Suppression

Although Su Qing was puzzled, she felt no fear toward the thing before her.

Her strength was formidable; though not as powerful as her original body, she still possessed the strength of someone at the peak of the Earthly Immortal realm.

Unless this thing's power exceeded her own, she had nothing to fear.

Besides, if necessary, she could always summon her original body.

There was no reason to be afraid.

She looked at the smoke-shrouded head and the still-twitching body, her brow furrowing involuntarily.

Sure enough, after she stood dazed for a moment, the centipede's body lunged at her in an attack...

Su Qing naturally didn't fear such an assault. With a flick of her hand, she swung her sword.

She sliced it apart with a single stroke...

However, even then, the corpse did not cease its movements.

It continued its assault on Su Qing.

Seeing this, Su Qing could only let out a helpless sigh.

"It seems this Centipede Demon has completely become a puppet of that black smoke. Is it the smoke, rather than the demon itself, that's controlling this body now?"

Su Qing's eyebrows arched, and she then swung her sword to hack it into a thousand pieces.

While she didn't reduce it to literal dust, it was certainly incapable of moving again.

She even shredded the head into scrap.

"Well, I'll just burn it all with Samadhi True Fire."

Samadhi True Fire was best suited for dealing with such evil filth.

Using it to burn this was perfectly appropriate.

As expected, the moment the Samadhi True Fire touched the black smoke, it flared up with excitement.

It burned with exceptional intensity.

Seeing this, Su Qing nodded in satisfaction and let out a sigh of relief.

As long as there was a way to deal with this stuff, that was enough...

"Still, I really don't know what this black smoke actually is..." Su Qing exhaled a breath of turbid Qi, watching the burning smoke while lost in thought.

"Is it related to the Earth Vein mutations? Or is it another omen of the impending Great Tribulation of Heaven and Earth? Heh, forget it. If everything is an omen of the Great Tribulation, that would be a bit too ridiculous."

Su Qing shook her head helplessly, thinking to herself:

"Regardless, this stuff needs to be cleaned up thoroughly. Even if it can't be completely purged, it should at least be sealed away. Otherwise, if this black smoke spreads, who knows how much trouble it will cause."

At that thought, Su Qing looked toward the cave that was still billowing with black smoke.

After a moment's consideration, she decided to head inside and take a look.

However, just to be safe, Su Qing layered several arrays on herself and added a number of buffs before setting off.

Her divination had indicated that this trip held a 'slight danger.'

That danger certainly didn't come from the Centipede Demon...

While the demon's strength was decent, it posed no threat to her. Even if it hadn't lost its mind and still possessed its own spiritual sense, it wouldn't have been a match for Su Qing.

The fellow was, at most, an existence at the Earthly Immortal realm.

Compared to someone like Su Qing, who was at the peak of that realm, it was far too inferior.

Furthermore, this was merely Su Qing's clone; if her original body were here, she could have incapacitated it in a single encounter.

Since the danger didn't come from the demon, it had to come from the black smoke within the cave.

And Su Qing had already witnessed the eeriness of this smoke...

After all, any smoke that could make a decapitated demon continue to move was unlikely to be simple.

Nevertheless, what needed to be resolved had to be resolved. She couldn't just leave it alone for fear of trouble.

If this thing wasn't handled properly, it would inevitably lead to even greater problems later.

That was clearly unacceptable...

Su Qing quickly completed her comprehensive preparations.

By the time she was ready, the centipede's corpse had been mostly consumed by the Samadhi True Fire.

Su Qing glanced at it, and once she was certain it was burned clean, she performed a hand seal and rushed inside.

Entering the cave, she found the entire interior filled with thick, swirling black smoke.

Fortunately, Su Qing's divine sense was powerful enough that she could still maintain her sense of direction even in here.

However, while she could tell which way to go, the influence of the black smoke managed to bypass her initial defenses and began affecting her directly.

This surprised her slightly...

But she didn't pay it much mind, simply strengthening her defenses in a targeted manner, which successfully broke through the influence.

