Cao Yun was showing his full cultivation, he was hiding absolutely nothing. The golden light emanating from Director Hua was strangely interacting with Cao Yun's aura. The young man's skin was as red as fresh blood, his eyes were black with a deep golden flame piercing through the shadows. His hair was completely white and fluttering behind him. His spiritual senses were also fully unleashed. A mortal would not have noticed but Director Hua could guess the shapes of seven chains coming from Cao Yun's back, each one had a very different aura, but she couldn't make out the Turbid Demons at the end of those chains.
Around Cao Yun, she could also see a silver light, which was coming from his Soul Embryo. The young man was showing off both his asura and human cultivation systems at the same time.
Honestly, even knowing that Cao Yun had no ill intent, Director Hua was terrified. She wasn't exactly afraid for her life, but an instinctual fear had seized her heart. As a late Spirit Warrior, she easily dispelled it. Deep down, she knew that Cao Yun could slay her in a matter of moments. Despite being an almost 8th-grade Spirit Warrior, she would not stand a chance alone. After all, she was an alchemist first and foremost. Of course, within the Eight-Heavens Seizing Cauldron, she was supreme. Unless Cao Yun was to break through and become a Sage or an Exalted Demon, he would not be able to harm her at all.
For a mere instant, the idea of slaying him crossed her mind, but she disregarded it immediately. It had been born out of her instinctual fear. This young man had to be preserved. Now, she was convinced of it. Xiao Xuefeng had very keen eyes. In front of her wasn't the ruin of the Hongchen Kingdom, it was its salvation. Although no other human could cultivate both asura and human systems, this boy might finally be able to break the shackles of the Forsaken Dao Era.
Moreover, she listened to Cao Yun's plans, and they did make a lot of sense. Director Hua was loyal to the Hongchen Kingdom and to Emperor Nuwa's ideals, not to Emperor Weide himself. She knew, without a doubt, that he had dishonored his title. As such, she had absolutely no problem killing him. However, the idea of exposing him was a problem. Indeed, the Hongchen Kingdom was at war and it might collapse the only human kingdom. Now that she had heard and seen Cao Yun, she was confident that the right course of action was indeed to follow this young man.
Director Hua had been worried that his plans were unachievable. However, she realized that they were simple enough and yet very effective. The young man had garnered the support of the Wubei Sect, the Huang family and even the Myriad Cherry Blossom Hall. Besides, his brother Sun Liao had helped set up the most powerful array formations of the capital. His brother Ren Chao had forged great weapons and armor. Now, Cao Yun would even have the help of the Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute. After all, he was their prodigy's Dao companion, and Mei Hua's sworn brother as well.
The Wubei Sect had always been a great place to form connections with very influential and powerful people. Clearly, Cao Yun had hit the jackpot. Maybe the heavens were trying to seek forgiveness for what had befallen his family. Unfortunately, his tragedy wasn't over yet.
"Young Sect Master Cao, this humble director accepts you. My Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute will support you. Our fate will be your fate. We will take down mankind's traitor and we will also eradicate the vile Asura Empyrean Theocracy."
Cao Yun bowed down in respect. Slowly, he reined in his cultivation.
"Thank you, esteemed Director Hua. Then, I will humbly request that you send for my brother Sun Liao. I am sure that you can summon him on the pretext of repairing some important array formation. The Hongchen Kingdom needs your pills, so they'll be forced to comply. I'll also ask that you let me use your resources to refine a Spirit pill."
"I understand. Spirit Master Xiao and I will take credit for this pill. However, how confident are you in this refinement?"
"Honestly, I can't guarantee absolute success. That being said, I am confident that I can refine at least two successful pills. And this is after taking into consideration the assistance of my sister Mei Hua, Feng Yingyue, and even yours and your sister's. Thus, I will need to prepare myself for a few weeks. If everything goes as planned, we should have more than enough time. In fact, we should be able to dictate the time. If we have those pills, then we control Emperor Weide's schedule."
