Yong Ke presented her respect to the alchemists. Hua Fenfei, Xiao Xuefeng, and Feng Yingyue all knew who she really was, and she wasn't Emperor Weide's daughter. Feng Yingyue could feel a sense of familiarity just by looking at her. Had she not known about her origins, Feng Yingyue would have been unable to identify it. However, knowing what she knew, it caused the young woman to suffer and lament. Above all else, she thought about Cao Yun. Her Dao partner was obviously watching everything. His sister was so close to him, and he couldn't do a thing. Worse than that, the same thoughts Cao Yun was having went through Feng Yingyue.
Maybe Emperor Weide would try to extract Yong Ke's Soul Embryo before taking the pill. Honestly, they had thought about it, but it wasn't optimal at all. It made much more sense for Emperor Weide to consume the pill and then extract her Soul Embryo while he was breaking through already. Many calculations happened within Feng Yingyue's mind when something terrifying suddenly took over. Even her master didn't think of that. No one had thought about that possibility. But if it turned out to be the case, they would have no way of doing anything. Wheels were turning in her head as she was exploring all the possibilities. Unfortunately, she came back to that one hypothesis. A sense of dread was overwhelming her. At the moment, she couldn't even tell whether Cao Yun had the same idea.
As it turned out, Cao Yun was also overwhelmed with emotions. However, he didn't even entertain the idea that was currently plaguing Feng Yingyue. On the other hand, deep within Cao Yun's mind, Dian Mo began to see through the situation. The same thoughts that Feng Yingyue had arose within Dian Mo. The old spirit didn't dare to express them to Cao Yun. If he was correct, there was nothing to do. Yong Ke would die today, right before Cao Yun. All of Cao Yun's plans would just collapse into nothingness. But Dian Mo knew that Cao Yun would never accept it. As such, Cao Yun would risk his life and most likely die.
Dian Mo saw the face of death in that moment. As the thought crept its way up into his mind, Dian Mo even began to wonder how he could stop Cao Yun. But he caught himself. Dian Mo was thinking about his own survival as he was terrified. Suddenly, he shifted his focus onto Cao Yun himself. If Dian Mo was right, the young man would soon suffer immensely. Even if Dian Mo was somehow able to stop Cao Yun from doing something extremely risky, the young man simply wouldn't survive. He would become someone else, a husk of himself, or even worse. Upon this realization, Dian Mo stopped trying to come up with ways to stop Cao Yun. Instead, he focused on ways to help Cao Yun act. Since he wouldn't stop him, he had to find ways to improve his chances of success. Dian Mo devoted himself to this course of action.
Director Hua, Spirit Master Xiao, and Cao Yun didn't have all those thoughts. In fact, they were living in the now. Unlike Feng Yingyue and Dian Mo, who had caught a glimpse of a possible future, they were still stuck on the current event, unable to make heads or tails of the situation. Yong Ke was standing there in the room.
The young lady graciously bowed toward her father. Emperor Weide looked at her with a sense of love and sorrow, but also dignity and pride. Xiao Xuefeng could tell that he wasn't entirely playing a part. There were genuine emotions in him, but he was also hiding other emotions, delight and impatience. In his own twisted way, Emperor Weide cared for Yong Ke, but he was looking forward to her death. He didn't want to see her die, but he was ready for it since the beginning, so it didn't cause him too much pain or too many ethical problems. On the other hand, he had been waiting for this moment for so long that he could barely hide his impatience and excitement. However, he was concealing them as much as he could behind a wall of dignity and pride. Besides, he didn't want Yong Ke to see him excited like that for her death.
Indeed, Xiao Xuefeng now had no doubt at all that Yong Ke knew what was about to happen. Xiao Xuefeng was even better than Cao Yun when it came to reading people's emotions. Although she was confident and proud, Yong Ke had a layer of fear and doubt. Those were telltale signs of someone walking to their death for some noble cause. Xiao Xuefeng had seen those signs in many soldiers during the war. Yong Ke was about to do her duty for the Hongchen Kingdom. She knew she was going to her death, but she was going with her head held high, knowing that her sacrifice would benefit all of mankind.
