Under Han Li's gaze, flickering with blue light, the crystalline bead flashed with white and vanished into the green mist.
Even with the spiritual eye ability of his Clarity of Insight, he was utterly unable to track it.
Han Li's heart tightened. He hurriedly released all of his spiritual sense, enveloping the surrounding several zhang in every direction.
He certainly had no desire for someone to slip close to him undetected and land a sneak attack. Though such a possibility was exceedingly slim, he had to be careful regardless.
Han Li tilted his head slightly, sweeping a glance at Yuan Yao and the other woman nearby, then looked toward the battlefield not far away, his grip on the thunder bead tightening by a fraction.
Even after all the great storms he had weathered, his heart was now completely in his throat.
Han Li knew full well that if he revealed himself to attempt a rescue, he would have only a single chance to strike.
If he failed, this palace would be the place of his death, and over a thousand years of painstaking cultivation would be destroyed in an instant.
This sensation of life and death balanced on a razor's edge made Han Li's heart pound uncontrollably.
At that moment, Mu Qing and the white-haired beauty in the distance had already launched their assault on the black formation in the air.
Meanwhile, the seven metal puppets that the blood-robed figure had released stood guard before the two of them, forming a protective screen. The purple-blood puppet itself, its six eyes slightly narrowed, stood motionless beside the puppets.
From within the dark clouds the beauty had summoned, a piercing ghostly shriek suddenly erupted. After swirling about, a skeletal white ghost claw emerged from within.
The claw made a single grasping motion through the void.
From its fingertips, balls of gray light the size of eggs burst forth and surged wildly toward the sky.
As for Mu Qing, the illusory grass surrounding her spun around simultaneously and sank back into her body.
With spirit light flashing wildly around her, she slowly opened her mouth and spat out a pillar of green light.
The pillar was a vivid, dripping green, thick and viscous like amber, and looked utterly bizarre.
The two attacks vanished in a flash and arrived directly beneath the black light formation.
The gray light balls expanded and contracted ceaselessly, while the emerald pillar descended silently. Both struck the center of the formation at the same time.
High above, the two Nether Thunder Beasts saw this. Fierce light flickered in their eyes, and with wild gestures, they channeled the black light formation in the sky.
A deafening boom rang out as a gale of black wind erupted from the center of the formation.
This wind was exceptionally violent, fierce as blades, and within it sparkles of light flickered as countless black crystalline sand particles swirled about.
The moment the wind and sand made contact with the green pillar and light balls, explosions erupted, and clusters of multicolored light flashed ceaselessly beneath the formation.
Moments later, a haze of gray-green light emerged, blocking the black formation's descent.
For a time, the two sides were deadlocked.
But as the black wind continued to pour out and the black sand grew denser and denser within the gale, pressing down with an ever-increasing mass, the gray-green light began to emit a droning buzz and gradually started to sink.
Upon seeing this, a strange look flashed across Mu Qing's face. With a flick of her single hand, a small tree branch suddenly appeared in her grasp.
The branch was no more than three feet long and bore a few tender green leaves, yet it brimmed with vibrant spiritual energy and showed no trace of wilting whatsoever.
She tossed the branch into the air, and a burst of green light bloomed. In the blink of an eye, the branch transformed into a small tree dripping with emerald green, its branches and leaves thick and lush, shimmering and translucent as though carved from fine jade.
Mu Qing's expression turned grave as she lowered her head and chanted a brief incantation.
The tree's trunk swelled wildly upward, its branches extending in all directions. With another spin, countless leaf-shaped emerald shadows flew from the tree, dense as a curtain of rain, each one joining the assault in the air.
The sight was utterly overwhelming!
"Fellow Daoist Mu, what a marvelous ability!" The white-haired beauty's delighted voice came from within the dark clouds.
"Hmph. Fellow Daoist Lan, you ought to be using some of your own tricks by now. I refuse to believe that's all you have!" Mu Qing raised her gaze to the sky without turning her head, her voice cold.
"Heh heh heh…" A low laugh came from within the clouds, followed by the long, shrill cries of the eight Ghost Kings. Countless waves of yin energy rolled and condensed toward the center, ghostly shadows flickering within as ghostly wails suddenly grew deafening.
Moments later, the dark clouds dispersed.
An enormous figure emerged from within.
The figure stood roughly seven or eight zhang tall, clad in pitch-black ancient battle armor, a massive war hammer held in one hand.
The surface of the armor was covered in black spikes about a foot long, inscribed with incredibly profound silver patterns.
As for the hammer, its design was even more peculiar. It was equally black in color, but eight stark white skulls were embedded across its surface. These skulls writhed and squirmed upon the hammer, their mouths opening and closing in moans as they spewed jet-black breath — a sight that sent chills down one's spine.
This was the white-haired beauty after having greatly enlarged her body, and the eight skulls on the hammer were none other than the eight Yin-Armored Ghost Kings transformed.
Mu Qing saw this and her expression shifted slightly.
But before she could ask anything, the white-haired beauty's face hardened. She gave the bizarre hammer a shake and hurled it into the air.
Then her hands formed a strange set of hand seals.
Instantly, the massive hammer spun about, the eight skulls screamed in unison, opened their mouths again, and with yin energy churning, eight streams of green flame rolled forth, surging into the sky.
For a moment, ghostly fire and emerald shadows overlapped, blanketing the sky so thoroughly that nothing could be seen. The black formation, which had been on the verge of breaking through the blockade, was once again held at bay in midair, and looked as though it might even be pushed back.
Upon seeing this, the two Nether Thunder Beasts showed not the slightest alarm. They merely let out a few sharp cries toward the sky, their bodies swelling even larger, and then all four of their great hands thrust upward simultaneously.
Several peals of thunder cracked, and once again countless silver threads materialized. They surged along the four arms, transforming into massive silver arcs that shot outward, vanishing in a flash into the black formation.
In an instant, a thunderous rumble erupted from within the formation. The formation flashed wildly several times, its area suddenly expanding by more than half, and the wind and sand pouring from it multiplied several times over.