Xiao Xuefeng was extremely surprised by Cao Yun. Even though she knew he was here, she had failed to sense him. Of course, she had not used all of her abilities, but even if she had, finding his precise location would be difficult. At most, she could probably just tell that something was amiss without being able to put her finger on what it was. On one hand, she was genuinely impressed by Cao Yun's progress. On the other hand, she was terrified that such a technique could allow a middle Spirit Warrior to escape her notice. If malevolent cultivators had this ability, this would become a huge issue.
Anyway, she didn't let her fear spoil this reunion. The moment Cao Yun revealed himself, she appeared in his small room. More than a decade had passed since they had met and many things had happened. She remembered how she had found him near the Wubei Sect. The young man remembered too. Without her, he might have actually died before reaching the Wubei Sect. Since that day, she had always helped him. Spirit Master Xiao Xuefeng was among the few who knew his secrets. However, even now, he was wondering whether he should tell her everything.
First of all, Cao Yun had made a pact with Dian Mo not to reveal his presence. Of course, Dian Mo had allowed Cao Yun to reveal it to Sect Leader Xuan, so he had no reason to keep it from Xiao Xuefeng either. Now that Dian Mo had abandoned any malicious intent toward Cao Yun, he wasn't afraid of being discovered by those elders, knowing they genuinely cared for Cao Yun. What Cao Yun was worried about was his asura cultivation. For a very long time, he had concealed the Drop of Wrath. As he was about to meet Xiao Xuefeng, he had wondered whether he should tell her or not. Indeed, if things didn't go as he expected, he would be forced to use his asura cultivation against Emperor Weide. It might be better to reveal everything so his own allies wouldn't turn against him at the last moment.
Seeing Xiao Xuefeng, Cao Yun felt a warm sensation throughout his body. A wave of nostalgia hit him. Soon, he would see Feng Yingyue again. Cao Yun surprised himself with this thought. Indeed, the first thing he saw in his mind was Feng Yingyue's face. For a very long time, he had been focused on his sister and on survival. But now that he was so close to Feng Yingyue, a powerful longing invaded him and he could barely wait another second. Honestly, he had a hard time sorting through his feelings.
Anyway, Cao Yun cupped his fists and bowed before Spirit Master Xiao Xuefeng.
A radiant smile appeared on the woman's face. She slightly bowed in return.
"Chen Guo, when I heard about you from Sect Leader Xuan, I wondered if it was really true... Seeing you well and alive, and very well at that, fills me with emotions. I already warned your sworn sister and your Dao partner. They're both expecting you at any moment now."
Although Xiao Xuefeng was spreading her spiritual senses all around the room, and even the entire inn, she still decided to use Cao Yun's fake name. Before they got into a secluded room with many protective array formations, they couldn't talk about important matters. However, seeing Mei Hua and Feng Yingyue was an important matter, at least on a personal level.
Cao Yun gladly followed Xiao Xuefeng to the Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute. With her rank and her cultivation, it was very easy for her to let Cao Yun in without anyone else noticing his presence. Not even Director Hua Fenfei was alerted to Cao Yun's entrance. Of course, Xiao Xuefeng would tell her later. Although she had kept Cao Yun's secrets for herself, she trusted her sister with some information. As long as Xiao Xuefeng vouched for her, Cao Yun had no problem with the Director knowing he was here. Besides, he would probably need her help too.
His visit to this great alchemy institute wasn't just to meet old friends. Now that he had the corpse of the Nine-Headed Bird of Chu, he intended to make pills with its materials. Considering that the pills he had in mind were all Spirit-level pills, he would need help from the only two women on the entire Piaolu planet who had refined a Spirit pill throughout the Forsaken Dao Era. Moreover, the help of the institute would make his goals much easier to attain.
First of all, Xiao Xuefeng led Cao Yun into a room protected by many layers of array formations. Once again, those array formations, at least some of them, bore the mark of his brother. Undoubtedly, Sun Liao had been there. This triggered Cao Yun's very first question.
