A senior disciple nodded gravely. "It only surfaced two months ago. There was an eruption. We thought it was just a normal spike in volcanic activity. But when the lava settled, it was there. Still smoking, half-buried in magma. Even now, it hasn't fully cooled. The temperature near it is…"
"Deadly," the elder interjected. "Even our strongest heat-resistant formations can't get close without failing. If you approach recklessly, you'll cook alive before you can blink."
Another disciple muttered, "Then how do we reach it?"
"We don't," someone else said. "Not yet. We wait."
As Han Yu listened, the topic shifted. One disciple mentioned having spotted two Nascent Soul beasts near the center of the caldera—his voice laced with tension and awe.
"There's a Magma Catfish… easily three times the size of an elephant. It swallowed a whole hunting party of Steel Sand mercenaries we sent earlier as a scout party. Nothing was left."
