The bald-browed man and the others below showed no signs of worry. They knew that since the Ma surnamed cultivator had brought out the scroll to face the enemy, it couldn’t be just for show—it must have some effect.
Sure enough, at the center of the sea of flames, the Ma surnamed elder formed hand seals, and the scroll in front of him suddenly turned horizontally upward. A flash of white light followed, accompanied by the roar of wind, as a white tornado surged from the Eight Trigrams diagram, expanding to cover an area of over ten zhang. The surrounding flames were swept into the tornado with unstoppable force, and in the blink of an eye, nearly half of the vast sea of fire was consumed. With a furious roar from the Ma surnamed elder, a silver streak shot out from the tornado, heading straight for Ku Yao on the opposite side, completely ignoring the fire dragon above Ku Yao’s head.
It seemed the Ma surnamed elder was well aware that as long as Ku Yao was injured, the fire dragon, which shared a mental connection with him, would naturally lose much of its power.
Ku Yao’s expression remained impassive, though the corner of his mouth twitched slightly. With a flick of his hand, a red flying dagger shot from his palm, transforming into a streak of red light that clashed with the silver streak. The dagger was crystalline and crimson, its radiance dazzling, and it instantly intercepted the silver streak, locking them in a fierce struggle midair. Red and silver lights intertwined, making it impossible to determine which had the upper hand.
Seeing this, Ku Yao’s eyes flashed coldly. He flipped his hands, and two small red banners, each about an inch long, appeared in his palms. He tossed them into the air, and with a sharp tearing sound, the banners expanded in the wind, growing to over a zhang in height.
A low, obscure chant spilled from Ku Yao’s lips. The banners glowed with red light, and two thick pillars of fire shot from their surfaces, converging above the fire dragon’s head. A vast expanse of fiery clouds began to flicker into existence.
“Go!” Ku Yao’s chant ceased abruptly as he spat out a mouthful of red essence, which landed squarely on the fire dragon above him. The dragon’s spirit soared, and with a shake of its head and a flick of its tail, it let out a long, draconic cry before plunging into the fiery clouds. The crimson clouds churned violently, rapidly diminishing in size.
Han Li, observing from below, narrowed his eyes, a flash of blue light passing through his pupils. Using his Clear Spirit Eyes, he was astonished to see the fire dragon hiding within the clouds, voraciously devouring the surrounding fire clouds.
In the blink of an eye, the fire clouds were completely consumed by the dragon, whose body swelled dramatically, expanding to over ten zhang in length. Its head alone was as large as a house, its fangs bared in a terrifying display.
At the same time, the white tornado and the surrounding sea of flames vanished without a trace, revealing the Ma surnamed elder, who now appeared gaunt and weary.
The elder gripped the Eight Trigrams diagram in his hands, coldly eyeing the monstrous fire dragon before wordlessly tossing the scroll upward. It transformed into a streak of light, shooting high into the sky and disappearing into the clouds as if it had flown beyond the heavens.
Ku Yao was momentarily stunned by this action. But in that brief hesitation, an unusual surge of spiritual energy appeared above his head, followed by strands of multicolored light descending from the sky. A massive Eight Trigrams diagram, spanning dozens of zhang, abruptly materialized within the light and descended without hesitation.
Ku Yao’s face paled. Without thinking, he pointed at the fire dragon above him. The massive beast immediately raised its thick neck and spewed a crimson light beam from its maw, striking the underside of the diagram. The enormous array paused slightly but continued its descent as if nothing had happened.
Ku Yao’s expression turned ashen. He rubbed his hands together and then flung them outward, releasing countless fist-sized fireballs that swarmed toward the sky.
Watching this, Han Li’s heart stirred. These weren’t fireballs conjured from talismans but were instead cast simultaneously through sheer cultivation. It seemed the spiritual techniques of the spellcasters were indeed extraordinary, far more suited for combat than ordinary elemental spells.
As Han Li pondered this, the fireballs streaked toward the massive array like meteors—but to no effect. The Eight Trigrams diagram didn’t waver in the slightest. Instead, it accelerated its descent, covering Ku Yao and the fire dragon like a small town falling from the sky.
Instantly, the onlookers—both cultivators and spellcasters—could only see the massive array rotating slowly in the air, with no sign of Ku Yao’s movements.
