Although Cao Yun had heard General Yun's advice, he still chose to go through the fallen provinces. Indeed, the Huogu Province and the Kai Province were the most direct path toward the Wubei Sect. From what he had heard, both of those provinces had been invaded by the demons around the time he had been sent to the Desolate Sepulcher. Even if the invaders had been eradicated, every human in those provinces had also died. And now, the provinces were apparently polluted by Evil Qi and Death Energy, maybe even Ghost Energy. The demonic beasts were now the sole rulers of those provinces and the humans had no time to deal with that. Thankfully, the Rengui Province had mostly been spared this fate, thanks to the sacrifice of its governor, Governor Gang Suo. With Cao Yun, she was one of the first war heroes of this invasion.

For most cultivators, such a description would be a huge deterrent. However, it made that route even more enticing to Cao Yun. Indeed, Evil Qi and Death Energy were no threat at all to him, nor to Hongyu for that matter. The fact that no one was in those provinces was also great as it would allow him to cultivate with more ease. Moreover, he might even be able to use those sordid energies for his own benefit, and maybe slay some demonic beasts.

With Hongyu's current speed, Cao Yun estimated that they would need one or two months. Considering that Cao Yun did want to cultivate a little, he planned on two months to finally get to the Wubei Sect. Although time was a precious resource, Cao Yun wasn't about to forsake his cultivation. He had to be as strong as he could.

While Hongyu was going straight for the Kai Province, Cao Yun focused on improving his 'Asura Strengthens Deva, Deva Enlightens Asura', his seals and remembering everything he had felt around the Lacquer Abyss Nian Fish. Unfortunately, 'Asura Strengthens Deva, Deva Enlightens Asura' would require him to cultivate some more and he was still mentally exhausted so he would need to wait a few more days. But, with Dian Mo's help, he greatly improved his seals. Now, it would take him less than the time of a stick of incense in order to unseal his asura cultivation. Honestly, it was extremely difficult if not impossible to get better results than that. Indeed, the seals needed to be strong enough to perfectly hide his cultivation after all. So they would always require some time to be released, even in cases of emergency.

Apart from that, Cao Yun did try to recall his sensations around the Lacquer Abyss Nian Fish's barbels. He had felt how they had stabbed into Demon God Da Mo's soul fragment. Cao Yun's goal was to develop his understanding of 'Soul Chains'. From his 'Death Verses', he had comprehended the first three verses 'See Through the Mud', 'Death Reeling' and 'Living Death'. Thus, Cao Yun could sense, manipulate and even produce Death Energy. But 'Soul Chains' was about physically manifesting material chains made out of Death Energy. In a sense, it was turning one's soul physical. One could see it as the difference between manipulating one's Qi and creating a Qi Manifestation. Even a mere mortal could circulate their Qi but only a Mortal Warrior could manifest it outside their body.

Of course Cao Yun was fascinated with the study of the soul, and the Dao of Death, but there was more to it. Comprehending 'Soul Chains' would improve his fighting ability while simultaneously help him progress his cultivation. At the moment, both his Qi cultivation and blood cultivation required him to work with souls. Honestly, it would help his asura cultivation more. Indeed, as a 9th-grade Accomplished Demon, Cao Yun had to practice 'Chaining the Beast' in order to break through and to become an actual Exalted Demon.

Just like humans, demons were hindered by the current Forsaken Dao Era. However, Cao Yun had more hopes of breaching this limitation. After all, his asura cultivation relied on his Drop of Wrath that was the blood of an incredible demon who had gone almost all the way to the pinnacle of cultivation. If something could reverse the curse of this forsaken era, the Drop of Wrath surely could. At least, that was Cao Yun's hope. Now that he was fully aware of his two enemies, Emperor Weide and Demon God Da Mo himself, Cao Yun absolutely felt the fragility of his situation. More power was a necessity, that meant allies of course, knowledge undoubtedly, but also pure raw strength.

