The silver chains were glowing and rather illusionary in appearance, as if they weren't substantial objects.

The Stemborer Queen thrashed violently, but was unable to struggle free from the chains.

A look of incredulity appeared in the Stemborer Queen's eyes at the sight of the chains, and that disbelief was quickly replaced by fear. "These are Spiritual Sense Chains! But that's impossible! You cultivated the Spirit Refinement Technique? How could this secret technique possibly have ended up in a lower realm?"

Han Li remained silent and expressionless as he made a hand seal with each of his six hands before changing an ancient incantation.

All of a sudden, the silver chains tightened even further around the Stemborer Queen.

"So what if you've cultivated the Spirit Refinement Technique? Your pitiful spiritual sense will be nowhere near enough to bind my True Extreme Body!" the Stemborer Queen harrumphed coldly as five-colored runes surfaced all over its body, and the eyes on its two demonic heads suddenly sprang open with menacing looks on their faces.

Two extremely unfamiliar auras immediately erupted from the Stemborer Queen, and its magic power fluctuations, which had completely disappeared earlier, were beginning to arise again.

A peculiar look appeared on Han Li's face at the sight of the Stemborer Queen's transformation, and he said something that was quite perplexing to the Stemborer Queen.

"I never intended to truly defeat you with this ability; all I need to do is to trap you here for a short while."

"What do you mean by that?" The Stemborer Queen faltered slightly before hurriedly inspecting its surroundings, but there was no else around aside from the meditating Daoist Xie.

However, right as its voice trailed off, a string of rumbling thunderclaps suddenly rang out above the underwater abyss.

A dazzling flash of light erupted, and a five-colored pillar of lightning comprised of countless arcs of lightning came crashing down from above.

"This is Punishment Lightning! That old bastard, He Kang, is still alive!" A look of horror and incredulity appeared on the Stemborer Queen's face at the sight of this pillar of lightning.

It then abruptly shook its three heads, and a layer of inky-black flames surfaced over its body, while the black crystalline core within its body began to emit a loud buzzing sound.

In this dire situation, the Stemborer Queen had chosen to self-detonate its own crystalline core without any hesitation.

Upon coming into contact with the layer of black flames, the silver chains quickly began to display signs of melting, and it seemed that the Stemborer Queen was about to struggle free.

However, right at this moment, a deafening thunderclap rang out, and the five-colored pillar of lightning came crashing down onto the Stemborer Queen at an incredible speed.

Countless arcs of lightning intertwined to instantly encompass the Stemborer Queen's entire body, and a piercing screech rang out as the Stemborer Queen's body quickly disintegrated into ashes within the span of just a few breaths.

The five-colored pillar of lightning flashed a few more times before abruptly vanishing, seemingly only able to last an extremely short time.

High up in the sky above the water, the giant five-colored eye that had just sprung open also silently dissipated.

The entire sky returned to its murky grey state, and it was as if nothing had ever happened.

......

Meanwhile, a pained groan rang out from within the black bowl situated on the alter in the mysterious stone forest, and the chains connecting the bowl to the ancient lamps suddenly tremored violently.

The flame within the only remaining lit lamp became even dimmer, as if it could be snuffed out at any moment.

"That was a close call! That attack alone expended around 90% of all of my remaining spiritual sense. Without that human brat's help, I would've been in severe trouble. I've finally managed to avenge myself by erasing that b*tch out of existence; I bet she could've never imagined that I would live until now, haha! Come to think of it, I have to thank that human brat. Otherwise, who knows when or if I would've ever been able to avenge myself," the male voice chortled in a near-deranged manner, and it was filled with both a hint of hatred and wistfulness.

......

Meanwhile, Han Li wasn't thinking about how the Stemborer Queen had been killed so easily. Instead, he was writhing violently on the ground with his hands thrown over his head, howling with excruciating pain.

His massive body began to rapidly shrink as his golden body was withdrawn, and his purplish-golden armor quickly reverted back into purplish-golden scales before fading altogether.

Around 15 minutes later, Han Li finally reverted back to his human form, then struggled to his feet and shook his impossibly heavy head vigorously.

Not only had that transformation expended much of his essential power, the Spiritual Sense Chains that he had manifested had exhausted almost all of his spiritual sense.

