While those events were unfolding in the demon territory, many other things were happening elsewhere on the Piaolu planet.
In the Desolate Sepulcher, the Sisters of the Abyss were reigning supreme. The slave trade was completely over, and a modicum of peace and order had been restored. High Mother Lisha had followed Cao Yun's orders with the help of Lord Wanghuo. To be fair, Lord Wanghuo had mostly just stayed out of her affairs. Without his intervention, she had accomplished everything she had set out to do and then some. The tribes of the Crimson Ashes Basin had been fully recognized by the Nalupu Kingdom and the Xinian Confederation. There were still some political tensions and discussions, but the Sisters of the Abyss were acting as mediators. As such, there wasn't much bloodshed.
High Mother Lisha received new orders from Cao Yun. Although she was officially the absolute religious leader, she had Cao Yun's seals in her. Like most of the Mothers and all the Senior Mothers, she had to obey him if she wanted to simply stay alive. No matter the distance, Cao Yun could kill her with a thought. Thanks to Sun Liao, Cao Yun had set up an array formation in order to send messages directly into High Mother Lisha's seals.
The Empyrean Asura Theocracy was falling apart, but the demons might need some help from the Nalupu Kingdom. Cao Yun and High Mother Lisha knew that Lord Wanghuo feared the Empyrean Asura, but they also knew he hated this weakness in himself. Hopefully, they could find a way to convince him, but they weren't very optimistic. Lord Wanghuo had lost his edge and was just happy enjoying life as he was. However, if the Sisters of the Abyss could raise the people against Empyrean Asura, Lord Wanghuo would feel the pressure.
In fact, the worst problem was crossing the Divine Blood Ocean. Sending an expedition into God's Land was too perilous. Besides, the Nalupu Kingdom didn't have a gigantic fleet that could send tens of thousands of soldiers. And they couldn't send only the powerful cultivators, as they were necessary in the Desolate Sepulcher. That being said, if a religious leader ordered a holy campaign against the Empyrean Asura Theocracy, it would be a good start.
Those were Cao Yun's orders. The Desolate Sepulcher had to be ready for a campaign if need be. In fact, Cao Yun had already planned for Empyrean Asura's death. The Desolate Sepulcher should only send reinforcements to the demons fighting the remnants of his theocracy, as well as resources to rebuild. In Cao Yun's mind, he was hoping to simply crush the cult of Demon God Da Mo to replace it with a cult of the Weaver of Souls and the Sutra Faith. Of course, other small cults could exist as well, but he wanted to get rid of any religious incentive to kill humans. Given enough time, this should appease the relations with the Hongchen Kingdom.
The Sutra Faith was a good idea, but it might cause tensions as well. Indeed, both humans and demons saw the Wheel Sutra as the word of Buddha Cangjing. Unfortunately, humans thought that Buddha Cangjing was a human, and demons thought that he was an asura from the same land as Demon God Da Mo. Cao Yun was almost certain that it was impossible, but he wasn't certain that he was a human either. In fact, Buddha Cangjing might have never even existed in the first place. However, the fact that the Sutra Faith existed in both cultures was interesting. Still, it might have come from the time when humans and demons were living together as masters and slaves.
Anyway, Cao Yun wanted to limit religious tensions as much as he could. The Weaver of Souls was a much better bet to slowly transition into something else. After all, it wasn't too different from the cult of Demon God Da Mo in its origin. Instead of worshiping one asura, they had to worship another who had been by his side at some point. Anyway, Cao Yun left the actual theology to High Mother Lisha and others. Even the political aspect could be handled by more competent people like Matriarch Huang Cixi. Cao Yun really only handled how to put things in motion with a general goal in mind.
In the Hongchen Kingdom, Cao Yun decided to fly back to the Wubei Sect as fast as possible. As such, he flew on Hongyu's back with his brothers and friends. It barely took them three weeks, just over seventeen days, actually. Everyone was absolutely astonished by Hongyu's speed. Moreover, Cao Yun and Sun Liao were also helping with navigation to avoid array formations and even avoid the places where space was the most chaotic.
