I had originally thought I'd be a force to be reckoned with upon my return, but I'd never imagined I'd been the subject of a plot!
Yan Dongliu's madman-like roars and mocking voices continued to echo through his mind, yet Ming Qi immediately stepped forward to help Mo Lan to her feet, infusing her with his True Essence.
I hope it's not too late!
Ming Qi thought, but no hope shone in his eyes.
Gritting his teeth, a wisp of life force escaped his palm, merging with the surging True Essence. Mo Lan's eyebrows suddenly twitched, and she actually opened her eyes.
"Xiao Lan, someone did this on purpose!"
"Ahem, this poison... no one... can cure it. Don't waste your energy... I'm not worth dying for!"
Mo Lan's breath was already weak, and her body was once again enveloped by a thick layer of black energy. Although Ming Qi didn't want to believe it, he knew that even with his magical powers, he was powerless to save her.
"You don't...need to explain. Some things simply...can't be explained..."
Mo Lan's breathing suddenly became several times heavier. She opened her mouth with difficulty, but only uttered two words: "My...heart..."
Heart?
Or faith?
Whichever word it was, Ming Qi's heart felt like it had been stabbed by a sharp knife.
There's no need to explain. Some things simply can't be explained.
Ming Qi thought about it and understood. But even if that was the truth, this outcome was not what he wanted!
Yan Dongliu!!!
"I won't let you die easily!"
Ming Qi said this calmly, and then walked out of the room again.
His heart also calmed down.
The old man outside the door saw Ming Qi come out again and rushed forward without hesitation.
Ming Qi said no more. His robes trembled, and circles of invisible ripples spread out, turning everything they touched to ash in an instant.
He wandered aimlessly through the Jiufang Palace, completely reduced to ash wherever he passed. It felt as if he were the end of the world, and wherever he passed, it would become a deadly place.
Right or wrong, let the Jiufang Palace vanish like the wind.
After walking for a while, Ming Qi soared into the air, hovering high above the Jiufang Palace, and with a wave of his hand, he summoned a cloud of fire.
Just like the fire that engulfed Guangling City, after the cloud of fire spread to a radius of hundreds of meters, it suddenly descended.
The Jiufang Palace was reduced to a sea of fire, and soon it would be a wasteland.
A quarter of an hour later, Ming Qi returned to the summit of Qiankun Mountain. With a wave of his hand, Yan Dongliu was thrown to the ground.
"Are you very proud?"
Ming Qi asked calmly.
The calm after anger is often more terrifying than the initial fury. Yan Dongliu, a man of deep cunning and foresight, naturally understood this, and at this moment, he lacked his earlier unbridled arrogance.
Burning down Guangling City and then the Jiufang Palace was a heinous crime in the entire Xilan Province. Even the Divine Realm was bound to intervene. Whether he wanted to or not, it was precisely because of this that Yan Dongliu still held out hope and had not yet completely despaired.
"The Divine Realm will not forgive you. Guangling and the Jiufang Palace, combined, are enough to kill you ten thousand times over!"
Although Yan Dongliu was a prisoner, unable to control even his own life and death, he still wanted Ming Qi dead. It must be said that someone with hatred ingrained in their bones was a threat to anyone.
"That's my business!"
Ming Qi interrupted without mentioning the Divine Realm. Instead, he stared at Yan Dongliu for a long moment before speaking, but not to Yan Dongliu alone.
"Wuxiang, I want to refine this person's soul into that weapon. How's that?"
Yan Dongliu, who had already prepared himself for the ultimate torture and death, shuddered uncontrollably at the mention of 'soul refinement.'
The art of soul refinement, this most insidious and cruel of tactics, what if it were used on oneself?
Abandoning the body, while the soul lives on, yet suffering daily, constantly trapped in the abyss of agony. Even a peerless hero with extraordinary powers would only wish for immediate death!
"Well, that's a good idea. If a soul were refined into the Great Five Elements Fan, it would be like creating a sixth element. With this soul as a catalyst, the Great Five Elements Fan has great potential for growth."
Wuxiang's excited voice rang out. He considered this a truly brilliant idea, but it was a bit regrettable that he hadn't thought of it.
"Alright, then I'll extract this man's soul immediately and give it to you!"
Ming Qi acted immediately, pressing his hands into the air. Despite Yan Dongliu's struggles, his hands remained steady as a rock. Vast and powerful streams of Martial Emperor's True Energy instantly surged through Yan Dongliu's acupuncture points and into his body.
"You! You! You!"
Yan Dongliu was instantly terrified, as if his soul had begun to escape uncontrollably.
"What about me?"
Ming Qi replied indifferently, "How you treat me, I will treat you the same way. You besieged my Qiankun Mountain Liuli Sacred Land, I burned Guangling City, and you orchestrated a vengeance against the Mohist School and me. I will extract your soul, refine it into a weapon, and cause you to endure eternal suffering, bound to the cycle of reincarnation. In this way, we are done with each other."
"You...you...you are so cruel!"
Yan Dongliu gritted his teeth and spat out a few words before screaming in terror, unable to control himself.
Ming Qi's hands slowly moved. Gradually, a phantom could be seen grasping from Yan Dongliu's crown. The phantom quickly shrank to the size of a thumb, revealing a tiny figure that looked exactly like Yan Dongliu.
This was Yan Dongliu's soul!
The little soul figure was held between Ming Qi's fingers. No matter how he struggled and bit, he could not escape the fingers that were as vast as the Qiankun Mountain.
The little figure could be seen opening its mouth to speak, but no sound could come out.
With the soul extracted, Yan Dongliu's body completely transformed into a withered corpse, reduced to ash in the blink of an eye, leaving not even a bone.
"Wuxiang, this is for you!"
Ming Qi raised his hand and flicked it gently, and Yan Dongliu's soul figurine was placed into the Supreme Diagram.
Wuxiang, who had been waiting for a long time, immediately set up his formation, directly captured the soul, and then tossed it into the Great Five Elements Fan, which was currently at a critical moment of refining.
Instantly, puffs of black smoke billowed from the once colorful Great Five Elements Fan. A face, distorted to the extreme, repeatedly flashed in the smoke, then was pulled back by a powerful force, repeating over and over again, seemingly endlessly.
Ming Qi merely glanced at it for a few moments before turning his gaze away.
Since Yan Dongliu's soul had been refined into the Great Five Elements Fan, from now on, as long as the Great Five Elements Fan was not completely destroyed, Yan Dongliu's soul would not disappear and would live forever.
Live forever, endure torture forever.