. In the Piaolu planet, such energies were often merely temporary. They wouldn't resist long out in the open. So the young man didn't delay his actions. He recovered a huge part of Evil Qi as well as some Death Energy. The Hun of the demons had already left their bodies so Cao Yun couldn't get their entire soul, only the corrupt part of their Po. But this was enough for what he wanted.
First of all, he didn't care about their memories much. Maybe they had some information on other soldiers, but they wouldn't be powerful soldiers anyway. What he had obtained from General Si Hongdi was more than enough. Moreover, even absorbing all their souls and blood wouldn't help Cao Yun's cultivation by much. On the other hand, Cao Yun thought it could be useful later and he wasn't going to waste anything. From his spatial ring, he took out his 'Aureate Grove' and threw the drop of blood into it with other ingredients. Right now wasn't the moment to refine it, but he planned to do so.
Finally, Hongyu landed beside Cao Yun. Although she was trying to form her seventh core, devouring every demon in this camp wouldn't really help her. And honestly, she was a bit disgusted. Maybe General Si Hongdi would have helped her a tiny bit. But Hongyu wouldn't go near those dead carcasses. Slain in terrible ways and devoid of blood, they weren't very enticing. Besides, she preferred to devour demonic beasts or simply absorb energy from nature or pills her brother would make. If it was beneficial she could eat humanoid bodies, and she already had in the past, but it really wasn't what she preferred. Most likely it was because they looked like her brother. For the same reason, she didn't like to eat avian demonic beasts. Once again, if it was very beneficial, she would still reluctantly do it.
After everything he had done, Cao Yun had to admit that he was exhausted. Thus, he jumped on Hongyu's back instead of flying alongside her. The Sky Tyrant Fenghuang spread her wings and soared into the air. Before long, they reached a place Cao Yun had chosen earlier. This was a small mountain range. There, he had set up several array formations and dug a small cave in the rocks. Apart from late Accomplished Demons, no one had any chance of finding this place at all. And even if they somehow managed to do so, there were killing arrays ready to slaughter them all. One would get lost in many layers of illusions and die of thirst before entering the cave. Those who could enter, wouldn't be able to take another step as their blood would boil in their veins and their souls would ignite.
Cao Yun's knowledge was improving day after day now that he could read most of Cleansed Asura's documents. Besides, his cultivation allowed him to do almost everything. Still, there were array formations and pills that were too advanced to him. But, in theory, he could refine them. They just were difficult. Besides, some required a deep understanding of the Dao or a specific smaller Dao. In both cases, Cao Yun couldn't achieve that before breaking free of the curse of the Forsaken Dao Era. Only a Sage could really perceive the Dao.
Even Cao Yun's understanding of 'Death Verses' wasn't a comprehension of the Dao. Instead, Cao Yun was comprehending Cleansed Asura's techniques which he had developed through his own study of the Dao of Death. If Cao Yun could perceive the Dao of Death, he would improve much faster and would ultimately develop his own techniques. In other words, he would create his own 'Death Verses'. This was the same thing for 'Daydreams on the Heidai Peak'. Cao Yun had read it in the Wubei Sect and it contained the accumulated knowledge of all the sect leaders when it came to the Dao of Space. Despite the long history of the Wubei Sect, that knowledge was still shallow.
Besides, no one could really understand a Dao without experiencing it themselves. All those documents were just pointers. In a sense, it was like trying to learn something without doing it. One could learn a lot about the theory of alchemy in books, but without actually refining a pill it was impossible to test what was right and wrong. Hence, it was easy to get the wrong idea and misunderstand things. As a result, those pointers could also be terrible for someone's understanding. Indeed, as Cao Yun couldn't compare what he understood with the actual Dao, he might walk down the wrong path. Later, it would be harder to get back on the right path.
Anyway, now that he was secluded in his cave, Cao Yun decided to focus on his soul cultivation first. He had to stabilize his cultivation and his Yin Bird in particular. Breaking through in the middle of a dangerous situation wasn't a good thing, most of the times. Indeed the breakthrough itself could be a dangerous process. And Cao Yun had already broken through a few times while he was in a crisis. After all, this was often a good incentive to improve one's cultivation and this was also why cultivators seldom remained secluded for too long. Cultivating alone would often lead to bottleneck. One had to experience many things. And this became increasingly truer when it came to the comprehension of the Dao.
Knowing that he was perfectly safe now, Cao Yun completely entered his own sea of consciousness. No portion of his conscious remained in the outside. On the other hand, Hongyu stayed close to Cao Yun for many hours. But when days passed, she left the cave and explored her surroundings. Unfortunately for her, there was no powerful demonic beast around. They had all been culled. The strongest demonic beast she found was a mere 4-core demonic beast.
It was a Brown Collar Viper. As soon as it sensed Hongyu, the large snake tried to burrow underground. But it wasn't fast enough and it had failed to perceive Hongyu before it was too late. The tyrannical bird dove and caught the snake before it could escape. As the Brown Collar Viper tried to break free by coiling around her legs, Hongyu threw it against a cliff. She hit him again and again until it stopped moving. Once it ceased to fight back, Hongyu hesitated. Clearly, this Brown Collar Viper was the strongest demonic beast around. Most likely it was the ruler of all other demonic beasts.
After some hesitation, she decided that she wouldn't eat him. Indeed, this wouldn't help her much. But she had to fight her instincts to do so. Instead, she freed the poor Brown Collar Viper. Once free, the snake didn't dare move. It looked at Hongyu as though he was trying to understand what she wanted. And he got it. He lead her to his most prized treasure. The Brown Collar Viper had found a Earthen Acacia Root. Although it wasn't a great treasure by itself, its location had changed things.
