"Bloom."
Following Long Hua's mutter, all the black and white flowers bloom, causing sword Qi petals to fill Hui Sang's field of vision.
And gathering all the flower petals, Long Hua molds them into the form of a giant serpent—prior to sending it forward with his next swing!
*Boom!!!!!* descending from above, and digging its lower jaw into the earth, the serpent continues to charge at Hui Sang with the intent to devour her whole!
Raising her weapon, Hui Sang defends herself against the incoming attack.
"Uh…!"
*Klang!!! Klang!!! Klang!!!* trapped within the serpent's maw—with her weapon preventing the former from closing its jaws completely, sparks fly as chips appear on Hui Sang's Relic!
(Dammit.)
Instinctively, Hui Sang realizes that if she allows this serpent of sword Qi to close its maw on her, her death is all but inevitable.
"Gather!"
Commanding the skeletal soldiers, Hui Sang has them ignore the combat bodies, as they rush to her side.
Amidst their approach, the skeletal soldiers turned themselves into smaller pieces of armor to hasten their movement speed.
And within the blink of an eye, Hui Sang manages to gather all the skeletal soldiers, but instead of reforming her armor, she reforms them into a pair of hands.
Controlling these hands to grab onto the jaws of the serpent, Hui Sang uses them to forcefully pry the maw apart, and taking this opportunity, she escapes.
*Siiiii…!!!* in a brutal manner, the hands—formed from numerous bones, rip the entire serpent in half, and amidst all this, Long Hua performs a single Martial Emperor's Step, prior to pressing his left hand towards Hui Sang's direction.
"Tch."
Seeing a black and white handprint closing in on her, Hui Sang clicks her tongue, and raises her weapon; however, just as the handprint is less than a few meters away from her—
"Detonate!"
"…!"
*Boom!!!* the handprint self-destructs—causing a blast of Yin and Yang energy to wash over Hui Sang!
Even before the dust clouds can settle, Long Hua turns his attention towards the ground, as he feels something moving beneath his feet, and the direction it is headed towards is—
"Uh?"
Raising her head, Yao Ying senses something approaching her direction.
And just as a bulge appears on the ground—
*Kakaka!* the body of the Dawn Buster splits itself apart, and filling in the gaps is black-colored energy that takes on the form of a blade.
"Jump back."
Ignoring whether or not Yao Ying had heard her, Tian Cheng makes a leap towards the bulge, and cleaves the black sword of energy downwards!
*Boom!!!* along with the sound of an explosion, a muffled grunt goes off, as chunks of dirt are thrown into the air!
"Oh?"
Turning his head to the side, Long Hua sees a portion of the grounds being distorted.
Expecting this to be the entrance—which was originally hidden away by an illusory magic array, Long Hua leaps onto the spot, and falls into a deep pit.
"…"
Grabbing Yao Ying—who may or may not be conscious, Tian Cheng retrieves the other combat bodies, and chases after Long Hua.
"…"
Emerging from the dust, while covered in blood—with her robes torn in a few areas, Hui Sang grits her teeth.
"Bastards…!"
Cursing aloud, Hui Sang is just about to chase after the three; however—
"Uh!"
*Poooh!!!* charging out of another dust cloud was the White Serpent King, which had turned its body into a drill, and in the next instance—
"…!"
Caught off-guard, Hui Sang isn't able to react on time, as her upper body is turned into minced meat!
...…
Landing at the base of the deep pit, Long Hua raises his head, and attempts to spread his divine senses outwards.
"Tch."
Finding himself unable to use his divine senses, Long Hua clicks his tongue.
"Hmm."
Taking out a spirit herb cigar, Long Hua ignites it, and presses it to his lips.
With how many branching pathways there are in front of him, the area is a maze that Long Hua couldn't be bothered to take his time with.
"…"
Just as Long Hua is thinking of his next move, a stream of mercurous liquid falls from above, and as it approaches his hand, he has it turn into the form of a colossal sword.
Storing Shui Yue away, Long Hua takes hold of the sword with both hands, and charges forth.
Disregarding the existence of the wall in front of him, Long Hua lifts the colossal sword that is shrouded in sword Qi, and—
*Boom!!!* in the face of the sword Qi-shrouded blade, the walls surrounding Long Hua isn't any sturdier than blocks of tofu, as he effortlessly clears a path forward.
"…"
"…"
"…"
Just as Long Hua straightens his back, Tian Cheng and Yao Ying landed behind him.
...…
Five minutes later—
"…"
Hui Sang lands onto the base of the pit—dressed in a clean set of white robes.
"Now then…- Uh?"
Just as Hui Sang expects the group of three to be forced to take their time with clearing the catacomb's maze, she widens her eyes in shock—to see a forward path of destruction, which led directly to the maze's opposite end.
There, she sees—
"Dammit!"
The three intruders closing in on the catacomb's main chamber.