"Spirit Master Xiao, do you know anything about Brother Sun's whereabouts?"
"Unfortunately, I can't say for sure. He was still in our institute three weeks ago but he left. Your brother is too useful for his own good. The Hongchen Kingdom keeps moving him around, both to protect him, and to have him perform for them. Honestly, I feel like half, if not more, of all array formations defending our kingdom are from him. Of course, he didn't set them all up, but he helped improve and maintain them all. Some people think he might actually be able to set up a Spirit array formation from scratch. But his cultivation is a bit lacking for the moment."
"His cultivation?"
"Yes, he did become a Spirit Warrior not too long ago. But it was too fast. Of course, it's not as fast as yours... However, his cultivation was a bit unstable for a time so he didn't make much progress. Rest assured. I've seen him and his cultivation is not shaky at all, and he didn't squander his future progress. It simply was a bit shaky because he focused too much on array formations. To be fair, his array formations will probably help him cultivate even faster than you at some point. I'll show you some of his array formations later, you'll see what I mean."
In order to cultivate, array formations were better than pills as they didn't leave any toxins within the body. However, they often produced inferior results. Cao Yun was fully aware of it since he was used to meditating within array formations of his own creation. Obviously, he was interested in seeing his brother's work.
"What about Mei Hua?"
"I know that it's important, but we can discuss all that later. For now, I think that we should talk about more urgent matters. When you got taken by the spatial storm, I couldn't quite make out what you said, but... I had my suspicions, and they have grown more and more recently. It was about Yong Ke, right? Emperor Weide's daughter?"
In an instant, Cao Yun switched back to a more detached and serious character.
"Yes! Yong Ke is not Emperor Weide's daughter. She's my sister Cao Huiying. And he plans to sacrifice her in order to absorb her Soul Embryo and somehow break the curse of the Forsaken Dao Era. With his Soul Embryo, he thinks he might be able to actually become a Sage, maybe even more."
Xiao Xuefeng listened to the entire story of Cao Yun. This time, he decided not to hide anything. Indeed, he went all-out. Not only did he talk about Dian Mo and reveal him, he also exposed the Drop of Wrath, Cleansed Asura, his asura cultivation, and what he had done in the Desolate Sepulcher. After a few hours of conversation, Xiao Xuefeng knew every major event that had ever happened to Cao Yun.
By the end, Cao Yun even talked about slaughtering the entirety of the 5th Imperial Brocade Guards. He went as far as exposing their memories and his own doubts as well. Even Cao Yun was surprised. In his sea of consciousness, Dian Mo asked the boy whether this was wise but he paid no heed to the spirit's caution. A dam had broken and Cao Yun couldn't stop himself. Somehow, he felt extremely safe in Xiao Xuefeng's presence, but it was something else. Yes, he had to appease his conscience. Deep down, Cao Yun was still full of doubts about his own actions. In fact, he even found himself wondering if his very survival was a mistake.
Xiao Xuefeng didn't react at all during Cao Yun's entire monologue. The young man talked for more than ten hours straight. Most of his words were purely factual, but she could also sense a lot of emotions and questions woven into those events. In front of her, Cao Yun had a lot of thoughts, and a lot of guilt. From time to time, she would show a tinge of emotion but she would immediately conceal it. To be fair, Cao Yun could have read those emotions if he had been focused, but his mind was a blur. By the end, even he wasn't sure what he had told her or forgotten. He didn't want to hide anything, but some things might have just slipped his mind.
Although he was now clearly an adult, Cao Yun looked like a kid in Xiao Xuefeng's eyes. Instead of saying anything, she got closer to him and simply hugged the young man.
"You went through a lot. And even more torments await you. I'm sorry... I wish I had all the answers, but I don't. I can only tell you that the Hongchen Kingdom has wronged you beyond forgiveness. Cao Yun, you don't have to carry such a burden on your shoulders. I swear that I will do everything I can to help you save your sister. The Cao family, and the Shui family, have suffered enough."
