The pain was incredibly intense, even compared with everything Cao Yun had gone through. To be fair, he was already exhausted and in the middle of a fight, he couldn't perfectly restrain his senses because he might dull them and miss an attack. If he was in his optimum condition, he could simply slaughter the fourteen remaining cultivators with his asura cultivation. Unfortunately, he was greatly limited.

Indeed, his Black Heart Flame had to focus on the Solar-Orchid Flame so that it didn't go too far through his veins, directly into his heart. A large part of his soul was also focused all around the seed in front of his palm so that it didn't directly touch his skin while maintaining a grip on it. Even his spearmanship wasn't optimal because he could only use one hand. Thus, Cao Yun decided to mostly rely on his sheer physical strength. Besides, it was also the advantage of an asura cultivation. While humans put more emphasis on their soul and Qi at the third realm, asura always relied on their blood and flesh much more. Even Accomplished Demons focused a lot on their physical strength.

Among the three descendants of the Three Jade Saints, the asura were those who boasted the strongest physique. It wasn't an accident that Ren Chao's incredible physique came from the asura blood in his veins. In fact, it was the same for all the humans in the Hongchen Kingdom. Those with more asura blood in their ancestry often had very impressive physiques even without training them. Of course, it wasn't the only factor, but there was a strong connection there.

With all that in mind, Cao Yun decided to heavily focus on his 'Axiu Qian's Blood Wrath'. In fact, he almost let go of everything else. He even put his spear back in his spatial ring. He could retrieve it very easily, but it wouldn't be in his way. That being said, the huge hailstorm all around them was still raging. Even by stopping his 'Dragon General of the South Obeys the Celestial Mandate', the consequences were still there. The dark clouds would slowly dissipate, but not right away, unless Cao Yun made it so and he had no reason to do it.

From everything he knew, the other groups of the 5th Imperial Brocade Guards were at very different locations thanks to his decoys. They had probably seen the huge storm, but they might not even connect it with the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu since it was a hailstorm, very different from anything that demonic beast could conjure up. Of course, they would know that the Orchid's Ashes were in danger, but it didn't mean that they would rush to them right away. Moreover, even if they had moved the very moment they sensed the storm, Cao Yun knew that he had enough time to deal with the cultivators around him. Besides, the hailstorm was also preventing them from escaping while concealing whatever was happening within. Cao Yun didn't want any witness.

When Cao Yun put his spear away, a cultivator thought it was the best moment to attack. She slashed toward Cao Yun's throat. Suddenly, her sword turned into a wall of flames. That young woman had reached Sword Heart. Cao Yun could tell that no matter where he would go, the slash would reach him. Even if he tried to dodge, it would strike true. Of course, this was her Sword Heart altering Cao Yun's perception but he didn't even try to fight against it. Instead, he just rushed toward her and the slash. Unlike the young woman who was fighting for dear life just to stay somewhat stable in this storm, Cao Yun was able to fly in a straight line toward her.

Her slash collided with Cao Yun's chest as he flew into it before it could reach him. Besides, he had made sure to collide with the base of the sword. Before the young woman could react, Cao Yun grabbed her hand on the hilt of the sword. A painful scream echoed throughout the storm as Cao Yun literally crushed her hand into mush. Immediately, she reacted by letting go with the other hand. A blade of fire appeared out of her palm and she tried to cut off Cao Yun's arm. But she wasn't aiming at the arm holding her, she was targeting his charred arm. Not only was it weakened, but it was also holding the precious Solar-Orchid Flame. There was a real possibility for Cao Yun to actually conquer the seed and they couldn't let that happen. After all, it was Emperor Nuwa's Solar-Orchid Flame.

In order to stop her, Cao Yun increased his grip even further, amplifying her pain. At the very same moment, he suddenly pulled his hand back at his waist, completely throwing off the poor woman. Her head was right in front of his chest. In a brutal motion, Cao Yun's head struck her skull. Her bones cracked and broke under such violence. Five cultivators were flying toward the two of them locked in such a close battle while the archers were all targeting Cao Yun. They had all understood that the poor woman was dead, even she knew it. But they were hoping she could stall Cao Yun long enough for them to kill him while he was pinned down.

