Chapter 161: Refining the Insect King

The heat released by the crimson flame instantly swept across the entire room. Even Elder Situ and Yan Fei, standing at the door, could feel the scorching aura. Moreover, this heat was different from the warmth emitted by ordinary flames; it seemed infused with something more, as if the fire at Ling Tian's fingertips possessed a life of its own.

The heat released by the Heaven and Earth Strange Flame, which was only the size of a candle flame, actually reached such a terrifying degree. Elder Situ and Yan Fei were left momentarily speechless. Both of them knew that Ling Tian was a master of extraordinary abilities with profound skills, but they had never dreamed in their wildest dreams that Ling Tian could summon flames, let alone release such formidable heat.

The same thought popped into both of their minds simultaneously: Is this even human?

Elder Situ was a veteran member of the Security Bureau and could be considered well-traveled and broad-minded, but he had never heard of a martial artist capable of summoning flames. It was said that reaching the ultimate realm could make such feats possible, but those were stories of legendary super experts. Of course, some people with unique natural talents could manipulate fire, but its power was pathetically weak and completely incomparable to Ling Tian's.

What kind of supreme technique was he cultivating? He was impervious to evil arts, ignored toxic mists, and could unleash such powerful flames!

Not only was Elder Situ filled with questions, but even Yan Fei, renowned for her calmness, was plagued by a series of question marks.

The Insect King, imprisoned within the palm of Ling Tian's hand, sensed the threat of the flame and became extremely agitated. It began a frenzied counterattack, revealing two rows of blade-like teeth as it madly tore at the vital Qi deployed by Ling Tian. The Insect King's strength was indeed not to be underestimated; it not only fractured the vital Qi but even devoured it.

Ling Tian let out a disdainful cold snort and once again reinforced the power of his vital Qi, wrapping it tightly around the Insect King to keep it suspended in mid-air. The Heaven and Earth Strange Flame transformed into a fire dragon that engulfed the Insect King. Accompanied by the scorching heat, the Insect King emitted a series of piercing, shrill screeches under the threat of death.

The sound produced by the thumbnail-sized Insect King actually shattered the glass. Elder Situ and Yan Fei tried their utmost to withstand the sonic wave attack, but they still wore expressions of agony as they curled up in a corner, channeling all their vital Qi in defense.

Ling Tian furrowed his brow slightly. The Insect King was indeed formidable; the sonic waves it released could easily suppress Elder Situ and Yan Fei. One had to recall that both of them were already lower-stage Qi Refining martial artists, who could be considered top-tier experts across the entire Yunhai City, yet they were easily suppressed by the Insect King.

An Insect King raised using evil arts for nearly a hundred years was truly extraordinary. Perhaps he could gain something from it.

With this thought, Ling Tian manipulated the Heaven and Earth Strange Flame to refine the Insect King. Destroying the Insect King outright would have been far too simple for Ling Tian; he only needed to continuously elevate the power of the Heaven and Earth Strange Flame. If one minute was not enough, two minutes would suffice, or even an hour would pose no problem. Equipped with the Spirit Gathering array disk refined from the ancestral grandmother's jade, he could rapidly replenish the vital Qi he consumed.

However, the difficulty increased manifold if he chose to refine it instead.

An Insect King nurtured through evil arts feared fire above all else, let alone the Heaven and Earth Strange Flame.

In less than ten minutes, the roaring cries of the Insect King vanished. Under the searing burn of the Heaven and Earth Strange Flame, the Insect King had lost all signs of life. Wisps of black Qi emerged from its body before transforming into curls of pale blue smoke.

The Insect King itself could be considered a spiritual entity. Even though its inherent power was deeply malevolent, Ling Tian could use the Heaven and Earth Strange Flame to refine it into pure Heaven and Earth spiritual Qi. One had to keep in mind that an Insect King nurtured via secret methods for a hundred years possessed a remarkably vast amount of spiritual Qi. However, this refinement process was exceedingly complex.

Even for Ling Tian, who possessed divine sense and the Heaven and Earth Strange Flame, it was extremely difficult to successfully refine the Insect King within a short period.

Ling Tian prepared himself for a protracted battle. He sat cross-legged, entered a meditative state, and concentrated entirely on refining the Insect King.

Elder Situ and Yan Fei had no idea what Ling Tian was actually doing. They assumed the Insect King was simply too ferocious, requiring even a mysterious expert like Ling Tian a considerable amount of time to eliminate it.

Relieved of the suppression from the Insect King's sonic waves, Elder Situ caught his breath and checked his body. In the mere ten minutes under Ling Tian's suppression, the Insect King's sonic waves had still inflicted minor injuries upon Elder Situ. Yan Fei, whose strength was slightly inferior, suffered somewhat heavier wounds.

"You stand guard; I will recover my strength." After saying this, Elder Situ immediately sat cross-legged, circulating his vital Qi to heal his injuries. Because his wounds were not severe and he worried about Ling Tian, Elder Situ emerged from his meditative state as soon as his condition stabilized slightly. He then took over guard duty while Yan Fei began healing her injuries.

By the time Yan Fei opened her eyes, Ling Tian was still in the midst of refining the Insect King.

Roughly an hour later, Ling Tian snapped his eyes open and slowly stood up. With a flick of his divine sense, the Heaven and Earth Strange Flame returned to his Dantian, and a pearl-sized white spherical object dropped into his hand.

"As expected of a century-old Insect King; it actually contains such massive spiritual Qi, almost rivaling a spirit stone," Ling Tian murmured with a hint of emotion as he gazed at the Insect King essence in his palm. The spiritual Qi contained within this small sphere was enough to allow a martial artist who had just crossed the threshold of Qi Refining to advance directly to the lower stage of Qi Refining—provided, of course, that they had the assistance of an expert.

