All of these people were cultivators who had emerged first from the Ice and Fire Path. The black desert and blood ice forest posed no threat to Nascent Soul stage cultivators such as Ji Yin and the others, but for late-stage Core Formation cultivators, they had still suffered no small amount of hardship before breaking free. As for those with even weaker cultivation, their chances of survival were slim at best.
This was why only a handful of people had arrived so far.
Ji Yin and Scholar Qingyi were naturally worried about Han Li's life.
If Han Li perished on the Lava Path, the Blood Jade Spider would be lost with him, and all their efforts would have been for nothing.
Ji Yin, the Grand Elder, was especially vexed—of all of them, he stood to gain the most, and his mood was at least three parts worse than Scholar Qingyi's.
Wan Tianming, though outwardly more composed, wore a cold expression on his face, his gaze fixed silently on his own pair of broad, elegant hands.
All three Nascent Soul cultivators knew that the anomalies on the Ice and Fire Path were undoubtedly connected to the Star Palace Elders who had yet to appear. The thought made their teeth itch with frustration, and a deep wariness rose in their hearts.
What exactly was the Star Palace's intention?
Did they truly intend to openly break with both the Righteous and Demonic factions here inside the Void Heaven Hall?
As this unsettling atmosphere lingered, time trickled by.
The Whiskered Barbarian, Tianwu Zi, the old farmer, Wu Chou, and Xuan Gu arrived one after another through the teleportation array, each transported into the stone hall.
Some wore expressions of bitter luck, while others ground their teeth in anger. It was plain that every one of them had been cursing the Star Palace people under their breath over this unexpected turn of events.
By now, less than half a day remained before the Ice and Fire Path closed.
When Ji Yin saw that Han Li still had not appeared, the slight easing his expression had gained upon Wu Chou's safe passage darkened once more.
Wu Chou had managed to pass through the Ice and Fire Path thanks to an ancient treasure Ji Yin had given him beforehand for protection. He had no illusions that Han Li possessed a treasure of comparable caliber.
Qingyi and the Whiskered Barbarian were surely regretting their own decisions just as bitterly.
After all, given their respective statuses, each of them owned several ancient treasures of considerable power. Had they all lent theirs to Han Li, he would surely have had no trouble protecting himself.
Thinking this, Ji Yin cast a sullen glance at the old scholar and the Whiskered Barbarian.
The scholar in his Confucian robes was staring at the teleportation array, his expression shifting between light and shadow, as though deep in deliberation.
The Whiskered Barbarian had his head tilted back, gazing at the ceiling of the hall, his chin moving slightly as he muttered something to himself. He, too, clearly had his own thoughts on the matter.
Seeing all this, Ji Yin's irritation only deepened.
But once he forced himself to calm down, he had no choice but to face reality. Without the Blood Jade Spider, how should he proceed?
Xuan Gu was seated cross-legged on a stone table, his eyes half-closed, apparently absorbed in meditation.
He had not caught sight of Han Li. This was partly unexpected, yet in a way entirely predictable.
After all, in his estimation, Han Li's true strength was roughly on par with a late-stage Core Formation cultivator at best.
Whether he could survive the altered Ice and Fire Path was truly a coin toss.
Without Han Li's assistance, however, tackling Ji Yin alone would likely prove beyond him.
Xuan Gu himself was wavering on whether to make his move inside the Void Heaven Hall at all.
Perhaps finding a more suitable moment, with fuller preparation, would actually give him a greater chance of success.
Resigned, Xuan Gu could not help but curse those two Star Palace Elders in his heart once more.
As for Wan Tianming and the other Righteous cultivators, they were equally bitter.
Some of their original plans—ones that relied on the strength of Core Formation cultivators—now had to be revised.
Just as the various people in the stone hall seethed with tangled thoughts and scheming hearts, the two white-robed Star Palace Elders suddenly appeared within the teleportation array.
Every pair of eyes, filled with hostility, turned to fix upon them at once.
"Ahem! A certain careless fellow must have triggered some powerful restrictions while traversing the Ice and Fire Path, causing great upheaval within the canyon. The two of us spent some time searching for a way to undo them, but unfortunately found none. This time, I'm afraid our cultivation world has lost a considerable number of fellow daoists. We have failed in our duty, and after this session of the Void Heaven Hall concludes, we will return to report to the two Holy Lords and undergo over a hundred years of seclusion meditation as penance for our negligence." The kindly-faced white-robed Elder ignored the hostile gazes around him, cast a slow look around the hall, and spoke with a heavy sigh—as though his heart truly ached with remorse.