Revolt against the Heavens

Because his mind cultivation had progressed and he was absorbing more and more of the Blood Abyss, Cao Yun had increasingly more visions as well. They weren't from the Weaver of Souls though. Indeed, he was mostly seeing through the eyes of women and girls, very young girls as well, too young for the fate reserved to them. Each time, he could see the figure of one of the Sisters of the Abyss. More often than not, said figure was blurry due to the tears in the eyes of the girl. However, he recognized Sister Lisha a couple of times and High Mother Qin Xue much more often.

The blood at the bottom of the pit was extremely old and the density of the Blood Abyss made it difficult for blood to go deep fast. With time though, all the blood given to the Blood Abyss would simply merge. In fact, those visions showed clear signs of degradation. In other words, the emotions attached to the blood were slowly being corroded. Because the Weaver of Souls' blood was so potent, even ghosts were being consumed. Indeed, such deaths had caused the emergence of many ghosts and tormented spirits but they had also been trapped in the Blood Abyss and consumed. Only blood could endure in this place, and Cao Yun.

Through those visions, Cao Yun saw a younger High Mother Qin Xue when she still had hair and no tattoo on either her face and head. Although he wasn't too sure about the ranks of the Sisters of the Abyss, she was probably already a high-ranking Sister at the time. In fact, she was a Junior Mother. Because it was not known outside of the Monastery of Bliss and Repose, the Sisters' ranking was shrouded in mystery. But it was rather straightforward. The low ranking Sisters were Junior Sisters, Sisters and Senior Sisters. Then the higher ranking Sisters were Junior Mothers, Mothers and Senior Mothers. Finally, at the utmost summit was the High Mother, a unique title.

Even in the oldest visions he had of High Mother Qin Xue, there was no compassion or sadness in her eyes, contrary to some of the other Sisters. In fact, there was excitement and sometimes even elation as though she was witnessing something exceptional. But there was no mistaking the hint of greed in her eyes as well.

Most of the girls were thrown into the bit against their wills. But a few of them jumped on their own as though they were possessed by some religious fervor. Seeing all those sacrifices from the eyes of the victims was extremely disturbing. Besides, Cao Yun could only think about his own younger sister and how she was being raised to be slaughtered for one man's ambition. Apparently, the same thing was happening here but on a much larger scale. High Mother Qin Xue was even worse than Emperor Weide. Although Cao Yun didn't know what she was trying to gain, he was certain that she wasn't killing all those poor girls just for some religion belief. She was full of ambitions, maybe the same Emperor Weide had, maybe immortality even.

Amidst those visions, the young human also had flashes about Fangzhi Hunpo. But those glimpses were completely distorted. He saw some landscapes, some floating palaces. There were river of gold, lakes of silver, pillar of flames and arches of shadows. Although he couldn't make out everything, Cao Yun saw planets made entirely of crystal with sculptures as he had never seen before. He could see literal stars fall down and sink into a bottomless ocean. Some of those images were just impossible for his mind to understand. Despite what he had already seen in visions and even witnessed firsthand, this was incredible.

Most of what he saw from Fangzhi Hunpo was absolutely useless, albeit beautiful. Other times, the beauty was balanced by cruelty and savagery. Indeed, he saw towers made of skulls, mountains of flesh, drapes of human skin, screaming weapons made out of tormented souls. It was impossible to know whether Fangzhi Hunpo, Demon God Da Mo or something else had made those things. But it was highly disturbing, especially when it was mixed in with such great landscapes and fantastical places and planets.

At some point, Cao Yun finally had a vision that was priceless. He did not recognize the handwriting he had seen in the 'Sealing the Seven Demons in the Nine Peaks' manual. In front of his eyes, there was an almost complete manuscript, written entirely in Antique Sixian. Thankfully, it wasn't as messy as Cleansed Asura's documents, it was true Antique Sixian. Thus, Cao Yun was able to read it without much problem. If this manuscript had endured, it was obviously extremely important.

