Cao Yun could clearly hear the mockery in Demon God Da Mo's voice. However, he could also hear other emotions. Demon God Da Mo was hiding how desperate he actually was. The mere fact that he talked was proof enough. By trying to intimidate Cao Yun, he ironically proved to the young man that he had to resist even more. If a Reborn Demon was assured of his victory, he would just crush Cao Yun, he wouldn't stand there talking about it.
The young man focused his entire mind on his martial arts. His Spear Heart vibrated. In the real world, his additional arms holding spears disappeared. Only one spear remained, his 'Dark Abyss Wrathful Serpent Spear'. Then, the spear itself turned completely dark. Nothing remained, not an ounce of Cao Yun's Qi or cultivation could be felt at all. On the ground, Sun Liao panicked. But his fear only lasted an instant. He knew that his brother wouldn't give up. And soon enough, Da Mo would learn it the hard way.
As an expert, Cao Yun let go of anything fancy. The only thing that truly mattered was his spear. Deep within, he could hear the screech of a dragon. It was a tiny voice, but it echoed throughout Cao Yun's mind. All of his intent was now focused on this small voice. This was the voice of the Ebony Snake Dragon whose scale had been used to forge Cao Yun's very first spear. After spending so much time together, Cao Yun was extremely intimate with the remnants of this beast. Although it was only a 3-core demonic beast, Cao Yun had kept its scale so far. As a matter of fact, he had no intention of ever getting rid of it as long as he could.
Almost as if to answer this voice, the powerful screech of the Azure Dragon echoed. Its screech made Cao Yun's entire body vibrate. It emanated from his chest, his heart trembled. His muscles bulged throughout his arm, until his very fingertips. Deep within, his tendons thundered, his ligaments whipped, his bones cracked. All of his flesh was pulsating with the strong voice of the Azure Dragon, but it didn't silence the smaller voice of the Ebony Snake Dragon. Instead, it amplified it, gave it more texture.
Even outside Cao Yun's body, the scream of the Azure Dragon could be heard. Above in the sky, the Constellations grew more and more vivid. The Heart Constellation was vibrating and pulsating with fiery red. Suddenly, his last Star exploded. The Winnowing Basket Star was a medium orange star. In an instant, it turned into a nova star. The sky was drowned in orange flames. Slowly, the orange hue dissipated, rapidly pushed away by the Heart Constellation. Finally, the Winnowing Basket Constellation was born.
At this very moment, Cao Yun had achieved True Success in his 'Azure Dragon's Seven Piercing Stars'. From now on, he would have to turn each Constellation into a Mansion. Such a process could take anywhere from decades to centuries. In fact, Cao Yun himself had no way of knowing for sure, as it entirely depended on his comprehension of the spear and of his own martial arts. In turn, it would depend on his understanding of the Daos involved in his martial arts. Anyway, this didn't enter his mind. In fact, Cao Yun didn't even realize that he had broken through. Indeed, he was fully focused on his martial arts, which was exactly why he had suddenly progressed.
All of Cao Yun's being was focused on his spear. Its shaft was so deeply black that it reflected the seven Constellations above, but absolutely nothing else. As such, Cao Yun's spear looked like the abyss of space, the void between worlds.
Immediately, Cao Yun rotated his spear. Until now, his spear had still been within Demon God Da Mo's abdomen. Since he had realized how much of a threat his blood was, Cao Yun obviously pulled his spear out. Demon God Da Mo's body tried to grab onto the spear by contracting its abdomen, but Cao Yun had been fast enough. Some of Da Mo's blood flew around as Cao Yun's spear kept on rotating. The butt of the spear was now facing the large asura.
'Cracking the World'!
Striking with all the weight of the spear and all of his strength, Cao Yun aimed for Demon God Da Mo's chest. With his attack, Cao Yun circulated all of his understanding of martial arts, even adding in his 'Three Storms' knowledge, in particular his comprehension of the concept of Wind. A terrifying force crushed Da Mo's chest. Even his body felt it as a few of his ribs cracked, but didn't break. On the other hand, such a devastating attack caused a monstrous shock wave. The young man was pushed away from the demon's body in an instant.
