Cao Yun tried to stay far away from politics, but he had to intervene even after the Lan Duoyan matter. Most of the time, he simply gave Emperor Lixing his own authority to deal with any situation as she saw fit. Twice, he was forced to act in person, showing off his cultivation just to scare off cultivators, both human and demon. Cao Yun's presence was a terrifying deterrent to anyone. After all, no one had even reached the last grade of the third realm. Indeed, among demons, only Empyrean Asura had succeeded, but he had died. Among humans, the only three 9th-grade Sages had also died fighting him. Now, only Cao Yun had reached such a cultivation level. Moreover, he had also exceeded it. That being said, Emperor Lixing barely used him and did try to shield him from any difficult decisions.
Unfortunately, Cao Yun was well aware of what was going on both in the Hongchen Kingdom and the demon territories. The purges weren't completely over among the demons, but they had greatly diminished. Here and there, cults of the Heavenly Demon God Faith remained. In a sense, they were similar to demonic cultivators for humans. Thus, demons were hunting them down to slaughter them all. Thankfully, a semblance of order had been established, and most demons could live a peaceful life thanks to the protection of the Silver Wolf Marshal and the Sisters of the Abyss. They offered both secular and religious protection.
Despite some tragic events from time to time, Cao Yun was relatively happy. The plans he put into motion were working. The demons had mostly stopped wanting war against mankind. The Sisters of the Abyss were extremely talented. With Emperor Lixing in the shadows, they were even better at their task. Even after the terrible rule of the Empyrean Asura Theocracy, demons were very religious. As such, the Sisters of the Abyss perfectly filled the void left behind. The Sutra Faith was also filling that void, but this was still good for mankind. In fact, some human missionaries even wanted to go into demon territory. However, Emperor Lixing forbade it under pain of death, as she didn't want to create any tension between humans and demons. It was better if demons even forgot that humans existed.
Anyway, Cao Yun simply spent his time with his daughter Cao Yanmei and his two younger sons, Cao Sheng and Cao Bei. Indeed, many things had happened in those years. Feng Yingyue had borne him two more children. Cao Yun was watching them grow while dealing with the Wubei Sect.
Of course, the Wubei Sect had been rebuilt and was more prosperous than ever thanks to Cao Yun's presence. The young sect leader didn't take any disciples, but he did hold a few classes where he simply talked about cultivation and demonstrated his martial arts for others to learn from him. They were open to all inner disciples and required enough merit points for the outer disciples because there simply wasn't enough space for everyone.
Over the years, Cao Yun barely cultivated as his Soul Embryo was slowly recovering. However, he studied a lot. He practiced alchemy, array formations, even medicine. At the same time, he read as many books as he could. He went through everything he had already read, especially when it came to the Withering Fusang Domains. Although it was distant in his mind, he absolutely intended to go there. In fact, he also helped his brother Sun Liao improve upon the array formation to become a Sage.
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Years passed by, and they became decades. His children were growing too fast for him. In fact, his daughter seemed to be the same age as him and Feng Yingyue. Although the parents were fifty, they didn't look older than twenty. Considering that they could live at least two millennia, it wasn't surprising.
In two decades, the Hongchen Kingdom had changed quite a lot under Emperor Lixing. Despite the recent war, it was more prosperous than ever. Emperor Lixing had been able to create a vast buffer all around the Hongchen Kingdom. Twelve treaties had been signed with demon kingdoms. They would need to fall before any other demon kingdom could attack the Hongchen Kingdom. Besides, she was convinced that she could even establish more treaties as time went by. Emperor Lixing had implemented a very good idea, the Hongchen Kingdom had positioned itself as a neutral arbiter of disputes between demon kingdoms. Even kingdoms that had not signed any treaty with the Hongchen Kingdom used it in order to settle a dispute before it turned into a bloody war. Ironically, it made rivalries more intense but less bloody at the same time. Thanks to this central position, Emperor Lixing knew almost everything about the different demon kingdoms.
