(Third update)
Li Xiaoya and his companions entered the Primordial Chaos Immortal's cave abode. The strange restrictions on their divine sense grew even stronger, limiting their perception to four or five zhang around them. The passage was spacious, seven or eight zhang high and several zhang wide. Although the Heavenly Spirit Church's people had said they would not compete with Li Xiaoya's group for treasures, who could guarantee they meant it? Li Xiaoya's side therefore maintained their secret vigilance, though they showed none of it outwardly.
Unexpectedly, when they reached the end of the passage and rounded a bend, they found a spiraling passage sloping downward.
"Huh! Could the Primordial Chaos Immortal's cave abode actually be underground, beneath the mountain?" Dong Santong murmured, looking around as he walked.
"Probably!" Li Xiaoya replied. "I suspect the Primordial Chaos Immortal chose this volcano for his cave abode mainly because its fire spirit energy was abundant enough. It might be even richer deep beneath the volcano!"
"Yes! You're absolutely right, Fellow Daoist Li!" Qu Long Scholar interjected. "For someone like you, who practices a fire element cultivation method, cultivating here would surely be much faster than in an ordinary cave abode!"
"Yes! If only we could cultivate here for a few years!" Zhou Xiaoya said thoughtfully. Suddenly, she turned to Zhang Hong. "Right, Sister Zhang Hong?"
"Huh? Uh... yes!" Zhang Hong paused in surprise, then hastily answered after a moment's hesitation. She had cultivated with Li Xiaoya in the secret alchemy chamber in the Southwestern Ancient City, so she naturally knew that place was the true treasure ground for cultivators practicing fire element cultivation methods.
Although they talked as they walked, none of them seemed overly relaxed. Instead, they all looked somewhat tense.
As they continued downward, the fire spirit energy grew increasingly