Stranger Danger

Wherever the profound light went, the demonic fire extinguished as if it had met its bane. Order was restored to the chaotic energies, and the demonic monsters returned to calm as well. They no longer acted violently or cruelly.

Clearly, the Profound Yellow Mother Qi was exceedingly effective against the demonic fire. It wasn't surprising. The Profound Yellow Mother Qi was the mother of all qis. It was grand, overwhelming, and invulnerable to all arts. It was the bane of all evils. It made perfect sense that it would succeed in suppressing the demonic fire.

Ye Qing did not look happy in the slightest, however. In fact, his expression was grave and serious.

The reason was simple. His Profound Yellow Mother Qi could suppress the demonic fire, but it could not save its victims.

Although his Profound Yellow Mother Qi had extinguished the demonic fire and calmed down the victims, their souls had long since been burned to dust and replaced by demonic fire. In other words, they were long dead. What they left behind was an empty shell puppeted by the demonic fire.

He believed that this was the case for all corrupted creatures.

"What on earth is this demonic fire?"

Ye Qing frowned deeply and withdrew his finger, though he did not hurry to leave. Instead, he observed the dead people on the island.

After Ye Qing withdrew the Profound Yellow Mother Qi, the demonic fire returned to the Golden Snake Island once more. When it made contact with the soulless people, they burst into dark red flames and came back to "life". They transformed back into the violent, murderous monsters they were before.

As there were no more living creatures on the island, some of them dove into the sea to slaughter the fishes, the prawns, and other living creatures. Some were fighting among themselves as well.

"Ai..."

Seeing this, Ye Qing let out a sigh and clenched his fist. He threw out a punch.

Buzz!

Every demonic monster on Golden Snake Island abruptly froze in place. The demonic fire burning on their bodies were flickering erratically as well.

Having done that, Ye Qing turned around and left without looking back.

The moment he turned around, every demonic monster on the island crumbled into powder in an instant. The demonic fire that had spread across the entire island crumbled into nothing as well.

For a very long time after this, the demonic fire could not touch Golden Snake Island. It wasn't because the island itself possessed any defensive qualities whatsoever, but because the formless fist intent Ye Qing left behind annihilated all of it.

For a time, a single island stood strong against the sea of demonic fire. Neither wave nor fire could encroach upon it.

It was a miraculous sight.

Ye Qing did not return to Gold Island immediately after he left Golden Snake Island. He continued to scan the surrounding sea regions just in case there were others who needed his rescue.

The demonic fire was highly anomalous and exceedingly corruptive. Not even a spirit was immune to it, not to mention that the ambient energies were thrown into disarray because of it. That was why an ordinary warrior's spirit could not probe very far into the demonic fire at all.

However, Ye Qing's demonic thought was a case no less special than the demonic fire. In fact, it was even more anomalous, especially after it was nurtured and converted by the Profound Yellow Mother Qi and the "Records of Laojun Studying The Dao On A Bull". Now, it was even more profound and unfathomable than before. It could either be good or evil. It could be yin or yang. It could be soft or hard. It was harmony that possessed limitless potential and capacity for change.

On top of that, Ye Qing had been studying all kinds of scriptures in the Arts Tower and was enlightened by them. As a result, his utilization of demonic thought had become even better than before.

Therefore, the demonic fire's ability to negate or corrupt his demonic thought was extremely limited.

Unlike most warriors, he could easily cover hundreds of kilometers including those places that had been overtaken by the demonic fire.

Ye Qing found a lot of people. Unfortunately, the large majority of them had already been corrupted and converted into demonic monsters. He had no choice but to annihilate them to prevent them from harming others.

There was a silver lining. There were almost no land in the sea region where the demonic fire had appeared, meaning that the number of humans who were corrupted and converted by the demonic fire were relatively few. The victims were mostly riding ships and boats.

Still, the scale of this outbreak was clearly massive. Looking at its speed and direction, the Sea Burning Demonic Fire would soon reach Gold Island. That was when the real disaster and trouble began.

Ye Qing let out a sigh. He was just about to leave when suddenly, he turned his head and gazed into the distance; the sea region that was burning with Sea Burning Demonic Fire to be exact.

There, he saw a massive, dragon-shaped ship sailing in his direction at high speed.

The tower ship was about three hundred meters tall. It looked massive and luxurious. A flag with a black background, silver borders and a crescent moon at the center was flapping on the mast.

An aloof-looking woman wearing white was standing on the deck of the tower ship. She was making hand seals and wearing a severe expression on her face.

The flag was flapping behind her. The crescent moon was casting rays of clear light in every direction like it was real.

Wherever the clear light shone, the demonic fire could not encroach, and the corruption was instantly purified. That was why the tower ship wasn't corrupted by the demonic fire yet.

It was only a temporary state of things though. It was clear that the crescent moon on the flag was fading by the second. The light it was shining was growing weaker and weaker as well.

On the deck, the woman was wobbling on her feet and looking as pale as a sheet.

Clearly, both the woman and the tower ship's time were limited.

Ye Qing did not hesitate. He immediately dashed into the demonic fire.

If the woman was alone, then he wouldn't have acted. After all, she was at least a Great Trueman. Barring exceptional circumstances, it shouldn't be too hard for her to escape the demonic fire.

The reason she hadn't was because there were several hundred people on the tower ship besides her.

Some of these people clearly weren't her servants or attendants. He reckoned that they were the people she saved.

The large majority of the passengers were powerless, ordinary people. Without her protection, they would die for sure.

That was why the woman hadn't left. It was to save everyone on the ship.

Unfortunately, she had underestimated the demonic fire and overestimated herself.

That was why she was in this state. That was why it looked like she was going to die with everyone on board.

......

"Cough... cough..."

On the ship, the woman suddenly covered her mouth and coughed a couple of times. Blood dripped down the corners of her mouth, and she looked like she might collapse at any moment.

"Are you alright, princess?"

Her two attendants hurriedly supported her with urgent expressions.

"I'm fine..." The woman replied weakly.

Without anyone to control or maintain the flag, the crescent moon on the flag immediately turned formless and almost invisible. The light it was shining visibly weakened as well.

As if sensing weakness, the demonic fire instantly broke through the protective screen and surged toward the tower ship.

"Ahhhh!" The people on the ship immediately cried out in horror. Their faces were filled with despair.

Seeing this, the woman hurriedly pushed her attendants away and formed a hand seal. She forced the flag to function once more.

The crescent moon reappeared, and the light regained its strength. It blocked off the demonic fire once more.

However, the woman's face was growing paler by the second. She was also trembling uncontrollably from head to toe. It was clear that she was on her last legs.