Madness attracts madness.

Ying Feixu hurriedly hopped back, the air in the cavern gathering in front of her. Huang Ying's reminder forced her to stop looking at him and focus on the task in front of her, the serpent. Just as he said, it was coming again. It had added her earthen pillars to its magma and was launching it at her, following right by with its maw wide open.

She could see that even its teeth were scorched and cracked, a layer of soot coating the inside of its mouth. It really had gone through a lot of pain and hardship to fuse with the True Dragon bloodline. Getting stopped here, just a few steps from success, how bitter wouldn't that be?

The wind she had gathered erupted and fanned out, it resembled a bomb going off underwater as it scattered the approaching magma. She couldn't put up a solid defence due to the slight moment of negligence that allowed her to be caught off-guard, this deflecting was the best she could do. But it seemed like the serpent wasn't completely mindless, she had felt something the moment the wind burst out.

"Tch, of course you had to be a bit clever."

The earth beneath her rose up and pushed against the back of her knees and thighs, quickly pushing her up into the air. She was still in the process of hopping back so this was the quickest way for her to quickly change her position. Something dug into the earthen pillars just as they lifted her up, metal shrapnel that had been hidden in the magma piercing through the earth as if it was mud.

The shrapnel started to wriggle and twist the second it missed Ying Feixu, the serpent's energy allowing each piece to grow into a ball of needles. Each ball exploded and sent the needles flying, the magma that she had just deflected quickly altering its direction as it returned to heading straight for her. And all the while, the serpent still chased right after it, purposefully changing its speed at times so that it could stay right behind its own attacks.

Ying Feixu's gaze rose slightly, sliding past the approaching serpent and its attacks. There, just beyond the serpent, she could see Huang Ying. He still had his casual gait as he strode towards the small mound of mud-like magma that the serpent had been coiled around previously. He wasn't even looking over, be it at her or the serpent, all he focused on was that small mound. A single attack, just one attack would be all it took to separate his head from his body, the earlier display had made that very clear.

"Yeah, I guess we really are all a bit insane."

He was insane for living the way he did, she was insane for trying to learn from him, and Song Yi was insane for sticking by his side. They all lived, they all met, and in turn, they were all insane, feeding off of each other's madness. They were mad, so why not just fully embrace it? After all, wasn't that what he had been trying to teach her all along?

She spat out a long breath. The heat of the approaching magma felt cold on her skin, it couldn't overpower her boiling blood. She was hungry, she was starved, she wanted to gorge upon the blood coursing through this serpent. So she curled up her lips and narrowed her eyes in tune with the arc, she thought about the nigh-on insane grin Huang Ying usually wore and tried to emulate it. A bit of insanity wasn't enough, her own little insanity wasn't enough, she had to go to the source, had to mimic it. Only like that would she be able to sate her hunger.

Her Qi burst forth as she halted the earthen pillars that pushed her upwards, tilting forward at the same time. The soles of her feet touched the sides of the pillars and she put some strength into them, launching herself forward, straight at the serpent. The pillars warped as she flew forward, branch-like limbs stretching out like a net to block the approaching needles.

The needles didn't have the same power as the shrapnel, having been made from them, but they were still strong enough to puncture the earthen branches. But Ying Feixu didn't set up a second line of defence for them, she just allowed them to dig into her flesh and carve through her skin, splattering warm blood that was quickly evaporated by the heat.

She bled, but she maintained her grin, that mimicry of madness. She threw herself at the dots of magma rushing towards her, locking eyes with the approaching serpent. She stretched out a hand and gathered her strength, a two-layered orb of ice appearing in front of her. Water was densely packed between the two layers, a small arc of lightning and a flickering flame dancing within the empty centre of the orb.

She pushed the orb forward, her eyes gleaming when she saw the confusion and wariness in the serpent's eyes. Sure, Huang Ying was stronger than her, his madness ran deeper. But this was something he didn't have, the versatility from having multiple elements. He only had earth, wind, and devouring, the combinations he had access to were limited. She, she did not have that problem.

The inner layer of the orb melted under Ying Feixu's control, adding to the water that was now loose. The water fell, and as was to be expected, touched upon the fire and lighting. The small sources of heat were far warmer than they looked, the densely packed water was instantly boiled into steam, violently expanding in volume.

The pressure became too much for the small orb to bear, a steam explosion erupting forth. Steam, tongues of fire, and arcs of lightning spilt forth in a violent wave, swallowing the dots of magma and carrying them away. The open maw of the serpent was scalded, this scorched landscape wasn't its native home after all, it wasn't a place where it could easily live. The nubs that covered its body looked like they were going to pop as the steam washed over them, they resembled zits waiting to burst.

But that was all it amounted to, it didn't manage to inflict any lasting injuries. But none of that mattered to Ying Feixu, who had thrown herself into the cloud of steam without hesitation, her skin peeling and flaking thanks to the intense heat. She could see the serpent within the steam, it hissed louder than the steam itself as it was scalded.

