Chapter 385: Chapter 382: Can’t You Be a Little More Reserved?

SNAP!

Mo Qi snapped his fingers lightly and whispered, "Out!"

The raging heatwave came to an abrupt halt. The rampaging Beast Fire, like a frail candle flame, was snuffed out by an invisible hand.

A cool breeze swept through. Aside from the scorched and ravaged ground that spoke of the searing heat from a moment before, everything felt like a dream.

Even Feng Zhang, the one at the center of it all, was dumbfounded.

’What’s going on?’

’Why did my Beast Fire suddenly go out of control?’

Just now, at the very moment Mo Qi snapped his fingers, he had clearly sensed the intense fear emanating from his Beast Fire.

Then, like a mouse that had seen a cat, it had instantly retreated deep into his body, ignoring all of Feng Zhang’s attempts to command it.

In the end, the Beast Fire even unilaterally severed its connection with Feng Zhang.

Feng Zhang was in a complete panic.

Fire was one of an Alchemy Master’s most fundamental tools.

Without fire, no matter how strong one’s theory or how vast their knowledge of Elixirs, they couldn’t practice Alchemy. They would be as useless as a salted fish.

"What did you do to me?" Feng Zhang glared at Mo Qi and demanded. He knew the Beast Fire’s strange behavior had to be related to Mo Qi’s snap.

He just couldn’t figure out how Mo Qi had done it.

"Nothing much. I just found your Beast Fire to be an eyesore, so I told it to scram."

Feng Zhang was stunned for a moment, then his brows furrowed deeply.

"Impossible! Are you lying to me?!"

Feng Zhang had never heard of anyone on the Path of Fire Control who could make a flame disobey its master and completely lose contact.

How could he know that when the grade difference between flames reached a certain level, the weaker one would have absolutely no courage to face the stronger one?

Mo Qi possessed the Nether Soul Flame, a Celestial-level Fire Seed that had been modified and mutated by the Chaos Scripture!

Let alone Feng Zhang’s Beast Fire, which was far from being a proper Fire Seed, even an Earth Level Fire Seed or a weaker Celestial Level one wouldn’t dare to confront it directly.

Peaceful coexistence was impossible between flames. The law of the jungle was the fundamental Law of the world of fire.

This was also the reason why Feng Zhang’s Beast Fire was so terrified.

"Lie to you?" Mo Qi’s smile vanished, his expression turning cold. "What makes you worthy of being lied to by me? I’ve said it before, your Alchemy Dao and your Path of Fire Control are both trash in my eyes!"

Hearing Mo Qi use the word "trash" to describe his Alchemy Dao and fire control for the second time, Feng Zhang still couldn’t suppress his rage.

Just as he was about to say something, Mo Qi spoke again.

"What, you’re still not convinced you’re trash?"

"A man who’s nearly killed himself with Alchemy—what right do you have to talk to me about the Alchemy Dao? Is the Alchemy Dao you’re so proud of just a form of suicide?"

"Fire control? Why don’t you show me your flame right now!"

Feng Zhang was at a loss for words.

’Is the Alchemy Dao I’m so proud of really just suicide?’

He wanted to retort, but he couldn’t find the words.

Because he was, in fact, on the verge of death.

’Show him my flame? How? With what?’

He couldn’t even sense where his Beast Fire was anymore.

’Could it be... that my Alchemy Dao is truly as Mo Qi said—worthless, just trash?!’

’Have all my years of hard work been a complete joke?!’

’Perhaps... he’s right.’

At this thought, Feng Zhang’s face turned pale. His spirit had suffered a devastating blow.

His steps grew unsteady as he staggered backward, finally leaning against the wall and slumping to the ground like a deflated ball.

Wisps of black aura, barely visible to the naked eye, began to escape from his body and coil around him.

It was the aura of death, an energy that only appeared when a living being was on the brink of dying.

The conviction that had allowed Feng Zhang to endure the torment of the Energy backlash and hold on until now had shattered with Mo Qi’s arrival.

How tragic and cruel it is for a man to discover that the work to which he devoted his entire life was nothing but a joke in the end.

His spirit broken, Feng Zhang no longer had any spare Heart Power to suppress the chaotic and potent Energy within him. The backlash instantly reached its peak.

If this continued, he would be dead in less than half a quarter-hour.

Mo Qi stood to the side, pinching his fingers as he calculated the time.

Others might not be able to sense the presence of the deathly aura, but he could.

When the deathly aura spread to Feng Zhang’s chin and was just about to bore into his Sea of Consciousness, Mo Qi made his move.

He extended his index and middle fingers, curled them together, swung his arm in a wide arc, and flicked Feng Zhang right on the forehead.

THWACK!

The crisp sound echoed through the room.

Feng Zhang, whose heart had already turned to ash, suddenly felt a piercing pain radiate from his forehead.

It was a relentless, enduring pain that came in waves, each one stronger than the last.

Moreover, this intense pain pierced deep into his soul, roiling his Sea of Consciousness. It hurt so much he almost bit his tongue off.

"Mo Qi, you’ve gone too far! Even if I die today, I’m going to teach you a lesson!"

Feng Zhang leaped up with all his might. He knew he didn’t have much time left.

He also knew that in his current state, completely overwhelmed by the backlash, he couldn’t possibly do anything to Mo Qi. But there was a rage deep inside him that he just had to vent!

However, as he leaped high enough to nearly tear the roof off, a Grotto Heaven rising behind his head and emitting an incomparably powerful aura, Feng Zhang froze.

He stared blankly at his own hands.

"My power... why has it increased so much!"

"No, that’s not right!"

Feng Zhang sensed something and had a sudden realization.

"The chaotic Energy is gone! This feeling, it’s been so long... Ah~ so relaxed~ so wonderful~"

Feng Zhang squinted his eyes and looked up at the ceiling, stretching wantonly with an expression of pure bliss.

But combined with the words he was saying, Mo Qi found it all rather creepy.

"Hey, can you show a little restraint?" Mo Qi couldn’t help but retort as he watched Feng Zhang’s stretch turn into something like a seductive pose.

Can you imagine a crusty old man with his hands over his head, twisting his waist to the left, shaking his butt to the right, all with a lecherous look on his face?

Mo Qi felt like punching someone just watching it.

Hearing Mo Qi’s words, Feng Zhang’s face couldn’t help but twitch twice.

He sheepishly lowered his arms, descended to land in front of Mo Qi, and looked at him with a complicated expression.

Feng Zhang might not have understood the ways of the world and was a bit too straightforward, but that didn’t mean he was stupid.

It was obvious that Mo Qi’s previous series of actions had all been deliberate, including the mockery of his Alchemy Dao.

Feng Zhang didn’t know why Mo Qi had done it, but he knew that it was all in preparation for that final flick on the forehead.

It was unbelievable, but the facts were right in front of him: that one flick had somehow knocked the chaotic Energy right out of his body.

"Thank you for your help, Young Fellow Mo." Feng Zhang pushed aside the hem of his robe and knelt to thank Mo Qi. "I will never forget this life-saving grace!"

Mo Qi didn’t stop him, accepting Feng Zhang’s kowtow with composure.

After Feng Zhang finished, Mo Qi said nonchalantly, "Don’t celebrate too early, and don’t think everything I just said was false. Your Alchemy Dao really is trash!"

Feng Zhang’s expression froze. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end, he just shook his head and gave a helpless, bitter smile.

Just a moment ago, he’d had one foot in the Ghost Gate.

It was Mo Qi who had saved him!

After experiencing a brush with death and being repeatedly provoked by Mo Qi, he had come to see many things in a new light.