The azure threads vanished into the ball of runes in a flash, following which the green-robed woman continued to chant while pointing up at the ball of runes incessantly.
Radiant light suddenly erupted from the surface of the ball of runes, and it transformed into a funnel-shaped five-colored cloud.
The runes within the cloud flashed incessantly, and it was as if something were rapidly taking shape within it.
All of a sudden, light flashed from the underside of the cloud, and five dazzling translucent threads emerged before descending toward the glacial pond.
As soon as the translucent threads came into contact with the water in the pond, a layer of white glacial Qi swept forth, causing white frost to accumulate over the threads.
The green-robed woman's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and she immediately pointed a finger toward the cloud again.
A rumbling boom akin to a dull thunderclap rang out, and a burst of five-colored light swept down along the translucent thread, instantly eradicating the white glacial Qi and the frost that had gathered on the threads.
Thus, the translucent thread plunged into the glacial pond.
A hint of caution appeared on the green-robed woman's face, and she began to make a rapid string of hand seals.
The five translucent threads descended deeper and deeper into the glacial pond, and Han Li was appraising everything while continuing to inject his magic power into the stone pillar beneath his feet.
The green-robed woman had told them to give it their all, but with Han Li's immense magic power, he was able to make do with very little effort.
At the same time, he was calculating the approximate depth of the translucent threads using a secret technique.
100 feet… 300 feet… 1,000 feet… 3,000 feet…
As time passed, Han Li's eyes began to narrow slightly.
At this point, the translucent threads were encountering significant resistance and had slowed down drastically.
After passing the 10,000 feet mark, the green-robed woman heaved a sigh of relief, but the cautious look on her face still didn't fade.
With each passing breath, the translucent threads were only able to sink several inches further.
Even with all of her treasures, this was the deepest point that the green-robed woman had ever been able to reach.
Thus, the translucent threads could reach the bottom of the glacial pond at any moment, and that was making the green-robed woman quite apprehensive.
At this moment, Ying'er was entirely enshrouded within a cloud of crimson mist with an indistinct projection flashing behind her.
It was unknown what type of secret technique she had unleashed, but the aura she was releasing really was no less powerful than that of the average Grand Ascension Stage being.
She hadn't been lying when she had declared that she could elevate her cultivation base using a secret technique.
As a result, Xue Ran and the others were regularly sneaking intrigued glances at her.
Around an hour later, the translucent threads were still in the pond, but they were now covered in a thin layer of frost, and the speed of their descent was almost undetectable to the naked eye.
After continuously releasing magic power for such a long time, Mo Jianli and the others were beginning to display signs of strain.
Xue Ran's brows were tightly furrowed as he communicated with Hei Lin through voice transmission, while the Asura Spiders outside the formation had all turned very pale and were truly beginning to struggle.
A sense of urgency welled up in the green-robed woman's heart upon seeing this.
If she couldn't secure the treasure in the pond on this occasion, then there would be no chance for her in the future.
With that in mind, she arrived at a decision and suddenly laid a hand onto the top of her own head, upon which a green spider that was around a foot in length emerged amid a flash of green light.
The spider was glowing with green light, but its compound eyes were of a bright purple color, and as soon as it appeared, it opened its mouth to release a fist-sized ball of azure light upward. Inside the ball of light was a white crystalline core, and it instantly vanished into the funnel-shaped cloud in a flash.
The woman had released her core, and it seemed that she was making one last roll of the dice.
Everyone's hearts stirred slightly upon seeing this, and as soon as the core vanished into the cloud, a burst of loud rumbling rang out, following which a stream of piercing light flowed down along the translucent threads in a frenzy.
The frost that had gathered over the translucent threads was dispelled again, and its speed of descent increased by about tenfold, quickly plunging down several hundred more feet before slowing down again.
The green-robed woman's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this.
Right at this moment, a faint sigh rang out from within the cloud of crimson mist, following which a pillar of silver light emerged before also plunging into the cloud.
Another burst of bright light flowed down the translucent threads, which accelerated in its descent once again.
However, on this occasion, the translucent threads only plunged down around 70 to 80 feet further before falling still again.
