Chapter 2276: The Conflict in the Spiritual Domain

The two gigantic worm phantoms were greatly alarmed. Forgetting all pretense of respect, a flash of light appeared on their bodies as they attempted to evade and escape.

But from where Yingshazi's finger pointed, a black light flashed, and two glowing runes shot forth. After a flicker, they penetrated the bodies of the two gigantic worms with incredible speed.

The two worms let out a tragic cry. Their bodies writhed desperately, trying to resist the power of the black runes, but it was useless. After countless black threads appeared on their surfaces, they rapidly shrunk and dissolved into light.

A moment later, only two spheres of light quietly floated in the air where they had been.

Yingshazi simply made a single-handed gesture in the air, and the light spheres flickered and flew towards her on their own.

Then, she opened her mouth.

After swirling around, the two light spheres astonishingly transformed into two wisps of white light and were directly absorbed into her mouth.

Yingshazi took a deep breath and closed her eyes. A shimmering light flowed across her face, and her aura seemed to surge by more than a fold.

After a long moment, when she softly hummed and opened her eyes, her surging aura instantly returned to normal.

She suddenly stirred, lifted her head, and scanned the abyss above. Seeming to perceive something, a cruel expression flashed across her face before she transformed into a fiery blaze and shot back, indistinctly merging into the rolling flames within the eye socket.

The next moment, the previously motionless skeletal frame suddenly threw its head back and let out a shrill roar. Clusters of blood mist appeared out of nowhere nearby, and instantly transformed into strands of blood, rapidly coiling around the bones.

Dense blood threads wrapped around the bones layer by layer, quickly becoming crystalline and luminous, turning into true blood vessels, and even layers of skin and scales.

In the blink of an eye, the formerly pale white skeleton transformed into a giant monstrous worm with three different heads: one large and two small.

Of these three heads, only the central one had a human face—precisely Yingshazi's countenance. The other two heads were extremely ferocious, covered with countless eyes of varying sizes on their crowns, and the majority of their faces were directly covered by multicolored, mottled scales.

As for the worm's body, it was smooth and translucent, as if carved from crystal. But on the back of its massive body were four pairs of white cicada wings, sparkling on the surface, with multicolored runes faintly visible, making it exceptionally splendid.

As soon as the mountainous body of the gigantic worm was reassembled, its central head tilted back, its eyes gleaming with chilling light, staring silently at the high sky.

As for the other two heads, their eyes were tightly closed and motionless, showing no expression whatsoever, as if they were inanimate objects.

A moment later, a light flashed above the abyss, and three streaks of escape light shot down.

As the light receded, about a hundred yards above, three figures simultaneously appeared.

They were Han Li, Bao, and Daoist Xie.

At such close range, Han Li and Bao naturally saw the true appearance of the giant worm below with perfect clarity, and were immediately startled.

The giant worm, after its body was reassembled with flesh and blood, had an appearance completely different from the shell the group had destroyed on the water earlier, as if they were two entirely different giant worms.

What startled Han Li and Bao even more was the face on the worm's central head, which was similar to the previous child's face, and its chilling gaze fixed on them.

“This is the true body of the Mother of Insect," Bao murmured, her expression somewhat grim. “It seems we arrived a step too late; it has already awakened.”

“Although its appearance is somewhat different, it should be correct,” Han Li said solemnly, staring at the human-faced head in the center of the giant worm.

“Since it is completely unharmed," Bao sighed softly again, "it seems those two fellow Daoists have truly perished.”

Han Li's gaze flickered, and he saw the few floating, incomplete artifacts beside the giant worm. He nodded slightly, stirred by the sight, but said nothing more.

“So it's you three little ones who injured my clone and dared to disturb my recuperation!” The human-faced head of the giant worm below spoke indifferently. Its voice was surprisingly pleasant to the ear, truly like that of a charming young woman.

“You are truly the Mother of Insect!” Bao's thoughts raced, but she calmly countered with a question. “Have our companions indeed fallen to your venomous hands?”

“Hehe, a mere two Great Ascension stage cultivators from the lower realm dared to act brazenly before me; naturally, they have long since become part of my blood. Very well, since you two are unwilling to answer my questions, go and keep them company.” A charming smile surprisingly flickered across the human-faced head of the giant worm, but its words were exceptionally cruel.

The instant its words fell, it suddenly opened its small mouth, and a plume of gray threads shot out. Upon scattering, they transformed into a vast net that covered the sky and swept down towards the three figures above.

As the silken net passed, a foul stench assailed them, making one want to vomit!

Bao, Han Li, and the third person seemed calm, but facing the true body of the Mother of Insect, they had naturally been extremely cautious.

When the gray silken net swept down, Bao immediately let out a sharp cry of "Attack!" Without hesitation, she raised and flipped one hand. Instantly, a jade-green light flickered, and a small tree appeared. Amidst rolling runes, it instantly transformed into a giant pink tree. Countless fluttering pink petals immediately covered the entire void, enshrouding everything below.

