"It's simple," Fu Xi replied almost cheerfully. "We kill the dragon."
I tried not to snort in derisive laughter. "If it's so simple, why haven't you done it already?"
"If you're good at something, never do it for free."
I wanted to bury my face in my palm, but I was forced to dive to the side when the dragon's tail whipped through the space where I was standing, having broken free of the ice I had trapped it inside. "Are you seriously joking in this situation? And if that wasn't a joke, you do realize that we will die if we don't do something about this dragon right now? Who cares about being paid?!"
"Did you not watch the Dark Knight?" Fu Xi asked, sounding confused. "I thought that you, of all people, would catch the reference."
"This is not the time to be quoting characters from a movie!" I yelled. "Please tell me you have some sort of plan!"
"I do, but not a good one." Fu Xi was backpedaling, putting as much distance between himself and the dragon as it slowly broke free of the ice that my talismans had put it in. "Even though my Eight in One doesn't possess the tremendous power necessary to deliver a killing blow to a commander-ranked spirit beast like the fire dragon, it is still pretty strong. As I said, Eight Trigrams Swordsmanship is prized for its flexibility, its ability to adapt to any kind of opponent…including a commander-ranked spirit beast."
He then sent water spears surging toward the fire dragon that finally broke free of its ice shackles, drawing blood from its scales.
"However, that's not a plan that will guarantee success. I hope you have better alternatives. We could use your killing array, but I don't think a basic killing array will have much effect on a commander-ranked spirit beast. It might work against many warrior-ranked spirit beasts, but the fire dragon is too strong. It will probably obliterate your formation once it sees it anyway."
"I might have a technique that relies on power." I was thinking about Yin Yang Amalgamation Strike. "But I'm only at level 4 of Heaven realm. I don't know if my technique, executed with my current strength, will be powerful enough to deal lethal damage to a commander-ranked spirit beast of that fire dragon's level."
"Fair enough," Fu Xi conceded, but he seemed to be thinking of something. "No, it might just make the difference. We'll just have to wear it down. Just do your killing array for now. Even if it can't kill the fire dragon, it'll do enough damage. I'll also erode its defenses with my Eight Trigrams techniques. As long as we can accumulate enough damage and perhaps deal a big enough wound, your technique might just be able to finish it off."
"All right." I didn't like it because it entailed a lot of risk, but it was the only feasible plan we had at hand. Furthermore, I could see the other spirit beasts approaching. They were usually afraid of the fire dragon, but they would no doubt seize the opportunity to attack both of us humans and the fire dragon after we had exhausted and wounded each other in the fierce fighting.
The killing array might be our own chance of survival if we somehow managed to bring down the fire dragon. Assuming it, like Fu Xi said earlier, didn't obliterate it after I poked it with a few laser beams.
"Will you be able to handle the fire dragon on your own for now?" I asked, glancing at Fu Xi worriedly. Right now, he was dueling the ferocious spirit beast as best as he could, ducking under its claws and weaving through its attacks while counterattacking with his sword.
"Yeah, I'll figure it out. At the very least, I won't die until you set up your killing array. It'll make my life a lot easier!"
"Ugh…I'll try to be as fast as possible." I was already scribbling on the ground with my enchanted brush and enchanted ink. While I did so, the dragon let loose another jet of flames, but I grabbed an ice talisman with my left hand and activated it, despite half-distracted by drawing the spirit formation at the same time.
For a moment, I thought my tactic worked. The flames were frozen by my talisman…for only a few seconds before they boiled away into steam. Fortunately, those seconds were all Fu Xi needed to leap to the side and avoid the roaring flames.
The dragon twisted its serpentine neck about to pursue Fu Xi with its torrent of flames, but the swordsman didn't just run. He swung his sword, this time activating the Qian symbol. Golden meteors screamed down from the heavens and collided against the fire dragon with devastating force, engulfing it in an explosion.
"So much for not having a super-powerful technique," I muttered under my breath.
"Don't stop drawing your killing array!" Fu Xi snapped at me, even though he didn't need to. My hand hadn't paused at all in drawing my formation. "It won't be enough to kill the fire dragon."
"You're kidding me, right?"
He didn't have to reply. The fire dragon roared furiously as it leaped out of the smokes of the explosion and almost barreled into Fu Xi. This time, Fu Xi activated two of his Eight Trigrams symbols at the same time.
"Dui Gen."
A mountain rose in front of him, forming a barrier. The fire dragon slammed against it, relentlessly battering the mountain down. However, despite normally being able to tear such an artificial construct down without difficulty, the fire dragon was stunned to find that its claws were sinking deeply inside the softening soil.
Marsh and mountain. Fu Xi had created a combination of a hill and a swamp that gave way to the fire dragon's strength, only to suck it in and mire it in a trap.
Crimson qi ignited across the fire dragon's ruby body before it vaporized the marshy mountain with a single superheated breath. Snarling, it lunged at Fu Xi once more, but the swordsman resolutely stood his ground.
"Xun Kan."
Wind and water. By combining the two elements together, Fu Xi created a blizzard, a chilling wind that generated frost upon the fire dragon's armored form. Inhibited by the cold, the commander-ranked spirit beast stumbled, only for hailstones to bombard it. Growling, it vaporized the snow and hail with another superheated breath of fire, but its spell was noticeably weakened by all the ice and wind.