The name on the cover was 'Abyssal Blood Veil Art'. Unbeknownst to Cao Yun, this was the very martial art and blood cultivation method practiced by the Sisters of the Abyss. Most likely, this vision had come from the sacrificed Sisters. At the moment, this was what Xixue and her twin sister Yinlü were working on.

The manuscript was divided into nine parts, but there was a deviation at some point. In other words, there were two paths in this method. The first one was called 'Crimson Pact of Subjugation' while the other one was 'Devouring Abyssal Embrace'. The names of the two paths referred to the chapter where the method diverged. Those who followed the 'Devouring Abyssal Embrace' had no other thing to learn or practice after that. Indeed, this was the end of the path as its ultimate goal was to turn them into sacrifices. Demonic cultivators would call these poor cultivators human furnaces, or maybe demon furnaces in this instance. They were not seen as living beings but as resources one would cultivate being reaping them.

On the other hand, 'Crimson Pact of Subjugation' was supposed to continue but Cao Yun could barely find anything on it. After all, almost all sacrifices had been from those unfortunate girls who had been thrown onto this sacrificial path. Since this cultivation method was closely related to the Blood Abyss he was in, Cao Yun decided to look at it more closely.

The first chapter 'Veil of Crimson Initiation' explained how one could manipulate their own blood. Although there were movements Cao Yun wasn't too familiar with, as well as this strange concept of fast within slow and slow within fast, there was nothing new to it. He didn't even try to practice it as he already had a great control over his blood.

The second chapter 'Weaving of the Scarlet Thread' explained how one could use their own blood to create seals. The vocabulary was a bit different as blood was referred to as thread and seals as tapestries. But the concept was once again very easy to figure out for someone who had worked on seals and blood runes for some time now. Besides, Cao Yun had even had the help of Dian Mo in order to master it. In fact, he was literally using his blood to create seals in order to improve his blood and Qi cultivation. Thus, he barely looked at it and moved it.

The third chapter 'Blood Mirage Manifestation' was much more interesting. Indeed, it explained how one could use the threads to completely conceal their presence. Honestly speaking, this wasn't more advanced than Huang Liyue's 'Ashen Feather Seal', but it was specifically tailored to hide one's blood and bloodline. Most likely, this was also related to how High Mother Qin Xue had been able to both detect him and hide herself from his senses. This time, he got interested and worked on it for a while. Ultimately, there wasn't much to it. The real secret was in the use of seals, what seals to use and where to use them. Most of it depended on one's own bloodline. Obviously, Cao Yun tried it immediately and had good results. He would still need some time but he had gotten the hang of it. And by mixing it with his 'Ashen Feather Seal', his stealth would be almost perfect among Accomplished Demons and Spirit Warriors alike.

The fourth chapter was the one where the paths diverged. This was the chapter that would spell death for some of the practitioners. Cao Yun had very little information on 'Crimson Pact of Subjugation' except that it was supposed to harness the power of the Blood Abyss. On the other hand, 'Devouring Abyssal Embrace' was focusing on creating specific seals and 'tapestries' within one's body in order to make them perfect sacrifices. It would both enhance the quality of their blood while harmonizing it with the blood of the Blood Abyss. In other words, it would reduce the clash between the Blood Abyss and the sacrificed blood.

Looking at it, Cao Yun soon realized that this technique had been created by someone else. It lacked the ingenuity and elegance of the other chapters. In fact, it was much more crude. Even the language used was a bit different. For most people it wouldn't be evident, but Cao Yun had spent a lot of time trying to decipher the Ancient Sixian before he could finally understand it. Besides, among Cleansed Asura's documents, there were poems and novels written in Ancient Sixian. Among those, there were many that had not been altered when he given them to his young disciple. As such, it was apparent that whoever had added this 'Devouring Abyssal Embrace' chapter had a very shallow understanding of Ancient Sixian. They could read and understand it but they clearly couldn't speak it very well. Most likely, they couldn't even pronounce it right as the melody had disappeared from the sentences.

