A phoenix cry rang out, and a ball of five-colored light erupted out of the shattered formation plate before enveloping Bao Hua's entire body.

Spatial fluctuations erupted, yet just as Bao Hua was about to vanish into thin air, a tender yet very cold voice rang out from down below.

"You're not going anywhere."

As soon as the voice trailed off, the water down below parted, and a shadow suddenly shot out.

A resounding thump rang out as Bao Hua was sent flying by a burst of tremendous force, and the layer of five-colored light around her instantly shattered.

Only after flying back for around 500 feet did she manage to just barely steady herself, and she couldn't help but throw up a mouthful of blood.

It seemed that she had sustained some substantial injuries from that attack!

However, she had been very alert and injected all of her magic power into the protective spiritual light around her right before she was struck by that attack. Otherwise, even if that attack wouldn't have been able to kill her, she would definitely still have ended up with far more severe injuries.

Everyone else was naturally very alarmed to see this.

Han Li immediately focused his gaze on the spot where Bao Hua had been standing before, and he caught sight of a small and delicate figure.

This was a little girl who appeared to be no more than 12 years of age, and she was slowly withdrawing her little fist as she appraised the Grand Ascension Stage beings present with a hint of a smile on her face.

The little girl had a dark complexion and was wearing an extremely ordinary set of tight-fitting clothes. Her appearance was quite ordinary, but her eyes were completely grey, as if she were blind from birth, and there was a glossy black crystal embedded into her glabella.

The crystal was very similar in appearance to the one left behind after the giant insect's body had disappeared, except it was darker and smaller, seemingly able to suck in all light.

The little girl was the one who had just sent Bao Hua flying, and as she cast her gaze toward Han Li, the latter immediately felt a chill run down his spine.

As for the other Grand Ascension Stage beings, they were also very unsettled by the little girl's sweeping gaze.

Even though she hadn't introduced herself, the fact that she had been able to send Bao Hua flying with a single attack was a clear indication that she was most likely the Stemborer Queen.

As for what that giant insect from before was, no one had the spare capacity to worry about that now; all of them had their attention focused entirely on this little girl.

No one had been able to clearly see the punch that had just sent Bao Hua flying; it had simply been far too fast.

The only one whose expression remained unchanged here was Daoist Xie.

He was appraising the little girl in an indifferent manner while arcs of silver lightning appeared over his body to form a lightning robe.

"Oh? An immortal puppet? How interesting; I didn't think I'd see something like this in a lower realm," the little girl said as she appraised Daoist Xie with an intrigued expression.

"Are you the true Stemborer Queen?" Bao Hua asked as she finally recovered the breath that had been knocked out of her by the earlier punch.

"Hmph, are you saying that body you just destroyed isn't my true form? I shed that body 100,000 years ago, and it was very useful to me, yet you've destroyed it; how are you all going to compensate me?" the little girl harrumphed coldly.

"So that means your true body is hidden underwater; how crafty of you! I'm also very surprised that you were able to dispel the power of the heavenly phoenix within my Treasured Phoenix Spirit Plate," Bao Hua sighed.

"Treasured Phoenix Spirit Plate? That's just a useless object containing a hint of the power of laws of the heavenly phoenix. It can wield some spatial power, but it's nothing more than a toy in my eyes. I haven't ever faced a true spirit heavenly phoenix, but I've devoured quite a few powerful beings of the phoenix race," the little girl scoffed with a disdainful expression.

The black-robed woman had already snuck her Treasured Phoenix Spirit Plate into her hand, and her heart immediately sank upon hearing this. She knew that she couldn't fully trust the little girl's words, but she didn't dare to use her formation plate nonetheless.

However, there was someone that was completely unconvinced by the little girl's claims; he was very confident in the Treasured Phoenix Spirit Plate's power, and he felt himself to be quite far away from the little girl.

That person was none other than the red-faced man, and he suddenly summoned his Treasured Phoenix Spirit Plate before instantly crushing it.

