(First update)
"Fellow Daoist Li! What do you think we should do now?" After the group had discussed the situation and observed their surroundings for a while, Qu Long Scholar turned to Li Xiaoya. By now, nearly every decision in the party was made jointly by the two of them. No one opposed them or raised objections; their strength spoke for itself. Zhou Xiaoya was powerful too, but she had little interest in such matters and rarely offered an opinion, leaving the decisions to Li Xiaoya and Qu Long Scholar.
"If my guess is right, it should be thick with illusion mist and demon beasts up above. There seem to be plenty of demon beasts in this cave too, but we should be able to force our way through. The trouble is, we don't know how many there are-or what kind!" Li Xiaoya said, stroking his chin as he analyzed the situation.
"Right! Those are the two main problems. If there are too many inside, they might even have a ninth-rank demon beast leading them!" Qu Long Scholar said with a frown.
"Here's what we'll do! I'll go in first and find out what kind of demon beasts they are!" After a moment's thought, Li Xiaoya suddenly spoke.
"All right! With the defenses of your body tempering technique, ordinary demon beasts shouldn't be able to hurt you!" Qu Long Scholar promptly agreed. He had learned quite a bit about Li Xiaoya's divine abilities by now. Beyond admiration, what he felt most was wariness. Before entering the Enchanted Mountain Range, he had thought he could compete with Li Xiaoya, but now he had completely lost that confidence.
"Then be careful, Yaya! Don't push yourself!" Mother Li said with concern.
"Don't worry, Mother!" Li Xiaoya answered confidently. He was beginning to regret