Fame Shakes a Region – The Fire Spirit Transforms into a Flood Dragon

Chapter 741: Fame Shakes a Region – The Fire Spirit Transforms into a Flood Dragon

The two other high-ranking Dharma Warriors huddled together, speaking in low voices, apparently discussing how to break the formation.

After a moment, they finished their consultation. The extremely tall Dharma Warrior swayed slightly and, wrapped in a flash of azure light, appeared beside the black-robed man.

"Heavenly Cry Sir, shall we begin? This local cultivator formation seems a third more formidable than the last one. I’ve also heard there are quite a few Nascent Soul cultivators here. It may take a fair amount of time." This Nascent Soul Dharma Warrior addressed the black-robed man with a smile, his tone exceptionally polite.

"There's no need for us to make the first move. They’re about to come out on their own. Let’s first test the abilities of these local cultivators, then we’ll decide." The black-robed cultivator shook his head. His voice was hoarse, stiff, and indistinct, as if he had no tongue. It was deeply unpleasant to hear.

But as soon as these words were spoken, the bamboo-pole-like, gaunt Dharma Warrior was startled. He quickly looked towards the sea of mist, seeming to place great faith in the black-robed man’s words.

As expected, the originally still sea of mist below began to churn violently at that very moment. Suddenly, it split in two, revealing a passage several zhang wide.

Then, light flickered incessantly within it, and seven long beams of遁光 shot out. After circling a few times above the sea of mist, several figures were revealed, precisely Han Li and his group.

Following the bald-browed man’s suggestion, they hadn't brought any low-level cultivators this time. Apart from the two Core Formation cultivators from the distant Heavenly Terrace Valley, only Impulsive Daoist followed behind.

After Han Li steadied his form, his gaze swept across the large, dense mass of Dharma Warriors above. The dozen or so leading Dharma Warriors naturally also drew his attention. His eyes involuntarily narrowed when they fell upon the sinister and eerie black-robed man in particular.

The first feeling this person gave him immediately made him think of the Profound Bone Saint he had killed.

Could that fellow truly be a ghost cultivator? Han Li’s heart tightened as he thought this with increased vigilance.

Back when the Profound Bone Saint hadn’t yet possessed Qu Hun’s body, he too had been similarly gloomy with Yin energy, a body full of ghostly Qi. But this person’s aura seemed slightly different. As for the specific difference, Han Li couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

Just as Han Li and the others were observing the sky above, a stir ran through the Dharma Warriors up there, and the one with the strange serpent coiled around his body suddenly transformed into a colossal fireball and shot downwards.

Seeing this, Bald Brow and the others watched coldly in silence, showing no sign of panic.

Unless this Dharma Warrior was intent on seeking death, he wouldn’t dare to make the first move alone.

And indeed, under the unfriendly stares of the cultivators, the massive fireball stopped at a height of a full fifty or sixty zhang away from them. However, the heat of its blazing flames made the group frown and inwardly gasp, even from that distance.

"I am Ku Yao, Grand Senior Master of the Worship Fire Tribe. Since you’ve come out, it means you intend to test your skills through combat. How shall we proceed? One-on-one, or a free-for-all, regardless of numbers?" A faint human figure flickered within the fireball, and a voice like thunder suddenly boomed out, causing the surrounding air to hum. Bald Brow and the others’ expressions shifted slightly.

"One-on-one. Life or death decided by Heaven." Bald Brow glared at the figure in the fireball and replied coldly without a second thought.

"Haha! Excellent! This suits this Senior Master perfectly. I will be your first opponent. Who among you will come first?" After a burst of wild laughter, the man in the fireball directly challenged them without restraint.

Bald Brow and his companions were naturally enraged. The old man surnamed Ma’s expression darkened further. With a murderous look flashing in his eyes, his form transformed into a streak of white light and shot out.

Seeing this, the big Han named Lu hesitated for a moment but did not stop him, tacitly allowing Old Man Ma to take the first match.

After all, in his mind, among the four Nascent Soul cultivators who had emerged—besides Han Li, who had just recently advanced—it was hard to say any one of them had greater divine abilities than the others.

Ku Yao in the sky-fireball saw the white light fly out. Without another word, he shot backward and upward. In a few moments, the two of them, one in front and one behind, reached a neutral position between the sea of mist and the Dharma Warrior army, halting their遁光 simultaneously.

This way, both could strike unscrupulously, without fear of anyone suddenly interfering.

"How capable is this Moulan Grand Senior Master? Does he have any particular tricks?" Bald Brow suddenly turned his head and asked the horse-faced cultivator beside him with a solemn expression.

"His fire-attribute arts are extremely powerful. His fire serpent is especially agile and impossible to defend against. Another Fellow Daoist at Core Formation who was stationed with us at Heavenly Terrace Valley was entangled by that beast and burned to ashes." The horse-faced cultivator replied, a flicker of hatred crossing his face.