'Chaining the Beast' consisted in forming chains of blood to completely trap one's Demon Soul in their physical heart. So, it was very similar to 'Soul Chains' as it was meant to make one's soul physical in a sense. Cao Yun was closer than most as his own Demon Soul had already manifested chains to bind the Turbid Demons to itself. However, this was slightly different from the actual 'Chaining the Beast'. Indeed, those current chains were mere mental manifestations of the connection between his Demon Soul and his Turbid Demons, they were not physical at all. That being said, Cao Yun did study them in the hope of learning more.

Unfortunately, he couldn't cultivate the asura system fully until he was far away from any human. In the Subei Province, there were military camps everywhere so he might be found out even with his stealth. From time to time, Cao Yun was even forced to slow down and to use the seal given to him by General Yun in order to go through some array formations, or simply to prove his identity to some soldiers. Despite his stealth and Hongyu's speed, Cao Yun wanted to do everything by following the proper etiquette. That was important to quiet down any doubts or suspicions some might have about him.

-

After around ten days, Hongyu had reached the border of the Kai Province. Immediately, Cao Yun felt extremely ominous energies emanating from this province. As far as the eye could see, the entire province was barren. Trees had died and vegetation was mostly gone. Even the rare plants that had survived looked rotten or were hiding underground with deformed roots. The very first time he laid eyes on it, Cao Yun remembered the Yellow Death World. It wasn't as bad, but Cao Yun expected to encounter Bone Demons at any moment...

Speaking about bones, he did see plenty of them. They were broken, crushed to dust, scattered everywhere, but no trace of flesh on any bone he could see. Hongyu and Cao Yun slowed down when they entered the Kai Province. Somehow, it felt disrespectful to go too fast. This entire province was like a large cemetery in memory of all those who had been slain or had slain others. In death, there was no more animosity. Allies and foes alike were equal in their pain and misery. A very heavy feeling weighed on Hongyu and Cao Yun. At first, this was just an emotion, but then, it changed.

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As soon as they actually entered the desolation of the Kai Province, Hongyu and Cao Yun felt a surge of Death Energy and Evil Qi all around them. Thankfully, they knew how to deal with it. But it did affect them emotionally speaking. While he was manipulating Evil Qi, Cao Yun could feel the emotions of the dead, rage, surprise, fear, pain, despair, incomprehension, hatred. They flooded the young man's mind. Thankfully, his mind and soul cultivation were vastly more powerful. But somehow, he didn't want to completely quiet those voices. Whether they belonged to humans or demons, he couldn't really tell as everything was mixed together, but discarding them completely didn't feel right to the young man. Those were the last vestiges of the dead, both justly or unjustly slain.

For hours, they encountered nothing of interest, just barren land. The vegetation had either been destroyed in combat or had absorbed so much of those ominous energies that it had been corrupted. Some trees had survived here and there, but they were gray or dark with strange excrescences all over them. In fact, Cao Yun saw a few trees that looked like bones. At the very least, there were bones embedded in them. But they had grown naturally out of those trees.

As they were getting further and further into this corrupted land, Hongyu and Cao Yun sensed that the light and heat of the sun were getting dimmer. Even in broad daylight, their environment felt somber despite the absence of foliage over their heads. Besides, they were already flying above the tops of the broken and corrupted tree. On the ground, the atmosphere had to be even colder and darker.

At last, Cao Yun reached a small village. The sight made him sick. Houses were destroyed or burned. Partial skeletons were visible everywhere with gray and green moss running rampant on them. Here and there, he could see ashes that had undoubtedly been humans once. On the broken walls and even on the ground, there were burned silhouettes of people. Many were adults, but he could also see small silhouettes and tiny bones. No one had been spared. In this village, he could still feel a faint trace of killing intent. Demons had done this horror. But they had also been slaughtered soon after.