The Hongchen Kingdom wasn't incredibly small when compared to other demon kingdoms, but it certainly wasn't the biggest either. However, it was the richest of them all.
During those two decades, the Hongchen Kingdom produced four 9th-grade Spirit Warriors thanks to new powerful pills made by the Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute. Unfortunately, only one of them was able to become a Sage during this time period. She was Huang Liyue herself. Honestly, her cultivation had been sped up a lot thanks to Cao Yun, who had given her the True Fiery Drops obtained from Matriarch Huang Yufeng's sacrifice. A few of those True Fiery Drops also helped Hongyu form her ninth demonic core.
Hongyu had become a Crimson Annihilation Fenghuang. She now had nine tails. Even 9th-grade Spirit Warriors would shy away from her and her power. Her flames were powerful enough to turn any landscape into glass. However, she wasn't feared by humans who saw her as the symbol of both the emperor, through the Huang family, and the Wubei Sect through Cao Yun. On the other hand, she was feared by demons who were more sensitive to the Dao of Fire through their cultivation system. And yes, Hongyu often went to their territory. Hongyu didn't respect any border. She was now the absolute ruler of all demonic beasts on the surface of the Piaolu planet. But she wasn't the ruler of all the beasts in the depths of the Divine Blood Ocean. Even she wasn't powerful enough to impose her authority over them all. That being said, they wouldn't antagonize her either. As such, she could easily fly above the Divine Blood Ocean and travel between the Desolate Sepulcher and the main continent.
Cao Yun realized that she had several mates. Unfortunately, she was absolutely unable to produce any offspring. It was already difficult for her species, but the difference in strength and the traces of Evil Qi still within her made it even more complicated. Besides, she couldn't cross into the next realm of cultivation.
For a demonic beast, cultivation was separated into four realms. The first realm was completely instinctive. Just by absorbing or devouring Qi, demonic beasts could slowly form their demonic cores. Cultivation really started to become conscious during the second realm. Technically, demonic beasts were consciously cultivating just by choosing what they would eat. But it would just speed up their cultivation. Simply existing in an environment rich in Qi would make them cultivate. However, the second realm couldn't be achieved without conscious efforts.
In this second realm, demonic beasts were called immortal beasts. Instead of cores, immortal beasts would cultivate Blood Pearls, simply called pearls by everyone. A demonic core was literally condensed Qi that had taken physical form. A Blood Pearl was made of a demonic core at its center, but it wasn't just condensed Qi but also condensed blood. Each demonic core had to be condensed with blood at specific points in the body in order to both strengthen one's bloodline and transform one's flesh. These Blood Pearls would even form a sort of network between them. As the Blood Pearls would develop, they would become like small Dantian, and makeshift meridians would naturally form.
In a sense, immortal beasts would go from cultivating just Qi to cultivating blood. So they would go from human cultivation to asura cultivation. However, their bodies, which were more similar to demons, would become more similar to humans. This was an interesting paradox. Cao Yun studied it a lot. Without a good teacher, Hongyu had a very hard time cultivating her first Blood Pearl at all. Although Cao Yun had understood the process, he couldn't really guide her because he had no experience of what those sensations felt like. Simply understanding without being able to feel anything wasn't too useful when it came to cultivation. Unfortunately, no immortal beast seemed to live on the Piaolu planet. The Withering Fusang Tree was also affecting the demonic beasts, even more so than anyone else.
Maybe there were a few remaining immortal beasts hiding in the depths of the Divine Blood Ocean, but even Cao Yun wouldn't risk going there. There was another place where Hongyu could find what she needed. Hongyu was smart enough to understand it, but she liked Cao Yun and enjoyed her nephews and niece. Indeed, Cao Yanmei, Cao Sheng and Cao Bei were family to her, and she was family to them as they grew up with her.
