The Sky Fire Descends

“Elder Huang showed a satisfied expression when he saw everyone had crushed their jade slips. Then, a yellow light flashed in his hand, and a small banner, about a foot long, appeared in his grasp. The banner was pure white but emitted a yellow glow, obscuring whatever was embroidered on it.

‘I will use the Wind and Cloud Banner to conceal all of your auras. Then, when the enemy arrives, we will launch a surprise attack from an unexpected angle.’

After saying this, Elder Huang gently shook the banner. Countless milky-white mist instantly billowed from it, forming a massive white cloud several dozen zhang wide in the blink of an eye, enveloping Han Li and the others completely within its vaporous mass.

Han Li and the other Foundation Establishment cultivators were both shocked and delighted. Despite the cloud’s incredible density, they found, strangely enough, that they could still see perfectly clearly within it. It was truly an excellent hiding place.

Under the middle-aged man’s direction, the giant cloud swiftly carried the group high into the sky, where it blended in with the other white clouds in the air, becoming utterly indistinguishable.

Seeing this, Han Li was secretly astonished. His own magical tool, the Green Fire Miasma, could also transform into dense fog, but it wasn’t even comparable to this Wind and Cloud Banner. Not only was its range much smaller, but it could only be used on himself. If a fellow disciple entered his Green Fire Toxic Miasma, they would likely only end up poisoned.

As these thoughts ran through his mind, Han Li couldn’t help but glance at Elder Huang. The man was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the cloud, his eyes tightly shut, his body as still as a statue. Two other Foundation Establishment cultivators stood cautiously behind him, seemingly acting as his protectors.

Han Li was momentarily stunned, but quickly understood what the man was doing: using his divine sense to search for traces of the enemy. With the immense power of a Core Formation cultivator’s divine sense, he should be able to sense any movement within a hundred li radius, right?

Understanding this, Han Li sat down on the Divine Wind Boat to recuperate. The coming battle would be extremely dangerous. Behind him, Qu Hun stood motionless, perfectly playing the role of a loyal servant.

About an hour passed before the middle-aged man, who had been meditating with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them and spoke in an icy tone.

‘The enemy is here. We’ve drifted about two li off course. We must get to a position above their path.’

With that, he led the cloud formation forward without another word. Everyone inside dared not leave the mist. They powered their flying tools to the maximum, following closely behind Elder Huang.

Seeing this, Han Li furrowed his brow slightly. As they flew, he took out the silver greatsword and tossed it to Qu Hun behind him. He didn’t know if it would be useful, but it was still better than nothing to increase his combat power.

‘Right here. The enemy is almost here. Prepare yourselves!’ After a short while, the giant cloud reached the airspace above the enemy’s presumed path. Elder Huang gave the order without any hesitation.

Everyone quickly brought out their magical tools and frantically cast protective spells on themselves, with all sorts of colored lights flashing among the group.

Han Li, for his part, took out two round balls, one green and one red, and gently tapped them together. With a dull thud, a thick, green-red smoke billowed out from both balls, rapidly enveloping him. In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a massive, green-red cloud several dozen feet in diameter, completely concealing Han Li from sight.

He was creating a ‘cloud within a cloud’ form of protection using his Green Fire Miasma. This astonished the other disciples nearby, who had no idea what he was up to.

Han Li paid them no mind. He held the tortoise-shell magical tool in one hand and an ordinary blue flying knife in the other, deliberately not taking out the Black Flood Dragon Ring.

He knew perfectly well what he was doing. For him, the more low-profile his attacking tool was, the better. Only then could he avoid being targeted by any fearsome characters after the ambush, making his escape that much easier.

Time passed quickly as the group waited with bated breath. A full half-cup of incense’s worth of time went by, but there was still no sign of the enemy. Most of the people started to grow anxious and impatient, casting doubtful glances at Elder Huang.

The hale, middle-aged man was also full of doubt. After considering for a moment, he spoke slowly.

‘Don’t panic. I’ll search with my divine sense.’

As he said this, he began to sit down again. But before he could even start, a sudden, world-shaking rumbling came from above their heads. At first, it was just a single, intermittent sound or two, but it quickly filled the heavens and earth, becoming a continuous chain of deafening earth tremors.

Everyone was so startled that they immediately looked up. What they saw made the faces of the Yellow Maple Valley cultivators turn ashen.

The sky had turned a deep, crimson red without anyone noticing. Every cloud above had transformed into dark, fiery clouds, churning endlessly like molten lava, forming hanging globules of magma. The colossal rumbling sound was, in fact, the noise of these globules bursting.

‘What the hell is this?’ a person beside Han Li cried out in alarm.

