The next day, outside the tent.
Li Ming sat crouched on the sand, a Matryoshka doll beside him, gnawing on an apple while scowling at the small fire in front of him. Resting atop the flames was a massive metal leg.
The fire, naturally, was Hellfire—stripped from Carter Slade and Johnny Blaze.
The metal leg? That was a limb painstakingly carved off the Destroyer after an immense struggle.Earlier, Li Ming had considered using the shape-altering properties of Hellfire to forge a handy magical weapon. But he clearly underestimated the material of the Destroyer—damn thing didn't even show signs of reddening or melting under the Hellfire's blaze.
What pissed him off even more was that the metal leg seemed to have some protective measure. Li Ming noticed the Hellfire wasn't actually clinging to the metal leg but hovered a few millimeters away from it.
Even when Li Ming intensified the Hellfire with more ferocious flames, the metal leg remained completely unaffected, still gleaming with a silvery sheen as if mocking his overestimation of his own abilities.
After a long while, staring at the metal leg that even Hellfire couldn't touch, Li Ming admitted defeat. Helpless, he signaled Klee Che to polish the Genie Lamp and ask the Genie if there was a better solution.
The Genie stretched lazily as he emerged from the Genie Lamp, rubbing his sleep-crusted eyes and yawning, "Austin, why are you calling me so early in the morning?"
Before he could finish, the Genie noticed the metallic leg in the flames. He gave Li Ming a puzzled look before widening his eyes in surprise and laughing, "Austin, don't tell me you've gotten tired of human food and are planning to roast a metal leg for breakfast. Did you summon me for some cumin, chili, and salt?" As he spoke, the Genie conjured a bottle of digestive tablets and handed them to Li Ming. "This leg looks pretty big—maybe you'll need these?"
Li Ming rolled his eyes. He knew the Genie was joking, but digestive tablets? Really? Shouldn't it be a set of dentures—solid steel ones—otherwise, how was he supposed to bite into a metal leg?
Wait, that didn't make sense either. What was the Destroyer even made of? Whatever—pure steel dentures definitely wouldn't cut it.
Li Ming casually conjured an apple and tossed it to the Genie, then pointed at the metal leg. "Can you change the shape of this thing?"
The Genie's eyes lit up as he caught the apple. Li Ming had just conjured it out of thin air—what did that mean? It meant Li Ming had already grasped some of the magic unique to the Magic Lamp Genie, and without any guidance, purely through self-study! And he'd actually succeeded?! The Genie couldn't help but be shocked.
But when the Genie took a bite, he realized—this was no real apple. Aside from the water content, the rest was just a clump of energy. It tasted like plain water.
And even the water wasn't conjured from nothing. The Genie guessed Li Ming had extracted moisture from the air and infused it into the "fruit."
Though the apple was less satisfying than plain water, it was still a kind gesture from Li Ming—even if the taste was lacking.
Munching on the flavorless apple, the Genie studied the metal leg and the flames that sent a shiver down his spine.
He instinctively took a few steps back to avoid the fire. Though his Elf Bracelet would protect him—these flames wouldn't kill him—they'd still hurt. And he wasn't some masochist who enjoyed pain.
After a long pause, the Genie narrowed his eyes. "What kind of fire is this? Feels like it could burn my soul. And what's with that metal leg? I can sense unclaimed divine power on it—and an incredibly strong kind at that."
Hearing the Genie's confusion, Li Ming scratched his brow. Why did he feel like he'd missed something?
Odin, the Allfather, was probably sitting on his throne in Asgard right now, happily eating breakfast off a golden plate, completely unaware of the Destroyer's leg—separated by who-knows-how-many layers of crystal walls from the "Aladdin" world.
No wonder the divine power on the Destroyer's leg was unclaimed."The metal thigh was cut from an armor forged by a divine king, and as for the flames, they were harvested from a Hell Knight." As he spoke, Li Ming, recalling what he had missed, had golden light flashing in his eyes—bright enough to blind a Genie—while pounding his chest in frustration. He painstakingly extracted the divine power from the metal thigh, preparing to seal it into a nearby Matryoshka doll.
Damn it, the divine power was ownerless now. If he didn't take this chance to extract it, wouldn't he be a fool?
If only Li Ming's strength were sufficient to study divine power, he would have swallowed it whole and digested it into his own magical energy. Who knows? It might even have improved the purity of his magic.
But ordinary divine power was already a high-tier resource for Li Ming, let alone the divine power from the Destroyer's thigh—this belonged to Odin, the divine king. As a result, extracting it was an excruciatingly slow process. After much effort, he had only managed to draw out a tiny fraction.
To fully extract the divine power from the metal thigh? Hah, that would be a massive undertaking.
"A divine king? Hell?" The Genie smacked his lips, eyeing Li Ming with suspicion.
