Revolt against the Heavens

Cao Yun gulped down a pill and his wounds started to heal even faster. One could literally see his rib cage fusing back together as his sternum was fully healed. His muscles reformed in a matter of seconds and his skin grew back. Such a sight sent despair throughout the soldiers. All the wounds caused by the death of their commandant were gone as if the his life and death were meaningless. What they didn't know was that this literally was the best pill Cao Yun had on him. Indeed, it was a True Essence 5-star Heaven Golden Blood Essence pill. Even with Cao Yun's talent for alchemy, he could only rely on chance to reach this level of refinement. He had other Golden Blood Essence pills but they were all Pure, not True Essence pills.

From Cao Yun's body, a thunderous roar erupted. It was a mix between Axiu Qian's scream and the roar of the Azure Dragon. As it vibrated, the sound assaulted the mind and soul of all the soldiers. Yan Huoling didn't let herself be intimidated, though. She was already flying toward the young man with her three commandants. All around them, the flames were even brighter and hotter. One way or another, this fight would end very soon. From their eyes, Cao Yun could tell that they were ready to sacrifice their lives too. In the best-case scenario, Cao Yun hoped to get all of those officers, but at the very least, he had to get Yan Huoling's memories. Clearly, he wouldn't be able to steal all their memories, so he would focus on keeping hers.

Although Cao Yun had gotten a few seconds to breathe, Dian Mo knew that the situation was still critical. He wanted to tell Cao Yun about Emperor Nuwa's Solar-Orchid Flame but he didn't want to distract him. Besides, none of what he could tell him would help. Unfortunately, Dian Mo only knew what Da Mo had told him about it, he had never even seen it until now. Besides, Cao Yun didn't need Dian Mo to know that this flame was extremely dangerous. After all, it had even intimidated his Rune of Fire.

On Yan Huoling's forehead, the blazing orchid seed was quite literally burning her skin off. Patterns were appearing as her skin turned to ash further and further. Without a doubt, this flame was too powerful for even her to control. Most likely, she needed the entire battle formation to channel this Solar-Orchid Flame as Dian Mo had called it. By destabilizing the battle formation, Cao Yun was forcing her to take more and more of the burden onto herself. However, he didn't want her to be burned to nothingness. And clearly, this Solar-Orchid Flame could even incinerate her very soul, along with all her memories.

Now that Cao Yun was outside of the burning flower, he could use more of his strength. This time, he had enough time to circulate his complete cultivation and he did not hesitate at all. His Golden Blood sped through his veins. With his red skin and white hair, Cao Yun emitted an even stronger killing intent. Within it, Cao Yun had mixed his understanding of 'Death Verses'. All around the battlefield, Death Energy and even Ghost Energy were dancing and whirling around. Some were even pulled in by Cao Yun's killing intent. It wasn't as savage as Axiu Qian's killing intent, but it was much more ominous. For the soldiers, it was as though they were literally facing death. It would kill them without an ounce of emotion and without any reason, just by its very nature.

Here and there, Death Energy even condensed into extremely tiny bits and pieces of bone. They were so small that only a powerful cultivator with great senses could see them with the naked eye. Something that even Cao Yun didn't notice was the formation of a few small pieces of metal. It was a sign of 'Soul Chains', but it also showed that Cao Yun was far from reaching it, for the time being.

As Cao Yun unleashed all of his 9th-grade Accomplished Demon cultivation, he could feel chains coiling all around him and even inside of him. They were absolutely invisible and intangible. In fact, they didn't hinder him at all and they were quite literally popping in and out of existence. However, there was no denying that he could feel their presence. It was as if the world itself was restricting him. Obviously, Cao Yun could tell that it was the wall he had to break down in order to become an Exalted Demon. For the time being though, he had to focus on this fight. But he would have to explore those sensations as they might help him develop his 'Soul Chains'.

The morale of the soldiers wasn't very high, but they were still very disciplined. Still, Cao Yun decided to play on their moment of weakness.

