Cao Yun and Yun Ping were moving as fast as they could when Cao Yun finally felt a familiar presence. In the distance he could feel the aura of Hongyu. Without any hesitation, he spread his spiritual senses around his old friend and sent him into the air before flying himself. The next moment, they were both on the back of Hongyu who was flying very close to the tops of the trees. Of course, Yun Ping was a bit surprised, but he recognized Hongyu despite her changes.
"Brother, you've both changed a lot..."
"Well, there were a lot of fortuitous encounters."
Obviously, Cao Yun couldn't explain that he had cultivated the asura system and had asura blood in his veins. Nor could he explain anything related to Cleansed Asura either. So he was a bit stuck on that front. Thankfully, he had already been recognized as a genius by becoming the Young Sect Master of the Wubei Sect. Even though his cultivation was outside of the realm of what anyone deemed possible, they might still see it as both luck and talent. Besides, they needed that kind of strength at the moment.
"I imagine that those were accompanied by high risks too. There's no such thing as a free meal, is there?"
"No, you're right. Things have been perilous a few times. But you've all been facing war this past decade so I won't complain about my journey back home. To be honest, I was hoping for a warmer welcome, but I understand."
"Don't worry, your brothers will be so warm you'll wish for a colder welcome. I imagine that Ren Chao will make you regret coming home. And Feng Yingyue, well... Eleven years apart, I'm sure your reunion will be more than warm."
"I..."
Cao Yun had changed a lot since his departure. Honestly, he had started to have doubts about his relationship with Feng Yingyue. They had met when they were very young and under specific circumstances. Both of them had lived through some trauma so it wasn't strange that they had bonded instantly. However, they had not been together very long. More and more, Cao Yun was wondering if their relation was not just based around pure physical attraction. Hearing Yun Ping's joking tone didn't make it any easier. That being said, Cao Yun did feel compelled to stay loyal to her. At the very least, he had never been attracted to another woman as much as with her. But to be fair, she was also the first woman he had intimately known so it probably played a huge role in it. Now, he wasn't a kid anymore, but he still had no time to think about such matters. He was concerned with the war and with the fate of his sister. At the same time, it felt unfair to Feng Yingyue, asking her to wait for him to have enough time to think about their relationship.
Sensing that his brother was a bit embarrassed by the subject, Yun Ping didn't quite know how to dispel this awkwardness. Thankfully, they reached the first camp on the way to their main strategic camp. Thus, Yun Ping took out his seal. Without needing any word from his friend, Cao Yun asked Hongyu to slow down.
Soon, they were faced with several soldiers surrounding them. Commander Yun Ping showed his seal and everyone recognized him.
"We're going to see my father, General Yun Po."
Immediately, the soldiers moved out of the way and Hongyu flew past the camp. Indeed, it only took them a few minutes to get to the main camp. Since Cao Yun didn't want to be too suspicious, he had not spread his spiritual senses too far ahead of himself. As such, he saw the camp with his bare eyes first. Clearly, this used to be a small town and vestiges of old houses were still standing here and there. But one could also see that the village had been decimated. Carcasses of a few stone buildings remained. Although they had been neither repaired nor completely destroyed, the soldiers were using them. There were tents and various pieces of cloth here and there.
With his knowledge, Cao Yun could tell that most of the efforts had been put on setting up array formations. Even from a distance, he could perceive them. Of course, he didn't use his compass, but Dian Mo's voice echoed in his mind.
"Boy, those are incredible! I would say that they're very close to being full-fledged 1-star Spirit array formations. Who built those?!"
"Sun Liao! I recognize his work, but he's become even better than I thought. If he were to become a Spirit Warrior, he might be able to set up a Spirit array formation indeed."
