During all this time Wu Guang has been pretty calm and acted as an observer. On the other hand, why would he not? Neither of the opposing forces had the intention to kill him right away, and since the battle between the experts from the Fiery Island started, he was not even suppressed. The latter was explained simply because they felt that an intermediate Spirit realm cultivator could not do anything either, so why bother? Plus they all have some kind of objective in mind, and from what Wu Guang could understand, he had something to do with it.

At this moment the two demon brothers were busy trying to sustain the Ghostflame incarnation that was enveloping Yi Ma. As for the latter, he was still alive, although his condition could not be discerned because of the flame. Still, Yi Ma's aura did not show any signs of diminishing, which meant that he was fine. This was strange, but after noticing that the brothers remained calm, he guessed that Yi Ma had some kind of treasure on him for protection, and this treasure had either a time or damage limit. In such a case, it's no wonder why he was unharmed until now, and why they were going so far as to maintain the Ghostflame on him. After all, when the treasure stopped working, Yi Ma would be almost instantly be killed.

Lord Liao was the one with the worst situation, as he had not even been able to resist or act during all this time. Not only that, he was constantly pressured by Yi Ma's aura, and when the latter went out, there were still the two demon brothers that could kill him even while wounded.

*Crash*

With a loud sound, the door leading towards the stairs shot off the doorway.

"Hoh, it seems to be pretty lively in here!" The person that walked on was a man in his forties. He was tall and muscular, while his almost black hair wildly cascaded down until the shoulders. Dressed in white martial robes adorned with red patterns and holding a seven feet long glaive, the new arrival was no one else than the Martial Palace Master, Zhen Gan.

Wu Guang inwardly rejoiced to see that someone from the Sect has arrived, after all, he was still reluctant to use one of his trump cards. Not only they would generate questions, but they would also possibly destroy part of the cave or treasures. Something that had not happened until now simply because the combatants had controlled their powers. After all, who would want to damage their spoils?

Wu Guang openly remained silent but sent a qi transmission to Zhen Gan explaining the current situation. Obviously, he could not explain everything in a short time, but he mentioned the identities and powers of all the present people. In response, Zhen Gan nodded appreciatively towards him before releasing his 9th level of the Soul realm aura and suppressing everyone except Wu Guang. His aura was so powerful that it only needed a brief clash with Yi Ma's to completely subdue it! As for the Eldest of the Demon brothers, his lifeforce was partially drained already, and so his aura was far weaker than before.

"It seems that you all took care of my Sect's disciple" As Zhen Gao spoke, he started walking towards the brothers from the 'Ghostflame Sect'.

"Don't misunderstand us, milord, we are here on our own! We had no intention of offending your sect" Both of the demon brothers spoke up simultaneously. They even went so far as to lower their own standing by referring to Zhen Gan as milord. Although this was logical, the eldest brother could fight Zhen Gan while at his peak... but currently? He had no chance at all.

"Heh, I don't really care about your reasons. But did you think that our Half-Island is a place where foreign powers can come and act as they want? Plus your 'Ghostflame Sect' is no righteous power, so even if I kill you two nobody will say anything" Zhen Gan could be impulsive but he wasn't dumb. If he was, he would never have become a Palace Master. Wu Guang's words and descriptions were enough for him to understand that the eldest of the demon brothers would be a threat to the island if he escaped, and plus they had already killed someone from their power upstairs. So how could he let them go away?

"Don't! If you let us go, we will leave the island and there will be no quarrels between our powers. But if you attack us, we will definitively not go down easily!" Seeing that their words had no effect on Zehn Gan, the second brother resorted to threats. Still, this was a real mistake, as right after these words left his mouth, Zhen Gan slashed with his glaive in response without bothering to speak anymore. There was a distance of about 15 feet between them and so Zhen Gan's slash wasn't simple, but the release of blade intent. Such intent came from one's understanding of a Weapon path, And in Zhen Gan's case, his understanding was very deep. In Wu Guang's eyes, it was at least on the 7th Step. Such a level of weapon control meant that even a single slash, or just the sheer intent of a slash, would be comparable to a weaker martial skill!

Both of them concentrated on maintaining the Ghostlflame incantation, so how could they resist? So in a totally unexpected ending for them, both were killed by a single slash from the Martial Palace Master of the 'Three Hills Sect'.

Their killing brought up several changes instantly. First, without being commanded the Ghostflame incarnation dissipated and so Yi Ma appeared. The latter's body was covered in a bright qi cover, but judging from the fact that his open skin was blistered and the hems of his clothes were burned, it was already failing to protect him.

