"Hahahahaha!!! What did I do to myself? How come you are so worried about me? Oh, I get it, you just did not expect to die here today!" The eldest of the Demon brothers from 'Ghostflame Sect' laughed loudly and mocked out loud.
"I knew that neither you nor your Sect is good, to begin with, but this... How could a sane person forcefully fuse with the Ghostflame?" Yi Ma regained his countenance and did not grow agitated at the mocking. As he asked, his voice was calm, and it looked that he was so internally as well.
"Why would someone discard such power? Granted, we have failed several dozens of times, but this time, it's all different. I will even let you know a secret, six people managed to fuse with the divided Ghostflame, and four of them are currently leading our Sect brothers towards your Manor! So don't worry about dying and not meeting your relatives and friends. They will all soon join you in the road towards the Yellow Springs!"
"You think that a portion of the Ghostflame powers are enough to help your Sect overpower my Manor? Don't forget that we have always held the upper hand!" As Yi Ma spoke, he took out a short, three feet club from his holding pouch.
This short club was very thin, and if not for the small thickness that indicated the head, it could be mistaken for a simple iron stick. Still, when Wu Guang closely examined the club, he was surprised to find that it was fully covered in runes! And these runes were not meant to be activated like ones on a rune weapon, no, these runes were to confine an evil spirit inside it. This could only mean one thing, that this club was a Demonic Spirit Weapon and a fairly powerful one.
Demonic weapons were basically the same thing as their normal counterparts, but the Spirits or qualities they had were very dangerous to both the user and the surroundings, so normally they were covered in sealing runes and their master would be able to tap only in half their power. Granted, if the master was a deranged individual that did not care about anything except power, they could release the sealing and the weapon or armament would become far more powerful than an equal level counterpart. Still, such release would endanger the master as well, after all, if the evil entity sealed inside the weapon was too powerful it could kill the owner and escape!
"Hoh, you have brought out the 'Evil Ghost Sealing Baton'? Let's see what will you manage to do to me now that I am unaffected by any of your fire techniques and skills!"
"Who told you that I will use the flame element?" As Yi Ma spoke, he closed up the distance that had been opened while they exchanged martial skills before.
Seemingly what he said alerted the eldest of the demon brothers, as he also brought out a weapon to meet Yi Ma's charge. The weapon he took out was a Spirit one and looked like a long knife. Still, when Wu Guang examined it, he felt like retching. And how could a normal person with at least some morality remain calm? After all, the weapon was made from human bones. And what's even worse, the bones were so small that they undoubtedly had come from children!
*Crash*
As both weapons clashed, both fighters returned to the state they were before. Both of them were equally matched and in only a few breaths exchanged dozens of attacks. As techniques and skills began to be added, Wu Guang saw that Yi Ma had spoken the truth, he was indeed not using the flame element. This time all his techniques were basked in white light and were from the Light component in the Yang element. Most cultivators tended to use one element and have supporting skills without much dependence on others.
This was because of two reasons. The first was easy to guess, that the higher tier techniques and skills were rare and so powers and organizations normally only had a few sets. As for the second, it was because training mainly in a single element would be far quicker. Especially if the fact that in this plane each island was heavily influenced by a single element.
For example, on Half-Island the prevalent element would be Earth, and so most of the native cultivation resources and treasures were of it. As for Fiery Island, as the name hinted, the fire element was represented the strongest.
"Three Stars Punish the Demons!" Sensing that they had reached a deadlock again, Yi Ma used what appeared to be his most powerful martial skill. From an observer's view, it appeared as if three small stars had appeared above him, and on his command rushed towards his opponent.
"I am tired of playing with you" As the eldest demon brother said this, he suddenly brought his knife towards his free hand and slashed! But in place of blood, what surged from the wound was a wisp of black and eerie flame!
Such a small wisp of flame would not be even taken into account during a fight, but when it appeared, even Wu Guang's hair stood up. And he was not the one in front of it. After a brief moment when Yi Ma's three stars collided with it, his impression of danger from that flame was confirmed. Without any sound, the small flame completely stopped the three bright stars, and practically instantly destroyed them!
"Ghostflame incarnation!" Yi Ma grew pale after his martial skill was forcibly destroyed, and started backing away.
"Indeed, although this is just a 7th part of the Ghostflame, it will be enough to deal with your likes. 'Ghostflame Incarnation', devour!" After being commanded, the flame began to float towards Yi Ma. Although it appeared to be floating very slowly, it still managed to catch with the retreating Yi Ma. The latter seeing that there was no escape conjured several shield-like defensive techniques that fully enclosed him. But they did not give him even a moment before being destroyed without any sound.
