Cao Yun couldn't comprehend what was going on. His body was shaking and quivering while he was pressing his sister's lifeless body against him. All of his physical pain had disappeared. In fact, even his mental pain was gone. The young man was overwhelmed by a deep sorrow he simply couldn't contain. With his mind cultivation, he could have easily dispelled his emotions, but he couldn't, he wouldn't. Right now, nothing else existed in the universe but his sister, his dead sister.
On the ground, Feng Yingyue and Cao Yun's sworn brothers were all shocked. Feng Yingyue almost immediately flew toward Cao Yun, but a hand grabbed her wrist. Turning back, Feng Yingyue saw Mei Hua in tears. Locking eyes with her, Feng Yingyue understood and stayed where she was. Even though she didn't know all the details, she knew that Mei Hua's father had tried to sacrifice his own daughter for more power. Xiao Xuefeng had saved Mei Hua and her sister. Unfortunately, they had failed today. Cao Huiying had been sacrificed. The true horror was that she had sacrificed herself to the one man who wanted to save her above everything else.
Director Hua and Spirit Master Xiao were also stunned. However, they continued to pressure Jian Zhenli, so that he wouldn't do anything. That being said, Jian Zhenli was completely and utterly crushed. Everything he had done, all the innocent people he had slaughtered, it had all been for nothing. Jian Zhenli could see the demons taking over the Hongchen Kingdom, he could see his Emperor fall. As such, he turned his desperate eyes toward Emperor Weide.
Contrary to Jian Zhenli's expectations, Emperor Weide was excited. Of course, he would have preferred Cao Huiying to be sacrificed to him. But, according to Emperor Nuwa's words, Cao Yun might be the key to the survival of the Hongchen Kingdom. In that moment, Emperor Weide didn't even consider Cao Huiying's death. She had been his so-called daughter for almost two decades, and yet he didn't care at all about her death. He was slightly annoyed that her sacrifice had been spoiled, but this was the extent of his emotions on the matter. Even now, cogs were turning in his head as he was trying to find a way to get Cao Yun to ally himself with him against Empyrean Asura.
Xiao Xuefeng was afraid that Cao Yun would revert to the raging monster she had met the very first time. With her incredible spiritual senses, she could feel that this wasn't the case, thankfully, for now at least. As she looked at him, she was the very first one to notice his change.
Within his sea of consciousness, Dian Mo noticed it only a moment after Xiao Xuefeng. The very Soul Embryo of Cao Huiying was repairing Cao Yun's Soul Embryo. The golden star had penetrated all the cracks in his Soul Embryo. Slowly, it was as if the molten gold was cooling. As it cooled, it replaced the cracks in Cao Yun's Soul Embryo. At the same time, Cao Yun could feel the touch of his sister's soul. However, it was dissipating. As his own Soul Embryo was being healed, he could feel her body get cold in his arms, and her soul slowly fade away.
With all of his will, Cao Yun was trying to slow down the process. Any other cultivator would have dreamed of having his Soul Embryo strengthened in such a way. However, Cao Yun rejected this great miracle. He wanted his sister! Even if he had to break apart his soul, he wanted his sister! But he couldn't get her. Even if her soul survived, it could not get back into her body. Besides, her soul was already broken apart into millions of shards. He could only vaguely feel her presence.
As such, Cao Yun focused on her last memories and tried to keep her presence with him for as long as possible. The more he could slow down the process, the more he could feel her with him. The young man lost himself in his sorrow and in his love for his sister. He had never acted like that. Even he was surprised by how much he had lost control of himself. His body would literally not listen to him, even if he wanted to stay in control. To be fair, he didn't want to be in control at all, he just wanted to crawl into a ball and feel the last vestiges of his sister's warmth as it was fading away.
Everything he had done had been for nothing. In fact, everything he had done had sealed his sister's fate. Indeed, she had died for him in the end. As such, he couldn't let her sacrifice be in vain...
