"That was..." Azure Bird's Thunder Spear hung low, her expression grave.

"The power behind the Enforcement Officer." Bai Cheng gripped the suppressed Talisman Nail in her hand, her voice low. "They've noticed us."

The island's crisis was temporarily averted, and the crimson mist barrier gradually dispersed after losing its source.

The islanders, having survived the ordeal, knelt and wept in gratitude.

The light of the Faith Statue once again became warm and firm, and the threads of belief connecting to Bai Cheng conveyed gratitude and deeper trust.

However, a heavier shadow had fallen over everyone's hearts.

Leng Ningxue's voice came through the communication rune, with a rare tension:

"Distress signals from other islands... are extinguishing one by one.

Not saved, but completely devoured."

She pulled up the Tide Chart, only to see the light points representing distress signals dimming and disappearing at an alarming rate, like candle flames licked clean by an invisible beast.

And in the areas where those light points extinguished, the crimson World-Purifying Tide's front was spreading even faster towards the central and southern Emerald Sea.

Bai Cheng looked at the increasingly fierce glow of battle on the distant horizon, then down at the struggling World-Purifying Talisman Nail in her palm.

Her silver hair flew in the sea breeze as she slowly closed her fingers.

"To the next island." She turned, looking at her companions' tired yet resolute faces. "Save as many as we can."

"In this all-encompassing tide, we may just be a few faint lamps."

"But as long as the lamps don't go out, the long night will eventually end."

The mist barrier of North Reef Island had not yet fully dispersed when the distant sky was reddened by new flames.

Bai Cheng's gaze slowly moved away from the remaining villages of North Reef Island, looking south.

That was the direction where the second distress signal in the Coral Chain Archipelago had just extinguished.

The threads of belief from the Faith Statues dimmed one after another, the last fluctuations carrying silent dread and the chill of demise.

She closed her eyes, and the hundreds of connections deep within her soul felt like they were being pricked by ice needles; the Stardust Imprint no longer conveyed warmth, but a heavy, almost suffocating weight.

"Go." She uttered only one word, her figure already transforming into a blurry silver light, speeding towards the nearest faintly responding light point.

Zi Yuan, Azure Bird, Lu Duo, and Yu Nian followed closely behind, no one speaking, only the whistling sea wind in their ears, carrying the dull roar from the distant battlefield and the sharp shriek of shattering laws.

The second island they reached was called Cuiluo Bay.

The island was originally famous for cultivating colorful sea snails, but now, those vibrant shells covered the beach, all covered in a deathly gray.

The village was half-submerged in a viscous, dark green tide that emitted a sickly sweet, putrid odor.

This was not natural seawater, but a corrupted acid tide spawned by the World-Purifying Tide mixing with some local creature's laws.

The islanders were not completely devoured, yet their state was more unsettling than death.

Dozens of people were trapped on a slightly elevated stone platform in the center of the village, their bodies half-petrified, their skin showing textures similar to the rocks beneath their feet, their eyeballs frozen, only their lips still quivering extremely slowly, emitting almost indiscernible gasps.

Was it a cry for help, or an unconscious repetition of some corrupted gibberish?

At the edge of the stone platform, the Faith Statue in Bai Cheng's image was mostly toppled, its lamp phantom shattered, with only a faint remnant glow barely protecting a small area in the center of the platform, where several trembling children huddled.

"Life erosion transforming into material solidification... it's the sunken abyss transformation variant of the World-Purifying Tide!"

Lu Duo's face turned pale; her life perception touched the petrified bodies, and what returned was a cold, stiff process slowly moving towards complete extinction.

"They're not completely dead yet, but their souls and vitality are being 'cast' into /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ stone by this tide... the process is extremely painful!"

"The source is deep within the bay."

Leng Ningxue's voice came through the communication, calmly pointing out,

"High-intensity energy aggregation detected; a law node has been forcibly activated and is continuously releasing sunken abyss transformation fluctuations."

Zi Yuan's blade was already clutched, her gaze sweeping over the faces still showing expressions of pain amidst petrification: "Can it be reversed?"

Lu Duo gritted her teeth, and emerald light surged from her palm, attempting to touch the arm of the nearest half-petrified islander.

The light seeped into the stony texture but was like a clay ox entering the sea, instead provoking a deeper gray light to backlash.

"No... the erosion is too deep; it has already combined with some inert law of the island's geomorphic veins.

Unless the source is cut off, forced purification might accelerate their complete disintegration."

Bai Cheng's gaze fell on the children in the center of the stone platform, then swept over the islanders slowly'solidifying' around the periphery.

Deep within her silver eyes, spatial meridians and threads of faith calculated silently. After a few breaths, she made a decision.

"Azure Bird, Yu Nian, protect the center of the stone platform. Use the pure heart vine and your life resonance to slow down the erosion around the children as much as possible and stabilize their minds."

"Lu Duo, assist them, focusing on isolating the corrupted acid tide from further permeating the base of the stone platform."

"Zi Yuan, follow me deep into the bay to destroy the law node."

Azure Bird's Thunder Spear paused, looking towards the bay.

The dark green tide there writhed like a living thing, with distorted shadows faintly visible in the depths, exuding an eerie and sinister aura.

"Just the two of you? The situation inside is unclear, at least..."

"The more people, the greater the risk of being Abyssal Transformed in that environment." Bai Cheng interrupted him, her voice calm but unyielding.

"Zi Yuan and I have the strongest speed and mobility.

Ning Xue will navigate for us.

Your greatest support is to guard this place."

She looked at Zi Yuan.

Zi Yuan said nothing, merely adjusted her breathing silently. The newly comprehended Flowing Blade Intent re-condensed within her body; although the recent use of Tide Breaker had been a huge drain, her eyes remained calm and sharp.

She nodded slightly towards Bai Cheng.

Two figures, one silver and one purple, shot like arrows from a bowstring directly into the ominous dark green, churning corrupted bay.

Upon entering the bay, the oppressive feeling immediately intensified. The air was viscous like gel, and corrosive, acrid fumes continuously tried to penetrate their pores.

The seawater beneath their feet was no longer liquid, but more like a slowly flowing, weakly conscious gelatinous substance, constantly extending invisible tendrils, attempting to entangle and solidify intruders.

Bai Cheng was enveloped in a thin, faint glow of dawn. The threads of faith combined with the Power of Space to form an isolating barrier, repelling the corrupting aura, but the barrier's surface constantly emitted subtle sizzling sounds, clearly indicating continuous consumption.

Zi Yuan was more direct; the purple electric field formed by her Flowing Blade Intent surrounded her, silently shattering and annihilating any approaching gelatinous tendrils.

Following Leng Ningxue's guidance, the two quickly moved through the labyrinthine dark reefs and shipwreck remnants.

Along the way, they saw more half-Abyssal Transformed marine creatures, grotesquely embedded in reefs or ship planks, becoming part of this corrupted domain.