Though Li Yundong had spent many years within the three thousand minor worlds of the Burning Finger Bowl, poring over nearly every Buddhist and Taoist scripture and mastering almost every spell, he had rarely employed these spells in actual combat, especially not against a baffling magical duel like the one before him!

Faced with the surging tide of mud soldiers, Li Yundong, though shocked, quickly began to cast his own spells.

Li Yundong tapped his finger before the tabletop, and instantly the earth particles along the line of Yin and Yang division began to stir restlessly. Each particle swelled, rapidly forming a towering wall that physically blocked the path of the mud soldiers.

But the mud soldiers showed no discouragement upon hitting the solid earth wall. They swiftly parted to create a lane, and the soldiers behind them began pushing the siege engines, crafted by Sun Baitian's magic, one after another into position.

The mud soldiers, clustered in groups of thirty or fifty, swarmed around a tūnwèn (battering ram), while others, a dozen strong, hoisted ladders, rushing the earthen wall like ants.

Li Yundong watched as the earth wall momentarily held back the mud soldiers, yet these constructs manipulated siege weaponry, relentlessly battering the magical fortification. Each strike from a battering ram against the wall elicited a deep rumble, and the wall itself pulsed with faint yellow light.

Li Yundong’s brow furrowed as he stared at the table; he knew this single earth wall could not halt the mud soldiers' advance. Under the fierce assault of the battering rams, the wall was already beginning to tremble precariously, especially as small mud figures clinging to the ladders had already scaled the top and were now tumbling down like dropped dumplings.

Seeing more and more mud soldiers scaling the wall while the barrier he had raised developed ever-widening fissures, Li Yundong’s frown deepened. As the soldiers neared his stronghold, he felt a sudden, intense urge to simply slap them all into flat mud patties!

Sun Baitian, seated opposite him, seemed to sense Li Yundong’s thought. He chuckled and said, "Daoist Master Li, we cannot engage directly. We must only counter the spells using the Five Elements, otherwise, it counts as cheating and you forfeit!"

Li Yundong swiftly glanced up at Sun Baitian, then lowered his gaze with a faint smile, his mind racing to devise a countermeasure.

Li Yundong mused internally: These mud men are inherently earth magic. Wood overcomes Earth, so should I counter them with Wood magic?

With this realization, Li Yundong swiftly mobilized his gan qi (Liver Qi), as the liver governs Wood. As he channeled this energy, his complexion took on a faint, ghostly green hue. He pointed his hand at the tabletop, and countless thin vines instantly shot forth, wrapping around the small mud figures and binding them tightly in place.

The onlookers, observing from the periphery, had long since left their original spots, now clustered around the round table, intensely focused on this eye-opening magical warfare.

Su Chan and the others clenched their fists anxiously, craning their necks to watch the tabletop, wishing they could leap in and lend a hand in the fray.

When they saw Li Yundong use Wood magic to immobilize the mud soldiers one by one, they couldn't help but erupt in cheers. But as their shouts died down, they witnessed the mud soldiers rapidly brandishing the weapons in their hands, hacking at the entwining vines. In just a few quick strikes, the wooden bonds were completely severed, and the soldiers rushed forward again.

Li Yundong was slightly startled; he hadn't anticipated that the weapons held by the mud men would have such a practical application. In that momentary lapse, the mud soldiers swarmed right up to the base of his stronghold.

Seeing defeat imminent, Li Yundong suddenly heard Ziyuan's rapid telepathic transmission: "Li Yundong, simply adhering to elemental opposition is insufficient. Sun Baitian is employing the Earth of the Five Directions. While the mud soldiers themselves are Earth-attributed, their earthen composition is mixed with other Five Element essences. Furthermore, their weapons are Metal-attributed—Metal conquers Wood—thus they naturally counter your Wood magic! You must find a way to use elemental generation against them; relying on a single element will never defeat this army!"

A spark ignited in Li Yundong’s mind. He first swiftly summoned Earth magic, raising another thick and high wall around his stronghold. Though this wall was only the height of a forearm, for mud soldiers the size of a fingernail, it was an insurmountably high barrier.

Having temporarily blocked the immediate assault, Li Yundong paused to carefully consider Ziyuan's words.

He thought to himself: Ziyuan is correct. Theoretically, Sun Baitian is attacking me with a combination of Earth, Metal, and Wood spells. How can I possibly resist using only Earth and Wood? I must integrate all five elements to have a chance!

Li Yundong watched as the mud soldiers, upon encountering his earth wall, prepared to use their familiar trick again: deploying siege weapons and ladders to attack the wall from two directions simultaneously.

Seeing the wall shudder repeatedly under the battering rams' fierce assault, Li Yundong pondered, Is there a way to make this wall absolutely impregnable?

The thought struck him: In the Five Elements, Fire generates Earth. If I use Fire to boost Earth, perhaps the Earth magic will become significantly stronger!

Li Yundong's mind worked at lightning speed. He rubbed his two fingers together, and a blazing fireball erupted from his fingertip. Most surrounding cultivators were perceptive; they immediately grasped what he intended to do.

Some cultivators nodded quietly, murmuring, "Indeed, using Fire to spur Earth will stabilize his wall! Moreover, Fire overcomes Metal, countering the Metal weapons the mud men carry!"

Yet, others sneered, "Don't be foolish. Sun Baitian's mud men are also Earth-attributed. Your fire will only make his mud men stronger!"

Su Chan observed that Li Yundong's territory on the round table had been compressed into an extremely small area, with Sun Baitian's 'Grand Army' already besieging his base.