"Yes. By the way, we also received news from the Wubei Sect. Your brother Ren Chao is done with whatever he was preparing for you. Sect Leader Xuan made sure that he had prepared several weapons and armor in advance. He'll secretly travel to our Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute. It's difficult to know how long it will take him. But he'll certainly be here before four months, probably within three months in fact."
If Ren Chao had forged Cao Yun's spear, this was great news. Besides, this timetable aligned with Cao Yun's plans. Now that he had exterminated the 5th Imperial Brocade Guards, he knew more about his sister's situation. Moreover, with the pill he had in mind, he could indeed perfectly control Emperor Weide's own time.
"Good. Then, I will excuse myself. Director Hua, I'd also request a room so that I can talk to my sister Mei Hua in total secrecy. Afterward, I will cultivate with Feng Yingyue."
"This is no problem at all. I will get everything we've discussed so far ready. You may go."
"Thank you, Director Hua."
All of Cao Yun's cultivation was now hidden, he had applied his seals to completely conceal his asura cultivation. No one could tell he was anything else than a human. Then, he left the Eight-Heavens Seizing Cauldron. Outside, Ying Luofan was waiting for Cao Yun. He received his orders directly from Director Hua Fenfei. The old man led Cao Yun to a room deep underground. There was Void Nurtured Platinum everywhere within the walls and great array formations.
In Cao Yun's mind, there was no doubt that his brother Sun Liao had not worked on those array formations. No one outside the Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute knew anything about those array formations. So it was almost impossible for anyone to spy on what was going on in this room, apart from Director Hua herself. And it wasn't a problem since she knew everything already. Honestly, it was refreshing for Cao Yun to be completely truthful. Soon, he wouldn't have to hide from anyone.
Soon, Mei Hua entered the room with a smile on her face.
"Brother Chen. It's been a very long time. I was sure that you were fine, but you're even better than I expected."
"Sister Mei, excuse my appearance earlier. Also, excuse me for not going to you first."
Mei Hua's smile became a bit smug and teasing.
"Never mind, Brother. I understand, I really do... Anyway, I heard that you also saw Brother Ren."
"Indeed. I only need to see Brother Sun, but he should be called to the Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute very soon. In fact, Brother Ren is also coming in a matter of months. Hopefully, we'll all be able to meet up."
Mei Hua's face lit up.
"I'm looking forward to this reunion. It's such a pity that we can't do so under the bodhi tree. But we'll have another opportunity, I guess. But I imagine that you had some matters to talk to me about..."
Cao Yun took a deep breath. Mei Hua sensed that he had deep and heavy thoughts.
"I do. Sister Mei, I have been hiding, and even lying to you. My name isn't Chen Guo. I am Cao Yun, from the Cao family."
Mei Hua's smile broke down. She had heard about the tragedy of the Cao family. Despite Cao Yun's efforts to hide his pain, Mei Hua could see it. More than that, she could imagine it. It awakened painful memories from her own past.
"The truth is that my family wasn't slaughtered by demonic cultivators. My family was massacred by the 5th Imperial Brocade Guards, under the direct orders of Emperor Weide. The traitor was going after the blood of my mother's family. Since he couldn't get her when she was younger, he set his sights on her daughter, my sister. Soon, Emperor Weide is going to sacrifice her in order to break through and become a Sage."
Cao Yun went into deeper details. Sadly, he knew exactly how to tell the story by now. Mei Hua was trying to hide it, but Cao Yun could see shivers throughout her entire body. They were a mixture of pain and rage. As she heard Cao Yun speak, she thought back to her own past. In her mind, she could see the body of her father, she could see her little sister crying. A scene of pure apocalypse was before her eyes. And now, she could imagine that Cao Yun had suffered even more than she had.
For a very long time, she had thought that she had suffered like no other. But, now, she could tell that she had completely ignored her brother's pain. Unlike her, he had lost his sister. At least, he thought that he had lost her. Now, he might actually lose her after having learned that she was alive. Such a tragedy had to be prevented.
