Having completed all this, Han Li finally set his mind at ease. He took out the gray miniature sword talisman treasure, sat cross-legged, and began channeling his magical power, intending to drive the talisman treasure to fly and attack the enemy in the shortest possible time.
At that moment, the "Senior Brother Lu" opposite finally gathered enough spiritual energy on the Azure Dragon Flag and launched a storm-like attack.
He stopped waving the flag and suddenly pointed its tip toward Han Li. Instantly, more than a dozen crescent-shaped azure wind blades rushed out from the flag's tip one after another, whistling as they charged toward Han Li.
These wind blades were incredibly fast. They had just been on "Senior Brother Lu's" side, but in the blink of an eye, they had already reached Han Li's position. Truly worthy of being a wind-element spell—their attack speed was more than half faster than that of other elemental spells.
If Han hadn't prepared his defenses beforehand, he wouldn't even have had time to react before being sliced into a dozen pieces by these wind blades.
While Han Li was still shocked, the wind blades collided fiercely with the outermost Steel Ring. Azure and yellow light flashed continuously, accompanied by "pu pu!" cutting sounds.
When all the light faded, the originally smooth outer surface of the steel ring now bore more than a dozen crisscrossing grooves about a foot long. The entire magical treasure appeared battered and broken. Fortunately, this treasure had been rotating continuously during the attack, preventing the wind blades from striking the same spot repeatedly. Otherwise, it would have already been broken through.
This result surprised both Han Li and "Senior Brother Lu."
Han Li felt that although the Steel Ring's original purpose wasn't specifically for defense, it was a genuine upper-grade magical treasure with unquestionable material quality. Yet he hadn't expected that mere wind blades could cut it apart so thoroughly, nearly destroying it completely. This left him deeply worried about whether he could withstand the opponent's subsequent attacks.
"Senior Brother Lu" was even more astonished. The Azure Dragon Flag was extremely renowned among top-grade magical treasures. He had spent immense effort and paid countless prices to obtain it in order to complement his own spiritual root attribute.
This magical treasure could not only effortlessly cast instant spells like wind blades, but because it absorbed a certain amount of spiritual energy, all wind-element attacks launched from it were amplified. So although those wind blades had appeared to be the simplest low-grade basic spells, in reality, the power of each one was comparable to mid-grade spells.
In other words, the previous attack had seemed simple, but in reality, it was a concentrated bombardment of over a dozen mid-grade spells. Yet even so, it had failed to breach even the outermost giant ring. How could "Senior Brother Lu" not feel alarmed at this, growing even more wary of Han Li?
Although both Han Li and "Senior Brother Lu" recognized the other's formidable threat, their subsequent actions were entirely different.
Han Li was still attempting to drive the talisman treasure and unwilling to abandon it midway. So even though he knew the opponent's next attack would be incredibly fierce, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and endure.
Meanwhile, "Senior Brother Lu" was particularly perceptive. Seeing that Han Li had maintained his defensive stance from earlier through to the end of the attack, remaining seated motionless the entire time, he knew the opponent must be preparing a killing move—either casting some high-grade spell or driving a powerful magical treasure.
Therefore, without hesitation, he poured spiritual power wildly into the flag again, pointing its tip toward Han Li and unleashing a continuous stream of azure wind blades.
This time the wind blades were smaller but came in an unbroken, continuous flow, forming a long azure torrent. Their imposing momentum surged forward, causing azure and yellow light to collide fiercely once more.
This time, the Steel Ring in front of Han Li only lasted a brief moment before suddenly emitting a muffled boom. The yellow light scattered, and the upper-grade Steel Ring finally met its end, pulverized by the dense barrage of wind blades.
The unimpeded torrent of wind blades pressed forward without mercy, only to be blocked by another top-grade magical treasure—the Mystic Iron Shield—that had been waiting for some time. Once again, black light and azure light clashed.
The Mystic Iron Shield was entirely different from the Steel Ring.
First, their grades differed by a level. This shield was a top-grade magical treasure on par with the Azure Dragon Flag—something not just anyone in the cultivation world could possess. It was an extremely rare item. The Steel Ring, however, was merely an upper-grade magical treasure. While it couldn't be called common—something everyone had—any cultivator with a bit of wealth might still have one or two such pieces, making it merely somewhat scarce.