The young woman worried secretly, but she was powerless to help, left only to watch the miniature war unfold on the tabletop like everyone else.

Sun Baitian, noticing Li Yundong preparing to use Fire magic, grinned mischievously. He beckoned with both hands, summoning a ball of water from a nearby teacup, ready to counter Li Yundong's fire spell with Water magic the moment it was unleashed.

Li Yundong saw Sun Baitian’s move and smiled faintly. With his other hand, he made an empty gesture, drawing the tea from his own teacup into his palm. Balancing the fireball in one hand and a water sphere in the other, his expression was one of focused contemplation. Clearly, this duel was no longer a simple test of raw magical power or mastery over a single element; it was a contest of intellect and strategy!

The crowd, hardly having time to marvel at Li Yundong's effortless control over both Water and Fire, watched as Li Yundong suddenly tossed the water sphere he held onto the table!

With a splash, the tabletop instantly transformed into a watery marsh, submerging all the mud soldiers in the expanse.

Sun Baitian frowned. He threw his water ball into the air, simultaneously conjuring a ball of fire with one hand and rapidly pulling out a talisman inscribed with the character for Earth with the other. He hurled both the fireball and the paper talisman toward the mud men on the table.

The mud men, suddenly reinforced by Earth magic and stimulated by the Fire magic, visibly swelled. They grew from the size of a fingernail to that of a thumbnail. The water that had been over their heads now only reached their waists. With a shout, they quickly began wielding their weapons to furiously excavate the earth on the table, soon carving out numerous river channels. The water on the tabletop quickly and obediently flowed down these channels off the table.

The surrounding cultivators nodded, muttering, "He clearly knows Earth counters Water, yet Li Yundong sends water rushing in. Isn't he asking for trouble?"

But before their words faded, they saw Li Yundong swiftly fling his fireball at the earth wall. A burst of intense flame erupted from the wall with a roar. Under the scorching heat, the earthen wall seemed to come alive, expanding and growing taller—from the original forearm height to the height of an arm, and hand-width thick!

For an adult, this was merely a mud castle built for children’s games, but for mud men the size of a thumb, this was a near-unbreakable super fortress!

Only then did the crowd grasp Li Yundong's tactic: deliberately using water to provoke an attack was a feint designed to distract Sun Baitian, while simultaneously using Fire to enhance the wall's height and thickness—a classic maneuver of striking where the enemy least expects it.

Sun Baitian frowned slightly, shot Li Yundong a quick glance, snorted inwardly, and declared, "Daoist Master Li, you can use Fire, but can I not?"

Saying this, he rubbed his hands together, and brilliant flames ignited in his palms. He waved his hands, sending the fire toward the dense swarm of mud soldiers on the table.

But just as he moved, Li Yundong let out a sharp laugh. He raised a hand, and the tea from a cup in the ship's cabin automatically leaped out, surging toward Sun Baitian's flames like a high-pressure water jet, scattering the fire instantly.

Sun Baitian’s brow tightened. Unwilling to yield, he channeled Wood magic again, creating siege weapons several times larger than before to assault Li Yundong’s fortress stronghold.

Li Yundong countered every move. He invoked Metal magic, mimicking Sun Baitian’s earlier action by shaping a bronze censer into molten iron sludge and flinging it around his stronghold. As soon as this metallic mud landed on the table, it immediately transformed into ranks of severe iron walls, seemingly cladding the stronghold in a layer of hard armor.

Sun Baitian said nothing, immediately summoning Fire magic again, aiming to burn the hard metal armor surrounding Li Yundong’s base. Li Yundong instantly summoned Water to extinguish the blaze.

However, before Sun Baitian’s fire could meet Li Yundong’s water, he suddenly commanded all the mud soldiers on the table to hurl all the previously constructed Wood siege weapons into the ball of fire. This infusion caused the flames to erupt with frightening intensity—Wood generating Fire. Although Water counters Fire, the water volume was too weak, and Li Yundong found himself unable to suppress the blaze, allowing the flames to lick against the metal wall.

The metal wall, scorched by the fire, immediately glowed deep red, showing visible signs of softening and collapse.

Li Yundong reacted with lightning speed. He instantly withdrew the iron wall, diverting the fire beneath his own stronghold. When the fire struck his base, the resulting Fire generating Earth actually served to boost Li Yundong’s fortress, making his stronghold even taller and more solid.

The spectators inside the cabin watched the ebb and flow between Li Yundong and Sun Baitian, the quick succession of moves and counter-moves so fast it was dazzling. The round table truly resembled a battlefield, hosting a miniature war of conquest. It left some cultivators, unable to process the complexity, feeling as though they were watching a fantastic, immersive magic film, cheering with exhilaration.

As the saying goes, amateurs watch the excitement, but experts watch the underlying technique. Some cultivators were simply thrilled by the lively exchange, struggling to follow the rapid adjustments made by the two combatants. However, a few realized that Li Yundong and Sun Baitian were pitting their wits against each other, relentlessly executing offensive and defensive maneuvers using the Five Elements. The ease and spontaneity with which they wielded their elemental spells not only demonstrated superior control but also revealed their extraordinary reflexes and wisdom.

Especially in the face of Sun Baitian’s aggressive opening offensive, Li Yundong, starting from a position of absolute disadvantage, managed to gradually gain solid footing. Despite facing a massive, encroaching army, he responded calmly, successively foiling Sun Baitian’s attacks. Not only did he stabilize his position, but he had temporarily achieved an unassailable advantage.

The cultivators watching inwardly admired him, wondering, If I were Li Yundong, could I withstand Sun Baitian’s tide-like assault?