Upon hearing these words, Han Li’s expression changed drastically. But before he could hesitate or take any action, the mist before him suddenly dispersed, revealing a world of flashing blue light—a vast expanse of thunder and lightning spanning thousands of acres.
Countless arcs of blue lightning and clusters of blue thunderballs densely filled the void, with some of them roaring toward a central yellow halo with deafening force.
Within the halo, a massive black demonic beast, dozens of zhang long, was spewing clouds of black mist.
The creature had grotesque horns, a crocodile-like appearance, and was covered in dark scales. The black mist it exhaled transformed into over a dozen enormous tentacles, which frantically lashed at the blue lightning outside the yellow radiance.
Many of the electric arcs, struck by these black tentacles, dissipated with a sizzle into wisps of blue smoke.
Behind the black beast, a woman in white robes sat cross-legged atop a pink lotus. With one hand forming a seal and the other holding a short, earthen-yellow mace, her eyes were tightly shut, and her body remained as still as a wooden statue.
Streams of yellow light continuously flew from the mace in her hand, weaving into the outer halo, as if she were using her own magic power to resist the surrounding lightning attacks.
But the blue lightning was simply too overwhelming!
At almost every moment, thousands of electric arcs struck the halo simultaneously.
Though the yellow radiance seemed indestructible and capable of suppressing the lightning, under such relentless assault, it flickered unsteadily, appearing on the verge of collapse.
When Han Li caught sight of the white-robed woman’s face, his pupils contracted slightly. But his gaze quickly swept elsewhere, soon spotting two other figures.
One was a woman in a blue robe, and the other was a slender young maiden, standing at opposite edges of this thunderous world.
The former stood atop a giant blue tortoise, with six green banners hovering before her, while the latter balanced on a golden wheel, holding a silver demonic statue in one hand.
The speaker was none other than the young maiden on the golden wheel.
Upon seeing these two, Han Li’s eyes flashed, and his expression darkened.
Though he didn’t recognize the blue-robed woman, the young maiden was identical to the image of Six Extreme’s avatar described in the jade slip later delivered by Zi Ling’s confidant.
Despite her cultivation being only at the late-stage Body Integration level, Han Li knew better than to treat her as an ordinary late-stage demonic venerable.
As for the blue-robed woman, his divine sense couldn’t penetrate her cultivation, indicating she was a Saint Ancestor of the demon race—and her true self at that.
Even with Crab Daoist’s assistance, facing these two would be no small trouble.
However, Han Li’s sudden arrival had clearly taken the two women by surprise.
The young maiden frowned slightly as her gaze swept over Han Li before she spoke coolly to the blue-robed woman:
“Sister Lan, what is the meaning of this? You assured me that within this Six Extremes Azure Thunder Formation, we wouldn’t be disturbed. How did these people get here? Why didn’t your avatars intercept them?”
“Do you think setting up such a grand formation is easy? My avatars had to coordinate with other subordinates just to barely activate it. The restrictions and attacks elsewhere in the formation, though not as intense as here, aren’t something ordinary beings can bypass. I, too, would like to know how they made it this far,” the blue-robed woman retorted with a cold snort.
“To be fair, this Six Extremes Azure Thunder Formation is incomplete to begin with. Otherwise, we would have sensed their intrusion immediately. Now, it seems complications have arisen.” The young maiden sighed after scrutinizing Han Li and Crab Daoist, as if realizing something.
The blue-robed woman and the young maiden were none other than Saint Ancestor Lan Pu and one of Six Extreme’s avatars, who had earlier conspired to join forces.
After gathering numerous subordinates, they had finally tracked down Bao Hua’s whereabouts. Spending days setting up the Six Extremes Azure Thunder Formation—a super formation—they used their knowledge of Bao Hua and a series of intricate schemes to force her and Hei E, who had been recuperating nearby, out of hiding and into the formation.
While the Six Extremes Azure Thunder Formation was formidable in power, its true brilliance lay in its undetectable fluctuations before activation. Even someone as powerful as Bao Hua could unwittingly fall into its trap.
This was why the two had chosen this ancient formation despite its incompleteness.
What followed was a matter of course.
