"I'm giving these treasures to you all as gifts, so I'm naturally not going to take them back," Bao Hua said with a smile.
"With these treasures in our possession and the Profound Heavenly Treasure capable of suppressing insects, I'm sure we'll be able to handle the Stemborer Queen; I'll come as well," the elderly man said.
The black-robed woman also gave a slight nod after a brief moment of contemplation.
Bao Hua was ecstatic to see this, but Han Li was the one that she held in the highest regard here. "What about you, Brother Han?"
"I certainly can't back down now that everyone else has agreed to go," Han Li replied as he stowed his formation plate away.
With his current powers and collection of treasures, he would be able to ensure self-preservation even against a true immortal, let alone a severely debilitated Stemborer Queen.
"Alright, I'll get the spirit of the ancient seal to teleport us there right away. Our two fellow daoists from the Black Night Realm should also be in that area, and their inclusion will even further increase our chance of success," Bao Hua said with a smile.
Immediately thereafter, she cast an incantation seal into the grey mist up ahead, and the mist parted to reveal a path.
Bao Hua drifted into the path without any hesitation, and everyone else hurriedly followed along as well.
Shortly thereafter, everyone emerged into a spacious area with a grey teleportation formation on the ground.
A voice could be heard coming from all directions, as if someone were saying something to them, but only Bao Hua seemed to be able to understand what was being said as she nodded before making her way into the formation with a solemn expression.
Everyone else hesitated momentarily before walking into the formation as well.
Once everyone had entered the formation, it was activated on its own, and the entire group vanished amid a flash of spiritual light.
……
Meanwhile, the inky-black bowl on the sacrificial altar within the mysterious stone forest suddenly tremored slightly, and a faint male voice rang out.
"So those people are planning to target that Stemborer Queen. Hehe, how foolish! They've completely overestimated themselves. I have to keep that brat alive somehow, so it looks like I'll have no choice but to use that thing…"
A forlorn sigh then rang out, as if an important sacrifice were being made.
A metallic clang then sounded in the air, and eight thin silver chains appeared above the altar.
One end of each chain was connected to the edge of the bowl, while the other ends were connected to the lamps atop the eight copper pillars.
A burst of unintelligible chanting rang out from within the bowl, and the chain that was connected to the only lit lamp began to tremor slightly.
All of a sudden, countless tiny golden runes emerged on the lamp before being rapidly funneled over to the altar along the chain, then disappeared into the black bowl.
The black mist around the bowl began to become denser, and an extremely fearsome aura that was only becoming more powerful abruptly erupted forth.
……
"So this is where the Stemborer Queen is residing," Han Li mused as he inspected his surroundings with a surprised expression.
All of the other Grand Ascension Stage beings aside from Bao Hua were also quite stunned by what they were seeing.
They were currently situated on a boundless ocean that stretched as far as the eyes could see in all directions.
"This isn't an illusion! What's going on? Is this a place in the underground palace?" the elderly man asked with furrowed brows.
"Of course not; the underground palace is nowhere near large enough to contain such a massive body of water," Bao Hua replied with a shake of her head.
"Then what is this place? Have we been teleported out of the original sealed site?" the red-faced man asked.
"I don't think so. Otherwise, our spiritual sense would no longer be restricted," the black-robed woman said, clearly having already tried out her spiritual power here.
All of a sudden, Han Li said in a calm manner, "Everyone, please look up."
"Up? I already had a look; there doesn't seem to be anything amiss," the elderly man said as he looked up at the grey sky again.
The black-robed woman and red-faced man also looked up with perplexed expressions.
However, a hint of enlightenment appeared in Bao Hua's eye as she looked up into the sky, and right at this moment, Han Li swept a finger upward, releasing an azure sword projection that was several thousand feet in length.
The grey light in the entire sky began to surge violently, and a piercing screech suddenly rang out.
It was as if the azure sword projection were threatening to cleave the entire sky apart, but after the azure light faded, the sky remained intact, but an inky-black formation that encompassed virtually the entire sky had appeared up above.
The formation was comprised of countless black runes of different sizes, and at the center of the formation was a motionless white insect that was the size of a mountain.
The insect had a pristine and flawless white body, and its head was buried deep into its own body, making it impossible to glean its appearance. However, with its rotund frame, it was looking like a massive silkworm.
Strangely enough, even though the giant insect seemed to be in a deep slumber, there were golden runes surging slowly around its body.
"That's the Stemborer Queen!" the black-robed woman exclaimed.
The red-haired man and elderly man were also very alarmed to see this, and they immediately adopted defensive stances.
In contrast, Bao Hua was very calm as she said, "There's no need to be alarmed, fellow daoists; it'll still take some time for this insect to awaken, so we won't alert it as long as we don't do anything rash. Looks like this is a spatial rift that the Stemborer Queen opened up, so our fellow daoists from the Black Night Realm won't be able to join us here."
"With the Stemborer Queen's power, it would indeed be able to open up a spatial rift. That explains why this place is still affected by the power of the seal," the elderly man said as his expression eased slightly.
"Without the assistance of our fellow daoists from the Black Night Realm, I feel like we're a little short on numbers. How about we find the exit of this place and bring those two fellow daoists in as well?" the black-robed woman suggested.
"That won't do. The Stemborer Queen is about to awaken; if we enter and exit this space so recklessly, it'll most likely awaken right away. I'm sure that's why our fellow daoists from the Black Night Realm refrained from entering this space. After all, they don't have the advantage of being able to teleport themselves into this space using the power of the ancient seal like we do," Bao Hua said.
Right at this moment, Han Li suddenly said, "Let's cut the chatter and make haste while the Stemborer Queen is still in its slumber. If we can severely wound it here, that would be the best outcome."
"Are you looking down on us, Fellow Daoist Han? If we combine our powers, even a true immortal would most likely be felled if they were caught off guard," the black-robed woman said with a hint of displeasure in her eyes.
"Hmph, if the Stemborer Queen were that easy to kill, the true immortals would've already killed it rather than sealed it away; I always prepare for the worst in everything that I do," Han Li replied in a cold voice.
The black-robed woman's expression darkened upon hearing this, and she was just about to respond again when Bao Hua interjected, "Let's not argue among ourselves, fellow daoists. All we can do is attack with all our might, and the rest will be down to luck. Having said that, it's better to be safe than sorry, so not only do we have to all attack at once, I'm going to use that Profound Heavenly Treasure that I borrowed as well. If any of you have any powerful trump cards up your sleeves, now would be the time to use them; perhaps the Stemborer Queen will only give us this one opportunity."
"You're right, Fellow Daoist Bao Hua," the elderly man said as he nodded in agreement.
No one else had any objections, either.
Thus, Bao Hua took a deep breath before making a hand seal, and a massive pink floral tree projection appeared behind her amid a flash of pink light.
At the same time, she slowly raised a hand, then parted her fingers to summon a huge rusty yellow nail.
The nail was only around half a foot in length, and its surface was riddled with pits and bumps, as well as some indistinct spirit patterns.
Judging from how dilapidated it appeared, it looked as if it had been buried in the ground for countless years.
However, Bao Hua was holding the object in a very careful manner, and she said in a solemn voice, "This Earth Emperor Nail contains the power of the laws of earth of a realm. Anyone struck by this nail would be unable to use any earth-attribute abilities, and if I recall correctly, the Stemborer Queen's essential power is of the earth attribute. If I successfully strike the Stemborer Queen with this nail, it'll be unable to use most of its powers."
