Chapter 316: Preparing to ride the storm

Outside of the frozen land, the storms were now powerful enough to rip apart the fabric of space. After all, this new patchwork of realms was extremely unstable. Even a late Spirit Warrior could probably tear apart the fabric of this space. For now it still was strong enough to resist but small tears were starting to appear high in the sky. The sky itself seemed strange. The colors were not natural. It looked like a drape that had been stretched too thin. And light from somewhere else was breaking through it.

All around the sky, there were red auroras lighting up the place. And now, giant pillars of stormy clouds were rising higher and higher.

On the ground, Sun Liao could understand what was going on although he was no expert in space. Thanks to his master's work on the Palace of Supreme Wisdom, he had even a better comprehension of what was going on in front of his eyes. As such, he was getting more and more worried. If that space were to really collapse, all the people inside would probably die. Considering what had happened, he wasn't even sure whether the Supreme emblems would protect them or not.

Besides this looming threat, there were demonic cultivators all over the place. Even in the frozen land he had woken up in, he had found a group of three of them. Despite the traps he had set up, he had only been able to delay them. His 'Heavenly Mirror Longbow' had allowed him to finally manifest his Qi with 'Houyi's Nine Suns'. But it still wasn't powerful enough to kill middle Mortal Warriors. However, he had been able to inflict some wounds on them. Without his bow, that would have been impossible. If they had been early Mortal Warriors, they might have been severely maimed or even killed.

Weighing all of his alternatives, Sun Liao had decided to make a break for it. First he would need to cross through those storms as soon as possible before they became too destructive. Then he would need to find his friends. The best outcome would be to find every Wubei disciple, but to be honest, he trusted no one but his sworn brothers and sister. Also, he knew that they were both very powerful. All of them combined would probably be enough to kill even a late Mortal Warrior.

After they had gone through several tests, it was highly possible that Cao Yun had reached 2nd-grade Mortal Warrior and Mei Hua 1st-grade Mortal Warrior. About Ren Chao, he wasn't too sure about his Qi cultivation, but his physical strength had probably increased even more. Since he had discovered his special physique, Sun Liao had read a lot about Golden Silk Body. This was an incredible physique that could develop an insane amount of pure strength, powerful enough to even tear apart Wei Qi.

Not for one instant did Sun Liao imagine that they had failed any test. As such, they had probably gained a lot from this Palace of Supreme Wisdom. The problem was to find them.

First though, he had still to go through the storm walls.

After fleeing from his little ambush, Sun Liao went straight for the storm wall that seemed the least dangerous. With his new bow, he could only manifest Qi until the third verse of 'Houyi's Nine Suns'. Although he had learned all nine verses, he still hadn't mastered them to that level yet. Unfortunately, none of those three verses would be powerful enough to go through the storm. He needed something to make a hole in it, large enough for him to pass. For that, the fourth verse would be very useful as it focused on penetrating force.

Sun Liao assumed the position of the fourth verse from 'Houyi's Nine Suns", "The winged Longma pulls". This verse was a reference to the legend of the sun being carried on a celestial cart by the divine beast Longma. A Longma was a burly horse with dragon scales over his body that could ride in the sky.

With the image firmly in mind, Sun Liao circulated this verse in his body again and again. He knew perfectly well what pathways his Qi was supposed to follow. When he was satisfied enough with his concentration, he summoned his 'Heavenly Mirror Longbow'. The sculpture appeared in his hands as though it had always been there. The engravings on it began to shine as Sun Liao was pouring his Qi within. Quickly, an arrow started to form.

In an instant, Sun Liao let go of everything. The arrow whistled through the air. After a few meters, it started to morph into an ethereal figure. If one didn't know what they were looking at, they would never be able to guess what it was. But in Sun Liao's eyes, it was clearly a celestial horse pulling a cart behind him. Unfortunately, it collided with the storm wall. The horse was able to pierce through it a little but the cart exploded against its surface.

It would require a bit more time for Sun Liao to go through this wall...

-

Outside of the Palace of Supreme Wisdom, Xiao Xuefeng had organized everyone. She had even mobilized almost all the elders. The Wubei Sect had still not fully recovered from the stampede. Luckily though, its defenses had been powerful enough so that almost no one had suffered serious injuries during the fight. On the other hand, Sect Leader Xuan was still tending to the repairs. Other elders would have probably been able to do so, but they would have needed to be numerous and it would have taken way longer than a year.

Right now, Sect Leader Xuan was almost finished. Xiao Xuefeng had been able to report the situation. Yet, he still decided to let her lead the situation and handle it as she saw fit. Unlike some chief elders, he had blind trust in her. It filled her with both pride and nervousness. For an instant she even doubted him. If Sect Leader Xuan was a demonic cultivator, even she was not sure whether she could see through him. But if he were, Cao Yun would have been dead a long time ago.

One point Xiao Xuefeng was very anxious about was his health. She had probably been the one who had spent the most time with the old man recently. Although she had never seen him directly, she could notice some signs. He was approaching the end of his natural life. For a 9th-grade Spirit Warrior, it could take a lot of time. But it could also happen faster than one expected, especially with all this stress. Losing Sect Leader Xuan would be a terrible blow for all of mankind.

While Xiao Xuefeng was making sure that everything was ready for any eventuality, Chief Elder Suxian was working on the Palace of Supreme Wisdom.

Among all the chief elders and elders, he had been the one who had studied it the most. And he couldn't find out how he had not felt the demonic cultivators penetrating the array formations. His own master had studied these array formations all his life. With the combined knowledge of many experts before him, Chief Elder Suxian was certain he should have felt something. Clearly someone had made sure that he could not and this was worrying him.

