Stranger Danger

"Kill me! Kill me!"

The next moment, Jewel Tree Prince started screaming at the top of his lungs.

"Silence."

The young man hmphed and clenched his fist. The profound light immediately constricted around Jewel Tree Prince and prevented him from moving or talking.

With that done, the young man turned to smile at Yu Hongluan. "Are you alright, Fairy Hongluan?"

"I... I'm fine!"

It was only now Yu Hongluan snapped out of her thoughts and hurriedly climbed back to her feet. She went over to the young man and saluted him with clasped hands. "Thank you for your help, senior. Please, accept my bow."

The young man gestured for her to stop and said, "Please, there is no need to be overcourteous. We are all humans, are we not? It is only natural that we watch out for one another."

"You're a man who deeply understands the greater good, senior. You have my wholehearted respect."

Yu Hongluan insisted on finishing her bow before saying sincerely, "If you haven't told me about the Jewel Tree Prince's conspiracy earlier, if you haven't lent me your aid at a critical moment and stopped the Jewel Tree Prince's madness dead in its tracks, the consequences would have been unimaginable."

"On behalf of the Yu Clan and everyone on Floating Island, thank you very much for saving all our lives!"

That's right. It was this young man who told her about the Jewel Tree Prince's plans. That was the only reason she was prepared and able to foil the Stranger's grand plans.

Had Jewel Tree Prince succeeded, Floating Island would not have been his only victim. The thirty six islands, seventy two islets, the entire Profound Alliance, and even the existence of humanity itself would have been at risk.

Yu Hongluan could not help but feel ashamed when she thought until this point. Although she had been told Jewel Tree Prince's plan and was able to prepare fully for it, she still got tricked at the very end and nearly lost the entire Floating Island as a result. Hundreds of thousands of people would have died, and she would be the one who indirectly killed them all if not for this man's aid.

This man wasn't just her savior, he was the savior of the hundreds of thousands of lives living on Floating Island. That was why her gratitude toward this man was completely pure.

"It is simply my responsibility. It is something any human should do."

The young man declared clearly and firmly, "If our positions were reversed, I'm sure you wouldn't stand by and do nothing either."

Yu Hongluan declared absolutely, "But of course. Rakshasa Kingdom is the eternal threat of humanity. They and their ilk must die no matter what."

"Right? So there is no need to be so courteous."

The young man added smilingly, "Also, just address me directly by my name, Ye Qing."

That's right. The young man was none other than Ye Qing.

After hearing about Jewel Tree Prince and Yu Hongluan's plans, he and Feng Qingyou had paid the woman a "visit". Yu Hongluan proved to be a woman of mettle as she neither flew into shock or rage nor denied their words outright when they had suddenly appeared before her. While maintaining a suitable level of suspicion, she swiftly and calmly made all the necessary arrangements necessary to foil Jewel Tree Prince's plan. Not even he could have done better in her place.

Sure, Yu Hongluan fell for Jewel Tree Prince's ruse and nearly damned the entire Floating Island as a result, but who hadn't made a mistake in their life?

Besides, Jewel Tree Prince knew Yu Hongluan well and struck her weak point. Ultimately, it wasn't her fault.

At first, Ye Qing wasn't planning to get involved in the battle. He was just planning to watch the show, save a couple of lives if necessary, and scout out the strength of the human geniuses living on this side and the strength of the Rakshasa. However, things spiraled out of control near the end, so he had to act.

Looking at her fight against Jewel Tree Prince, Yu Hongluan was definitely a formidable warrior. Her combat experience was incredibly rich as well. However, he noticed that her martial arts were pretty static in the sense that she only boosted her killing power and nothing else. It was sorely lacking in flexibility and adaptation.

Besides that, her martial roots were somewhat shallow, her physical body contained hidden injuries and flaws, and there were definite chinks in her mind. This was why her energy circulation wasn't as perfect and smooth as it could have been.

Maybe it was because of their environment. Everyone living in this region was constantly under threat by the Rakshasa Strangers. That was why everyone practiced martial arts and focused solely on improving their speed and killing power. They did not really care to nurture their martial roots or cultivate their mind. Hence, there were flaws.

This flaw might not amount to anything when a warrior's cultivation was weak, but past a certain level and especially when fighting against someone with stronger cultivation, the flaws would become incredibly pronounced. Not only would they become weaknesses that the enemy could exploit, their martial journey and cultivation would be severely impeded as well.

Without exaggeration, he could easily beat up three Yu Hongluans without using the Earthly Sovereign Bell even though they were technically on the same cultivation level.

That was the big problem with Yu Hongluan's cultivation.

As for Jewel Tree Prince, hah! He was just a Disaster-class Stranger. Besides having an attractive face and more intelligence than your conventional Stranger, he did not think that there was anything special about him. That dark aura and light he used to transform into the Rakshasa Divine Tree though, that was a little dangerous. It had felt dark, deep, vast, and endless to his senses. It probably had something to do with the Rakshasa King.

It was also the biggest reason why Jewel Tree Prince was able to reach the power level of an Ancient-class Stranger in the end.

That said, Ye Qing did not really need to use the Earthly Sovereign Bell. It would just take him a bit more strength was all. However, Floating Island was overpopulated, and the battle was happening right above everyone's heads. To prevent innocents from accidentally dying, he needed to end the fight in the shortest amount of time using the smallest amount of energy.

Besides that, he was hoping to capture Jewel Tree Prince alive, and what better way to do so than the Earthly Sovereign Bell?

As Yu Hongluan had thought earlier, Jewel Tree Prince must know a lot of intel and secrets as a highly influential prince of the Rakshasa Kingdom. These secrets carried great weight and importance to the humans of this region.

Sure, he wasn't someone from this region, but he was still a human. Any and all human had the natural responsibility and duty to continue, develop, and contribute their strength to the human race.

That was why he used the Earthly Sovereign Bell. Although the Earthly Sovereign Bell still hadn't consumed the Heavens' Eye completely, its power was multiple times stronger than what it was before. Right now, in terms of power alone, it was on par with some of the strongest Disaster-class Strange Artifacts out there.

The Earthly Sovereign was grand and noble. It naturally possessed the power to suppress Strangers. Since he was practicing the "Earthly Sovereign Scripture", he basically shared a lineage with the Earthly Sovereign Bell. That was why he could fully unleash its power, and their combined strength was no weaker than any Sage.

This was why he was able to easily suppress and capture the Jewel Tree Prince.

Besides that, Ye Qing had a feeling that the Earthly Sovereign Bell's power would grow even stronger once it had fully consumed the Heavens' Eye. There was a very huge chance it would become an Ancient-class Strange Artifact once more.

That's right. "Once more".

Before the Earthly Sovereign Bell was damaged, it was a true Ancient-class Strange Artifact. Not only that, it was the strongest and most potent of them all on the same level as the Clear Sky Mirror and the Xuanyuan Sword.

Of course, the Earthly Sovereign Bell would be far inferior to the Clear Sky Mirror or Xuanyuan Mirror even after it became an Ancient-class Strange Artifact once more. In fact, it would not regain its former glory until it had retrieved its origin powers and exterminated the Four Evils.

That was something for the future though. Right now, if the Earthly Sovereign Bell could recover to an Ancient-class Strange Artifact, he could absolutely go toe-to-toe against a Sage without an Ancient-class Strange Artifact.

When the time came, he would truly possess the confidence and strength to battle against a Sage.

That day wasn't far away.