Chapter 208 - Eternal Flame

To cope with his fluctuating emotions he took out the paint brushes Rui Fei bought for him and immersed himself in painting one canvas after the other. He was so lost in his work that he didn't keep track of time. Painting after painting he seemed dissatisfied like he was afraid Rui Fei wouldn't like it.

For three days he had spent his days like this worrying the entire crew. Ji Yao would have continued on this downward spiral if it weren't for something major striking Red Bane.

What could have been so serious that it could divert Ji Yao's attention? Well, Xunshi Zhe had been navigating just fine through the calm seas. Everything seemed to be going well except the calmness of the sea was becoming too serene giving him a sense of unease.

He couldn't ignore it so he sent for Ji Yao his face a little worried. They had sailed these seas numerous times and spent ninety-five per cent of their time on these waters but never had they experienced such a thing.

There were no ripples or waves on the surface of the water apart from the tides formed by the hull of the ship. That wasn't the only strange thing. The air was still as though time had frozen and they were the only ones unaffected. There was no sound of birds and the position of the sun seemed like it had frozen in place and time had stopped moving.

Just as the crew member Xunshi Zhe sent reached Ji Yao's door something unexpected happened. The ship was struck by a tremor like it had hit something underwater. The impact was so great that cracks formed on the main and foremast of the ship.

One must understand for Red Bane to succumb to such damage the impact had to be of biblical proportions. This ship was designed to withstand Ji Yao's temper tantrums so you can only imagine the force from that impact. It must have been extremely powerful for it to cause such extensive damage.

Ji Yao also felt the mighty force of the impact with his books and ornaments falling to the ground causing a big mess. His brow furrowed as the tremors worsened. He got up to check what was going on but as he stood up another intense tremor shook the hull causing the inkstone on the table to jump before ruining his latest artwork.

Enraged, he got up and stomped out of the room. The after-effects of the recent tremor were still rocking the ship but he didn't care. Steadying his steps he pulled the door open only to be met by a crew member who was about to knock on his door.

Ji Yao bypassed him and walked up the stairs in huge strides. The water that was calm before had been stirred up like there was an insurgence of a storm. The waves battered the hull of the ship with some of the water crushing down on the deck of the ship.

Ji Yao who was about to take over the helm of the ship from Xunshi Zhe suddenly paused. He felt rotten energy filled with a freakishly dark aura familiar to him. When he had woken from his dream in the keystone he had felt the same presence only that this time it was ten times powerful.

His heart dropped when he figured out they had already reached this creature's circle of influence. He shifted his footsteps towards the end of the stern deck under Xunshi Zhe's scrutinizing gaze. The old man had no idea what Ji Yao was up to but he could sense it wasn't anything good.

The first thing that came to Ji Yao's mind was to set up a barrier to prevent the rest of the fleet following behind him to enter this place of death. He unsheathed his sword and a blazing flame spread from its hilt to the tip of its blade. Ferocious sparks of lightning accompanied the flames making that sword more terrifying.

Ji Yao held up the sword in front of his face with his eyes closed as he circulated more of his seraphic energy through his athereal veins. The surge in pressure from the sudden flow of seraphic energy through his body put a strain on him but it wasn't something he couldn't handle.

His body slowly lifted from the ground with his right leg slightly bent at the knee. His hair began to flow gracefully like he was underwater. Mid-air his eyes that remained closed suddenly opened as he swung his sword in a beautiful yet deadly arc.

A stream of blazing flames more than ten meters high appeared on the surface of the water. And from the looks of it, it was an electric fire that stretched for at least ten kilometres. The message was clear but it wasn't well-received.

Lady Ching Sei had been standing on the foremast deck of her ship with a small telescope watching Red Bane that was in the lead. As soon as she saw that huge flame obscuring her view of Red Bane her eyes widened. "Shit!" she muttered before she barked orders to stop their advance. Dropping the anchor and lowering the sails she managed to stop her ship in time. Agitated she looked through her spyglass only to see Ji Yao making hand signals at her. Her heart stopped for a moment when she realised what he said.

This brat was going to go in alone without them and from the way he spoke it was an order. She couldn't defy the order of the pirate king but his predecessor would surely kill her if anything happens to Ji Yao.

She sent a signal in the sky to warn the others. It was a vivid ribbon shaped like the crescent moon which directly translated to King gone rogue. Lan Wu would had just dropped the anchor of his ship suddenly raised his head and his face turned ashen.

He was one of the people who strongly opposed Ji Yao's decision to come to this place but of course, Ji Yao wouldn't listen. Since their king wouldn't take heed of his words they all decided to go with him and protect him but who would have thought he would block them out?

There was only one option in this case which was to wait. They could try and put out the electric flames but from the looks of it, Ji Yao had invoked an eternal blaze. This wasn't their first time dealing with this type of attack because it was the same flame Qilin Hao used to buy herself time when they followed her to bring her back to their distraught king.

No matter how hard they fought the blaze it wouldn't die down up until it burnt itself out and that could take at least twenty-four hours. They say like father like son but in this case, it was more like mother like son.. Ji Yao was truly his mother's son.