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Afterward, the flame suddenly enlarged and in a moment covered Yi Ma's body entirely. The flame was deep black and so it was impossible to discern what happened inside, but even stranger was that not a single sound sounded from inside.
Wu Guang had analyzed the flame from the first moment he saw it, but only now that he saw its behavior concluded what was it. "This is no Ghostflame but a Spiritual flame of the inferior grade! Judging from my memories, its behavior and powers are alike to the Yin Shadow Flame. Still, it's too weak to be one of the 7 great Spiritual flames, so most probably it has just manifested a few dozens of years ago".
This conclusion was right on the spot, as the Ghostfalme had indeed manifested just 30 years ago. It was discovered by a minor power on Fiery Island. Seeing that they could not tame it, the power settled around it and used it to nurture a few powerful experts and geniuses as the qi concentration around it was at least three times the normal one.
Thanks to that, they quickly became the 4th major power on the island. The secret only got out a few years ago, but at that moment the renamed minor power could contend with any of the other three powers. Granted, the three powers could join hands, but why would they? They had been hostile for a few hundreds of years already, to the point that they would not join hands even against external threats. What to say against an inner one like the new 'Ghostflame' Sect.
As for why Yi Ma had gotten so agitated when he found about the Ghostflame, there were two reasons.
The first one was that each attempt to subdue it required sacrifices to appease it, and not simple sacrifices but human lives. Logically there were alternatives, but as the Ghostflame Sect was not a good power to begin with, they went with the easiest way.
The second reason was as revealed in the previous battle, the Ghostflame was a Spiritual flame and so its owner would be unaffected by any common flame techniques. Yi Ma's title included the words monk as he had trained in the 'Holy Light Monastery' and so had learned several of their techniques and skills like the 'Three Stars Punish the Demons' and so could still fight.
But most of his fellow cultivators only learned the inherent flame techniques from the Fiery Manor, and so would be unable to contend against the other people with such power! And even though Yi Ma could fight, he was still absolutely powerless against the Flame's Incarnation in the end. Or at least this was how it appeared right now.
Wu Guang still sensed Yi Ma's aura, and although it had waned, it was present and still suppressing Lord Liao. This meant that Yi Ma was still alive, while after carefully observing the Eldest of the demon brothers, Wu Guang found out that the latter was in a pretty sorry state. Blood was flowing from his seven facial orifices, and he was shaking profusely.
"Seems that forcefully releasing the incarnation of the so-called Ghostflame is too hard on him. He said that they had divided the power between six people, so it means that no one had obtained the recognition of the flame. If this is true, then no wonder why he is paying such a price for using the flame, after all, they had forcefully refined it. Spiritual Flames are sentient, and even if divided, they will still fight back against their captors". Wu Guang's thoughts were again right, although it would be strange for him to be wrong. After all, Bai Qi was a very reputed scholar, so how could he not have investigated something like the Spiritual Flames that any Refining Master or Flame element cultivator sought after?
"Second, come here and help me" The eldest demon brother's state deteriorated further, and so he called for his brother to help. After all, if he failed to kill Yi Ma right now and the Ghostflame returned to his body, he would be easy prey even for a non-cultivator.
As for the help he wanted, it was for the second brother who had also obtained a Ghostflame part to join up and take on at least some of the expenditure. Spiritual flame incarnations did not require qi, soul, or mind power, but were sustained with one's lifeforce.
Normally a flame that acknowledged its user would not endanger his life, on the contrary, it would instantly stop to avoid bringing any harm. But for a forceful takeover, why would the flame stop? It would do everything to kill its captor if not dispelled on time.
The second brother understood all this and rushed towards his elder brother without delay. After taking the latter hand, he formed several seals and started transferring bits of lifeforce.
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The person that had remained in the upper cave to guard the entrance and the captured Chun Zemin was also a brother of this two. His cultivation was a bit weaker, being only at the 5th level of the Soul realm, and because of an issue with his health, he had not obtained a part of the Ghostflame. Even so, he could be said to be a real expert on any of the weaker islands. Still, at this moment he was lying in a pool of blood and showed no reaction. As for the cave entrance and Chun Zemin, they had fallen into the hands of two men that had just arrived. After quickly assessing everything, one of them remained in the cave while the other one rushed downstairs.
And if Wu Guang saw this two, he would instantly recognize them and even slightly rejoice. After all, they were here to help him!