Despite her fatigue, Yu Xiangling was fuming. She was convinced that Cao Yun was destroying her work to get back at her. And it worked perfectly for Cao Yun. Indeed, she felt safe thanks to the dark orb in her hands and the aura of the Heavenly Demon God around her. This feeling of safety would be her undoing.
At first, Cao Yun had thought that breaking her composure would be difficult as even his 'Weeping Demon' didn't penetrate the spiritual pressure protecting her. But the weak link was herself. Since he couldn't easily break through the defenses of the orb, he would exploit her weaknesses. Talking about Hong Yin would be useless. As much as she did enjoy talking with the old man, Cao Yun could tell that she had no emotional attachment to him as an individual. As a matter of fact, Hong Yin was attached to her but not the other way around. Of course, she would probably miss seeing and talking to him but that would be it.
On the other hand, attacking her work was obviously infuriating her. Cao Yun's biggest problem with Yu Xiangling was that she was clearly extremely smart and knowledgeable. He didn't want her to figure out what he was really doing as she might have some way of countering it. Thus, using her own emotions against her would be useful.
While Yu Xiangling was becoming increasingly more upset, Cao Yun kept on assaulting the future Supplicant Tyrants she had been working on. On the wall, the bloody Holy Cardinal Ling Weisheng was still moaning in pain. Most of her consciousness had already faded away as she was slowly dying from all the blood she had lost, but her body was still reacting a little. She didn't feel any pain anymore, but she didn't feel anything at all anyway. Still, she was desperately clinging to her life. No matter her condition, she couldn't accept such an end. Ironically, this was playing to Cao Yun's advantage. The young man wanted to devour the memories of the two women. Hopefully, Holy Cardinal Ling Weisheng would stay alive long enough for that to happen. But even then, in this very room, he might find a way to preserve her memories in case she were to die too soon.
After destroying months if not years of work in a few minutes, Cao Yun turned his attention to Yu Xiangling's desk. His swords stabbed the desk and all the papers and tools on it began to burn in a fiery blaze.
Before such a sight, the frail Yu Xiangling snapped. Her eyes were burning with hate and resentment. Even Cao Yun was taken aback for an instant. He thought that an inner demon had taken over. But no such thing had happened. Yu Xiangling's work was everything to her. Although she obviously remembered everything on the desk, seeing being burned before her very eyes felt as though Cao Yun had trampled on her dignity.
"You...!"
She gritted her teeth, her words dissolving into fury. Blood welled at the corner of her mouth and from her clenched fist, where her nails pierced skin. Even the hand holding the black orb was tensed. If she had been able to do so, she would have tried to kill Cao Yun on the spot. But her powerlessness added to the insult. Because the Empyrean Asura was backing her, no one would dare to upset her even a little. Before someone who not only didn't care about offending her, but was actively trying to achieve precisely that, she could barely control herself. Apparently, she had never learned to deal with such intense frustration except from her own work.
Using her anger against her, Cao Yun was still using the 'Weeping Demon' art. Although it couldn't breach the spiritual pressure around her, it might have intensified Yu Xiangling's anger just a tiny bit. Any help against the woman was good.
Cao Yun's goal seemed to go unnoticed. While he was enraging the frail woman, Cao Yun was actively working on the Death Energy and Evil Qi all over the room. Thanks to his knowledge of the soul and of the Dao of Death through 'Death Verses', he could somehow control them. Unfortunately, he wasn't an expert in it yet. In fact, Yu Xiangling might be more knowledgeable than he was on the matter. Everything he could see in her laboratory suggested that. And it made him want to devour her memories even more. First of all, he wanted to know the origin of her knowledge.
Considering the aura of Demon God Da Mo exuding from the orb, Cao Yun and Dian Mo were convinced that the knowledge came from him. Maybe the demons had found some old library just like the demonic cultivators. But no matter what it was, it was a hell of a coincidence. Indeed, according to what Cao Yun knew, the dates the demonic cultivators had found it and the Empyrean Asura had begun his conquest were simply too close to be mere coincidence. Of course, it could be, everything was possible. But none of them believed that it was mere chance. While the Empyrean Asura had conquered all the demon territory to prepare his attack on the Hongchen Kingdom, the demonic cultivators had found a library that helped them grow stronger and thus destabilizing the Hongchen Kingdom. Clearly, it felt as though someone was actively working against the humans. And the culprit seemed obvious albeit hard to believe.
-
Outside of Holy Hongxue City, several figures were flying in the sky. There were seven of them, all wearing silver armors with various intricate engravings. The man in front of the formation was a large demon with reddish skin, yet he looked more human than asura. In fact, any human could mistake him for an inhabitant of the Subei or Sunmen Provinces, the western provinces of the Hongchen Kingdom. This man was extremely massive, not only larger but also bigger than any man Cao Yun had ever met, even Yun Ping and Ren Chao. Despite his armor, one could imagine his muscles under it just from his massive neck with very visible veins.
He had very long white hair and a large white beard that were almost devouring his entire face. They looked like the mane of a lion but were white with a glint of silver. As such, he looked like a ferocious wolf. As he was flying at full speed, he was holding his weapon firmly in hand, a double ended spear. Just like his armor, his spear was made of an alloy of Silk Gold and Lightning Silver. As a result, it was extremely hard while being supple. And the edges of his armor and spear were the sharpest one could obtain in the Piaolu planet. All around him was a kingly aura as much as a savage presence. He looked like a barbarian king who was spending more time on the battlefield than in his court.
All seven of those demons were going straight to the Temple of Grace and Submission. But they suddenly halted when the first man stopped moving. By simply doing so, they caused some shockwave to go forward and break down a few trees.