"Brother Chen... I mean, Brother Cao. I also lied about my name and hid my past from you. I am Muyang Hua. Unlike you, I didn't hide my name out of fear, but out of spite. My own father Muyang Sheng only fathered me and my sister in order to get a human sacrifice for his cultivation. Unfortunately, I didn't have the physique he was looking for, but my sister had. He tried to sacrifice Mei Ying. Xiao Xuefeng killed him, and saved me and my sister."
Honestly, Cao Yun had known that Mei Hua had a painful past, but he had not imagined that it was so similar to his own past. For quite some time, the two of them stayed silent. Then, Mei Hua spoke.
"Brother Cao, no matter what you need, you have it. I have sworn that I would die the same day as you do. Although the same blood doesn't flow within our veins, we are family. Thus, your sister is my sister. Even if I have to make the ultimate sacrifice, I will not let anything happen to you. I would betray the entire world before betraying the family I chose. As my father proved to me, blood ties are not as important as the ties of the heart. You are my brother, and she is the sister whom you love, so I will help you until the end. I am also certain that Ren Chao and Sun Liao will be of the same mind.
"Just tell us what you need, and we will do everything we can to give it to you."
"Thank you, Sister. The Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute agreed to side with me. For the moment, I have gathered all the pieces I needed on the board. But it doesn't mean that the game is done. I have to work under the assumption that Emperor Weide is more powerful than everything I know about him. I will need your help very soon. I intend to use the corpse of the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu to refine a specific 5-star Spirit pill. This will be the most difficult refinement of the Forsaken Dao Era. Honestly, I can't be certain of anything, despite my confidence."
"I understand. Give me the details and I'll make sure that everything is prepared. I'll also prepare myself as much as I can. Your 'Sealing the Seven Demons in the Nine Peaks' is incredible, especially for alchemy. Although I have no confidence in refining such a pill, I can be a tremendous assistant."
"Thank you. In the meantime, I'll cultivate with Feng Yingyue. With her 'Twin Flesh Furnaces, Soul Cauldron' dual cultivation method, we should both be able to break through, at least improve our cultivation."
Feng Yingyue took on an air of indignation and spoke with a very strict voice and cold eyes.
"Oh...? Then, while we'll all be working, you two will have a good time?! I really think that dual cultivation is such a cheat. Not only can you increase your cultivation rather fast, but you also enjoy yourself to the extreme. Since Sun Liao is not here, allow me to be the one to tease you a little about it."
For a short while, there was tension in the air as the two of them were looking at each other. Suddenly, they both burst out laughing.
"Enjoy yourself, Sister Feng also needs to take some of the weight off her shoulders. Trust me, Brother, I will make sure that everything is ready for you."
Cao Yun activated his spatial ring. Bits and pieces of the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu appeared as well as other alchemical ingredients.
"This is everything needed for the pill. And here is the recipe. I have already added all the comments and annotations that could be helpful. However, I have no doubt that you, Spirit Master Xiao, or Director Hua could find a few improvements here and there. My guess is that it should take around two months to get everything ready."
For a very short time, Mei Hua was stunned. Even though Cao Yun had not taken out the entire Nine-Headed Bird of Chu, she was quite literally looking straight into its eyes. She could very clearly tell how ferocious and dangerous such a beast was. Besides, Cao Yun had also taken out two of its nine-demonic cores. So she could feel the demonic beast as though it actually was alive in front of her. Very quickly, she regained her composure and focused on every ingredient. She studied the recipe Cao Yun had given her.
Honestly, even she was flabbergasted. It wasn't that she couldn't understand any of it. In fact, she perfectly understood every word. But the use of the principles was extremely subtle. Although she could understand every step, she had a very hard time getting a complete view of the entire process. Even her master would need several days to get a full picture of the recipe itself.
Although Cao Yun had invented it, it had also been hard for him to understand it. Indeed, he had used a formula from Cleansed Asura, which he had slightly altered according to what he wanted. More than his own wishes, he had tried to comply with Emperor Weide's needs.