The instant the green lamp left the woman's jade-like hand, it released a blinding green radiance.
After spinning rapidly above her head for a moment, an astonishing sight appeared.
The blue-white flames that had been blazing fiercely outside the white lotus, upon seeing the lamp appear, instantly transformed into thin threads of fire and poured into it like a thousand rivers flowing to the sea.
In the blink of an eye, the Jade Yang True Fire on the Purple Spirit Net was completely absorbed. The lamp continued to float calmly in place, only its green light had grown even more piercing to the eyes.
The green-robed woman, unperturbed, pointed a finger at the lamp, and with a ripple of energy it suddenly drifted toward Yin Yue.
Yin Yue's expression changed drastically. Without time to think, she pointed at the Purple Spirit Net, and the entire purple web blazed with light, its densely woven threads forming a barrier before her. At the same time, she flipped her palm and the basket ancient treasure appeared in her hand.
At that moment, the giant green sword came hurtling through the air with a thunderous roar to a position directly above the woman, and with a surge of magical incantation, plummeted downward.
Yin Yue cooperated perfectly — she had just transformed the basket in her hands into a ball of white qi to shield herself when she formed a hand seal with both hands. The purple light enveloping the white lotus suddenly split open a large gap above.
The giant sword, wreathed in golden arcs and blue flames, slashed downward at the white lotus below.
Seeing the imposing might of the giant sword, the green-robed woman's expression shifted slightly. For the first time, a look of gravity appeared on her face.
She hesitated for a moment, abandoning her plan to attack Yin Yue first. Her entire body's spiritual power surged, flowing through her feet and pouring into the white lotus. Instantly, the lotus petals swelled several times over, layer upon layer of lotus shadows stretching upward, condensing into an extraordinarily dense barrier of light.
Then she abruptly pointed at the drifting lamp flame, and it flickered back to hover above her head. The woman then raised the copper lamp high and gave it a slight wave.
After a shimmer of green light and afterimages, two more flames of identical size materialized alongside the original one above her head, then instantly merged together into a head-sized ball of green fire.
The giant sword finally struck the barrier formed by the lotus petals.
A deafening boom erupted.
Thunder and explosions rang out simultaneously as white light, golden arcs, blue flames, and other radiance intertwined together.
Though the white lotus's dozen-odd petals were extraordinarily mystical, the Exorcising Evil Divine Thunder and the Azure Ice Flame were no ordinary forces either.
Either one alone might not have been able to overcome the lotus petals, but with both simultaneously channeled onto the giant sword's surface, amplified by the immense power of the seventy-two Green Bamboo Bee Cloud Swords' combined form — although the lotus shadows struggled to hold for a brief moment, they ultimately crumbled apart, scattering into a skyful of starlight.
The giant sword pressed downward without obstruction. But at this moment, the green fireball drifted slowly upward to meet it.
A cold, piercing gleam flashed through Han Li's eyes.
Though he harbored some wariness toward the bizarre green flame, he also harbored a desire to test the Azure Ice Flame against the lamp's fire and compare their powers.
The giant sword descended without the slightest hesitation.
This collision was utterly silent. Whether the pale golden lightning arcs or the bone-chilling Azure Ice Flame, all were instantly swallowed by the green lamp fire. Then the entire giant sword was swept in as well.
The Green Bamboo Bee Cloud Swords were Han Li's life-bound treasures, and naturally his connection to them was supremely sensitive.
The instant the green lamp fire enveloped the entire sword, his heart lurched. An excruciatingly uncomfortable surge of heat suddenly blazed up from his chest. Then his entire body's temperature skyrocketed, and even his blood seemed to boil.
Han Li was alarmed. Without time to think, he hurriedly formed seals with both hands and pointed at the sword.
The sword emitted a deep hum, then its green light flashed wildly as it split into dozens of small green swords that scattered in every direction.
He had thought this would free them from the strange lamp fire, but when Han Li looked again, his expression changed drastically.
Each flying sword was similarly dotted with green flames, and moments later, every single one was once again enveloped by the lamp fire.
Han Li's expression shifted between dark and light, his discomfort growing ever more severe as cold sweat poured from his body. Gritting his teeth in alarm, his ten fingers flew through hand seals like the spokes of a wheel, while his spiritual sense split into dozens of strands to simultaneously control the flying swords — some shooting skyward, others spiraling in wild arcs — desperately trying to shake off the lamp fire clinging to the blades.
He had personally witnessed the scene where the silver bell ancient treasure was melted down to nothing. There was absolutely no way he would allow his own life-bound treasures to meet the same fate.
If that happened, both his vital energy and spiritual sense would suffer devastating damage.
At this moment, the previously destroyed lotus petals regrew from the lotus disc beneath the green-robed woman's feet, once again cocooning her in protection.
The woman watched coldly as Han Li's flying swords were shrouded in lamp fire and then flailed about in a wretched display across the sky, a hint of mockery curling at the corner of her lips.
She was in no hurry to make her next move, calmly waiting for the moment when his life-bound treasures were destroyed and his cultivation suffered catastrophic damage.
But after a brief moment, the mocking expression on her lips froze, and her eyes instead revealed a look of surprise.
The copper lamp in her hands was no ordinary ancient treasure. In the strictest sense, it didn't even belong to her personally — it was one of the two great inherited treasures of the entire Mulan Tribe.
The reason Woman Le had been entrusted with this treasure was not only because of her profound cultivation and her status as the Mulan Tribe's foremost female dharma master, but most importantly because she held another elevated position — one almost comparable to the Tuhu people's "Heavenly Lake Saintess" — that earned the deep respect of all other high-rank dharma masters.
Even the Mulan Tribe's three great Divine Masters treated her with the utmost courtesy when they met her, not daring to show the slightest disrespect.
Since this ancient treasure had come into her possession, due to certain special circumstances and the lamp's own usage restrictions, she had only been able to use it a limited number of times and would not deploy it lightly.
Once the specified number of uses was exceeded, the treasure had to be immediately withdrawn and held in readiness for the next qualified master.