Han Li's expression changed drastically upon hearing this, but before he had a chance to do anything, the mist up ahead suddenly dispersed, and they arrived in a world of lightning that spanned an area of over 10,000 acres.
Bolts and balls of azure lightning could be seen everywhere, and a portion of the lightning was currently crashing toward a ball of yellow light situated at the center.
Within the ball of light was a black devilish beast that was several hundred feet in length.
The beast's appearance was similar to that of a crocodile, and it had a strange horn on its head. It was wearing a suit if black scale armor, and was releasing black mist that transformed into a dozen or so giant tentacles, which were frantically lashing out at the azure lightning outside.
Many of the bolts of lightning that were struck by the black tentacles were instantly reduced to nothingness, and meanwhile, there was a woman in a white dress behind the black devilish beast, seated on a pink lotus flower while making a hand seal with one hand.
In her other hand, she was holding a short yellow truncheon, and her eyes were tightly shut.
Bursts of yellow light were constantly surging out of the truncheon in her hand before injecting themselves into the surrounding ball of light to bolster it.
However, the amount of azure lightning in the surrounding area was simply far too staggering, and there were thousands of bolts of lightning crashing down upon the ball of light in unison almost every single moment.
The yellow light was seemingly indestructible and was able to suppress the power of lightning, but in the face of such a fearsome barrage, it clearly wouldn't be able to last much longer.
As soon as Han Li caught sight of the woman in white, his pupils instantly contracted, but he then immediately caught a glimpse of two other people.
One of them was a blue-robed woman, while the other was a slender young woman, and they were standing at the edge of this world of lightning.
The former was standing atop a giant blue turtle with six azure flags hovering before her, while the other was standing on a giant golden wheel, holding a silver buddha statue in her hand.
The one who had just spoken was none other than the young woman on the golden wheel, and Han Li's expression immediately darkened at the sight of them.
He didn't know who the blue-robed woman was, but the young woman was identical to the image of Liu Ji that Violet Spirit had provided him with using a jade slip.
Even though she was only at the late-Body Integration Stage, he naturally wouldn't dare to regard her as a normal late-stage devilish lord.
As for the blue-robed woman, his spiritual sense was unable to ascertain her exact cultivation base, so she was clearly a Sacred Ancestor.
As such, even with Daoist Xie's help, it definitely wouldn't be easy for him to oppose this duo.
However, the arrival of Han Li clearly came as a surprise to the two women as well.
The young woman turned to Han Li with furrowed brows before asking, "What's going on here, Sister Lan? Didn't you say that we definitely wouldn't be disrupted here in the Six Extremes Azure Lightning Formation? Why didn't your clones stop these people?"
"Do you think it's that easy to set up such a massive formation? All of my clones are preoccupied with keeping the formation up and running. The restrictions elsewhere in the formation naturally won't be as powerful as the ones here, but no ordinary being would be able to pass through them; I'm also curious about how they managed to get all the way here," the blue-robed woman harrumphed coldly in response.
"The root issue lies in the fact that this Six Extremes Azure Lightning Formation is incomplete to begin with. Otherwise, there's no way we would've been oblivious to their arrival. It looks like we'll have to deal with some additional trouble now," the young woman sighed.
These two were naturally none other than Sacred Ancestor Lan Pu and the Liu Ji clone.
After deploying many of their subordinates through the nearby area, they finally managed to track down Bao Hua, then spent several days to set up this Six Extremes Azure Lightning Formation. With their understanding of Bao Hua, they were able to lure her out of her hiding place and into this super formation.
Not only was the Six Extremes Azure Lightning Formation extremely powerful, it gave off virtually no energy fluctuations prior to being activated, so even with Bao Hua's immense powers, she had stumbled into it in a completely oblivious manner.
This was why the duo had chosen this formation even though they were aware that it was incomplete.
After that, Bao Hua was able to find the core of the formation, but in her current state, she was no longer able to use her Profound Heavenly Floral Tree. Even though she had summoned several other powerful treasures to defend herself, she was only just barely able to hold her own against Lan Pu and the Liu Ji clone.