Having accepted her fate, the woman started to circulate her cultivation. Cao Yun could tell that she was planning to blow up like the other cultivators he had fought. However, he wasn't going to be surprised now. His hand, still covered with her own blood, went straight into her heart. In an instant, he destroyed both her heart and her Middle Dantian. To finish his work, a second headbutt completed the total annihilation of her Upper Dantian. There was no time for subtlety. Cao Yun barely even cared about getting their memories anymore. In fact, he had absolute faith in Dian Mo to get Yan Huoling's memories for him.

Hundreds of feathers appeared all around Cao Yun. Although he had not seen the attack, the young man knew it came from one of the archers. For an instant, the feathers fluttered in the air as though the air was calm and a hailstorm wasn't raging. The very next moment, all the feathers whistled in the air toward Cao Yun. Absolutely all of his movements were sealed by those feathers. Unfortunately for the archer, it was why Cao Yun had not used his charred hand. In a direct movement, Cao Yun sent a palm with his charred hand. The seed of the Solar-Orchid Flame consumed the feathers right in front of Cao Yun and he flew out of the encirclement as though it didn't exist. Once outside, hundreds of tree branches rained down on him.

Once again, they were sealing all of his movements. Anyway, Cao Yun flew straight toward the archers without an ounce of hesitation. With all of his lungs, he let out a powerful roar. Behind him, the head of Axiu Qian appeared for a brief instant. Several tree branches just turned into ashes on the spot before they could even get close to Cao Yun. Without protection from the archer's Qi, the Death Energy in the air was enough to consume them in an instant. This terrain gave Cao Yun a clear advantage and he had no reason not to use it.

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Before he could reach the archers though, the five cultivators who had been flying toward their sister were surrounding him. A halberd tried to cut off his charred hand so Cao Yun grabbed the shaft. Before the cultivator could even circulate his martial art, Cao Yun broke the shaft. Now with the tip of the halberd in hand, he threw it toward another cultivator and cut his head in half as he unleashed a devastating wave of killing intent just at this moment to weaken their Wei Qi. Dealing with two cultivators at the same time wasn't enough, Cao Yun also kicked a third one. This kick wasn't strong enough to kill him but he broke several ribs.

With each cultivator slain, their battle formation was weakening. Although their teamwork was excellent, without teammates, it became useless. A hammer struck Cao Yun's back before he could react. Even to Cao Yun's senses, this hammer seemed barely real. Now that it had struck him, Cao Yun could feel it but the second before that, it was as though it didn't exist.

'Condensed Cloud of Emptiness'!

A powerful gust of wind spread throughout Cao Yun's body. The strike of the hammer created intense vibrations throughout his bones, his muscles, his blood, even his Qi. In fact, it was an even more advanced technique than his understanding of 'Slaughtering the Enemy'. Cao Yun himself had a hard time stopping those vibrations. Instead of trying to stop them, Cao Yun just contracted his muscles as much as he could, to the point where he almost broke his own bones. This reduced the vibrations from the hammer. Unfortunately, some of his organs had already suffered and Cao Yun could feel his blood spewing out of his own organs into his body. With his blood cultivation, it wouldn't be difficult to deal with it. For the time being though, he suddenly spun, surprising the burly woman who was holding the hammer.

Before she could do anything with her heavy hammer, Cao Yun sank his elbow into her chest. Everyone heard her bones crack as his elbow destroyed not only her sternum but her entire rib cage. Her own bones pierced her heart. But Cao Yun wasn't done. His arm unfolded and his fist crushed her face. Small pieces of her skull flew everywhere. With her heart crushed and her skull fractured like that, she couldn't fight anymore. She would die in a matter of seconds. Besides, like some of her brethren whose Soul Embryo had been left intact by Cao Yun, the Death Energy and Ghost Energy all around them would consume it completely. Cao Yun had no need to spend any time trying to destroy her Soul Embryo because she had no chance of surviving. This was a problem at first because Cao Yun wanted their memories, but now he had changed his mind, he could live with only getting Yan Huoling's.