The Ma surnamed elder, though successful in his attack, showed no joy. Instead, his expression darkened as he sat cross-legged, forming hand seals. A soft white light radiated from his body, shimmering brilliantly. Simultaneously, the massive array responded with a surge of light, accompanied by the sounds of explosions and thunder. The Eight Trigrams diagram flickered between brightness and darkness, its spiritual light pulsating.
“Elder Tianku, is Elder Ku Yao alright in there? If he’s in danger, we don’t need to stick to one-on-one combat. We can rush in and rescue him. Who would’ve thought this Nascent Soul cultivator would have such a bizarre ancient treasure?” The tall, thin spellcaster, looking worried, turned to the black-robed man beside him and asked politely.
“Heh, no need to worry. Although this Taixuan Eight Trigrams Diagram, forged by ancient cultivators, is an extremely powerful ancient treasure, the one using it hasn’t truly mastered its methods. He’s merely relying on the diagram’s immense spiritual power to forcibly trap his opponent. In that case, it won’t hold Elder Ku for long. This brute-force method of activating the array consumes a tremendous amount of spiritual energy—this man is truly foolish! But then again, in such a remote place, how many would know the true usage of such a rare ancient treasure?” The black-robed man chuckled darkly, his words dripping with disdain for the southern cultivators.
Reassured by this, the tall, thin spellcaster abandoned his plan to order his fellow spellcasters to charge in.
Meanwhile, the bald-browed man and the others watching below were torn between hope and worry.
At first, when they saw the Eight Trigrams diagram trap the enemy spellcaster, they were elated. But as strange noises continued to emanate from the diagram and the Ma surnamed elder sat solemnly in meditation, they realized the battle wasn’t over yet, dampening their spirits.
The elder himself was inwardly cursing. He had only recently acquired this treasure and had previously used it only against Core Formation cultivators. Those trapped within had been powerless to resist, allowing him to activate the array’s restrictions and eliminate them one by one. But this spellcaster, Ku Yao, was able to withstand the thunder and fire attacks within the diagram while continuously driving his massive fire dragon to assault the array’s restrictions. This forced the elder to constantly replenish the diagram’s spiritual energy to maintain its stability.
The sky grew quiet, save for the faint rumbling from the glowing array. The spectators held their breath.
The bald-browed man and his companions grew increasingly anxious. Han Li stood alone to the side, gazing expressionlessly at the sky while silently conversing with Silvermoon.
“This Fellow Daoist Ma is truly wasting a treasure, using the Taixuan Eight Trigrams Diagram like this. This is a treasure whose power rivals the Purple Cloud Net,” Silvermoon remarked with a click of her tongue, as if lamenting the misuse of such a treasure.
“The Taixuan Eight Trigrams Diagram? You know of this ancient treasure?” Han Li asked inwardly, his face betraying nothing.
“Of course. This diagram was quite famous in ancient times, though this one seems to be a crude imitation. Otherwise, even if the user couldn’t unleash its full power, it would still be enough to trap the opponent indefinitely. A true high-grade Eight Trigrams Diagram wouldn’t consume so much spiritual energy,” Silvermoon replied swiftly.
“If a crude imitation has such power, what must the real high-grade diagram be like? But you mentioned the Purple Cloud Net is comparable—does that mean it also has some special activation method?” Han Li pressed.
“The Purple Cloud Net isn’t so troublesome! You just need to channel spiritual energy into it to use it. As for the restrictions and the Jade Yang True Fire, you’d only need to study them a few times to master them,” Silvermoon replied with a light laugh.
Han Li fell silent, his eyes flickering as he turned his gaze back to the sky. But after only a glance, his brows furrowed as he inwardly exclaimed, “Not good!”
A deafening explosion erupted from the diagram. The Eight Trigrams array in the sky twisted violently, and countless crimson light beams shot out in all directions, riddling the diagram with holes in an instant.
Just as the spectators watched in horror, another thunderous boom came from one corner of the diagram. A ball of raging fire shot out, soaring over ten zhang into the air before the flames dissipated, revealing Ku Yao, his face flushed crimson. The fire dragon beneath him had shrunk back to its original size of about a zhang and looked utterly listless.
On the other side, the Ma surnamed elder wasn’t faring much better, his face ashen and his eyes dull. Gritting his teeth, he summoned the tattered diagram back to him. The remnants of the Eight Trigrams array flashed with light before shooting skyward, soon transforming back into a scroll that fell into his hands.
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