Yu Xiangling was many things but she wasn't an idiot. As soon as the Death Energy javelin pierced her flank she understood she had been goaded by Cao Yun. Immediately, she realized she had been stupid and had let her emotions take the best of her. Maybe it was because her cultivation was unstable due to her time spent on her research rather than actually cultivating. After all, she had advanced her own blood cultivation through pills like many alchemists or array formation masters. They didn't care about martial arts, sometimes not even about the Dao itself, but they regarded cultivation as a means to an end. They needed to reach high levels of cultivation just to be able to perfect their art. So they didn't care about taking shortcuts. Unfortunately, it had side effects, one of them being an unstable cultivation foundation.
Considering that no one could break through the third realm, it wasn't seen as such a disadvantage nowadays. Even before the Forsaken Dao Era, not that many people could become Sages or Exalted Demons anyway. And the goal of many cultivators was simply to reach this fourth realm so they could begin to perceive the Dao. Besides, the fourth and fifth realms didn't extend one's lifespan at all. Since it was too difficult to go to the sixth realm, some cultivators simply decided to use pills or external means to push their cultivation to that fourth realm and then enjoyed the benefits for around two millenniums. For a mere mortal, living two thousand years wasn't so different than immortality, at first anyway.
The frail woman despised Cao Yun but she directed her anger at herself. She had been emotional and reckless. How could she have not seen through Cao Yun's obvious ploy?! As she was blaming herself for her blindness, she felt the deluge of emotions from the Death Energy. All that Death Energy was made of souls she had personally been torturing. In all the rotting corpses on the walls of her laboratory, souls were trapped so she could extract Evil Qi, Death Energy and Ghost Energy. Obviously, their hatred against her was enormous. Unlike Cao Yun, her soul cultivation wasn't that high. Yu Xiangling had worked on her mind and soul to improve her abilities of course, but despite having a better understanding of some matters than him, she had not reached Cao Yun's level in the pure matter of mind and soul. As such, the pain was incredible and she wasn't too sure how to deal with it.
Just as Yu Xiangling was designing seals within herself to stop the Death Energy from causing more damage, Cao Yun's second attack struck her. Still busy working on containing the Death Energy, Yu Xiangling wasn't able to deal with the Rictus of the Shattered Orchid poison right away. By the time she noticed the problem, it was too late. The black orb had fallen from her hand. Horrified, Yu Xiangling kept a composed mind. After all, it was her emotions that had been her undoing so she had to calm down and analyze the situation coldly. No matter what, she had to take the black orb back.
For the time being, the aura of Demon God Da Mo was still surrounding her. Yes it was slowly dissipating but it wouldn't just evaporate all of a sudden. That meant that she might have enough time to get it back and keep protecting herself. Fortunately, no attack was lethal. She would deal with the poison with no issue. Even the Death Energy could be contained to some extent. As long as she survived long enough for someone to come get Holy Cardinal Ling Weisheng, she would be safe.
Cao Yun had trapped the room in a Void Island array formation. As long as it was not broken, no one could perceive what was going on in the room, not even the 'Embrace of the Loving God' could be activated. But if it was, Cao Yun was absolutely done for. The entire Temple of Grace and Submission would mobilize, including her complete Supplicant Tyrants. Moreover, Saint Citadel Sidi was supposed to send them reinforcements. She simply had to survive long enough! With that only thought in mind, Yu Xiangling tried to endure.
Even without looking at Cao Yun's eyes, she could feel the pressure of his 'Weeping Demon' on her very soul and mind. Her sea of consciousness was now a storm of blood. In it, there were shattered limbs trying to rip apart her soul itself, clawing at her Po and trying to tear her Hun. Those were manifestations from the Death Energy causing turmoil in her body. Keeping her calm was almost impossible as she was quite literally losing herself. But she clung to this desire to survive. If nothing else, it was a rock in the storm.
Although her body was paralyzed by Cao Yun's mental attack, Yu Xiangling tried to summon several seals within herself. Like many other demons in the Asura Empyrean Theocracy, she had received seals to protect all the information she knew. But unlike those demons, those seals were not meant to destroy her mind or soul. Yu Xiangling was deemed too important by the Empyrean Asura so those seals were specifically made to protect her against assaults. Moreover, the Empyrean Asura had given her this black orb which only she could activate.
Considering the violence of the assault, those seals were being activated. Yu Xiangling was using them as much as she could. In this storm of blood, a large white tower emerged from the ocean below. It was like a giant tusk erupting from the blood. Golden light was emanating from it and piercing through the storm. When the light touched those shattered limbs, they turned into shadows and faded away one by one. But there were so many of them, and the storm was so violent, that the fight was not easily won. At that moment, six golden eyes pierced through the storm.
The large figure of Axiu Qian had manifested itself in Yu Xiangling's sea of consciousness. From its body, six golden chains erupted. At the end of each chain, a strange and eerie creature was leashed. Green hair and pieces of white bones covered in blood stained one of the chains as it was holding the Flying Poison with its three flailing tails. Another golden chain was soiled with black sludge from which a putrid smell emanated as it was chaining down a strange human-like figure with long limbs whose ends were yellow talons. A grotesque figure with bloated throat was surrounded by a chain that crushed some purple growths on the sickly body. Another one was acting as a leash on a wolf wearing heavy gray fur that was barely hiding its emaciated body. In a golden armor pierced by many arrows, yet another golden chain was melting as if it was part of said armor whose general wearing it barely looked human anymore as though it had also fused with the shattered and molten gold. Finally, in the sky, the last golden chain was as a fishing line being carried away by a shadow in the water. It was attached to a large bird made of bones with few pieces of rotten skin here and there.