Without physically talking, the massive warrior asked a woman behind him to go forward. She inspected the surroundings and was clearly in doubt. Behind her, the six other demons were patiently waiting. All of them were used to battlefields. And even if the war wasn't supposed to have reached the Yanbei Region, they were still acting as though they were at the border with the Hongchen Kingdom. There could be traps everywhere. It wasn't rare for demons or humans to fall in an ambush. Against some powerful array formations, even those seven demons weren't too audacious.
After many minutes, almost an hour, the woman signaled the group that everything seemed fine. Thankfully, she had not found any trace of array formations except for them already set up by the Holy Hongxue City for its defense. Cao Yun's alterations were too well hidden for them to find. Only a handful of people in the Piaolu planet could have seen through his work. And one of those people was precisely Yu Xiangling.
Thankfully, Hongyu was far enough from the city, still in hiding. She was obeying her brother's orders. But as much as those newcomers failed to see her, she failed to see them too. Indeed, they were coming from another direction completely. They were coming back from the front lines. After the recent events, the Temple of Grace and Submission had called for help. Considering that Yu Xiangling was there, the Empyrean Asura had decided to call back his most elite warriors in order to protect the temple. Besides, among them was a man who was rather familiar with this area.
Indeed, the man in front of the formation was the Silver Wolf Marshal Shanyin Guan, ruler of the nearby Langyin Region. That man was a late Accomplished Demon. Most likely, he was a 7th or even 8th-grade Accomplished Demon. Moreover, he was a true warrior. Even among 8th-grade Accomplished Demons, few could compare to him. He might be able to fight on an equal footing against some 9th-grade Accomplished Demon. Thankfully, apart from the Empyrean Asura, there was no other known 9th-grade Accomplished Demon on the continent. But the Silver Wolf Marshal might be able to fight even Sect Leader Xuan Mu. He probably wouldn't win but he wouldn't be easily killed either.
Taking Silver Wolf Marshal Shanyin Guan away from the front lines was a big gamble. Although the fights had reached some form of standstill, if his absence was found out, the humans would probably launch a counter-attack that could be devastating. Late Accomplished Demons and late Spirit Warriors were the most powerful weapons each side had. Moving them around was always a very delicate and dangerous thing. But apparently, the chaos caused by Cao Yun and the importance of Yu Xiangling were too big for the Empyrean Asura to take any risk. He didn't want the chaos to spread any further and he certainly wanted to protect Yu Xiangling.
In a matter of minutes, the group reached the Temple of Grace and Submission. Unfortunately, they couldn't enter right away. The array formations protecting the temple would have attacked or trapped them if they had. Thus, they were forced to wait for the priests to deal with it.
An old priest came out of the temple. Despite his high rank in the Heavenly Demon God Faith, he was still extremely respectful toward Silver Wolf Marshal Shanyin Guan. None of the demon before the old priest were part of the faith and he despised them for it. But at the same time, it showed how powerful they were, that even the Empyrean Asura couldn't force them to convert. Besides, even this old priest living like a hermit had heard of many tales surrounding the Silver Wolf Marshal. As such, his disgust for those unbelievers was almost impossible to perceive as a thick layer of respect was concealing it.
That being said, not a single one of the demons in silver armor was happy to be here. And they could hardly hide their impatience.
"Please, excuse this old man. We've already sent for Holy Cardinal Ling Weisheng and honorable Miss Yu Xiangling. They're the only ones who can alter the array formations to let you in."
"We don't care about getting in. Tell your mistress that we have orders from the Empyrean Asura himself."
From his spatial ring, Silver Wolf Marshal took out a scroll. On it was the seal of the Empyrean Asura. Just seeing it, the old man kowtowed as though his god had just appeared before him.
"We are to bring Miss Yu Xiangling to the Saint Citadel Sidi. Then, we'll take care of the unrest in this region. We do not intend to sojourn in this temple. We can't stay away from the battlefield for too long. On that matter, anyone talking about our presence will be deemed an enemy of the Empyrean Asura Theocracy and will be dealt with accordingly. Am I clear enough?"
"Yes, my Lord, extremely clear. This useless old man hears the celestial mandate."
"Then bring me your mistress or bring me to her, it doesn't matter. She has to receive those orders directly. Then, we'll take Miss Yu Xiangling away and we'll depart immediately."
"Of course, of course."
Not even daring to stand up, the old man walked away as best as he could. As soon as he was out of sight, he ran with all his strength and went directly toward Holy Cardinal Ling Weisheng. Even if she was busy taking some pleasure from some unfortunate slave or servant, he had to disturb her.
-
At the same moment, Cao Yun was still messing around with the Death Energy in the room. In her anger, Yu Xiangling seemed to be completely oblivious to it. Besides, Cao Yun's Void Island array formation was preventing either of them from feeling anything happening outside. Similarly, no one outside could feel what was going on this room either. That being said, Cao Yun didn't want to stay any longer than necessary. He knew that time was against him. He had to deal with the two woman as fast as possible.
Although Yu Xiangling didn't seem to be able to attack him with the orb, she might have other means. Considering how knowledgeable she clearly was about array formations, seals and death, he didn't want to take any risk. Cao Yun had another advantage on her though, he also had Dian Mo in his sea of consciousness. The spirit was observing Yu Xiangling intently while Cao Yun was working on the Death Energy in the room.
'See Through the Mud' had reached its peak, allowing Cao Yun to sense Death Energy as though it was visible to the naked eye. His 'Death Reeling' was also very good, even though it could be even better. With it, he could manipulate Death Energy just like Qi. His main problem had been that this Death Energy was also intertwined with Evil Qi and, more difficult to deal with, Ghost Energy. Cao Yun had been forced to spend some time separating them. But using Evil Qi to push away Ghost Energy, Cao Yun had finally succeeded. He had finally created a concentration of Death Energy he could control.