With her vitality severely depleted and unable to summon the Mysterious Heaven Flower Tree for protection, Bao Hua, even after locating the formation’s core, could only barely hold on under the combined pressure of Lan Pu and Six Extreme’s avatar, despite wielding several treasures.
Eventually, even Hei E, who was also heavily injured, had to reveal his true form and fight desperately.
And at this critical moment, whether by fate or coincidence, Han Li and his group stumbled into the formation and appeared here.
Now, hearing the young maiden’s words, Lan Pu sneered, “A mere late-stage Body Integration cultivator is no trouble. I could crush him with a single finger… Hmm? Who is this? He doesn’t seem to be of flesh and blood, and his aura feels familiar…”
Her expression suddenly shifted as her gaze fixed on Crab Daoist in surprise.
“Ah, so you’ve noticed too. If I’m not mistaken, this fellow Daoist must be the former Saint Crab of the Demon Source Sea. And the one beside him is none other than Han Li, who has recently stirred up quite a storm in our Holy Realm,” the young maiden said slowly, her eyes glinting.
“What? Those two?” The blue-robed woman’s expression darkened.
Han Li was one thing—despite his growing reputation, he was still not a Mahayana cultivator and thus not a major concern for an old-timer like Lan Pu. But the Golden Saint Crab was a pseudo-immortal puppet that had existed in the Demon Source Sea for untold years. Nearly every Saint Ancestor had encountered it at least once and held deep reservations about it.
“I never expected to meet the two of you here. What an honor! However, I am merely passing through. I hope you can open a path and allow us to leave peacefully,” Han Li said with a cupped fist, his tone calm and unreadable.
Crab Daoist, however, ignored the two women entirely, his face expressionless, not even bothering to rise from the flying carriage.
Witnessing this, the young maiden and the blue-robed woman exchanged glances, recalling recent rumors that the Golden Saint Crab had been subdued by this human.
Previously skeptical, they now found it hard to deny, seeing Crab Daoist’s silent deference to Han Li.
“To think you’d stumble into such a remote place. But since you’re just passing through, we have no wish for complications. Letting you leave isn’t out of the question. What do you think, Sister Lan?” the young maiden asked with a sudden smile.
“Humph! If not for Crab Daoist’s presence, I would never let this human brat leave alive. A mere human cultivator, running rampant in our Holy Realm? Next time we meet, I’ll take your life,” Lan Pu spat, her eyes flickering between Han Li and Crab Daoist before she reluctantly relented.
Clearly, she was loath to let Han Li go but had no choice, given the greater threat posed by Bao Hua.
“Then I thank you both,” Han Li replied with a faint smile, inwardly relieved.
As for the conflict between the two demons and Bao Hua, the original ancestor of the demon realm, he had no interest in getting involved.
Lan Pu snorted again, flicking a finger toward the six green banners before her. One of them swelled into a massive flag over ten zhang tall, crackling with five-colored blue lightning and emitting a low rumble of wind and thunder.
“Open!”
With her command, the flag trembled.
A deafening thunderclap erupted as a thick, dragon-like blue lightning bolt shot from the flag’s tip, coalescing into a pavilion-sized blue rune high in the air.
The rune vanished into the void, and in its place, a white light flashed, revealing a hole about a zhang wide, beyond which lay a clear blue sky.
Simultaneously, the blue lightning before Han Li parted, creating a safe passage.
Lan Pu, decisive as ever, had opened an exit despite her reluctance.
Delighted, Han Li prepared to steer his flying carriage through the passage.
But at that very moment, Bao Hua, trapped within the yellow halo, let out a soft sigh and opened her eyes. With a faint whisper, she uttered words that sent Han Li’s expression into turmoil:
“Fellow Daoist Han, do you still wish to find the Small Spirit Heaven? If I perish here, I doubt there will be another in this world who can accurately locate it for you.”
“How do you know I seek the Small Spirit Heaven?” Han Li stood frozen on the carriage, his gaze locked onto Bao Hua, his face shifting through several emotions before he finally spoke.
“It seems you’ve forgotten, Fellow Daoist. The little girl beside you once stayed with me for a time. How could I not know of the Small Spirit Heaven? I may not know whom or what you seek there, but it must be of great importance to you,” Bao Hua replied calmly, unruffled.
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