‘Be careful! This is a mid-to-advanced grade spell called the ‘Heavenly Fire Technique.’ Every drop of magma that falls is equivalent to the full-force strike of a Foundation Establishment cultivator. If you can’t withstand it, you’ll be turned to ash.’ It was Elder Huang who spoke, his expression extremely ugly.

It was clear that they had attempted to ambush their enemy, but had been ambushed themselves, instead.

‘Then why are we still standing here? I don’t want to try and take that head-on!’ another person said in a panic. As he spoke, the flying tool under his feet began to glow, ready to flee.

‘It’s too late. Their technique has already taken full effect. It’s impossible to escape its range now. Listen to my orders: everyone combine your power to form a joint barrier!’ A cold light flashed in Elder Huang’s eyes, and he gave the order firmly, leaving no room for argument.

Hearing this, everyone else woke up with a start. They quickly joined hands, and amidst a vast blue glow, released a colossal shield of light.

Almost the instant the barrier was formed, the mid-to-advanced grade spell in the sky began its destruction. A drop of deep red magma, a foot in size, fell straight down, slamming into the group below. But the newly formed barrier easily blocked it.

This was only the beginning. Countless drops of magma began to fall continuously like a rainstorm. Although most fell wide of the mark, a good number still pounded against the light barrier, creating a wide swath of red-and-blue light.

At first, the group felt more than capable of handling it. But as the speed and density of the magma increased, so did the rate at which Han Li and the others expended their spiritual power. Before long, they were all starting to feel overwhelmed.

The blue light of the barrier gradually began to weaken.

Fortunately, this spell came as quickly as it went. Just as the barrier was on the verge of collapse, the ‘Heavenly Fire Technique’ suddenly ended. The sky-covering clouds of fire vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye, filling the Yellow Maple Valley cultivators with immense relief and joy.

However, their happy expressions had barely surfaced before they froze.

Without anyone noticing, nearly a hundred cultivators had silently appeared around them. They were loosely encircling the group, looking at them with mocking eyes. Their attire marked them as disciples of the Six Demonic Sects.

The Yellow Maple Valley cultivators were both shocked and furious. However, all of these people were Foundation Establishment cultivators, with no Core Formation cultivators among them. This came as a great relief to Yellow Maple Valley.

Although their own side had consumed a good deal of mana, with a Core Formation cultivator on hand to fight, they had no reason to be afraid of the enemy.

‘How did you track us? My Wind and Cloud Banner should have been more than enough to fool your divine sense!’ Elder Huang’s expression darkened as he bellowed.

‘I can tell you that!’

A lazy, flirtatious voice came from above. It made Elder Huang’s heart tighten, and he immediately looked up.

A man and a woman were descending from the sky.

The man had pure white hair and was so thin he was skin and bones, looking like a gust of wind could blow him over. The woman, however, was enchanting and seductive, with a slender waist and full hips. Every single one of her movements was enough to tug at one’s heartstrings.

Han Li’s heart sank as he quickly swept his gaze over the two of them. Two Core Formation cultivators had shown up at the same time. This was a huge problem.

‘The Crimson Beauty and the White Skeleton?’ Elder Huang said with extreme gravity as he saw the two, his pupils suddenly constricting. Then, without waiting for a reply, he shook the Wind and Cloud Banner, causing the white mist to dissipate, revealing Han Li and the others.

For this Elder Huang, facing a powerful enemy meant he could no longer be bothered to protect his junior disciples.

‘Hehe, so this fellow Daoist recognizes us as a couple! That’s not quite fair. You know our origin, yet we know nothing about you, sir. However... I’ve heard there’s an icy-natured fellow in Yellow Maple Valley who has a magic treasure called the ‘Wind and Cloud Banner’ that sounds quite interesting. That wouldn’t be you, would it?’ The enchanting woman spoke with a smile, looking as if she had no hostile intentions whatsoever.

But facing the woman’s charming smile, Elder Huang’s expression remained ice-cold. He just stared at her without uttering a word.

‘No fun at all. Kill him!’ The woman pouted slightly at Elder Huang’s reaction, before her face suddenly changed as she spoke.

‘Well, since my junior sister wants his life, I’ll gladly oblige!’ The skeletal man let out a dark chuckle, speaking with a sinister tone.

At the same time, Elder Huang’s voice transmission resounded in the ears of Han Li and the others.

‘As soon as the fighting starts, break out immediately. Flee if you can, even if it’s just a few of us.’ Elder Huang’s voice was utterly devoid of any emotion.

(The author is still running a low-grade fever and can't stay up tonight. I'll only be able to write more for you all once the fever goes down tomorrow. I hope you can understand.)