Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and Bao Hua and the others were also rather taken aback.
Judging from what the Stemborer Queen had just said, it seemed that Han Li's spiritual sense was even more powerful than that of Bao Hua's, and that was quite surprising.
"If you think my Nascent Soul will be quite good to eat, then come and get it," Han Li said with a faint smile, seemingly completely unfazed by the little girl's threat.
Bao Hua and the others couldn't help but admire his courage. After all, not everyone could remain so calm and nonchalant in the face of a threat from a being as fearsome as the Stemborer Queen.
"Alright, then don't mind if I do!" the little girl said as she licked her lips and clenched her fists, then suddenly shot forth as a blurry shadow.
She was so fast that she reached Han Li in an instant, and he couldn't even clearly see how she had gotten there. A black flaming fist pierced through Han Li's chest, and only then did the shadow solidify as the little girl re-emerged with a smile on her face.
However, in the next instant, her smile immediately faded as a green line swept forth from Han Li's body without any warning, slicing the little girl's body cleanly in half.
As for the Han Li that had just been struck by her punch, it suddenly exploded into a ball of golden light.
Over 100 feet away, another Han Li emerged expressionlessly amid a burst of spatial fluctuations, holding a green longsword that was releasing hints of powers of law.
"That sword of yours is a Profound Heavenly Treasure! No wonder you were able to evade my attack; looks like it won't be that easy to take you down."
A burst of giggling rang out, and the two halves of the little girl's body didn't shed a single drop of blood as they hovered in mid-air, while the two halves of her mouth curved upward into an unsettling smile.
Both the elderly man and black-robed woman couldn't help but shudder in the face of such a disturbing sight.
Right at this moment, Bao Hua suddenly raised a hand to hurl her Earth Emperor Nail through the air, then abruptly vanished amid a flash of pink light.
At the same time, her voice rang out within the ears of the elderly man and black-robed woman. "We have to act now, fellow daoists; only after destroying the Stemborer Queen's body will we be able to escape from this place. Fellow Daoist Han and I won't be able to hold off this clone for too long, so you have to make haste."
The elderly man and black-robed woman's expressions changed several times, but after exchanging a glance, they could only grit their teeth and plunge into the water down below.
Even though they were enraged by Bao Hua's tampering of the Treasured Phoenix Spirit Plates, they had no choice but to work with her now.
The little girl's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and she immediately tried to stop them, but a giant nail suddenly appeared above of the two halves of her body, then transformed into a yellow net that descended toward her.
Countless yellow runes surged out of the net alongside a burst of extremely formidable power of laws.
A cold light flashed through the little girl's eyes as her body suddenly exploded into countless black threads that shot forth in all directions, allowing her to evade the yellow net.
A fierce look appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he let loose a loud cry as his Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword also transformed into countless green threads that vanished into thin air before appearing right in front of the black threads, then unleashed a barrage of ferocious attacks.
All of the black threads that came into contact with the green threads immediately exploded into clouds of black Qi.
Han Li pointed a finger forward, planning to spur on the green threads to eradicate all of this black Qi, but right at this moment, the clouds of black Qi suddenly dissipated, and in the next instant, the little girl re-emerged elsewhere amid a flash of black light, having completely recovered from her injuries.
She turned toward Han Li with a cold smile, yet just as she was about to unleash some type of ability, a peculiar aroma suddenly wafted through the air around her.
Immediately thereafter, countless pink flower petals emerged, and the surrounding space suddenly became extremely viscous.
The little girl was quite alarmed by this, and she quickly tried to escape, but all of a sudden, Bao Hua emerged above her, carrying a giant ball of light that she immediately raised up high.
The ball of light exploded, and countless runes surged out of it, all of which were extremely dazzling to behold.
At the epicenter of the explosion, a wisp of green light appeared, transforming into a tiny green seedling, which grew to become a small tree in the blink of an eye and was still growing at a rapid rate discernible to the naked eye.
All of a sudden, a huge green tree had taken shape over Bao Hua's palm.
Specks of pink light appeared all over the tree's branches, transforming into pink flower buds that instantly spread over the entire tree.
Bao Hua then began to chant an incantation, and the flower buds slowly bloomed, turning the green tree a pink color.
Pink flower projections filled the entire space within a radius of tens of thousands of kilometers, creating a vast sea of pink.
"This is a Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain!" the little girl exclaimed as her smile finally faded, and a fierce look appeared on her face as countless grey runes appeared around her.
The surrounding space began to twist and warp, and it seemed that she was trying to escape the domain with all her might.
The entire domain also began to tremor violently, as if it were struggling to hold itself together.
An urgent look appeared on Bao Hua's face as she hurriedly yelled, "Strike now, Fellow Daoist Han!"
As soon as her voice trailed off, she grabbed onto a branch of the tree and tore it off before slashing it toward the little girl down below. All of the huge flowers on the branch instantly transformed into five-colored runes that vanished in a flash, while the little girl let loose an agonized cry as one of her arms suddenly disappeared.