A burst of five-colored light emerged to envelop his entire body alongside a flurry of spatial fluctuations.

A cold look appeared on the little girl's face upon seeing this, and she immediately shot forth as a blurry black shadow.

The red-faced man was already prepared, and he let loose a loud cry as he slashed his bone blade through the air.

An earth-shattering boom rang out as a mountainous blade projection struck the black shadow, tearing it into countless pieces.

"Haha!" The red-faced man chortled, and he didn't care whether his attack had actually harmed the little girl; what was important to him was that he was about to teleport away.

Everyone else had been intimidated by the Stemborer Queen's threat, yet he was going to teleport away, and it was very likely that he was going to be the only one in the group to survive, so of course he was very pleased with himself.

However, his laughter then suddenly cut and was replaced by an agonized howl.

A slender arm had plunged through his chest, completely disregarding his protective spiritual light and armor.

It turned out that the little girl had appeared behind him in a wraith-like manner, and her arm was like a divine weapon capable of piercing through all things.

The little girl giggled as she pulled a miniature crimson humanoid figure out of the red-haired man's chest.

This was none other than the red-faced man's Nascent Soul, and it was struggling with all its might to escape, but to no avail.

The little girl opened her mouth to release a black thread, which struck the red-faced man's body with unerring accuracy, and it instantly withered away before disintegrating into dust.

"No! She's wielding the power of the law of time! Save me, fellow daoists!"

The Nascent Soul thrashed violently with a horrified expression while calling for help in a panicked frenzy.

A hint of incredulity appeared in Bao Hua's eyes upon hearing the words "law of time".

The elderly man and black-robed woman had initially intended to step in, but both of them immediately abandoned those plans as horrified looks appeared on their faces.

In contrast, Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before a contemplative look appeared in his eyes.

Meanwhile, the little girl was looking at the little Nascent Soul in her hand as if she were appraising a delicacy, and she bit off half of the Nascent Soul in one mouthful, chewing several times before swallowing.

The Nascent Soul immediately let loose a bloodcurdling cry as it fainted on the spot. Even though it managed to instantly regenerate, the light radiating from it had dimmed significantly, and its aura had also become close to non-existent.

Bao Hua's expression changed slightly, and she raised a hand to try and do something, but it was already too late.

The little girl giggled as she quickly devoured the rest of the Nascent Soul, then licked her lips with a pleased expression.

This was supposed to be quite an adorable display, but it was downright demonic in the eyes of the Grand Ascension Stage beings present.

Not only had the elderly man and black-robed woman's faces paled significantly, Bao Hua had also fallen into a solemn silence.

Han Li remained quite calm, but he still waved a hand toward Daoist Xie, who immediately teleported over to Han Li.

It seemed that the situation was not looking good.

The Stemborer Queen had managed to wound Bao Hua with a single attack and easily killed a Grand Ascension Stage; it was definitely far more powerful than they anticipated.

How was it this powerful after only just awakening? Wasn't the spirit of the ancient seal supposed to have used all of its power to restrict the Stemborer Queen?

Even in its current state, the Stemborer Queen could still kill Grand Ascension Stage beings with ease; how had a pair of true immortals managed to seal it at the height of its powers?

There was clearly something suspicious about this story.

However, before Han Li had a chance to ponder this notion further, Bao Hua suddenly transmitted her voice to him.

"Brother Han, this is not the Stemborer Queen's body; it's a clone manifested from its soul. As such, aside from Profound Heavenly Treasures, all other treasures will struggle to harm it. On top of that, its mastery of the law of time is very elementary, so it can't use that power easily. Every time it does so, its soul will be slightly weakened. As long as we use our Profound Heavenly Treasures to protect ourselves, there's nothing to fear."

"How do you know so much?" Han Li couldn't help but ask.

"I was informed of all of this by the spirit of the ancient seal. Let's hold off this clone together while our other fellow daoists go underwater to destroy the Stemborer Queen's body. As long as its body is destroyed, its soul won't pose any substantial threat," Bao Hua replied.