Spirit Absolution, Ghost Hand!

Li Guanqi walked slowly onto the sealing altar. A thick golden barrier of light radiated a faint, shimmering glow, while beneath his feet lay a bottomless, myriad-zhang abyss. The barrier remained robust; holding out for another century would pose no problem whatsoever. Li Guanqi was just about to speak when a sudden chill rose from beneath his feet! Hiss! Bang! An eerie aura surged up from the depths of the abyss, rapidly closing in on the sealing formation's barrier! Li Guanqi watched with his own eyes as a pitch-black demonic creature let out an ear-piercing shriek and slammed headfirst into the barrier! With a bang, its body abruptly exploded. The power erupting from the formation obliterated it in an instant, without raising so much as a ripple. Yet the sight made everyone's heart leap into their throats! Everyone was shaken as they stared at the obliterated Abyss Demon. Li Guanqi stared fixedly at the pitch-black abyss below, his gaze flickering with unspoken thoughts. Beside him, Lu Kangnian immediately interrupted Li Guanqi's train of thought, flickering over to his side to say in a grave voice, "You are not allowed to go down there! At least not now!" Li Guanqi composed himself, let out a long breath, and replied deeply, "All right." Glancing at Ye Feng, he said gravely, "Old Ye, get ready. We need to seal this Demon Abyss formation completely." Ye Feng nodded solemnly, his brow heavy with seriousness. He clearly hadn't expected to witness an Abyss Demon slamming against the formation either... Over the hours that followed, Ye Feng and Li Guanqi joined forces to lay down five sealing barriers in succession! The outermost layer was forged from the terrifying heavenly flame of the Yinming Profound Flame, its majestic power nearly draining Ye Feng dry. The second layer was a primal energy barrier erected by Ye Feng, followed closely by Li Guanqi's lightning barrier. On top of those, two spatial sealing barriers were placed outside the Four Symbols Demon Suppression Formation. If either of these barriers were breached, the two of them would sense it immediately; if touched, they would know without delay. Li Guanqi pondered for a moment, then said in a low voice, "Later, I'll ask Uncle Meng to craft two special teleportation scrolls for me. We can place the sub-scrolls right beside this site. If something truly goes wrong, Ye Feng and I can rush back no matter where we are." Lu Kangnian nodded and said in a heavy tone, "That will work. But as things stand, neither you nor Ye Feng may take the risk of entering! Unless you both reach the Body Integration Realm, I will never permit you to go down there!" Ye Feng and Li Guanqi exchanged a glance, a flicker of solemnity in their eyes. After all, the appearance of this Abyss Demon was far too bizarre. In several millennia of suppressing this Demon Abyss, not a single Abyss Demon had ever appeared, yet they had encountered one on this very visit. Combined with what had happened to Xiao Chen's clan, Li Guanqi could not help but suspect sinister connections. Once the sealing barriers were complete, the group departed. After parting ways, Li Guanqi called Ye Feng straight over to Yuhu Peak. Atop the summit, pressed by Li Guanqi's questioning, Ye Feng recounted everything that had happened to him in the Purgatory Abyss. Li Guanqi's eyes grew grim, and he suddenly drew the Red Lotus Sword. The reason was simple: after Red Lotus unleashed its Apocalypse form, its spirit ruins ability was extraordinarily special! Spirit Absolution! As long as the target had to do with spiritual bodies, backed by his own strength and empowered by Spirit Absolution, that Abyss Demon's spirit could definitely be brought under control. Seeing this, Ye Feng felt his heart tighten, but his trust in Li Guanqi was unconditional. Ye Feng sat cross-legged, stripped off his upper garment to reveal a torso covered in scars, and looked up at Li Guanqi. "Come on, Boss! I'm ready!" Li Guanqi was slightly nervous as well; after all, this was his first time using Spirit Absolution on an Abyss Demon, and he couldn't help feeling uncertain. Yet he had to eliminate this latent hazard for Ye Feng! Boom! "Apocalypse: Red Lotus Sky Dance!" "Spirit Absolution!" Boom! A terrifying pressure erupted in an instant, and Red Lotus dissolved into countless crimson threads that swept toward Ye Feng's arm. At that moment, the power of the ghost hand within Ye Feng's right arm leaked out uncontrollably, as though sensing danger. Ye Feng's entire arm twisted grotesquely, as if countless maggots were squirming beneath the skin. Pitch-black demonic qi surged across his entire arm, and Ye Feng's right eye turned blood-red in an instant as he sat there. The myriad crimson threads dancing in midair struck at once, piercing into Ye Feng's arm like silver needles! Ye Feng's body couldn't help trembling slightly, cold sweat streaming down his forehead in an instant. Yet he held on through the agony, knowing Li Guanqi was doing this for his sake. Li Guanqi soon detected the aura of the Abyss Demon. The extraordinarily pure demonic qi on it made him sense something unusual. He had clearly sensed the aura of the Abyss Demon that had rammed into the formation beneath the Demon Abyss, so he could tell just how pure the aura of the Abyss Demon inside Ye Feng was—it even possessed... a noble bloodline! When Ye Feng entered the Purgatory Abyss back then, he likely only had the cultivation of the Soul Formation Realm. Li Guanqi had not known how Ye Feng could have controlled it with only that strength. Yet as the power of the Sword Ruins unfolded, he gradually understood the truth. It turned out Ye Feng hadn't subdued this Abyss Demon at all! Their relationship was far more like parasite and host! A nameless fury flared in Li Guanqi's chest. He muttered inwardly, *You think a measly Abyss Demon like you can parasitize my brother?* "Hmph!" With a cold snort from Li Guanqi, the blood-red threads shot violently toward the spirit of the Abyss Demon. In an instant, they pierced the demon's remnant divine soul and trapped it firmly in place! Without giving the creature any chance to explain, Li Guanqi's hands formed a sudden seal as he shouted, "Spirit Absolution!" Boom! The terrifying pressure of the sword spirit instantly filled the void. The Abyss Demon gazed in terror at the phantom of the sword spirit before being engulfed by that power, gradually refined into pure, controllable energy. Li Guanqi's face paled slightly; this process of Spirit Absolution took an immense toll on his mind. When Ye Feng finally opened his eyes, he saw a pale Li Guanqi slowly pushing himself up with hands on his knees. By now, Ye Feng could already sense that the power of his ghost hand had grown gentle and tame. Yet just as Ye Feng was about to urge Li Guanqi to rest, Li Guanqi stood up abruptly. "I'm heading to the Shenbao Domain! Fourth Brother must be suffering terribly right now. Even if we can't help in other ways, just being by his side is enough..." At this point, Li Guanqi murmured in a slightly raspy, dry voice, "If it were me... how desperate would I feel with not a single person at my side?"