Han Li turned toward Zhu Guo'er with furrowed brows upon hearing this, and Zhu Guo'er immediately began to panic as she hurriedly said, "I don't know what she did to me, Senior; I was unconscious the entire time I was with her!"
"With her powers, it's a simple matter for her to glean your memories, so I have no intention of blaming you for anything," Han Li consoled with a shake of his head, then turned toward Bao Hua with a cold expression.
"How do I know you're telling the truth? You can expect me to lend you my assistance in such a dire situation without providing any evidence. Otherwise, I'd rather search for the Small Spirit Sky on my own than take such a massive risk."
After that, Han Li cast a glance toward Lan Pu and Liu Ji, and as expected, they were far from pleased by this sudden development.
However, both of them knew that Han Li hadn't yet made a decision about whether he was going to help Bao Hua, so they didn't do anything rash and merely appraised the unfolding situation with dark expressions.
"Of course I have some evidence that I can show you." Bao Hua's lips were moving, but she wasn't making any sounds. Instead, she was transmitting her voice directly toward Han Li.
Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this, following which spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted up ahead, and a ball of pink light emerged before flying directly toward him.
He swept his spiritual sense toward the ball of light to find that it was carrying an item, and he raised a hand to draw the item into his grasp before focusing his gaze onto it.
In doing so, he discovered that this was a short inky-black stick that was giving off a faint golden luster.
Han Li's mind quickly scrambled to identify the stick, but he was at a complete loss for what it could be.
"Ah, that's a piece of Profound Astral Wood!" Zhu Guo'er suddenly exclaimed at the sight of the short stick.
"You recognize this thing?" Han Li asked.
"Yes, Senior; Profound Astral Wood is a type of spirit wood that can only be found in our Small Spirit Sky. It takes 100 years for it to grow half an inch, 1,000 years for it to grow a single leaf, and 10,000 years for it to flower. It's the most precious wood-attribute tool refinement material in our Small Spirit Sky, and it even has a nickname of divine wood. The largest piece I've ever seen is only a pea-sized section; I've never seen or even heard of such a large piece of Profound Astral Wood!" Zhu Guo'er said with wide astonished eyes.
"Are you sure that this spirit wood can't be found outside of the Small Spirit Sky? Alternatively, is it possible that you've falsely identified it, and this is actually another type of material?" Han Li asked with furrowed brows.
"According to the human seniors of our Small Spirit Sky, Profound Astral Wood is something that only came into existence by chance through cross-breeding of several types of spirit wood in our Small Spirit Sky, so it definitely can't be found in any other realms. Many battles have been waged between our human race and other foreign races over this spirit wood, so there's no way I could mistaken it for something else," Zhu Guo'er said in an earnest manner.
"I see." Han Li turned his gaze back to the piece of spirit wood as a contemplative look appeared on his face.
Right at this moment, Liu Ji finally interjected, "Fellow Daoist Han, we won't be keeping this passageway open for you for much longer if you don't leave."
A hint of killing intent also flashed through Lan Pu's eyes. "If you don't leave now, then you can stay here forever!"
At the same time, the giant azure flag before her emitted a faint buzzing sound, and the passageway began to tremor as if it were about to collapse at any moment.
Han Li's pupils contracted slightly upon seeing this, and he immediately said, "We're leaving!"
In the next instant, his flying carriage flew out of the passageway as a ball of light and quickly disappeared into the distance.
Both Lan Pu and Liu Ji were ecstatic to see this, while Bao Hua's expression remained completely unchanged.
Following Han Li's departure, Lan Pu pointed a finger at the giant flag up ahead, and the passageway that had been created collapsed amid a resounding boom.
Thus, the entire world of lightning reverted back to its former state.
Liu Ji turned to Bao Hua with a smile, and said, "Looks like you weren't able to tempt him, Sister Bao Hua. If I were in his place, I wouldn't be willing to take such a huge risk, either. I'm sure you're beginning to run out of magic power, so why don't you allow us to send you on your way?"
Her smile faded as she spoke, and she quickly laid a hand onto the silver buddha statue before her.