As he answered Dian Mo's question, Cao Yun felt a sense of pride swell in his chest. Seeing how far his brother had come made him incredibly happy and proud to be his brother. At the same time, he also felt some bitterness and longing. His brother had left very recently. If he had arrived a few days ago, he might have met him. But he would meet him soon anyway. As the thought came to his mind, he did feel strange about it. Something he had waited for so long was just around the corner and it somehow didn't feel real.
Cao Yun had no time to dwell on his feelings. Just as he got close to the array formation, several soldiers appeared. Their aura spread all over their surroundings and array formations activated. As soon as they saw Yun Ping's seal, they calmed down a little, but they were still extremely suspicious of Cao Yun and Hongyu. The young man tapped Hongyu's back and she landed peacefully. Seeing that the demonic beast and the unknown cultivator were obedient, the soldiers calmed down even more, but the worry in their eyes didn't go away. Cao Yun didn't recognize any of them, but he saw how tired and paranoid they were. They might attack him and Hongyu at any moment if they thought they were a threat.
Yun Ping called out to them.
"Soldiers, I am requesting an audience with General Yun Po. My brother here has crucial information to transmit to him. Tell General Yun Po that Commander Yun Ping and Young Sect Master Chen Guo humbly request an audience."
After hearing the name of the unknown cultivator, the soldiers' eyes became strange. They darted toward Cao Yun and examined him in detail. Clearly, they couldn't believe Yun Ping's words. All of them had probably heard tales of Cao Yun. In fact, Yun Ping had probably told several of those tales. Of course, Cao Yun didn't know how much they had been exaggerated.
"Brother, you'll see, your name is very well known. After all, you both saved Emperor Weide's daughter and sacrificed yourself to close off the portal over the Imperial City. Without you, we might have lost the Imperial City, just as we have lost the Huogu Province and the Kai Province. I didn't tell you but the Emperor himself deemed you a hero of the nation. Well, now that I think about it, you're officially a General of the Hongchen Kingdom. Sect Leader Xuan agreed to the honor as well. But it might be an issue now that you're alive... I'm not too sure..."
Cao Yun barely heard Yun Ping's words after he had talked about Emperor Weide's daughter. He remembered that day very clearly. Before being sucked into this bloody rift in space, Cao Yun had used his spear to stab toward 'Yong Ke' so she would be sent back to the ground and to safety. Thankfully, she had survived. Using that, he might be able to get more information.
"How is Yong Ke?"
"Yong Ke? Oh?! You mean Emperor Weide's daughter? Don't worry, you did save her life. I didn't hear much, but apparently she refused to believe in your death for some reason. In the first months of the war, she was seen on the battlefield. However, her father prevented her from getting too involved. But since Emperor Weide secluded himself a few months ago, no one's seen her either. She's probably helping her father. I shouldn't tell you that, but some people think Emperor Weide is also trying to break through. Compared to Matriarch Huang, he's around five hundred years younger so if he succeeds, this would be great for us. We might even get a late Sage with us at some point. Incredible, right?!"
"Right..."
A sudden fear seized Cao Yun. If what Yun Ping was saying was true, then Emperor Weide might be about to sacrifice his 'daughter', Cao Yun's sister. Of course, the young man had no idea if that was accurate, nor how long it would take for Emperor Weide to sacrifice her.
"Don't worry too much, boy. According to Demon King Mo Wang, stealing and absorbing your sister's Soul Embryo would take almost a year. Even if he's become recently, just preparing for it will take him some time. You can't rush it at all. And you won't like to hear it, but he doesn't have any replacement for her. She's his last chance, so he'll make sure that everything is perfect for the ritual. It's hard to say but, yes, one year is a conservative estimate."
Dian Mo's voice was uncertain as he spoke. Even he could imagine the emotions going through Cao Yun. But he had to tell him the cold facts. He couldn't have Cao Yun directly fly toward the Imperial City without any plan. Honestly, Dian Mo had almost no idea how long the preparations would really take. Yes, according to Demon King Mo Wang, it would take some time, but it might take years, months, or merely weeks. On that matter, the documents found by Demon King Mo Wang were very unclear.