At the same time, the branch in Bao Hua's hand had also vanished.
However, in the next instant, the little girl was able to regrow a brand new arm amid a flash of black light.
Bao Hua immediately tore two more branches off the tree before also slashing them toward the little girl.
In the next instant, both of the little girl's arms vanished in unison.
A ferocious look surfaced in the little girl's eyes, and she regrew both of her arms at once.
Meanwhile, Han Li was making a hand seal with a serious expression, and a string of cracks and pops immediately erupted within his body.
A series of purplish-golden scales then appeared all over his skin, and a short horn emerged on his forehead.
At the same time, two identical heads and four additional golden arms also sprouted out of his body.
The three heads let loose a thunderous roar in unison, and a third demonic eye opened up on the glabella of each head with purplish-golden light flashing within them.
Han Li had unleashed his Holy Nirvana Physique to its maximal extent!
His aura had swelled to over 10 times as powerful as it had been, and he gripped onto his Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword with both hands before slashing it viciously toward the trapped little girl in the distance.
Chapter 2238: Battle Against the Stemborer Queen (2)
An explosive boom rang out, and the space before Han Li suddenly collapsed as the world's origin Qi in the surrounding area funneled into the green sword in a frenzy, releasing a terrifying doomsday-like aura.
This was the first time that Han Li had unleashed the full might of his Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword after reaching the Grand Ascension Stage.
A green crescent sword projection flew out of the collapsed space, and countless translucent runes surged out of its surface in a frenzy.
The collapsed space and the green crescent then e
xploded in unison, and the countless runes and green light combined to form a long near-transparent thread before abruptly vanishing.
The translucent thread seemed to be very ordinary, but in the instant that it appeared, the entire sky dimmed, and the surrounding space began to warp in a rhythmic manner.
All of the space was warping toward the translucent thread, as if it were bowing in reverence.
"Impossible! That's a thread of laws!" the little girl exclaimed as a stunned look appeared on her face, and a layer of black flames suddenly surfaced over her body as she donned a suit of bone armor that was riddled with countless sharp spikes.
Countless grey runes surged incessantly within the black flames, and each bone spike was as translucent as jade.
Innumerable silver patterns could be seen on the surface of the armor, and in the next instant, the translucent thread emerged right before the little girl amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.
She was immobilized by the spirit domain, so she could only watch as the thread of laws surged toward her.
Her bone armor and that layer of black flames managed to pose a slight hindrance to the translucent thread, but they were both breached in the end.
The little girl let loose an agonized cry as her body was sliced in half through the waist, and all of a sudden, thin gashes appeared all over her body before she was split up into countless chunks.
"Nice!"
Bao Hua was ecstatic to see this, and she immediately made a hand seal, upon which the massive floral tree shrank down to only around half a foot tall.
Halos of rainbow light then surged forth from the miniature tree, and Bao Hua grabbed onto it before sweeping it rapidly through the air down below.
The branches and the countless flowers on the tree instantly withered away, and at the same time, countless giant crimson flowers appeared around the chunks of the little girl's dismembered body.
Each crimson flower opened up its petals before enveloping one chunk of flesh, then exploded into balls of pink light.
Once all of the explosions concluded, nothing remained of the little girl's body.
At this point, Bao Hua's miniature tree had clearly exhausted all of its power as well, and it shuddered before vanishing into thin air.
The entire spirit domain also surged violently before disintegrating.
Thus, Han Li and Bao Hua were the only ones that remained in this space.
"I didn't think that you'd be capable of unleashing a thread of laws, Brother Han; your mastery of your Profound Heavenly Treasure is truly extraordinary," Bao Hua said with a peculiar expression.
"So that thing's known as a thread of laws? As expected, it's far more powerful than what I was able to unleash in the past," Han Li mused as he glanced down at his green longsword.
Bao Hua was rather taken aback to hear this. "Is this your first time manifesting that thread, Fellow Daoist Han?"
"Indeed, it is. I was only trying to maximize the power of this Profound Heavenly Treasure to the best of my abilities just now," Han Li replied.
"I don't know what to say. Could it be that this Profound Heavenly Treasure has been nurtured within your body from the very beginning? Otherwise, it's virtually impossible to manifest a thread of laws using a Profound Heavenly Treasure. Countless owners of Profound Heavenly Treasures have refined and nurtured their treasures for over 100,000 years, but are still unable to even begin to grasp a thread of laws," Bao Hua said with a wry smile.
"It sounds like I was quite lucky, then. In comparison, I'm more interested in the Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain; would you be able to tell me about that?" Han Li asked.
"This Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain is something that I only managed to attain after expending countless efforts and referencing an incomplete ancient tome. However, there are still many parts that require further refinement, and it can't compare with a true spirit domain. If you're interested, I'd be happy to tell you about it some time," Bao Hua replied.
