Han Li, seeing the white wolf pupae constrained, immediately raised both hands and chanted incantations without hesitation. Though the three massive pythons were remarkably sturdy, their mouths lacked such extraordinary defensive capabilities. These two white wolf pupae, crafted from numerous rare and unidentified materials, possessed powerful self-explosion forces of their own. After the explosive sound erupted, both python heads simultaneously emitted piercing cries of agony, revealing their unbearable suffering. The central python head, however, remained unaffected and grew even more furious. It swayed its body, sweeping its massive tail forward—its shadow flashing—and instantly sent the newly advancing green python puppet flying backward, landing over ten paces away and collapsing. At the same time, the python head extended forward, biting down with force, and completely shattered a red ox puppet, leaving Han Li with no opportunity to allow his own pupae to self-explode. In the meantime, Nan Long Hou and the elderly man of Lu surname, under the efforts of Han Li's several puppet creatures to buy time, finally launched their attacks in sheer astonishment. First, dozens of glowing white fire balls shot forth from before the elder, scattering across the sky as he uttered a single character—"go." Meanwhile, Nanlong Marquis raised his hand and cast a spell upon the jade ring. The ring then trembled and swiftly multiplied—first into two, then into four, then into eight—and in a continuous cascade, expanded into hundreds of identical phantom images. The genuine ring itself shimmered and dissolved into a cascade of vibrant green light, shooting off into the air. Han Li remained calm, gently flipping his palm and summoning a dark, solid object into the air. As the object expanded with the wind, it instantly grew into a mountain several dozen zhang high, and continued to surge upward under the power of the spell. This was the ancient artifact known as the Thousand-Weight Peak. Given the giant serpent's massive size and thick, tough body, this artifact was undoubtedly the most suitable choice. Yet the serpent moved with no sluggishness—thus, it would first need to be contained. Han Li pondered, noticing that the heads of the three great serpents on either side seemed to have recovered from their earlier self-explosion, now spewing out two broad, hazy beams of light from their open mouths. The white fire ball first collided with these beams, producing a loud burst of sound. The fire ball instantly transformed into a surge of white flame interwoven with gray light, forming a stalemate. Meanwhile, the emerald rings directly passed through the contest between the gray light and the flame waves, swiftly targeting the three serpent heads. Han Li's black mountain-like form followed steadily behind the green light, drifting slowly. The great serpents, observing the bold advance of the green light, sensed a clear threat. The main head roared low, a flash of spiritual light enveloping its entire body, then opened its massive mouth and lunged forward with sudden force. The emerald light formed by the rings momentarily dispersed upon making contact with the serpents' powerful charge. Only the ring hidden at the back gently swayed and, in an instant, vanished from its original position to appear atop the great serpent's head. The ring then radiated brilliant light, transforming into a surge of green mist that plummeted downward with sudden, unanticipated speed. At the seven-inch mark of the serpent's head, a magnified green jade ring instantly materialized, swiftly contracting and tightening firmly into the serpent's flesh. Though the serpent was colossal in size, the pressure at this critical point caused unbearable pain. It immediately rolled onto its side, violently crashing its main head against the ground repeatedly, while the green light at the seven-inch mark flickered ceaselessly, as though desperately striving to break free from the jade ring's constraint. The two smaller heads also showed signs of distress under this effect. As a result, the gray light column that had been locked in a standoff with the white flame wave abruptly halted. Lu Weiying saw this and brightened. Seizing the opportunity, under the impetus of her spell, the white flame surged forward, rising into a wave several dozen feet high. The sea of flames instantly engulfed the colossal serpent. Yet the shimmering azure glow on the serpent's body proved remarkably resilient; though completely surrounded by the white fire, the light flashed and danced incessantly. Though the great serpent rolled about on the ground, its body tightly constricted by the green rings, it showed no signs of injury. Suddenly, black light flashed above the serpent, and a black mountain, towering several dozen zhang high, materialized in midair. The mountain spun gracefully in the sky, and vast streams of black mist erupted from its base, instantly enveloping the serpent below. Within the radiance of the black light, the serpent's movements slowed and became sluggish, as though each motion were burdened by a thousand catties of weight. Seizing the moment, the mountain plunged straight downward. The three monstrous serpents sensed the impending danger and, in unison, raised their heads, forcefully expelling several luminous orbs into the air in an attempt to halt the mountain's descent. However, these orbs, barely penetrating the black mist, began to disintegrate and dissolve even before reaching the mountain's base. The giant serpent, though still unwilling to yield, pressed its massive tail firmly against the ground with all its strength, and its form shot forth like a streak of light in the radiance. Yet at that moment, the surrounding white flames suddenly coalesced into several thick chains of fire, instantly ensnaring the serpent and forcing it to fall heavily after advancing only a dozen paces. Finally, the mountain crashed down with crushing weight. Where the mountain landed, a deep black glow surged forth, blinding the onlookers for a moment. The three