The seven winged women let out a sharp cry in unison, and seven light formations immediately surged with a molten, crimson liquid.
Each mass roiled with fiery radiance, blanketing the skies above the blood mist, then erupted skyward in towering pillars of flame that transformed into a vast sea of fire, engulfing everything below.
Yet strangely, there was not the slightest rise in temperature near the sea of fire. On the contrary, faint wisps of cool air drifted outward from within it.
At that moment, the seven light formations flashed and swelled wildly, merging together as they conjured an ancient "Seal" character roughly the size of a mother-of-pearl, which then plummeted down into the sea of fire below.
The instant the colossal rune plunged into the sea of fire, a thunderous boom erupted as it dissolved into motes of spiritual light and sank into it.
In the next instant, countless points of light surged outward from the entire sea of fire, then coalesced once more to form, out of nothing, a layer of black-red luminescent barrier that sealed the entirety of the sea of fire beneath it.
Countless runes danced across the surface of the barrier, flickering and expanding and contracting ever so slightly — a sight of profound mystery.
The robed elder's face brightened with joy at the sight, his expression growing several shades more pleased. After uttering a single word of approval, he swayed his body and vanished, reappearing in an instant above the rolling sea of fire.
The demon opened his mouth and spat out a sphere of white light that coalesced into his hand, revealing itself to be a white jade bottle roughly a foot tall.
Without a word, the elder raised the bottle high with both hands, and began murmuring incantations once more.
Immediately, scorching white flames rolled forth and transformed into three white fire dragons that dove downward. The barrier posed no obstruction whatsoever — they passed through it in a flash and plunged into the sea of fire.
In the blink of an eye, the three white fire dragons thrashed and coiled within, spewing gouts of white flame, causing the raging inferno within the sea of fire to swell to new heights.
Then the seven winged women and the elder all sat cross-legged where they stood, closed their eyes, and formed hand seals without a sound.
Under the urging of their incantations, the sea of fire churned into towering waves that swept beneath the barrier in frenzied torrents. Wherever they passed, countless fireballs detonated with thunderous roars, and the three fire dragons wove in and out of view within the conflagration, as though seeking to tear and incinerate all things.
Were an ordinary cultivator to fall into such a sea of fire, they would likely be refined to ash within moments — utterly annihilated, never to know reincarnation again.
But after only a short while, a calm voice drifted out from within the sea of fire.
"Is this the extent of your abilities? Nothing impressive at all!"
The elder and the seven demon women started in surprise upon hearing this and instinctively opened their eyes to scan the sea of fire.
Then a clear, piercing cry rang out from within. A flash of silver light, and a silver firebird the size of several zhang burst forth, soaring straight toward the luminescent barrier high above.
Its plumage blazed with brilliant silver radiance, both wings wreathed in silver flame — a sight of breathtaking splendor.
The elder's expression darkened. He silently activated a spell in his mind while extending a finger to point into the sea of fire below.
Instantly, the three fire dragons that had been rampaging within surged skyward with dragon roars, and in a flash, dove straight at the silver firebird.
The silver firebird seemed to sense the threat behind it. A single beat of its wings sent its massive body into a sweeping turn, wheeling around to meet the three fire dragons head-on.
Roars and shrill cries erupted beneath the barrier in an instant!
The silver firebird clashed with the three fire dragons, and scales and feathers alike rained down from the heights above.
The battle was ferocious beyond measure!
Fighting one against three, the silver firebird showed not the slightest fear — it was, in fact, dominating the fight.
And just then, a flash of golden light erupted from the sea of fire. Six massive pillars of golden radiance shot upward, vanishing in an instant before slamming squarely into the black-red barrier.
A heaven-shaking, earth-shattering explosion thundered as bursts of golden light detonated across the barrier's surface.
The barrier, which had appeared incomparably solid, shuddered violently, and the majority of the runes on its surface scattered and dissolved into nothing.
The seven winged women seated around the perimeter, however, remained unmoved as though they had witnessed nothing. They simply opened their mouths in unison and each spat out a sphere of vivid crimson essence blood.
The essence blood met the wind and transformed instantly into seven streams of blood mist that burrowed into the barrier.
The barrier, which had been trembling violently, immediately stabilized as light flickered across it, and the runes that had vanished re-emerged.
A cold snort echoed once more from within the sea of fire.
The sharp hiss of tearing air erupted in a deafening rush as countless azure sword qi slashed outward in a frenzied torrent, raining down upon the barrier like a violent storm.
This time, the black-red barrier trembled in rapid succession, its surface light flickering wildly before dimming to an extreme degree — as though it might shatter apart at any moment.
The elder high above saw this, and his expression turned grim. With a flick of his sleeve, a pale silver ring flew outward, spinning as it swelled to enormous size, transforming into a colossal ring of light over a li in diameter that pressed slowly downward.
Before it had even truly descended, the void below compressed and thickened to a syrupy, viscous consistency.