"That would be great. Setting that aside for now, have we really managed to destroy the Stemborer Queen's clone? Why is it that I still feel rather uneasy?" Han Li asked with furrowed brows.
"A clone of the Stemborer Queen should be nowhere near as powerful as the true Stemborer Queen itself, so there's no way it would've been able to survive our combined attacks. However, the feeling of unease in my heart hasn't abated, either," Bao Hua said as her expression darkened slightly.
"Does that mean the clone isn't actually dead, but is merely unable to appear before us due to its injuries?" Han Li asked.
"I'm afraid that's most likely the case," Bao Hua replied with a wry smile.
"In any case, it's a good thing that we managed to severely wound the clone; let's take this opportunity to find the body of the Stemborer Queen," Han Li said.
A faint smile appeared on Bao Hua's face, yet just as she was about to reply, a sharp voice suddenly rang out from the spot where the little girl had just vanished not long ago.
"You think you're safe now just because you beat Stem One? What a joke! Stem Two will have some fun now."
As soon as the voice trailed off, a gargantuan claw appeared up above before grabbing viciously down toward Han Li and Bao Hua.
The claw spread its five fingers, encompassing virtually the entire sky, and each claw was over 100 feet in length with azure light flashing from their sharp tips.
As the claws swept through the air, five long spatial rifts instantly appeared, as if the entire sky had been torn apart. "Slow down, Stem Two; save some fun for Stem Three as well." Another unsettling voice rang out in all directions.
In the instant that Han Li heard this voice, a peal of laughter suddenly rang out in his ears, resembling the seductive panting of a woman.
His consciousness involuntarily faded for a split-second, and his movements also faltered.
At the same time, a massive bolt of grey lightning came crashing down toward him from above.
With Han Li's enormous spiritual sense, he was able to almost immediately recover from his moment of disorientation, and his expression immediately changed slightly at the sight of the grey lightning overhead.
He hurriedly withdrew his green longsword, completely disregarding the giant claw above him as he conjured up around a dozen identical projections that shot forth in all directions.
However, the bolt of grey lightning also split up into the same number of arcs before surging toward the projections as if it had a mind of its own.
Right at this moment, Bao Hua let loose a fierce cry, and her Earth Emperor Nail swelled to over 10,000 feet in size before crashing toward the giant claw up above.
In response, the giant claw unleashed five massive azure blade projections that swept down with ferocious might, seemingly completely unfazed by the massive nail.
An earth-shattering boom rang out as the nail and blade projections clashed, and the two attacks appeared to be evenly matched in power.
Meanwhile, the grey lightning was pursuing Han Li's projections relentlessly, and it seemed that the lightning would never fade until it killed its target.
"Do you really think this baleful lightning will be enough to bring me down?" Han Li's enraged voice rang out from all of the projections, and each of them released a bolt of golden lightning that clashed with the grey lightning before immediately disintegrating.
As for the grey lightning, it remained completely unaffected aside from the fact that it had dimmed slightly, and it continued to surge toward Han Li's projections.
In the instant that the projections came into contact with the grey lightning, the former self-detonated into countless golden runes that seemed to be evenly-matched against the grey lightning.
However, one of the projections was the real Han Li, and purplish-golden light revolved all around his body as he threw a vicious punch at the oncoming bolt of grey lightning.
An earth-shattering boom rang out as a white pillar of light was unleashed to clash with the grey lightning.
In the instant that the lightning came into contact with the white pillar of light, it was completely devoured by the white light as if it had encountered the bane of its existence.
However, the purplish-golden light surging over Han Li's body also dimmed quite noticeably, clearly indicating that he had expended a lot of energy to unleash that attack.
Chapter 2239: Battle Against the Stemborer Queen (3)
"What a powerful physical body; I wonder how it compares with Stem Two." A hint of surprise crept into the unsettling voice upon seeing this.
Han Li cast his gaze downward to discover that a completely translucent beetle-like insect that looked as if it were conjured up from liquid had appeared on the surface of the water down below.
The insect was over 100 feet in length and had eyes of different sizes all over its body, presenting a very chilling sight to behold.
The unsettling voice was coming from none other than that insect, and arcs of grey baleful lightning were flashing between its pair of remarkably long feelers.
Han Li looked down at the insect and the baleful lightning with a wary expression, then suddenly cast his gaze toward Bao Hua.
At this moment, Bao Hua was making a string of hand seals, and the massive Earth Emperor Nail was clashing with the giant claw up above at her behest.
The gigantic claw was extremely fearsome, but its owner remained hidden within the dark clouds overhead.
Even with just a single claw alone, it had gained a slight upper hand over the Profound Heavenly Treasure that was the Earth Emperor Nail.
Looking at the giant claw, Han Li couldn't help but recall the shattered weapons he had seen at the entrance of the hall where the formation core was situated.
Aside from the massive size difference, the claw was completely concurrent with the claw mark that had been inflicted on the piece of High Zenith Platinum, so its owner was most likely the one that had killed all of the guards.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 1282