Volcano Island
The fiend team and Mu Yu found themselves on an isolated, and rather large, island consisting of strange rockery and seldomly sighted trees. According to Qiao Xue, who mustered every ounce of energy she could to hold everyone together at the dangerous junction, the vortex they were caught up in was a product of a quake underneath the ocean that created a slit, drawing water into said slit.
One of the carp brothers and Gui Dingtian were missing, while Lu Xiong had regained awareness of his surroundings but was out of commission, leaving the group in a despondent mood. If that wasn’t enough, the bitter reality that they couldn’t find Ghost Gate again in the ever-changing ocean vexed them.
“What now? Are we going to continue our search for Sacred Island? We don’t even know where we are,” Qiao Xue inquired, miffed due to mental and physical exhaustion.
“We can worry about that after we’ve recovered from our injuries,” answered Mu Yu, sitting underneath a tree to borrow its vitality.
Even though the team consisted of their best experts in the water – at the time – swimming in calm waters and turbulent waters were two different beasts.
Among the group, only Long Xingyun and Long Yeli were still in character and brimming with energy due to them seeing an opportunity to implement their strategy that promised the throne. The only problem was one remaining individual who might not have takee their side.
Long Xingyun’s gaze drifted over to the crocodile dragon and out of his mouth, came, “Take a rest. E Wenmao, how about the two of us explore this island and drive off any dangerous creatures.”
Crocodile dragon E Wenmao, the tacitly instated new leader as Gui Dingtian and Lu Xiong weren’t able to lead anymore, saw no issue with the proposition and nodded, joining the scheming pair.
The seabirds and other flying sea fiends in the mountain range at the heart of the island hurtled as soon as they sensed the trio venturing into their territory.
Lu Xiong scuttled over to Mu Yu, then needed several breaths to say, “Mu Yu, leave with Qiao Xue and Lord True Dragon now; otherwise, he will be in danger because I can’t protect you in this condition.”
Mu Yu, who had a wealth of experience dealing with Long Xingyun’s kind, had no trouble discerning what the prince was plotting from the get-go. “We will have to take you with us, then. He’ll take any opportunity he can to kill you in retaliation for you stopping him from harming my dragon vine.”
Lu Xiong coughed. “Don’t worry about me. I died millenniums ago and am but a soul in a borrowed corpse. As long as Lord True Dragon is safe, I don’t care how I end up.”
“Old Deer, why do you fervently protect me when you’re not a subject of Green Dragon Dynasty?” asked the dragon vine.
“As you are a true dragon, you are the most venerated being among our race. All fiends are beholden to protect true dragons. That is why Green Dragon Archfiend is heralded as the true ruler of our race even though there are multiple fiend kings,” explained Lu Xiong.
Qiao Xue checked on the other injured personnel and gave Lu Xiong a pat on the back. “Don’t worry, Elder Deer. I will not leave you behind. If Long Xingyun wants to harm anyone or defy our morals, he will have to get through me first. He will not do anything as long as I am around.”
“No matter how solid a defence may be, there is always a way to get around it!” disputed Lu Xiong.
Nobody noticed a black and white formation flit across Mu Yu’s eyes.
Boom! The water roiled as the ground trembled. Qiao Xue peered in the direction the explosion came from, which also happened to be where Long Xingyun’s trio headed.
“Are those three fighting?” Mu Yu jumped to his feet.
“Unlikely so judging from the signs. It resembles an erupting volcano if you ask me,” opined Lu Xiong.
Mu Yu vaulted up to see the sky above an alp turning grey and whiffed the smell of a fire breaking out. He hurried back down and helped up Lu Xiong. “We need to get out of here – and fast!”
“What about the three of them?” asked the dragon tortoise.
“We can’t do anything. They should be able to protect themselves at their level,” responded Mu Yu.
“What if harm befalls them?”
“What do you expect us Spirit Severing Realm fodder to do if Body Synthesis Realm fiends can’t resolve the problem?” Mu Yu disputed.
“Let’s get off the island first, and we can wait for them from a safe spot,” recommended Qiao Xue.
From the sky, they noticed abnormally big bubbles burbling followed by water columns rising from the same spot, acting as sprinklers all around the island.
“Sizzling water columns and suffocating stench oozing out, this is anything but normal,” stated Mu Yu. Mu Yu took in a breath of the air and then abruptly descended, forcing what he inhaled out of his body. “Descend! Drop now! Blaze venom is spreading into the sky!”
“What is blaze venom? Cough, cough!” asked Qiao Xue, immediately forcing the smoke she inhaled back out.
“It’s usually found as a rare mineral in volcanoes. Over time, it absorbs spiritual qi from nature and combines it with the volcanoes smoke, turning it into a poisonous gas. There’s no stopping it from corroding our spiritual energy once we breathe it in regardless of how advanced we are as cultivators! Once the poison mixes with the smoke coming from the volcano, we’ll have trouble even flying out of here. That applies even if we can travel through voids because we have to emerge at intervals.”
Qiao Xue descended onto the shore. She formed a bubble from the hot water, then froze it to use as an escape vehicle. To everyone’s dismay, fiend beasts started surfacing from the water by the second. The red lion-like fiends, except with tentacles on their backs, were twice the size of an average human and equipped with functioning wings.
“Oceanblaze beasts?!”
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