"What do you have in mind?"
"It would take months to decipher this web of array formations and even more months to find the best way to enter the Temple of Grace and Submission without being discovered. But those who are already within the temple don't have this problem."
"What do you mean...? You want to sneak in as a priest?! With your stealth technique you can erase your presence but not change your face. Even if you could mimic the bloodline of a priest, the Temple of Grace and Submission will recognize your face. Besides, I doubt any priest is going to leave any time soon. The entire temple should be on high alerts. Since we've been there, it's clear that they've increased their vigilance. I don't think it's a viable option."
"But I wasn't talking about entering myself. I'm talking about using those who are already inside."
"Wait...! You...?! ... Well, it's a bit tricky, but... It would indeed be easier for your soul to go through the array formation."
"And I'll have to rely on you for the seals. They probably improved on them as well. But first of all, we have to find the best way for my spiritual senses to sneak inside the Temple of Grace and Submission."
With that goal in mind, Cao Yun focused on his soul and mind cultivation. From the Nine Soul Peaks, bloody golden chains manifested themselves, all linked to six of the seven Turbid Demons within Cao Yun's sea of consciousness. Only the Devouring Robber was still free from those chains, but it remained trapped under the Palace of Supreme Wisdom while it was slowly absorbing and digesting Death Energy and Ghost Energy. It was feeding through the Black Heart Flame controlled by the Rune of Fire. Despite how much it was trying to swallow everything, Cao Yun could control just how much Death Energy it was getting, making sure that the Devouring Robber didn't go wild.
With those Turbid Demons, Cao Yun activated his Drop of Wrath as much as he could. Then, he relied heavily on his Soul Embryo. All around the small silver figure, Cao Yun's Five Aspects were very active. In fact, the Soul Embryo was beginning to look more and more like Cao Yun but its features were still hazy. As Cao Yun focused his intent on it, a powerful wave of spiritual energy spread through his sea of consciousness and permeated even his Drop of Wrath. Before letting it go outside of his body, Cao Yun also used the 'Ashen Feather Seal' technique on it. Ashes flew in the air and mixed with this spiritual energy. Soon, it was almost impossible to detect it even within Cao Yun's sea of consciousness.
Finally, Cao Yun let a small part of his soul out. Spiritual senses were nothing more than a part of the cultivator's soul outside of their body. As such, it could easily go through many obstacles and both sense and act. It was just like an extension of one's body in a way.
After almost a month analyzing the array formations all around the Temple of Grace and Submission, Cao Yun and Dian Mo were able to find certain pathways. Cao Yun's physical body would never have been able to go through them but his spiritual senses could.
As soon as Cao Yun's spiritual senses entered through the Gate of Life of the 'Tears of Sorrow and Pain' array formation, it was faced with the major issue of Cao Yun's plan. This array formation not only used Wandering Qi but also Evil Qi, and even Death Energy and Ghost Energy. Evil Qi alone could corrode one's soul so much that it would either seriously injure or kill them. Thankfully, Cao Yun had no such issue. He had learned to work with Evil Qi. In fact, he was probably the only person on the Piaolu planet for whom Evil Qi was not any different than any form of Qi. Still, he couldn't do anything to deviate this Evil Qi so as to not be discovered. As such, he could feel all the negative emotions within this Evil Qi and it wasn't too pleasant. His Turbid Demons were very helpful in that regard. Most of those emotions went into feeding them instead of assaulting his mind.
Then, his spiritual senses had to deal with both Death Energy and Ghost Energy. Those corrupted souls were made of thousands if not tens of thousands of victims. All of their memories and emotions were crushed together into a disgusting amalgamation. Not a single individuality remained within it. As a result, it was full of a deep hatred toward any living thing. Immediately, Cao Yun felt it. This array formation was rejecting him completely. Thankfully, his stealth was good enough that Cao Yun could sense these feelings without being discovered by the array formation itself. Instead, Cao Yun was feeling it from the energy powering the array formations.
In his sea of consciousness, the Devouring Robber was becoming more and more active as it could feel the deep-seated resentment within those energies. And with this resentment came envy, envy toward the livings. The rage, hatred and bitterness toward those who had tortured, killed and even taken and corrupted their souls were now turned against any living beings. Why could others live and enjoy their life while they had been so heinously slaughtered and were still being used as tools even in death?
In order not to disturb the array formations and not to be discovered, Cao Yun's soul had to quite literally swim in this ocean of resentment and envy. He had to go with the flow and follow certain pathways through the array formations. Cao Yun's soul was going through various Gates, jumping from array formation to array formation. His goal was obviously to enter the Temple of Grace and Submission and to find any priest. But it would take some time.
As a large part of his soul was now moving around this ocean of hate, Cao Yun had to keep the rest of his soul busy maintaining his stealth so his physical body wouldn't be discovered either. Otherwise, his plan and efforts would be useless. But that also meant that he was relying a lot on Dian Mo to keep Devouring Robber calm. Even with the Black Heart Flame and the Rune of Fire improving Cao Yun's control over it, he couldn't fully tame Devouring Robber. In fact, Cao Yun received several memories here and there.
Each memory was made of incoherent fragments. They were like dreams as he could appear in a new place, being a different person without even realizing it or questioning it. What was common through those memories was the pain, both physical and psychological. Even Cao Yun had to be careful or his mind and soul would be consumed by those memories. He couldn't lose himself in them. So he followed the philosophy of Ran Wuzi. Since he couldn't fight against the current, he let himself be carried by it and only diverted it when it was necessary, saving his mental strength.
Those awful memories flowed through him and were channeled directly into his Black Heart Flame that was burning it all away, turning those very memories into fuel for the Devouring Robber.