Now that Cao Yun had put some distance between them, he didn't hesitate at all. The tip of his spear was directed slightly downward after he had struck Da Mo's chest, which had been above his eyes at the moment. With absolutely no hesitation whatsoever, Cao Yun stabbed his own leg. The young man targeted precisely where the bead of blood was. Although Cao Yun's flesh was extremely resistant, the young man himself had withdrawn his Wei Qi, and his blood was unable to flow through his leg. As such, his spear was able to pierce through his leg. It tore apart his muscles and collided with his bones. The moment it struck a bone, even Cao Yun's spear couldn't go forward. It got stuck in his tibia.
Obviously, it was extremely painful. But what truly mattered was that Cao Yun had found the bead of blood. Under the intense pressure, the bead exploded. The moment blood began to fly around, Cao Yun used his intent, focused through the Drop of Wrath, to absorb most of it back. Unfortunately, he knew that he couldn't get all of it back. However, he had to make sure that he wouldn't take Demon God Da Mo's blood back into himself. Thus, Cao Yun didn't hesitate, he sent his Black Heart Flame through his veins and directly toward the flying blood.
Everyone was shocked. Demon God Da Mo would have never expected a demon to be ready to burn his own blood. Even when poisoned, many demons would fight the poison rather than lose blood. For a demon, losing blood was similar to a human losing a limb. But there was also a form of dishonor attached to it, or even of sacrilege, especially for Demon God Da Mo and his religious cult. For Cao Yun, it was just cutting a leg to save his life. Of course, he would make this trade anytime. Moreover, his leg would actually heal, and he could replenish his blood. It would take time, but it wasn't like injuring one's soul. With enough patience and effort, Cao Yun would recover all of his blood and some more.
Shocked for an instant, Da Mo's soul diminished its attack. This was the opportunity that Dian Mo was looking for. The Palace of Supreme Wisdom appeared directly above Axiu Qian in Cao Yun's sea of consciousness.
"Master, it is time for you to leave!"
Da Mo didn't recognize it at first. Then, he couldn't believe it. Finally, he couldn't accept it.
"Traitor! Scum!"
Demon God Da Mo had recognized the spirit of the Palace of Supreme Wisdom. It was the spirit that he had created for himself. And yet, it was now working for the enemy and had even dared turn against its former master. Of course, he had recognized the seals within Mo Tian. That bastard had been helping the human all this time. Worse than that, he had hidden his body. Demon God Da Mo was enraged. Unfortunately for him, it didn't help his control over his Turbid Demons.
Using this lapse in Demon God Da Mo's focus, the large image of Axiu Qian grabbed him, and Dian Mo attacked. Shadows emerged from the Palace of Supreme Wisdom and pierced the image of Da Mo. Immediately, the seals already implanted into his Demon Soul triggered. Pressing his advantage, Cao Yun used his 'Soul Chains'. They stabbed through the Demon Soul fragment and dragged it out of his sea of consciousness.
The surprise helped Cao Yun tremendously. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. Demon God Da Mo obviously resisted. His wings opened, and he grabbed several of the chains. Contrary to what Dian Mo expected, Da Mo didn't try to rip them apart. Instead, he used them to pull Dian Mo toward himself. Da Mo was hell-bent on killing the traitor. Even if he couldn't annihilate Cao Yun's soul right away, he would obliterate that despicable weasel. This coward had been waiting in ambush all this time so Da Mo wouldn't give him the satisfaction of succeeding. No matter what, this treachery would fail!
A small part of Da Mo's fragment was pulled through Cao Yun's Bai Hui. The pain was intense, but Cao Yun kept on going. He didn't actually have to get all of Da Mo out, he only needed to weaken him enough. As soon as his Demon Soul even partially went outside Cao Yun's body, it was weaker. Instead of waiting for Da Mo's fragment to grow even weaker, Axiu Qian attacked. The two giant asura kept on fighting within Cao Yun's sea of consciousness.
