Flames lapped at the edge of the fire coast, and the occasional breeze carried a wave of searing heat. Amidst the resulting shimmer, three vicious vultures swooped down upon Ye Xiu and Liu.

"Didn't you say we'd be safe once we hit the magma?" Old Liu looked up past the sky, past the red shimmer, complaining, "Hong Ling, how are we supposed to deal with these monstrous birds?"

Hong Ling frowned, silent. Perhaps she too was puzzled; this mirror realm seemed intent on playing games with the three of them. If this Mirror Palace was truly so perilous, why not conjure up various mirrored threats as soon as they entered? Why leave one person outside to observe the overall situation?

"Don't panic. It seems hesitant to approach." Ye Xiu stared coldly at the vultures. Though their descent was fierce, when the towering wave of heat washed toward them, one actually shook its head and closed its eyes.

Old Liu paid no mind to such subtleties, looking ready to bolt. The moment Ye Xiu looked up at the vultures, Old Liu had already flicked the thin blade from his hand onto the nearest carved stone pillar. With the pull of the thread, he vaulted onto the pillar: "Still staring? Hurry up and get over here!"

"Rumble..." The carved stone pillar appeared immensely solid, but the instant Old Liu’s feet touched it, it began to sway violently. It seemed the mirror’s warning was true: once the pillar bore weight, it would sink into the magma below.

Ye Xiu cursed Old Liu inwardly for his lack of loyalty. Based on his own assessment, if their movements had been synchronized, both could have crossed safely. But Old Liu had already taken the lead, forcing Ye Xiu to follow. In desperation, Ye Xiu unleashed his purple flames with both hands, using the explosive shockwave to propel himself into the air.

"Flying so high, watch out behind you..." Old Liu’s body was already struggling to stay upright as the pillar tilted. However, this time he didn't rush to use his thin blade to escape to the next stone. "The vulture is behind you!"

To be honest, Ye Xiu was still clumsy in controlling his purple flames; that last push had been excessive. Suddenly, he felt a shadow descend over his head. By the time he looked up, the vulture’s long, blade-like beak was plunging straight toward him.

"Boom!" Ye Xiu reacted instantly, twisting in mid-air to fire purple flames from both palms, blasting against the beak. The resulting recoil slammed his body downward violently—and tragically, below him lay the scorching sea of fire.

"Whoosh..." Another familiar sound whistled past his ears. Though the pillar Old Liu stood on was seconds away from submerging in the fiery ocean, he displayed a fearless resolve, using his thread to catch Ye Xiu's arm and yanking him upward into the air again. "Hurry and use your purple flames to launch yourself to that pillar opposite! Damn it, if we don't hurry, I'm finished."

Ye Xiu felt himself going up and down, a slight nausea creeping in. But Old Liu was fighting with his life on the line; Ye Xiu couldn't possibly give up. In an instant, he reignited the purple flames in both hands, leveraging Old Liu's momentum to rocket toward a distant pillar. Predictably, as Ye Xiu landed, that pillar also began to sink into the fiery abyss.

"Hurry and pull me! My Ice Crystal Five Star can't hold much longer." Old Liu was deadly serious. His body was currently encased in a perfect shell of ice—the very five-pointed star he had used earlier against Xiao Sha.

Ye Xiu understood. He pulled frantically on the thread, yanking Old Liu away from the surface of the magma and up into the sky. This placed Old Liu’s landing spot onto the next carved pillar. Repeating this process a few more times, the two would successfully traverse this scorching sea of fire.

"Too high! Are you trying to kill me?" Old Liu flailed wildly in the air, while the three-headed vulture waited above, ready for its meal. Old Liu roared in panic, "Push me down a bit, down a bit!"

Ye Xiu watched the aerial situation, feeling utterly helpless. It seemed the heat waves from the magma couldn't stop the vultures’ pursuit; the only solution was to eliminate it. He thought calmly: the only option now was to strike at the root. At that moment, he suddenly released the thread in his hand. Old Liu, suspended in the sky, lost his anchor and continued soaring directly toward the vulture.

"You want to kill this vulture," Old Liu realized the shift in trajectory and understood Ye Xiu's maneuver. With a roll, he positioned himself directly facing the descending vulture, his sharp thin blade already gripped tight.

"Hah!" Ye Xiu compressed his body, bracing against the pillar just moments before it was swallowed by the flames. The impact of his purple flames, combined with his body's elasticity, shot him upward at incredible speed, positioning him directly above the vulture. Ye Xiu glanced at Old Liu: "The thin blade, give it to me!"

"Go!" Old Liu instantly grasped Ye Xiu's strategy, handing over the thin blade without hesitation. The thread attached to the blade followed closely. "If you're going to be mad, I might as well go mad with you."

The vulture was confused by the scene unfolding. It focused one head on Old Liu and another on Ye Xiu, unsure whom to attack first. By then, a thin silver thread was already wrapped around its body.

The instant Ye Xiu received the thin blade, his body landed squarely on the vulture's back. Instead of attacking with his flames, he swiftly circled to the other side, ensuring the thread wrapped from its back to its talons. Sensing the trap was set, he shouted and used the impact of his purple flames once more.

"Ah!" Old Liu held his body vertical, prepared for a full-speed descent.

"Waaah..." The vulture shrieked as its entire body was pulled by the two of them toward the sea of fire. As they neared the heat, its skin dried out, and its feathers began to burn, turning scorched black.

Ye Xiu drove the vulture down heavily into the fire sea with the thin blade. Just as it screamed, he leaped onto its neck. Simultaneously, Old Liu managed to balance himself on one of its heads. Ye Xiu offered a slight smile: "I didn't realize we still had this much synchronization."

"Hurry up and go!" Old Liu grinned, then felt the unbearable heat beneath his feet. He leaped up, using the downward momentum to swing the thread he held out. "Aim for that pillar!"

Ye Xiu didn't hesitate. His purple flames propelled him in another leap toward the target. Once he stood firmly on the pillar, he yanked the thin blade, forcefully pulling Old Liu across the gap again. Repeating this maneuver, they finally reached the far end of the fire sea.

"It's so hot!" Old Liu landed first, turning back to look at the magma and the now-silent vulture, wiping sweat from his brow.

Ye Xiu let out a long breath and looked up at where he had landed. However, the rocks and the gray dust on the ground were eerily familiar. When he spotted a certain object, a wave of dizziness washed over him: "Old Liu, doesn't this place look extremely familiar?"

"What, another egg about to hatch!" Old Liu's previous excitement vanished. He stared suspiciously at Ye Xiu. "Is this the cliff from before? Look, the giant boulder we hid behind... and... and the eggs of those three vultures."