Upon seeing the white wolf puppets had been restrained, Han Li immediately formed an incantation gesture and ordered his puppets to self-detonate without any hesitation.
While the scales of the three huge pythons may be incredibly hardy, the insides of their mouths were a different story. Given that the white wolf puppets were crafted from countless precious materials, the power of their detonations were nothing to underestimate.
As expected, the two serpent heads screamed in unbearable pain, but the middle serpent head was completely unaffected by the explosions, apart from being further enraged. In a blur of black, the green snake puppet flying towards it was flung forty meters back by a wave of the python's tail. At that same moment, it moved forward and chomped down on one of the red ox puppets, shattering it to pieces and denying Han Li the opportunity to detonate it.
As for Marquis Nanlong and Lu Weiying, they had finally awoken from their shock after seeing that Han Li's puppets continued to fight.
Lu Weiying was the first to act, sending his tens of brilliant white fireballs into the sky. As for Marquis Nanlong, he waved his hand and struck the dark green ring he had summoned with a spell seal. Soon, the ring began to blur and split into two, then four, then eight... In a single breath, the ring had created over a hundred phantoms of itself. With the true ring mixed among them, they shot forward in a wave of green light.
Han Li calmly waved his hand and summoned a pitch-black item that swelled in the air above him. In a flash of black light, it had transformed into a mountain that was over forty meters tall, and only continued to grow under Han Li's command. It was the Thousand Fold Mountain.
Given the massive size and extraordinary defenses of the ancient python, this treasure should be more appropriate in dealing with it. With its incredible speed, Han Li first had to restrain it before he would be able to land a strike.
Just as Han Li pondered over how to do this, the python's left and right heads seemed to have recovered from the previous explosions and released two beams of grey light from their mouths. Lu Weiying's white fireballs ruptured upon being struck, but the beams of grey light found themselves at a deadlock with the resulting wave of flames from the ruptured fireballs.
As for the dark green rings, they swept past the battle between the wave of white flames and grey beams, while Han Li's Thousand Fold Mountain slowly followed after them.
The huge python felt threatened by the barrage of green light and its center head howled. Its body glowed with a layer of green light before widely opening its mouth and pouncing forward, sweeping away the dark green ring phantasms. But one of the rings hiding in the rear dodged out of the way, and in a blur, it appeared above the pythons' head.
Light shined brightly from the ring as it transformed into a streak of green Qi, striking down with thunderous momentum. Suddenly, the dark green ring massively expanded and constricted the huge python with all its might, sinking deep into the python's flesh. The python suddenly felt that seven inches of its flesh were constrained and felt an immense wave of pain radiating from the area. The main python head began to wildly thrash about as if desperate to break free from the green ring's restriction.
The two other heads were also affected by the pain and were unable to sustain the beams of grey light that were restraining the white wave of flames.
When Lu Weiying saw this, his expression brightened and he took advantage of the opportunity to command the white flames forward. The wave of white flames surged to over forty meters tall and engulfed the huge python.
However, the green light covering the huge python's body was formidable, and held firm against the white flames. While the dark green ring may be restricting its head, its body had yet to suffer any damage.
Suddenly, black light began to shine above the python as a black mountain about a hundred meters tall appeared above it. The mountain began to revolve in the air, releasing black clouds below it and trapping the huge python.
The huge python turned sluggish within the black clouds as if weighed down by an immense pressure. Using the opportunity given, the black mountain began to fall.
Sensing that matters were far from good, the python raised each of its heads with strained effort and released several balls of light towards the sky to block the black mountain's descent, but before they could reach the mountain, they were dissolved by the black clouds surrounding them.
Unwilling to let matters stand and wait for death, the huge python used the entirety of its strength to slap its tail downward and launch itself out from within the black clouds. But at that moment, the white flames surrounding its body suddenly turned into several thick chains and wrapped around its body. The huge python was only able to fly about thirty meters before it came crashing to the ground.
Eventually, the mountain smashed down on it and the entire area around it brilliantly glowed with black light, preventing anyone from seeing what was happening within. The python's heads screamed wretchedly before the mountain smashed to the ground with a deafening tremble.
Marquis Nanlong revealed a smile and Lu Weiying sighed. However, Han Li was frowning as he watched the scene before him.
