Chapter 52 — The Fire Dragon
劍問蒼天 · Page 5 of 7
The three-colored radiance of their artifacts blazed brightly to protect their masters, but the fire dragon's might was simply too great; by comparison, the halos of the artifacts were immediately pressed down. Zhang Qingyue and the other two were almost simultaneously thrust backward by the immense fiery waves, and a moment later—"bang, bang, bang"—they crashed against the cliff wall.
The fire dragon shot straight upward with terrifying momentum. Zhang Qingyue's back struck the hard rock, and the pain made his vision go black. Still, he was the lucky one; after a moment's composure, he saw that Shi Tou's massive frame had, by sheer chance, crashed squarely into a cave—and most unfortunately, roars of savage beasts soon issued from within.
Zhang Qingyue was greatly alarmed and was about to rush over to help, when amid Shi Tou's great shouts there came a series of "bang, bang" sounds from the cave. Then a golden light flashed and vanished, and a huge body was hurled out—another strange and bizarre beast, which by the look of it had little breath left.
Only then did Zhang Qingyue relax, thinking to himself that the man called Shi Tou was not named so without reason—he was indeed harder than stone!
Just then, the fire dragon that had shot skyward looped in a circle above, and with a furious roar, charged down again with the force of a thunderbolt.
This time, plunging from high to low, its might was even more terrifying. Zhang Qingyue gritted his teeth, gripped his staff in a firm spell-sign, and shifted a full ten feet to the side in midair, barely evading the ferocious dragon. Pointing with his right hand, the Dark Iron Staff shot through the air straight at the dragon's neck.
The fire dragon gave a dragon-cry; its flame-spewing eyes swiveled, and its huge left foreclaw rose to block the blue light of the Dark Iron Staff. Zhang Qingyue's face went pale as he felt the searing heat waves rolling toward him; he could only grit his teeth and hold on bitterly.
At that moment came a delicate cry, and above the abyss lit by the fire dragon, a water-green figure flashed—Bili, her green robes fluttering, drifting gracefully down. The Heartbreak Flower blazed with white light, filling the air with dancing petals, a bitter rain of blossoms, descending upon the fire dragon's head.
"Roar..." Amid the raging flames, the fire dragon cried out again; its right claw swept, and at once the sky full of white petals was driven back three feet. But with Zhang Qingyue and Bili joining forces, their magic power surged, and they immediately pressed the fire dragon down a full ten feet—right into Shi Tou, who had just charged out of the cave.
Shi Tou looked and saw Zhang Qingyue and Bili both straining with all their might against the giant fire dragon, their bodies enveloped in flame. Though each was protected by their artifact, both their faces were flushed bright red by the firelight.
Shi Tou's eyes went wide. He leaped into the air, and in midair shifted into a cross-legged sitting posture, both hands raising the Demon-Breaker Staff. In an instant golden light blazed forth; the entire wolf-fang club shone with gold, nearly transparent, clearly channeling all his magic power. Shi Tou himself wore an expression of solemn majesty, and from afar he looked almost like a great monk of the Buddhist faith.
Then he suddenly opened his eyes, like a demon-quelling guardian, his might pressing upon all. His body in midair became a flash of golden lightning, streaking across the sky, and with a thunderous crash, the entire Demon-Breaker Staff drove deep into the hard cliff wall. In an instant, the rock wall, hard as iron, actually caved inward over a span of nearly forty feet.