"Boy, slow down, pace yourself. If your Devouring Robber gets too strong, I won't be able to contain him. You really don't want that right now! A breakthrough wouldn't do you any good while you're in so much danger. Besides, you're going off road right now. Be careful!"
Dian Mo's words helped Cao Yun stay anchored. Indeed, his soul had begun to drift away from the narrow paths they had found.
Suddenly, Cao Yun's nose was assaulted by the smell of burning flesh. He could smell the stench of human waste all around him. People were being burned while others were tortured so atrociously that they had even lost the ability to scream or beg for help. They were voiceless. Cao Yun's ears were deafened by those voiceless screams as this intense silence was becoming unbearable. Even the sound of the burning flesh and crackling bones couldn't cover this silence. Then he lost the ability to see anything else but a black wall of flames, the very Black Heart Flame he was using. Finally, even his body was submerged by untold pain.
Cao Yun had already suffered a lot in his life and his body had been melted, broken and remade many times. In fact, it had also happened in the very Palace of Supreme Wisdom Dian Mo ruled. But this time, it was the pain of others that was invading him. And it was the pain of multitude of people, men, women, children, elders. No one had been spared. Not a single one of them had been shown any ounce of mercy.
More than their physical pain, Cao Yun was overwhelmed by their despair. They couldn't understand how people could be so cruel to them. In their despair, they would drown others in their pain. Reason was gone completely. Those were the remnants of every negative emotion and feeling that had coursed through those poor victims.
All of those sensation would have been too much for anyone in the Piaolu planet. Only through his mind cultivation and double cultivation could Cao Yun endure. He didn't lose his ego in this vast ocean. In fact, Cao Yun had understood that there was no ego to lose. Everything he thought was him originated from his souls interacting with each other. As such, those new emotions interfered with them, then interfering with Cao Yun's mind. Instead of panicking, Cao Yun let them flow through him. Obviously it wasn't easy at all. But during this process, Cao Yun was slowly getting a better understanding of his own souls, how they interacted between them.
As a matter of fact, Cao Yun was even able to better feel the boundary he always thought was around his self. As it turned out, there was no such thing as a boundary. And there might be no such thing as a self. The more he was thinking about that, the more vibrant his Soul Embryo was becoming. Unlike the rest of Cao Yun's mind, his Soul Embryo was impervious to those assaults from outside. In fact, the pressure on Cao Yun's mind and soul seemed to help him find his deepest identity, or his lack thereof. Consequently, it helped impregnate his Soul Embryo with his own soul.
Cao Yun's Hun were the most active now that his Po were being overwhelmed by all those emotions. Thus the young man could feel them deeply. Just like Dian Mo, they had become firm rocks in the storm.
As he was losing his self, Cao Yun realized that he still had the feeling of his own existence. Even when his thoughts and feelings weren't his own, there remained something, a self. Maybe it was from his three Huns interacting together. But he wasn't sure. Like many others before him, he couldn't solve this mystery at all. But as more and more of what he had thought was his self was being overwhelmed, it paradoxically made his self stronger. It was being rid of everything superfluous. But even then, Cao Yun couldn't keep himself from wondering whether that deep feeling was not just a defensive mechanism, a final wall he would have to break. Or maybe it was the true nature of the self. Such questions made him think more and more about his readings.
"Boy!"
Once again, Cao Yun had lost his path. He focused once more on the array formations. Although all those sensations were incredible, he couldn't err or he would be discovered, or worse.
It was impossible to tell how long it had been. For Cao Yun, ages, entire lifetimes had gone by as the fragments of memories had overwhelmed his senses. The pain and torment of tens of thousands of people had gone through him. Despite all this untold agony, Cao Yun had remained. His senses, his feelings, his emotions, everything was numb. But there was now a profound calm. He had endured. Cao Yun had remained Cao Yun. Through this experience, he had felt as though he had discovered something new about himself.
Anyway, the process was still going on. And the Devouring Robber was getting stronger and stronger. Even crushed under the Palace of Supreme Wisdom, it was beginning to take on a more corporeal form. Soon, it would completely escape Dian Mo's control. And Cao Yun was in no shape to deal with it at the moment. If it were to break free, this would be a disaster.
Watching all of that, Dian Mo couldn't worry Cao Yun or he might lose his concentration. Thus, he pushed forward. Dian Mo was ready to fight the Devouring Robber himself if need be. It was almost as dangerous, if not more dangerous than fighting Demon King Mo Wang had been. But Dian Mo was still ready to face it. And it wasn't just because Cao Yun's demise would mean his too.
As Dian Mo was about to throw himself into the battle, a sudden turn occurred. The storm within Cao Yun's sea of consciousness suddenly ceased.
Cao Yun's spiritual senses had gone through the array formation. It had taken two weeks, but Cao Yun's spiritual senses were now within the Temple of Grace and Submission. This was good news, but also a very critical moment. Indeed, this sudden release of tension could mess with Cao Yun's stealth. He couldn't be exposed right now, not after so much effort.
"Boy, keep your focus! Don't let anyone perceive any variation in the environment! Be careful!"
All of a sudden, Cao Yun's mind had returned to its natural state. This profound awareness of himself had gone in an instant. Obviously there was some confusion. Even Cao Yun needed some time to recover from the experience. Dian Mo's words reached him and the young man took a hold of himself. He did everything he could to control his stealth technique and his spiritual senses.
In the air, Cao Yun's body remained perfectly hidden. Not even Xiao Xuefeng would have been able to perceive him as it was still and wasn't emitting any form of energy. Some variation around the spiritual senses within the Temple of Grace and Submission happened though.