"Father, Mother, this unfilial one failed you both! Brother, our sister is dead... I failed! No matter how powerful I've become, I failed miserably... I'm the reason why our sister died, for me... Little sister, you won't even go to the Heavenly Court, your soul is gone. We won't ever meet again in this life or in another. I'm the one who caused your utter destruction. I swear to you that I won't dishonour your decision. No matter how hard or painful it is, I will live! I will save the Hongchen Kingdom, I will save mankind. And I will eradicate the ones who tormented you and our family. I will rip their hearts out of their chest myself. They will all pay! But I won't let my rage make me forget your last wishes, little sister. Our kind will survive! The Empyrean Asura Theocracy will fall!"
Finally, the last ounces of Cao Huiying's presence disappeared deep within Cao Yun's Soul Embryo. At that moment, Cao Yun felt some of Emperor Nuwa's aura as well. She had guided his sister's Soul Embryo. All of the soul fragments that she had summoned from the array formation had been consumed. And he could tell that the rest of her soul fragment was also consuming itself to keep the array formation intact. Cao Yun couldn't tell what was going on outside, but it was clear that Emperor Nuwa was dying right now. At least, the soul fragment she had left behind before ascending and crossing the veil was dying. She had also sacrificed herself. Although Cao Yun wanted to blame her, he knew that it had been Cao Huiying's decision. Emperor Nuwa had simply given her the choice. Of course, she had known Cao Huiying's decision beforehand. Deep down, Cao Yun resented Emperor Nuwa, but also understood why she had done what she had done. The real culprit was Emperor Weide. He also understood what was expected of him at the moment, but Cao Yun didn't know if he could really do so.
Suddenly, a powerful light emerged from Cao Yun's Soul Embryo. It erupted through his Third Eye and spread throughout his sea of consciousness. In an instant, his entire sea of consciousness was bathed in a blinding golden and silver light. All around him, the aura of Demon God Da Mo sensed a terrifying pressure. It immediately tried to escape, but the array formations of Emperor Nuwa trapped it.
The blinding light spread throughout Cao Yun's body. His Golden Blood circulated faster and faster. While it was rushing through Cao Yun's veins, his Golden Blood completely dissolved the Shattered Soul Hellbloom. At the same time, all the medicinal essence from the Nine-Souls Calamity Ascension Pill was absorbed by Cao Yun's body. His vitality rose faster and faster, higher and higher. Then, it spread outside his flesh. Demon God Da Mo's soul fragment was almost instantly wiped out. All this great vitality burst out in a mere instant. The concentrated energy was too much for such a volatile presence. In fact, every trace of Demon God Da Mo within Cao Yun was completely and thoroughly wiped out, for good.
Deep within the demon territories, Empyrean Asura was still leading the activation of Staircase to Hell when he felt a deep pain in his head. It was as if someone stabbed him directly in the skull. Of course, he recognized that pain, it was related to his soul. Although the array formations left behind by Emperor Nuwa had blocked his connection with the soul fragment taken by Cao Yun, he was still connected to it. As such, when it got wiped out so brutally, it caused a terrible backlash to Empyrean Asura himself. His priests and priestesses looked at him with worry. Obviously, they thought it was because of the strain of Staircase to Hell. Once again, he was grateful to have hidden his real identity. If his priests had seen him like that, as Demon God Da Mo, he would have been forced to kill them all. And he didn't want to waste such useful servants.
With deep hatred in his eyes, Empyrean Asura looked in the distance, toward the Hongchen Kingdom.
"Pathetic whore slave, I will wipe out your disgusting kingdom. All your bastards will die in agony. They'll beg me to be my slaves' slaves, but they'll only know pain and death. I'll erase your very existence from history through the most abominable tortures I can think of. Not an ounce of your blood will remain on this planet. And when I'm done with it, I'll even annihilate this world. I hope you're still alive to witness the abominations I'll unleash on your people..."
Without voicing his atrocious thoughts, Empyrean Asura had the elegant face of a very effeminate man. No one could guess what sordid ideas were crossing his depraved mind. As the blood was coalescing above, great patterns appeared. After several hours and many years of preparation, his ultimate array formation was ready.