"This black smoke is somewhat similar to the black water back at the North Sea Dragon Palace. Both can affect one's mind, though its range is smaller than the black water, and it can also control bodies."

Su Qing silently analyzed the properties of the substance.

She then reached a conclusion.

This was likely the same as what happened beneath the North Sea Dragon Palace.

It was a mutation of the Earth Vein.

"What kind of luck is this! How have I encountered Earth Vein mutations twice in such a short time?"

Su Qing let out a helpless sigh, then ventured deeper to find the source of the smoke.

After all, only by finding the source could she begin the sealing process.

Otherwise, she would just be busy for nothing, treating the symptoms but not the cause.

Meanwhile, while the clone was busy, the original body was not idle either.

At that moment, she had left her domain and was flying toward the Heavenly Court...

While the clone's strength was quite good, relying on its individual power to seal this thing would clearly be difficult.

In fact, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it was impossible...

After all, the clone hadn't even reached the Heavenly Immortal realm.

Therefore, Su Qing naturally went to call for backup.

While the issue would basically be settled if Su Qing's original body went there, having a few more powerful people would make the matter even more secure...

And ensure the black smoke was sealed even better.

Of course, the main reason was that Su Qing could save herself a lot of trouble.

After all, suppressing those things alone was quite exhausting.

Su Qing's movements were very swift.

Upon reaching the Heavenly Palace, it took only a short while before she found several people willing to help.

Among them, besides Yang Jian—whom she had happened to run into and coaxed along—there were several members of the Thunder Department... These individuals were all existences of extraordinary strength, not much weaker than Su Qing's clone, and most were actually stronger.

In truth, Su Qing had originally wanted to find a few more people to ensure the suppression would be even smoother and more stable.

However, given the urgency of the situation, once she had gathered a few powerful allies, she didn't want to waste any more time and immediately set off with them.

She wanted to avoid the situation escalating further if they arrived too late.

And so, the group was now standing on Su Qing's Somersault Cloud, heading toward the clone's location at an incredible speed.

On the other side, Su Qing's clone had ventured deep into the cave and had now found the source of the black smoke.

This was the deepest part of the cave.

Here, there was a jagged, bottomless, and profound rift, from which the black smoke was billowing.

The rift was roughly two meters long and half a meter wide. It didn't look large, but it acted like a chimney, constantly spewing out black smoke... an endless stream.

The smoke filled the entire space, turning it into a pitch-black void.

One could see almost nothing, only the thick, roiling smoke.

It was as if one had stepped into the dead of night.

Furthermore, this black smoke was quite detestable, constantly attempting to seize control of Su Qing's clone.

Unfortunately for it...

Su Qing's clone was being controlled by her original body, leaving no openings for these things to exploit.

Even if there were an opening, Su Qing would promptly plug it.

There was no way she would let this black smoke succeed.

Standing before the rift, Su Qing exhaled, her heart gradually growing calm.

She then began to perform hand seals, casting spells to temporarily suppress the black smoke.

While this smoke could be ignited by Samadhi True Fire, and it could indeed be burned... the rift would continuously spew more out. Faced with such a massive volume of smoke, the fire might not be effective.

Unless she kept it burning constantly, incinerating whatever emerged.

Until all the black smoke beneath the earth was burned away.

But the cost of doing so would be a bit too high...

After all, it would mean burning the entire Earth Vein.

And the time required would be even greater than imagined.

Therefore, the best method was to suppress it first.

Just like back at the North Sea Dragon Palace.

With Su Qing's strength, the suppression quickly took effect.

In a short while, she had managed to simply plug the opening from which the smoke emerged.

However, this wouldn't last long... it was only temporary.

After all, the clone's strength was limited; how could it be so simple to truly suppress it?

But she didn't need to truly suppress it right now, as the clone's task was merely to hold it down for the time being.

As for the rest...

She only needed to wait for the help to arrive.

'Phew... next, I should deal with the residual black smoke in this cave.'