Indeed, it was absorbing energy directly from the earth. But it was also at a confluence of several rivers and it absorbed their water as well. If Cao Yun had been there, he would have felt that several Dragon Veins were connected there. Dragon Veins were the equivalent of meridians for the planet itself. They were also the origin of the spirit stones. When Qi condensed into minerals, it often came from Dragon Veins. As such, the Earthen Acacia Root had become much more precious. Still, it wasn't good enough for Hongyu.
The Brown Collar Viper had waited years for the Earthen Acacia Root to develop so he could eat it and finally form a fifth core. But to save his life, he was ready to gift it all to Hongyu.
Hongyu was pleased with his submission but didn't steal his treasure. Honestly, if it had had a Fire attribute, she might have just done so, but it was full of Earth and Water. As such, it wasn't suited for her cultivation. Besides, for a 6-core demonic beast, it wasn't that good and she wouldn't wait decades for the root to absorb enough energy. However, she got what she wanted. The Brown Collar Viper was completely subjugated. Now, she ruled the entire region when it came to demonic beasts. Indeed, they would all bow to the Brown Collar Viper who in turns bowed now to her.
In the Desolate Sepulcher, Hongyu had learned what it was to be under someone else's rule and she didn't want to experience that ever again. Instead, she would be the one to rule all others. Maybe it was also in her blood as a Sky Tyrant Fenghuang. But she had also seen what a stupid tyrant was. Ruling through fear alone wasn't good enough. For the moment, she would rule using the Brown Collar Viper as her figurehead.
While Hongyu was quite literally subjugating the demonic beasts of the continent starting by this region, Cao Yun was deep into his own mind. He spent several days just making sure that his soul cultivation was stable enough. He focused on Yin Bird and the chains trapping it into his Nine Soul Peaks. Thankfully, there was no problem. But he still spent a long time making sure of it and stabilizing his Yin Bird.
After Yin Bird, he would have to cultivate his seventh and last Turbid Demon, Devouring Robber. His shallow understanding of 'Death Verses' would be helpful for that as it was the corrupt version of the Po of Death. It was the Po that oversaw the process of decay, both physically and spiritually. Simply forming and taming this Turbid Demon would push his comprehension of 'Death Verses' further. After that, not only would he become an 8th-grade Accomplished Demon, he would also have complete the third layer of 'Sealing the Seven Demons in the Nine Peaks', 'Subdue the Seven Demons'. Then would only remain the fourth layer, 'Seal the Seven Demons'.
In a sense, this fourth layer was very similar to the goal of the 8th-grade Accomplished Demon stage. In this stage, the cultivator had to merge all seven Turbid Demons into a singular Demon Soul, sometimes called Po Demon as well. Cao Yun was almost certain that understanding 'Death Verses''s 'Soul Chains' would make this process incredibly simple. After all, such chains could attack one's souls, especially the Po part of the soul.
Once Cao Yun was satisfied with his soul cultivation, he turned his attention toward the Palace of Supreme Wisdom. For hours, for days, he focused his intent on it, trying to glean any clue he could get. Finally, he did sense something. It was so faint he almost missed it himself. If his soul or mind cultivations had been weaker, he would have missed it for sure. However, it was neither similar to Dian Mo nor to Demon King Mo Wang. In fact, it was similar to what Cao Yun had felt in the priestess Yao Baiyi.
This presence was familiar and yet completely foreign at the same time. The more Cao Yun tried to figure out where he had sensed it before, the more elusive it became. This was very frustrating. Thus, Cao Yun turned his attention to something else, the seals within Yao Baiyi. Since he had almost suffered defeat before those seals, he decided to work on them. Besides, it might help him figure out what this presence was precisely.
Working on those seals made Cao Yun nostalgic of his time with Dian Mo. But now he had hopes for his former ally. Honestly it was strange. Dian Mo had met Cao Yun when he had tried to steal the young man's body. And there was no doubt that he had been plotting against him ever since. But their relationship had evolved. At first, it had been based on Cao Yun's oath to Dian Mo. Now, Cao Yun sincerely cared for his friend. And, as a matter of fact, Dian Mo had also considered Cao Yun a friend. The reason why he had helped him against Demon King Mo Wang wasn't just to save himself.
Because he had been stuck in the Palace of Supreme Wisdom for so long, Dian Mo was genuinely scared of the outside world. At the same time, he wanted to experience it. Through Cao Yun, he had been able to achieve his goal without being too afraid. But even in Cao Yun's sea of consciousness, he had suffered a terrible fate. Hopefully, Dian Mo was alive. If Demon King Mo Wang was the one being slowly revived in the Palace of Supreme Wisdom, Cao Yun would make him regret it to the point where he would beg for the mercy of obliteration.
Studying the seals in Yao Baiyi took Cao Yun even more days than stabilizing his own cultivation. Despite his impressive memory and comprehension of seals, Cao Yun couldn't completely replicate the seals. There was always something missing or something a bit wrong about it. Maybe it was due to what had been used to form the seals. Those seals shouldn't be able to exist. Each time Cao Yun crafted them perfectly, they simply collapsed before he could study them. But when he made sure that they endured, they weren't identical and were much weaker.
That presence within the seals was the reason why they endured and did not collapse. That meant that it was impossible to replicate them without this presence. That being said, it didn't stop Cao Yun from trying to study them as much as he could. He imagined the recent events again and again, trying to find better ways to get rid of those seals. Obviously, the first step was to be able to sense them earlier. If Cao Yun had perceived them, he wouldn't have sent so much of his soul into Yao Baiyi's sea of consciousness.
In the near future he might be confronted to those seals again, or even better seals maybe. As such, Cao Yun made sure to study them carefully, no matter how long it took.