Chapter 96: The blood devours eight demons

Cao Yun felt the cold touch of the blood rune on his back. Without enough time to react, he could only try to shift his body so that the trajectory would change. No matter what he did, the rune penetrated his flesh, letting Evil Qi seep through his body. As its trajectory had changed, thanks to Cao Yun's movement, it went through his right lung instead of his heart.

Since the moment Huang Cixi's life got threatened, Cao Yun had neglected to control the Drop of Wrath. He wanted to beat Luduo Bu as soon as he could. And if failed, he would die anyway, so there was no point in protecting his mind. In this fateful instant, the intent of the Drop of Wrath escaped totally his vigilance. In addition to his voluntary lack of restraint, Cao Yun was now facing death itself. And as such, his mind was not able to fight against this internal threat.

The intent turned the sea of consciousness into a sea of blood, just like Luduo Bu's own sea of consciousness had been transformed by his inner demon. The Drop of Wrath was physically residing deep within his heart, right in its center, the Chamber of the Mysterious Elixir. When its intent activated, Cao Yun felt a burning blaze erupting from his heart.

Under his powerless senses, he could feel this heat radiating toward the coldness of the Evil Qi and the blood rune. All that was taking place in a matter of breaths. The heat completely surrounded the blood rune and its Evil Qi. Just when the blood rune perforated Cao Yun's lung in the back, the heat closed around it. Luduo Bu did not feel anything but he had just lost all control over this blood rune. It was as though it had been cut off from the outside world.

As the rune was now within Cao Yun's lung, it started to melt down. Gradually, it turned into blood and Evil Qi. Then, a powerful suction force attracted this amalgam toward the Chamber of the Mysterious Elixir.

During the process, Cao Yun fell to his knees, still trying to support himself with his spear. His face turned completely pale. Contrary to the previous instants, all his focus turned within, observing the action of the Drop of Wrath. On the outside, Luduo Bu was towering over him with a sadistic smile.

"Isn't this position more befitting of you?" After an evil laugh, Luduo Bu put the 'Red Frenzy' on Cao Yun's chest. Very slowly, he slid the blade over his clothes, deep enough to cut through his skin but not his muscles. Seeming to derive a lot of enjoyment from cutting his opponent, he slashed him ever so slowly twice more.

"I won't kill you right away, do not worry. I want to skin your servant before your very eyes. Too bad the little brat is not here right now. Watching her body being torn into pieces would have been such a show..." Luduo Bu was talking about Mei Ying. In his mind, she was the cause of all this, the reason why he had fought against Cao Yun in the first place.

Luduo Bu called back all his blood runes. After his attack in the back of Cao Yun, Luduo Bu was convinced that his Evil Qi was responsible for his powerlessness. Now, there was no chance for Huang Cixi to run away. As long as she was in the basin, he could not see her, but if she tried to get out, he would see her immediately. For now, he was enjoying torturing Cao Yun.

Laughing maniacally, Luduo Bu's smile froze. The blood runes rotated around him. But there was something strange. Only seven of them were there, not the eight he had forged. The eighth one was in Cao Yun's body. But he had called back all the blood runes. Despite his forceful breakthrough, Luduo Bu was still not a real 1st-grade Mortal Warrior and thus, he could not sense the Qi that wasn't directly around him. Hence, he could not feel the blood rune, neither the fact that it had been cut off from his influence.

Within Cao Yun, the dissolved blood rune and its Evil Qi had been transported to the Chamber of the Mysterious Elixir in the center of his heart. The Drop of Wrath was pulsing as though it was excited. As soon as Evil Qi penetrated this chamber, it started to spiral toward the Drop of Wrath. The same thing happened to the blood from the dissolved blood rune. All of this disappeared inside the Drop of Wrath.

Cao Yun's mind was now fully in his sea of consciousness. After taking a hit in his lung, he was in shock and took some time to react. When he finally came to, he was waist deep in the ocean of blood that was his sea of consciousness. He only had a vague perception of the exterior world. His worries lessened when he understood that Huang Cixi was still safe.

He tried to activate his mind cultivation to calm down the Drop of Wrath. All of the four characters shined brighter and brighter while revolving around him. Slowly, he began to ascend and left the blood. He found himself standing on the surface of the ocean of blood. However, the Drop of Wrath was doing its own thing.

