"Ah! How did this demon beast get in?" Mu Qilong asked, still deeply troubled, as he and Li Xiaoya entered a small chamber midway along the passage and sat down.
"Maybe it came down from the cliff?" Li Xiaoya guessed.
"Oh!" Mu Qilong clapped his hands. "That's right! How did I not think of that? Demon beasts have gotten in before, but they were all low-tier ones. This is the first time I've seen a sixth-tier demon beast here!"
"Uh! The question is," Li Xiaoya said with a shrug, "what do we do now? Head back?"
"Well..." Mu Qilong faltered, his expression turning awkward. What he had thought was a sure thing had gone wrong time and again, even costing them Mu Dingping, a Core Condensation Stage cultivator. If he returned empty-handed as well, he would become a sinner against his lineage.
"Hey! How about this?" An idea suddenly lit up in Li Xiaoya's mind, and he said to Mu Qilong, "I've got a way!"
"Really?" Mu Qilong brightened.
"Of course!" Li Xiaoya said, brimming with confidence. "Let's work out a plan first!"
Half an hour later, after finishing their discussion and preparations, Li Xiaoya and Mu Qilong headed toward the valley, one behind the other. The Iron-Armed Ape had stopped attacking the restrictions. A sixth-tier demon beast was already quite intelligent; seeing that it could not break through, it no longer wasted its strength. But instead of returning to the Jade Spirit Tree, it sat guarding the cave entrance.
Li Xiaoya gestured for Mu Qilong to stop, then slapped his Storage Pouch. The Fire Dragon Sword appeared in his hand, flashed with red and yellow light, and instantly grew larger. He then took a dozen or so small flags from his Storage Pouch and held them in his hand.