However, the fire dragon prevailed in the end, but Fu Xi was already ready for it. Spinning his sword around, he then pointed the tip of his blade at the incoming fire dragon.
"Qian Zhen."
Unyielding thunderbolts crashed down from the heavens, even more powerful than the usual Zhen thunderbolts from before. The new lightning was imbued with heavenly qi and crashed down with the force of meteors, engulfing the shrieking fire dragon in electric explosions. Convulsing, the dragon struggled to emerge from the dust and smoke, blood dripping down scorched scales.
At that moment, I completed my killing array. Pointing my finger at the fire dragon, I bombarded it with a few dozen golden beams of light. They barely punctured the dragon's scales but they caused multiple paper cuts at the very least. Even so, they weren't as severe as the injuries that Fu Xi had already done to it.
"Don't worry. Every injury counts!" Fu Xi must have noticed my consternation, for he shouted at me encouragingly. "Keep pounding away at the fire dragon! Don't let up your bombardment!"
I obeyed, mercilessly bombarding the fire dragon with more lasers from my killing array. The great spirit beast spun around with a snarl, more irritated than in pain. Fumes erupted from its nostril before it unleashed a tremendous torrent of superheated flames in my direction.
"Get out of there!" Fu Xi shouted, conjuring a block of earth between me and the flames. That must be Gen Kun, because the two corresponding symbols were glowing underneath his feet. Unfortunately, the fire dragon's superheated flames obliterated the barrier in a flash and continued surging toward me.
Fortunately, I had another card to play.
"Magic Carp, I choose you!"
My partner spirit beast appeared. He ogled the incoming flames and opened his mouth wide to suck them up before I could issue an order. To sound like a proper spirit beast trainer…ahem, I mean summoner, I gave the command anyway.
"Magic Carps, Devouring the Heavens attack!"
My magic carp proceeded to swallow the entire stream of flames in one gulp. For a moment, he almost shut his mouth and looked satisfied…and then steam began pouring out of his mouth and gills. I swore he turned redder than before, even though his scales were already red to begin with. Visibly, there wasn't much of a color change (since he was always red), but to my Heavenly Flow and Earthly Paths, I could sense the overload of fiery qi.
If my magic carp didn't expel those flames and fast, he would blow himself up. Not only would he rip himself apart from the resulting explosion, I would be swallowed up by the destruction too.
Fortunately, there was a tempting target right in front of us.
"Carp!"
My magic carp spewed out the flames in a single breath, which engulfed the fire dragon. Taken completely by surprise, the fire dragon wasn't able to evade its own flames that were reflected upon itself. There was another massive explosion and its smoking and heavily charred body crashed onto the ground with a loud thump.
Growling, the fire dragon forced itself back to its feet, getting ready to launch another torrent of flames. Unfortunately, my magic carp clearly couldn't take another gulp of superheated flames. He was slumping on the ground with a pained expression. I couldn't imagine how damaged his insides were from swallowing all of that deadly fire.
"Don't worry, Magic Carp. You've done more than enough. Thank you. Leave the rest to me."
I launched another volley of laser beams onto the fire dragon, the lethal rays detonating in multiple places and knocking the wounded dragon over. I wasn't the only one – Fu Xi had capitalized on the fire dragon's predicament and was executing Qian Kun this time.
Meteors from above and rock spears from below punched into the fire dragon from both sides. Already ravaged by its own superheated flames that were reflected upon it from earlier, the crimson armored scales cracked. I could see a massive gaping wound, the armored scales gouged out by the combined attacks and accumulated damage by Fu Xi, my magic carp and me, to reveal a spot where blood was pouring out.
Even without my enhanced sixth sense, I could tell that it was a weak spot…a vulnerability that the both of us had torn open through our own efforts.
I drew my sword while gathering qi onto the blade. Drawing upon the vast amounts of fiery yang qi present in the volcano, I then combined it with the yin qi that came from me activating another dozen ice spirit talismans. Using the qi from my surroundings and enchanted tools to make up for my own lack of strength, I then combined both yin and yang elements into a single explosive burst of energy.
"Brother Fu Xi, watch out!" I shouted. "Make sure not to get caught in the blast!"
"Whoa!" Fu Xi was staring at my sword with wide eyes, but he obediently scampered away. "What the hell is that technique?! I've never seen anything like it before!"
"That's why your master told you to get out into the world and gain more exposure, right?" I grinned mischievously. Then I unleashed Yin Yang Amalgamation Strike, directing the tremendous blast of combined qi elements at the gaping wound of the reeling fire dragon, who had yet to recover from the onslaught of blades and meteors that my comrade had poured down on it.
The fire dragon looked up, its eyes widening in fear, before the lethal burst of qi pierced through the wound and deep into its body. Its massive bulk convulsed, rife with internal explosions as combined yin and yang elements set off a chain reaction within its body and ripped it apart from the inside out.
Then the great spirit beast fell for one last time, its head slamming into the ground with earth-shattering impact. Spasms continued to shake its body for a few more seconds. Both Fu Xi and I watched its death throes for several moments, our breaths stuck in our throats.
After a few agonizing minutes, the fire dragon finally stopped moving. And my sixth sense noted how there was no longer any vital qi flowing through its body.
We had finally succeeded in slaying the fire dragon.