For a few days, Cao Yun barely left his room. Feng Yingyue stayed with him almost all the time, simply leaving when someone else visited Cao Yun. She wanted him to enjoy the company of his friends and brothers as much as he could. Sun Liao and Ren Chao were able to visit despite their incredibly busy schedules. Although they tried not to talk about anything pertaining to the conflict, Cao Yun asked questions on the situation. He was recovering, he wasn't dying.
To be fair, Cao Yun himself had not realized in what state he had finished the battle. His brothers had seen his broken body and it had not been a pretty sight at all. Even now, they had a hard time imagining that the young man before their eyes was the same they had seen three months ago on the ground of Heidai Peak. However, when he asked any questions, they answered truthfully and didn't try to sugarcoat the reality and gravity of their current situation.
Even if everyone left was to work on the repairs, it would take at least one to two years. Besides, they didn't have everyone, at all. The reports showed that thousands of disciples had died in the last battle. Moreover, many disciples had also died on other battlefields before that. The Wubei Sect, like almost everyone in the Hongchen Kingdom had lost too many cultivators. It would take at least two to three decades to rebuild. Thankfully, barely any chief elders had died, many were exhausted, injured, or even maimed.
As he heard all those reports, Cao Yun could tell that morale was extremely low. This wasn't limited to the Wubei Sect, even Emperor Lixing had a hard time improving morale. To be fair, mankind had been galvanized by the news of three great heroes breaking through to the Sage realm, only for all of them to be killed in a single battle. Besides, mankind had barely won the fight. Of course, Emperor Lixing had tried to silence anyone, so that the role of the Silver Wolf Marshal would not be known. But it was impossible since the Silver Wolf Marshal and his Six Fangs Generals used it to consolidate their position. Besides, mankind had no real interest to be seen as those who had killed the Heavenly Demon God of all demons on the continent.
Finally, Cao Yun had enough. He had trained for days, just to slowly sit up, then to stand up. He could feel some of his strength coming back to him. Of course, he couldn't do anything extraordinary, but he could move around like a mortal. He could feel a constant discomfort, but almost no pain at all. Feng Yingyue was worried but didn't try to stop it. First of all, she knew that he was stubborn and wouldn't listen to her. More than that, she knew how she would react in his position. Thus, she knew that her trying to stop him would sound shallow, as she wouldn't let anyone stop her either.
The physicians were opposed to it but Cao Yun left his room. When he was sure that he could walk without looking injured or weak, he literally left the Sect Palace. He passed through the Meridian Gate. Then, he walked through the inner yard. All the disciples were busy working and didn't pay him any heed. Cao Yun wasn't even using his stealth. After all, he simply couldn't. However, he seemed so unimportant that he was just an ordinary man in everyone's eyes. The Heidai Peak had suffered a lot. Not only had the array formations been pushed beyond their limits, the peak had physically been damaged. Many buildings had also suffered damage. Ironically, it would have been better if they had outright been destroyed. Since they were just damaged, it was necessary to check whether they could be repaired or if they had to be taken down before they collapsed on people.
Cao Yun saw the fatigue in his disciples. Yes, those were now all his disciples. As the Sect Leader, everyone in the Wubei Sect was under his responsibility. This was a great honor, but also a very serious duty. As long as he would be Sect Leader, he wouldn't shy away from it.
The young man traveled with Feng Yingyue and walked through the Cinnabar Gate. That was the outer yard, with the outer disciple. Honestly, he remembered it much more than the inner yard. Besides, all his best memories of the Wubei Sect had been here. The outer yard was much vaster, as such there was much more damage. Disciples were working everywhere, even servants were helping. Cao Yun reached a makeshift infirmary with many injured disciples. Those injuries had not been caused by the fight but the current repairs. Indeed, buildings did collapse on some disciples who were working in them.
For hours, Cao Yun walked throughout the outer yard. He now had a very complete view of the Wubei Sect's situation. This was exactly as his brothers had told him. Obviously, he had trusted them. But hearing about the situation and seeing it were two different things. He couldn't tell that any bad decisions had been taken, but he still wasn't pleased with the current state of affairs. Priorities had to be changed.
Finally, Cao Yun reached the Shell Gate, the entrance of the Wubei Sect. He was very nostalgic. Suddenly, a wave of emotion hit him. He remembered his entire childhood here. Despite some bad moments, everything seemed great to him. Nostalgia was a powerful thing, indeed.
Anyway, Cao Yun decided to go back to his room with Feng Yingyue and called for a meeting of the chief elders. Since he didn't want it to take them away from their responsibilities for too long, he held an informal meeting, outside the Sect Palace. A formal meeting would have to be organized, but after Cao Yun's inauguration ceremony would have taken place. This future first meeting had to be a special occasion, in order to restore morale. Right now, he was just about to reorganize the efforts of the Wubei Sect.
The chief elders all appeared, even those who were slightly injured or worse. After all, Cao Yun was also in a serious state. However, he really didn't look like it. When the chief elders saw their new Sect Leader, he had a very powerful presence, despite his currently weak cultivation.
It didn't take very long. In fact, this was probably the fastest meeting they had ever held. Indeed, Cao Yun was already certain about his orders. As such, he was extremely efficient. His priorities were to ensure that the disciples had places to rest, dine, and live an actual life amid this chaos. Then, some buildings were important and needed to be checked in order to make sure whether any repairs were necessary. Other buildings were cheap enough that they could be torn down if any hint of danger was detected. As such, this would reduce everyone's workload at the moment. It would later increase expenses and the workload as well, but this would be when everyone had rested, and they would have more time.