Finally, Director Hua was simply trying to recover from the shock. It was simply too unexpected. Moreover, she was worried that Cao Yun would do something stupid upon seeing his sister. Thankfully, he didn't act up. To be honest, he was just as shocked as Director Hua was. Despite his mind cultivation, his mind was almost entirely blank for quite some time. For a mere mortal, it wasn't even a breath, but for a cultivator like Cao Yun, it was a lifetime. Indeed, his mind could accelerate, making the world around him seem to come to a halt. Everything in the room Cao Yun was spying on was going incredibly slow. Not a single thought was able to appear in Cao Yun's mind as he was only focused on his sister.
Now that he knew everything that he knew, Cao Yun could notice everything about Yong Ke. He recognized her eyes, they looked just like their mother's. Her nose and her ears also reminded him of his brother Cao Sheng. A flood of emotions was overwhelming Cao Yun. With his mind and soul cultivation, he would have washed them all away, but he simply couldn't. It would be like forsaking his own family, letting them die another time. More than her resemblance to the Cao family, Cao Yun could see what she had endured. Although her clothes were hiding it, Cao Yun could make out old wounds. She most likely still had scars on her body despite a lot of medicine.
Looking at the subtle way she moved, Cao Yun could tell that she had suffered quite a lot as a kid, and it was still affecting her as a 3rd-grade Spirit Warrior. Obviously, Cao Yun could tell her cultivation level. It was perfect for Emperor Weide's plans, so he wouldn't wait any longer. Despite her high cultivation, there were very small details betraying how she had been tormented. Looking at her hands, he could tell that her left arm had been replaced. As an alchemist, Cao Yun wasn't too familiar with transplants. Even for talented physicians, those were rare because they required precious medicine.
Cao Yun himself almost didn't see it. In the Cao family's tomb, he had felt his sister's presence. From everything he had read, her arm had been found, so everyone assumed that her body was among the human remains of the Cao massacre. Obviously, Cao Yun didn't know how she had actually lost her arm, but he was now sure that she had lost it. The most likely explanation was that she tried to fight back. Against a powerful Spirit Warrior, there was almost nothing she could do, so Cao Yun could imagine how desperately she had fought if the outcome had caused her to lose an arm. In fact, Cao Yun could barely see how it would happen.
At the same time, Cao Huiying had just seen her entire family die, she had been taken from Cao Yun's arms just before her captor slashed her brother open. Cao Yun had fallen into a ravine and been swallowed up by darkness. Another thought emerged in Cao Yun's mind. Cao Huiying had not so much tried to fight back as she had actually tried to end her own life. Unfortunately, or not, she had obviously failed, but she had paid a price. Ironically, it helped them cover up her abduction. In fact, it probably helped them manipulate her.
Cao Yun was absolutely right. Emperor Weide had used her terrible wounds to manipulate her. He erased all of her memories while keeping her soul intact. It had been a very long and difficult process, but Emperor Weide had been very thorough. Then, physicians saved her life and were even able to transplant a new arm. Since she was still a mere mortal at the time, it wasn't as difficult. Transplanting an arm or organ into a powerful cultivator was much more complex, ironically. The main problem was the compatibility. When it came to a limb, for example, the meridians had to be able to fuse together as much as the flesh. But the flesh and the meridians from the new limb and the cultivator were often too different. It had to come from a similar cultivator, and it was very difficult to find. The donor had to have a cultivation close enough and with the right level.
Anyway, it didn't mean that transplants were simple for mere mortals either. Only extremely talented physicians could achieve such successes. Unfortunately, most transplants were failures. Some transplants could even kill the patient. Of course, Emperor Weide had used the best medicine possible and the most talented physicians. Cao Yun could imagine the cost. Most likely, Emperor Weide had not done so out of the kindness of his heart, but because it was useful. With a missing arm, the road to cultivation would have been more difficult. It wouldn't have been impossible, but longer and harder. As such, Emperor Weide had given her a new arm just to make sure she would be ripe for the killing soon enough.
Cao Yun was taken out of his reveries by Yong Ke's voice.
