When Old Liu saw the flashlight yielded no response, he immediately pulled out the ancient tinder he carried. He ripped off the cover, instantly sparking a small flame, but who knew that a single spark could lead to a conflagration? The very moment the flame ignited in his hand, the entire space suddenly lit up—not just illuminated, but enveloped in a thick, oppressive heat.

Old Liu spun around only to find himself standing right at the edge of a cliff face, an impossibly towering wall of stone. He was positioned precisely in the middle, feeling sweat instantly break out all over his body. Below his feet, an ocean of roiling magma churned relentlessly. He looked up, searching for an escape route, but above him were ceilings like countless towering skyscrapers—he was clearly inside a volcano.

"Scree..." Suddenly, a flash of fire streaked across the mountain wall. The creature moved with terrifying speed, traversing the scorching stone as if it were level ground, though its cry was peculiar, sounding much like a rat.

Old Liu had survived the Fiery Sea of the Mirror Palace, but this current ordeal was far more intense. All around him, stone pillars rose, spaced widely apart. They seemed layered, each one seemingly higher than the last, suggesting they could be used for successive leaps upward. However, the fire-shadow rat that had just zipped by was clearly a threat; a single collision while climbing could be disastrous.

"So hot." Old Liu’s feet were already under noticeable strain. He hopped rapidly from one foot to the other, trying to ward off the wave of heat, but to no avail. In a flash of desperation, he pulled out the Ice Crystal Five Stars and slammed them onto the soles of his feet, yet this didn't solve the core problem. "Damn it, I have to fight for my life!"

"Whoosh..." Just as Old Liu was lost in thought, the fire shadow rushed down the cliff face, slamming directly into his abdomen. The creature was covered in flames from nose to tail, its eyes glowing red and its snout pointed—it was unmistakably a massive rat.

"Ah!" Old Liu’s entire body was flung off the cliff, left dangling in mid-air above the churning magma that seemed ready to feast upon him. "Thin-Surface Blade, rise!"

At this call, the Thin-Surface Blade instinctively shot out. It morphed into its mole form, darted onto one of the stone pillars, and secured Old Liu firmly with a strand of silk.

"Thwack!" As the silk line swung, Old Liu collided with the middle of another stone pillar. Unexpectedly, the temperature there was immense. As soon as his back made contact, a scent of charring instantly rose. Before he could catch his breath, the fire-shadow rat reformed itself into a wheel of flame and charged him again. The situation was critical.

"Seven Swords of Demon Breaking!" At this moment, Old Liu spread both hands, relying only on the holy sword on his back. But for some inexplicable reason, the holy sword did not respond to his summons. In his panic, Old Liu cursed, "Damn it, things from the Underworld are unreliable! Thin-Surface Blade!"

Hearing its master’s call, the mole dropped from above, transforming into a blade that plunged toward the fire-shadow rat. However, the rat’s hide was thick, nearly a meter deep, and the Thin-Surface Blade, weakened by the intense heat, couldn't pierce it.

"Yellow Talisman!" Although the Thin-Surface Blade failed to strike its target, it bought Old Liu precious time. He pulled the yellow talisman from his pouch, muttered the incantation, and invoked the Ancient Exotic Beast Dao. "Let's see which rat is stronger!"

"Rumble!" The fire-shadow rat struck and shattered the stone pillar. In the split second between light and shadow, Old Liu also transformed into a massive fire-shadow rat himself. He landed steadily on another pillar, filled with explosive rage.

"Scree... scree-scree..." Within the volcano’s caldera, two fire-shadow rats and the Thin-Surface Mole began a tense standoff. This was a battle of beasts, and a battle of techniques.

As Old Liu materialized using the Yellow Talisman, he understood everything: the fiery rat before him must be the Firelight Beast mentioned in the Ancient Exotic Beast Dao. These creatures lived in volcanoes; their fur was a meter long and entirely ablaze. But they had a critical weakness: they feared water; contact meant death. Yet, how could water be found in this churning river of lava?

"Scree-scree!" Suddenly, the Firelight Beast swept in again. Its attack pattern was simple, but its speed was terrifying; the impact of its fiery charge was enough to be fatal.

Though Old Liu had transformed, he lacked the Firelight Beast's primal ferocity. He tried to leap away, but his transformed speed wasn't fast enough. He was heavily struck again, but as he was thrown outward, he used his tail to tightly ensnare the creature. In doing so, both rats plunged into the magma.

"Splash!" This was Old Liu’s first time deep within the lava. Thanks to the Firelight Beast's fur, the scorching magma did not inflict much damage upon him. He swam back and forth, seeking a path to shore, but this wasn't the sea—it was lava. In magma, there was nowhere to gain purchase.

The mole stayed above the lava, searching for Old Liu. It tried to lower its silk line into the magma to pull him out, but ordinary silk instantly dissolved upon contact. Powerless, it scrambled frantically along the cliff face, crying out.

Time ticked by, second by second. Old Liu knew the tremendous drain the Beast Dao transformation placed on his energy. If he couldn't find a way up soon, the moment he reverted to human form, he would be burned to ash. He continued swimming sideways, and just then, a glimmer of light caught his attention. Unbelievably, in this sea of fire, there was one intact rock.

Old Liu swam quickly toward it. The light emanated from this stone, upon which three characters were carved: Buxian Shan (Unsalvageable Mountain). Buxian Shan? Old Liu could hardly believe he had arrived here. Wasn't this Changbai Mountain from ancient times? And wasn't the origin point of the Ancient Exotic Beast Dao located right here? Could this be the legendary Three Abyss Snow-Melting Palace?

"Rumble!" At that moment, the underlying magma began to surge upward. The Firelight Beast had located Old Liu's position and struck him again from below.

"Ah..." Old Liu’s abdomen burned from the repeated impacts, but by sheer chance, this collision launched his entire body clear of the magma. As he shot toward the cliff face, he summoned the Thin-Surface Blade. "Quick, the silk!"

The mole was indeed sharp; upon hearing its master’s summons, it shot a thread directly toward Old Liu. Old Liu’s strength was severely depleted. Having no other option, he transformed back into human form and gripped the silk line tightly. Swinging on the thread, he managed to climb back onto the edge of the precipice.

"If this continues, I’m going to die here," Old Liu gasped, ignoring the heat as he knelt on the ground. He looked at the ferocious Firelight Beast on the opposite cliff face, utterly helpless. The Firelight Beast died in water; where was there water here? How could he kill it without water? Panic set in, but then he suddenly remembered his Ice Crystal Five Stars. If the ice melted, wouldn't that produce water? However, in this volcanic heat, the water produced by the ice crystals would only retain its aquatic nature for less than a second. This meant he would have to withstand the Firelight Beast's charge and use the crystals right in front of it.