Chapter 2239: Battle of the Insect Mother (Part 3)

“What formidable physical strength! I wonder how it compares to Ming Er,” the eerie voice suddenly expressed surprise.

At this moment, Han Li focused his gaze downward and saw a bizarre insect that had appeared on the water’s surface at some point. Its body was crystal-clear, as if condensed from liquid, resembling a giant longhorn beetle. Measuring over a dozen zhang in length, its entire body was covered in eyes of varying sizes, sending an involuntary chill down one’s spine at the mere sight.

The eerie voice earlier had unmistakably come from this monstrous insect. As its two extraordinarily long antennae touched, thunderous roars erupted between them, accompanied by the appearance of gray-white lightning arcs that twisted and flashed wildly.

It was the same malevolent lightning that had nearly severely injured Han Li!

Han Li’s expression turned grave as he scrutinized the insect and the gray-white lightning above its head. After swiftly considering his options, he abruptly raised his head to glance toward Baohua.

At this moment, Baohua was rapidly forming hand seals. Under her control, the Earth Emperor Nail had transformed into a towering pillar, now locked in fierce combat with the colossal claw in the sky.

Though the claw wreaked havoc with ferocity, its owner remained concealed within the rolling gray clouds high above, showing no sign of revealing itself.

Using only a single claw to contend against the massive pillar conjured by the Profound Heaven Treasure, it somehow managed to gain a slight upper hand.

The moment Han Li saw the claw, his mind involuntarily recalled the broken weapon fragments he had seen earlier in the formation’s core hall.

Apart from the vast difference in size, they were identical in every other aspect.

It seemed those fragments were most likely the handiwork of this very claw.

Where the yellow pillar stirred, the void trembled, and fierce winds howled.

Where the claw slashed, shimmering white marks appeared out of thin air. The two were locked in an evenly matched struggle for the moment.

However, judging by the gradual paleness of Baohua’s face, it was clear that wielding the Earth Emperor Nail in such a manner exceeded her limits. Though she didn’t appear to be at a disadvantage now, she wouldn’t be able to sustain it for long.

“Brother Crab, I’ll leave this one to you. I’ll go assist Baohua in dealing with the other,” Han Li said after a moment of contemplation, issuing an order toward a certain spot behind him.

“If you say so, I’ll take care of it. Though this insect’s divine sense techniques and malevolent lightning are formidable, they won’t be of much use against me.”

A thunderous boom echoed through the void as Crab Daoist emerged behind Han Li, his body wreathed in silver arcs, speaking calmly.

This pseudo-immortal puppet had somehow vanished at the start of the battle, remaining hidden until now when it abruptly reappeared in response to Han Li’s call.

The moment Crab Daoist appeared, he rolled onto the ground.

With a deafening roar, a golden crab, radiating lightning and spanning a thousand mu in size, materialized in the air. Its massive claws raised high, thunderous roars erupted as countless lightning orbs rapidly condensed and rained down like a storm upon the transparent insect below.

These lightning orbs were clearly different from ordinary arcs—each was astonishingly large, and their surfaces flickered with countless silver-white runes.

The monstrous insect seemed enraged by this sight. Letting out a strange cry, it violently shook its two long antennae, unleashing countless gray-white lightning arcs that shot forth like electric spears, piercing through the incoming orbs and colliding with them.

For a moment, the two types of lightning exploded along a dividing line, their power seemingly evenly matched.

Gray lightning and silver arcs intertwined, causing the entire void to tremble and grow scorching hot.

Though the golden crab’s colossal body was astonishingly large, its multiple limbs moved with incredible speed, darting through the air in a blur while continuously releasing lightning orbs, never once engaging the enemy directly.

The transparent insect flickered in and out like a ghost, continuously shooting gray-white lightning arcs to shatter the incoming orbs.

As for its signature divine sense techniques, it had already employed them, but against a puppet, they were utterly ineffective—like playing the lute to a cow.

Meanwhile, Han Li brandished his emerald-green sword and let out a long cry. His three-headed, six-armed dharma form reappeared, and with a single slash, a massive sword shadow resembling a mountain descended upon the colossal claw.

Seeing this, Baohua’s spirits lifted. With a clear cry of her own, the top of her head split open, and a giant pink flower emerged, carrying a tiny pink figure.