Despite all her efforts, the poor woman couldn't endure long enough to strike Cao Yun one last time, her heart had literally exploded in her chest after all...

The last cultivators were all terrified by Cao Yun's brutality. To be fair, Cao Yun had seen even worse in Axiu Qian's memories. In his rage, the asura had often ripped people apart piece by piece with his bare hands. Besides, Cao Yun wasn't trying to be cruel or sadistic, he was trying to kill them as fast and as efficiently as possible. It so happened that breaking bones and tearing organs apart were very effective ways to kill cultivators, especially when targeting their hearts or brains.

Using this terror, Cao Yun unleashed another 'Weeping Asura'. Within his eyes, one could see countless battlefields all covered in blood and corpses with many scavengers trying to get some scraps. With the intense cold in their very soul because of the hailstorm, the cultivators felt as though they were in some kind of hell. Besides, the current state of this desolate province with all this Death Energy and Ghost Energy was strengthening this sensation.

Two of them got completely lost in this sensation. Suddenly, several icy spears of condensed Death Energy stabbed them. Before they could react, the Death Energy spread in their flesh and corrupted their own Po. Their flesh began to rot and their Soul Embryo could do nothing to stop it. If they left their bodies, they would die, but if they stayed they would be destroyed by their own Death Energy anyway. No matter their choice, they were both dead and not of any concern to Cao Yun.

From this point, Cao Yun easily killed the cultivators remaining and found himself right before the archers. They were still protected within what little had survived from the fiery flower. Without their comrades to form the battle formation, those archers had no way of resisting Cao Yun. This time, Cao Yun could act with more leisure. He broke some bones, destroyed their weapons and took their spatial rings. Some tried to kill themselves with a suicide attack but Cao Yun sent surges of Death Energy within their Dantian. He completely annihilated their cultivation apart from their Soul Embryo. However, it was his next step.

Indeed, Cao Yun broke apart their Soul Embryos. He didn't even ask any questions or try to interrogate them, he took what he needed. Their souls utterly collapsed. With his 'Melting the Shattered Mirror', Cao Yun absorbed all of their souls, all their memories were now his. Maybe he would find something that could help Dian Mo. Even now, Cao Yun knew that Dian Mo was fighting the Solar-Orchid Flame in order to save most of Yan Huoling's memories. At the same time, Cao Yun hoped to conquer the seed for himself.

The young man saw the lives of those archers. He saw their families and some personal tragedy. What was the most tragic was that those cultivators were sincerely loyal to the Hongchen Kingdom and to Emperor Nuwa. However, their oath was to always obey the Emperor. Thus, they were loyal to a fault to Emperor Weide. In their memories, Cao Yun saw them mostly slaughtering demonic cultivators and demons, but from time to time, there was a different mission. They were very few and the cultivators themselves hated and despised them. But it was for the greater good of the Hongchen Kingdom. As archers, they were favored for assassination missions. Anyone who could threaten the stability of the kingdom was dealt with efficiently. Unfortunately, Emperor Weide was the one to decide and he never had to bring any evidence to his loyal 5th Imperial Brocade Guards.

Honestly, some of those kills were probably justified, but not all of them. Anyway, Cao Yun had no time to analyze everything right now. However, all this intel would be very useful in the near future.

Finally, Cao Yun found some information on the Solar-Orchid Flame. He then realized how precious it was. Indeed, this small seed had been nurtured by Emperor Nuwa herself before leaving the Piaolu planet. It contained parts of her own understanding of the Dao of Fire. It was no wonder his Rune of Fire was terrified of it.

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