At the same time, Daoist Xie's body rolled, instantly transforming into a hundred-mu sized golden-yellow giant crab. Electric arcs immediately flashed across its body, and a giant lightning net immediately rose into the air, directly pushing against the gray silken net.

As for Han Li, he completely ignored Bao and Daoist Xie's actions. He merely flicked his sleeve, clenched his five fingers, and a green light appeared in his hand as he grasped the Profound-Heaven Spirit-Slaying Sword.

Han Li's body suddenly grew immensely. The three-headed, six-armed Brahma Saint Avatar appeared behind him, and instantly transformed into a golden body that lunged into his main body. After a low roar, purple-gold scales appeared on his skin, while countless silver spirit-runes interwove and appeared on his body's surface, forming patterns of various sizes. He then sharply flicked his wrist.

Suddenly, countless multicolored rays of light emerged in the abyss, and flowed like a tide into the long sword.

A line of silver characters on the emerald sword lit up. The power of law immediately rippled forth, and twelve green lines slashed out.

The twelve green lines almost converged into a single line. After a flicker, they spanned a hundred yards, arriving in close proximity to the giant worm, and sliced down powerfully.

Clearly, while on their way, Bao, Han Li, and the others had already discussed their countermeasures against the Mother of Insect. Astonishingly, the moment they began to act, they immediately coordinated their roles and unleashed their ultimate divine abilities.

One was responsible for blocking the Mother of Insect's attacks, and another for trapping the insect mother.

The third person was responsible for a single strike to slay this formidable enemy that inspired fear from the bottom of their hearts.

If an ordinary Great Ascension stage cultivator faced such a seamless combined attack, they would likely only be able to helplessly close their eyes and await death.

But the insect mother merely raised an eyebrow on its human-faced head. After a strange movement rippled across its body, it surprisingly pushed aside all the surrounding fluttering pink petal phantoms. A limb identical to a human arm was raised, and a fair, slender finger pointed out.

A black light flashed, and a glowing rune shot from its fingertip, accurately hitting the foremost green line.

With a "puchi" sound, the black rune swirled and burst open. A terrifying power of law swept forth.

The twelve green lines, upon contact with this power of law, immediately solidified, then unbelievably trembled, and unexpectedly bounced back.

A flash of green light, and the green lines strangely appeared right before Han Li and the others.

At this, not only Bao, but Han Li's expression also changed drastically.

Without hesitation, he suddenly flicked the long sword in his hand and slashed out again like lightning, and another twelve green lines flashed forth.

After a few muffled "thump" sounds, the twenty-four green lines, upon colliding, simultaneously flickered and extinguished. But a terrifying force immediately swept towards Han Li and the others.

Han Li's Profound-Heaven Spirit-Slaying Sword stood upright in his hand. A few silver characters on its surface merely lit up, absorbing all the attacking force. After his body trembled, he involuntarily stumbled back several steps.

However, his repeated use of Profound-Heaven artifacts caused his face to turn pale, and a significant portion of his magic power vanished into thin air.

This was also because Han Li's own magic power was far more abundant than that of ordinary Great Ascension cultivators. If it were any other Great Ascension cultivator, they would likely have exhausted their magic power on the spot and suffered the backlash of the Profound-Heaven treasure.

“This isn't ordinary rebound; it's the reverse force of the Law of Time!” Bao exclaimed upon seeing this. But she immediately gritted her silver teeth and waved one hand, surprisingly snapping off a thick branch from the tree in her hand and swiftly waving it towards the void.

But the Mother of Insect seemed to have anticipated this. After a cold chuckle, a gray-white halo suddenly erupted from its body, and rings of strange power simultaneously swept out in all directions.

Large areas of pink petal phantoms were forcibly pushed away by the power of the halo. A strange void, covered in gray-white runes, immediately appeared near the giant worm.

With a "boom," a force of law fiercely collided with the halo and instantly burst open. It was astonishingly repelled, yet the gray-white halo remained completely intact.

Upon seeing this, Bao's beautiful face immediately showed an expression of disbelief.

“Hehe, Profound-Heaven Spirit Domain!” the Mother of Insect said with a deep smile. “I truly didn't expect a mere Great Ascension stage cultivator from the lower realm to be able to comprehend such a divine ability. Unfortunately, you have only grasped a superficial understanding, and what you've formed is merely a pseudo-Spirit Domain. To deal with me, that's merely a pipe dream. How about this! Before you all turn into my blood, I shall let you witness what a true Profound-Heaven Spirit Domain looks like.” It then suddenly performed a hand seal with both front limbs simultaneously. As it chanted incantations, the gray-white halo on its body immediately began to spin rapidly, and faster and faster.

After a blur, all light in the entire abyss dimmed. The halo suddenly flickered and vanished.