After investigating, Chief Elder Suxian was now convinced that whoever had done it had taken him into account. He could see traces of what had happened a couple of months ago. It was difficult to be sure but it had probably happened either when he was watching the place or just after. Then it dawned on him, they had waited for him to be distracted when his shift ended.

By studying the Palace of Supreme Wisdom, Chief Elder Suxian was even able to recognize bits and pieces of what had been used. Although he didn't really know this array formation, he still recognized some things. The array formation used to penetrate the Palace of Supreme Wisdom was completely unknown but he could still see marks of a certain array formation master, his own master. And in it, he also saw signs of someone trying to cover it up. Someone had really had him in mind when setting up this array formation. Whoever had done it had tried to make it so Chief Elder Suxian would never see through it when it was activated.

Thankfully, it had malfunctioned. Otherwise, Chief Elder Suxian was fairly certain he would have never been the wiser.

The real problem was that his master's array formations were very characteristic. Besides, his master had only had two disciples in his entire life. And the other one was dead. There was absolutely no doubt about that. So either someone had intentionally tried to frame Chief Elder Suxian, or something else...

As he was toying with this idea, Chief Elder Suxian looked in the direction of his friend, Chief Elder Luoming. His master had been Luoming He, Luoming Tian's father. However, he could not believe that his best friend could be involved in this. Maybe someone was messing with him to create more discord. Chief Elder Suxian knew he was grasping at straws there but he had known Luoming Tian since they were both boys, several centuries ago. They had both enrolled into the Wubei Sect together and had been loyal to it since then.

There had to be another explanation! He owed it to his friend to look for it.

Chief Elder Suxian sent a telepathic message to Xiao Xuefeng. Then he asked her for some time. She agreed without any problem. Instead of leaving right away though, Suxian Zheng asked his friend Luoming Tian to come with him. He was a bit surprised at first but agreed.

-

Within the lava pool, Cao Yun was now determined to open his fifth Prodigious Gate. The risks were high but he could see no other alternative. If he just waited around, the lava would ultimately attack his flesh. Once dead, worrying about a potential damage to his Bai Hui would be pointless.

Since the operation was extremely delicate, Cao Yun did not pull any punches. Now that he had a good grasp on the Drop of Wrath, he fully activated it. His skin was turning red but not because of the blood this time. The heat was slowly scorching his flesh. He even activated 'Dragon's Heart' to increase the flow of his Qi under his skin. His goal was to protect his internal organs from the heat. In pursuing that goal, he also created a thick layer of Wei Qi around his head, in particular at the summit. Most of his Water Qi was focused there.

His goal was simple. He was going to try and absorb as much Fire Qi as possible, fuse it with his Water Qi while avoiding a violent clash. Then he would only need to temper his Bai Hui using the knowledge of alchemy and blacksmithing he knew.

Although it was very straightforward, it was probably the most complicated thing Cao Yun had ever done since he had practiced cultivation for the very first time. Not only could he fail and damage his Bai Hui, he could also kill himself. His meridians were not yet ready to absorb huge quantities of Fire Qi. Besides if he could not balance the mixture of Water and Fire Qi, it could literally explode either outside or within his body. And considering that he was going to absorb it, the balance could break as the Qi was going into his acupoint.

With all of that in mind, Cao Yun pushed his mind cultivation to the limit so that his mind was peaceful. The pain from the heat disappeared from his mind. Then, he started to visualize the process. Slowly, every ounce of his body disappeared. Then even his mind and soul were gone. In his consciousness, there was now only a small lotus flower. It was extremely tiny, not bigger than a rice seed. But Cao Yun could clearly distinguish a hundred petals closed on one another.

Each petal was white. They were so thin that they were a bit translucent.

This small lotus seed was his visualization of the Gate of the Hundred Convergences. This image had come from the mainstream 'Universal Law of Immortality'. According to 'Cultivation of Wrath', it was useful to imagine the lotus being bathed in the blood from the Drop of Wrath. But Cao Yun could do way better now. His entire bloodstream had the properties from this Drop of Wrath.

With his 'Storms in the Crimson Furnace', Cao Yun focused his intent in the very center of this lotus flower to bloom. Within his body, his blood started to reach the summit of his skull. Most of his blood was condensed so tightly it formed a single tear of blood that was at the very top of his skull. Inside his body, it almost looked like a small lens.

In Cao Yun's mind, there was nothing but the tiny seed. Slowly, it was now absorbing a red liquid that had come from nowhere. Even Cao Yun did not know where it had come from because his entire mind was focused on it. He had even forgotten that he had a physical body or that he was literally being cooked by a pool of lava at that very instant.

At that exact moment, his entire being was reduced to this tiny lotus seed now imbued with blood.

In the physical world, strange phenomena were happening over Cao Yun's head. The lava and Qi around him were being extremely chaotic as though there was some kind of vortex trying to swallow them whole.

Finally, Cao Yun went forward with his idea. From the lava, several strands of Qi were torn away and sucked in by the invisible vortex. As they spiraled down toward Cao Yun's Bai Hui, they became almost visible. By going through Cao Yun's Wei Qi, they were melded with Water Qi and it turned them into visible gray smoke. As they were cooling down, the strands became more and more transparent.

At last, some strands entered Cao Yun's Bai Hui.

The moment they did, an intense pain spread through his entire being. Thankfully, he focused everything he had on this tiny lotus seed. The petals were shaking as though someone was blowing on them. But they were also getting hotter and hotter. If Cao Yun was not careful, they would either burn or been torn apart.

If he had had any other choice, Cao Yun would have never done something so risky. Although he wanted to get powerful fast, he was not suicidal yet.