Upon saying this, the purple-haired woman swiftly activated her hand seal, and at once the thread of blood on the jade pendant stirred to life, winding and flowing dynamically across its surface. "Excellent," the yellow-haired man replied with a bright smile, "with our fifth sister's secret technique pinpointing the location of that beast, we no longer fear being ambushed—this gives us a decisive advantage." He then stepped aside, allowing his fifth sister to take the lead position. Now, they could only proceed a little deeper along the existing tunnels. The ore veins were densely packed, with multiple tunnels intersecting at regular intervals, forming a network resembling a spider's web. Some tunnels stretched for several li, while others were merely a few dozen zhang long; the firestone within most of them had been largely extracted, leaving only scattered remnants in more concealed areas. Yet, as they passed through a succession of over a dozen tunnels and reached a junction where four or five converged, Han Li suddenly narrowed his eyes. Among the several tunnels now visible, each was glowing with intermittent streaks of crimson light, and the walls were lined with fist-sized red crystals. But what caught Han Li's attention was not these rare materials—rather, it was a half-rotted, headless skeletal remains lying half-buried at the entrance of one of the tunnels. This skeletal remains had vanished without a trace—though the body was intact, its flesh had withered and shriveled, as though all its blood and muscle had disappeared, leaving only a thin layer of skin clinging to the frame. The purple-haired woman and the yellow-haired man naturally both observed the remains and exchanged glances, each expressing a moment of surprise. However, upon focusing on a fragment of clothing at the corner of the bones, the purple-haired woman's expression suddenly darkened. With a delicate hand, she reached out, palm open, toward the skeleton. A soft "pffft" sound, and a small piece of fabric lifted from the bones, caught in her hand, then unfurled before her. Han Li glanced at the fabric and immediately spotted a faint silvery character—“Bai”—on it. “Our disciple from the Bai family,” she said, frowning slightly. “But we can’t quite place which one.” The yellow-haired man, however, snorted, and raised his arm with a gesture, just as she had. With a sudden "whoosh," a青color leather satchel also shot through the air and burst open instantly upon the big man's touch, revealing a group of massive crimson honeybees floating in mid-air. Each bee was the size of an adult's palm, its wings fluttering continuously. "These are the Blood Luo Bees!" the gray-haired man exclaimed, his face slightly pale as he asked, "I believe this is the magical insect that Bai Yan has carried with him—haven't I heard that before?" One of the six white-family disciples, an elderly man with snowy white hair, stepped forward immediately to respond, his tone steady but tinged with a touch of sorrow, as though he had a close connection with the young man named "Bai Yan." "Then it must be true—the remains are indeed Bai Yan's. Yet he was one of the senior disciples stationed at the outpost, the highest-ranked among them. How could he have perished here in such a manner?" The purple-haired woman sighed, raised her hand, and launched a ball of fire that turned the bones to ash before she spoke slowly. As for the惨 state of the corpses, none of the others found it particularly surprising. After all, in the realm of magic, there were countless techniques whereby magic users directly siphoned the essence of others—this was nothing out of the ordinary. "Keep going," the man with silver hair said after a moment's thought. "There may yet be more discoveries ahead." Everyone agreed and promptly continued along the tunnel where the half-remnant bones had been found. Yet, everyone now moved with greater caution. After traveling several hundred paces along the tunnel, they encountered a series of additional five or six skeletons—each without heads. Upon identification by the members of the Bai family, it turned out these were precisely the Bai disciples who had been stationed at the original outpost. The silver-haired man's expression grew steadily grave. After walking a little further, the tall man suddenly paused and asked the purple-haired woman: "Five sister, how far is it now until that great beast? Won't it detect us by now?" "Brother, don't worry. In the Huanyao Desert, our spiritual awareness has always been significantly dampened. Now, being atop the hot-cloud stone vein, with numerous hot vapors interfering, our spiritual senses can barely extend far. Moreover, we are still about five or six li away from the beast—definitely not detectable at this distance. But once we get closer, that will be another matter." The purple-haired woman lowered her head slightly, checked the jade pendant in her hands, and replied seriously. "Then, all of you, begin casting your spells to conceal yourselves." After thinking for a moment, the yellow-haired man called out to the others. "Shall we start now? That will surely consume a considerable amount of spiritual energy." Well then, at least it's better than being discovered by the monsters early on. Luan Long Tianjun