Chapter 1734: Water and Fire Duel

The Celestial Demon Overlord patted a black leather pouch at his waist. A series of shrill ghostly wails erupted as five streaks of blood-red light flew out, revealing five humanoid skeletons. These skeletons were covered in dense blood vessels, and a crimson flame flickered in each of their hollow eye sockets.

These were Blood Fiend Concentric Demons, crafted from the corpses of quintuplets. The Celestial Demon Overlord had spent over two hundred years just searching for these five individuals, and he had then tortured them for over a century using secret arts. Their bodies accumulated immense resentment, making the resulting Blood Fiend Concentric Demons immensely powerful.

It had taken him hundreds of years to cultivate these Blood Fiend Concentric Demons to the Nascent Soul stage. Fu Wen herself had suffered a minor setback against them on a previous encounter.

Daring not to be careless, he waved the Myriad People Brush, emitting a soft white light that enveloped his entire body. Countless mysterious runes appeared on his skin, instantly transforming into a shimmering barrier of seven-colored spiritual light.

"Fellow Daoist Wang," Fu Wen transmitted, her tone laced with a hint of panic, "don't let them stall you. Get away as quickly as possible. This is the Sky Stream Realm; if we get caught here, we'll be in trouble." If it were only the Celestial Demon Overlord and Zhao Hongxue, Fu Wen and Wang Changsheng would dare to face them together.

Boom! A tremendous roar echoed as the crimson fire phoenix collided with the vast ocean, unleashing a powerful blast of air. White mist enveloped an area several miles in radius, settling between Wang Changsheng and Zhao Hongxue.

After a series of "chi-chi" sounds tore through the air, tens of thousands of blue ice needles shot out from the white mist without warning, instantly appearing before Zhao Hongxue. The surrounding temperature plummeted. Even with her protective spiritual light, Zhao Hongxue could still feel an unbearable chill, as if she were in a thousand-year-old ice cellar.

Zhao Hongxue dared not be careless. With a flip of her jade hand and a flash of red light, a palm-sized red shield appeared. Innumerable red runes emerged on its surface, and a red flame abruptly ignited, causing the temperature to rise sharply.

Enveloped by the red flame, the shield expanded, instantly growing to about ten feet high. The characters "Li Yan Shield" were engraved on its bottom left, radiating immense spiritual energy. This was a defensive spirit treasure.

She touched the back of her head, and with a flash of red light, eighteen shimmering red command banners flew out. On the pole of each banner were engraved the five characters "Yan Python Burning Sky Banner." These were a set of magic treasures, and also Zhao Hongxue's innate magic treasure.

The Sky Stream Sect had many cultivators in the Soul Transformation stage. It was impossible for every Soul Transformation cultivator to possess a Heaven-Reaching Spirit Treasure, as some of these were auxiliary or flying artifacts. However, every Soul Transformation cultivator did possess a Spirit Treasure. Even so, Soul Transformation cultivators whose innate magic treasures were also a set of Spirit Treasures were extremely rare.

Zhao Hongxue indeed wished to upgrade her Yan Python Burning Sky Banners into Spirit Treasures. However, upgrading all eighteen banners required an exorbitant amount of rare materials. The materials she had gathered so far were only enough to upgrade seven of them. To collect enough, she would have to invade other realms and plunder their cultivation resources. It was unfortunate that she had advanced to the Soul Transformation stage too late.

After the Sky Stream Sect unified the Sky Stream Realm, materials from various major forces were collected for crafting Heaven-Reaching Spirit Treasures and Spirit Treasures. This led to a significant depletion of cultivation resources, especially high-grade artifact refining materials.

The dense blue ice needles struck the Li Yan Shield, leaving behind some blue ice shards on its surface.

"Azure Blue Snow Crystals! You've been to the Demon Burial Icefield!" Zhao Hongxue exclaimed, an incredulous expression on her face.

The Sky Stream Sect had dispatched a large number of cultivators to the Demon Burial Icefield to scour for resources. Among these was the rare heavenly material, Azure Blue Snow Crystal, which cultivators could refine to enhance the power of their spells. However, the Demon Burial Icefield was home to a fifth-tier Eight-Winged Snow Pixiu beast. Several Soul Transformation cultivators from the Sky Stream Sect had joined forces, even using Heaven-Reaching Spirit Treasures and sets of Spirit Treasures, but they failed to kill the beast and suffered heavy casualties. Coupled with the powerful remaining restrictions in the Demon Burial Icefield, the Sky Stream Sect had no choice but to cease collecting cultivation resources from the area.