Black light slightly faded away to reveal the black mountain. The huge python still wasn't entirely dead as there was still one head that wasn't crushed. It was screaming as it waved its head back and forth with all its might. The immense vitality it displayed as it flailed about in its craze was a sight to behold.
Lu Weiying snorted and waved his hand. A streak of white light fiercely shot through the air and arrived above the python. It revolved once in a flourish and then easily sliced through the python's vulnerable neck. As a result, the python's headless body sprayed a fountain of blood ten meters into the air before finally collapsing to the ground.
The old man's expression relaxed after finishing off the python and he muttered, "It's finally done. However, it is somewhat surprising. This Three-headed Ebony Snake wasn't as fearsome as the legends described."
Marquis Nanlong shook his head and hesitantly said, "It's possible that this wasn't a true specimen. Don't forget, a true Three-headed Ebony Serpent is winged and is said that each of the three heads also have different elemental abilities. This serpent can't have been genuine or we wouldn't have been able to deal with it so easily."
"Perhaps this serpent is a variant of another breed. Either way, we shouldn't delve too deeply into its origins. Let us head into the passage." Han Li calmly said. He then pointed to his huge mountain and it quickly shrunk, returning to his sleeve in a streak of black light, revealing the smashed corpse of the huge python underneath it.
Marquis Nanlong waved his hand and a streak of gold and green light flew back to him, revealing his golden sword and the dark green ring. The flying sword returned into his body and the ring was worn back on his hand.
Lu Weiying glanced at the ruined corpse several times before arriving at its side. He casually reached out to one of the python's head and summoned a thumb-sized green core into his hand.
With a trace of joy on his face, he looked at the other two heads and withdrew a core from each of them.
At that moment, Han Li who had finished collecting his puppet beast fragments and Marquis Nanlong had arrived. Lu Weiying handed each of them one of the cores without saying another word.
Han Li accepted the item and took a glance at it before indifferently putting it away. Marquis Nanlong did the same.
Soon after, Lu Weiying turned the huge python's body to ashes with a single fireball and said, "It would've been troublesome to slay this beast if we were alone, but with our powers combined, slaying ancient beasts of this level shouldn't be much of a challenge. If the Ancient Flame Toad is this easy to deal with, then this journey will be quite laid back!"
Marquis Nanlong sighed and wryly smiled. "I hope it will be that way, but it is likely that the Ancient Flame Toad will be somewhat more troublesome. After all, it caused even Master Cang Kun to flee. Although he was greatly weakened at the time, the beast is certain to be formidable."
After some thought, Lu Weiying replied with a silent nod.
By then, Han Li had already flown around and collected the concealment formation flags. When he returned, he said, "Let's go. We'll find out how formidable the Ancient Flame Toad is soon enough." With that said, he took the lead moving forward.
Marquis Nanlong and Lu Weiying glanced at each other and closely followed after him. After all, they had to rely on Han Li's Yin Yang Ring to pass through the Greatnorth Essence Lights. With the huge python slayed, the path was now open.
...
There was a three hundred meter wide stone road surrounded by a barrier of red light that was incapable of being seen through.
The three cultivators flew fifteen meters above the ground with a careful speed. When they traveled over ten kilometers on the road, the scenery changed and they came across a faint yellow wall. There was a pitch-black cave in the stone wall over twenty meters wide.
"It's here. After we pass through it, we should find ourselves in the valley's depths. The cave passage is over five kilometers long and is covered in Greatnorth Essence Lights." Marquis Nanlong sighed and turned to Han Li, saying, "Fellow Daoist Han, we'll be needing to use your Yin Yang Ring."
Lu Weiying rubbed his chin and curiously said, "Since we know there are Greatnorth Essence Lights in the cave, can't we find another way to pass through? Or is this the only way through?"
Marquis Nanlong shook his head and said, "There is no other way in besides this one. Brother Lu, strike the rock with your magic treasure and you will soon realize why."
"Alright, I'll strike it." Unresigned, Lu Weiying flung his sleeve and released a white light from his hand, fiercely striking at the stone wall.
At that moment, Han Li clearly saw a rather strange short saber traveling within the streak of white light. It appeared to be a rarely seen flying saber magic treasure.