stroked his plump chin, murmured a few reluctant words, but the moment he opened his mouth, a black seal token shot out, swaying in the wind to transform into a swirling black mist that enveloped his form. Both the mist and his figure soon blurred into indistinct shapes, ultimately fading into nearly invisible, ethereal silhouettes. Han Qi observed this with a slight smile, then merely pressed a hand seal, and as a wave of black light rolled over his body, he too took the form of a faint, translucent shadow. As for Han Qi's son, with a swift flick of his sleeve, a shimmering sheet of light was drawn forth, transforming him into a clear, crystalline figure—like an ice sculpture. Bai Yunxin and the others each raised a silver banner, tossed it into the air simultaneously, and together they formed a radiant silver light array that descended, leaving the six of them completely vanished from sight. Seeing all the others finish casting their spells, the bearded man and the purple-haired woman each emitted a surge of dark mist from their bodies, or threw a silk handkerchief into the air—both of them swiftly vanished into the shadows. The group continued advancing forward. The length of the mine tunnel, however, far exceeded the expectations of Han Li and his companions. It took them quite some time before they even reached the far end. Fortunately, after walking for a full meal's duration, the originally straight tunnel suddenly began to wind and twist, and the surrounding stone walls grew rough and dark, as though they had entered a natural underground fissure. At this point, cracks of varying sizes began to appear all around them—some only a few feet wide, others stretching several tens of feet—through which intense, scorching winds blew continuously, carrying with them a faint aroma of charred wood and sulfur. Half an hour later, when the group finally leapt out through an otherwise unremarkable fissure, a vast underground lake of molten rock lay beneath them. This lake spans an area of over a thousand mu, its entire surface a steady flow of red lava that constantly bubbles and fumes. Along the shores, however, the ground is a stretch of blackened rock, upon which are embedded clusters of purple-red crystals several feet long. Under the glow of the molten lava, these crystals shimmer with an eerie, intermittent red light. Han Li's eyes narrowed at this sight. The appearance of these purple-red crystals was precisely the manifestation of fire compressed to its utmost limit—these substantial crystals, in fact, were rare, exceptional-grade fire cloud stones, seldom encountered even in the outer regions. With a mere glance, he discovered there were tens of thousands of such crystals—so many that, whether counted as magical stones or spiritual stones, the number was nothing short of staggering, a figure that would leave even an ordinary magus king utterly astonished. Thus, it was no wonder that the Bai family had been willing to bear such a massive cost to retain this location. But what immediately unsettled Han Li was that although the underground cavern housing the vast lava lake was immense, its structure was clearly evident—upon a single glance, there was not a single trace of any beast to be seen. The yellow-haired man scanned the area below carefully before promptly murmured to the purple-haired woman: "Five sister, have you not mistaken the location? Is the beast truly here?" "Indeed not. Its thread of refined blood clearly points to this very place," replied the purple-haired woman, holding her jade pendant firmly in one hand, without hesitation. "Then, the beast is most likely concealed within the lava below. Good—seems it has not yet detected our arrival. Yunxin, set up the magical array immediately. Han brother, Lu Long, and friend Han, please also take the initiative to remain vigilant." With a quick glance downward toward the molten rock, the yellow-haired man said seriously to the others. Six disciples from the Bai family immediately agreed and dispersed toward the surroundings of the lava lake, retrieving stacks of array flags and array discs to begin setting up an impressive, grand magical array. Meanwhile, Luan Long Tianjun and Han Qixi simply descended without a word, settling into a suspended position several dozen zhang above the molten rock, motionless. Though still concealing their forms with secret techniques, both carefully drew forth protective magical artifacts. Luan Long Tianjun opened his mouth and exhaled a bright blue circular bowl, radiating a deep blue cold glow throughout its body. Han Qixi, on the other hand, merely waved his sleeves, and twelve translucent banners shot forth, then, under the impetus of his spell, transformed into twelve swirling clusters of cold light that circled and danced around his body. As for Han Li, he gently pressed his single foot against the void, and instantly a surge of five-colored flames erupted beneath him, coalescing into a five-colored lotus blossom that gently lifted and carried his body downward. The five-colored lotus blooms is strikingly beautiful on the surface, yet as the five hues of radiant light shimmer, a subtle and peculiar coldness radiates forth from within—precisely the essence of the five-colored extreme flame transformed.