"The bottom has been reached! Please hold on just a little longer while I find the treasure's exact location," the green-robed woman said in an excited manner before switching to a different hand seal and closing her eyes.
Enormous spiritual sense surged out of her glabella, traveling along the five translucent threads to instantly reach the bottom of the glacial pond.
Moments later, an elated look appeared on her face, and her eyes instantly sprang open as she pointed a finger at the five translucent threads while uttering an urgent incantation.
Almost at the exact same moment, Han Li felt his magic power output rate into the stone pillar increase by over twofold.
His brows furrowed slightly, but he merely adjusted his magic power slightly and didn't oppose this change.
Right at this moment, the five translucent threads tremored violently while emitting a faint buzzing sound, then slowly withdrew toward the funnel-shaped cloud.
One inch… two inches… half a foot… one foot…
The translucent threads were extremely slow, as if they were dragging up something very heavy.
The still surface of the pond suddenly began to churn violently, forming a black vortex that was unfathomably deep, attempting to crush everything around and within it.
Only the five translucent threads remained resolute at the center of the glacial pond.
Bursts of glacial Qi that were several times more potent than before gushed out of the vortex, but were kept at bay by the surrounding restrictions.
Everyone appraised the unfolding scene with intense unblinking eyes.
As it turned out, it took far longer for the translucent threads to be withdrawn than extended.
After a long while, a resounding boom rang out within the vortex, following which a blue stone around the size of a human head was drawn out.
The stone was giving off strong law fluctuations, and a hint of greed flashed through Hei Lin's eyes as he murmured to himself, "That thing contains spatial power!"
Spatial power wasn't as mysterious as the power of time, but very people had truly mastered it.
Most Grand Ascension Stage beings were capable of tearing through space and teleporting oneself, but most of them had to rely on their immense power and spatial treasures, so they couldn't even compare with someone with true mastery over the law of space.
As such, a treasure that could assist one in mastering the law of space was naturally an extremely precious treasure for Grand Ascension Stage beings.
In contrast, Han Li remained unmoved by this treasure.
He could transform into a heavenly phoenix, which was proficient in spatial powers, so if he wanted to master the law of space, it was only a matter of time.
Xue Ran also cast his gaze toward the blue stone with a greedy expression, while Mo Jianli remained quite calm and collected, seemingly just as unmoved as Han Li was.
Just as Xue Ran and Hei Lin were hesitating about whether to intervene, Ying'er raised a hand to release a translucent thread, which wrapped up the blue stone in a flash before drawing it back to her like an arrow.
Xue Ran's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and he curled the fingers of his hand, which was concealed up his sleeve.
However, right at this moment, a cold dagger-like gaze was directed toward him, striking him with a stinging sensation on his face.
His heart jolted as he turned toward this gaze to find that the green-robed woman was currently appraising him with a threatening look in her eyes.
Xue Ran hurriedly turned to Han Li and Mo Jianli, only to find that neither of them was displaying any reactions, so he could only give up on what he was doing and force a smile onto his own face.
Hei Lin was still rather unwilling to give up, but he had no choice but to look on as the blue stone vanished into the cloud of crimson mist.
"Thank you for your assistance everyone; the treasure has finally been obtained." The crimson mist faded, revealing a smiling Ying'er holding the blue stone in her hand.
"We've fulfilled our end of the deal; where are the remaining cores?" Han Li asked as he slowly withdrew his magic power.
"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist, I won't go back on my word," Ying'er replied with a smile before stowing the blue stone away amid a flash of blue light, then produced a white jade box that she tossed toward Han Li.
Xue Ran and the others immediately directed their attention toward the box.
Han Li's expression remained unchanged as he drew the jade box into his grasp before removing the lid.
After examining the contents of the box, a faint smile appeared on Han Li's face. "You really did keep your promise. Fellow Daoist Xue, let's split these cores among us."
"Sure. Now that we've obtained the cores, we've completed the objective for our trip," Xue Ran chuckled as he rubbed his hands together.
It was clear that compared to that blue stone, the Sanqing Lightning Talismans were more important to him.
Hei Lin and Mo Jianli were also very excited to see the remaining cores.
Han Li smiled as he swept a sleeve over the box, upon which four cores were immediately sent flying toward Mo Jianli and the others.
