Seeing this, both the young man surnamed Zhu and the beautiful woman showed satisfied expressions, and the surrounding cultivators were also quite pleased.
Although dealing with this mere swarm of black blood ants was overkill given their cultivation bases, completing the first step of their expedition so smoothly was naturally a good omen.
The young man surnamed Zhu raised his hand and beckoned toward the incense burner. The emerald-green incense within extinguished without the slightest warning, transforming into a ball of yellow light that fell into his palm. With a flip of his hand, it vanished without a trace. But in the next moment, a flash of radiant light appeared, replaced by a set of small, gleaming silver flags.
Each flag was only several inches long, inscribed with numerous purple runes and patterns of lightning, giving off an air of profound mystery!
"Now that the threat of the black blood ants has been eliminated, we shall enter the true toad beast's lair within the mountain. This set of Profound Azure Heavenly Thunder Flags — several fellow daoists, please come forward and each take one." The silver-haired young man swept his gaze across several cultivators and spoke in a measured tone.
Immediately, several of them exchanged glances before flying forward, each taking a small flag from his hand. Among them was, unexpectedly, the old man surnamed Liu.
"Very well. Fellow Daoists Zhao and Xun will remain outside to keep watch. The rest of you, follow my wife and me." The young man instructed an old man and a middle-aged man, then transformed together with the beautiful woman into two streaks of brilliant light that shot straight toward the massive mountain.
The others didn't hesitate either, activating their own movement techniques to follow.
Only the old man and the middle-aged man who had been named exchanged a bitter smile, then formed hand seals and concealed themselves once more.
The other cultivators had already followed the young couple surnamed Zhu through what appeared to be a natural cave entrance on the mountain, entering the interior of the massive peak.
After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Han Li and the others found themselves in a damp, dark underground passage.
The passage was filled with stalactites hanging from above, its walls covered in droplets of water, the ground extraordinarily slippery and dotted with nameless moss about an inch tall. The entire passage twisted and turned, sloping steadily downward into the earth.
Fortunately, this naturally formed passage was wide enough that those flying slowly a few feet above the ground didn't have to proceed on foot.
Han Li continuously looked around, and whenever unusually large venomous insects flew toward him from various crevices, threads of red silk shot from his fingertips pierced through them on the spot, reducing them to ash.
Beside him was none other than Fairy Xiao.
The woman wore a similarly cautious expression, a layer of white light flickering around her body. No matter what kind of venomous insect threw itself against it, it was instantly frozen into a crystalline chunk of ice that fell to the ground.
It wasn't just Han Li and this woman — the other cultivators also employed various small techniques to slay any venomous insects that dared approach.
Though these insects might seem insignificant, no one dared let a single one bite them.
After all, the primordial world was filled with countless strange and wondrous things. Even an ordinary-looking venomous insect with no cultivation could instantly kill a high-level cultivator with its poison.
This was not without precedent.
The cultivators descended rapidly, and fewer and fewer in the group spoke until the entire party had fallen silent. Apart from the soft pops of venomous insects being constantly destroyed, not another sound could be heard.
The passage wasn't entirely dark, as occasional nameless stones embedded in the walls emitted a faint, luminous glow, quite similar to the moonlight stones commonly used by human cultivators.
This made the group's advance considerably easier.
After descending a while longer, Han Li's expression suddenly shifted. He gazed meaningfully toward the front of the group, as if he had sensed something.
At the same time, the silver-haired young man at the very front furrowed his brow and abruptly halted together with the beautiful woman.
Then, the voice of the young man surnamed Zhu immediately echoed in the ears of Han Li and the others.
"Everyone, be cautious. I've sensed two insect beasts ahead, with auras approaching the Deity Transformation stage, directly blocking our path. There may be other insect beasts nearby as well, so I can't release too much spiritual sense to investigate. Someone must go forward first to confirm what kind of beasts they are with their own eyes. Be careful — don't attack just yet!"
Everyone was taken aback, but one person immediately stepped forward and said:
"Allow me to go take a look. I don't have much in the way of other abilities, but I am somewhat confident in my movement techniques. I only wonder whether Senior Zhu would trust me with this task."
"Haha, so it's Brother You! Fellow Daoist's wind movement technique is truly wondrous — something I could not wish for more." The silver-haired young man recognized the speaker at once and broke into a broad smile.
This was none other than the old man in the bamboo hat who had asked questions at the Ice Hall before their departure.
The old man chuckled at this, and with a gentle breeze swirling past, he vanished without a trace.
It was indeed that remarkably wondrous wind movement technique.
The others remained in place and waited. Many were privately quite curious about the insect beasts that had suddenly appeared ahead to block their path.
In just about the time it takes to eat a meal, the old man's figure reappeared in a waver of wind, exactly where he had vanished. Had the cultivators not been watching with focused attention, they might have assumed he had never left at all.