The pillars of light vanished in a flash, and at this point, all of the fleeing fiery lions had been frozen into massive chunks of ice.

A cold look appeared on the white-robed young man's face as he flapped his wings and instantly appeared before one of the blocks of ice, then thrust a nonchalant palm toward it.

The fiery lion within the ice abruptly shuddered, then exploded into a cloud of blood mist.

A ball of red light formed by its soul was desperately darting around within the blood mist, but was unable to escape its icy prison.

The white-robed young man then opened his mouth in an unhurried manner to expel a burst of white light that seeped into the chunk of ice, sweeping up both the blood mist and the lion's soul before drawing them into his mouth to be devoured.

He then did the same thing to a few other fiery lions, and a pleased look appeared on his face as he turned to the silver-robed woman in the distance.

"Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix, would you like to taste some of this live prey? It's quite delicious."

The silver-robed woman was none other than the Ice Phoenix that had left the human race many years ago. However, her aura was several times more powerful than it had been back then, and she seemed to be only one step away from reaching the Body Integration Stage.

"I don't consume live prey; you can help yourself, Fellow Daoist," the Ice Phoenix replied in an expressionless manner.

Immediately thereafter, he devoured the rest of the fiery lions in the blink of an eye, then arrived back beside the Ice Phoenix.

"Let's keep going, Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix; I heard that the Yu Race nearby shares close ties with a certain major race on the Thunder Continent, so they must've set up a super teleportation formation capable of traversing between continents. If we can make use of that, we'll be able to save a lot of time," the white-robed young man said.

The Ice Phoenix hesitated momentarily before asking with a grim expression, "Are you really planning to travel to the Thunder Continent, Fellow Daoist Six Wing?"

"Of course. If I hadn't received the news that my former master has also reached the Grand Ascension Stage, I would've perhaps returned to the human race, but now, a trip to the Thunder Continent is mandatory. Otherwise, with my current powers, I'm not confident that I'll be able to defeat him," the white-robed young man chuckled coldly, and even his expressions bore a striking resemblance to Han Li's.

"If I recall correctly, Brother Han treated you quite well in the past. In fact, if he hadn't fed you all those pills, you wouldn't even have been able to attain intelligence, let alone make it to this point," the Ice Phoenix said as her brows furrowed slightly.

"My intention to kill Han Li has nothing to do with how he treated me in the past. Back when he was my master, he planted a servant mark in my soul; even though I've erased most of its effect using a secret technique, I won't be able to completely escape its influence unless he's dead. I've already attained intelligence and a human form, so I'm destined to pursue the Great Dao; how could I allow such a damning weakness to continue to exist? As such, this trip to the Thunder Continent is one that I absolutely must make," the white-robed young man replied in a cold voice.

"Even so, do you really think you'll be able to find what you're looking for on the Thunder Continent? That thing only exists in legends; if you ask me, you have next to no chance of finding it," the Ice Phoenix said.

"Don't you worry about that; I wouldn't be making this trip if I didn't have confidence. The Plain Yin Race has indeed rarely ever been sighted on the Thunder Continent, but it's said that this race can communicate directly with the yin star to manifest Plain Yin Star Qi. If I can absorb that star Qi with my Reverse Spirit True Yin Technique, I'll be able to attain a body that's powerful enough to match those of true spirits. When that time comes, I'll be able to kill Han Li with ease," the white-robed young man replied in a nonchalant manner.

The Ice Phoenix's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this, and she said through gritted teeth, "Why is it that you insist on taking me along with you? If you want to kill me, then just do it."

"Why would I do that? Extreme yin beings that have attained human bodies like you and I are extremely rare, and we're of opposite genders as well, so we're a perfect match. After I kill Han Li, you can become my dao companion," the white-robed young man chuckled.

The Ice Phoenix's face paled upon hearing this. "You're a Grand Ascension Stage being; don't you think it's unbecoming of someone of your status to force others into becoming your dao companion?"