'Weeping Asura'!

All the soldiers suddenly felt a terrifying presence all around them. Most of them were able to brush it off but a few failed. Cao Yun's mental and soul attack reached them. Suddenly, Cao Yun's seven Turbid Demons appeared in their seas of consciousness. Only three soldiers were too weak to fight them off completely. Since Cao Yun didn't have much time, he decided to imitate Yu Xiangling's methods. Cao Yun got to their Po and used his 'Living Death'. Although this technique was meant to turn his own Po into Death Energy, Cao Yun was able to turn a small part of their Po into Death Energy. As soon as it happened, the soldiers were unable to defend themselves as they couldn't control their souls as well as Cao Yun. The corruption began to spread and their Po completely turned into Death Energy.

Before the soldiers could try to send their Soul Embryos out of their bodies, Cao Yun's seven Turbid Demons blocked the major acupoints used for that. Their Soul Embryos were trapped within bodies that were literally beginning to rot under the effects of their Po turned into Death Energy. In the sky, three soldiers were rotting. This sight sent shivers of terror in the hearts of the other soldiers. But before Cao Yun could do anything more, Yan Huoling was on him.

'Palm Seal of the Orchid Sun'!

Her palms struck Cao Yun together. Her fingers were pointed toward each other as she sent her two palms forward. Even if Cao Yun wanted to dodge, the other three commandants were blocking his path and were also striking with the same technique. From each palm, a large petal made out of purple fire appeared. This flame was purple at the base but ended up being white at the extremity. As the palms approached Cao Yun, he could feel the air itself being burned into nothingness. The white parts of the flames were leaving only a vacuum behind them. If those palms connected with each other, Cao Yun would be trapped once more. With his cultivation, he was confident he could survive, but his injuries would be too severe, he might be forced to flee or even die in the fight.

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Even his 'Azure Dragon's Seven Piercing Stars' was useless to defend himself as the winds he would summon would only make the flames stronger. Despite his Rune of Fire cowering before this powerful flame, Cao Yun decided to use his own mastery over fire. From his body, the Black Heart Flame spread. It suddenly expanded and coiled all around Cao Yun's body as well as his spear. Instead of going directly against Yan Huoling or even the other three commandants, Cao Yun identified the weakest point of their battle formation.

'Son of Heaven's Chariot Tramples the Nine Skies'!

Stabbing with his spear, he exerted all of his strength to pierce through the attack. The black flames were surrounding the war chariot that appeared. It collided with the extremities of two palms as it tried to break through the encirclement. A terrifying explosion occurred. Cao Yun himself was almost blown away but he used all of his strength to stand firm. However, it delayed him for too long. Yan Huoling's palms reached him. As they struck his back, Cao Yun's robe was almost instantly turned into dust. The pain was unbearable but Cao Yun had been able to break the battle formation's rhythm. Yan Huoling's strike was the first and only one to reach him. Using the strike itself, Cao Yun propelled himself and broke through the battle formation.

Although his back was charred with some of his muscles and even bones visible to the naked eye, Cao Yun didn't relent. He immediately attacked the closest commandant who was suffering from a small backlash because of the previous explosion.

'Fish in the Galaxy'!

Cao Yun threw his spear. The sky turned into a sea of stars and his spear took the shape of a black elongated fish with some dragon features such as its scales. The fish swallowed the commandant as the spear pierced his Upper Dantian. His head exploded but not a single drop of blood touched the ground as the Black Heart Flame devoured all of his body.

Before the spear came back to Cao Yun, hundreds of swords flew toward Cao Yun. Thousands of swords were all around the burning flower, trapping the other soldiers within. Now that Yan Huoling and her commandants were out, Cao Yun had closed his trap on the other soldiers. They were trapped by his wall of deadly energies that was still pressing against the fiery flower even now. As soon as Yan Huoling was killed, her soldiers would have no chance at all. Cao Yun would pick them off very easily, and they knew it. Thankfully for them, they were not helpless little things. Even without their general, they had perfect coordination so they began to adapt their battle formation. If they were able to break through, they could support their general and they had a chance to win, even against a 9th-grade Accomplished Demon.

