Chapter 109: The truth revealed for the first time

In the air, sparks were shining around Xiao Xuefeng's fingers. She had killed Lu Meihan and was now extracting her mind from her body. As it was pulled out, it became visible even to mere mortals. The woman was condensing what remained of Lu Meihan's mind in order to find out the one responsible for this attack.Luckily, the attack had targeted her mind and not her soul. The mind was the seat of the personality and the memories. On the other hand, the soul was believed to be the very essence of someone, beyond the ego. In the Hongchen Kingdom, people believed that the soul was the thing that got reincarnated. Destroying or hurting a soul was thus seen as the worse crime against someone since you would not only kill the person but also extinguish all chances of reincarnation.

In the particles floating in the air, there were some evil vibes. Xiao Xuefeng focused on those and pulled them together. Very soon, the other chief elders were helping her. The 'Salvation' character was still in the air and was suppressing the evil energy within. Chief Elder Suxian took out a compass. The artifact increased in size and got large enough to completely encapsulate the particles in the air.

Some strands of this evil energy tried to flee but hit against an invisible wall. Gradually, the compass became smaller and smaller. Xiao Xuefeng also increased the force she was using. Violent outbursts from the small wisps of evil went and collided with the array formation set by Chief Elder Suxian. But the combined effort of him and Xiao Xuefeng was enough to reduce their strength.

Very soon, all the particles collapsed into a purple flame. It wasn't bigger than the tip of a finger. Yet, all the cultivators were terrified of it. This small thing had caused so much pain and suffering in Lu Meihan who was almost a Mortal Warrior. And most of the outer disciples were only Mortals. Only a handful of them was able to reach Mortal Warrior before the end of the five years.

The chief elders were talking telepathically as they did not want to alarm the disciples even more. Chief Elder Lümian came to help the other two as she was specialized in soul and mind. The other chief elders turned toward the disciples and tried to disperse everyone as calmly as possible. Within the disciples, some of them had already been contacted by demonic cultivators, just like Lu Meihan. The words of Xiao Xuefeng had almost been able to convince them to turn back toward the orthodox way. However, this scene of torture was a clear deterrent.

Xiao Xuefeng knew it as well. Whoever did this could have killed Lu Meihan instantly but they wanted to show two things. They were able to inflict unimaginable pain. If they could attack the mind, they could also attack the soul, the great taboo. But this also showed that not even the presence of nine chief elders and Xiao Xuefeng herself was enough to stop them. It meant that no one could really protect the disciples. All the chief elders understood this blow they had received.

But it also came with a price. Now, Xiao Xuefeng had a part of the energy from this Spirit Warrior demonic cultivator. She wouldn't be able to find out who he was right away, but this was a step in the right direction. And she also knew how they were operating. Rather than sending demonic cultivators who would be easily spotted, they were using apparent orthodox cultivators. As long as they did not practice extreme demonic arts, they would not be detected.

In fact, if Luduo Bu had only used blood from demonic beasts to forge his blood runes, even Xiao Xuefeng would have been blind to his treason. And they could still show orthodox cultivators how effective their arts were. When the time was right, they would then fully embrace the Evil path.

All these informations were vital.

Soon enough, everyone was sent away, including Cao Yun and his friends. Wang Mei looked at the lifeless body of Lu Meihan and Ren Chao hugged her tightly.

-

The friends were all shaken and did not know what to say to each other. They stayed in the same room for a while. Ren Chao was the first one to break this awkward silence while keeping Wang Mei in his embrace.

"Brother Chen, thank you for saving me. I know that you feel responsible for my abduction but you're not! I'll take Wang Mei to her room for now, but I'll come back to thank you all properly another day."

Wang Mei was indeed quite emotional after witnessing the terrible death of her friend.

"Brothers, Sister, I'm sorry. I should have told you everything instead of trying to protect you. The truth is that the demonic cultivators have done something to me. And I'm trying to find out the ones responsible for it. I thought that going at it alone was the best choice. However, when they targeted my friends, I foolishly believed I could keep you safe by taking care of them myself..."