The figure opened its mouth and spat out a pink halo, which expanded in the wind, transforming into a crystalline ring that shot toward the rolling gray mist high above—where the claw’s master was undoubtedly hiding.

With Han Li’s assistance, she had finally unleashed her perfected Nascent Soul to confront the claw’s master directly.

Deep beneath the water’s surface, in an abyss nearly ten thousand zhang deep, the ancient-looking elder and the black-robed woman stared in shock and horror at an object lying at the bottom.

Resting on the seabed was an enormous, jade-white skeleton of a monstrous insect, stretching ten thousand zhang in length.

Though the skeleton remained motionless, its surface was enveloped in a faint gray-white glow, exuding an unfathomably terrifying aura.

This aura bore a striking resemblance to the aura of the little girl they had encountered earlier, though with subtle differences.

“Is this the true body of the Mother of Screens?” the black-robed woman murmured hesitantly after observing carefully for a while.

“It must be! Aside from the Mother of Screens, I can’t imagine any other creature whose remains would retain such a dreadful aura. Even the shed exoskeleton we saw earlier pales in comparison,” the elder replied slowly, taking a deep breath.

“The Mother of Screens’ true body has already perished. Judging by the state of the skeleton, it happened long ago! This is utterly absurd. Then what was that thing we encountered earlier? Could it have reached the True Immortal realm, allowing its primordial spirit to roam freely without a physical form, achieving immortality?” the woman chuckled dryly.

“I don’t know. But regardless, this is fortunate for us. We’ve completed our mission without lifting a finger. As for why its primordial spirit remains active, it must have some connection to this skeleton,” the elder replied with a bitter smile.

“Ah, that makes sense. I’ve heard of ancient secret techniques that condense one’s essence into a specific part of the body. If the Mother of Screens did the same before perishing, its primordial spirit could indeed persist for a while longer. In that case, let me destroy it completely.”

As she spoke, her face twisted into a vicious expression. With a flick of her wrist, black light flashed, and a pitch-black short spear appeared in her hand.

“Wait!”

The elder suddenly recalled something and urgently tried to stop her, but it was too late.

The black spear transformed into a bolt of lightning and struck the massive skeleton’s skull with a thunderous boom, exploding into countless fine electric threads.

Yet when the black lightning dissipated, the skull remained unscathed, without even a scratch.

“Impossible! My Heaven Piercing Spear may not be a Profound Heaven Treasure, but even top-tier treasures are like paper before its might!” the woman exclaimed in disbelief.

At that moment, the glow surrounding the skeleton suddenly brightened, and countless golden and silver runes surged from its bones, swirling around the entire skeleton.

“Something’s wrong! This skeleton is abnormal!” the elder shouted, his face paling. He immediately threw the Beast Taming Plate forward, transforming it into a shimmering jade gate standing tall in the void.

With a swift hand seal, the gate opened, unleashing a torrent of beastly shadows.

Meanwhile, the black-robed woman, sensing danger, raised both hands, summoning a nine-headed serpent phantom behind her. The serpent, pitch-black with purple-black tongues, spewed vast waves of purple demonic flames toward the skeleton.

The flames reeked of foulness, tainting the surrounding void into a sickly black hue.

Seeing her weapon ineffective, the woman switched tactics, unleashing her ultimate technique—the “Yellow Spring Filth Flames.”

These flames were refined from eighty-one of the most toxic and corrupt energies across multiple realms. Merely inhaling a whiff from a hundred li away would kill an ordinary person instantly.

Those engulfed by the flames would not only have their flesh dissolved into sludge but also their primordial spirits corrupted, stripped of their reincarnation rights and barred from the Yellow Spring Gate forever.

The woman treasured these flames as her greatest trump card, but they were consumable—each use diminished their reserves. She would never deploy them unless her life was at stake.

Yet the skeleton’s eerie nature and her earlier encounter with the Mother of Screens’ terrifying power had driven her to this extreme.

As the purple flames and beastly shadows descended upon the skeleton, its motionless form suddenly twitched. Its white jaw creaked open, emitting a grating laugh, while its two arms abruptly moved, unleashing an invisible force.

Both the demonic flames and beastly shadows halted a few zhang away from the skeleton, as if blocked by an impenetrable barrier.

Despite the beasts self-destructing and the flames raging wildly, they couldn’t advance an inch closer.

Meanwhile, the skeleton’s sinister laughter continued. With a push of its arms, it wobbled unsteadily—and stood up.