The sky began to turn darker and darker all over the Piaolu planet. Even the Desolate Sepulcher that, still in night at this moment, saw a slight difference. It was as if evil hands were grabbing the entire planet. Then, stars began to turn red and ooze a little. Finally, the very sun became red as blood. No, it wasn't just red, it was actual blood. The very sun was now made of blood and was projecting a terrifying and tyrannical aura all over the world. All the planets around were bathed in this killing intent.
Still protected by Emperor Nuwa's concealing array formation, Cao Yun wasn't fully aware of the terrible threat outside.
As his vitality exploded, his Soul Embryo ceased to improve. Although it had healed, it was still tender. The young cultivator could tell that he couldn't push it too far. It would probably take him decades of hard work to fully stabilize his Soul Embryo before attempting the Greater Tribulation. Thankfully, he had other means to break through. He focused on the Drop of Wrath and his seven Turbid Demons, sending more and more energy into them. In particular, he sent energy into the chains linking them.
His seven Turbid Demons appeared very clearly. With all his chaotic emotions at the moment, they were stronger than ever, but still tamed. The chains linking them to Cao Yun's Drop of Wrath became taut. His Drop of Wrath turned into Axiu Qian's figure with three faces and six arms. All over his body, more and more golden chains appeared.
In the physical realm, chains also appeared all around Cao Yun, they were tying him up. Those chains seemed to emerge from the ground, the air, and the heavens themselves. If one tried to follow them to their origin, they could never stop. When Feng Yingyue tried to look at one of them, she followed it with her eyes, but the chains never stopped, even though they were finite. In a sense, it was as if space itself was playing tricks on Feng Yingyue, she could have followed the chain with her eyes for all eternity. But when she stopped, she clearly saw that it was suspended in the air with no origin. She and a few others understood. Those were the chains of the Dao.
Those chains were a physical manifestation of the Dao itself, weighing on mortals.
Humans could understand the Dao through their souls and minds. On the other hand, demons understood the Dao through their own flesh.
Cao Yun let go of his sister's body with a frustrated resignation. As he was about to break through, he was worried he might quite literally destroy her body. For a moment, he had hesitated to put her in his spatial ring, but he didn't want to treat her like an object. Without him asking her, Xiao Xuefeng used her spiritual senses to grab Cao Huiying's body and bring her slowly to the ground. The young man was grateful but had no time to thank anyone.
While Director Hua and Spirit Master Xiao protected the alchemists and cultivators below, Cao Yun completely unleashed all of his strength. He screamed all of his pain. A powerful yell echoed throughout the Everlasting Earth Palace. Even Emperor Weide felt some pain hearing it as his body vibrated. Cao Yun was fully as red as blood. As his vitality was surging, two more pairs of arms appeared behind him, they were both physical and a Qi Manifestation at the same time. With his bare hands, Cao Yun grabbed the chains.
Still yelling as much as his lungs allowed him to, the young man threw all of his pain and despair at those chains. He ripped them apart. For quite some time, it was his flesh that was torn apart by the chains. But they were clearly getting looser and looser. More and more chains appeared and literally pierced his flesh to stop him. The physical pain was nothing compared to his emotional suffering.
Screaming and bleeding profusely, with tears of blood flowing down his cheeks, Cao Yun hurled his pain. Once again, his hands grabbed a thick chain. With all of his strength, Cao Yun pulled and pulled. Some of his own flesh was seared onto the chain, but he kept on pulling. Some of his skin and muscles literally went with the chain, but the chain went. As soon as it was free of his body, Cao Yun ripped the chain in half.
Instantly, golden chains, slick with Cao Yun's Golden Blood, emerged from his wounds and grabbed the two halves of the broken chain. Cao Yun's golden chains spread, coiling around this Dao chain like snakes. He was starting to break through. Soon, he was going to be an actual Exalted Demon.