Black Fire

Merit Obelisk missions to eliminate black fire appear. Small lumps transform countless times when attacked and last a long time. Fang Yuan investigates with Shen Cong Sheng and others as those missions grow rarer. ^{ch. 1913}

Shen Shang shows that human path methods are especially effective: a yellow light stream he sends makes distant black fire dissipate quickly. Immortals cannot detect black fire inside his body while he is clear-minded; he says it appears only when he goes mad again, and he claims no recollection of its origin while sure it connects to him. ^{ch. 1914}

A far larger black fire field burns on giant bones of a heavenly spine, gathering like clouds and corroding the spine. Its scale cannot come from Shen Shang alone, so a hidden black fire problem already existed in Dragon Whale Paradise. Ordinary attacks make almost no difference; days of effort clear only a tiny fraction. ^{ch. 1915}

Fang Yuan notes that Paradise Earth Immortal Venerable left black fire in Dragon Whale Paradise that can cause insanity, parallel to Limitless Demon Venerable’s demonic sounds in Crazed Demon Cave. Shen Shang cultivated human path in the underwater formation yet was tainted by the fire, and even with black fire on him he only went insane for a time before human path foundation suppressed it. ^{ch. 1916}