Kevin Qin watched as Yvette Ye was pulled aside by Evan Lin, the chill in his eyes deepening. He looked like he could explode at any moment.
"Can you two stop it already? What are you even trying to do?"
Yvette was getting annoyed. She couldn’t understand how things had escalated to this point.
Originally, her feelings toward Evan were mostly admiration and curiosity, nothing more.
As for Kevin Qin, she was always straightforward—he was just a friend, nothing deeper.
But now, Yvette was genuinely worried the two might start fighting.
"We still have a mission today. When there’s time, I’ll challenge you properly."
Kevin took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. His tone slowed: "The bigger picture matters."
He finished speaking, then walked around Evan, heading to the front.
Harvey Li and the others hurried after him. As Harvey passed Evan, his expression changed noticeably.
He was terrified Evan might come after him.
This guy literally jumped from ten thousand meters and stomped flat the pillar they’d spent days trying to push down!
Is this even something a human could do?
Jenna Jiang walked beside Harvey, glancing at Evan as she passed. Her expression was complicated—she was speechless, unsure what to say.
Earlier, she’d been annoyed on Harvey’s behalf, upset that Evan had taken his Moonshade slot.
But in that instant, all her resentment vanished. She was convinced—Evan truly deserved it.
"Let’s go too. The Mysterious Ruins gate is open—stick together, or you’ll get lost easily here."
Yvette glanced at Evan, wanting to say something but stopping herself. She shook her head and followed the others.
Evan scanned his surroundings. The thick white fog was rolling aside, revealing a road that had been hidden before.
The road looked like any ordinary mountain path, but the dense fog on either side stayed put. Visibility was at most five meters.
"To enter the Mysterious Ruins, you have to follow this path exactly. If the fog hasn’t cleared and you step even once outside its bounds, you won’t be able to get in."
"And when this path appears, its direction changes every time. There’s probably some kind of formation at work, but we haven’t figured it out yet."
Walking along the path, Yvette explained the details to Evan.
Evan nodded. Actually, when he was in the helicopter, he’d tried to see through the area from above—even conjured a fire dragon to clear the fog—but it was all in vain.
He also released the Three Maiden Spirits, but after entering the fog, all they could do was find their way back—nothing else.
That’s why Evan had spent so much time lingering on the helicopter earlier.
"Whoever set up this formation really knows their stuff."
For once, Evan gave a compliment. Since his rebirth, this was the first place that actually piqued his interest.
That pillar earlier looked like he’d stomped it flat easily, but the burst of power at the moment of impact had surprised him.
That stomp had used up nearly a third of his spiritual qi.
"Every Mysterious Ruins manifests differently, and the method of opening it changes too. Normally, only Hidden Dragon can open this kind, bringing us inside."
"Recently, an anomaly in Hong Kong loosened the local formations, so we managed to slip in by luck."
As Yvette spoke, the group ahead—Kevin Qin and the others—suddenly stopped in their tracks.
"We’re here."
Kevin’s expression grew serious as he looked ahead.
What greeted them was a huge cluster of fog—much denser than anything before.
The fog was concentrated in one spot, unmoving and undispersed, right at the end of the path.
"Here?"
Evan stepped forward, focusing on the fog. As he calmed his senses, he felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
"This is the real entrance to the Mysterious Ruins—a cluster of fog."
Kevin glanced at Evan, his hostility gone. When he said the mission mattered most, he meant it—that’s just how he was.
Besides, Evan’s stomp had truly earned Kevin’s respect.
The strong always deserve respect.
Kevin wasn’t the type to let jealousy override everything and insist on a life-or-death fight.
"The position of this fog changes with the guiding path. In other words, it’s never in the same place twice."
"A heads-up: when you step into the fog, you’ll feel weightless for a moment. Don’t resist it—when you come to, you’ll already be inside the Ruins."
Kevin extended his hand to Evan: "We’ve got Moonshade teammates trapped inside. Getting them out is our shared goal."
Evan met his gaze and shook his hand firmly.
Harvey was still disgruntled, but kept quiet.
He knew this was too important to mess around.
"Go in two at a time, one second apart. Inside, support each other—make sure we all get out alive."
Kevin glanced at Yvette: "Are you coming with me, or with him?"
Yvette stayed firmly by Evan’s side, not moving.
Seeing this, Kevin nodded, said nothing more, and stepped forward.
"Man, I said some bad stuff before you came. Don’t take it to heart." A Moonshade member walked up and patted Evan’s shoulder.
"If we make it out alive, we’re brothers who lived and died together." Another chimed in.
They all took a deep breath, faces serious, their aura shifting sharply.
Their energy grew sharper, tougher, full of fighting spirit.
Kevin and another stepped first into the fog.
Almost as their figures vanished, Evan felt a subtle shift. Watching the fog ripple faintly at the entrance, surprise flashed in his eyes.
"Is this a small world?"
"The Mysterious Ruins is actually a pocket world carved out of space!"