Front Line of the Beast Tide, Part 18

Purifying all the demonic energy here through continuous rounds of purification, and then seeking new clues and vitality – this plan might be feasible, and it might be stable, but the human cost it consumed was truly terrifying.

They had to fight against time, with a lifelong deadline, gambling on whether they could get out before their lifespan ran out.

Searching for Ye Mingshi and finding clues to break the situation from her – the chance of success for this was extremely low, but once found, it might become a critical turning point to reverse the situation.

The prerequisite was that Ye Mingshi was indeed still alive.

Xiu Fu and her Healer Alliance were among the first to be drawn in. She tried to find an image corresponding to Ye Mingshi, but made no progress.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a female cultivator like that.”

Su Qing wasn’t surprised. “Since she was parasitized by the Myriad Beast Forest, she’s definitely valued more than us. Her soul body is likely imprisoned somewhere else, but I’m sure it’s here.”

“I don’t doubt she’s here, but can she really hold on until now by herself? You also said she was only at early Foundation Establishment. Without timely replenishment of heart-fire and beast cores, early Foundation Establishment can only survive for thirty days here. Moreover, she’s a demonic bone, more susceptible to demonic energy’s erosion. Even if we find her, what if she’s completely fallen to the demonic path?”

Quanjue said bluntly, “Compared to purification, this method is less feasible. I don’t agree.”

Danyue, however, said, “But if she really is still holding on, and we abandon her, wouldn’t that be too pitiful? Moreover, since she was the chosen one, the turning point might very well be with her.”

Quanjue frowned, completely uncomprehending. “Who here isn’t pitiful? The urgent matter is to deal with what’s in front of us, prepare for the sixth purification.”

Danyue said, “The fifth purification hasn’t succeeded yet. How can we prepare for the sixth? Are you trying to work Twenty-Six to death?”

“Is Twenty-Six the only one working?” This immediately touched a nerve with Quanjue. She said loudly, “Get this straight, all of us are on the verge of collapse. We have no leisure to gamble on such a faint possibility!”

Just maintaining the status quo had exhausted all their strength. Quanjue didn’t believe they had any energy left to change direction.

The good-tempered Danyue also got angry.

Her heart-fire flared up. “Don’t I know everyone is tired? It’s precisely because things aren’t going smoothly that we need to gamble! Do you think I’m just idly spouting nonsense?!”

The two were at loggerheads, arguments spilling out. T

he failure of the fifth purification had cast a shadow of gloom and obscurity over everyone’s hearts. Each person held a suppressed anger, and once ignited, this anger burned fiercely.

Zhu Qing quickly tried to mediate, “You both have your reasons. Please stop arguing.”

He tried to persuade them left and right, but no one listened to him.

He was so annoyed he wanted to roll up his sleeves and join the argument.

It was Xiu Fu who couldn’t stand it anymore and interjected, “If we fall into disarray first, what about everyone else?”

These words were like a basin of cold water, making Danyue and Quanjue shiver, forcing them to calm down immediately.

But they still wouldn’t yield to each other, one looking up, one looking down, refusing to face the other directly.

Fortunately, neither side lost their rationality. This emotional outburst came and went quickly and didn’t attract too much attention.

However, if this unfavorable situation continued for a long time, this quarrel would not only erupt between these two.

It was highly possible that the entire camp, driven by agitation and despair, would fall apart and turn on each other.

After the two quieted down, they realized Ji Xinghong hadn’t spoken.

Zhu Qing couldn’t help but ask, “Rainbow, what do you think?”

“What do I think?” Rainbow said calmly, “What I think, or rather, what we think, isn’t important. From the moment we made the heart-fire vow and formed the life-and-death alliance, Twenty-Six’s opinion is the most important. Whatever she thinks, I will do.”

The few of them were momentarily speechless.

They stopped talking and turned their gazes to Su Qing.

This question had an answer for Su Qing even before she entered here. She said decisively, “I want to find her.”

Zhu Qing thought: ‘Sure enough.’

Although Twenty-Six was not old and her cultivation was not high, her words and actions had a powerful aura of “what she says, she does.”

No matter what came from her mouth, it naturally carried a sense of conviction, making people believe even a glimmer of hope.

He turned to look at Quanjue.

Although her face was grim, it wasn’t the despairing gray of hopelessness. Instead, it showed a desperate resolve, as if things had come to this.

And Danyue also didn’t show a very relaxed expression; instead, she seemed deep in thought.

This was a difficult decision.

Su Qing looked at Rainbow.

Whenever such moments arose, Rainbow would always say something encouraging.

But Rainbow gazed deeply at her, indicating nothing, yet Su Qing suddenly realized that this time, it was her turn to lead.

She wasn’t very good at saying pleasantries, and she felt awkward after speaking them.

Therefore, Su Qing said very briefly, “I remember a saying: ‘Living and dying together, never abandoning each other.'”

