Wen Tingguang’s eyes narrowed as he looked toward the huge Earth Fire Flame Ghost and, sure enough, saw Ling Feng braving the blazing Earth Core Flame, step by step, approaching the Earth Fire Flame Ghost.
"How... how is that possible?" Wen Tingguang watched Ling Feng’s silhouette incredulously, his face a mask of astonishment.
"Elder Wen, could this be a junior from your Wen Family?" Long Xiaao took a deep breath, regaining some composure, and thought that Ling Feng might possess a fire avoidance Magic Treasure.
In this vast world, anything is possible. Although the temperature of the Earth Core Flame could indeed burn a Divine Origin Realm powerhouse to death, if one were to carry a fire avoidance Magic Treasure similar to the Fire Resistance Pearl, that might not be the case.
"No, this kid is a little brother I’ve recently befriended, named Ling Feng."
Wen Tingguang stared at Ling Feng, puzzled, "What method did that kid use to actually get close to the Earth Fire Flame Ghost?"
"Even you don’t know, Elder?" Long Xiaao gripped his long spear, and although the Earth Fire Flame Ghost was rolling around on the ground, he still did not dare to let his guard down.
As Ling Feng passed through the Earth Core Flames surrounding the Earth Fire Flame Ghost, he too was fraught with trepidation, but he quickly discovered to his amazement that a faint purple light enveloped his body. Under the protection of that light, the scorching Earth Core Flame could not harm him in the slightest.
"Master, you finally came!" Zi Feng’s voice rang out again, this time sounding much more composed.
True to its word, its strength greatly amplified when near Ling Feng, with whom its Divine Soul was connected.
At this moment, the Earth Fire Flame Ghost’s gaze became dull, its struggles ceased completely, and it became unusually calm.
"Zi Feng, what exactly are you trying to do?"
"You’ll know in a moment." Zi Feng smiled mysteriously, and then, Ling Feng felt a strange power emit from his eyes, shining on the forehead of the Earth Fire Flame Ghost.
In an instant, the Earth Fire Flame Ghost’s body flashed with dazzling purple lights so bright that they made the whole world seem to turn into a white void.
Even Wen Tingguang and Long Xiaao were forced to squint against the intense light, and even with their eyes tightly shut, they felt a piercing pain in their pupils.
"What exactly is the situation?"
In the woods, all the surviving martial artists covered their eyes with their hands, at a loss for what to do.
Gradually, the temperature seemed to drop, and even the forest fire that had been burning also suddenly went out. Plumes of white smoke slowly rose, enveloping the entire sky.
Only Ling Feng saw clearly that the massive creature, tens of meters tall, was actually shrinking bit by bit until it became a mere seven inches tall, a pocket-sized Stone Man, and its flame aura had also been extinguished.
The miniature Stone Man, with a face and demeanor strikingly humanized, resembled a human baby. With little short arms, little short legs, and even a hint of small muscles, it actually looked quite adorable. (PS: If you’ve seen Guardians of the Galaxy, there’s a pocket-sized version of Tree-man Groot, approximately that look.)
The next moment, the miniature Stone Man kicked against the ground with its tiny legs, leapt into the air, and landed on Ling Feng’s shoulder. It even made faces at Ling Feng, giggling, "Master, look at me now, am I not impressive?"
"You’re calling me, Master?" Ling Feng’s pupils dilated sharply as he lifted the miniature Stone Man from his shoulder to examine it closely, "Are you Zi Feng?"
"Yeah." Zi Feng stuck out its tongue, speaking in a childlike voice, "What’s the matter, Master? Can you not even recognize my aura?"
"This... how did you transform from a worm to a stone?" Ling Feng stared at Zi Feng in disbelief; this transformation was too extravagant, wasn’t it?
"I wasn’t really a worm to begin with, just evolved a little, that’s all."
Zi Feng wrinkled its nose. Now, Zi Feng’s expressions were much more varied than in its worm form. It quickly climbed up Ling Feng’s arm and hopped back onto his shoulder, sitting down and cheerfully saying, "Wow, after shedding, it’s indeed much more comfortable!"
