Bao merely raised a hand and formed a strange hand seal with an air of nonchalance.
With a muffled boom, the enormous pink flower beneath the giant stone golems spun rapidly, and two crystalline beams of light shot out in succession.
Each beam was extraordinarily viscous and translucent, almost solid, and moved with the speed of lightning. In a single flash, they struck the golems before them.
The two stone golems were startled. Despite their efforts to dodge by shifting their bodies, it was already too late.
The two beams of light pierced through their protective spiritual light almost without resistance, vanishing into their massive bodies in an instant.
The golems barely had time to let out an angry, alarmed roar before white light flickered across their bodies. Crystal-like flowers bloomed one after another, covering nearly every inch of their surfaces.
The two stone golems were instantly entombed in a mysterious crystalline substance, unable to move even slightly.
Bao gazed silently at the golems encased in the massive crystals, then raised a hand and beckoned toward them.
Immediately, white light flashed repeatedly across the surface of the giant crystals, which began to shrink rapidly. In a short while, they were reduced to fist-sized objects, easily tucked away into her sleeve.
"Congratulations, Master, on destroying a powerful enemy!"
Only now did the Black Crocodile at her side recover from his shock. He hurriedly stepped forward and spoke.
"Those three were merely Blood Light's trifling incarnations — hardly what anyone would call a formidable enemy. It's Liu Ji whose six incarnations are each a capable ally. Hit by my Sunset Arrow, she'll need over a century to recover her original Magical Power," Bao said flatly.
"Then should Your Ladyship chase after them and eliminate them all? This is a rare opportunity!" Black Crocodile suggested cautiously.
"There's no need. Since Liu Ji was willing to expend her vital essence to escape the range of my Illusory Sun, she must have activated some other life-preserving technique to flee tens of thousands of miles away. Even if I gave chase with all my might, the chances of catching her wouldn't be great. Right now, securing the Celestial Bloom is far more important. If we let it slip right under our noses, we'll have far more trouble later. Let's go!" Bao deliberated briefly, then made her decision.
"As you command! This subordinate will follow your every instruction!" The burly man answered respectfully.
Then the giant pink flower beneath Bao rotated slightly, releasing a rosy radiance that swept both of them up before flickering and vanishing into the void.
In an instant, this stretch of void that had been so bustling moments before became utterly empty, without a single figure in sight.
……
Tens of thousands of miles away, in a hidden gorge, two silver thunder formations — one large, one small — materialized in the low sky with a deafening rumble.
The two formations overlapped, one inside the other, and at their very center hovered two perfectly upright figures.
One wore green robes that billowed in the wind, with crystalline wings crackling with electricity behind his back. The other was wreathed in wildly dancing arcs of lightning, each hand gripping a silver magic disc.
They were Han Li and Lei Yunzi!
"Han Daoist, are you ready? I, Lei, have studied this dual thunder formation thoroughly and believe it should work perfectly in theory. But since I've never actually tested it, if something goes wrong, you'll just have to accept your bad luck!" Lei Yunzi laughed heartily at Han Li, the two luminous discs in his hands blazing with white light, arcs of lightning swirling and dancing around his body, his expression one of great excitement.
"Heh heh, if that really is the case, then of course I'll accept it. But Brother Lei, since you're willing to teleport alongside me, you must have at least eighty or ninety percent confidence, right? If you yourself aren't worried, why should I be? Besides, I also took a quick look at this dual thunder formation technique just now and felt there really wasn't any major problem," Han Li said with a faint smile beside him.
"Hmph, you talk as if you trust Lei completely, but in truth you still have that same old nature — won't release the hawk until you've spotted the rabbit. Not a bit different from several hundred years ago. Fine, those two should be catching up soon. Let's go!" Lei Yunzi rolled his eyes and muttered, then the two dazzling discs suddenly shot from his hands, each flickering and sinking into one of the two thunder formations.
Immediately after, his hands flew through a series of seals as he murmured incantations under his breath.
With a deafening rumble, the two thunder formations activated. Countless arcs of lightning sprang up within them, then burst apart inch by inch. Silver lightning spread throughout both formations in an instant.
Amid the tremendous roar, Lei Yunzi suddenly let out a mighty shout. Several bolts of lightning as thick as water barrels erupted from the center of the formations, engulfing both him and Han Li completely.
The two vanished from within the formations without a trace.
……
A quarter of an hour later, the surrounding void rippled, and a ball of pink light materialized out of nothingness. With a shimmer, it transformed into an enormous pink flower.
The petals slowly parted to reveal the figures of Bao and Black Crocodile within.
Though the thunder formations had long since dissipated, Bao swept her gaze over the void where the formations had been, and her expression shifted slightly.
"The fluctuations are completely different from a normal teleportation. Even I can't determine where they might have gone!" the woman murmured, a trace of surprise flickering through her beautiful eyes for the first time.