A flicker of crystalline light flashed between Han Li's brows, and a spray of crystal threads shot out in a streak, vanishing as they plunged toward the giant insect's body.
But in that very instant, with a muffled bang, the insect's corpse burst apart like foam, dissolving into motes of white light that scattered and vanished into nothingness.
A flash of crystalline light!
The crystal threads coiled back and returned between Han Li's brows, but a look of sudden realization appeared on his face, followed moments later by a darkening expression.
In the void nearby, countless pink shadows blanketed the sky, while silver arcs of lightning flickered wildly within them.
Bao had long since made her way to Daoist Crab's side and unfurled her Spirit Domain, the two of them joining forces to pin the other strange insect firmly within it.
That insect clearly possessed all its power in its bizarre spiritual sense, but Daoist Crab was entirely unaffected by such techniques. And within Bao's Spirit Domain, she herself was seemingly untouched as well.
As for its innate baleful lightning ability — while formidable, even containing a thread of the Laws of Destruction that could shatter a Profound Heaven Treasure head-on — Both Daoist Crab and Bao were cunning beyond measure. At the outset, neither engaged the creature in a direct clash, which drove it into a thundering rage yet left it unable to exert its full might.
Once Bao, at the cost of expending her vital essence, released her Profound Heaven Spirit Domain once more and caught the insect off guard within it, the tide of battle turned in an instant.
Sensing the danger, the insect desperately churned the grayish-white baleful lightning within the Spirit Domain, trying to tear its way free. But the Profound Heaven Spirit Domain bore such a legendary reputation — a divine ability truly wielded only by True Immortals — that escaping from it was an impossibly difficult task for this creature.
Layer upon layer of pink petals surged under Bao's command, sealing the insect at the very center of the Spirit Domain as though the layers were endless.
Despite the insect's desperate resistance against the Spirit Domain's power, all of its movements had already begun to slow without its noticing.
At this moment, it had converted its spiritual sense into a layer of white crystalline light that shielded its entire body, while bolts of gray lightning crackled and detonated around its frame ceaselessly. Yet under the combined assault of Daoist Crab and Bao, its body was already covered in wounds and teetering on the verge of collapse.
Seeing this situation, Han Li's expression flickered with a hint of something strange. He abruptly flicked his sleeve, and the emerald-green longsword appeared once more. With a single shake, twelve green lines slashed outward.
In the next instant, piercing shrieks erupted in succession within Bao's Profound Heaven Spirit Domain. The twelve green lines appeared simultaneously beside the insect and, in a single flash, swept clean through its body.
The insect, along with its crystalline shield and the arcs of lightning around it, was instantly cleared apart and dissolved into clumps of white light that dissipated into nothing, as though it had never existed there in the first place.
Bao started in surprise at this sight. She sent her spiritual sense sweeping carefully through the Spirit Domain, and only after confirming that the insect was truly gone did she frown deeply and withdraw her Profound Heaven Spirit Domain.
At that moment, a ripple of fluctuation stirred nearby, and Han Li appeared in a blur through a short-range spatial shift.
Immediately after came a crack of thunder.
Daoist Crab also released the Golden Giant Crab dharma body, transforming into a streak of lightning that materialized behind Han Li.
Han Li swept his gaze over the figure and, seeing that while there were several scorched patches on its body but nothing truly serious, felt reassured.
"Brother Han, what remarkable skill! That last slash — if it had been me on the receiving end, even with a Spirit Domain shielding me, I'm afraid I would have had no way of withstanding it." Bao's gaze toward Han Li carried a strange light as she spoke slowly.
"Fellow Daoist Bao flatters me too highly. That slash relied primarily on the power of the treasure itself, and on top of that, the creature was already a spent force from both of your attacks. Otherwise, how could I have landed the blow so easily?" Han Li smiled faintly and replied in a casual, understated tone.
"It was far from that simple!" Bao shook her head but said nothing further, instead turning her gaze toward the spot where the insect had vanished. A flicker of doubt crossed her face.
"It seems Fellow Daoist has noticed the strangeness as well. Clearly, our battle just now did not truly destroy them. Setting aside the Primordial Spirit avatar of that Mother of Nether Insects, these two strange insects also do not appear to possess true physical bodies — they are not the kind that can be easily killed." Han Li's gaze swept toward the same spot, his expression turning somewhat grave.
"Indeed. There was something odd about those two insects from the very beginning. I wouldn't say the abilities they possessed were weak, but they were all extreme in nature. One had spiritual sense power so overwhelming it kept us all at arm's length. The other had physical strength so tyrannical that a single swipe of its claw forced us to dodge. But their other methods were far too limited, which exposed the weaknesses we exploited to defeat them so readily." Han Li nodded in agreement.
"If these insects were cultivated by that Mother of Nether Insects, then it seems far too peculiar. With the cunning that insect mother possesses, why would she do something so unwise?" Bao murmured, lost in thought.
"But did Fellow Daoist take note? Individually, with some effort, you and I can defeat them. But if they were to join forces — or rather, if a single being possessed all the abilities that these two insects have..." Han Li suddenly chuckled with a hint of gravity.
"Precisely so. If all those abilities were held by a single creature, it would truly be our turn to flee for our lives." Bao's face turned pale, and she drew in a sharp breath.
"Moreover, did Fellow Daoist notice that it was not only the Mother of Nether Insects' Primordial Spirit avatar and these two insects that seemed at odds — there was even a subtle hostility between the two insects themselves. Otherwise, had they shown even the slightest intent to cooperate from the start, we would never have been able to exploit their weaknesses and defeat them one by one." A look of deep meaning surfaced on Han Li's face.
"There is something strange about that. If they were cultivated by the Mother of Nether Insects, why wouldn't they obey her Primordial Spirit's commands? There even seemed to be some enmity." Bao furrowed her brows tightly, truly struggling to make sense of it.
"I cannot figure this out either. However, the way those two insects' bodies vanished just now bore a certain resemblance to projections formed from condensed energy." Han Li suddenly remarked in an indifferent tone.