Anyway, Cao Yun was much more intrigued by the 'Crimson Pact of Subjugation' chapter. Since he was literally within the Blood Abyss, learning how to harness it seemed like a good idea. Even if he didn't have the full chapter, he got a few glimpses. High Mother Qin Xue had pushed some rivals into the Blood Abyss. This had probably helped her becoming a High Mother faster. Clearly, she was ruthless and knew what she wanted. Since he had discovered a technique that could harness the Blood Abyss, her goals became much more obvious to the young man's eyes. But he still wasn't sure whether she was simply trying to preserve it because she was using it, or if she wanted to improve it to a specific point for some other purpose.

Considering that his Qi cultivation was stagnant and that his mind cultivation was much easier as he was only subduing one Turbid Demon at a time, Cao YUn could focus more on his blood cultivation. While working on 'Celestial Palace Accepts the Offering', Cao Yun incorporated 'Crimson Pact of Subjugation' in his training. As he was literally within the Blood Abyss, it turned out extremely easy to practice. Besides, he had already harnessed some of the Blood Abyss for himself thanks to his Drop of Wrath.

-

Under the Monastery of Bliss and Repose, where the pits leading to the Blood Abyss were, a strange phenomenon happened. Although the quality of the blood didn't change much, it began to radiate a faint light it had never before. High Mother Qin Xue herself went there. Before all the Sisters kneeling around her, she was examining the Blood Abyss.

Despite her cultivation, even she couldn't directly touch the Blood Abyss without suffering from it. Circulating all of her blood cultivation, her skin turned darker and darker shades of red as the tattoos on her head started to shine. They looked like they were hovering over her skin. But no Sister would dare to look at her anyway so they didn't notice anything. But they would have been transfixed by those living tattoos that looked like dancing lights above her head. They were forming a very complex and intricate web. From her hands, such a web appeared too, made out of her own blood. It was able to seize a small part of the Blood Abyss to extract it.

Even with all her cultivation, a single drop of the Blood Abyss was almost too heavy to carry. But she had to know what was going on. Such lights had never appeared before in her lifetime. And she had already lived a very long time.

Since Cao Yun's sacrifice had been so long ago, High Mother Qin Xue didn't connect the two events. According to her experience, he should have been consumed more than a year ago. Nothing should remain of him except for random thoughts and memories. Even his potential ghost should have been devoured. Thus, she was utterly puzzled by what was going on. At the same time, she was excited. Maybe it was proof that the Blood Abyss would soon be ready. She had to accelerate the sacrifices!

-

After only a month of practice, Cao Yun felt a deeper connection with the Blood Abyss. The visions he received were clearer and most of them were from the Weaver of Souls and not the poor girls sacrificed to his blood.

At some point, he even caught a glimpse of the original 'Sealing the Seven Demons in the Nine Peaks' manual. Apparently, it had been written in Antique Sixian but the Weaver of Souls had translated it himself because he wanted it to spread as far as possible. Such a thought was worrisome for Cao Yun. It was a good thing that no demon had ever found this manual. Maybe he should make sure that this wouldn't happen either. If demons could cultivate it, they would indeed become too powerful.

Because he had seen him alongside Emperor Nuwa, Cao Yun wondered whether he had maybe hidden his work himself. He probably didn't want Demon God Da Mo to find it as he could have increased the strength of his own demons, or maybe himself.

This was another manual that really caught Cao Yun's interest though, the original 'Abyssal Blood Veil Art'. Fangzhi Hunpo had crafted several manuals, but this one was special as it was tailored to his specific bloodline. In fact, he had created it so a successor could use his blood to advance. In other words, he had created this method because he knew that he was going to die and wanted his death to be of some use.