Emperor Lixing was extremely pleased with Cao Yun's demonstration of power. Besides, it wasn't even intentional, which proved to everyone that he was even more powerful than that. Looking around, she could see the few demon lords she had invited. Even the Silver Wolf Marshal was clearly impressed and slightly frightened. Despite the immense joy and satisfaction brewing inside her, Emperor Lixing stayed stolid. No emotion could be read on her face, not even by the wisest cultivators present. To be fair, the few cultivators who could have read a trace of emotion on her face were too busy admiring Cao Yun. After all, one of them was Feng Yingyue.
Although Cao Yun didn't necessarily want to show off, Emperor Lixing had asked him to be a bit theatrical. It was good for the morale of the Hongchen Kingdom and very effective at keeping the demons in check. Now that he was feeling his new cultivation realm, he had to admit to himself that he did want to show off a little. To be more precise, he wanted to use his spear and his martial arts.
For a bit more than twenty years, Cao Yun had honed his skills. Because he had decided to let his Soul Embryo heal on its own, he had not cultivated that much, if at all. However, he had worked a lot on his understanding of the spear.
By now, his 'Azure Dragon's Seven Piercing Stars' had fully merged with 'Three Storms' into 'Azure Dragon Through the Seven Storms'. Besides, he had even added a lot of his 'Axiu Qian's Blood Wrath' and 'Weeping Demon'. It was hard to tell how far his martial arts had progressed. Even in public demonstrations, he had never gone all-out in order to protect his Soul Embryo at all costs. Despite restraining himself, he had still brought fear into the hearts of his enemies. Today, he might actually be able to let his martial arts express themselves fully.
From his spatial ring, he took out not only his 'Dark Abyss Wrathful Serpent Spear', but also his 'Ebony Feathers' and 'Azure Scales', a thousand and eighty flying swords. Immediately, his aura changed. Everyone was seeing a sharp weapon covered in blood. Although Cao Yun wasn't letting any killing intent out, they could all smell the scent of fresh blood. The cultivators who were more familiar with a spear could sense their hearts and souls stir. There was absolutely no doubt at all. Cao Yun had mastered the Spear Spirit. In fact, he wasn't very far off from the Spear Soul.
Among the crowd, Ren Chao was particularly proud. His 'Dark Abyss Wrathful Serpent Spear' had become Cao Yun's spiritual weapon. Through Cao Yun's work with the spear and understanding of the spear, the Ebony Snake Dragon inside had turned into an actual spirit. Ren Chao had altered the weapon a little over the years. Now it actually was a spiritual weapon. However, Cao Yun had kept it in his spatial ring until this very day. The spirit was lacking in intelligence, it was akin to a newborn unable to think coherently, if it could even think at all. That being said, the mere presence of a spirit made the weapon more powerful. Moreover, it was extremely intimate with Cao Yun. Now, it was as if the spear was an extension of Cao Yun's very soul, not just his body.
In the sky, the seven stars of the Azure Dragon appeared. Almost immediately, they turned into the seven constellations Cao Yun had cultivated. Behind the sect leader, the flying swords were forming several circles, creating a halo.
Suddenly, Cao Yun flew faster than ever before. Even the most powerful cultivators almost lost him for an instant. If he had been hiding his presence, no one could have seen where he had gone. However, he had only flown straight up to get higher. After all, he didn't want to injure the crowd or damage anything. As such, he flew so high that a few weaker cultivators couldn't even see him. What they saw was his martial arts!
The sky stayed clear but lightning and thunder exploded. The lightning was extremely strange as it appeared to be made of ice. The thunder melded into the sound of hooves. A large chariot pulled by dragon-like horses charged across the sky. Then, the sky turned into ice. It was as if everything above the crowd was a frozen lake. The next instant, it exploded into countless shards that got swallowed by a huge tornado. Lightning, wind, and ice were all merged into this incredible catastrophe. Inside the tornado, the cultivators could sense an ancient and terrifying presence.