"Hmph, it's exactly because I'm a Grand Ascension Stage being that I'm unwilling to give up on a potential dao companion like you, who possesses power of the same attribute as myself and aptitude to match mine as well. As for how others see me, why should I care?" the white-robed young man harrumphed in a disdainful manner.

A hint of fury flashed through the Ice Phoenix's eyes upon hearing this, but she knew that she had no chance of escaping from this man, so she simply fell into a brooding silence.

The white-robed young man didn't continue the conversation, either, and he swept a sleeve through the air, upon which a six-winged white centipede projection emerged behind him, then encompassed both of them before flapping its wings and flying away as a streak of white light.

After just a few flashes, both of them had vanished into the distance.

Meanwhile, on the holy island.

Han Li discussed some important matters with his disciples in his cave abode, then waved a dismissive hand, and instructed, "Alright, aside from Bai Guo'er, you can all go now; I'd like to speak to her in private."

"Yes, Master."

"Yes, Senior."

Qi Lingzi, Hai Yuetian, and Zhu Guo'er all gave affirmative responses in a respectful manner before exiting the hall, leaving only Han Li and Bai Guo'er in the room.

"Guo'er, do you know why I asked you to stay behind?" Han Li asked following everyone's departure.

"I'm assuming it has something to do with my upcoming journey to the primordial world," Bai Guo'er replied after a brief hesitation.

"You're a smart girl; it does indeed have something to do with that. Do you remember what I said when I first took you as my disciple?" Han Li asked with a faint smile.

"Are you referring to the object that you wanted me to seek out with my Ice Essence Body? I never dared to forget this even for a single instant," Bai Guo'er hurriedly replied.

"Hehe, now that you've reached a decent cultivation base and are about to head to the primordial world, I can disclose the full details of the task to you," Han Li said.

"Please go ahead, Master," Bai Guo'er prompted in a respectful manner."The task shouldn't be too difficult for you to complete; the item that I want you to search for is known as Vast Yin Stone, and it's generally situated hundreds of thousands of feet below glaciers and surrounded by boundless glacial Qi, so it's undetectable to spiritual sense. Only someone like you with an Ice Essence Body would be able to sense it from afar. I require a lot of this material, so I'll need you to collect it for me during your journey. If you can find a satisfactory amount, I'll be sure to reward you handsomely," Han Li said.

"If you hadn't saved me from my dire condition as a child, I wouldn't even be alive today; I'll be sure to do everything in my power to complete the assigned task," Bai Guo'er immediately replied as she knelt down onto the ground.

"Your cultivation base isn't very advanced, so don't force yourself; just keep an eye out for this material during your journey," Han Li said as he gestured for Bai Guo'er to rise to her feet.

Bai Guo'er stood up and gave an affirmative response, but in her heart, she had already decided that she was going to search for Vast Yin Stones with all her might.

After chatting for a while longer, Han Li dismissed Bai Guo'er, and thus, he was the only one left in the hall.

He sat on his chair and tapped the armrest absentmindedly with one hand, while stroking his chin with the other.

Back when he had first obtained the refinement method for the Integrated Five Extreme Mountains, he had thought that he would only be able to refine one or two extreme mountains at most.

To his surprise, he had encountered many opportunities since then, allowing him to refine the Extreme Essencefused Mountain, Extreme High Zenith Azure Mountain, and Extreme Five Elemental Yin Yang Mountain. If Bai Guo'er could track down enough Vast Yin Stones to allow him to refine the Extreme Vast Yin Glacial Mountain as well, then he would have four extreme mountains in total.

The only one that remained was the Extreme Greatnorth Essence Mountain, which he had received some leads on back in the human world.

With his current powers, it would naturally be impossible to descend into the human world in person, but it wouldn't be impossible for him to send a spiritual sense clone into the human world with the help of a few realm-breaking treasures.

However, this was quite a risky ploy, and he had to devise a good plan before he could make the decision.

If he could complete the full set of Integrated Five Extreme Mountains, not only would he not have to fear his next few heavenly tribulations, they could even help him transcend his ascension tribulation.

With that in mind, a faint smile appeared on Han Li's face.