Bai Shengyi didn't know why, but these black mists relentlessly pursued her.
As soon as she moved, these things would rush into her body, no longer in their previous sticky state.
Her mental power was almost depleted. Bai Shengyi frowned tightly and could only use her spiritual energy to protect herself, daring not to let even a shred of the black mist touch her.
However, the wood spiritual energy had limited effect in the seawater, and it wasn't as handy as her mental power. By the time Bai Shengyi finished struggling, she found that she could no longer see Chu Tianle and the others outside!
She felt as if she had been locked into a confined dark room, surrounded by pitch-black darkness that felt suffocating.
Bai Shengyi disliked this kind of darkness; it reminded her of many unpleasant things from the past. Just then, the previously silent Reincarnation Brush suddenly chimed.
"Master, Pen Pen didn't slumber for long this time... Huh? Thousand Soul Insect Silk? How did you encounter this!" the Reincarnation Brush exclaimed in surprise.
Bai Shengyi quickly pressed, "Little Reincarnation, you recognize this thing? It's been chasing me relentlessly. Besides fire, what else can deal with it?"
"No, it only fears fire," the Reincarnation Brush said, quite confused. "But Thousand Soul Insect Silk only feeds on spirit beasts. Usually, it's like black silk threads or mist, so why would it chase you?"
It couldn't figure it out, but seeing Bai Shengyi at a loss against such a small thing, it immediately became disdainful: "My master, you can burn it with fire! Use fire!"
It didn't know why, but although it couldn't remember many things, it still felt that this thing wasn't difficult to deal with, especially for its master, the Reincarnation Brush. It should have been something that could be eliminated with a wave of the hand.
Bai Shengyi could hear the Reincarnation Brush's overwhelming disdain and almost spat out profanities. If it weren't for the fact that the speaker was her favorite Little Reincarnation, she would have scolded it severely.
"Did you forget I have a wood spirit root!" Bai Shengyi wished she could roll her eyes and said coolly.
Although she had used wood spiritual energy to start a fire earlier, she ultimately wasn't a fire spirit root cultivator! How could she summon fire so easily!
Bai Shengyi's tone was filled with exasperation, and the Reincarnation Brush was even more exasperated and irritable. Despite calling her "Master" repeatedly, it acted more like a "master" than she did.
It hopped with indignation, "My master, hey! Who said you only have a wood spirit root! Don't you realize how much fire element there is in your meridians when you cultivate normally?"
"If you only had a wood spirit root, wouldn't me asking you to find the Nine Nether Desolate Fire be harming you? Is Pen Pen that kind of brush!"
The Reincarnation Brush was simply enraged by its foolish master. After cultivating for more than ten years, why did she still seem to understand nothing?
Bai Shengyi was stunned, and she even forgot to bicker with the Reincarnation Brush.
She hastily asked, "I have a fire spirit root?"
It wasn't her fault for being so surprised. Before she had entered the Qi Refining stage, she had seemed to see fire element molecules within her body. But ever since she started cultivating, she had only focused on the wood elements she needed, and hadn't paid attention to anything else.
Moreover, Bai Shengyi had switched paths mid-way and had no systematic understanding of elements of all types.
"Yes. It just hasn't been activated," the Reincarnation Brush finally calmed down and instructed, "Your spirit root is special, and coupled with that mass of black mist... Wait, that thing inside you seems to have some connection to the Thousand Soul Insect Silk as well. Pen Pen needs to think..."
The Reincarnation Brush fell silent, but Bai Shengyi couldn't calm down at all.
She had always envied cultivators with fire spirit roots because she found them very practical and convenient. They could provide light anytime and roast meat anytime.
Of course, Bai Shengyi didn't think her wood spirit root was bad either, as wood element focused on healing, which was closely related to her original profession.
However, upon hearing that she actually had a fire spirit root, she was still very happy.
Seeing that the Thousand Soul Insect Silk couldn't do anything to her spiritual energy shield for the time being, she calmed herself down to check her body. Indeed, she found fire elements appearing in some areas.
She tried to mobilize those elements, but found that they remained completely still.
"Stupid! Wood generates fire. You can directly use your wood spiritual energy to stimulate the fire spiritual energy, and then you can naturally use these fire elements," the Reincarnation Brush suddenly spoke again.
Bai Shengyi asked, "Little Reincarnation, do you remember what the thing in your dantian is?"
"..." The Reincarnation Brush paused. "Pen Pen forgot!"
It was illogical and yet unashamed.
Bai Shengyi felt its tone was somewhat familiar, but she couldn't recall it. However, her mind was now fully focused on how to generate fire, so she didn't think about it further.
"Wood generates fire..." Bai Shengyi closed her eyes, recalling the feeling of stimulating the fire spirit energy in front of Chen Qiyang and Zhu Wu.
The spiritual energy within her body circulated and squeezed frantically, and the fire elements slowly moved, as if attracted by the wood elements...
Within Bai Shengyi's dantian, the black mass emitted a "gurgling" sound and its "body" shrunk uncomfortably.
"Why are these black mists getting more and more!"
Chu Tianle and Li Shiqing, one on guard against their surroundings to prevent other spirit beasts, the other burning the black mist, hoping to separate Bai Shengyi first.
However, no matter how fast Li Shiqing burned them, the black mists increased even faster!
It was as if something was attracting them to Bai Shengyi; it was as if all the black mist in the seabed was crowding and gathering around Bai Shengyi!
Chu Tianle looked at Li Shiqing's pale complexion, her spiritual energy almost depleted, and gritted his teeth, making a firm decision: "Sister Li, you should go up and continue the assessment. I'll stay here and guard Shengyi."
In fact, his situation wasn't much better than Li Shiqing's. He had been trapped in the seabed the longest, and his stamina had been significantly depleted.
Li Shiqing pursed her lips tightly. Her usually dashing face showed some hesitation. She naturally wanted to stay here until Bai Shengyi was rescued. Because of yesterday's events, she had been feeling guilty towards Bai Shengyi.
But she had to enter the Divine Revelation Academy, and she had promised Murong that she would protect her...
"Only half of the academy's designated time has passed. I'll try for a while longer." If all else fails, she would leave then.
After speaking, Li Shiqing once again used her flames to burn the black mists, and Chu Tianle also tried his best to help with his weapon. Even so, after working hard for a long time, the two of them saw no hope.
"Sister Li, you should go first," Chu Tianle said helplessly. "It's unknown how long it will take to find Qianlian City. If you don't leave now, it might really be too late!"
Li Shiqing swayed precariously. She truly didn't want to give up, but...
"Okay, then take care. I'll leave fir—"
Before she could finish her sentence, she heard a sudden strange noise from Bai Shengyi's direction.
"Zzzt!"
The sound wasn't very noticeable in the seabed, but Li Shiqing heard it keenly, "Chu Tianle, listen quickly!"
"Zzzt... crackle zz..."
Flames, brilliant as red peonies, suddenly shot out from the pile of black mist enveloping Bai Shengyi. Those black mists were immediately dispersed, fleeing and scattering in all directions in panic.
"It's Shengyi!" Chu Tianle exclaimed in surprise. "This thing has been driven away by Shengyi!"
To say it was dispersed wasn't entirely accurate. The flames were burning, but the black mist was also increasing. However, the black mist also seemed to have encountered its natural enemy and had to stay away from Bai Shengyi. Bai Shengyi's figure gradually became visible again.