Sun Liao stood up. "Brother Chen, it's good that you admit you were stupid. Next time you try to protect us by keeping us in the dark, I'll ask Brother Ren to knock some sense into your head. Do not belittle us! I'm a 5-star Earth array formation master, and the disciple of a chief elder of the greatest sect in the entire Hongchen Kingdom." He then pointed at Mei Hua. "Sister Mei is a 5-star Earth alchemist and the direct disciple of one of the most powerful Spirit Warriors in the Hongchen Kingdom. And Brother Ren is..." Sun Liao had a pause and seemed to think for a very long time. "He's big."

Mei Hua took over. "What Brother Sun is trying to say is that we're all your friends. I sincerely understand not wanting to involve us. But we were involved the moment you were a target. I do sympathize with your way of thinking thanks to my little sister. However, we're not weak! Do not forget it!" In the end, she seemed a bit mad, but nothing excessive. "You should come see Mei Ying in the following days. She was very worried about her older brother."

Mei Hua left the room, leaving Cao Yun alone with Sun Liao.

"Brother Chen, I also wanted to talk to you." He sat down and took a sip of tea. "I saw some array formations around the Coiling Silk Faction residence. I think they were made by the same guy who did the array formation you showed me. You see, masters always pick up habits as they set up array formations. If you know what you're looking at, it's possible to determine which master set up a specific array formation. These are very minute details, but I'm just that good." Sun Liao's arrogance had been beaten out by Chief Elder Suxian but it was slowly coming back.

"I'm positive that these array formations have been set up by the same person and no one in the Coiling Silk Faction is competent enough to do so. But, I also feel a familiarity with these array formations. I'm pretty sure the array formation master who set them up tried to hide his touch. And I probably saw it somewhere else. You see, unlike you, I'm keeping my friends in the loop, not so hard, huh?"

Sun Liao put down his cup of tea which he had finished. "I'll try to discreetly look into it."

"Brother Sun, I won't stop you, but be careful, please."

"Don't worry about me. I'm more competent than Ren Chao! And much more refined as well! I won't put my life at risk for nothing. If push comes to shove, I'll just go to my master."

Cao Yun ended up alone and Huang Cixi got back into the main room.

"Mei Yuzhi, how is your cultivation going? When I was... well, when I was unconscious, you couldn't use my Qi Vortex array formation. I hope you didn't lag behind too much."

"No, Young Master. I'm on the verge of breaking through to 4th-grade Mortal. I can fill my Lower Dantian getting ready. It won't be too long."

"Great! If you need to, I can give you another spirit stone." Cao Yun went into a drawer and took a small spirit stone out.

"Young Master, really..." She was interrupted by someone knocking on the door. Relieved because she did not want to abuse of Cao Yun's generosity, she went to answer.

A very young woman was there, Kang Hai, a servant of Xiao Xuefeng.

"I'm sorry to disturb you so late but my mistress would like to see Young Master Chen."

-

In a very dark room, Mo Zi was kneeling in front of a screen. Behind this screen was his master, the Spirit Warrior demonic cultivator.

"Master, this unfilial disciple begs your forgiveness."

The voice that left the screen was impossible to trace. It was as though it came from all around at once. And no one could tell whether it was from a man or a woman, it was extremely well hidden.

"Mo Zi, I do not blame you. I expected too much from you. Luduo Bu was just a spur of the moment but he could have been of some use. However, Lu Meihan was really important. With her access to young disciples through her faction, we could have poisoned the mind of so many..." After an audible sigh, he kept talking. "I never should have left such an important task with you. Luckily I've been able to salvage most of it. Chief Elder Bian was so easy to manipulate it wasn't even funny. Learn from him, arrogance is always your own defeat. But now that he's out of the picture, we'll fully control the disciplinary pavilion. No, the real problem is not your failure, it's Xiao Xuefeng."

"Yes, Master. This woman will be way more trouble than we thought."

"It was to be expected. No matter how powerful she is, I can deal with her. But in the end, all is Chen Guo's fault. He was the one who exposed Luo Jiang in Yinmen City. It was very ironic that he also was the perfect candidate to help Lu Meihan's recovery."

