Two clouds of light extended from the separated pieces of the flame toad as they gradually merged together.
"Its body is immortal! The flame toad actually possesses such an ability?" Marquis Nanlong cried out in alarm. Lu Weiying appeared just as shocked.
"Immortal? There is nothing in this world that is truly immortal. Its vitality is simply more powerful than common demon beasts."
Having read many records, Han Li knew what an "immortal body" was. After he severed the Ancient Flame Toad's arm, Han Li had noticed how strange it appeared and felt that something was amiss. As a result, he had shouted for Marquis Nanlong to not dissolve the barrier, denying the flame toad an opportunity to restore itself and escape.
At that moment, Han Li wore a cold smile and pointed at the flame toad's head once more. The huge sword spun around once in the air before splitting into two and chopping down at each of the toad's body parts.
In a flicker of blue light, two bangs sounded out. The flame toad's head and body were instantly covered in layers of frost. The scarlet lights was sealed within and were scattered by the flying sword's strike. With the body destroyed, all the remained was a scarlet sphere, the Ancient Flame Toad's demon core.
When Marquis Nanlong and Lu Weiying saw the demon core, they both felt slight temptation. After all, it was the demon core of an ancient beast with an immortal body. It was likely that it possessed some strange attributes. But when the two recalled the abilities Han Li had earlier displayed as well as his grand reputation, their temptation towards the core was completely stifled.
After all, they both clearly realized that with the abilities Han Li had displayed, their odds of victory against him would only be a coin toss. Additionally, it wasn't worth becoming hostile over the core of an unknown ancient beast. There would be far more opportunities for treasure in Devilfall Valley.
Although Han Li didn't possess any mind-reading techniques, he could guess what the other two were thinking. In the recent battle with the flame toad, neither of them had displayed their full might as if they were mostly relying on Han Li to slay the beast. As a result, Han Li had maintained a calm appearance, when in truth he grew even warier of the other two cultivators in case they were overcome with foolishness.
Now that he saw that they had regained their calm after a momentary change in expression, Han Li felt relieved. Although he wasn't afraid of a fight, it would be better to avoid any risks altogether.
Han Li waved his hand toward the ice barrier and summoned the demon core into his palm. Then with a clear ring, the two huge flying swords broke down into over ten small swords before disappearing into his sleeve.
Han Li lowered his head as he glanced at the fire-red demon core in his hand and released a long sigh. He had finally fulfilled one of his objectives in Devilfall Valley.
Marquis Nanlong smiled and said, "It is quite fortunate that we had Fellow Daoist Han here to slay the Ancient Flame Toad. Let's move into the nest and take a look. Surely Brother Han is also interested in taking a look at the treasures on the remains."
"Of course." Han Li put away the demon core and nodded.
Lu Weiying was happy to hear this and the three soon entered the mountain cave after putting away their spell formations.
To tell the truth, Han Li did think about secretly releasing Silvermoon so that she could seize the treasures in the cave first. But given that the other two cultivators were extremely cunning, had paid particularly close attention to Han Li and possessed cultivation superior to his own, it was very likely they would've noticed he had released Silvermoon.
It was also worth mentioning that there was something odd about the cultivator remains. Since Han Li felt that there was something amiss, he decided to leave the matter be.
The three turned into three streaks of light, entering the cave in an instant.
The Marquis and Lu Weiying were surprised when they saw the lava, but soon ignored it as they glanced around, spotting the stone platform where the ancient cultivator remains laid with expressions of delight.
Marquis Nanlong's expression faded and he cooly said, "It seems this should be the remains that Master Cang Kun mentioned. Let's go there together."
Han Li and Lu Weiying raised no objections and they immediately moved towards the remains.
Floating over ten meters away from the stone platform, Han Li watched the remains with a trace of eager impatience.
The other two were also eager and showed little restraint as they immediately released their spiritual sense to search the remains for treasures. When Han Li saw this, he wore a mysterious smile and said nothing further. He had already discovered something odd about the ancient remains and decided it would be better for the two to experience it for themselves.
As a result, the two submerged the skeleton with their spiritual sense and green light burst from its robes. As a result, their spiritual sense was repelled before they were able to see anything, much to their alarm.
With a surprised expression, Wei Luying muttered, "Yi! There is something strange about those robes."
Marquis Nanlong regained his calm and explained, "It is merely a gown made from the silk of an green silkworm. Ancient cultivators made robes from this material to prevent other cultivators from probing them with their spiritual sense. Although they're rare in current times, it was a common item in ancient times." He then swept his hand at the air and summoned the green robe into his hand.
As a result, the skeleton was revealed with a small black pouch wrapped around its waist.
"A storage pouch, as expected!" Lu Weiying shouted with joy. Marquis Nanlong also felt excitement and flung the green robes to the side as he stared at the black storage pouch with complete focus.
When Han Li heard the sound made by the azure robes dropping to the ground, his expression faintly changed for just a moment.
As the atmosphere grew tenser, Marquis Nanlong smiled to his two party members and suggested, "If you two are not opposed, will it be fine if I look through the storage pouch first?"
"Of course you can. Brother Nanlong please go ahead." Han Li glanced at the storage pouch and replied with a smile. As for Lu Weiying, he hesitated for a moment before nodding.
Marquis Nanlong then stepped forward and carefully took the storage pouch into his hand. He swept through the general contents of it with his spiritual sense and his face became stiff.
When Lu Weiying saw this, he couldn't help but say, "Brother Nanlong, what is inside? You may as well let us take a look."
Marquis Nanlong nodded and flipped the storage pouch, immediately pouring out its contents in a flash of white light, producing a pile of items on the floor.
"What in the world is this?!" Lu Weiying shouted in alarm.
A majority of the items that appeared were scarlet lumps of metal that were scorching hot. There were also a few items that were particularly eye-catching: a white jade box, a small purple mirror, a small yellow sword, a set of green flying needles, and two black medicine bottles.
Han Li narrowed his eyes when he saw those items and his expression stirred.
Excluding the jade box and the medicine bottles, the rest of these items were rare ancient treasures without a doubt. As for the jade box and medicine bottles, they particularly piqued Han Li's interest. Both the box and the bottles were refined from a material that blocked him from seeing into them with his spiritual sense.
Han Li frowned and said, "I've never seen those materials before, but they seem to only be half finished."
After some thought, Marquis Nanlong mused, "Half-finished? That does seem to be the case. If I've guessed correctly, these iron chunks should be the legendary spirit ores, extraordinary materials that ancient cultivators used to refine ancient treasures. It is said that the method to refine them is quite peculiar, needing a large number of rare materials and worldly energy for their creation. This ancient cultivator must've wanted to refine a particularly fearsome fire-attribute treasure to have so many of them."
"Spirit ores!" When Han Li heard the name, he immediately recalled that they were mentioned in an ancient record he had read. After a moment of thought, he remembered it to be a material used to refine rare ancient treasures, just as Marquis Nanlong had said.
When Lu Weiying heard this, he revealed a trace of excitement before turning to look at the rest of the treasures and eventually staring at the jade box and medicine bottle.
At that moment, Marquis Nanlong raised his hand and tossed the storage pouch over to Han Li.
Han Li unconsciously caught it and was surprised for a moment before realizing what Marquis Nanlong intended. He bluntly weighed it in his hand and searched through it before tossing it over to Lu Weiying.
Lu Weiying examined it and nodded when he confirmed there was no problem.
"Let's each divide these treasures. How about we have each person select two items?" Mentioning the most crucial question of the matter before them, Marquis Nanlong wore a solemn expression.