After a few days had passed, Cao Yun finally woke up. Even before opening his eyes and looking around, he could feel Hongyu beside him. She was sleeping close to him and he could feel her breathing, he could sense the heat emanating from her body and from time to time, her feathers caressed his skin. By those sensations alone, he could tell that she was in good health. Thankfully, she had not been injured or harmed.

Then, Cao Yun sat up and looked around. Even now, he wasn't using his spiritual senses, just his physical senses. Although he had never actually been in the Huogu Province, he was absolutely certain that this city was its capital. Indeed, they were on the roof of the tallest building in the entire city. It had to be seven stories high. Just by looking at the roof itself, Cao Yun saw several carvings and understood that this was a Major Hall of the Myriad Cherry Blossom Hall. Around it, there were large buildings that used to be shops, most likely, restaurants maybe, and probably a few administrative buildings as well. It was hard to tell because everything was destroyed.

The fact that the Myriad Cherry Blossom Hall's Major Hall was still standing was impressive in and of itself. All around the former city, there were just remains of buildings, gardens, streets. Just by observing it, Cao Yun could imagine the violence of the battles. Although they were higher than the ground, the young man could feel the Death Energy and the Evil Qi in the air. In fact, there were faint traces of Ghost Energy as well but they had mostly dissipated already. The only reason why Cao Yun sensed them was because of his recent fight. He realized that he was still cautious and looking out for any ounce of Ghost Energy. Otherwise, he wouldn't even have felt it.

Once again, Cao Yun was met with desolation. For the time being, he completely closed himself off to the various energies swirling in the air. He didn't want to feel any negative emotions at the moment. To the contrary, Cao Yun lay back down beside Hongyu and closed his eyes. His consciousness fell into his sea of consciousness.

"Boy, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, thank you. This really was something though... And you?"

"Don't worry, I stayed hidden during the entire fight. None of the beast's Ghost Energy came remotely near me. But you're too reckless! You literally could have lost your Soul Embryo!"

"Hey, I didn't want this fight! I would have been perfectly happy flying through this land and getting back to the Wubei Sect without any problem on the road."

"Fair enough... But you reaped a huge reward nonetheless."

"Indeed. I already have some idea on how to use the materials from its body, but I don't think I could refine the pills I have in mind alone."

"Well, it's a good thing you have connections to the Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute. But I wasn't necessarily talking about the body itself. Even your soul evolved a little."

Cao Yun focused on his Soul Embryo. It hadn't changed that much, but he definitely could tell that it had improved slightly. It was the equivalent of three of four months of cultivation, so it really wasn't negligible. However, what really interested Cao Yun was the fact that he could feel his Hun more clearly than ever. It wasn't on the same level as his Po of course, but his connection to it was definitely stronger, albeit not that strong yet. In particular, he was able to sense his You Jing, the Dark Essence, much more than his other two Hun. After all, it was the closest to the Earth and to his Po. Moreover, the You Jing longed for connections with one's family and friends. So it was already quite strong in Cao Yun. Just thinking about his brothers and sisters, Cao Yun could feel this You Jing pulsate with vigor. By focusing on his Hun character among the Five Aspects, Cao Yun could establish an even stronger connection with this aspect of his ethereal soul. Obviously, this would help him develop his Soul Embryo as well, since he wanted to turn it into his own Hun.

After that, Cao Yun tried to recall all his feelings during the fight. There were still faint traces of Ghost Energy within Cao Yun's body and sea of consciousness, but they were quickly dissipating now that the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu was dead. However, Cao Yun tried to cling to them for as long as he could. Indeed, that demonic beast was able to materialize Ghost Energy and this was exactly what Cao Yun wanted to achieve, 'Soul Chains'. Unfortunately, he still couldn't get it. He knew that he was touching the concept with his finger but he still couldn't grab it. Such a sensation was extremely frustrating. But, honestly, understanding the first three concepts of 'Death Verses' was already huge, especially for a Spirit Warrior who couldn't observe the Dao yet.

Just to be safe, Cao Yun observed his entire body, every single bit of it, to make sure that he had not sustained any lasting injuries. Then, he did the same to his own soul. Even now, he was a bit mentally exhausted but there was no injury at all. That was good. As much as he could easily repair his own flesh, healing one's soul was the most difficult thing to do. Even soothing one's mind was easier. Within all the memories he had, Cao Yun could count on one hand the pills that could actually heal one's soul and they were all extremely rare and difficult to refine. Thankfully, some inferior pills could help the soul heal itself faster, but even those pills were not common. Besides, some injuries could never be healed even by the most miraculous medicine, so one's soul had to be carefully protected.

-

After a few more days, Hongyu woke up as well. Immediately, she sensed that her brother wasn't by her side. She jolted and looked all around. Soon, she saw Cao Yun down below. He had taken out the corpse of the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu and was processing it. The body of the giant beast was completely open. Several of its organs had already been taken out and there was no trace of blood left. Separated from the main body, there were nine long neck beside it. They had been thoroughly sliced open, even the heads attached to it were in pieces. Clearly, Cao Yun had taken out all the demonic cores but also the eyes, brains and several bones.

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At the moment, Cao Yun was manipulating his flying swords to cut apart the muscles, tendons and skin. A few bones levitated around him as he was working on processing them as well, peeling off any nerve or tendons attached to them. The process was strenuous but it kept Cao Yun's mind busy. In fact, he was quite happy with this work. Processing a demonic beast corpse required a lot of attention. All the materials in the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu's body were rare and expensive. Thus, Cao Yun wanted to process them as well as he could. In his mind, Dian Mo was also giving him some advice from time to time, but Cao Yun's knowledge of alchemy was superior to Dian Mo's.

