Suddenly, the lower decks turned bright red. The water and the sky almost mixed together. No one could tell the difference between the two. First of all, they both had the color of blood, but they were also violently clashing with each other. It was impossible to tell the difference between the water and the air. In the midst of this utter chaos, Fading Fang was a small twig in a vicious tide.

That scene was now laid bare in front of everyone as the upper deck was literally burning in bright red flames. After that first fissure, many cracks appeared all over the place. Thankfully, they weren't as deep. But if they fully ruptured, the entire boat would be flooded with the red water of the Blood Storm. Besides, this wasn't just any kind of water. Within this red flow, there was a thick killing intent. Just being close to it might be dangerous for someone's mind. Being submerged in it would clearly kill even a Golden Blood Child in a matter of minutes. Although all the crew could still breathe water with their powerful lungs and blood, this red water would undoubtedly kill them as though they were mere mortals.

The crew immediately acted. No one waited for Jing Baiyu's orders. In fact, he never even gave any order. Indeed, he also immediately went to work on the cracks. From several places, the crew took many wooden planks, nails, tar and various products to repair the damage. The worst part was that they couldn't get rid of the water within the lower deck. Unfortunately, they couldn't go outside as the boat kept on being thrown around. Even moving was a problem. But the crew was exceptional. Following Jing Baiyu, they all worked on various parts of the boat.

Obviously, Cao Yun didn't sit idle by. He helped the crew as much as he could. Moreover, he was probably the only one who could get rid of the red water. After all, he had his spatial ring. There was still enough space for him to take the red water in. For the time being though, the important thing was to seal off the breaches in Fading Fang. Otherwise, more and more water would pour in. Even Cao Yun felt sick with this red water and the Blood Storm outside. That being said, he helped as much as he could.

Hongyu herself helped the crew. Her presence wasn't seen as a problem at all int he current crisis. As she lacked the dexterity of the demons as well as their knowledge, she did what she could. With her wings, she tried to slow down some of the breaches. Going against the pressure of the pouring red water was probably the most difficult part for the crew. Thanks to Hongyu's help, it became easier. While they were working on some part of a breach, she could block the flow of water elsewhere.

Unfortunately, no matter how much they were working, the breaches were simply too many. Moreover, the upper deck was still on fire. At some point, it would collapse completely and fill the entire boat. Fading Fang would sink at the bottom of the Divine Blood Ocean. Everyone was aware of that looming threat. However, the only way to extinguish the fires was to go outside. Anyone who went outside would simply die. Even an Accomplished Demon would die in such a storm. At the very least, his life wouldn't be assured.

Since it was his boat, Jing Baiyu decided to go outside and extinguish the flames. Without any hesitation, he walked toward a breach leading to the upper deck from which no water was currently pouring in.

"Ren Shibian, assume command!"

A burly young man who was busy sealing off a huge breach suddenly turned toward the voice of his captain. The young crewman was covered in what looked like blood but was merely water. Under the onslaught of the Blood Storm, his will was on the brink of collapse. Hearing this order could have crushed him. Instead, it pushed him forward. The captain was ready to give his life to save the crew. Ren Shibian had no right to let him down. With a surge of vitality and will, he acknowledged the order.

"Yes, Captain!"

His thunderous voice echoed throughout the lower decks and even eclipsed the raging storm for a tiny moment. All the crew was acting as one. Once again, Cao Yun felt this strange aura all over Fading Fang. This was very similar to both the Spear Heart he was researching and Order in Chaos from the Six Stratagems of battle formations. From now on, the crew would work until the end with a powerful will guiding them. Even if Jing Baiyu were to die, his will would still inspire his crew till the end.

Seeing Jing Baiyu ready to leave the lower decks, Cao Yun acted. In an instant, he pushed Jing Baiyu backward. From his hand, a small spatial ring erupted and reached Jing Baiyu. It was the smallest spatial ring Cao Yun had and it could easily be discarded if the need were to arise. And it had.

Before Jing Baiyu could say anything, Cao Yun was outside of the boat. Since they were taken in the storm, using spiritual senses wasn't much of a problem as it wouldn't attract any demonic beasts. However, the problem was that the Blood Storm itself made using one's spiritual senses extremely difficult. The thick killing intent everywhere was enough to crush a weak cultivator's will. As such, it was also incredibly taxing on one's soul. Sending his soul outside was painful beyond belief. Thus Cao Yun could barely use any spiritual senses. At the very least, he was able to do so in the limit of his own Wei Qi where it was safer.

The very first thing Cao Yun did was to chain himself down to the boat. He used many chains and ropes to tie himself to the main mast. Then, he looked at the damage everywhere. The boat had indeed suffered a lot. But it was still fighting the storm. There was hope yet. Taking a wooden plank, Cao Yun sealed off the breach he had used to escape the lower decks. From within, the crew would probably strengthen it. So Cao Yun didn't waste too much on it, he had to extinguish the fires.

Although they were in a storm with water and hail everywhere, the fires wouldn't stop. Indeed, they had been caused by a powerful lightning. And worse than that, the lightning wasn't over yet. Cao Yun could literally see that the ocean was on fire in several places as well. The Blood Storm was so intense that water itself could boil and even burn. For all intents and purposes, Cao Yun felt as though he was in hell. It was as though he was still in the magma pool of the Palace of Supreme Wisdom or the Blood Abyss of the Monastery of Bliss and Repose. But now, he had to care for others than himself. Thus, he had no time to admire the scenery.

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Thanks to all the knowledge he had gotten from Jing Baiyu, Cao Yun got to work on the boat. Of course, he began with the fires. Using everything he could, buckets of water, torn clothes and sails, the young man was trying to kill the fires. They were extremely strong and difficult to calm down. As he was working on them, the young man felt the Rune of Fire within him acting up. The Drop of Wrath shined with this rune. Suddenly, Cao Yun knew instinctively how to deal with those flames.