In the center of the village, there was a well leading to a small underground source. The water had turned black and muddy. Blood had polluted the entire source. And then, it had been corrupted by Evil Qi and Death Energy. In the air, Cao Yun could also sense some Ghost Energy. For the first time, Hongyu landed. Cao Yun walked through the village with a complicated face. He could visualize the last moments of this village. In the very air, he could taste the abject terror of the villages. But he could also taste the absolute joy of their tormentors. The demons had been celebrating as they were torturing those people to death. They had sacrificed them all in the name of the Heavenly Demon God, Demon God Da Mo. Cao Yun's rage grew stronger and stronger but so did his sorrow.

Right before his eyes lay the ultimate goal of the Empyrean Asura Theocracy. They wanted to purge the Hongchen Kingdom of any human life. And they would shy from no cruelty or perversion to achieve their objective. Although Emperor Weide was his enemy, this Demon God Da Mo was an existential threat to his entire kind. In fact, he was even a threat for the demons who didn't share his beliefs.

As he walked aimlessly, Cao Yun saw the burned silhouette of two persons. He couldn't tell their sex, but they were an adult and a child hugging each other. The silhouette had been burned against a wall whose bricks had molted in some places. On the ground, there were some ashes mixed in with the soil. The young man knelt down and paid his respects to the entire village. Hongyu got close to him and put her wing over him, trying to comfort the young man.

After some time, Cao Yun stood up and flew toward the well before descending into the dark corrupted sludge that was once water. Without any hesitation, he dove into it and began to revolve his full cultivation, unsealing his 9th-grade Accomplished Demon cultivation as well. Around Cao Yun, his Black Heart Flame appeared and began to burn any trace of Death Energy and Evil Qi. Everything was absorbed into the Black Heart Flame and purified. Terrifying visions assaulted the young man but they couldn't affect him much. In a matter of hours, he had completely purified the water that was now perfectly crystalline.

Then, Cao Yun rose in the air and began to purify the entire village. Evil Qi, Death Energy and Ghost Energy were all being pulled toward Cao Yun in a powerful vortex. Once he was done, the young man took some time to find any bone he could. He even tried to reform some skeletons. Finally, he buried them all and paid his respects. Hopefully, something of their souls would remain and they could find a better life in the next incarnation. Sadly, Cao Yun couldn't perform those rites in every village, city or even battlefield. But he had felt the urge to pay his respects here, even if it was more symbolic than anything else.

Although he was deeply affected, Cao Yun shed no tears. He had no more of those to waste. The only thing he could promise the unfortunate villagers was that he would kill Demon God Da Mo himself. No matter what, Cao Yun would not only destroy the Empyrean Asura Theocracy, he would chase Demon God Da Mo and any trace of him. Not a single speck of his soul would remain, Cao Yun would eradicate all of it.

The young man walked out of the village as he didn't want to disturb it at all. With Hongyu, they headed to a small forest of broken trees and strangely shaped plants. All those plants were rotten with bits and pieces of bones that had grown out of them. A few plants were quite literally sweating blood. But this blood was black and putrid. The very land was corrupted. Cao Yun and Hongyu felt as if they had walked out of the world of the living into the realm of the dead. This place was too eerie. Even the life here seemed dead. Plants had endured but had become symbols of desolation and corruption.

Cao Yun sensed some movement and finally saw a demonic beast. Honestly, even with his vast knowledge, he had a hard time recognizing it. It was a mere 1-core demonic beast, a Black Two-Headed Wolf. But everything about it was different. First of all, it only had one head. The second head was hanging from its neck, dead. Worms were quite literally eating the head that was split open. The smell alone could have killed a mere mortal. The Black Two-Headed Wolf's fur was not black but gray with patches of green moss here and there. Its fangs were mostly yellow but some kind of fungus was attacking them, going into the skin and flesh of the beast. As it was walking, Cao Yun could tell that it was in pain. The poor beast was forcing itself to eat one of the rotten plants. Each bite was painful and almost made it retch.

At last, the agonizing Black Two-Headed Wolf saw the human.

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