She changed her incantation, and a large expanse of crimson flame abruptly appeared on the surface of the Li Yan Shield. The blue ice layer slowly melted, turning into bone-chilling blue mist.

This was only possible because the Li Yan Shield was a defensive Spirit Treasure. An ordinary magic treasure would be utterly useless against the Azure Blue Snow Crystals.

She chanted an incantation, and the eighteen Yan Python Burning Sky Banners erupted with dazzling firelight, their forms greatly expanding as they revolved rapidly around her, generating waves of crimson flame and sending fiery glows soaring into the sky.

Centered on Zhao Hongxue, an area of over ten miles in radius was enveloped by crimson flames. The weeds on the ground ignited, towering trees caught fire, and the flames shot towards the heavens.

A tremendous roar like a tsunami echoed as a vast ocean surged forward with overwhelming force, emitting thick mist.

Water and fire clashed, producing muffled "sizzle" sounds as thick mist billowed.

The seawater flowed ceaselessly, extinguishing the widespread fires. Wherever the seawater passed, entire hilltops shattered with unstoppable force, heading directly towards Zhao Hongxue.

Zhao Hongxue would naturally not wait for death. As she tried to evade, an unbearable sharp pain assailed her sea of consciousness.

Soul-Cleaving Spike—this was the name of a divine sense attack.

By the time Zhao Hongxue regained her senses, a vast expanse of seawater, covering an area of fifty miles, had surrounded her. The seawater rapidly rotated, generating a powerful current.

From a distance, Zhao Hongxue appeared to be enveloped by a ten-thousand-foot-tall blue vortex. As the blue vortex rapidly spun, it tore open the ground, creating numerous cracks, and countless sand and stones were swept into it by the powerful current. The spectacle was immense.

A series of ear-piercing whooshing sounds filled the air as blue water arrows shot out from the seawater, striking Zhao Hongxue from all directions.

Zhao Hongxue chanted an incantation, and the eighteen Yan Python Burning Sky Banners immediately radiated brilliant red light, unleashing rolling flames that formed a crimson wall of fire, protecting her entire body.

As the blue water arrows approached within a hundred feet of Zhao Hongxue, they abruptly vanished, turning into a puff of white mist.

The seawater violently surged, and three blue giants, over a hundred feet tall, emerged from it. These were Water-Attribute Golems.

The three Water-Attribute Golems lunged from three different directions, producing continuous whooshing sounds as they moved.

Zhao Hongxue frowned. With a flick of her jade hand, she slapped the air towards one Water-Attribute Golem. The void rippled, and a crimson hand, over a hundred feet in size, appeared out of thin air, swiftly striking downwards.

Boom! After a deafening roar echoed, this Water-Attribute Golem was smashed to smithereens by the crimson hand. However, the seawater violently surged, and the vanished Water-Attribute Golem reappeared.

Zhao Hongxue flipped her hand and took out a small, antique-looking red mirror. Judging by its astonishing spiritual energy fluctuations, it was clearly also a Spirit Treasure.

A dazzling red light swept out, enveloping the three Water-Attribute Golems. The three golems froze in place, as if bound.

Just then, the sky abruptly darkened. Zhao Hongxue was surprised to find herself enveloped by a massive blue water sphere.

She chanted an incantation, and the crimson sea of fire around her violently surged. Over ten crimson fire pythons, each over a hundred feet long, flew out from the sea of fire, lunging towards the surrounding seawater.

Boom! A tremendous explosion echoed, and white mist permeated the air. The over ten crimson fire pythons were swallowed by the surging seawater, as if they had never existed.

Fang Mu watched the massive water sphere high in the sky and swallowed. The divine abilities of Soul Transformation cultivators surpassed his imagination; it was his first time witnessing such an intense battle between them.

Soul Transformation cultivators could manipulate the spiritual energy of a region, but not every one of them fought by doing so. Examples included sword cultivators, illusionary art specialists, body cultivators, and Confucian cultivators.