Large claws burst out of the tornado and grabbed it as though it were solid, despite the tornado rotating so fast that many cultivators would have been torn apart by simply touching it. Finally, a huge azure dragon coiled itself around the tornado. Only a few cultivators could see Cao Yun within the tornado. The sect leader was still going through his spear routine. At last, he unleashed an actual attack. It appeared to be a simple stabbing motion. But it was much more than that. No expert could find any flaw or imperfection within it. That didn't actually mean that it was perfect, only that no one could discern that it wasn't, apart from Cao Yun himself.
Thankfully, Cao Yun unleashed this stabbing motion in the sky. Otherwise, the Wubei Sect would have been damaged, and people in the crowd would have died. Even Sun Liao's defenses would not have protected everything and everyone. Some would have probably even collapsed. To be fair, the array formations were still a bit damaged and still under repair.
In the direction of Cao Yun's attack, all the clouds were pierced. In the sky, the crowd could literally see a huge hole going from Cao Yun's attack into the distance. No one could see where it had stopped. If anyone from the crowd had been in the way, they would have died on the spot. Only a handful could have dodged in time. For the Silver Wolf Marshal, it was clear that Cao Yun could now kill him with ease. With his Six Fangs Generals, they might have a chance. But, honestly, even he wasn't so sure of that. Cao Yun wasn't as terrifying as Demon God Da Mo at the moment, but he was clearly getting there. If he somehow had to fight the Hongchen Kingdom again, he wasn't convinced he would win. In fact, even if he won, he would probably lose his life and most of his men and kingdom. In other words, war had to be avoided at all costs. Although he knew this was Emperor Lixing's goal, he had to admit the truth.
This was only one attack. Cao Yun wasn't done. Although demons and outsiders were watching, Cao Yun decided to go all-out. After all, nobody could steal his martial arts or even see through them. For close to an hour, Cao Yun demonstrated his spearmanship. After the initial terror had passed, everyone was simply excited. This was incredible. In fact, this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Even though they couldn't see through Cao Yun's martial arts, simply being exposed to it could give them insights. Few cultivators would actually be able to benefit from it. All the others were just enjoying an amazing show. Usually, they could only see it on a battlefield. No one present wanted to see those moves on a battlefield, as they could imagine how violent and brutal it would be when used in an actual fight.
When Cao Yun had enjoyed himself to his heart's content, he stopped. The sky was lacerated by Cao Yun's attacks. There were actual pieces of frozen lightning floating in the air. The clouds had been pierced and slashed. The entire sky above the Wubei Sect now looked like a giant painting, a surreal painting. As a matter of fact, a few artists would actually paint the sky. Of course, other painters would add things. In a matter of years, this painting would have a life of its own and Cao Yun's incredible performance would be made even more amazing, earth-shattering, and heaven-defying.
Anyway, Cao Yun was finally done. So he addressed the crowd.
"This humble Sect Leader thanks all of you for your presence. I hope this young one didn't embarrass himself too much in front of so many old experts and wise cultivators. Our Wubei Sect is happy to have you all. Emperor Lixing honored us all with her presence. We also extend our respects to the honorable Silver Wolf Marshal Shanyin Guan. We sincerely hope that Emperor Lixing and Silver Wolf Marshal Shanyin Guan can work together toward peace. The Hongchen Kingdom and the demon territories have no reason to spill each other's blood. Too much tragedy has already struck us all through the deceptive traitor Da Mo. Our Wubei Sect only seeks peace and the survival of our Hongchen Kingdom.
"This humble Sect Leader will entertain you all with tea and pleasantries later. Unfortunately, this young one is still inexperienced and needs to meditate on the mediocre insights this one gained today. Please, excuse this one, but do enjoy yourselves. Our Wubei Sect will modestly offer you hospitality."