The second change came also from the Ghostflame, or in this case from both Ghostflame parts. After the brothers were killed, not only the one outside the eldest body regained its freedom, but also the part inside the second brother surged out. These two parts almost instantly merged into one, becoming a foot or so big clump of black fire floating in the air.

"Wu Guang, is that the 'Ghostflame' part you mentioned? You said it's sentient? Can we communicate with it?" Zhen Gan did not get careless after seeing the flame and noticing that its power was comparable to his own, especially now that the two parts had fused. Still, he knew that sentient beings like this should not attack if not provoked, and so except for restraining the newly appeared Yi Ma, he did not act at all.

"Palace Master is right, the Ghostflame is sentient. But I doubt that we would be able to communicate with it, after all, it was forcibly separated into parts and then instilled into several people. Still, it should not pose us any malice right now. So we can try" Wu Guang spoke this not with his voice, but via qi transmission. Adding a brief explanation about the flame to Zhen Gan, that it would dissipate by itself if not refined.

"Ghostflame! Hear me, if you accept me as a master..." *Blergh* The one who started to persuade the Ghostflame was unexpectedly Yi Ma, but before he could finish talking, his defensive barrier dissipated and he vomited blood.

"Guests should remain silent while the hosts are speaking!" The cause for this was Zhen Gan, who after hearing Yi Ma trying to speak strengthened his aura to the maximum and like a sledgehammer crashed it against him. The latter was already exhausted from the previous fight and had been operating a protective treasure for several minutes, plus his aura was already dispelled by Zhen Gan's one... So without any manner to resist, he was hit with the full strength of the pressure.

"Wu Guang, how does one communicate with it?" Zhen Gan asked via qi transmission.

"Words will not work even with the full Ghostflame, one can only transmit his own thoughts and intentions using consciousness. Right now the flame is weakened and alone, so it can either dissipate or recognize someone as a master. Still, from what I heard the nature of the flame was altered by human sacrifices, and so I can't tell if it will respond. Also, it can be attempted only once" Wu Guang did not hide anything and explained clearly.

To say the truth, he was interested in becoming the master of the so-called Ghostflame as well. After all, it was a newly formed Spiritual Flame, and if reared well could even become one of the seven great flames. Having such a flame would mean an incredible increase in combat prowess and if he latter wanted to refine weapons or pills, greatly help him with both.

"I see... Give it a try. If the flame acknowledges you, then it's good. Don't worry, I can deal with it if it fights back" Unexpectedly Zhen Gan directly gave the opportunity to Wu Guang. And the latter obviously would not disregard such, so he sat down cross-legged on the spot and send a strand of his consciousness towards the flame.

Knowing that flame Spiritual beings tended to have pretty low intelligence but could sense lies, Wu Guang conveyed his feelings and desires clearly. If translated to words, he simply told the flame that he wanted it to become his power and that he would do everything in his power to reunite it with the rest of the parts. And if that did not work, he would let it consume all the resources and unique flames he could to strengthen it.

Wu Guang's consciousness was by far the most powerful in this part of the plane, not to mention in this cave. Adding that he had also a clear understanding of the methods to communicate with it, the result would depend only on the flame's decision.

Fortunately, the flame indeed did not harbor any malice to Wu Guang and so as the strand of consciousness neared it, the flame accepted it and started digesting the information.

A few minutes passed, during which Zhen Gan and Yi Ma both eyed the flame. Obviously, their objectives were different as the former wanted Wu Guang to succeed or at least to be safe, while the latter simply coveted the flame.

Suddenly the flame started floating. It slowly approached Wu Guang and started circling around him.

"Should I intervene?" Zhen Gan asked right away.

"No, the flame is examining me. But it has no intention to harm me, or it would have already done so" Wu Guang reassured in response while sending a new strand of consciousness towards the flame. This time the contents were basically an invitation for the flame to enter his body.

*Whoosh*

As if in acceptance of the invitation, the flame rapidly shrank into a pill-sized ball and landed on Wu Guang. It entered his body!

Still, the flame had not yet accepted him as a master as the process would require long assimilation. For now, Wu Guang would need to maintain the flame inside his circulation system while slowly nurturing it with his qi. If this proceeds with no incidents, then the flame would enter his dantian and become a part of him.

"What happened?"

"The 'Ghostflame' will need to bask in my qi for some time before deciding. But it will not pose any threat in any case. Thank you for the help, Palace Master" Wu Guang explained. This was only partially the truth, as he himself knew that after a flame entered a body, it could be extremely dangerous. Still, he was sure of himself and felt no need to worry Zhen Gan.

"Good! Now we should deal with these two" After Zhen Gan spoke, he turned towards Yi Ma and the nearby Lord Liao.