Disciplining the Flame Spirit!

Following her breakthrough to the Tribulation Transcendence realm, the change in Meng Wanshu's demeanor was particularly striking. Her aloof bearing, coupled with the haughty aloofness in her eyes, gave the mistaken impression that strangers should steer well clear of her. Terrifying frost energy completely froze the celestial spiritual energy for hundreds of zhang around! The frozen celestial spiritual energy turned into frost flowers, drifting down flake by flake from the air. With a flicker of movement, Meng Wanshu appeared before Li Guanqi. Gazing gently at him, she asked with a touch of concern, "Earlier... are you alright?" Li Guanqi was taken aback for a moment. In Meng Wanshu's eyes, he had caught an unfamiliar hint of detachment... It stirred an inexplicable unease in his heart, leaving him with an ill foreboding. Yet he didn't let it show. Smiling, he shook his head and reached out toward Meng Wanshu's hand. Suddenly, an inexplicably piercing chill pricked his fingertips! Buzz! Boom! A terrifying surge of flames instantly erupted, hurtling to devour Meng Wanshu! The sudden turn of events shocked everyone. As Meng Wanshu shot backward in retreat, she raised her hand, releasing terrifying frost power to contend with it. Yet that chilling frost energy, dread-inducing as it was, posed no threat whatsoever before the fire. The flames burned with sky-scorching heat; the void twisted, shattered, and was incinerated into nothingness by the fire, utterly devouring the dreadful frost energy in the process. "Stop!" A low shout rang out, and the flames abruptly halted in midair. Twisting, the fire coalesced into the purple form of the Flame Spirit. His gaze was cold and sharp as he glared fixedly at Meng Wanshu. Meng Wanshu's aura made him deeply uncomfortable. Turning his head to look at Li Guanqi, however, he found that Li Guanqi's expression was unnervingly grim. All of a sudden! Li Guanqi's hand snapped out, violently seizing the Flame Spirit by the throat and lifting him into midair. With a frigid expression and piercing eyes, Li Guanqi tilted his head slightly, his voice chilling to the bone as he spoke slowly to the Flame Spirit: "From now on... without my permission, you are forbidden from acting on your own initiative and attacking as you please!" As he spoke, boundless lightning power erupted with a roar, and terrifying Spirit Absolution power condensed into crimson longswords! One crimson sword of Spirit Absolution after another shot forth in an instant, piercing through the Flame Spirit's body! The Flame Spirit's pupils shrank to pinpricks. The flames within him scattered wildly out of control. The combination of lightning power and Spirit Absolution power ran rampant, tearing apart his origin! Even though this origin had already fused with Li Guanqi— Even though Li Guanqi would injure himself by doing this, the Flame Spirit would undoubtedly suffer far worse! "Ngh!" The Flame Spirit writhed, a stifled groan of agony escaping his lips. He looked at Li Guanqi in sheer terror, clearly sensing the palpable killing intent in his eyes! "He... he doesn't care at all whether he has me or not!" "He truly wants to kill me!" "Why... why...?" The Flame Spirit couldn't comprehend it. He had only mounted an instinctive counterattack against that frost energy. Why was Li Guanqi this furious? Meng Wanshu also realized what was happening from Li Guanqi's words. Clearly, the fire spirit being held by the throat was what Li Guanqi had obtained from his trip to the Third Domain. She wanted to say something to dissuade him, but just as she opened her mouth, Li Guanqi raised a hand to stop her. "This is between him and me. Do not intervene." Hearing this, Meng Wanshu could only obediently close her mouth. For a moment, the Flame Spirit felt rather aggrieved. So you can speak gently to her, but with me, it's life and death... At some point, Pengluo had grabbed a handful of melon seeds and poked his head out from the void. Cracking melon seeds, he giggled foolishly. "Heh heh, zero tact." The Flame Spirit drew a deep breath and gave up struggling, letting the crimson swords of Spirit Absolution pierce his body. He lowered his head, closed his eyes, and whispered, "I apologize. I understand now." Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes, gave a cold snort, and slowly loosened his grip. Thud! The Flame Spirit's knees buckled, and he collapsed to the ground, head lowered, gasping for breath in heavy heaves. The Flame Spirit's wanton attack had incensed Li Guanqi. It showed that the Flame Spirit lacked sufficient reverence toward him, even if the act was intended for his own protection! Striking without order—Li Guanqi would not tolerate such unpredictability happening a second time. The reason Li Guanqi had struck was to make one thing clear to the Flame Spirit... He was not without means to restrain him! Even though they shared a symbiotic contract, that was merely because the sword spirit wanted to unleash the Flame Spirit's power to the fullest extent. Who was the master and who was the servant—Li Guanqi intended to make him see that with absolute clarity! The Flame Spirit slowly rose, bowed slightly toward Li Guanqi's back, and then dissolved into a wisp of flame that slipped back into Li Guanqi's body. The onlookers watching from all around were completely dumbfounded. "Was that... a spirit? Possessing intelligence no different from a human..." Xiang Huaizhi, Gu Changsheng, Meng Jiangchu... The eyes of these men practically glowed green as they looked at Li Guanqi! "Ranked first among heavenly flames... the Devouring Void Sacred Flame!" "The Flame Spirit of the Devouring Void Sacred Flame! What terrifying fiery might!" "Devouring? Worthy of being the number one heavenly flame—what domineering flames!" Not only them, but the alchemists from the Pill King Pagoda were looking at Li Guanqi as if he were a peerless, devastating beauty. If Li Guanqi could help them forge a furnace inside the Pill King Pagoda, the quality of their alchemy could easily rise to a whole new level! The flames of the Devouring Void Sacred Flame! That kind of flame... even if only a sliver was left behind, sustaining it with vast amounts of resources would be overwhelmingly worth it! Li Guanqi made no attempt to hide it from everyone, as the news of him possessing the Devouring Void Sacred Flame could never be kept secret anyway. So long as he continued to fight in the Immortal Burial Realm, his flame power would inevitably be exposed. Ye Feng and the others breathed a slight sigh of relief upon seeing this; after all, Meng Wanshu's breakthrough had ultimately concluded without any real catastrophe. Meng Wanshu cautiously reined in her power, only to suddenly feel a warm hand take hold of hers. Startled, she looked up at Li Guanqi, only to find his face brimming with a joyous smile. At the sight, the corners of Meng Wanshu's lips curled up softly, her eyes filled with gentle tenderness. Li Guanqi took a deep breath, turned to face the crowd, and, alongside Meng Wanshu, bowed slightly in salute to everyone. "This junior thanks all the seniors for standing guard and watching over us. I will surely come to pay my respects and offer my thanks in person another day." Hearing this, Long Hou scolded with a laugh, "You brat, why stand on ceremony? To be frank, all of us old fogies owe you a favor as well. Should we be paying visits to thank you too?" Li Guanqi merely smiled in reply, then took Meng Wanshu and bowed to all directions. Then, Li Guanqi looked toward Meng Jiangchu and Gu Changsheng, sending a soft voice transmission: "Father-in-law, Uncle Gu, care to join us in the White Jade Tower for a sit-down?" Meng Jiangchu's eyes gleamed sharply, and Gu Changsheng naturally wouldn't refuse. Even Xiang Huaizhi squeezed his way in, cheekily shrugging his shoulders. "I'm coming too. I want to see the Devouring Void Sacred Flame." Li Guanqi didn't refuse him either, leading everyone back to the White Jade Tower. Meanwhile, after Meng Wanshu broke through her realm, within the Seventh Domain: Su Xuan and Ling Tianchen sat together playing a game of go. Ling Tianchen looked up at the smoking elder and asked softly, "Are you truly letting him go out?" Clack! The stone clicked crisply against the board. Su Xuan stood up and chuckled. "Well, there isn't much going on lately anyway, and the Immortal Realm side will need to recuperate for a period of time. If we don't let him travel the mortal world and wander around now, I'm afraid he won't have much time later..." At this point, a touch of wistfulness surfaced in Su Xuan's eyes as he muttered softly, "Besides, his cultivation realm has advanced too quickly. Stepping into the mortal world for a turn will do him good."