Cao Yun's children had very different lives. Although he was a sect leader, Cao Yun didn't force his kids into any profession. Cao Yanmei followed in her grand-uncle's footsteps for a while until she got bored and decided to turn toward politics. Honestly, Cao Yun found it very ironic since he was now avoiding it like the plague. That being said, he didn't intervene to stop his daughter or help her at all. He believed in merit and let his children succeed or fail on their own. Of course, he would be there to protect them and make sure they had everything they needed in their childhood. Cao Yanmei reminded her father of Huang Cixi a little.
Cao Sheng turned toward the army. Unlike his father, he loved very heavy weapons. In fact, he was also fascinated by Ren Chao's work. He had hesitated to become a blacksmith but preferred the army. To Cao Yun and Feng Yingyue's dismay, he dreamed of heroic wars, as he had never been to war and was too young to remember when the Hongchen Kingdom was still suffering from it. Trying to convince him through reason had failed because he couldn't feel the horror of war in his flesh. Besides, Cao Sheng was not nearly as talented as his father. He wasn't bad, of course, but he was just talented enough to join the Wubei Sect after his second attempt.
Finally, Cao Bei was much more indecisive. He kept changing what fascinated him. Even his cultivation lagged behind not only his siblings but also almost everyone else in the Wubei Sect. However, he was clearly more of an artist. Sadly, his love of art seemed to be linked to a great love of women. Sometimes, Cao Yun wondered if Cao Bei would become like his instructor, Chief Instructor Peng. Cao Yun had to reprimand his son very strongly after he had a couple of flings with young married women. Thankfully, it had stopped. Or Cao Bei had become good enough to hide them...
Their kids brought joy to Cao Yun and Feng Yingyue. Of course, they also brought problems and heartaches here and there. However, they never regretted having them.
When all his children were adults, Cao Yun finally changed his lifestyle. After all, his Soul Embryo had finally healed completely. It was time for him to begin cultivating again. As such, he secluded himself for three years and focused solely on his human cultivation. In those three years, he did nothing else and was able to reach the absolute pinnacle of the Spirit Warrior realm. Although he only meditated for three years, he had prepared this session for more than twenty years, close to thirty years, in fact.
Now Cao Yun was ready to become a Sage. For a moment, he hesitated whether or not to use Sun Liao's array formation. In the end, he decided to use it as he didn't want to risk injuring himself once again, for no reason at all. Deep down, he thought he could succeed either way, but there was no reason to risk it just to satisfy his ego.
The news that Cao Yun was ready to break through to the Sage realm spread beyond the Hongchen Kingdom. Even demons heard about it and wanted to be present. After all, Cao Yun was a legend throughout the Piaolu planet. A few invitations were extended to demons like High Mother Lisha and Silver Wolf Marshal Shanyin Guan. Many more humans were present. Of course, all of Cao Yun's family was present to witness this event.
This became a gigantic show. Many were present to witness history, while others hoped to glimpse some tips for their own cultivation even if they had little hope of perceiving or understanding anything. Finally, some were here to gauge Cao Yun's strength, Silver Wolf Marshal Shanyin Guan was obviously in that category.
The Wubei Sect had built a large array formation. This was the only array formation built by Sun Liao to help cultivators break through to the Sage realm. The capital wanted one as well, but Sun Liao and the Wubei Sect had not finished it yet. To be honest, they were slowing down its construction for now. Indeed, this array formation made the Wubei Sect even more influential and powerful than it had ever been. All the Spirit Warriors who wanted to become Sages had to come here. Forcing 9th-grade Spirit Warriors to come to one's place was a great show of strength and prestige.
Anyway, they knew that the capital would need such an array formation at some point. But as long as Emperor Lixing did not urgently require it, they could stall the construction. Emperor Lixing wouldn't act against them over a minor delay. At the same time, they knew not to abuse their position. After all, Sun Liao was busy rebuilding the defenses of the Hongchen Kingdom.
Cao Yun appeared before the crowd and sat cross-legged in the array formation.