"Mistress Bao Hua, those people have already reached the Spirit Cleansing Pond; are we still not going to strike?" the black-armored man asked in a hesitant manner.
"There's no rush; someone else will stop them soon," the woman replied in a calm voice.
"Someone else?"
"I ventured into the holy realm on this occasion with the primary goal of recovering my former magic power, but also with a secondary objective to meet that person," the woman said with a smile.
The black-armored man was rather perplexed by this, but he didn't dare to ask any further questions.
A short while later, the woman suddenly raised an eyebrow before sweeping a hand through the air.
A ball of mercury-like substance suddenly appeared in front of her, then transformed into a light barrier with a mirror surface, within which a clear image was being depicted.
The image being displayed was of the edge of the sea of lightning. All of a sudden, spatial fluctuations erupted, and a massive ball of black light that had a diameter of around 1,000 feet appeared.
The light then faded to reveal a three-headed black wyrm that was around 700 to 800 feet in length.
The devilish wyrm's entire body was covered in glossy black scales, and bursts of black flame were surging all over its body, presenting a very fearsome sight to behold.
There was a black-robed young man standing atop the giant wyrm's middle head.
The man had a pair of purple eyes and very pale skin. His brows were as straight and sharp as swords, and even though he was completely expressionless, there seemed to be a hint of killing intent emanating from his body.
The young man cast his gaze toward the sea of lightning, then harrumphed coldly as he made a grabbing motion. Countless black runes surged out of the palm of his hand before forming a black spear that was around 10 feet in length.
The entire spear had layer upon layer of devilish patterns engraved upon it, striking the beholder with a sense of disorientation and sensory overload.
The young man flicked his wrist in a casual manner, and a vast expanse of black light was released by the tip of the spear before plunging into the sea of lightning.
An astonishing scene then ensued!
All of the lightning in the face of the black light immediately parted, opening up a path that stretched as far as the eyes could see.
Not even a single bolt of lightning was able to force its way into the path, as if they had all kept out by some type of almighty power.
The black spear then exploded and disintegrated into black runes again at the young man's behest.
However, just as he was about to enter the sea of lightning atop his black wyrm steed, he suddenly detected something and turned to face Bao Hua directly from within the mirror she had summoned.
Purple light flashed through his eyes as he roared, "Who dares to spy on me?"
At the same time, a burst of invisible energy fluctuations pierced through space before manifesting itself on the mirror, and the mirror immediately exploded into countless specks of silver light amid a dull thump.
The black-armored man immediately turned deathly pale upon seeing this. "That's Patriarch Yuan Yan! Is this the person that you're waiting for, Mistress Bao Hua?"
"That's right. Are you scared?" the woman in white asked as a cold smile appeared on her face.
The black-armored man immediately began to sweat profusely, "Of course not, but you still haven't recovered to your full power yet; isn't it a bit premature to be meeting Master Yuan Yan at a time like this?"
"With me here, you have nothing to fear. Besides, I'm not here to pick a fight with Yuan Yan. However, there's something that I need you to do for me," the woman in white said in a cold voice.
The black-armored man's heart eased slightly upon hearing this, and he immediately extended a respectful bow. "I'll do anything you ask of me, Mistress Bao Hua."
"If you can take care of this matter to a satisfactory degree, I'll ensure your safety no matter what happens. Listen up…" The woman's lips tremored as she began to transmit her voice toward the black-armored man.
The black-armored man listened with rapt focus, and a hint of enlightenment quickly appeared on his face. He finally understood why Sacred Ancestor Bao Hua had taken him along with her instead of anyone else.
"If you can do this for me, I'll be sure to reward you handsomely, but for now, I have to ascertain exactly which one of these intruders the result of my divination was pointing toward."
The woman swept a hand through the air again as she spoke, and that mirror-like light barrier re-emerged amid a flash of silver light.
