The Bitter Struggle (Part 2)

After finishing all of this, Han Li finally felt somewhat relieved. He took out the gray short-sword Talisman Treasure and sat down cross-legged, beginning to channel his magic power, intent on driving the Talisman Treasure to launch an attack in the shortest possible time.

It was at this moment that "Senior Brother Lu" across from him finally gathered enough spiritual energy on the Azure Flood Dragon Banner and launched a storm-like assault.

He stopped waving the banner and instead pointed its tip sharply at Han Li. Immediately, over a dozen crescent-shaped azure wind blades eagerly shot out from the banner's tip, howling as they surged toward Han Li.

These wind blades were far too fast. They had been near "Senior Brother Lu" just a moment ago, but in the blink of an eye, they were already upon Han Li. Truly worthy of being a wind-type technique—its attack speed was more than half again as fast as other elemental spells.

Had he not prepared his defenses in advance, Han Li feared he would have been chopped into a dozen pieces by these wind blades before he even had time to react.

Just as Han Li was inwardly alarmed, the wind blades collided violently with the outermost fine-steel ring. Azure and yellow light flashed incessantly, accompanied by a series of "puff puff" cutting sounds.

When the light faded, the once-smooth outer surface of the steel ring was covered with over a dozen crisscrossing foot-long gouges. The entire magic tool was now battered and ruined. Fortunately, the tool had been spinning continuously under the assault, preventing the wind blades from concentrating their attacks on the same spot; otherwise, they would have already broken through.

This outcome surprised both Han Li and "Senior Brother Lu."

Han Li thought that while this steel ring magic tool was not primarily designed for defense, it was still a genuine high-grade magic tool with impeccable material quality. Yet a mere barrage of wind blades had so easily hacked it to pieces, almost destroying it entirely. This filled him with grave concern about whether he could withstand the opponent's follow-up attacks.

"Senior Brother Lu" was even more astonished. The Azure Flood Dragon Banner was a well-known top-grade magic tool. He had expended immense effort and paid a heavy price to obtain it to match his own spiritual root attribute.

This magic tool could not only effortlessly unleash simple spells like the Wind Blade Technique, but because it had absorbed a certain amount of spiritual energy, all wind-attribute attacks launched from the banner were amplified. Thus, the wind blades just now appeared to be simple, basic-level low-grade spells, but in truth, each one held power comparable to a mid-grade spell.

In other words, the attack just now seemed simple, but it was actually a concentrated bombardment of over a dozen mid-grade spells all at once. Yet even this had failed to break through the outermost giant ring. How could "Senior Brother Lu" not feel a chill in his heart and become even more wary of Han Li?

Though both Han Li and "Senior Brother Lu" recognized the difficulty of their opponent, their subsequent actions could not have been more different.

Han Li, still trying to activate the Talisman Treasure, was unwilling to give up halfway. So even though he knew the opponent's next attack would surely be even fiercer, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and endure.

"Senior Brother Lu," on the other hand, was more perceptive. As soon as he saw Han Li's defensive stance—having remained seated and motionless from the start of the battle to now—he knew the other party was preparing a trump card, whether a high-grade spell attack or a powerful magic tool.

Without hesitation, he once again madly poured his spiritual power into the great banner in his hand, pointed its tip at Han Li in a flurry, and shot a continuous stream of azure wind blades toward the opposite side.

These wind blades were smaller in size, but their advantage lay in their relentless, unbroken continuity, forming a long, azure torrent. The momentum was terrifying as they surged forward, once again triggering a violent collision between azure and yellow light.

This time, the steel ring before Han Li lasted only a brief moment before a沉闷 boom rang out. The yellow light scattered, and the high-grade fine-steel ring finally met its end, shattered into pieces by the dense barrage of wind blades.

With no further obstruction, the wind blade torrent pressed forward unceremoniously. But it was intercepted by the already-waiting top-grade Profound Iron Shield, which had been held in reserve. Another clash of black and azure light erupted.

The Profound Iron Shield was completely different from the steel ring magic tool.

First, their grades differed by a level. This shield was a top-grade magic tool on the same tier as the Azure Flood Dragon Banner—a rare item that not just anyone in the cultivation world could possess. The steel ring, however, was merely a high-grade magic tool. While not exactly common goods available to everyone, any cultivator with a bit of status might own one or two. It was merely somewhat scarce.