Cao Yun had obviously refused to let Emperor Weide ride on Hongyu's back. To be fair, she would have refused anyway. In fact, she might have attacked him, and Cao Yun didn't want that. The same was also true of his brothers and friends. Honestly, Cao Yun himself wasn't sure whether he could fully control his impulses to slaughter that man, but they still needed him. However, as long as he wasn't absolutely necessary, it was a good idea to keep him far away.
Finally, Hongyu reached the Wubei Sect. As they had received Cao Yun's orders, they were already building defenses. The entire sect, inner and outer disciples, was working on improving the entire Wubei Sect. Clearly, they were getting ready for war. Seeing his Wubei Sect like that, it hurt Cao Yun a little. Indeed, he could already see it engulfed in the flames of war, and he had no other solution. Hopefully, most people could be evacuated before the actual fight started. But Cao Yun still didn't like it.
Cao Yun looked at his brother Ren Chao. The burly man was also very tense. His family was living in the Wubei Sect. His entire life was in the Wubei Sect. Thus, Cao Yun knew how painful it should be for his brother. Unfortunately, he really couldn't think of another solution. This was a huge risk, but they had no better way of dealing with Demon God Da Mo's Demon Soul.
Hongyu directly flew over the Wubei Sect and landed near the residence of Ren Chao. Wang Mei was waiting for Ren Chao with their kids. They had grown a lot since their departure. After all, they were still young, so they changed rapidly. Everyone could tell that Ren Chao was emotional. At first, he tried to hide it and act stoic. But it immediately fell apart as he grabbed his kids in his huge arms and hugged his wife.
Cao Yun didn't want to disturb him, but he didn't want to lose any time at all. As such, he left his brothers behind and flew toward Sect Leader Xuan Mu on Hongyu. Although flying was strictly supervised, Cao Yun had almost every right as the Young Sect Master. Besides, the circumstances were very peculiar.
By the time Cao Yun arrived at the Sect Palace, all Chief Elders had been summoned. Cao Yun was sitting to the right of Sect Leader Xuan Mu.
"Esteemed Chief Elders, the current time is dire for our Wubei Sect and for our Hongchen Kingdom. In order to uphold our dignity, honor, and principles, we will be forced to endure much more than what we have already suffered. Please, listen to Young Sect Master Cao Yun."
Everyone now knew the entire history of Cao Yun and his family. Of course, they didn't know the actual role of Emperor Weide in this tragedy, though. And Cao Yun had no reason to tell them, especially not considering the fact that Emperor Weide would be useful in his plans.
"Chief Elders, the defenses of Emperor Nuwa fell before the onslaught of Empyrean Asura. However, she also weakened him with the last shred of strength she had left to protect us. At any moment, the Empyrean Asura Theocracy could march on our Hongchen Kingdom. Despite the civil unrest among demons, we cannot protect all the borders of our Hongchen Kingdom, we would simply crumble under the sheer number of demons.
"As such, we only have one road to survival, to victory. We must cut the head of the monster. The Huang family confirms that the demon kingdoms are revolting. Soon, they'll go back to pure chaos, and no one will be able to lead them against us. As we speak, the Huang family and spies of our Hongchen Kingdom are working hard to fashion the future of the demon kingdoms so that the miracle of the Seven Treaties will seem weak in comparison. However, Empyrean Asura could annihilate all our efforts.
"So we must lure Empyrean Asura away from his seat of power and slay the tyrant. Unfortunately, there is only one path that leads to such a victory. There is only one thing that would lure him where we need him. And this thing cannot be moved. I imagine that some of you have already guessed what I'm talking about..."
Indeed, the Chief Elders had been there that night almost a decade ago. They all realized what Cao Yun was talking about.
"We will use Demon God Da Mo's reformed body to lure Empyrean Asura here. I can unseal the body and let its aura reach Empyrean Asura. Then, we will have to make our last stand here. The Wubei Sect will be the spear that will pierce the demon and slay the tyrant. I won't lie. Our Wubei Sect will suffer more than it has ever suffered. It's impossible to know how many demons will attack us. My guess is that Empyrean Asura will be hasty and come here as fast as he can. Hopefully, he won't be able to bring many forces, especially considering the current state of the demon kingdoms. However, it's impossible to know for sure.
