At that very moment, a ripple tore through the void more than twenty zhang above the flying carriage, and three figures silently materialized once more.
It was none other than Han Li and his two companions.
Just moments before the carriage came under sudden attack, Han Li had reacted in time. He immediately invoked his teleportation ability, shifting all three of them outside the flying carriage in an instant.
Now Han Li hovered high in the air, gazing down at the lake surface with a grave expression.
The enemy below had managed to evade the detection of both him and the Crab Daoist — that alone spoke to the enormity of their power.
It seemed that this time, a true powerhouse of the Demon Race had come looking for them.
While Han Li was still weighing his options, the emerald-green giant hand let out a muffled boom and collapsed directly into droplets of water that scattered back down into the lake below.
At the same time, the lake surface churned violently, and from the depths, a great hall roughly ten zhang tall slowly rose out of the water.
The entire structure was crystalline and translucent, suffused with a faint blue glow, as though it had been condensed directly from the lake water itself.
Standing at the entrance of the hall was a woman clad in green battle armor. Her skin was slightly dark, and between her brows there radiated an air of heroic sharpness. Her cold eyes stared up at Han Li in the sky above.
The aura emanating from this demon woman was fathomlessly deep, radiating a terror so overwhelming that one dared not look directly at her — she was a Mahayana-stage existence.
Yet the moment Han Li caught sight of her somewhat familiar face, his expression shifted involuntarily, and he blurted out: "It's you! You've actually brought your true body to the Spirit Realm!"
The green-armored woman heard Han Li's words, and her scarlet lips parted slightly, revealing teeth like white jade as she spoke coldly: "I didn't expect to see you again so soon. You've provoked me again and again, and now that you've run into my true body, I certainly have no intention of letting you go. Surrender yourself, and considering that you know when to yield, I may spare your life. But if you insist on fighting me, you will have no hope of escaping soul annihilation."
"Yuan Sha, you really think your true body alone is enough to keep me here? In the time since we last met, I've encountered more than one or two of your race's Saint Ancestors, and none of them have managed to do anything to me," Han Li said after a moment's deliberation, letting out a yawn.
This green-armored demon woman was none other than Yuan Sha, the Saint Ancestor with whom Han Li had deep grievances — and she had come in person with her true body!
Though this was Han Li's first time seeing this demon's true body, he had once been hunted by one of her incarnations for a considerable stretch of time, and so he recognized her at a glance. His mind raced with muttered thoughts.
However, given that his own cultivation had advanced greatly and that the Crab Daoist was by his side, he wasn't particularly panicked. His thoughts simply turned at rapid speed as he quietly formulated a plan of response.
Upon hearing Han Li's words, Yuan Sha's brow arched slightly, a flicker of killing intent crossing her face, though her voice remained utterly devoid of emotion: "You've met other Saint Ancestors? So it really was you who broke through the passage the other day. That's rather interesting — I'm genuinely curious how a mere Body Integration-stage cultivator could possibly escape from another Saint Ancestor. To have progressed from mid-stage Body Integration to late-stage Body Integration in such a short time, you could be considered a once-in-ten-thousand-years cultivation genius. A pity that now you've crossed paths with me today, your path of cultivation has reached its end."
The moment her words fell, Yuan Sha gave Han Li no chance to reply. One of her hands rose abruptly and clawed toward the three of them through the air.
BOOM!
The lake water below surged skyward like a waterfall, then froze mid-flight and coalesced once more into a colossal emerald-green hand.
This hand was more than ten times larger than the one before. Its five fingers spread apart, blotting out more than half the sky, and with a downward flip, it slammed straight toward Han Li and his companions.
"A water-attribute divine ability!"
Han Li narrowed his eyes, murmuring the words under his breath. He opened his mouth and spat out a silvery, shimmering fireball, then swiftly formed a hand seal with one hand.
With a soft pop, the silver fireball spun around and transformed into a silver flame bird about a foot in size.
At that moment, Han Li extended a finger from his other hand and tapped lightly toward the flame bird.
The flame bird raised its head and let out a piercing cry. Its body ballooned at an inconceivable speed, swelling to the size of a small mountain in the blink of an eye. Spreading its wings, it charged straight at the giant hand.
A thunderous, heaven-shaking roar erupted!
The enormous flame bird flashed forward and collided head-on with the center of the giant hand. Both exploded simultaneously.
High in the sky, water and fire intertwined as pillars of each — thick as water vats — shot skyward before immediately dissolving into vast clouds of white mist that scattered in every direction.
For a moment, the sky was blanketed in a thick white haze.
The green-armored woman inside the hall saw this and let a hint of contemptuous amusement cross her face. Without any visible movement, she simply parted her lips and uttered a single word: "Gather."
In an instant, ripples surged through the sky, and dense, countless points of blue light materialized out of thin air. With a slight tremor, they plunged into the mist like rain.
BOOM!
The mist roiled and condensed, taking the shape of a white mountain peak over a thousand zhang tall. It swayed gently, and countless blue rune symbols drifted out from within it before descending toward the lake below.
The mountain peak floated weightlessly, as though it possessed no mass at all!