Down below, the scar-browed big man and the others showed no signs of worry. They all knew that since the cultivator surnamed Ma had brought out that scroll to face the enemy, it could not possibly be all show with no real effect.
Sure enough, at the center of the sea of fire, the old man surnamed Ma formed hand seals with both hands, and the painting on the scroll before him turned face-up. Then white light flashed, a howling gale arose, and a white, misty pillar of wind surged skyward from the Eight Trigrams Diagram, expanding outward to a radius of more than ten zhang in an instant.
The surrounding flames were swept up by the wind pillar with unstoppable force, and in the blink of an eye, more than a quarter of the vast sea of fire had vanished.
Then, with a furious roar from the old man surnamed Ma, a silver streak shot out from within the wind pillar, hurtling straight toward Ku Yao across the way, while paying no attention whatsoever to the fire dragon hovering above his head.
It seemed the old man surnamed Ma knew full well that as long as he wounded Ku Yao, the fire dragon — linked to its master in spirit — would naturally lose much of its power.
Ku Yao's expression remained blank. After a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth, he raised one hand.
A red flying knife shot from his palm, transforming into a streak of red light to meet the silver streak head-on.
This flying knife was crystal-clear crimson, its radiance dazzling. In an instant it intercepted the silver streak, and the two tangled together in midair.
Immediately red light and silver glow intertwined, indistinguishable from one another, and for a time neither side could gain the upper hand.
Seeing this, a cold gleam flashed in Ku Yao's eyes. He flipped both hands, and with a flash of light, two small red banners about an inch long appeared in his grasp.
He offered the banners into the air. With a tearing sound, they swelled in the wind, growing to over a zhang in height.
A low, guttural incantation poured from Ku Yao's lips. The banners blazed with crimson light, and from their surfaces two thick pillars of fire shot forth, converging right above the fire dragon's head.
A massive fire cloud immediately began to take shape, flickering in and out of visibility.
"Go!"
Ku Yao stopped his incantation and spat a ball of red vital essence, which landed squarely on the fire dragon above him.
The fire dragon surged with renewed vigor. Tossing its head, swishing its tail, and letting out a dragon-like roar, it dove headlong into the fire cloud.
The blazing fire cloud churned and rolled, and within moments it rapidly diminished.
Watching from below, Han Li narrowed his eyes, a flash of blue light passing through his pupils.
Through the power of his Clear Bright Spirit Eye, he was surprised to discover that the fire dragon was hiding within the cloud, greedily gulping down the surrounding fire cloud.
In the blink of an eye, the fire cloud had been devoured clean by the dragon, its form surging dramatically — swelling to over ten zhang in size as if inflated by breath, its head alone as large as a house, fangs bared, ghastly and terrifying.
By now, the white misty hurricane and the surrounding sea of fire had also vanished completely, revealing the refined, sage-like old man.
The old man surnamed Ma gripped the Eight Trigrams Diagram in both hands, cast one cold glance at the enormous, fearsome fire dragon, and without a word hurled the scroll upward.
The scroll transformed into a streak of rosy light and shot high into the sky, vanishing into the clouds above in the blink of an eye, as though it had flown beyond the heavens.
Ku Yao froze for a moment at this sight.
But in that brief hesitation, an unusual spiritual fluctuation appeared above his head. Then threads of five-colored spiritual light rained down from the sky, and an incomprehensibly vast Eight Trigrams Diagram suddenly materialized within the rosy light, covering an area of dozens of zhang across, descending with merciless force.
Ku Yao's expression changed drastically. Without time to think, he pointed at the fire dragon above him.
The massive dragon immediately reared its thick neck, and a blazing crimson pillar of fire erupted from its maw, striking the bottom of the Eight Trigrams Diagram dead on.
The massive formation diagram paused ever so slightly — then continued its descent as if it weighed nothing at all.
At this, Ku Yao's face went pale. He rubbed his hands together and suddenly thrust them upward, and countless fist-sized fireballs swarmed from his palms, densely packed as they shot toward the sky.
Seeing this, Han Li's heart stirred.
This was not the Fire Bullet Technique activated by numerous talismans, but fireballs simultaneously released through his own cultivation power. It seemed the ritualists' magical arts were truly extraordinary — far more suited to actual combat than ordinary Five Elements Dao techniques.
Just as Han Li was quietly contemplating, the multitude of fireballs struck the underside of the massive formation diagram like a rain of meteors — but to no avail. The enormous Eight Trigrams Diagram did not so much as waver, and its downward speed only grew more terrifying, descending like a small city to engulf the unprepared Ku Yao and his fire dragon beneath it.