It was no wonder the Genie was doubtful. First, he couldn't sense Li Ming's home. Now, there was a thigh from a divine king's armor and mentions of Hell. It made him wonder if Li Ming's home was in the divine realm—otherwise, why couldn't two Genies working together sense it? As for guessing Li Ming's home was in Hell—come on, the Genie wasn't stupid. Who in their right mind would want to return to Hell these days? Only those trying to escape Hell and return to the mortal world.
After all, Hell was a desolate place with nothing to offer. Only a fool would want to go back.
But since Li Ming didn't seem inclined to explain, the Genie knew better than to pry. Friends should respect each other's privacy.
"If you make a wish, I could change its shape, but—" The Genie frowned, counting on his fingers before adding, "I can tell this metal has memory properties. Combined with my limited power, it'll probably revert to a metal thigh in a year or two."
The Destroyer was that tough? No wonder it was Asgard's pinnacle of technology. Li Ming stroked his chin, narrowing his eyes at the shoulder bag. "What if you and Jafar worked together?"
The Genie shrugged. "It'd only extend the duration. Maybe ten or twenty years before it reverts."
Now Li Ming was in a dilemma. A decade or two was too short for him. Even if he took the magical artifact forged from the Destroyer's thigh to other worlds to buy extra time, or left it in the Marvel universe, such a brief span was still insufficient.
It gave him the illusion of barely warming a treasure before it slipped from his grasp.
After some thought, Li Ming pointed at the Hellfire. "This thing can alter an object's form. If I seal Hellfire inside the metal thigh, do you think it'd further delay the reversion?"The Genie stroked his small beard and cautiously circled the Hellfire a few times before asking, "Are you confident that the Hellfire won't harm you?"
Although Li Ming wasn't a Ghost Rider and couldn't contain the Hellfire within his body, when it came to control—well, Li Ming felt pretty proud of himself.
After all, Hellfire was a high-tier power, and he hadn't even touched the threshold of being a demigod. Yet, through just a year and a half of research, he had mastered controlling it effortlessly. Wasn't that something to be proud of?
In response to the Genie's question, Li Ming thought it best to demonstrate with actions.
He extended his palm toward the Hellfire, which obediently transformed under his command—now taking human form to dance in place, now shaping into a bird performing aerial stunts.
Seeing this, the Genie said nothing more. After a moment of thought, he tilted his head and suggested, "Perhaps we can delay the metal's restoration." Pausing, as if struck by an idea, he added, "I think you should extract the divine power first. That way, when Jafar and I combine our efforts, we'll have a better chance of altering its form. Besides, while extracting the divine power will degrade the metal's quality, it will also slow its recovery into a thigh. With the Hellfire's enhancement, I reckon it'll last you a lifetime."
Li Ming nodded silently as he continued extracting the divine power. His time in the 'Aladdin' world was running short, and he was eager to melt the Destroyer's thigh into his own magical artifact.
Otherwise, returning to the Marvel world with a Destroyer's thigh stripped of Odin's divine power—who knew if Odin would be furious enough to come after him? After all, the Destroyer was quite an expensive collectible.
By the time Li Ming sensed his imminent departure from the 'Aladdin' world, he had finally drained all the divine power from the Destroyer's thigh.
And today was the day to forge the magical artifact.
Li Ming rubbed the Genie Lamp, summoning the Genie, while Klee Che did the same to summon Jafar.
Li Ming clearly didn't trust Jafar, especially knowing that Genies often played tricks when granting wishes, exploiting gray areas to deceive people.
So, Klee Che's wish to Jafar was simple: just obey the Genie's commands. Whatever the Genie ordered, Jafar had to comply.
This left Jafar grinding his teeth in frustration, but there was little he could do. Compared to the Genie, a seasoned veteran, a novice like him trying to outmaneuver the Elf Code was no easy feat.
Before the Genie began his spell, Li Ming handed him his scythe, signaling that during the forging of the new artifact, the cat's eye embedded in the blade should be transferred to the new weapon.
Taking the scythe, the Genie examined the cat's eye inside and asked curiously, "And what creature is this?"
"A cat's eye—belonging to the Underworld King, or rather, the pet of the God of Death," Li Ming explained offhandedly, then gestured for the Genie to begin the performance.The God King and Hell had already made their appearances, and now Li Ming had even brought out a pet of the Grim Reaper. The Genie found himself no longer surprised by anything, but this only reinforced his belief that Li Ming's true home must undoubtedly be in the divine realm.
The Genie rubbed his hands together, took a few deep breaths, and exhaled slowly before excitedly reaching out to cast a spell on the metallic leg.
After a while, under the combined efforts of the Genie and Jafar, the metallic leg slowly began to transform. It wasn't until both Genies were drenched in sweat and nearly exhausted that the shape of Li Ming's magical artifact finally took form.