Ling Tian cast several incantations onto the spirit sphere in succession to prevent any leakage of spiritual Qi before carefully stowing it into his pocket.

In his mind, Ling Tian calculated that Elder Situ and Yan Fei were already lower-stage Qi Refining martial artists. Even if he gave the spirit sphere to them, they would not be able to reach the middle stage of Qi Refining through it alone, so it would be better to keep it for someone else.

"Are your injuries severe?" Ling Tian walked over to the two of them, placing a hand on each of their shoulders. His divine sense instantly swept through their entire bodies. Guided by his divine sense, pure vital Qi surged through their meridians, rapidly repairing their injuries. In less than ten minutes, both of them were completely healed.

Elder Situ felt an exceptional lightness throughout his body and could not help praising, "My young brother, based on your current display, making you a senior consultant of the Security Bureau is actually underworking your talents. Our Security Bureau has struck an absolute goldmine. You won't go back on your word, right?"

Faced with Elder Situ's banter, Ling Tian smiled faintly and replied, "How could I easily go back on a promise I've made? Now that you are both lower-stage Qi Refining martial artists, as long as you cultivate diligently, you will soon break through to the middle stage of Qi Refining."

The cultivation stages for martial artists were divided into four major tiers: Qi Refining, Qi Transformation, Postnatal, and Innate. As strength continuously increased, the difficulty of cultivation multiplied exponentially. However, within each of the four major tiers, there were three minor grades: upper, middle, and lower. Compared to the major tiers, the difficulty of advancing between minor grades was far smaller.

Elder Situ and Yan Fei had already reached the lower stage of Qi Refining. If they cultivated diligently, they might reach the upper stage of Qi Refining within a decade. As for whether they could attain the Qi Transformation realm, it would depend entirely on their talent and fortuitous encounters.

"Little brother, I literally don't know what words to use to describe you anymore." Faced with Ling Tian's various miraculous displays, Elder Situ struggled to find suitable language to praise him. At the same time, Elder Situ felt extremely fortunate to have secured a super potential asset for the Security Bureau.

"I've simply had more fortuitous encounters than most," Ling Tian said with a calm smile. If he hadn't obtained the dragon vein inheritance, he would merely be an ordinary middle-stage Qi Refining martial artist right now, perhaps never able to reach the peak of cultivation in this lifetime. This also filled Ling Tian with an even stronger yearning for the dragon vein; he had to cultivate as quickly as possible, strive to reach higher levels sooner, and only then consider the dragon vein.

Yan Fei straightened her posture, gave Ling Tian a military salute, and said, "Thank you for your assistance, Chief."

Ling Tian held a favorable impression of Yan Fei. She was a quintessential soldier—serious and earnest. With her around, the safety of Yunhai City could be guaranteed—provided, of course, that they did not encounter even more formidable enemies.

Ling Tian smiled at Yan Fei and said, "I hope you can grow stronger as quickly as possible."

"Understood!" Yan Fei responded loudly.

Ling Tian chuckled, then opened the room's door to find that Nangong Zhenyu and the others had not left. Instead, they were waiting anxiously in the hallway. An Qi, in particular, was worried about Ling Tian's safety; she had long since abandoned her usual elegance and was pacing back and forth in the corridor with red-rimmed eyes, resembling a young wife waiting for her husband to return.

The moment she saw Ling Tian open the door, all her anxiety and worry instantly transformed into tears that gushed forth. Disregarding the astonished gazes of the others, An Qi sprinted forward, threw herself into Ling Tian's arms, and wept loudly. "You worried me to death..." An Qi choked out, holding tightly onto Ling Tian.

Nangong Zhenyu and the others looked in astonishment at Ling Tian and An Qi embracing one another. When did they get together? Judging by this stance, they were unmistakably lovers. Following their surprise came a wave of pleasant shock; because of An Qi's familial ties to the Nangong family, should the Nangong family ever face danger in the future, Ling Tian would surely not stand by idly, if only for An Qi's sake.

"It's alright, don't cry!" Ling Tian gently patted An Qi's shoulder and comforted her softly.

After a good cry, An Qi raised her head from Ling Tian's chest, wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, and gazed at him with a tear-stained yet picturesque face, speaking softly, "I know you deal with major matters, but I don't want you to face danger."

"I promise you." During his missions, Ling Tian had encountered quite a few top-tier beauties, but rarely did those involve genuine emotion. Having his feelings engaged for the very first time, Ling Tian instantly transformed from a brilliant and formidable martial expert into a tongue-tied blockhead who didn't know what to say.

An Qi wiped away her tears and loosened her grip on Ling Tian's arms. Only then did she realize that Nangong Zhenyu and the others were standing right nearby, having witnessed her tender moment with Ling Tian. Her pretty face instantly flushed red, and grabbing Nangong Xue'er, she hurried away in a fluster.

Nangong Zhenyu and Nangong Ye watched An Qi leave with smiling eyes, and then turned their smiling gazes toward Ling Tian. Although the two men said nothing, their expressions made Ling Tian extremely awkward.

"Well, I'm going back inside to deal with the evil master's corpse, and then I'll let Elder Situ and Yan Fei leave," Ling Tian scurried back into the room like a deflated ball.

Crouching before the evil master's corpse, Ling Tian employed his divine sense to conduct a thorough inspection from head to toe. When his divine sense swept past the evil master's glabella (between the eyebrows), Ling Tian immediately stopped. Reaching out to press his hand against that very spot, he revealed an excited expression and said, "So it was hidden right here."