The heat from its intent became hotter and hotter. And there was no sign of it calming down. Luduo Bu got ready to literally open up Cao Yun's chest to find his eighth blood rune when an unexpected event occurred. From all around Cao Yun, a powerful blood intent spread in Luduo Bu's direction.

The boy felt all his acupoints being forced open by the intent of the Drop of Wrath. The pain was atrocious. If he had not crossed over to 6th-grade Mortal, his body would have simply exploded right here. Thankfully, he had also practiced the 'The Turtle Swims Through the Canals', so all his meridians, even the lesser ones, were increased in size. Contrary to Luduo Bu's forceful breakthrough, the intent of the Drop of Wrath was not trying to fully open Cao Yun's acupoints. It was just using them as a pathway to the outside world.

Only surges of Qi could open the acupoints. But the intent from the Drop of Wrath was extremely powerful compared to Cao Yun. It was merely using his acupoints to feel the world around and yet it caused great pain. If the Drop of Wrath had controlled some Qi, or worse some Evil Qi, to go outside, it would probably have been over for Cao Yun.

Realizing this, Cao Yun's worries about this Drop of Wrath renewed. It had saved his life again, but this was the worst threat he was facing at the moment. Even Luduo Bu did not seem like such a threat right now. He only wanted to kill him while the Drop of Wrath would utterly destroy him. Cao Yun was thinking that maybe this Drop of Wrath was linked to some kind of evil existence, potentially an inner demon. After all, it had reacted to the blood rune and the Evil Qi. It was possible that some part of an inner demon had fused with this drop of blood.

All four of his characters were activated at their fullest and Cao Yun began to sense some reaction. The intent of the Drop of Wrath started to subside. But it fought as hard as it could. Finally, it had found what it was looking for, the other blood runes. The intent dissipated all around Cao Yun and got concentrated in the direction of those blood runes. It fought against the influence of 'Sealing the Seven Demons in the Nine Peaks' and by focusing his intent, it was more successful.

Slowly, the blood runes got attracted toward Cao Yun's body. Luduo Bu got terrified, sensing his blood runes being sucked away. He focused all his 'Blood Runes' understanding to try and keep them. However, there was nothing to do, all his blood runes turned into a mist of blood and got sucked within Cao Yun's body. Finally, the pain stopped. When the Drop of Wrath finally sucked in all the blood runes, it did not need his acupoints anymore.

All the blood runes got dissolved by the Drop of Wrath's intent and were finally absorbed by it. For a while it became lethargic as though it was digesting its meal. At last, Cao Yun's mind cultivation took over and his sea of consciousness returned to the way it was just before. The boy calmed down. His body had been stressed to the utmost. With a deep wound in the back going straight into his right lung, his acupoints forcefully opened in both directions for a short time and his strained mind, could also be added his worries about Huang Cixi and his own life.

On the other hand, Luduo Bu was infuriated. All eight of his blood runes had disappeared in the blink of an eye. Try as he might, he could not call them back. If he had been a true 1st-grade Mortal Warrior, he would have felt the Evil Qi disappear completely. Even a Spirit Warrior could not pierce through the Drop of Wrath to feel what was going on inside. In fact, even Xiao Xuefeng had failed to notice it when she had met Cao Yun, and even during his fights.

The only thing Cao Yun was sure about this Drop of Wrath's origin was that it did not come from Cleansed Asura himself. He probably got it from someone else. A great expert such as he was could control it, but Cao Yun was way too weak right now. For the time being, he would have to focus on his 'Sealing the Seven Demons in the Nine Peaks' in order to contain it as much as possible. If it had absorbed these blood runes, it would maybe grow a bit stronger and this was a problem.

In fact, the Drop of Wrath had resonated with the amalgam of blood and Evil Qi. One or the other alone would have not enticed any reaction at all. Both of them combined, on the other hand, had become a delicacy it just could not resist. In Cao Yun's sea of consciousness, the Drop of Wrath was pulsating while it was digesting all these runes. However, it stayed calm as it was doing so.