This menagerie of Turbid Demons was absolutely revolting. And one final demon was missing, still trapped under the Palace of Supreme Wisdom within Cao Yun's own sea of consciousness. But those six manifestations didn't emanate directly from Cao Yun's soul. In fact, those were the versions of his Turbid Demons he had carved into the Drop of Wrath. As such, they were absolutely identical to Cao Yun's Po but they were also separate.
In the very center of Yu Xiangling's sea of consciousness, the large white tower was being covered in golden runes slowly appearing all over its surface. Just as the Temple of Grace and Submission had been carved out of a mountain, this tower seemed to have been carved out of the tusk of a giant elephant, maybe as massive as a mountain itself. All those runes were seals made by Yu Xiangling with the help of the Empyrean Asura. From them, pure golden chains emerged. They stabbed into the ocean below and the sky above. The tower kept on rising until it was fully outside of the water. Then, it looked like a double-ended tusk being held by chains from above and below. The truth was that those chains were in fact what was holding the sky and the ocean.
Slowly, the blood storm calmed around the large tower and its influence was growing outward. The figure of Axiu Qian wouldn't let that happen. Thus, the six Turbid Demons attacked while weapons appeared in Axiu Qian's hands. Before the Turbid Demons could reach the white tower, golden chains stabbed toward them. The tower was trying to subvert the Turbid Demons, freeing them so they would attack their master. Although the scene was manifested as chains stabbing through the monsters, this really was a battle of the soul. Even though Cao Yun had sent a part of his soul into Yu Xiangling, he could feel the pain in his own sea of consciousness as well. The seals in her soul were extremely powerful. But Cao Yun had the Drop of Wrath. He refused to believe that any living demon on the Piaolu planet could best him.
Cao Yun injected more and more of his soul in the frail woman just as his physical body was reaching for her. Everything in their minds was happening at an incredible speed but their own perception made it look like hours were passing while only seconds had really gone by. Axiu Qian wielded his weapons and attacked the pure golden chains himself. Each time some chain tried to stab him, Axiu Qian simply grabbed them and crushed them in his bare hands while the rest of his arms kept on attacking.
The Turbid Demons were also unleashing all of their attacks. This was a terrifying war within Yu Xiangling's sea of consciousness. Her soul was being protected within the white tower so Cao Yun couldn't get to it until he had taken it down.
Finally, the Yin Bird broke apart the chains in the sky while the five other Turbid Demons were keeping the seals busy. Even those seals couldn't keep up with so many threats at the same time. As soon as those golden chains broke, the tower began to tremble. Shudders shot through Yu Xiangling's soul and body. She had to rebuild those chains but the chains down below were also under attack. She couldn't fight on every front. So she decided to lessen the defenses at the bottom to rebuild the top.
This was a literal siege of this white tower. Slowly it was losing some ground and the blood storm was closing in on the tower. Cao Yun was also being helped by the shattered limbs of Yu Xiangling's victims. On her pure golden chains, arms appeared, trying to rip apart the chains themselves. Her sea of consciousness had turned into a painting from Hell. And she knew she was losing. For the very first time, Yu Xiangling wondered whether she should destroy her own soul. But if she tried to do so, she had to do it thoroughly. Considering how talented Cao Yun was, he might still recover her memories even if she shattered her soul. To preserve her secrets, she had to completely extinguish her soul and every ounce of herself. Obviously, she was more than reluctant to do so.
Even now, Yu Xiangling was hoping to be saved. If only someone were to come to ask for Holy Cardinal Ling Weisheng. By clinging to that last shred of hope, Yu Xiangling had only one goal, to delay Cao Yun. She couldn't bring herself to destroy her own mind and soul, to lose all her memories and knowledge. Worse than that, she caught herself thinking that she would rather have her knowledge fall into the hands of her worst enemy than be lost. All her work had to have been for something. It couldn't just disappear. Her ego wouldn't allow it...
As those doubts began to creep their way into her mind, Yu Xiangling inadvertently released her hold. She was tired. Even in her work, she had never been this exhausted. In her spiritual battle, she was certain that she could always win. But her current enemy was clearly her superior. If only she had the black orb in hand... But she could not even control her body any longer. If she took her intent away from the white tower for one instant, she would lose the fight. Besides, Cao Yun had probably already gotten too close to her and the black orb. In terms of physique, Cao Yun was much superior to her and she knew it. He could grab the black orb before her, or at the very least keep her from even touching it.
Yu Xiangling stopped thinking about her survival. She began to think about her heritage, her legacy. No matter what, she couldn't lose what she had learned from the Holy Scriptures of the Heavenly Demon God and from her experiments. Maybe there was hope if Cao Yun stole them. Indeed, she was convinced that he wouldn't be able to escape with his life. So maybe, his memories could also be stolen. Honestly, Yu Xiangling wasn't really believing it completely, but she was exhausted. At no point in her life had she wished to sleep as much as at that moment. Cao Yun's 'Weeping Demon' was affecting her mind, eroding it with each passing moment. At the same time, the terrifying battle in her sea of consciousness was also breaking her morale.
At last, the Flying Poison reached the white tower. With bones covered in green hair that were protruding from its arm, the demon slashed the white tower, destroying a few golden runes. Then, one by one, the other Turbid Demons got through. They all attacked the white tower. With each one of their attacks, it was being soiled and ravaged.
The last straw that broke it was Axiu Qian. He was almost as big as the white tower itself but turned even bigger. His six arms grabbed the flailing golden chains above and below. With all his strength, he tugged on them, rotating the white tower so it was now horizontal to the ocean below. Applying his wrathful force, Axiu Qian ripped it apart. The white tower completely broke in two. Some small pieces fell into the water and Yu Xiangling's soul was exposed.