Second, although this iron shield had no offensive power whatsoever, it was a dedicated defensive magic tool. Its defensive capability was incomparable to the steel ring's ambiguous, jack-of-all-trades nature. Not only was it thick and sturdy, but the shield's surface was also imbued with several specialized defensive spells, greatly enhancing its defensive power.

Thus, the seemingly mad torrent of dozens or even hundreds of wind blades was effortlessly halted by the iron shield floating before Han Li, like a rock standing firm in a raging current. It emitted a cold, black luster and did not budge an inch, appearing more than capable.

Seeing this, "Senior Brother Lu" was furious inwardly, but outwardly he only let out a cold snort. He shook his hands, and the wind blades at the banner's tip stopped emerging. But a dazzling white light suddenly erupted from both his hands gripping the banner pole, causing the spiritual power within his body to pour into the pole like water bursting through a dam, one scrambling after another.

With such immense spiritual power backing it, the azure light on the Azure Flood Dragon Banner grew even more dazzling, like a azure sun rising in the dead of night, too bright to look at directly.

"Senior Brother Lu," having lost so much magic power, was extremely pale, but his face bore a look of ruthless determination. It seemed he deeply understood the danger of prolonging the battle and was preparing to use his ultimate move to gamble everything.

With a low roar from "Senior Brother Lu," he exerted both hands and hurled the Azure Flood Dragon Banner "whoosh" into the air. Then his fingers swiftly formed hand seals, and he pointed at the banner, shouting loudly.

"Transform into a flood dragon!"

The Azure Flood Dragon Banner radiated light, azure brilliance overflowing, and in an instant, it transformed into a massive azure flood dragon over ten zhang long. It was lifelike, brandishing its claws and gnashing its teeth, identical to the one embroidered on the banner's surface.

"Go!" Without a shred of hesitation, "Senior Brother Lu" waved his finger, and the flood dragon immediately opened its massive maw, viciously charging straight at Han Li. A deafening "clang" resounded as the dragon's head slammed head-on into the Profound Iron Shield.

Azure light and black light surged simultaneously, seemingly evenly matched for a time. But before long, the black light on the shield began to weaken rapidly, visibly dimming and losing its luster.

Just as it seemed this shield would share the fate of the previous magic tool, a clear, cold voice rang out from behind it.

"Withdraw!"

With this command, the iron shield immediately shrank and retreated swiftly. In response, the azure flood dragon's arrogance swelled, and it gave chase, seemingly intent on swallowing both Han Li and the shield in one gulp.

But at that moment, a several-zhang-long, grayish-white radiance suddenly shot up from the seated Han Li's body. It took the form of a giant sword and, showing no weakness, thrust directly against the flood dragon's head, the two becoming entangled.

In midair, sometimes the azure light suppressed the gray light, sometimes the gray light overpowered the azure light. For a time, neither side could gain the upper hand.

The iron shield, having returned to its palm-sized original form, fell into Han Li's hand. He stored it back into his storage pouch with a reverse motion. All of his magic power was now being used to command the Talisman Treasure for attack, leaving him with no spare energy to activate this shield.

This time, the gray radiance transformed from the Talisman Treasure was incomparable to when he had killed the yellow-robed man earlier. Judging by the sword-light alone, its power had increased by at least three or four times.

One should know that when this Talisman Treasure was in the Brilliant Gold Elder's hands, it could only transform into a foot-long gray light. When it came into Han Li's hands during his practice of the Telekinetic Art, it became several feet of radiance. But by the time Han Li's cultivation deepened and he killed the yellow-robed man, the driven Talisman Treasure had once again grown to about a zhang in length.

Now, with Han Li's magic power already at the eleventh layer, when he drove this Talisman Treasure again, not only had its length drastically increased to two or three zhang, but its form had also begun to vaguely take the shape of a giant sword. Its light was dazzling, crystal brilliance flowing, and its momentum was astonishing, drawing all eyes. Were it not for this, the Talisman Treasure might not have been able to withstand the fierce assault of the evil flood dragon transformed from the Azure Flood Dragon Banner.

From this, it was clear that the power of a Talisman Treasure depended not only on the might of the magic treasure sealed within it but also on the depth of a cultivator's magic power. The more profound one's magic power, the more perfectly one could unleash the Talisman Treasure's full potential.

He truly wondered what form this Talisman Treasure would take once he successfully established his Foundation and drove it again. Amidst commanding the gray light to tangle with the azure flood dragon, Han Li inexplicably found his mind wandering to this fanciful thought.