"Oh, is that so? Brother Gu! If I recall correctly, the 'Righteous Grand Qi Art' of the Righteous Grand Pavilion is impervious to both water and fire and can ward off evil and ghosts. Going up against this Dharma Warrior, it should have a slight upper hand, shouldn't it?" Bald Brow turned to the other side and asked, sounding somewhat uncertain.

"That’s hard to say. Against ordinary fire-attribute arts, the Righteous Grand Qi Art would naturally have no problem. However, I see that the fire qi of the opposing Dharma Warrior permeates his very being. He has clearly grasped the true essence of the world's spiritual fires. It may be difficult for the Righteous Grand Qi Art to suppress it. Still, among us, Brother Ma is indeed the most suitable for dealing with this man. Even if the Righteous Grand Qi Art cannot defeat the enemy, it will not be affected by his demonic flames. There’s also no worry about a Heart Fire attack." A flicker of hesitation appeared in Gu Shuangpu’s eyes as he spoke slowly.

Hearing this, Bald Brow confirmed his own thoughts and let out a long breath, a hint of relief showing on his face.

Han Li, however, took a few more glances at the fire serpent within the fireball. With a slight stir in his heart, a flash of blue light flickered in his eyes. A strange expression appeared on his face, but it vanished in an instant, returning to normal.

At this moment, high in the sky, Old Man Ma formed a hand seal. A layer of soft white light appeared on his body. At the same time, he opened his mouth and spat out a walnut-sized silver light. It grew in the wind, transforming into a silver-white ruler.

With a slight tremor, the ruler shimmered with a thousand silver lights, its clear chime like a phoenix crying to the heavens.

Ku Yao, on the other hand, had abandoned his earlier arrogance. He made no move, simply standing with his arms crossed, watching coldly from within the flames, a hint of mockery on his face.

Seeing this, Old Man Ma was furious. He let out a cold snort and was about to strike first.

But at that moment, a faint voice-transmission entered his ears. The voice was nearly inaudible yet crystal clear.

Old Man Ma was startled at first, then looked down in surprise. His gaze swept over the few people watching below before settling on Han Li. A peculiar expression appeared on his face.

Han Li responded with a light smile.

Old Man Ma was taken aback. Then, with a mixture of doubt and belief, he raised his head and looked at the strange serpent wrapped around Ku Yao, his expression gradually turning serious.

"That fire python on you isn't an ordinary spirit beast, is it?" After a few flickers of his gaze, Old Man Ma asked Ku Yao opposite him, his tone somber.

"Oh? You do have some insight. This fire python of mine was born from the condensation of a world's fire spirit. How could it be compared to an ordinary spirit beast?" The Ku Yao within the fireball froze for a moment, then grinned hideously.

With a flick of his body, the fire python on him blazed with crimson light. It suddenly soared into the sky, and within the red light, a horn grew from its head, and claws sprouted from its belly. It transformed into a fiery flood dragon with gleaming red scales, brandishing its claws and fangs above Ku Yao's head.

"A Fire Spirit transforming into physical form!"

Bald Brow, watching from below, was shocked and couldn't help blurting out. Gu Shuangpu’s face also turned grim.

Old Man Ma’s heart sank even further. The other party's attainment in fire-attribute arts had reached the level of refining a fire spirit. This was no ordinary Nascent Soul Dharma Warrior could achieve. He was likely facing a tough battle.

Thinking this, Old Man Ma abandoned his initial plan to use only seventy percent of his strength. Instead, he took a deep breath, flicked his sleeve, and an object wrapped in five-colored radiance shot out from within. After circling once, it stopped a few feet in front of him, floating motionless in the air.

Immediately, the cultivators below and the Dharma Warriors in the distance all looked on with curiosity.

It was common knowledge that any treasure capable of emitting five-colored radiance was unlikely to be of an ordinary grade.

Han Li also narrowed his eyes slightly, focusing on the object.

It was long and round, a pale-yellow scroll a few feet long.

The scroll was oriented towards Ku Yao opposite him. At Old Man Ma’s solemn incantation, it slowly began to unroll downwards.

To everyone's surprise, what was revealed inside was a seemingly ordinary Eight Trigrams diagram.

For a moment, everyone was stunned.

But then, Old Man Ma struck the scroll with a simple-looking spell. The five-colored radiance of the scroll flared brilliantly, and a wave of astonishingly vast power erupted from the diagram.

Seeing this, Ku Yao sensed something was wrong. Without a second thought, he pointed at the old man opposite him.

The fire flood dragon coiled above his head raised its neck and opened its mouth wide.

Endless crimson flames spewed forth from the dragon's maw in an unending torrent, instantly submerging Old Man Ma and the Eight Trigrams diagram in a sea of fire.