A vast expanse of silver light instantly erupted from the statue, and a silver projection that was around 100 feet tall emerged from the ground, then transformed into a giant silver buddha.
Meanwhile, Lan Pu opened her mouth to expel several balls of essential Qi, all of which vanished into the five remaining azure flags.
In the next instant, the five small flags also swelled to over 100 feet tall amid a rumbling thunderclap, and the flags transformed into six ferocious azure lightning wyrms, each of which was as thick as a water tank, and they pounced directly toward Bao Hua in unison.
Within the yellow light, the giant crocodile let loose an enraged roar, and the dozen or so black tentacles it had conjured up transformed into giant black pythons that clashed with the six azure lightning wyrms.
A string of resounding booms rang out, and the black pythons were instantly torn into shreds.
The giant crocodile immediately let loose a howl of agony, and its body began to writhe frantically as the devilish Qi billowing out of its mouth abruptly ceased.
It was clear that Hei'e had been completely dominated during that clash.
Without any further impediment in their paths, the six azure lightning wyrms reached the ball of yellow light in a flash before pouncing down in unison.
Bao Hua's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this, and she quickly swept her short truncheon through the air.
A piercing screech rang out as yellow halos surged out of the truncheon in a frenzy.
The oncoming azure lightning wyrms were caught up in the yellow halos, and they immediately became extremely slow and sluggish.
Liu Ji harrumphed coldly upon seeing this, and she immediately made a hand seal, upon which the giant silver buddha projection reached out a single hand.
The hand somehow covered a distance of several thousand feet and appeared right above the ball of yellow light, then came crashing down like a small mountain.
As it descended, a burst of fearsome power came crashing down along with it, and the ball of yellow light was quickly compressed into an oval shape.
Within the ball of light, Bao Hua's hand shot forth like lightning as she swept her short truncheon up into the air.
Her attack seemed to be quite gentle and feeble, but the short truncheon struck the center of the silver palm projection in a flash, following which the former exploded into a scintillating ball of light.
Gusts of fierce yellow winds surged through the air in all directions, and the giant palm projection was instantly torn apart along with the azure lightning wyrms, as well as the bolts and balls of azure lightning in the nearby area. Furthermore, the shockwaves continued to proliferate outward with sustained formidable power.
"She detonated her Essence Quaking Truncheon! She really is getting desperate now!" [1]
Both Lan Pu and Liu Ji were very alarmed to see this, and they instantly concealed themselves into the sea of mist behind them.
However, they weren't overly panicked. In their eyes, Bao Hua wouldn't be able to escape from the Six Extremes Azure Lightning Formation even after detonating her treasure. Instead, she would only exhaust the last of her magic power, and after that, it would be an easy task for them to capture her.
However, just as the two of them were planning to wait until the shockwaves from the explosion subsided, an earth-shattering boom suddenly rang out up above, and the entire sea of mist tremored as a terrifying aura came sweeping down from the heavens.
Even with Lan Pu and Liu Ji's powers, they were extremely alarmed by this fearsome aura, and they immediately fled into the distance as streaks of light.
Violent spatial fluctuations erupted above the sea of lightning, and a scintillating golden sun appeared before crashing down as a pair of thick pillars of light.
The pillars of golden light instantly pierced through the spots where Liu Ji and Lan Pu had been standing just a moment ago, punching two massive white holes into space.
A faint smile appeared on Bao Hua's face upon seeing this, and she mustered up what little remained of her magic power before sweeping a sleeve through the air, releasing a burst of pink light that swept up both herself and the giant crocodile, upon which both of them instantly vanished on the spot.
At the same time, the pink floral tree projection behind her also disappeared.
In the air above the giant formation, Han Li was standing atop his flying carriage in an expressionless manner. Just over 100 feet away from him was a massive golden crab, and it was currently in the process of slowly closing its cavernous mouth, within which residual traces of golden light could still be seen.
That fearsome attack had been unleashed by none other than Daoist Xie at Han Li's behest.
1. Just going to point out, in chapter 2018 there was an Origin Quake Mace mentioned and It's the same as the weapon here. It's changed now, but just wanted to mention this in case anyone else noticed.
