His skeletal fingers finally touch the white sphere of death floating before him.
The moment contact is made, the remaining charred bones of Wang Hui's right hand begin collapsing into blood energy directly under the terrifying heat radiating from the unstable miniature sun.
His flesh had already melted away long ago.
Now even the bones cannot endure.
Yet Wang Hui remains calm.
His collapsing hand transforms completely into streams of blood energy that immediately wrap around the miniature sun like countless crimson threads.
The blood energy begins burning rapidly.
Consumed at an alarming speed merely from touching the unstable sphere.
Yet Wang Hui notices something immediately.
As the blood energy surrounds the miniature sun, tiny particles from the blood energy begin mixing together with the unstable particles of the Sun Sword itself.
A connection forms.
Faint.
Weak.
But real.
The moment the first few particles merge together, Wang Hui suddenly feels a tiny increase in control over the miniature sun.
Like a single thread attached to a puppet.
Then, more blood energy particles fuse with the unstable sword particles.
The thread thickens.
His control increases steadily.
Bit by bit.
The unstable sphere gradually stops drifting beyond his grasp.
Meanwhile.
Far away from the battlefield, Ningji and the others suddenly notice the terrifying white light beginning to dim slowly.
The unbearable heat weakens slightly.
The trembling atmosphere gradually stabilises.
They exchange glances immediately.
Then begin moving cautiously back toward Wang Hui's location.
Honda follows as well.
Hope and nervousness fill their hearts simultaneously.
At the centre of the battlefield, Wang Hui's thoughts move rapidly while analysing the unstable structure within the miniature sun.
Then finally,
He understands.
The particles within the Sun Sword had reacted abnormally with the compressed white fire.
Their original bonds broke apart completely under the terrifying heat and pressure.
The particles transformed into something different.
Unstable.
Violent.
They continuously collided against each other endlessly, generating terrifying amounts of heat through those collisions.
That was the true reason the Sun Sword became uncontrollable.
Wang Hui immediately acts upon the realisation.
Instead of suppressing the unstable particles directly, he guides the blood energy particles to form new bonds around them.
One by one.
The unstable particles become wrapped within blood energy.
The collisions gradually decrease.
Then stop entirely.
The terrifying heat rapidly begins disappearing.
The white light fades continuously.
The miniature sun shrinks smaller and smaller until finally,
The heat vanishes completely.
Silence returns to the battlefield.
Floating before Wang Hui now is no longer a blazing miniature sun.
Instead, a smooth crimson metal sphere hovers quietly in the air before him.
Its surface gleams faintly beneath the fog-covered sky.
Wang Hui stares at it carefully.
Then a thought appears within his mind.
Immediately, the crimson sphere changes shape.
It stretches outward.
Sharpens.
Transforms into a sword.
Moments later, it compresses instantly into a thin crimson needle.
Wang Hui's eyes narrow slightly.
With merely a thought, the metal changes shape freely.
Sword.
Needle.
Sphere.
Its form obeys his will completely.
Wang Hui stares silently at the floating crimson metal while countless thoughts move rapidly through his mind.
Then another question appears.
Can it return to its previous form?
The miniature sun.
The terrifying condensed state that nearly killed him.
Wang Hui focuses his thoughts on the crimson metal sphere carefully.
Immediately, the sphere begins changing.
Heat rises once more.
The crimson surface gradually starts glowing brighter while faint white light begins emerging from within it.
The surrounding temperature starts increasing again.
Wang Hui's expression changes instantly.
He stops immediately.
The transformation halts halfway.
Because he realises something important.
He has no confidence that he can regain control over it a second time if the miniature sun fully reforms again.
The first time had nearly killed him.
If the same instability appears again, then he may not survive long enough to stabilise it another time.
So Wang Hui abandons the attempt without hesitation.
The crimson sphere slowly descends afterwards.
It lands softly upon the charred skeletal remains of his right hand.
Then,
It merges directly into the bones.
Wang Hui's eyes narrow slightly.
Immediately, he feels changes occurring within the damaged bones of his right arm.
The refinement of the bones accelerates rapidly.
But the refining energy is no longer ordinary ghost energy.
It is something different.
A fusion.
A mixture formed from Fire Ghost Energy and Blood Energy.
The resulting energy feels fundamentally different from ordinary ghost energy.
It lacks the eerie coldness and oppressive corruption normally carried by ghost energy.
Instead,
It feels strangely positive.
Warm.
Alive.
Yet Wang Hui can still clearly perceive the negative emotions and resentment hidden within it.
They have not disappeared.
Because negative emotions form the foundation of ghost energy itself.
Without resentment and negative emotion, ghost energy cannot exist.
Yet now those negative emotions feel buried beneath the mixture of blood and fire energy.
Suppressed.
Contained.
Balanced.
Talon's voice suddenly echoes within Wang Hui's mind.
"The sword has become similar to a true Magic Instrument."
Wang Hui's eyes flicker slightly.
The magic instruments he previously used as an apprentice wizard were crude things.
Even enchanted tools remained fundamentally lifeless.
Cold.
No different from ordinary objects beyond their magical properties.
But true Magic Instruments belonging to official wizards were different.
They possessed vitality.
Like living grass carrying life within itself instead of dead stone.
Wang Hui slowly speaks.
"If this truly resembles a Magic Instrument…"
"Then I should be able to absorb it into my dantian."
Without hesitation, he tries.
The crimson sphere responds immediately.
It dissolves into flowing crimson light and enters his body before descending directly into his dantian.
Moments later, the crimson sun sphere appears quietly within the centre of his dantian beside the blood core.
A smile finally spreads across Wang Hui's face.
Relief.
Satisfaction.
He survived.
Not only survived.
He also gained something extraordinary.
A true Magic Instrument born from the fusion of ghost energy, blood energy, and fire.
He does not feel much regret over losing the vine glove.
Its sacrifice was worth it.
Still,
A trace of sadness remains.
Because the glove had been the very first Ghost Weapon he refined within this world.
Then.
He hears footsteps approaching rapidly.
Wang Hui lifts his head and sees Honda running toward him alongside Ningji and the others.
Soon, they surround him completely.
Their eyes no longer carry calculation or doubt.
Only awe.
Hope.
Reverence.
Wang Hui looks toward Honda first.
"Honda-san…"
His voice remains calm.
"Are you alright?"
The moment he asks those words, Honda suddenly kneels heavily before him.
Then Ningji and the others kneel as well.
One after another.
Wang Hui's brows furrow slightly.
Then Honda begins confessing everything.
The trip to the Ghost Lake had been a trap.
They intentionally brought him there, hoping the lake would forcefully complete his Demon Body transformation.
Once that happened, his path toward becoming a Chakra Refiner would close permanently.
Then he would have no choice except to fully join them and walk the Ghost Hunter path together.
Wang Hui listens silently.
He feels anger rising within him.
Annoyance.
Frustration.
Yet strangely,
He finds himself unable to respond with violence while they kneel before him like this.
He exhales slowly while suppressing the irritation within his heart.
Then suddenly,
Pain erupts violently from his left hand and both legs.