"Snow Spirit Qilin, use the Ice and Fire Fusion Technique!" Loran leaped up, sweeping his three-element light blade across and shredding every flying insect before him. Snow Spirit Qilin immediately understood, blending Lei Lin's fire seed into the lustrous white ice mist to form a spinning "Ice-Fire Tornado". Wherever the tornado passed, the insects were frozen or burned to ashes, and the evil mist was purified into white mist.
But there were simply too many insects. As soon as one wave was cleared, another poured out of the brood nest. Chief Tongchui steered the warship in an attempt to break out of the swarm, but the chaotic currents and insects held it firmly in place. Obvious cracks had appeared in the ship's light shield, and faint clicking sounds came from the sealing chamber on the lowest deck-the runes on its walls had begun to flicker. Clearly, evil power was interfering with the core.
"This is bad! The fragment of the Matriarch's consciousness inside the core is stirring!" Loran's heart tightened, and he immediately rushed to the lowest deck. The moment he pushed open the door, he saw the four-colored light on the sealing chamber's surface fluctuating violently. A pale purple phantom of the core flickered in and out of view inside, the black markings on its surface darker than before, as though it were about to burst through the chamber!
"The Holy Spring crystal can barely suppress it anymore!" A Ze rushed in after him, pressing a water-element barrier tightly against the chamber walls. "The chaotic currents and the insects' evil power are strengthening the fragment. It wants to use this chance to control the core and force the warship off course!"
Loran immediately pressed his palm against the sealing chamber, pouring his three-element power through his hand to join the Holy Spring crystal's power. Pale golden light intertwined with pure white light, temporarily stabilizing the phantom core inside. But he could clearly feel the fragment's consciousness battering wildly against its confines-it was a will filled with the desire for destruction, like countless sharp spikes stabbing into his mind.
"We have to find the purifying current as soon as possible!" Liya's voice came from the upper deck. "The light shield can last another quarter of an hour at most. If we delay any longer, not only will the core go out of control, but the insects will tear the warship apart!"
Snow Spirit Qilin suddenly rushed onto the lowest deck, the ice talisman shining brighter than before. The path of a pale golden current appeared within its lustrous white light. "I can sense the purifying current! It's in the clouds behind the insect mother! That current is drawing the ice talisman toward it. It must be connected to the Qilin Holy Land! As long as we can break through, the current can disperse the insects and the chaotic currents!"
Loran immediately made his decision. "Chief Tongchui, steer the warship toward that current! Lei Lin, attack the insect mother with everything you have and draw its attention; Snow Spirit Qilin, use your ice mist to open a path for the ship; the Icefield Wolf and I will cover the rear and clear out the insects behind us!"
Chief Tongchui immediately turned the helm, and brilliant light erupted from the warship's core slot-Lei Lin and Snow Spirit Qilin poured in all their origin power. Although some was still swallowed by the chaotic currents, the warship regained propulsion and charged toward the clouds behind the insect mother. Lei Lin's fiery wings condensed into a massive flaming spear that slammed into the insect mother's abdomen. The spear pierced its wings and exploded against the brood nest, sending black-purple fluid gushing out as the nest let out a piercing screech.
Snow Spirit Qilin spewed out vast quantities of ice mist, forming an "ice path" ahead of the warship. When the chaotic currents encountered the path, they actually froze temporarily, unable to interfere with the ship any longer. The Icefield Wolf and Loran guarded the stern, their golden claws and three-element light blade working together to cut down the pursuing insects one by one, buying the warship time to charge ahead.
Seeing that the warship was about to escape, the Flying Insect Matriarch immediately mobilized every insect, forming an "insect wall" to block its path. At the same time, an even larger energy sphere condensed in its mouth, its black-purple glow illuminating almost the entire storm belt-this was its final killing move, intended to take the warship down with it.
"Now!" Loran leaped up. His three-element power, Lei Lin's flames, and Snow Spirit Qilin's ice mist converged on his knight's sword at the same time, forming a Three-Element Ice-Fire Purification Blade that slashed toward the insect wall. The instant the light blade cleaved the wall apart, Chief Tongchui sent the warship charging forward at full speed, straight toward the pale golden current behind the insect mother-exactly where the purifying current lay!
The moment the warship entered the purifying current, a miraculous sight unfolded: the dark gray chaotic currents instantly dispersed into white clouds and mist; the insects surrounding the ship fell one after another as though they had encountered their natural bane, while the black-purple evil mist was completely purified by the pale golden light within the current; the insect mother's energy sphere exploded in the current without raising even a ripple, and the insect mother itself rapidly melted within it, finally turning into a wisp of black smoke.
Even more welcome was the fact that the fluctuations in the sealing chamber completely stabilized-the purifying current's pale golden light passed through the chamber walls and merged into the core. The black markings inside faded at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the abnormal movements of the Matriarch's consciousness fragment ceased entirely. Snow Spirit Qilin's ice talisman shone with dazzling white light, and the pale golden route guidance became incomparably clear, pointing straight toward a floating mountain at the end of the storm belt. A Qilin statue at its summit flickered in and out of view amid the sea of clouds-it was the Qilin Holy Land!
"We made it out! We can see the Holy Land!" Liya cried excitedly. The Illustrated Catalog of Plants automatically turned to the section recording the Qilin Holy Land, and the illustration on the page was identical to the distant mountain. "The catalog says this mountain is called 'Qilin Radiance Peak.' It's the sacred mountain of the ancient Qilin Clan. The 'Purification Pool' at its summit can completely cleanse all evil power!"
Loran stood at the bow, feeling the warmth brought by the purifying current as all his earlier exhaustion vanished. He looked at his companions beside him: Lei Lin's fiery wings had regained their dazzling golden-red color, Snow Spirit Qilin's ice mist shimmered with pale golden light, and the Icefield Wolf's golden eyes were filled with excitement. A Ze and the Water Whisperer were withdrawing their water-element barriers, while Chief Tongchui steered the warship slowly toward Qilin Radiance Peak along the route indicated by the ice talisman.
The sea of clouds parted on either side of the warship. Pale golden sunlight spilled through the clouds onto the ship, dyeing its fallen star iron hull gold. Inside the sealing chamber, the Evil Bone Core glowed with a gentle pale purple light, no longer giving off the slightest fluctuation of evil power-as though it, too, were anticipating the purification to come.
Loran tightened his grip on his knight's sword, his heart filled with unprecedented resolve. He knew that reaching the Holy Land did not mean the end. Purification Core, completely thwarting the Abyss Matriarch's plot-still more important challenges awaited them. But now, gazing at Qilin Radiance Peak drawing ever closer in the distance, he finally saw the dawn of hope.
The warship's light shield slowly dissolved within the purifying current, its defensive glow no longer needed-this sea of clouds had finally regained its rightful tranquility. A desperate journey through storms and insect swarms had ended in victory for them all, and their "final act of purification" was about to begin in the Qilin Holy Land.