It had been a very long time since he had engaged in such a fierce battle, and thinking back on it now, there was still a hint of lingering fear in his heart.

"Are you alright, Brother Xie?" Han Li asked in a raspy voice as he cast his gaze toward the meditating Daoist Xie.

"I'm fine, I just need some time to rest, but I won't be able to fight for the next few months. Otherwise, this body of mine would sustain irreparable damage," Daoist Xie replied as he slowly opened his eyes.

"I understand. How about you come into my spirit beast bracelet to rest and recuperate, and I'll take care of everything here," Han Li suggested.

"That's a good arrangement. I don't even have enough power to protect myself right now, so I would only be a hindrance to you," Daoist Xie agreed after only a brief moment of contemplation.

He then immediately made a hand seal, and silver light surged over his body as he quickly shrank down into a palm-sized miniature golden crab.

Han Li swept a sleeve toward the golden crab, releasing a burst of five-colored light that drew the crab into an intricate spirit beast bracelet.

After that, he cast his gaze toward a certain direction, and said, "Fellow Daoist Bao Hua, you've been spectating there for quite some time; it's about time you showed yourself, is it not? Even though you expended a lot of your energy to unleash that secret technique, I'm sure you're still not completely defenseless right now."

Spatial fluctuations erupted in that direction, and an extremely pale Bao Hua appeared with a wry smile on her face. "Your spiritual sense really is far superior to all of us, Brother Han. However, I'm afraid you've made an incorrect assessment of my condition; I really don't have much magic power left, and I was only able to unleash that concealment secret technique using a talisman gifted to me by a good friend." 

As Bao Hua cast her gaze toward Han Li, her eyes were filled with unadulterated astonishment.

It was clear that the power displayed by Han Li during his battle against the Stemborer Queen had made her realize that she was already no match for him.

As such, even though she appeared to be quite calm on the surface, she was internally extremely wary of Han Li.

"I'm sure you're aware that I wasn't the one who killed the Stemborer Queen; someone else stepped in to land the killing blow," Han Li said as he shook his own head, then summoned a vial, tipping out several green pills that he swallowed in a single mouthful.

"That may be true, but if you hadn't trapped the Stemborer Queen with that incredible ability of yours, that Punishment Lightning definitely wouldn't have been able to kill it. Speaking of which, who exactly was it that had unleashed that lightning? Not only was he aware of everything that was happening here, he was also able to transmit his voice directly to the two of us. Without that voice transmission, the two of us would've most likely fled for our lives already," Bao Hua mused with furrowed brows.

"This is my first time interacting with that being as well. However, seeing as he was able to unleash such fearsome lightning, he definitely isn't a being from the lower realms. On top of that, he's also in the original sealed site and seems to be very familiar with the Stemborer Queen's situation; I'm sure his identity is quite apparent now. Surely someone as intelligent as you would've already arrived at the same conclusion," Han Li chuckled.

"Looks like our conclusions are quite similar then; that person is most likely one of the true immortals that sealed the Stemborer Queen in the first place. Otherwise, there's no reasonable explanation for all of this. However, this Stemborer Queen doesn't seem to be the same one from before, either; the soul within its body seemed to be very familiar with the True Immortal Realm. Could it be that its body was possessed by the soul of another true immortal?" Bao Hua speculated with a befuddled expression.

Han Li also began to stroke his chin with a contemplative expression.

"If you want to know the truth, then pay me a visit, and all will be revealed." A placid and benevolent male voice suddenly rang out in the air above the abyss, and it was none other than the voice that had been transmitted to the two of them earlier.

Han Li and Bao Hua's expressions changed slightly upon hearing this, and they quickly exchanged a wary glance.

"Looks like you two still don't trust me. In any case, the Stemborer Queen is already dead, and this space that was created using its power is going to collapse soon, so you'll meet me in a short while anyway," the man chuckled, seemingly completely unbothered by Han Li and Bao Hua's hesitation.

Bao Hua's heart jolted upon hearing this, and she hurriedly asked, "What do you mean by that, Senior?"

However, the male voice completely cut off there, and the entire surrounding space fell silent once again.

Almost at the exact same moment, a burst of dull rumbling rang out from the bottom of the abyss, and the surrounding seawater began to surge violently.