Even with Evan Lin's sharp eyes, witnessing this scene still made his heart skip a beat.
Back when he first forged the Scarlet Flame Command, it was nothing more than an ordinary magical artifact. The Scarlet Flame Python inside it, in terms of strength, was nowhere near comparable to the three Maiden Spirits in the Soul-Sacrifice Beauty Scroll, who had already reached first-grade Pointing-to-Mystery.
Yet now, the Three Maiden Spirits and the Fourfold Sword Circle together couldn’t shake the Three-Headed Abyssal Serpent. But under the assault of the Scarlet Flame Python, the serpent was forced back again and again—and not only that, it was swallowed whole in one bite?
Swallowed?
And after swallowing the Three-Headed Abyssal Serpent in one gulp, the Scarlet Flame Python’s body didn’t swell at all—it remained the same size as before, just over three feet long.
Moreover, the Scarlet Flame Python only gave Evan Lin a sense of overwhelming power. Based on his current assessment, this python shouldn’t have condensed a demon core yet.
But this level of combat power is just too unbelievable!
The Scarlet Flame Python that swallowed the Three-Headed Abyssal Serpent in one bite turned into a streak of shooting light, rushing toward Evan Lin from afar.
In a single flash, it dove right back into Evan Lin’s body—so quickly that no one else noticed a thing.
The Three Maiden Spirits and Fourfold Sword Circle, previously suppressed by the Three-Headed Abyssal Serpent, now returned to their proper places one after another.
"Evan, are you okay?"
Yvette Ye, standing nearby, saw Evan Lin still staring behind him and thought he’d been frightened by the Three-Headed Abyssal Serpent, unable to snap out of it. "Don’t worry, we’ve run so far already—there’s no way that serpent will chase us now."
She tried to comfort Evan, and instinctively followed his gaze, looking back as well.
"The serpent’s gone?"
Yvette froze. She’d clearly heard the serpent’s roar just moments ago, but now, after only a few breaths, everything behind them was quiet—as if the Three-Headed Abyssal Serpent had never appeared at all.
"Maybe the fight ended and it left."
Kevin Qin spoke up. The whole Moonshade squad was in shambles—despite having Pointing-to-Mystery Realm cultivation, all they could do was run for their lives.
"Noah the Cowherd is moving again. Stay close to him."
The yellow ox started walking forward again, this time much slower than before.
Evan walked at the back, secretly probing the Scarlet Flame Python that had returned. After several careful checks, he still couldn’t spot anything special about it.
Most likely the Left-Hand Dragon taught it some special method. The Scarlet Flame Python seemed to be in a good mood, occasionally sneaking out from Evan’s body when no one was looking and affectionately rubbing against his fingertips.
As for the colossal stone stele with the words ‘Everlost’ they’d seen earlier, who knew if Immortal Lord Everlost’s true resting place was beneath it? Only a peak powerhouse could possibly sustain this pocket world for so long.
But with Evan’s current strength and cultivation, even if he tried to explore the stele, he’d probably come up empty-handed.
All the way, Evan kept scanning the fluctuations of spiritual qi around him. For this pocket world to last so long, there had to be an invisible spiritual vein, circulating qi within the world and preventing it from leaking out—keeping the whole place intact even now.
Time shifted, stars wheeled, day and night changed.
In the night sky of the pocket world, countless stars could be seen. Their light was dim, but though conjured by secret arts, the starry sky and constellations were almost indistinguishable from the real universe—even the Big Dipper and various other galaxies and nebulae were visible.
But no matter how beautiful the night sky, everyone couldn’t forget the instant they leapt upward—the hidden killing intent lurking above that seemingly peaceful sky.
Along the way, Kevin Qin took out plenty of food and water to share. The old yellow ox walked for a long time before finally stopping.
"Is that... a village?"
Seeing a small village appear before them, Kevin and the others were stunned. They’d never expected a place like this to exist inside the Mysterious Ruins.
Looking in from outside the village, they saw farmers with hoes returning from the fields, and women washing clothes by the creek.
A rooster at the village entrance was chased back and forth by stray dogs—chaos everywhere.
Looking up, it was midday. Smoke curled from the village’s thatched huts, and the aroma of cooked rice drifted from the chimneys.
"Should we go in?" Jenna Jiang and the others looked uneasy.
The villagers came and went, but not a single one looked their way.
In the village marketplace, vendors and buyers haggled over vegetables. A scholar in a long robe sold calligraphy and paintings, while a ragged beggar shook a battered bowl, wobbling as he asked for alms.
The old yellow ox wandered through it, tail swishing gently, its steps unhurried.
"Let’s go take a look. Everyone, be careful."
Kevin Qin’s expression was serious and wary. He’d been to the Mysterious Ruins before, but never once had he seen a village or people inside.
The atmosphere was truly strange—if these people really lived in the Mysterious Ruins, how many generations would they have had to survive here?
Evan frowned slightly, scanning the area. The villagers looked so lifelike, chatting endlessly about trivial matters between neighbors.
But from start to finish, Evan never sensed the slightest trace of vitality from any of them.
It was as if they were just a gathering of wandering souls.
But ordinary wandering souls could never recreate such vibrant, bustling village life.
"Brother Xuan, Brother Xuan, I want candied hawthorn!"
A crisp, childish voice rang out.
The group at the front, alert as ever, instinctively turned toward the sound. There, they saw a cute little girl, about five or six, with two tiny tiger teeth and dressed in a bright red outfit, pulling along a slightly taller boy. She hopped and skipped, pointing at an old man selling candied hawthorn by the roadside, chattering non-stop.
"Alright, alright! Brother Xuan will buy you candied hawthorn." The boy’s clothes were shabby, clearly life was hard, but he didn’t hesitate to pull out six copper coins, carefully counting out five and saving one, trading them for a stick of candied hawthorn.
"Brother Xuan is the best! Lili likes Brother Xuan the most!"
The little girl took her candied hawthorn, her smile curving like a crescent moon. Her voice was sweet as she skipped along, clumsily hugging the boy’s arm and resting her head on him, marching forward with big steps.
The two children walked on, nestled together.
Her voice was still sweet as she called, "Brother Xuan, I want to always be with you, okay?"
"Okay!" the boy replied in his childish voice.
"Such adorable children." Seeing this, Luna Ye couldn’t help but smile. After being tense for so long, she finally felt a moment of relief.
But Luna Ye noticed that Evan was staring at the backs of the two children as they walked away, lost in thought.