However, on this occasion, the image being depicted in the mirror was the scene within the valley that was enshrouded under green spiritual light. Within the image, Han Li and the others had summoned a series of treasures and were attacking an invisible restriction with all their might.
Treasures of different colors flew through the air, and all types of abilities were also being unleashed, but the invisible restriction remained as resolute as a mountain, displaying no signs of wavering at all.
"This is not going to work; this restriction was clearly set up by a devilish patriarch, so there's no way we'll be able to break it unless we use our trump cards," the Long Family patriarch suddenly yelled as he ceased his attacks.
"Indeed. I have a Myriad Year Erosion Bead that should be somewhat effective against this restriction, but I'll need someone else to simultaneously attack the restriction while I use this bead. Brother Long, that golden ax of yours will be perfect for this," Bai Qi said to the Long Family patriarch.
"That Golden Sand Ax of mine is indeed extremely powerful, but each usage expends a significant amount of my true essence. If I were to use it twice in a short span of time, it could have a lasting negative effect on me. How about this? I have another ability that specifically targets restrictions, so I can use that ability to assist you," the Long Family patriarch said as his brows furrowed slightly.
"That should be fine. Fellow Daoist Han, I'm sure you have some trump cards up your sleeve as well, right?" Bai Qi nodded in response before suddenly turning to Han Li.
"I possess a pair of treasures that are far more powerful than even the average top-grade treasure; I'm sure those can be of assistance," Han Li replied in a nonchalant manner.
"That's great! This is an extremely profound restriction, but I'm sure we'll be able to destroy it if we combine all of our powers," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns said with an elated expression.
At this moment, Bai Qi patted a leather pouch that was hanging from his waist, and a grey bead flew out before releasing wisps of grey water vapor.
The water vapor was giving off an indescribable rotten odor that was somehow fragrant rather than repulsive.
Meanwhile, the Long Family patriarch and Han Li had also sprung into action.
The former rubbed his hands together, and a wisp of golden light appeared between his palms before quickly becoming longer and thicker, transforming into a sharp spike in the blink of an eye.
As for Han Li, he merely flipped his hands over to summon a pair of miniature mountains, one of which was black while the other was azure.
Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns and the others also began to inject their magic power into their own treasures and abilities with all their might, preparing to unleash a devastating collective attack.
"Go!" Bai Qi yelled as he pointed a finger at the bead he had summoned, upon which the grey water vapor it had released immediately condensed into around a dozen grey threads that shot forth toward the invisible restriction.
The Long Family patriarch also hurled the golden spike he was holding through the air, and it shot forth like a bolt of golden lightning.
As for Han Li, he merely hurled the pair of miniature mountains forward, and they instantly expanded to over 1,000 feet in size each in the blink of an eye.
All of a sudden, a black light flashed above the pond, and a massive three-headed black wyrm appeared. "Hmph, I knew it would be you pesky Spirit Realm beings here!"
The black-robed young man was standing in the air above the black wyrm in an expressionless manner, and he raised a hand before thrusting it nonchalantly toward the attacks that everyone had unleashed.
A giant black hand that was over 10,000 feet in size appeared in the air above the pond, then descended with unstoppable force to instantly nullify all of the oncoming attacks. At the same time, a burst of enormous power came crashing down upon Han Li and the others.
Everyone's bodies instantly went numb, and they were crushed down into the soil beside the pond all the way up to their thighs.
Han Li reflexively resisted as his skin instantly took on a crimson-golden hue, and he was able to only sink into the soil up to his ankles.
Aside from Han Li, the Spirit being by the name of Zhi Shui only swayed slightly before steadying himself as if nothing had happened. He then looked up at the black-robed young man, and piercing silver light erupted from his eyes as layers of silver spirit patterns appeared all over his skin, creating an extremely strange sight to behold.
As for the Long Family patriarch and the others, their bodies had completely stiffened, and they felt as if their legs had been detached from their bodies, which naturally made them very alarmed.