And just like she could see it, it could see her in turn. So when the two were finally right by each other and she stretched out her arm, it raised its lower jaw in response. Its scorched teeth sank into her flesh and bumped against her bones, it would not allow her to reach down into its gullet. It quickly lowered its upper jaw to fully clamp down on her arm, but what met it at that time was that grin she wore. She had been waiting for this moment.

Her other arm shot forward and into the closing mouth, her elbow bending so that her hand faced the descending jaw. The sharp teeth cut through her hand, but she simply clamped down on the serpent's gums, her nails digging into them and drawing some blood. The closing mouth was forced to remain open as she exerted her strength, she was a Demonic beast so she had far more physical strength than you'd think from looking at her slim body.

She used her grasp on its open maw to pull herself forward, her head and part of her torso fully entering the serpent's mouth. It was a dangerous position, a single slip of her hand meant getting torn in half. But this was where she need to be, this was where her feast awaited.

"Oh, don't you worry, Huang Ying, I won't go hungry."

She opened her mouth, revealing teeth stained by blood, and then she bit down on the serpent's tongue. The taste was revolting due to how it was scalded, but the blood that spilt forth was oh-so-sweet. If it wasn't for the fact that she had gotten to drink some of Huang Ying's blood then this would be the best thing she had ever tasted, but it could only be called lacking when she compared it to the taste that came from the source of madness.

Darkness spilt forth from her mouth as she chewed on the tongue, eyes that constantly changed colour and lamprey-like maws swimming in the darkness. Her own mouth wasn't enough to gorge upon this feast so she called upon her law of devouring as well, eating up the serpent from the inside. She could feel it as her law of devouring spread out, that tasty scent lurking deep within the serpent. The True Dragon bloodline that it had yet to fully integrate awaited her within, she just had to dig a bit deeper and then she would be able to drink freely from it.

But the serpent obviously wouldn't just let her do it, a strange clanking sound coming from within its throat. Ying Feixu's expression soured when she saw the source, metal spears were rushing up from the depths of the beast's throat, cutting through its insides as they pierced towards her.

She quickly raised a defence, she felt like she was bursting with power after gorging on the nutritious blood. But the defence simply achieved the serpent's goal. The spears crashed into the crystalline shield and pushed it back, right against Ying Feixu. They kept pushing it back, she didn't have too much room to strengthen it since she was currently inside the serpent.

As a result, she was pushed out of the beast's mouth, it practically spat her out. The deep mark its teeth left on her flesh quickly healed thanks to the energy she was still digesting, but she had lost contact with the source so she couldn't eat more. But she still grinned, she was fully energized now and could fight freely, she was no longer suffering from the wounds Huang Ying had inflicted before they reached this cavern.

"Let's go a bit deeper, shall we? Let's see if you can move around in thin air."

Her hand reached for the earth beneath her, a thunderous rumbling filling the cavern that still had some steam drifting through it. The earth beneath her and the serpent split open like a maw, revealing a deep darkness as she kept pouring her power into it, much like when Huang Ying had brought her down here. The serpent looked at the darkness with some unease, but Ying Feixu never planned on giving it a choice.

The earth above them rumbled as her Qi moved, the ceiling crumbling into dust that rained down on them. The wind quickly gathered up the dust, filled with traces of coal and sulphur thanks to the time the serpent had spent here. The scattered dust was gathered into a dense cloud above the serpent, and at that point, all Ying Feixu had to do was add a small spark.

A dust explosion was a scary thing, the thunderous boom blocking out even the sound of the rumbling earth as a flash of fire swept over the cavern. The wind was violently pushed aside, the serpent directly beneath the explosion pushed down with blood splattering from its ruined scales. As expected, being directly by such an explosion would not allow it to get away unscathed.

Ying Feixu was also quite close to the explosion so she was also wounded, but it was this that allowed her to follow the serpent into the darkness below. There was no magma down there, just darkness and earth, and that was where it would draw its last breath and she would eat her meal.

Huang Ying stood next to the mound that contained the Liquid Ironflame he sought, his hair and clothes fluttering thanks to the strong wind unleashed by the dust explosion. The scalding wind washed over him with a few scattered sparks of flames, searing his skin. But he still stood tall and calm, casting a glance towards the darkness that Ying Feixu had plunged the serpent into.

"Isn't it wonderful when they learn things so nicely?"

He spoke to no one in particular, or perhaps he spoke to Li Jun, but the twisted grin on his face would make it hard for anyone to answer. The sounds of battle came from within the darkness as Ying Feixu and the serpent fell deeper, but Huang Ying pulled back his gaze. His eyes landed on the mound again, but the twisted grin on his face suddenly grew larger and deeper, Li Jun's voice had resounded in his head.

"That kiddo, the one who has the two beasts with the Demonic Deities race bloodlines, has entered the range of my senses. I can't be sure he's heading here, but he's at least travelling in this direction for the moment. It's pointless to say this to you, but I still recommend hiding, the deeper the better. Those termed as Kings are rarely people you can reason with, they'll just do what they want and take what they please."

Li Jun suggested the course with the greatest chance of survival, the same thing he had done ever since he had to swear the oath. But Huang Ying had never listened to him even once when he made those suggestions, would this time be any different?