Da Mo's movements were impeded by the chains, while Axiu Qian was growing stronger and stronger with every breath. Indeed, Cao Yun was slowly pumping his blood back into his body, and thus into his very heart. The Drop of Wrath was rebuilding itself. Da Mo could tell that this was an uphill battle. In fact, he was already convinced that he would win this fight. Unfortunately, he had not split off a big enough fragment of his Demon Soul. To be fair, he didn't want to cripple his Demon Soul at the moment.
Just like Cao Yun, though, Da Mo made a decisive move. At this moment, Cao Yun and Da Mo were basically fighting against time. If Cao Yun could endure long enough, the poison would get rid of Demon God Da Mo. Since time was his enemy, Da Mo had to be much more decisive. He didn't want to abandon his body. Besides, he simply couldn't abandon his body at the moment. Indeed, the Black Death Prison poison had infected all of his acupoints. With his strength, his Demon Soul could force its way out, but it would be heavily damaged. Unfortunately, his Demon Soul had already been damaged before even getting back on this cursed planet. However, he had had no time to do anything else. He had been forced to come back in such a manner since every other path had been sealed by Emperor Nuwa. At least, he had found no other path. He was certain that the wench had kept at least one open, but he had failed to find it.
All those years ago, he had thought that conquering this planet would be easy. After all, no one could go beyond the third realm of cultivation. But now, all of his plans had been thwarted by this small, insignificant child. If Demon God Da Mo had his full Demon Soul controlling his full Reborn Demon body, Cao Yun would have been crushed in an instant. Demon God Da Mo would not even have bothered to know his name. But now, he might actually get killed. This was unacceptable. Anything was better than such a humiliating fate, anything!
While Cao Yun was still struggling with the fragment of Demon God Da Mo's Demon Soul, the large red body in the sky began to move. Those were tremors, almost as if Demon God Da Mo were having seizures. Immediately, Sun Liao focused on him. The archer was ready to unleash hell on the asura at a moment's notice. However, he was smart. Sun Liao wouldn't attack without understanding the situation. As a matter of fact, it might backfire. The chief elders were all looking at Sun Liao, as if they wanted him to give the order. They were all convinced that they could destroy Demon God Da Mo's body.
To be fair, he was paralyzed and couldn't defend himself. On the other hand, he had still been able to attack the strongest cultivator present through his very soul and blood. Although his Demon Soul was trapped inside, Demon God Da Mo could still use his Dao of Blood. He might actually be able to kill some of the cultivators. It was possible that he could even feed off their blood and maybe grow marginally stronger. As long as Sun Liao wasn't confident enough, he wouldn't order an attack. That being said, he could sense the pressure of all the chief elders and disciples looking at him, more or less directly. They didn't want to wait, they wanted to strike. But they all had to wait. Thankfully, discipline prevailed, and no one broke rank. Sun Liao had proved himself time and time again, so they trusted him.
Demon God Da Mo's body kept on convulsing. The tremors grew more and more violent. Inside, his blood was like a tempest raging, striking his own veins. His veins even thrashed against his other tissues, his muscles, his bones. This was absolute chaos within, and every cultivator could see the result outside. Several blood vessels exploded, and Demon God Da Mo began to cry blood. Throughout his body, vessels burst, and blood was flowing over his skin. With each passing moment, there was more blood outside than within.
The bright red blood slowly turned into mud. As it was leaving his body, it became a strange mixture of brown and even black. Sun Liao wasn't too sure what was happening when Meng Jia's voice echoed in his head.
This was the Black Death Prison poison. Demon God Da Mo was using his own blood to purge himself of the poison. Meng Jia was an expert in poison. Even if he couldn't replicate the full version of the Black Death Prison poison, he knew enough about poisons in general to guess what was going on. Cao Yun would have made the same guess even though it seemed insane. In order to fully purge the Black Death Prison, Demon God Da Mo might have to get rid of most, if not all, of his blood. For a human, it was extreme. For a demon, it was heresy!
Understanding Demon God Da Mo's plan and seeing his brother still fighting the fragment of Demon Soul within, Sun Liao had to make a decision. One way or another, this battle was reaching its ultimate conclusion. Cao Yun and Demon God Da Mo were both clearly exhausted. Despite all the cultivators around, Sun Liao was certain that only those two could decide the outcome of this war.