While he was speaking to the crowd, Cao Yun asked his wife and kids to meet him in his private chambers through telepathic messages. No one even noticed his use of spiritual senses. He had been able to simply send a small part of his soul directly into their minds. Unless one was directly on the path, they wouldn't be able to feel anything. Only very powerful cultivators could feel a slight disturbance in the environment. After all, even telepathic messages had to go through space, and thus disturbed natural energies.
Of course, the festivities of the Wubei Sect were incredible. Wang Mei herself had worked on them. In fact, she was among the performers. Although she had aged, she still looked as young and beautiful as when Ren Chao had met her. To be truthful, she was even more beautiful, as she had an air of maturity to her that she didn't have before. Even her movements and voice were more charming. Every man, and even every woman, fell under her charm. The few cultivators who were still frightened by Cao Yun's performance soon forgot everything about it and enjoyed themselves. Of course, no one tried to be indecent or disrespectful in any way, not even the few demons who weren't particularly known for their restraint. To be fair, they would have been chastised, and probably slaughtered, by their lord before anyone from the Wubei Sect could do anything to them. Being an enemy of the Wubei Sect was a surer way to die than to cut off one's own head.
While the festivities were taking place, Cao Yun, Feng Yingyue, and their children, Cao Yanmei, Cao Sheng, and Cao Bei, were all in the Sect Leader's chambers. The children were kneeling on the floor in front of their parents, who were sitting on two thrones.
"Congratulations to Father."
All three children spoke as one. There was genuine excitement and joy in their voices. Unfortunately for them, their parents were able to read absolutely all their emotions. As such, they had never been able to hide anything throughout their childhood. However, Cao Yun and Feng Yingyue had been smart enough not to force some things out of them. More often than not, it was better to let them figure things out on their own rather than to confront them and force them to tell them everything. After all, they had to be able to deal with the real world on their own. Moreover, they had to feel a form of autonomy and independence. Still, knowing that they were completely transparent to their parents wasn't a good feeling.
"Thank you. I mean it sincerely. Thank you all for coming. It's been a few years since we've all been together like this. I hope we can talk some more. Since I've actually had a few insights, I'll have to meditate a lot. As such, we might not be able to see each other for a few years, maybe even more. I won't push you, but I would like to hear what's going on in your lives."
Cao Sheng was the first one to talk. Clearly, he had absolutely nothing to hide. In fact, he had far too much to say. He went into details about his current situation. For more than an hour, he talked about his adventures and how he was doing with the army. They had hunted a few demonic beasts and even fought a couple of skirmishes against demons without known affiliation to a demon kingdom, most likely former mercenaries or soldiers who were idle and restless after the war.
Although it was a bit long, they could all feel the passion in Cao Sheng. In fact, he reminded them all of Ren Chao a little. To be fair, he wasn't as naive as Ren Chao, but he was still a bit similar. Cao Sheng's talk, even though it was about violence and battles, made the atmosphere warmer.
When she found an opening, Cao Yanmei finally talked.
"Father, Mother, I have to admit to something."
Of course, they already knew what she was talking about, but they let her express it herself.
"I met a young man. We've spent a lot of time together and got to know each other intimately. I would like to introduce him to you. I... We are thinking about getting married."
Cao Sheng was surprised, not Cao Bei, nor were Cao Yun and Feng Yingyue. In fact, they had already agreed to this relationship. The young man in question was a member of another martial sect. It wasn't very powerful, to be honest. In fact, it had been founded less than a century ago by the young man's mother. That being said, they had fought during the war and lost many disciples. However, they had earned prestige. It wasn't powerless, but it was still rather weak, despite their best efforts. Cao Yun had secretly made sure that this relationship wasn't about using his name through his daughter to help their sect. When he was sure that the young man was sincere, Cao Yun agreed and simply waited for his daughter to tell him.
Finally, only Cao Bei had not talked. Cao Yun and Feng Yingyue knew that he was ashamed of something. Sadly, he had always caused trouble, despite their best efforts. Thankfully, he had never gone too far and had agreed to take responsibility. To be fair, his parents didn't leave him a choice anyway.