Almost simultaneously, Yue Long formed a hand seal with one hand while jabbing a finger toward the crimson feather fan floating in the air before him.
The fan shimmered as a haze of radiance swept across its surface, and countless crimson runes surged forth from within, amplifying the fan several times over in an instant.
Then, with a single flicker, it appeared directly in front of Yue Long, and he seized it without hesitation.
Without a moment's deliberation, Yue Long raised the fan and waved it toward the descending golden powder.
*Pfft!*
The fan burst into flame the instant it met the wind, layers of crimson fire rippling across its surface, while a scorching gale erupted outward and swept everything into its vortex.
The golden powder was caught up in the fiery storm, each mote blazing with a crystalline brilliance as it was carried upward by the raging wind, rocketing skyward before winking out one by one at the apex of the gust.
At that moment, Yue Long opened his mouth and let out a great shout, spraying several mouthfuls of vital blood into the hurricane.
Every droplet was black as ink, and the instant it made contact with the gale, thunderous explosions ripped through the air. The blood detonated and transformed into black demonic flames.
With a muffled tearing sound, the black flames were drawn into the hurricane, where wind fed fire and fire borrowed the strength of wind, multiplying the inferno a thousandfold in a heartbeat. The blaze surged straight upward, and in the span of a single breath the entire hurricane had been transformed into a towering pillar of roaring black fire that pierced the clouds and shot beyond the heavens — a sight of staggering, overwhelming power.
High above the pillar, in the void even further up, the golden powder that had seemingly vanished reappeared under the onslaught of the black flames. Each mote tumbled and swirled, then coalesced into a massive golden rune the size of a bushel basket.
These enormous runes scattered and spread until they blanketed more than half the sky, forming the vague outline of an extraordinarily complex super-grade runic formation.
Within the formation, ten thousand streaks of golden radiance and a thousand strands of auspicious energy blazed forth — a spectacle far too eye-catching to ignore — and from it emanated a terrifying spiritual pressure so immense it nearly froze the surrounding void. The pressure hurtled skyward.
As if in answer, the previously cloudless sky erupted with deafening peals of thunder. Countless white spheres of light materialized from heights far beyond mortal sight and plummeted downward.
At first there were only a dozen, then several dozen, but in the blink of an eye the white spheres had multiplied into thousands upon thousands, dense as a swarm, as though innumerable white meteors rained down from the heavens.
From within the golden runic formation came a deep, resonant chant — the intonation of sacred sutras — and as the formation began to rotate slowly, an invisible force of tremendous magnitude surged outward.
All of the white meteors were seized by this force and dragged inexorably into the golden formation, swallowed clean within moments.
The rumbling from the formation grew even more thunderous. As the golden runes spun wildly, an aura far more terrifying than before was coalescing within.
"
The cauldron swelled in the wind, expanding into a colossal object over a hundred zhang tall. Simultaneously, its interior blazed with light as materials of every description gushed forth like a tidal wave.
The materials were of all different colors — some fist-sized and glittering, others as large as a human head and black as iron — but every single one radiated astonishing golden spiritual energy.
Once they had all flown free of the giant cauldron, the materials hovered and circled briefly before hanging motionless in the surrounding void.
Just then, an earth-shaking boom rang out from the golden runic formation high above, and a beam of golden light blasted downward from its center.
The beam was no thicker than the mouth of a bowl at first, but after a single flicker it had widened to the girth of a water cask by the time it reached the lower reaches. Within it, countless hair-thin crystalline threads could be seen flashing and dancing. Before the beam even arrived, the sharp whistling of rending air echoed through the surrounding void — an overwhelming sensation of razor-edged sharpness.
Yue Long's expression darkened at the sight. He formed seals with both hands simultaneously and channeled his spiritual power. The one hundred and eight bronze pillars trembled in unison, then vanished without a trace — replaced by an array of bronze-armored warrior puppets, each distinct in form and bearing a different ritual weapon, all of which they raised high overhead at the same moment.
A piercing hum filled the air as every weapon detonated simultaneously into halos of blinding light. A savage gale erupted from the center, expanding outward with overwhelming force until it blanketed the entire depression below.
The wind was deeply unsettling. Amid its thunderous howling came the faint but unmistakable ring of clashing steel, while an unnamed killing aura radiated outward from within — as though countless divine blades and keen weapons lay hidden inside its roiling depths.
The next instant, the golden beam plummeted from the heights and plunged into the raging storm. When it punched through the other side and emerged, it had been reduced to less than half its original size. With a single flicker it shot straight into the great cauldron.
*Clang!*
The colossal silver cauldron, enormous as it was, shuddered violently and let out a bell-like toll the instant the golden light struck its interior.
At the same time, Yue Long — who was controlling the treasure — betrayed not the slightest change in expression, yet the spiritual light flickered across the surface of his body.
Meanwhile, within the golden runic formation high above, the roar of thunder grew ever more deafening as beam after beam of golden light descended in response, the intervals between them growing shorter and shorter.
At first, when the beams fell by the dozens, Yue Long could still receive each one with composed composure, catching every single bolt without difficulty.
But once the count surpassed a hundred, the beams began falling in pairs, striking simultaneously. His expression could not help but turn several shades graver.
Though he could still drive the giant cauldron to intercept the incoming light, each impact sent the massive vessel shuddering as though struck by some titanic force. With every collision, flickers of black radiance flashed across Yue Long's face in rapid succession.
He was clearly beginning to struggle.
Han Li had already risen to hover at a low altitude when the pillars beneath Yue Long transformed into puppets. He watched everything unfold in silence, still showing no intention whatsoever of stepping in to help.