Deep down, Cao Yun knew that Dian Mo's words were uttered to calm him down. He knew enough to not believe his estimate at all. He had to find as much information as possible. And then, he had to get his sister. But charging alone toward the Imperial City would be the worst mistake of his life. Since he was now recognized as a General and a war hero, he might use his status. Besides, he had the strength to go with that status.
Yun Ping was about to make a comment about Cao Yun and Yong Ke. He stopped himself though. At first, he had thought Cao Yun was interested in the princess. But there was something more. Anyway, Yun Ping wasn't too intimate with Cao Yun, but he knew him enough to get some things from his very subtle expressions. Thus, he decided to stay quiet. Thankfully, one of the guards who had left to relay Yun Ping's message came back.
"General Yun Po is ready to receive you both. We'll take care of your mount, General Chen."
"That won't be necessary. She can take care of herself, just show her where she can stay and leave her alone."
Cao Yun and Yun Ping jumped from Hongyu's back. Then, the young man caressed her cheek, put his forehead on hers and left her. Without any problem, she followed the guards to some area of the camp and simply waited for her brother.
While she was finally resting, Cao Yun and Yun Ping reached the main tent of the camp. On the way, Cao Yun recognized many array formations. Not all of them had been set by Sun Liao, but the best one undoubtedly had been.
Finally, Yun Ping opened the tent and let Cao Yun in. Immediately, the young man recognized the aura of General Yun Po as well as the characteristic presence of the blood of the Huang family. In the tent, there were only two people, General Yun Po and a young woman from the Huang family. Although he had never met her, Cao Yun could tell that she was Huang Si. Cao Yun bowed a little.
"Young Sect Master Chen pays his respects to General Yun and to Miss Huang."
Although they had been warned, they were both shocked. General Yun Po recognized him right away and all his doubts disappeared. On the other hand, Huang Si had never met her. However, she seemed to also recognize him. Indeed, she had heard a lot about him, both from Huang Cixi and Huang Liyue.
"Young Sect Master, it's such a pity that you've missed your brother. Master Sun left only five days ago. Unfortunately, even I don't know where he left for. After all, his role in crucial in our war so his whereabouts are divulged on a need-to-know basis and we didn't need to know. Your... your cultivation?! Ha ha ha! It seems that the Wubei Sect does produce geniuses!"
"Thank you, General Yun. I also miss my brothers and sisters. Honestly, I hope to leave as soon as possible. If you don't know where my brother went, I'll first go to the Wubei Sect. But before that, as Commander Yun Ping said, I have crucial information about the Empyrean Theocracy and the front lines. If I may..."
Showing his spatial ring, Cao Yun waited for General Yun's agreement. General Yun was glad to have a very straightforward conversation. The young man was going straight to his point and time was extremely precious. The general made a sign to give the go-ahead to Cao Yun. So he took out the officer's corpse out of his spatial ring.
"I am sorry about the chaos this caused, but I had to kill this officer while I tried to sneak back into the Hongchen Kingdom."
"Nie Qirong?!"
Both General Yun and Huang Si were surprised. This Nie Qirong wasn't very powerful, especially compared with Cao Yun's strength, but she was still an officer and an early Accomplished Demon. What truly astonished them was the absence of almost any injury on her body. She had been completely overwhelmed by a far superior cultivator. Then, some doubts began to emerge in the minds of General Yun and Huang Si. Honestly, everything seemed a bit too good to be true. Usually, that meant that they were...
All that being said, General Yun had no doubt on Cao Yun's identity. But that didn't tell him anything about his allegiance. Maybe the demons had put seals in him or something. He had been gone for eleven years. If the demons had gotten to him then, they could have tortured him for all this time. Even a great man could crack under those circumstances. But then again, why would his cultivation rise so much? For a spy or a traitor, it would be very suspicious. Such a change was beyond common sense, after all.