"Father, I am ready."
Seeing the determination in his daughter's eyes, Emperor Weide was glad. He turned toward Director Hua, who was still trying to understand the situation.
"Director, we are sorry, but our plans are slightly different from what you imagined. We won't be taking the Nine-Souls Calamity Ascension Pill. Our daughter will."
Suddenly, Cao Yun's world came crashing down. Everything collapsed around him, and the ground was swallowing him up. A terrifying sense of dread overwhelmed his entire body, even his soul and mind. His Qi and blood froze. Thankfully, it didn't disrupt his 'Ashen Feather Seal', and Cao Yun remained perfectly concealed. However, he was unable to process the information. Feng Yingyue and Dian Mo had both been expecting the news.
Director Hua and Xiao Xuefeng both realized what was going on. Emperor Weide would push Yong Ke's Soul Embryo to its limit in order to make it the most suitable for him. As a 3rd-grade Spirit Warrior, her Soul Embryo was awakened, but it was still weak. Besides, her Upper Dantian wasn't strong enough to keep her Soul Embryo there. In fact, as a 3rd-grade Spirit Warrior, she should be tempering her Upper Dantian to send her Soul Embryo there permanently. Only then could she truly begin to strengthen it. But if she suddenly made it stronger, her Upper Dantian and even her entire body couldn't sustain it. She probably wouldn't die, but she would surely risk her life. Moreover, she would need to temper her Upper Dantian to an incredible level before being able to bring her Soul Embryo there. However, it wouldn't happen. Indeed, Emperor Weide would simply extract her Soul Embryo. In other words, he was fattening her up as much as possible before devouring her.
Director Hua tried to come up with many reasons to either delay or even prevent this. Cao Yun's plan mainly revolved around the poison within the Nine-Souls Calamity Ascension Pill. Of course, she didn't know about his contingency plan, but it was still within the pill. If Emperor Weide didn't consume the pill, all of the plan would fail. In that case, there was only one alternative...
Just like Dian Mo, Hua Fenfei, Xiao Xuefeng, and Feng Yingyue all knew that Cao Yun wouldn't just sit by doing nothing, watching as Emperor Weide would fatten her for the kill. Of course, they were all right. As the realization dawned upon the young man, Cao Yun planned his move. Wheels turned so fast in his mind that Cao Yun felt as though he was living several lifetimes. Thousands upon thousands of fight scenes crossed Cao Yun's mind. His entire sea of consciousness became a battlefield where he explored possible futures. Unfortunately, fighting Emperor Weide was exceptionally difficult. Not only would he have to contend with a very powerful 9th-grade Spirit Warrior, but he would also have to think about the soldiers around him. All the array formations described by Sun Liao appeared in Cao Yun's mind. As a matter of fact, Dian Mo had already thought about them all.
As Cao Yun was panicking, Dian Mo's voice echoed in his mind. The palace spirit helped Cao Yun use the array formations as best as he could. Although he couldn't get rid of all the soldiers and obstacles, Cao Yun might have a chance of isolating himself with Emperor Weide. In fact, the best outcome would be to be able to slay him right away before even being seen. But if it failed, Cao Yun needed to be able to fight him without being stopped by a literal army. Ironically, Dian Mo and Cao Yun could use the defenses of the capital to trap Emperor Weide in a duel. Hopefully, it would work. Cao Yun realized that Dian Mo had been aware of the situation before him. In the meantime, Dian Mo had truly thought about the best way to help Cao Yun achieve his goal. As such, Cao Yun was glad and thankful.
Unfortunately, Director Hua didn't have enough time to think about the matter. Somehow, she had to come up with reasons why Yong Ke shouldn't take the pill. Knowing what Emperor Weide actually wanted to do, she was painfully aware that there was nothing she could say to stop him. At the very least, she had to try. Besides, she couldn't appear to already know Emperor Weide's plans. Thus, Director Hua had to come up with ways to dissuade Emperor Weide from doing this. Maybe she still had a chance. Maybe she could offer another Nine-Souls Calamity Ascension Pill. Maybe they could still make Emperor Weide take the poisoned pill...