Second, although this iron shield had no offensive power whatsoever, it was a specialized defensive magical treasure. Its defensive capability was incomparable to the Steel Ring's ambiguous jack-of-all-trades nature. Not only was it thick and sturdy, but several specialized defensive spells were also inscribed upon its surface, greatly enhancing its defensive power.
Therefore, what seemed like an insane attack composed of dozens or hundreds of wind blades was effortlessly intercepted by the iron shield floating before Han Li, much like a rock standing firm in a raging torrent. It emanated a cold black light, utterly unmoved, appearing to have more than enough capacity to handle the assault.
"Senior Brother Lu" was furious upon seeing this, but on the surface merely gave a cold snort. He shook his hands, and the wind blades at the flag's tip stopped emerging. However, his hands gripping the flagpole suddenly radiated brilliant white light, causing the spiritual power within his body to surge into the flagpole like floodwaters through a breach.
With such massive spiritual energy as its backing, the azure light on the Azure Dragon Flag became even more dazzling, like an azure sun rising in the night, too blinding to look at directly.
"Senior Brother Lu," having depleted an enormous amount of magical power, turned extremely pale but wore a grimly determined expression. It was clear he understood that prolonged battles brought trouble, and he was preparing to unleash his ultimate move in a desperate gamble.
With a low roar from "Senior Brother Lu," he gripped the flag with both hands and with a whoosh flung the Azure Dragon Flag into midair. Then his fingers moved rapidly as he formed hand seals, pointed at the flag, and bellowed:
"Transform into flooddragon!"
The Azure Dragon Flag blazed with radiance, azure light shimmering, and in an instant transformed into an azure giant flooddragon over a dozen zhang long. It was vividly lifelike, baring its fangs and claws, identical to the one embroidered on the flag's surface.
"Go!" "Senior Brother Lu" showed no hesitation. With a wave of his finger, the azure giant flooddragon immediately opened its massive jaws and lunged fiercely toward Han Li head-on. A deafening clang rang out as the dragon's head crashed into the Mystic Iron Shield.
Azure light and black light blazed simultaneously, seemingly evenly matched for a moment. But not long after, the black light on the shield rapidly weakened, visibly dimming before their eyes.
Just as this shield seemed destined to share the same fate as the previous magical treasure, a cool, clear voice came from behind it:
"Retract!"
The iron shield immediately shrank upon hearing the command and retreated rapidly. This caused the azure flooddragon's arrogance to surge as it pursued closely behind, seemingly intent on swallowing both Han Li and the shield in one gulp.
But just then, from the previously cross-legged Han Li, a hazy gray radiance several zhang long suddenly shot forth. Taking the shape of a giant sword, it met the dragon's head without any sign of weakness, and the two became entangled in battle.
In midair, sometimes the azure light suppressed the gray radiance, and sometimes the gray radiance countered the azure light. For a time, neither side gained the upper hand.
The iron shield, having reverted to its original palm-sized form, fell into Han Li's hand. He stowed it in his storage pouch with a backward motion, as all his magical power was now needed to direct the talisman treasure's attack, leaving no energy to deploy the shield again.
The gray radiance transformed by the talisman this time was clearly incomparable to when it had killed the Yellow-Robed Man before. Judging from the sword light it had become, its power had increased at least three to fourfold.
It should be known that when this talisman treasure had been in Gold Light Immortal's hands, it could only transform into gray radiance about a foot long. When it reached Han Li's hands and he practiced the Object Control Technique, the talisman became several feet in length. But when Han Li's cultivation deepened and he killed the Yellow-Robed Man, the driven talisman once again expanded to about a zhang.
Now, with Han Li's magical power at the eleventh layer, when driving this talisman treasure again, not only had its length changed dramatically to two or three zhang, but its form had also faintly taken on the shape of a giant sword. Its radiance was dazzling, crystalline light flowed, and it had become imposing and awe-inspiring, drawing everyone's gaze. If not for this, the talisman treasure might not have been able to withstand the fierce assault of the flooddragon transformed from the Azure Dragon Flag.
This showed that the power of a talisman treasure depended not only on the might of the spirit treasure sealed within it, but also greatly on the depth of the cultivator's magical power. The more profound one's cultivation, the more completely one could unleash the talisman treasure's power.
Han Li truly wondered what form this talisman treasure would take when he successfully reached Foundation Establishment and drove it again. While directing the gray light to battle the azure flooddragon, his mind unexpectedly drifted to this fanciful thought.