Before Cao Yun could fully regain control over his body, Luduo Bu tried to cut off his head in rage. Simultaneously, Cao Yun activated both his 'Dragon's Chest' around his neck and his 'The Moon Grounds the Sun'. He leapt backward with all his strength and reinforced the spot the halberd was targeting. His moves were not as good as before and the tip of the blade grazed him. Luckily his 'Dragon's Chest' held on, but Cao Yun was sent a few meters away by the sheer strength of Luduo Bu's attack.

He felt blood gushing out of his back right where the blood runes had hit him. Luduo Bu charged toward him and got repelled by 'Imperial Throne'. Cao Yun had an idea and used 'Dragon's Chest' around his wound to try and reduce the bleeding. And it did work. However, he was not yet proficient enough to use 'Dragon's Chest' on multiple parts of his body. So, if he wanted to protect somewhere else, he would have to let the bleeding resume. He used 'The Moon Grounds the Sun' and sent twelve 'Dragon's Twin Horns' from different directions all around Luduo Bu.

Weakened by the loss of his blood runes, he failed to dodge some of them but sustained very few damage. It was only a distraction for Cao Yun to appear in his back. 'The Pillar Piercing the Sky' hit him right in the back with the power of vibration from 'Slaughtering the Enemy'. Even though the 'Nine Chi Black Dragon Spear' did not penetrate, the force of the attack traveled all the way through his heart.

Without the blood runes to protect his internal organs, they were under the stress of the Evil Qi from the inner demon. Adding the pressure of this attack, Luduo Bu's heart skipped a beat. Quickly, he tried to retaliate but was once more sent a few steps back by 'Imperial Throne' as a wall of wind circled around Cao Yun. From this wall, several 'Dragon's Twin Horns' pierced through toward Luduo Bu. He dodged and blocked all of them, just when the actual spear stabbed straight for his heart once more.

Sweeping down with 'Red Frenzy', Luduo Bu stopped the attack and sent the tip of the spear crashing down into the ground. Cao Yun immediately moved around. Both fighters were in a terrible condition by now. Luduo Bu's body was only standing thanks to his 'Blood Runes' method. The Evil Qi he had absorbed was slowly corroding his organs and without his blood runes, he could not control it. He even thought about using his own blood to condense one last blood rune. But it would weaken him and the effects wouldn't be that good.

The inner demon understood that there was nothing to be done. But before dissipating into nothingness, he wanted to kill Cao Yun. Even Huang Cixi had disappeared from his thoughts. Only his hatred for Cao Yun persisted. The boy had been the doom of Luduo Bu and was now the demise of his inner demon as well.

Despite the loss of his blood runes, he still had a layer of Wei Qi around him thick enough to prevent Cao Yun from penetrating his skin. Even the power of vibration was reduced when it got inside his body. Without this advantage, he would have been killed by the previous strike in the back. The gap between a 1st-grade Mortal Warrior and a 6th-grade Mortal, no matter how powerful he was, was almost impossible to bridge. However, Luduo Bu was not a real 1st-grade Mortal Warrior and his cultivation had been forcefully enhanced in only a matter of seconds. It was very shaky and unstable, the reason why his body was giving way, slowly but surely. He had crossed over two grades, from 8th-grade Mortal, in an instant. Of course, there were consequences.

The fight reverted to what it was in the beginning. Cao Yun was moving all around Luduo Bu using his speed to protect against his opponent's strength. But this time, he could focus back on attacking as well. He would move around, send an attack or two and move back. But this time, he tried to predict Luduo Bu's movements to go to the perfect spot. Thanks to his 'Shen Visualization' and all he had already observed of his enemy, it was fairly easy. This was the true meaning of a battle of attrition.

Both men were slowly dying and the last one standing would be the victor. Every strike from Cao Yun that landed was hastening the process within Luduo Bu's body. The Evil Qi was slowly corroding his body and the inner demon did not seem able to confine it, even with the 'Blood Runes' method. Without the blood runes themselves, it had indeed become way less effective.

On the other hand, Cao Yun's wounds worsened visibly. Even with his attempt at using 'Dragon's Chest' to stop the bleeding, a part of his lung was literally pierced through. A mere mortal would have died, but a cultivator was able to endure for a while, but not forever.

The fight only lasted a few more minutes.