"We will face undetermined forces with an unknown number of Accomplished Demons. And if we fail, not only will we perish, but we will also deliver the entire Hongchen Kingdom to the most powerful demon since Demon God Da Mo himself. The body under the Devil's Jail is a powerful Reborn Demon, close to an actual Immortal Demon.
"If any of you have any better idea, I will be glad to consider it. However, time is running out, and we must act. The Empyrean Asura Theocracy is at its weakest, we can't delay for too long."
The Chief Elders were all painfully aware of the situation. Even those who didn't like Cao Yun's suggestions had to admit that they had no better solution. Chief Elder Lümian spoke first.
"Young Sect Master, if we use that cursed body, we have to consider whose soul is trapped inside."
Everyone remembered the traitor, former Chief Elder Luoming Tian, also known as Mo Tian. Even now, his Soul Embryo was trapped inside the body he had awakened. Cao Yun had been able to seal it under the Devil's Jail, the former Empyrean Human Emperor Seal. If Mo Tian were to break free, he would become a threat as big a threat as, if not much bigger than, Empyrean Asura himself. Letting him out was also extremely dangerous.
"Chief Elder Lümian, I have already spoken with Mo Tian. I will visit him again. He knows that there is no way for him to leave this seal. If we can offer an escape, he will take it. However, I am not naive enough to ignore the possibility that he would break his word and betray us again. In fact, it is something I fully expect. Hopefully, he won't, but we'll have to keep that in mind.
"If my plan is successful, we won't have to fully unseal the body. Our goal is to lure in Empyrean Asura. We don't need to free the body itself. In fact, the best outcome would be if we can force Empyrean Asura's Demon Soul into the body and then seal it in Mo Tian's stead. For Mo Tian, we already found a place where we'll be able to place his Soul Embryo, and he agreed."
Chief Elder Baishen suddenly stood up. She had guessed where they planned on putting Mo Tian's Soul Embryo. Staring at Cao Yun, one could see the pain in her eyes.
"Yes, we'll place Mo Tian's Soul Embryo inside the Palace of Supreme Wisdom, where Chief Elder Suxian Zheng's Soul Embryo already resides."
All Chief Elders were silent. Chief Elder Suxian and Mo Tian had been friends for a very long time. But, in the end, Mo Tian had betrayed and even assassinated Chief Elder Suxian. Chief Elder Suxian's Soul Embryo had been saved and was now residing within the Palace of Supreme Wisdom. Unfortunately, he couldn't leave it as it would make the Palace of Supreme Wisdom impossible to use for the Wubei Sect. On the other hand, this prison of his was allowing him to live longer without a body. Unfortunately, he would never live nearly as long as Dian Mo, who was a spirit born from the array formation itself, but it would extend his lifespan a bit.
If Mo Tian's Soul Embryo was put in the Palace of Supreme Wisdom, no one could tell for sure what would happen. He might actually take over all the array formations of the Wubei Sect if left alone. As such, there would need to be someone to stop him, namely Chief Elder Suxian. In other words, there would never be any way for them to free Chief Elder Suxian's Soul Embryo from this prison. In fact, there were many problems with this plan.
As they were thinking about it, the Chief Elders found more and more problems with Cao Yun's proposal. However, Sect Leader Xuan Mu stopped all their thoughts.
"Chief Elders, you're already thinking about the consequences of victory, while we have no certainty whether our Hongchen Kingdom will endure a day more. We do not have any better plan at the moment. If one of you has any idea, you are welcome to suggest it. If not, we cannot lose any more time. Our entire Wubei Sect must get ready for this battle. I will personally attempt my Greater Tribulation, assisted by Young Sect Master Cao. With what we've learned from Matriarch Huang's breakthrough, I am confident in my success. If any one of you comes up with any good suggestions by the time I've become a Sage, I will hear them. Otherwise, we'll have to go with Young Sect Master Cao's proposal."
Immediately, the Chief Elders thought about their Sect Leader becoming a Sage. It eclipsed everything else, as Sect Leader Xuan had hoped.