The young man circulated his cultivation and poured his Qi on the flames. Trying to completely isolate them from the air around, he was able to reduce their ferocity. Apparently, his Qi mixed with the intent of the Drop of Wrath was soothing the flames. They were docile as though their master was admonishing them. Most likely, it was the influence of the Rune of Fire Cao Yun had gotten out of the Hellish Dragon Fruit.

In the lower decks, Hongyu also felt this force. She felt her own fires being suppressed. But she was still too busy to care about it. Besides, she wasn't using fire at all. In a confined place like these lower decks, this would be extremely stupid and reckless.

Once the fires were dealt with, Cao Yun realized that his task was not over. First of all, lightning struck the boat again and other fires started. But there was also a lot of damage he had to deal with if the boat and the crew were to survive.

Several times, the winds simply torn him away from the boat. Thankfully, the chains held. Many of the ropes and chains broke over time but he replaced them as he was focusing on the boat. Even with some of his Qi infused within the chains, they still snapped when the storm raged. Within this hellish storm, Cao Yun felt utterly powerless. Of course, a weaker cultivator would have died instantly and even a cultivator on Cao Yun's level wouldn't have been able to do as much as he was doing. That being said, the wind could fly him all over the place and he couldn't do much to stop it besides tugging on the chains linking him to the boat. This was a humbling experience.

As his mind was focused on repairing the boat, Cao Yun suddenly had a thought.

His great-grandfather Cao Beiwen had invented the Cao family's martial art 'Three Storms' when he had faced a terrifying storm. Cao Beiwen had almost lost his life back then. But thanks to this traumatic experience, he was able to understand some principles of the Dao. 'The Wind rises in the East. The Thunder rumbles in the West. The Ice hails in the South. The Three Storms unite in the North. All is gone in the world.'

Within 'Three Storms', Cao Beiwen had poured everything he had understood about wind, thunder and hail. Of course, he had been a mere Martial Warrior back then. Thus he couldn't really understand the Dao. But he had been able to catch a glimpse of it as his life was nearing its end. This had changed him completely. In fact, one could say that this tragic day had fashioned him into the man he had become. Without this storm, the Cao family might have never existed as it had.

All those thoughts flooded Cao Yun's mind as much as the Blood Storm was threatening to flood Fading Fang. The young felt a deep desire to let himself be taken by the storm in order to fully experience it. In a way, it was the point of Howling Crane Gorges where he had trained. He had to surrender to the Blood Storm to understand it better. Unfortunately, he had to fight this urge. First of all, it felt completely suicidal. But he also had to think about the entire crew and Hongyu.

For hours, Cao Yun worked on keeping the boat safe from the outside while the rest of the crew was working within. Not a single soul relaxed. They all poured their everything into the task at hand. After all, their very lives were at stake. No one was slacking off. Obviously, the respect of the crew toward Cao Yun and even Hongyu was now immense. Facing death together was a bonding experience indeed.

Those hours turned into literal days. No one could tell how long the Blood Storm would last. But they were all reaching their limit. Even Cao Yun was exhausted. He had to fend off all of the elements. Being thrown by the cruel winds was particularly painful.

Finally, Cao Yun had no more strength, even after gulping down several pills. He couldn't accept to die in a storm after everything he had done. Such a fate was unacceptable!

The young man tried to work through the fatigue and the pain. The Blood Storm had gained in intensity, but for many hours now it had stagnated. Hopefully, it would soon either calm down or cease altogether. As he was trying to convince himself, Cao Yun fell into despair. Indeed, the Blood Storm suddenly became twice as violent. Without being able to do anything, Cao Yun was once again torn away from the boat. The chains holding him to the mast went taunt and Cao Yun was almost broken in two now that his Wei Qi was weaker.

The poor young man was lost in the sea of crimson winds and red water. Only the chains still holding were visible. Despite the violence of the event, Cao Yun was still conscious. However, he could barely do anything. No matter how much he was trying, he couldn't even control his arms. His spiritual senses were just as useless. Simply trying to project his soul outside of his body was impossible. The winds and the killing intent within were scattering his soul each time.

Thus, Cao Yun had no choice. He had to go with the flow of the Blood Storm. Hopefully, it would calm down enough for him to get back to the boat. His only chance was that the chains and the ropes would hold long enough. Even though he was confident in the main chain he had used since it was made of an alloy of Bin Iron and Silk Gold, he couldn't have the same trust in the mast itself. A few masts had snapped already. Cao Yun had saved them as much as he could. But now he could picture the main mast snapping. In fact, the chains themselves might cut through the mast.

Since he couldn't do a thing for the moment, Cao Yun decided to spare his strength. When the time came, he had to be ready. Panicking wouldn't do him any good at the moment. Instead, he opened his mind to relax and be fully aware of the situation. As soon as he could find a way to save himself, he would use it without any hesitation.

In this state of relaxation and readiness, Cao Yun finally experienced the Blood Storm with his entire being. He was just like Cao Beiwen. There was nothing he could do to save himself. He was totally at the mercy of the elements. But that also meant that the elements were fully exposed before him. Without any conscious effort from Cao Yun, his 'Three Storms' began to circulate in his sea of consciousness.

Soon, his 'Azure Dragon's Seven Piercing Stars' also acted up. Indeed, Cao Yun had connected both martial arts as they were linked to the Wind element. This was his 'Azure Dragon Through the Seven Storms'. And this martial art was circulating in him. In the outside world, the Horn and Neck Constellations appeared. And so did the Root Constellation. Cao Yun had finally formed it.