After the Emperor disappeared, a crimson flame appeared out of thin air.

The black flames immediately enveloped it.

In the next instant, the black flames exploded outward, expanding several times over and covering the entire Yingzhou Celestial Isle and the surrounding sea.

At the same time, many of the nobles of Yingzhou writhed within the black flames.

Jian Li who had been about to close his eyes was startled to see the black flames suddenly ignite without cause, covering the entire prison.

Li Peiyi who had been about to strike his Nascent Soul with her sword was engulfed by the black flames and instantly vanished.

He looked at the flames, then at the now open prison door and the lifted restrictions.

Suddenly, he reconnected with his life-bond spirit sword.

Through it, he sensed the treasure inside his body that had been constantly eroding both his Nascent Soul and his sword.

It was being burned by the black flames and instantly turning into a mass of black fire.

After circling once inside his body, it left.

A spirit fire that suppresses corruption?

Jian Li glanced at where Li Peiyi had disappeared, then at his own completely unharmed body.

He thought that it was probably not just capable of purifying corruption, but possessed other powers as well.

No matter what, a flame that could ignore a cultivator’s defenses was far too powerful.

It seemed to have just saved his life.

He forced himself to stand up unsteadily.

He picked up Li Peiyi’s storage pouch, took out some healing pills, swallowed them, and walked outward.

Inside the winding prison corridors, not a single person could be seen.

There were only black flames everywhere, while the cells, various magic treasures, weapons, and storage bags remained completely intact.

When he walked out of the prison, the same scene greeted him everywhere.

Seeing this, Jian Li formed a few guesses.

He immediately sat cross legged, closed his eyes, and tried to summon the Vermilion Bird Flame through the damaged bond between them.

It was only a tentative attempt with little hope, yet to his surprise, he immediately received a faint response.

He quickly focused his mind and sent out a stronger summoning intent.

After a few breaths, the black flames around him flickered slightly. Then that familiar crimson flame, which seemed to have grown a bit larger, suddenly rushed into his Nascent Soul.

The damaged bond was instantly restored to completeness, though his injured foundation would still need another method to repair.

After sensing his condition, Jian Li stood up and cupped his hands toward the surroundings.

"Thank you for saving my life. I will repay this debt in the future."

The black flames continued to burn, completely ignoring him.

Through his own Vermilion Bird Flame, he could vaguely sense the thoughts of the black fire.

It kept repeating, "So tasty. So tasty. There is more tasty food. I want to eat all the tasty food..."

Hearing this through the Vermilion Bird Flame, Jian Li’s mouth twitched slightly.

He thought to himself that this spiritual fire was incredibly gluttonous.

Fortunately, his own flame was not like this.

But just as he finished thinking that, the small flame within his Nascent Soul also jumped excitedly and echoed, "Tasty. I want tasty..."

He froze in place.

The Terrestrial Fox Black Flame was a spiritual fire that burned away all filth and sin upon the earth, transforming it into its own power.

At first glance, this ability did not seem especially overwhelming.

However, all things grow from the earth.

Very few beings can exist without it.

Humans grow upon the earth.

Seas exist upon the earth.

Sea beasts, all beasts, and all plants rely on the nourishment of the earth to grow.

All of these are things of the earth.

Since even humans, the most complex of beings, are part of the earth, they too fall within the burning range of the Terrestrial Fox Black Flame.

That is why those who have committed countless sins are scorched by it.

The customs of Yingzhou Celestial Isle were especially cruel.

Mortals were treated as slaves and livestock, used and slaughtered at will.

Yet the laws of heaven protect mortals.

Treating them this way created even greater sins than harming cultivators.

Added to that were countless years of robbery and senseless killing, along with the recent massacre of all living beings across a million meter of sea.

All of this caused the bureaucrats, nobles, and marauding clans of Yingzhou Celestial Isle to be completely consumed by the flames that burned away all mortal sin and corruption.

Meanwhile, the weak commoners, slaves, kind and righteous cultivators, and ordinary people survived.

Yingzhou Celestial Isle was like this, but what about the people of Penglai Immortal Isle?

Their domineering way of doing things, treating others’ lives as worthless, meant that the longer they cultivated, the more sins they accumulated.

Normally, the Heavenly Dao would only settle such karmic debts during the tribulation stage.

During that time, many cultivators might find treasures to reduce or resolve their karmic burdens, though how much they could truly offset was another matter.

But the Terrestrial Fox Black Flame would not wait.

To it, anything it encountered was simply food.

It would not let a single bite escape.

Thus, the Island Master Ying watched as his son and accompanying subordinates had their defenses torn apart by the strange flames and were burned into nothing.

Their souls were instantly drawn into the cycle of reincarnation, leaving nothing behind.

Overwhelmed with grief yet more composed than Emperor Yingzhou, he saw that the black flames were about to break through his protective aura.

His escape speed and teleportation were slower than the spread of the flames.

In the end, he gritted his teeth and released the suppression on his cultivation.

Immediately, a beam of guiding light descended from the sky, enveloped him, and in an instant he vanished.

Unaware that he had, in his ignorance, been even more ruthless than his disciple, eliminating countless people while also saving many others, Xiao Shou continued sleeping soundly.