Among the Five Golden Elixir Principles, Cao Yun was practicing Ingredients Preservation to an all-new level right now. Moreover, by processing the body parts, Cao Yun was gaining more and more ideas on what to do with them. Unfortunately, some of the pills he had in mind would indeed require other alchemists to help him. Although he was confident in refining a low-grade Spirit pill, he had no confidence when it came to high-grade Spirit pills. However, the pill that really got him excited was a 5-star Spirit pill. If he could refine it, he might be able to gain one or two years in his soul cultivation. Obviously, he couldn't miss out on such an opportunity.

Honestly, Cao Yun was a bit nervous about visiting the Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute. He wanted to meet with Spirit Master Xiao Xuefeng, but he was also worried about Feng Yingyue. Indeed, he wasn't completely sure how he felt about her. Romance wasn't really among Cao Yun's consideration, but he did feel bad about the young girl. They were Dao partner, and there was no doubt that he was her first and she was his first as well. So Cao Yun wanted to be sure about how he felt regarding her. He did like her, but maybe their strong connection had simply been caused by the dire situation they had been in at the time, as well as their youth. As Dao partners, they were more than compatible and Cao Yun had loved every single session, but he didn't want to use her just for her body. He did feel a bit torn apart on the matter. So they would have to speak about it and it made him reluctant to go, just a little bit.

As he was working on the body of the bird, Cao Yun felt Hongyu's presence. She had woken up. While he was processing the bones and flesh of the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu, Cao Yun threw a piece of meat toward Hongyu as well as one 9-demonic core. Such a demonic core was extremely precious. Hongyu hesitated for an instant but she didn't stand on ceremony. Getting stronger wasn't just helpful to her, it was a tremendous help to her brother as well. Thus, she savored the meat. Cao Yun had obviously chosen the best piece. The piece of meat was in fact a bit larger than Hongyu herself. However, it was incredibly tasty and packed with energy. Hongyu could feel her eighth core solidify. Even she couldn't finish the entire piece of meat so she took the demonic core and lay down on it, slowly absorbing its energy as well.

With all those resources, Hongyu's eighth core was progressing as fast as it could. But fattening up demonic beasts couldn't bring about a demonic core faster than the body could form it. In a sense, it was just like a human being. To grow up or to build muscles, one needed to eat, but at some point, the body had enough energy and simply couldn't grow faster. That was Hongyu's current situation. In the demonic core and in the meat, she had enough energy to form her eighth core. Now, her body simply needed time to process it. So, instead of wasting it all, Hongyu restrained herself and left what she didn't need at the moment.

Finally, Cao Yun was done. There was nothing left of the body. He had processed absolutely everything, even the skin and the feathers. Not a single part of the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu's body had gone to waste. In a sense, it was a form of respect. After killing a demonic beast, Cao Yun didn't want to just throw away the body. Moreover, there was no life around here, so wild beasts couldn't even enjoy it if he left it.

Seeing that Hongyu was absorbing the energy from the 9-demonic core, Cao Yun used the moment to meditate as well. The place where he had slain the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu was probably a great place for him to cultivate, but he didn't want to lose any more time going back. Besides, he had to admit that he was still mentally exhausted. The idea of going back in such a terrible place wasn't very enticing even if it could give him a bit of benefit. Besides, ironically, this place would get worse and worse.

Indeed, a huge part of the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu's Hun had flowed into that area and was now trapped under the layer of Death Energy protecting the place. Moreover, without the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu who was devouring Hun and Ghost Energy, the Ghost Energy would accumulate faster and diminish slower, if at all. In other words, soon, there would be even more Ghost Energy there, so it would be a worse area for any living thing.

Maybe Cao Yun would come back later, but he didn't want to experience this place right now, that was for sure. Instead, he practiced a very refreshing cultivation session.

-

Finally, Cao Yun and Hongyu flew toward the Wubei Sect once more. They had spent a little more than a month, not quite two yet. As they kept on flying forward, they were not disturbed by anything. Apart from the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu, there was no powerful demonic beast. Given the scarcity of resources, it stood to reason that the 9-core demonic beast had kept most of it to itself, preventing other demonic beasts from growing strong. And those who had grown too strong, the giant bird had probably devoured them as well.

The two of them kept on seeing devastated cities all over the Huogu Province. This was a totally devastated land. In fact, one would sincerely wonder if life could ever come back in this place. But first of all, the war had to end. After that, they could think about cleaning up this land and making it hospitable once more. With Cao Yun's knowledge of Death Energy, it wasn't that hard, but it would be a very long process nonetheless.

After one more month, Hongyu and Cao Yun exited the Huogu Province at last. Immediately, they flew into an array formation at the border of the Huogu Province. But Cao Yun took out the emblem given to him by General Yun Po. They went through the array formation without any problem. Just to be safe, Cao Yun went toward the nearest military camp and presented himself as well as the reason for his presence. The young man didn't want to appear suspicious at all. At the same time, he wasn't too happy to divulge his movements to the army considering that Emperor Weide would clearly hear about it. After all, Cao Yun was now an important cultivator of the Hongchen Kingdom.

Just seeing how the soldiers welcomed Cao Yun, he could tell that news about him had spread. Even if the Hongchen Kingdom hadn't officially announced anything yet, rumors had spread among the soldiers. Since it was good for morale, Cao Yun was convinced that his return would be advertised and used by the Hongchen Kingdom. There was nothing anyone could really do about it. After all, his return hadn't been quiet at all...

Anyway, Cao Yun just stayed for a few hours to please the soldiers who wanted to see him and to try to curry some favor. Honestly, it felt good to be welcomed.

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