She was reciting the oath of the heart-fire vow, but that was enough.

Quanjue turned her face away, not replying.

Searching for someone in such a dense, dark demonic forest was extremely difficult, especially when it was someone whose existence had been deliberately erased.

All Su Qing could do was search, and keep searching.

She had to go into every corner of this forest’s consciousness, every place obscured by mist.

She continued to devour and rummage in the cold demonic energy, looking for the hidden Ye Mingshi.

Countless times, dozens, or hundreds of times, her consciousness was entrapped by the dense demonic energy, her heart-fire flickering, almost forgetting who she was.

But each time, an endless supply of fire came, entangling her, enveloping her, bringing her back to the present world.

Su Qing gradually lost all sense of temperature.

Sticky traces of demonic energy lingered within her.

If it weren’t for the vigorously burning vitality in her chest reminding her, she would even suspect that she had already been assimilated by demonic energy.

Fortunately, the demonic energy here only resisted fiercely at the very beginning.

Afterward, it was very quiet, as if something more urgent outside prevented it from attending to internal conflicts.

But she couldn’t find it.

Couldn’t find it.

Couldn’t find it at all.

She had already walked very, very far in this forest, yet still found no trace of Ye Mingshi.

She called her name, thought of her appearance, imagined her suddenly appearing before her, but all this was in vain.

Too cold. There was nothing here.

As Su Qing searched again and again, the purification progress stalled, and the stored heart-fire, after continuously connecting to her, was also largely depleted.

To alleviate the pressure on the heart-fire, Rainbow again led people to hunt Soul Beasts.

And in the camp, voices of doubt gradually appeared.

“Why isn’t the sixth purification happening yet? Did something happen last time? Is she injured?”

“Our lives are tied to hers alone; we must ask for a clear explanation!”

Someone also retorted, “The Alliance Leader must have a reason for doing this. Precisely because our lives are interconnected and we’ve made a heart-fire vow, the Alliance Leader certainly wouldn’t harm us. Stop making wild guesses.”

“Who knows…” someone mumbled, “What if her intentions are good, but she made a mistake? Don’t we still bear the consequences?”

Quanjue walked out from the corner. She simply couldn’t listen anymore. “What, when things are calm, she’s ‘Alliance Leader’ and ‘Cult Master,’ always with an affectionate tone, but when trouble arises, it’s just ‘her’ again?”

She sneered, “If you’d just walked one round through the demonic energy, you wouldn’t say such ungrateful things. You know in your hearts who is bearing everything for you, allowing you cowards who only dare to speak behind people’s backs to appear here so grandly. If this place cannot accommodate a great Buddha like you, you are free to leave!”

Leaving was definitely not an option; otherwise, it would surely be a dead end.

Those voices of doubt also knew they were in the wrong and couldn’t help but shut their mouths, daring not to speak anymore.

Although only three or five people were currently questioning the matter, Quanjue knew that if there was still no progress, these voices would be amplified, and Twenty-Six’s situation would likely not be optimistic.

She clearly disagreed with this matter, but she never felt there was anything wrong with Twenty-Six.

She was already brave enough and inclusive enough. If it were her, she would never have stepped forward in the first place.

Quanjue pondered for a while, then saw Danyue standing by the side, who seemed to have been listening for a long time.

She said irritably, “What are you eavesdropping for? You’d be better off talking to Twenty-Six. Her condition is very bad.”

Danyue listened to Quanjue’s words and no longer took offense. She said, “How can we leave her alone? The Healer has been with her all this time.”

“The existence of a person will always leave some traces. Could it be that I can’t find her because I’m looking in the wrong direction? But this forest is static; there are no traces at all. Sometimes I even wonder if it’s dead.”

Su Qing held the rootless fire to warm herself, but in reality, she felt no warmth at all.

Having been immersed in demonic energy for so long, and her immortal bone operating at overdrive, she had basically lost her sensory abilities, or rather, she had become more like the indifferent forest itself.

Xiu Fu slapped her shoulder hard. “It’s rare to relax for a while after coming out of the demonic energy. Quickly think of something else, something delicious, a sword, a cat, a dog, grass, anything will do.”

Su Qing also knew her state was off; she was a bit agitated.

She forced herself to change the subject and asked, “Where are Rainbow and the others?”

“They went out to hunt Soul Beasts, taking advantage of the demonic energy being thinner at noon during the day.”

“I see,” Su Qing replied casually. She suddenly narrowed her eyes and repeated, “The demonic energy is thinner at noon.”

Demonic energy changed: thick at night, better during the day, thinnest at noon. What caused the fluctuation of demonic energy?

She stood up and looked up at the sky.

The sky here was a thick purplish-black due to the demonic energy, and the forest grew so densely, vying for survival space above, that the entire overhead was layers upon layers of tree canopies and branches, completely blocking out the sky.

“I need to go up and take a look.”