From that day on, Ye Liuyun’s crew fought with extra caution—always hit-and-run, never lingering.

Under the protection of the Dragon Girl and the blue whale, they reached the under-sea volcano in no time. Even beasts who’d never cultivated fire could feel the scorching breath here.

Below the waves the seabed was paved with magma-born reefs, only a little deeper than the surface.

Ye Liuyun stowed everyone except Qiong Qi into his spatial world, then followed the Dragon Girl toward the volcano.

He kept the blue whale on standby; with that titan guarding the spot, ordinary schools of sea-beasts wouldn’t dare come close.

Once the three of them slipped into the abyss, they stepped into a different world of the Desolate Sea.

Down here, silence reigned. The creatures were more varied and brilliantly colored than near the surface, and far less warlike. Ye Liuyun passed whole schools of them; none attacked.

Soon a swarm of jellyfish drifted past, tentacles swaying like silk, bodies glass-clear, occasionally flashing gold.

“Low intelligence,” the Dragon Girl said. “Leave them alone and they’ll ignore you.”

They threaded through the swarm without getting too close; the jellyfish never reacted.

Silver minnows flickered in shoals, a drifting ribbon of living light. Harmless. The Dragon Girl inhaled and swept up a mouthful.

Qiong Qi only glanced, then kept hunting for the fire source. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

The farther they went, the murkier and hotter the water became. Even the Dragon Girl could clearly sense the fire ahead.

Then a pack of fire-attribute sea-beasts blocked them—small fry at first. The Dragon Girl released her bloodline pressure, stunned them, and swallowed the lot.

But as they pushed on, Ye Liuyun’s golden pupils could barely pierce the gloom. Near the fire source the seawater turned ink-black, sight useless.

Even Qiong Qi turned grave.

“No telling what’s ahead. If something hits us in there, we’re dead before we know it.”

He signaled Ye Liuyun and the Dragon Girl to halt. The beasts here were colossal; one ambush could end them in a single gulp.

The Dragon Girl agreed. “The fire aura scrambles perception; my senses are almost blind here.”

Ye Liuyun thought for a moment, then asked the Dragon Girl to summon nearby sea-beasts as scouts.

None were especially strong, but they could still probe the murk.

School after school charged ahead; soon some raced back. Questioned, they reported “powerful fire spirit” inside—how powerful, they couldn’t say.

Some had fled without even seeing the enemy.

Ye Liuyun shrugged and released ten Unity-Four alien slaves.

“Go. Find out exactly what those fire spirit are.”

The aliens dove into the black water. Moments later the haze churned; battle ripples reached them. Through the slave seals Ye Liuyun watched the fight unfold.

“Confirmed: fire spirit. Temperatures lethal to ordinary beasts. They’ve taken the shape of giant sea-creatures—strong enough to fight Unity-Five aliens.”

He passed the news to Qiong Qi and the Dragon Girl, then dispatched a hundred more aliens—ten of them Unity-Six human experts—to join the hunt.

The clash shook the water so hard they could feel the currents hammer their bodies.

Half an hour later, the abyss finally quieted.“Let’s go—the fire spirit are all wiped out!”

Ye Liuyun hollered, then rushed off with Qiong Qi and Dragon Girl right behind him.

They’d barely crossed a stretch of murky seawater when the water ahead turned crystal-clear.

But the only ones waiting for them were eight aliens and three human cultivators.

“Where is everyone?” Dragon Girl asked, assuming Ye Liuyun had sent scouts in other directions.

“All dead,” Ye Liuyun answered, regret thick in his voice.

The squad he’d brought was meant for the pirate lords; he hadn’t expected to lose so many here.

Neither Qiong Qi nor Dragon Girl had imagined the casualties would pile up so fast. The two fell silent.

Ye Liuyun swallowed the ache and kept surveying ahead. Through his golden pupils he spotted a huge undersea cave spewing lava. The water frothed with bubbles; Dragon Girl had to cloak herself in true essence just to endure the heat.

“Dragon Girl, sense anything in that magma—any sea-beast aura?”

She closed her eyes, then frowned. “Dragon-kind?” Ye Liuyun pressed.

He carried dragon-breath himself; though too weak to intimidate, it let him recognize the scent.

Dragon Girl gave him a startled look and nodded. “Yes—but it’s dragon-soul breath, not a living dragon.”

That nuance Ye Liuyun couldn’t distinguish.

Qiong Qi pieced their clues together. “No wonder I couldn’t place the flame! Now it makes sense.

This is a submarine volcano—Deep-Sea Essence Fire, top-tier stuff. Nested inside is true-dragon essence fire, kept alive by the volcano’s power.

A dragon soul has to be in there; without it, the dragon fire would’ve been swallowed by the volcano’s own blaze.”

Ye Liuyun lifted a brow. “True-dragon essence fire? That strong?”

Qiong Qi chuckled. “An ordinary dragon couldn’t produce fire this fierce. But remember—this Desolate Sea is a shard of the primordial world. The dragons here dwarf Dragon Girl several times over.

Scale it by size, and such dragon-fire is only natural. More likely, the dragon essence has been feeding on the Deep-Sea Essence Fire all this time, growing instead of fading.”

Dragon Girl’s eyes lit up—she couldn’t wait to see what an Ancient Dragon Soul looked like.