Each time he gave commands to a chief elder, Cao Yun asked if they agreed with his assessment, and they did. Thanks to the reports he had read and the tour of the Wubei Sect, Cao Yun's orders were extremely accurate. Moreover, they weren't completely different from what the chief elders were doing already. In fact, he was mainly shifting their priorities slightly. To be honest, he could have done so without gathering anyone, but it was important for them to see that Cao Yun was fully aware of the situation and was supporting them.
"Finally, there is the question of my inauguration. Contrary to Emperor Weide, Sect Leader Xuan has not been properly buried yet. This matter must be settled in the coming month. We will hold a ceremony for his burial at the end of the current month. Then, I will mourn him for twenty-nine days as is customary. And I will officially assume my position on the thirtieth day with a large assembly of all the chief elders, where every disciple will be invited. This is essential for our Wubei Sect."
"But, Young Sect Master, what about Emperor Lixing? I imagine that many officials would like to be present during this ceremony. With such short notice, this is simply impossible. They won't even have two months."
Although Cao Yun had been named Sect Leader, the chief elders had realized that he was technically still only Young Sect Master Cao. At the moment, they had no Sect Leader, even though Cao Yun was acting as Sect Leader.
"I understand your concerns. I will personally write a letter to Emperor Lixing and an edict for the entire Hongchen Kingdom. Considering the current situation, everyone will understand. Emperor Lixing is a very intelligent woman. I am certain that she will not only agree with my ways, but she will support them whole-heartedly. Trust me."
The chief elders did trust Cao Yun as they knew what he had done for the Wubei Sect and the Hongchen Kingdom. Besides, they all knew the complicated history between their future Sect Leader Cao and Emperor Lixing.
-
Everything went exactly as Cao Yun had planned.
For one more month, he had nothing to do. Instead of cultivating, Cao Yun stayed calm. He simply trained his body and rested his mind. Feng Yingyue was with him most of the time. At some point, Ren Chao asked his wife, Wang Mei, to visit with some of her students. They played music, danced, played Go with Cao Yun. Overall, they helped the young man relax while stimulating his mind. He even danced with the young women sent by Wang Mei. When he felt like it, he took Feng Yingyue by the waist and danced with her as well. They were enjoying a slow life. Deep down, Cao Yun felt guilty as he knew how hard the other disciples were working. As such, he made sure to write letters and ask for great ingredients for his disciples. He wanted them to eat and drink well.
During this entire month, Cao Yun and Feng Yingyue seemed to avoid any sensitive topic. However, they both knew that they wanted to talk about their relationship. Honestly, the longer this went on, the more Cao Yun saw Feng Yingyue as a very close friend, a very intimate friend. That being said, he couldn't imagine spending his entire life by her side. The world was vast beyond imagination and he wanted to explore it. On the other hand, he knew for a fact that Feng Yingyue wouldn't leave the Hongchen Kingdom. At least, she wouldn't leave before a very long time.
Unfortunately, Cao Yun's next destination was the Withering Fusang Domains. Since time was so strange there, he had no way of knowing how much time would pass for Feng Yingyue while he was away. A few years for him might be centuries for her. Of course, he didn't plan on leaving yet, precisely because of that. He could stay in the Hongchen Kingdom for a very long time while barely any time passed in the Withering Fusang Domains.
Sect Leader Xuan was officially buried. The ceremony was beautiful. Everyone in the Wubei Sect wore white mourning clothes. For the entire lunar month, they would keep those clothes. Of course, those who were working changed from time to time, but the officials kept those white clothes no matter what. Cao Yun presided over the burial ceremony. In the end, he became more emotional than he had thought, but he contained himself.
After the ceremony, something had changed. Cao Yun and Feng Yingyue were drinking tea when they suddenly started to talk about themselves.
"I know that you won't stay here forever. On this planet, I mean. And I realized that, although we're very close, we're not exactly soul mates... Those were childish thoughts. However, I still care a lot about you. You're the person I love to talk to the most. And, let's also agree that our dual cultivation is not simply useful..."
Cao Yun and Feng Yingyue smiled with a naughty light in their eyes.
"I agree with everything you've just said. I don't know when I'll leave. But I don't think it will be before a year has passed. In the meantime, we'll be able to enjoy each other's company. However, I also know that you won't abandon the Hongchen Kingdom, you have deeper ties to the Hongchen Kingdom than I do."
"Unfortunately. There are things I'd like to explore. I'd like to find more about my mother. But I will stay with the Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute. That being said, what you seem to have in mind is wrong. Even if you don't stay more than a century, I do think we should make our relationship more serious."
Cao Yun had not expected this, but he could see something in Feng Yingyue's eyes.
"My own family is gone. I only had my father and never even met my mother. And you... you lost everyone but your uncle who's not technically a member of the Cao family. My family is nothing impressive. However, I would like to help you rebuild your household. Cao Yun, I want to join your family, I want to marry you. I realize that you think that your leaving is a problem for me, but it's not. Give me this gift. Give me children, grandchildren, and many more descendants. Let me give you this gift as well."
Feng Yingyue was absolutely sincere. She wasn't trying to tie Cao Yun down to the Hongchen Kingdom. Besides, she knew that it wouldn't work. Although they couldn't call themselves soul mates in the romantic sense, they were very intimate with one another. They truly loved each other. No one in the Hongchen Kingdom could possibly be Cao Yun's wife, just as no one could be Feng Yingyue's husband.
Cao Yun thought about it a lot. Deep down, his answer was clear, but he let his rational mind examine the situation first. Feng Yingyue wasn't impatient and didn't press Cao Yun for an answer.
After a few more days had passed, Cao Yun and Feng Yingyue were still enjoying each other's company. They were drinking tea, talking, playing Go, discussing alchemy, cultivation... They were doing everything, but dual cultivation. To be fair, this was a period of mourning for them.
Eventually, Cao Yun found his answer. He agreed. A century was more than enough to rebuild the Cao household before continuing his journey.