As her voice filled his ears like a melody, all of Cao Yun's tension disappeared. Although he still had a lot of thoughts and questions, they weren't at the forefront of his mind. For now, he simply wanted some calm and quiet. He wanted to see his sworn sister. Above all else, he wanted to see his Dao companion, the very first woman he had known intimately.
"Cao Yun, it is not my place, but I do think you should talk sincerely to Feng Yingyue. You shouldn't worry about other matters for now. I'll go to Director Hua Fenfei and we'll talk about what our Institute is going to do. Please, trust me. I won't do anything to bring you any more harm. Should my Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute not support you, I will support you. Your sister will support you. Your Dao companion will support you. Many people trust you, you should also trust them in return. Although Emperor Weide betrayed the trust of the Cao family, it doesn't mean that the entire Hongchen Kingdom betrayed you."
"I know... And I'm still ready to give my life for..."
"No! Don't be ready to give your life for anything. Be ready to fight, but survive, live on and keep fighting. Never surrender to death. Anyway, I'll bring you to your Dao companion."
Xiao Xuefeng's tone shifted for a moment. Clearly, she didn't want Cao Yun to die. The young man didn't ask her what had prompted such intense emotions in her. Everyone had a past. It wasn't his right to pry any further. Just because he had confided his innermost secrets to her didn't mean he was expecting her to do the same.
Once their conversation was over, she opened the secluded room and stopped the array formations. Indeed, they were consuming a lot of energy. As she was about to lead Cao Yun to Feng Yingyue, she spotted someone else. Not too far from the room, quite a large man was talking to a few young disciples. The contrast was stark. Indeed, those five young women were absolutely perfect with voluptuous forms and radiant smiles. On the other hand, the man was fat and not that good-looking. However, he had a strange aura around him. He was extremely confident and exuded a kind of charm that was difficult to explain. This was Song Guixiang, the disciple of Hua Fenfei and thus the brother of Feng Yingyue.
Seeing the fat young man, Xiao Xuefeng cleared her throat loud enough for him to hear. As soon as they saw Xiao Xuefeng, the five young women lost their color and bowed deeply. Then, they quickly ran away. On the other hand, Song Guixiang was disappointed. He had already imagined a few days of pleasure with those beauties... Unfortunately, he couldn't disregard Xiao Xuefeng. Although his status was high, it wasn't that high. Besides, he didn't want Xiao Xuefeng to tell Hua Fenfei what she had just seen. His master could forbid him from wine, or meat, or women. The mere thought filled him with terror.
"This humble one greets Spirit Master Xiao Xuefeng."
Then he saw Cao Yun with her. Although he had no idea who he was, he was smart enough to guess that he had a much higher status than his own. Besides, he could estimate that this man was even younger than he was, but he was already a middle Spirit Warrior. Many guesses went through Song Guixiang's mind, but he didn't want to use the wrong name, so he refrained from trying to appear smart.
"This humble one greets our esteemed guest."
"No need to grovel, I have more urgent matters to discuss with Director Hua than your womanizing. That being said, if you bring harm to any woman within my Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute, you won't have to worry about your master forbidding you from women, ever again."
"Spirit Master, you wrong me. I would never hurt a charming lady. I can assure you that not a single one of them would ever complain..."
"Humph...! While I have you, you will bring my guest to your sister. She's expecting him. And be proper."
Suddenly, Song Guixiang had his answer. This young man was his sister Feng Yingyue's Dao companion. At this very moment, Song Guixiang's gaze changed. He was examining Cao Yun much more closely. Since Cao Yun didn't sense any hostility, but rather mere curiosity, in his eyes, he didn't mind. Very quickly, Song Guixiang realized that he was being a bit too rude and controlled himself.
"I'm sorry, esteemed guest. I will bring you to my sister right away. I am sure that you have many things to discuss, and to do..."
Xiao Xuefeng left Cao Yun in Song Guixiang's hands. Despite his bad habits, he was very capable.