Xu Changqing put away Shattered Moon, Falling Frost, and the group landed at the entrance to Chi Yan Valley.
"Good heavens, this place is way too hot, isn't it?"
"It's a good thing we're cultivators. If regular people were swapped in here, they wouldn't be able to hold out at all!"
"Perfect. That means no one will come disturb us."
The black cat in Miao Huayu's arms stirred. Its mismatched eyes were half-open and half-closed as it glanced at the surroundings, then yawned. Clearly, it had not fully recovered from its milk-drunk state.
The heat here made it uncomfortable, and it instinctively burrowed deeper into Miao Huayu's embrace.
Xu Changqing called out, "Let's go."
The group advanced into the valley.
Yet after taking only a few steps, they heard a rustling sound.
A sweep of Divine Sense revealed dense clusters of crimson ants filling the cracks in the surrounding rocks.
Every one of them was a size larger than ordinary ants. Their shells glinted with a metallic sheen, and a tiny red sac bulged from their abdomens. They were using their mandibles to gnaw at orange crystals embedded within the rock crevices.
As a Beast Spirit Valley disciple, Hu Bugui recognized them at a glance. "These are Redfire Ants. They mainly feed on fire-attributed things and almost never attack people."
Since there was no danger, everyone stopped hesitating and continued onward.
As they ventured deeper, besides the Redfire Ants they had discovered earlier, another creature that lived in high temperatures appeared.
It was a kind of lizard with an entirely orange body.
Three pale-red markings ran along its back, while a small lump of flesh dangled from the tip of its tail.
At that moment, it was pressing its body against the scorching rock wall, lazily basking in the sun.