"Shedding?" Ling Feng gulped, swallowing his saliva, then asked, "What about the Earth Fire Flame Ghost from before?"
"I’m right here! Hehe!" Zi Feng spread open his palm, and within the center of his hand appeared a dark red spherical stone that seemed to contain an extremely domineering Fire Attribute energy, as well as a strong and wild will—it must have been the Earth Fire Flame Ghost.
By then, as the Earth Fire Flame Ghost disappeared, the blinding strong light finally dissipated.
Although the mountain was shrouded in smoke, obscuring Ling Feng’s figure, everyone still discovered something startling.
The Earth Fire Flame Ghost was gone!
"How... how can this be?" Long Xiaao was utterly astonished, having never experienced such a bizarre occurrence.
Elder Wen, noticing that the aura of the Earth Fire Flame Ghost had vanished, dashed towards Ling Feng in a flash.
However, when he saw a miniature stone figure sitting on Ling Feng’s shoulder, he was taken aback.
"Earth Fire Flame Ghost?" Elder Wen eyed Zi Feng on Ling Feng’s shoulder, obviously mistaking him for the Flame Ghost, and hurriedly shouted, "Kid Feng, throw that monster away!"
"Hey, stinky old man, who are you calling a monster!" Zi Feng glared at Wen Tingguang, cursing and muttering, "You’re the monster, your whole family are monsters!"
"Stop messing around; he’s my elder brother, don’t be disrespectful."
Ling Feng glared at Zi Feng, who then reined himself in a bit but still crossed his arms over his chest, haughtily saying, "Fine, fine, for the sake of my master, I won’t stoop to your level, stinky old man."
"Master?" Elder Wen did not mind Zi Feng calling him a stinky old man, but he was incredulous at Zi Feng calling Ling Feng "master."
The ferocious Earth Fire Flame Ghost had come to recognize Ling Feng as its master?
That was a Demon Monarch of the Divine Origin Realm level, one step away from becoming a Demon King. Such a heaven-defying being was willing to recognize Ling Feng as its master?
"What, is there a problem?"
Zi Feng made a face at Wen Tingguang; a faint red glow shone around him, suggesting that flames could burst forth from his body at any moment.
It was clear that, after possessing the body of the Earth Fire Flame Ghost, Zi Feng had also acquired the ability to control flames.
"Kid Feng, how exactly did you subdue the Earth Fire Flame Ghost? This is too unbelievable," Wen Tingguang’s mind was practically struck by wave after wave of shock.
While medicine and Alchemy could be regarded as specializations, the fact that such a dangerous monster, almost capable of killing him, had also recognized Ling Feng as its master—that was simply too strange to comprehend.
After all, Ling Feng was at best a Martial Artist at the Qi Condensation Realm. Such a cultivation level, in the eyes of a Divine Origin Realm powerhouse, was pitifully weak.
"So Brother Wen mistook Zi Feng for the Earth Fire Flame Ghost?" Ling Feng secretly chuckled to himself; this provided a convenient disguise for Zi Feng!
After all, he couldn’t just say that this was a "bug" pulled out from the body of the Cangqiong Sect Master, could he?
"Actually, I’m not very clear on what happened either. I blundered into it by mistake and accidentally formed a Spiritual Beast Blood Contract with the Earth Fire Flame Ghost, and so I tamed it."
Ling Feng made up a few lies, though they weren’t entirely false—at least, he and Zi Feng had indeed formed a Spiritual Beast Blood Contract.
"This..." Wen Tingguang swallowed hard, with the words "heavenly resistance to qi fortune" flashing through his mind.
Some people are born with extraordinary luck, like stumbling upon treasures even when they just snooze by the roadside.
That is what great qi fortune is, unstoppable and utterly unreasonable.
In Wen Tingguang’s view, Ling Feng was clearly such a person, a possessor of great qi fortune, taming a Divine Origin Realm Demon Monarch as a Spirit Pet whilst at the Qi Condensation Realm.
Defying heaven! It was truly damn heaven-defying!