"So this is the Profound Heaven Spirit Domain. Truly wondrous — it even shattered my Ice Seal Heaven with such ease. However, Bao, you shouldn't be able to activate the Profound Heaven Tree any longer. Could it be because of that pill you just swallowed?" Blue Cascade Sacred Ancestor's eyes flashed with an odd light as she murmured.
"Fellow Daoist Lan speaks truly. That pill just now can indeed stimulate some of my hidden potential, allowing me to release the Profound Heaven Spirit Domain once more." Bao replied, her expression perfectly calm.
"So what if that's the case! In your current state, you can activate the Profound Heaven Spirit Domain for one or two more strikes at most before you'll be completely spent." The young woman's eyes flickered with a dark glint as she spoke coldly.
"Even if I only have enough power for a single strike, it's more than sufficient to deal with the two of you. I don't believe that after being heavily wounded, you'd be able to withstand Brother Crab and Fellow Daoist Han without suffering further consequences." Bao replied nonchalantly.
"Stop trying to bluff me, Sister Bao. Do you really think I can't tell that you're completely spent? If you were to unleash one final attack, not only would every last drop of your Magical Power be drained, but the damage to your vital essence would strike at your very foundation, worsening your injuries severalfold over. I simply don't believe you'd dare risk a mutually destructive outcome. Don't forget — you're one of us Demon Sacred Ancestors as well. If you fell into this human brat's hands without the slightest ability to resist, you can well imagine what would become of you." The young woman's pupils contracted, yet her words dripped with malice.
Han Li heard these words, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly, but his expression betrayed not the slightest change.
"Those very words are what I wish to tell you both. Liu Ji — well, that's fine; she's merely an avatar. But Blue Cascade, you came here in your true body. If you force me to unleash my final strike, I will direct the full power of the Profound Heaven Spirit Domain against you alone. In that case, there is at least a thirty to forty percent chance you would truly perish here. The question is whether Fellow Daoist Lan would dare to gamble on those odds." Bao smiled faintly and spoke to the blue-robed woman with unshakable composure.
"You're threatening me?" Blue Cascade Sacred Ancestor's expression shifted once more as she replied in a sinister tone.
"Perhaps I am. Then the question is — what does Fellow Daoist plan to do? Will you risk the destruction of your true body by attacking alongside Liu Ji's avatar, or will you withdraw now and let us both go our separate ways in peace?" Bao continued in an unhurried manner.
Hearing this, the blue-robed woman's expression wavered uncertainly.
"Sister Lan, surely you're not going to be frightened away by Bao's empty bravado? Never mind whether he actually has the power to activate the Profound Heaven Spirit Domain for one more strike — even if he does, so what? I refuse to believe that with our combined abilities, we truly couldn't weather it!" The young woman saw the shift in Blue Cascade Sacred Ancestor's expression and inwardly cried *This is bad*, hurriedly interjecting.
"Originally, with the Golden Sacred Crab and this human brat interfering, the odds between us and them were already no better than even. Now that Bao can unleash the Profound Heaven Spirit Domain, our chance of victory has plummeted to perhaps ten or twenty percent. I hardly consider those odds worth persisting for. If you, Liu Ji, were here in your true body, I might be willing to take that risk with you. But with merely an avatar... heh heh..." The blue-robed woman considered for a long while before finally voicing her intention to withdraw.
"If you do this, you'll be letting a tiger return to the mountain. Once Bao has recovered and crosses realms to come knocking on your door, you'll regret it far too late!" the young woman cried sharply.
"Hmph. The great tribulation of the Sacred Realm is approaching, and who knows what chaos the entire realm will descend into. My own next heavenly tribulation isn't far off either — whether I'll even survive until then is anyone's guess, so I certainly can't afford to think that far ahead. Besides, even if we somehow managed to annihilate them all, I'd have no idea how many avatars I'd lose and how much vital essence I'd expend in the process. How then would I face the myriad calamities that await?" The blue-robed woman snorted in reply.
"But if you can kill Bao, according to our agreement, you'd obtain the cultivation method for the Profound Heaven Spirit Domain and countless treasures. For you—"
"I know what you're implying. If there were a real chance and such great rewards, I wouldn't need you to tell me to keep fighting. But when the odds are clearly this slim, why would I make such a mad choice? My mind is made up — I've already contacted my other avatars and told them there's no need to come. If you, Liu Ji, still won't give up, feel free to attack on your own. Bao, teleport me out of the Profound Heaven Spirit Domain." Blue Cascade Sacred Ancestor waved her hand dismissively, said a few more words, then addressed Bao in an indifferent tone.
The young woman's face naturally turned extremely ugly.
"Fellow Daoist Lan has indeed made the wise choice." Bao chuckled softly, the green tree in her hand trembling ever so slightly.
Blue Cascade Sacred Ancestor merely felt the world around her shimmer and blur, and she was instantly transferred to another location a thousand zhang away, appearing outside the Profound Heaven Spirit Domain.
The blue-robed woman's heart stiffened. She cast a cold glance at Bao, Han Li, and the others, then looked once more at the young woman still trapped within the Spirit Domain, before turning without the slightest hesitation and transforming into a streak of blue light that pierced through the sky and vanished.
She showed no concern whatsoever for Liu Ji's avatar.
"Fine — I'll admit defeat this time. I'll leave as well. Bao, release the Profound Heaven Spirit Domain." The young woman sensed the situation turning dire and, gritting her teeth, addressed Bao in turn.
"Let you leave?" A glint of killing intent flashed through Bao's eyes.
"Let her go." At that moment, Han Li, standing nearby, suddenly spoke up.
"Very well — if that is Fellow Daoist Han's wish, keeping a mere avatar doesn't amount to much anyway. Then I shall let her live." Bao glanced at Han Li with some surprise, but after a moment, as if something had occurred to her, she smiled and agreed.
Then the great tree in her hand vanished in a flash, transforming into a wisp of pink light that sank into her body. At the same time, the sky full of pink shadows vanished without a trace.
Bao had truly retracted the Profound Heaven Spirit Domain.