Setting aside his joy, he continued outward with Zhou Xue.
When they reached the middle of the cave, he laid down another concealment formation and an attack formation. Together with the concealment formation at the entrance, these provided the greatest possible protection, in the hope of keeping this place secret for the time being.
Why had he placed only a concealment formation at the entrance? Its energy fluctuations were very faint, making it difficult to discover unless someone came right up and touched it. An attack formation or defensive formation would give off strong energy fluctuations and be easily discovered by cultivators.
After Li Dalong finished setting up the cave entrance, he erased their traces and began withdrawing with Zhou Xue.
The two made their way back with great care. They encountered several attacks by demon beasts along the way, but Li Dalong killed them all.
But something unexpected happened as they passed through the middle of the Lava Maze. They encountered a pack of more than fifty Flame Wolves unique to the Underground World. The pack was exceptionally cunning, advancing and retreating in an orderly fashion as they attacked. With the assistance of several early-stage Golden Immortal Flame Wolves, the Flame Wolf King, which had late Golden Immortal strength, wounded Li Dalong and severely injured Zhou Xue.
In the end, Li Dalong unleashed the Fourth Form of the Grand Void Sword Formula, "Void," severely wounding the Flame Wolf King and killing three early-stage Golden Immortal Flame Wolves. Only after opening a gap was he able to take Zhou Xue through the wolves' encirclement and escape.
Li Dalong was forced to hide here and there with Zhou Xue, spending half a month recovering from his injuries before they finally emerged from the Lava Maze.
During that time, they also encountered