The people did not want to return to the county seat, but they had no choice.
The Torch was with Zhang Ruobai; they could only follow him.
Without the Torch's protection, they would not survive the night.
Three days later, the group returned to Phoenix Cry County.
"This is bad. The county seat has already been corrupted by Demonic Beasts."
The city was filled with black demonic qi. The walls and many buildings had been corroded, crumbling away in the wind.
"I brought the Demon-Cleansing Stone. We still have a chance."
Huang Tianhai took out a crystal-clear stone brimming with holy qi.
The stone slowly flew out and arrived at the center of the city.
In an instant, the demonic qi raging through the city surged toward the Demon-Cleansing Stone like sharks catching the scent of blood.
Having devoured a vast amount of demonic qi, the Demon-Cleansing Stone's radiance dimmed, and black patterns appeared across its surface.
"There's too much demonic qi. Hurry and act."
Seeing that the Demon-Cleansing Stone was about to give out, everyone swiftly acted, channeling their true essence into it to wear down the demonic qi.
"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle..."
The two mutually incompatible forces clashed fiercely, rapidly draining everyone's true essence.
"There's too much demonic qi. This is troublesome."
The amount of demonic qi exceeded their expectations, and everyone immediately found it thorny.
They still needed to preserve their strength to deal with the Demonic Beasts at night. If they exhausted too much power now, it would affect the battle later that night.
But if they did not clear away the demonic qi, the city could not be inhabited, and the people might even become infected.
"Boom!"
As everyone faced this dilemma, a vast tide of Blood Qi Force surged upward like a waterfall flowing in