"Yes, Master. We should kill him as soon as possible. He's no use to us anyway and I doubt we can convert him."

The demonic cultivator laughed out loud. "And you think you can do so while he's in the same place as Xiao Xuefeng. I was able to kill Lu Meihan before her eyes because I already put a wisp of energy in her Life Essence Phoenix Balm. If you want to kill Chen Guo, you'll have to go through her. Even though I'm confident in a duel against her, I would need to fight several hours to simply injure her. And the other chief elders wouldn't just sit idly by."

"I'm sorry, Master, I spoke too rashly."

"Oh, you're young, it's your right. But let Luduo Bu's example be a lesson to you. When we use demonic arts, our minds can be easily swayed by our emotions. The day you stop controlling them, they will control you. This Chen Guo has almost formed an inner demon in you. Be careful."

"I understand, Master. However, Chen Guo will be a threat to us in our plan. In two years, he will be a third-year, so..."

"Do not worry. I said we shouldn't kill him while he's in the same place as Xiao Xuefeng. But next year, there is no way he will just wait inside the Wubei Sect. He'll obviously go out. And no matter how careful he is, we'll kill him. After all, the first part of our plan is going very smoothly. Next year will be very fun..."

"Of course, Master." Mo Zi's face was hidden but even in his distorted voice, a smile could be heard.

"However, you should worry about Sun Liao a bit more." Mo Zi's head suddenly moved to show his surprise. "I thoroughly erased all traces of your array formations, but he saw some of them. Do not underestimate him. If he sees your work, he won't be long to piece things together. Be wary of him."

"Master, killing Sun Liao would deal a severe blow to Chen Guo. It could even form an inner demon."

"Do not be too impulsive. Killing Sun Liao is less difficult, but he's still the protégé of Suxian Zheng." He paused for a while. "If you have the opportunity and you think he's onto you, do it. But remember what happened to Lu Meihan. I like you Mo Zi, but not nearly enough to jeopardize a century-old plan."

With this last sentence, cold sweat flowed down Mo Zi's spine. "I understand, Master. I'll follow your teachings and I won't endanger your efforts."

-

Cao Yun followed Kang Hai into the alchemy pavilion. Tehn she brought him underground. The girl knocked on an extremely wide metallic door before opening it. On the other side, Xiao Xuefeng was sitting inside a very small room filled with engravings on all the walls. Immediately, Cao Yun saw that it was an array formation.

This array formation was more intricate than anything he had seen before. Even with all his knowledge, he could understand none of it. Xiao Xuefeng showed him in while Kang Hai stayed outside the room. As soon as he was in, she closed the big door and Cao Yun was completely isolated from the outside world, alone with Xiao Xuefeng.

"Chen Guo, this is the Universe Engulfing Sparrow, a 5-star Heaven array formation." The rank of the array formation shocked Cao Yun. Such an array formation was on the verge of having a spirit of its own. It could use the energy of its surrounding environment to recharge itself naturally. Cao Yun looked all around and tried real hard to memorize everything. If he was to study it, he could further his array formation mastery.

Xiao Xuefeng gave him some time to observe the room. This array formation was not a secret and either way, Cao Yun was still too weak to be able to duplicate it. However, he could get some insights from its study. When she felt like the boy was done, she resumed her speech.

"Within this room, no cultivator, even a Spiritual Warrior, can sense anything. Everything that happens or is said within those walls will stay between us. Sit down." Xiao Xuefeng showed him a spot on the ground for him to sit.

Cao Yun was feeling a bit nervous given the tone of this conversation, but he trusted Xiao Xuefeng. And even if he did not, he was nothing before her. If she wanted, she could literally enter his mind and extract anything from him.

"You know that I left for a long time. The truth is that my presence in the Wubei Sect is because of you." Cao Yun did not know how to respond. "You showed us that a demonic cultivator had tried to enter my Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute." All of a sudden, he remembered Luo Jiang.

"Thus, I was sent to root out all potential demonic cultivators. That's why I asked you here tonight." Xiao Xuefeng's eyes got a bit more serious. "I won't beat around the bush. I know that you are from the Cao family!"