On a small hill covered in brown rocks on the western side of the Fallen Devil Valley, two men stood atop its summit — one sitting, one standing.
The one seated cross-legged was a kindly-faced old man in white robes; the one standing wore brocade garments and a tall cap, his long beard reaching his chest.
They were none other than Lu Weiying, elder of the Heavenly Extremity Sect, and Marquis Nanlong.
Marquis Nanlong stood with his hands clasped behind his back, roughly five or six zhang away from Lu Weiying, gazing into the distance with a composed air. Yet there was a faint flicker of anxiety in his eyes.
"Brother Nanlong, there's no need to be so anxious. The man's teleportation point was likely rather remote, so naturally it will take him more time to get here. Didn't we see with our own eyes that he entered the array and was sent through?" Lu Weiying, who sat with his eyes closed atop a boulder in meditation, seemed to sense the restlessness in Marquis Nanlong's heart and suddenly spoke up.
"That may be true, but you know as well as I do — the Fallen Devil Valley is fraught with dangers, and not all of them can be dealt with simply through superior cultivation. This man is absolutely essential to our expedition. Without him, we may well have come to the Fallen Devil Valley for nothing." Marquis Nanlong sighed and turned his head, a note of helplessness in his voice.
"The Polar Extreme Mystic Light is one thing. We need the Yin-Yang Ring to push through it. But is that Fire Toad Beast really that powerful? Otherwise, back when we obtained the ring, why go through the trouble of bringing this man along?" Lu Weiying opened his eyes and couldn't help letting out a complaint.
"I've never seen it with my own eyes, so I can't say whether it's powerful or not. But in the writings left behind by Sovereign Cang Kun, this beast is described as extraordinarily terrifying. It would be best to find a cultivator whose techniques are specifically suited to counter it. Otherwise, even if we can deal with the beast, it won't be easy. We could easily suffer severe damage to our vital essence. In a place as dangerous as this, I don't want to give anyone an opening." Marquis Nanlong furrowed his brow slightly as he explained.
"Brother Nanlong makes a fair point. It seems after the incident on the Mulan Grasslands, you've become even more cautious. However, I've come across records of the Fire Toad Beast in some ancient texts. In ancient times, this creature wasn't particularly renowned. According to those sources, it shouldn't be all that difficult to deal with. But since even Sovereign Cang Kun said as much, the one in the valley could very well be a mutated Fire Toad." Lu Weiying pondered briefly before offering his own assessment.
"Mutated? That's certainly possible. But I think it's more likely the beast simply had no natural predators in the valley and has cultivated for far too long." Marquis Nanlong did not entirely agree with the old man's view.
"Things have already reached this point, so there's no use in further speculation. That Fire Toad must be destroyed. And the passage leading to it is filled with Polar Extreme Mystic Light. Anyone unprepared would never make it through. We needn't worry about someone else reaching the ancient cultivator's remains before us." Lu Weiying closed his eyes once more, speaking in an unhurried tone.
Seeing the old man's calm and composed manner, Marquis Nanlong offered a faint smile and was about to say something when his expression suddenly shifted. He swiftly turned his head to look up at the sky.
In the distance, a flicker of green light appeared, followed by a streak of emerald radiance slowly flying toward them.
"It's him — he's finally arrived." Marquis Nanlong was quite familiar with Han Li's light-travel technique and recognized it at once. A look of delight crossed his face.
Upon hearing this, Lu Weiying hurriedly opened his eyes and rose to his feet.
It seemed that despite the elder's outward composure, he too had been growing anxious.
The emerald streak appeared to move with great caution, its speed rather slow. After quite a while, the light finally arrived above them.
The green radiance withdrew, revealing the silhouette of a figure wearing a cloak. The figure hovered lightly above the two, gazing down at them.
"Is that you, Fellow Daoist Han?"
Sweeping it with his spiritual sense, Marquis Nanlong found that his perception could not penetrate the blue-green cloak. A look of surprise crossed his face, and he spoke after a moment's hesitation.
"What's this — besides myself, did Fellow Daoist invite someone else as well?" Han Li adjusted the cloak on his head and chuckled lightly. His gaze then shifted, glancing briefly at the elderly Lu surnamed man.
Lu Weiying had also noticed the peculiar nature of Han Li's cloak, but his expression remained unchanged.
"Fellow Daoist Han jests. Brother Lu and I have been waiting for quite some time." Upon hearing Han Li's voice confirmed, Marquis Nanlong breathed a deep sigh of relief.
Though he found it somewhat odd that Han Li was wearing a cloak, the latter clearly had no intention of discussing it, so he refrained from asking further.
None of the three were the type to dawdle over trifles, and they immediately began discussing plans for slaying the Fire Toad Beast.
To reach the Fire Toad Beast, they first had to enter the Inner Valley.
The so-called "Inner Valley" referred to a vast area at the heart of the Fallen Devil Valley that had been separately enclosed by even more formidable ancient restrictions.
This time, however, the passages leading into the Inner Valley were not limited to a single route.
Simply circling around the entire outer valley would reveal over a dozen passages of varying size.
But every one of these passages was bristling with restrictions. To pass through, one had no choice but to dismantle the barriers bit by bit — attempting to force one's way through with brute strength was nothing short of courting death.
These ancient restrictions were each extraordinarily powerful and utterly ruthless. So long as one did not provoke them, they remained dormant. But the moment an attack was launched, they would retaliate without the slightest mercy.
Sovereign Cang Kun had once considered his own mastery of formations to be far from negligible, yet after studying them alone for several days, he had abandoned the effort entirely.
It wasn't that the restrictions were truly indecipherable, but for a single person, the time required would have been far too great.
In the end, Sovereign Cang Kun had racked his brains and, through a stroke of fortune, discovered this hidden little path filled with Polar Extreme Mystic Light.
The passage was well concealed and unlikely to be found by others, but the Polar Extreme Mystic Light within was more than enough to annihilate any unsuspecting cultivator who stumbled in.
Now, however, with the Yin-Yang Ring in hand, entering the Inner Valley should be an exceedingly simple matter.
After a brief discussion, the three rose into the air without a moment's rest, preparing to launch their light-travel techniques toward the Inner Valley.