After simply suppressing the source, Su Qing could finally free up her hands.

She performed a hand seal and cast Samadhi True Fire, which immediately ignited the remaining smoke in the cave.

Instantly, the entire cave was ablaze with light, as if it had fallen into the Fire Mountains.

While the smoke at the source couldn't be burned along with the Earth Vein, the smoke that had already spilled out could be burned and had to be cleared.

After all, if she ignored these things and let them escape to control other demons, it would still cause significant trouble.

When that time came, Su Qing would have to deal with it herself...

So, it was better to do a good job now.

"Once the smoke here is burned, I'll have to sweep the surrounding area. Otherwise, the smoke that escaped at the very beginning will likely become a hidden danger."

Su Qing preferred to do things as thoroughly as possible, leaving no hidden risks... after all, she would be the one dealing with them in the end.

Therefore, she had to find and destroy as much of the initially dispersed smoke as possible.

After she ignited the smoke, the Samadhi True Fire flared up excitedly, burning wildly.

Simultaneously, the counter-pressure from the rift became even more violent.

Su Qing was forced to focus her full attention on suppressing the smoke.

Fortunately, Su Qing was no amateur. Even though it was somewhat difficult, she held her ground firmly...

Luckily, the clone didn't have to hold on for long; she only needed to wait for the original body to arrive with reinforcements.

And at that moment, the reinforcements were not far off; they were almost there.

Before long, a crimson cloud descended outside the cave.

On the cloud were Su Qing, Yang Jian, and the group from the Thunder Department.

Upon arriving, the group made brief preparations and then rushed inside without hesitation, joining Su Qing's clone in suppressing the black smoke.

With their addition, the suppression of the smoke became much smoother.

Before long—roughly over an hour later—the black smoke was completely suppressed back into the rift, which was now covered by a thick layer of sealing arrays...

Now, with the reinforcement of the arrays, this black smoke wouldn't be able to escape anytime soon.

Su Qing could finally let out a long sigh of relief.

"There, that should be stable for the time being," Su Qing said.

Yang Jian nodded upon hearing this and said, "Indeed. However, it can't be considered completely over yet. We've only sealed one opening. The rest of the Earth Vein still needs to be sealed once over, otherwise if it pops up somewhere else in the future, today's efforts will have been in vain."

Su Qing naturally understood this, as that was how the previous incident had been resolved.

"Yes, that is indeed what should be done. However, I won't be participating in the subsequent work; I'll leave it to you all to handle." Su Qing stretched her body and said, "After all, I have other things to attend to."

Yang Jian's mouth twitched slightly at her words.

While he didn't know exactly what Su Qing had to do, he had a general idea that her 'business' wasn't very important.

The reason she didn't intend to stay and help was simply that she found it troublesome.

However, he truly couldn't force her...

After all, this wasn't her job.

Of course, it wasn't his either...

These matters were the responsibility of the Thunder Department.

The members of the Thunder Department naturally understood this as well, so they could only exchange smiles and nod to Su Qing.

What else could they do?

It wasn't as if they could force her to stay.

"Very well, if you have other matters, you may head off first. I will search the vicinity to ensure no stragglers escaped before I leave," Yang Jian said with a smile and a nod.

That was what he said, but in reality, Yang Jian's intent was also to leave the tedious work to the people from the Thunder Department.

Once he finished his search, he would leave as well.

Su Qing heard it, and the people from the Thunder Department heard it too.

But no one said anything...

They could only agree with bitter smiles.

In their hearts, they felt a faint surge of regret—why hadn't they called a few more colleagues from their own department to come along? That would have made their work much easier.

Hearing this, Su Qing nodded to Yang Jian and said, "In that case, I'll leave it to you. I'm off!"

Su Qing had originally intended to deal with the stragglers herself, but since Yang Jian had volunteered, she naturally handed the task to him.

Regardless, Yang Jian was a serious person.

Anything he said he would do, he would certainly do well.

She wasn't worried that Yang Jian would leave any loose ends.