'War Banner of the Imperial Solar Orchid'!

Yan Huoling wasn't even delayed by the death of her commandant. Seeing her act, the other two immediately knew what they had to do. This technique was the ultimate move of the 'Imperial Flame Banner Sutra'. Within the fiery flower, all the soldiers recognized it as well. Although Cao Yun had never seen this technique, he could feel something extremely frightening from it. The seed on Yan Huoling suddenly bloomed. All of Yan Huoling's body turned into pure flames, her blood, her organs, her meridians, everything was made out of flames and nourished the orchid seed. Myriads of colors flashed.

The other two commandants also burned everything they had, going so far as to burn their very souls and Soul Embryos. They became fuel for the Solar-Orchid Flame. All around Cao Yun, the heat increased dramatically. In an instant, he felt as though he was in the heart of a star. Although he needed Yan Huoling's soul intact, he wasn't thinking about it at all. Despite his shallow knowledge of the Dao of Space, Cao Yun could tell that this heat was altering space all around him. Even if he wanted to fly away, he couldn't. In fact, he had also lost his connection with all the array formations he had set up, he was completely isolated.

For the very first time, Cao Yun was convinced that he could actually die with one move. After all, this technique required the sacrifice of several Spirit Warriors, it had to be incredibly powerful.

The blooming seed left Yan Huoling's forehead. She delicately grabbed it in both hands joined by their heels, as though she was scooping water. Finally, she sent both palms toward Cao Yun. Both palms were vertical, with the orchid seed was levitating between them slightly forward. As she struck, all the energy contained within the blooming seed erupted and went straight toward Cao Yun. All of the energy in the air, and the air itself, was completely burned to nothingness. Countless colors were vibrating within this flame. Unlike the Black Heart Flame, this Solar-Orchid Flame was full of life.

Cao Yun fought back with his own mastery of fire. With all of his strength, he struck with his palms covered in the Black Heart Flame. As the two flames collided, Cao Yun could tell that his was weaker. The young man began to turn more and more of his Po into Death Energy in an attempt to feed his Black Heart Flame, but it was still growing weaker and weaker. The Solar-Orchid Flame was quite literally devouring his Black Heart Flame. Death was being suppressed by life itself, unbridled and violent life. It was a life that would spread and consume everything in a giant feast of the senses. Nothing could ever stop it.

Cao Yun's flesh was starting to catch on fire as the heat was getting higher and higher. Soon, it wouldn't be the Solar-Orchid Flame that would kill him, but the mere heat emanating from it as it was devouring his own Black Heart Flame. On the other hand, Yan Huoling was also in a terrible situation. The only thing remaining of her was her Soul Embryo protecting her soul within. Everything else had been turned into fire in order to feed the orchid seed and force its blooming. She could feed her soul to the seed, but without her soul to control the attack, the seed would just burn everything in all directions. Not only would it kill her own men, it might allow her enemy to escape. Indeed, even with all of this strength focused solely on him, Cao Yun could resist much longer than she had anticipated. If she stopped focusing it, he would clearly be able to escape alive. Such a threat had to be destroyed, no matter what. He might actually kill Emperor Weide if left unchecked.

Even without his spear in hand, Cao Yun circulated his Spear Heart. Around the palms holding the fire of the Solar-Orchid Flame, the shape of a spear appeared. The Black Heart Flame slowly took the appearance of the 'Tainted Heavenly Pillar'. However, it was faltering as the brimming flame was slowly devouring this dark fire. Cao Yun was pouring everything he could in this move. He didn't just want to survive, he also wanted to take Yan Huoling's soul to steal her memories.

'Dragon General of the South Obeys the Celestial Mandate'!