Hei'e was also carrying severe injuries, but he had been forced into battle as well.
In this dire situation, Han Li's group had also stumbled into this formation and ended up at the same place as Bao Hua and Hei'e.
Sacred Ancestor Lan Pu chuckled coldly upon hearing this. "What trouble could a mere late-Body Integration Stage being pose to us? I could easily take care of… Hmm? Who's that? He doesn't seem to be a living being, and his aura is slightly familiar!"
Lan Pu's gaze suddenly settled on Daoist Xie as she spoke, and a hint of surprise had crept into her eyes.
"Have you figured it out as well, Sister Lan? If I'm not mistaken, that fellow daoist should be the sacred crab from the Devilish Origin Sea, which means that he must be the Fellow Daoist Han who's been wreaking havoc in our holy realm recently," Liu Ji said.
Lan Pu's expression immediately changed slightly upon hearing this.
Han Li had forged quite a resounding reputation for himself at this point, but he still wasn't a Grand Ascension Stage being, so veteran Sacred Ancestors like Lan Pu didn't think much of him. However, the sacred crab was a Faux Immortal Puppet that had remained in the Devilish Origin Sea for countless years, and all Sacred Ancestors were extremely wary of it.
"It's truly an honor for me to meet the two of you here. However, I'm merely passing through this place, and I hope you can release us from this formation so we can be on our way," Han Li said as he cupped his fist in a calm salute.
As for Daoist Xie, he completely disregarded the two women and remained seated in the flying carriage.
Liu Ji and Lan pu exchanged a glance upon seeing this, and they couldn't help but recall the rumors stating that the sacred crab had been tamed by Han Li.
The two of them had been quite skeptical of this rumor, but it was clear that this Daoist Xie was currently following Han Li's lead, thereby lending credibility to the rumor.
"We're also quite surprised to see you here, Fellow Daoist. We have no intention of attracting any further trouble, and seeing as you're just passing through, we'd be happy to let you go. What do you think, Sister Lan?" Liu Ji said with a smile.
Lan Pu glowered at Han Li for a while before finally gritting her teeth as she said in a resentful manner, "Hmph, if it weren't for Fellow Daoist Xie, I definitely wouldn't let this human brat leave this place alive. If you run into me again, consider your life forfeit!"
It was clear that Lan Pu was very reluctant to let Han Li leave, but they were preoccupied with their battle against Bao Hua, so she had no choice but to agree.
Han Li's expression remained unchanged, but he heaved an internal sigh of relief. "Thank you, Seniors."
Lan Pu harrumphed coldly once again before pointing at one of the six azure flags before her, and the flag instantly swelled to over 100 feet tall as azure lightning began to surge over its surface.
"Open!" Lan Pu yelled, and the giant flag shuddered as a thick bolt of azure lightning erupted out of the top of the flag amid a rumbling thunderclap.
The bolt of lightning then transformed into a pavilion-sized azure rune over 1,000 feet up in the air, and the rune vanished into thin air in a flash, following which a hole that was around 10 feet in size appeared, revealing the blue sky outside.
At the same time, the azure lightning in front of Han Li also parted to open up a safe path for him to pass through.
Even though Lan Pu was very reluctant to let him go, once she made her decision, she acted upon it in a very quick and decisive manner.
Han Li was naturally ecstatic to see this, and he immediately spurred on his flying carriage into the passageway that had been opened.
However, right in this instant, Bao Hua suddenly opened her eyes and said something that made Han Li's expression changed drastically, "Fellow Daoist Han, are you still interested in finding the Small Spirit Sky? If I were to perish here, I'm sure there wouldn't be a second person in the Spirit Realm or Elder Devil Realm that can accurately track down the Small Spirit Sky."
Han Li's flying carriage drew to an abrupt halt upon hearing this, and he turned to scrutinize Bao Hua with an intense look in his eyes. "How do you know I'm searching for the Small Spirit Sky?"
"Have you forgotten that the little girl by your side has stayed with me for a while? How could I not know about your interest in the Small Spirit Sky? I don't know what you're searching for in that realm, but I'm sure it's extremely important to you," Bao Hua replied in an unhurried manner.