serpent heads managed only to emit a cry of pain before being drowned out by the thunderous roar. Nanlong Hou beamed with satisfaction, while the elderly man of Lu surname exhaled a long, relieved breath. Only Han Li glanced at the scene, his brow subtly furrowing. As the black glow gradually faded, the scene beyond revealed that the three giant serpents had not yet perished, though one of their heads remained outside the mountain's base, desperately shrieking and thrashing its head back and forth, eyes blazing with wild, unyielding fury. The resilience of this serpent's life was truly astonishing. Lu Weiying hummed and raised her hand, sending a beam of white light shooting out toward the serpent's head. The beam gently circled the serpent's head, and despite lacking the usual azure glow, the head easily fell to the ground. Blood erupted from the serpent's remaining body, shooting several zhang into the air, and then the creature remained completely still. "At last, we've dealt with it. Yet it's somewhat surprising—this three-headed black serpent doesn't seem as formidable as the legends describe," said the elder with the Lu surname, his expression relaxing as he murmured. "Perhaps this isn't the true black serpent. Don't forget—the genuine three-headed black serpent not only has three heads but also grows a pair of flesh wings. It's said that its three heads can simultaneously perform different great powers. This serpent, however, doesn't resemble that at all. Otherwise, how could we have handled it so easily?" Nan Long Hou shook his head, his eyes flashing with doubt. "Maybe this serpent is a mutation of another species, and merely having three heads doesn't necessarily mean it's the true three-headed black serpent." "We needn't bother to figure out the origin of this serpent—let's hurry and enter the passage," Han Li said calmly, then pointed at the towering peak. The mountain swiftly shrunk and transformed into a streak of black light, vanishing into his sleeve. In its place, the colossal python lay reduced to a pulp. Nan Long Hou extended his hand, and suddenly a beam of golden light and a cluster of green light rose from the remains, emitting a resonant hum before soaring back. These were the golden flying sword and the jade-green ring. The sword plunged directly into Han Li's body, while the ring resumed its original form and was neatly resecured on his finger. Lu Weiying glanced at the corpse, paused briefly, and then moved with several swift steps to stand beside it. With a simple gesture, he reached into the python's head and retrieved a jade-like inner pearl the size of a thumb. The elder smiled with satisfaction, and after glancing at the other two heads, also extracted an inner pearl from each. At that moment, Han Li, who had just collected the remaining puppet beasts, and Nan Long Hou arrived as well. The elder said nothing, simply tossing the inner elixir—one to each of the two. Han Li caught it in his hand, glanced at it briefly, then calmly stored it without a word. Nanlong Marquis naturally did not hesitate to accept it as well. He then cast a fire ball at random, reducing the giant serpent's body to ashes. Only then did the Lu elder speak: "Should either of us have encountered this creature alone, we would surely have found it quite formidable. But together, with three of us united, even such an ancient beast should not prove too difficult to overcome. If the fire frog were equally manageable, then this journey would indeed have been much easier!" "I hope so. Still, I suspect the fire frog will be more of a challenge. After all, even when the former Master of the Qingkun Sect suffered great injuries, it would have taken a truly formidable spirit to allow it to flee in panic." Nanlong Marquis sighed, offering a wry smile. After listening carefully, the Lu elder paused and then nodded silently. At that moment, Han Li transformed into a streak of azure light, retrieving all the array flags laid out around him. Then he shot back and said, "Let's go. We'll soon see just how formidable that fire toad beast truly is." Han Li spoke in a steady tone. He then stepped forward and began walking briskly. Nan Long Hou and the elder exchanged glances and immediately followed suit. After all, the northern polar yuan guang below entirely depended on Han Li's Er Yi Ring to pass through. Once the great serpent was extinguished, the original gray mist naturally vanished completely, revealing the entire scene clearly. The road remained unchanged—still over a hundred zhang long, with blood-red sealing lights spreading across the sides and sky, making it impossible to discern anything clearly. Han Li and his two companions flew steadily at a height of five to six zhang above the ground, continuing their journey for over twenty li before the landscape changed, revealing a towering stone wall of a pale yellow hue. A dark, cavernous opening of about seven to eight zhang in width emerged from the wall. "This is it," Han Li said. "Once we pass through this mountain passage, we'll reach the inner valley." There exists a stretch of over ten li of the Northern Primordial Light Glow within the cave. Friend Han—what happens next will entirely depend on your Two-Principles Ring.” The Nanlong Marquis exhaled deeply and turned to Han Li. “Since you know there's Northern Primordial Light Glow inside the cave, couldn't one simply pass through the stone wall from elsewhere? Is it really necessary to go through this cave?” Lu Weiying stroked his chin, his eyes flickering with doubt. “This method simply won't work, Nanlong Brother. If you use your divine artifact to strike the stone wall at will, you'll soon see the reason.” The Nanlong Marquis shook his head, speaking calmly. “Ah, let me try that.” Clearly, the elder was not ready to give up. With a sweep of his sleeve, he grasped a white light thread and launched it forth, striking the stone wall with great force. This time, Han Li observed closely and noticed that the light thread resembled a short, uniquely shaped blade—much like a rare flying dagger artifact.