"Blue-Flame Blood Python!"
Beneath Elder Tu’s feet, that colossal python stretched skyward, its scales a deep blue-violet and its eyes glowing blood-red. At first glance, it looked as if its whole body was burning.
Seeing the giant serpent, Warren Wu couldn’t help but cry out in shock. All the Medicine King Valley disciples nearby gazed at the python with reverence and awe.
The Blue-Flame Python was Medicine King Valley’s guardian beast. It could spit divine fire and usually guarded the Pill Pavilion, aiding in alchemy. Years could pass without anyone seeing it.
But today, not only had the Blue-Flame Python left the Pill Pavilion—it now appeared at Elder Tu’s feet.
The python straightened its massive body and let out a roar. Instantly, a scorching jet of flame shot from its mouth, slicing through the air toward the earthen barrier trapping Evan Lin.
The temperature of this fire was terrifying—so hot that even the surrounding air twisted and shimmered from the heat.
Elder Tu’s hand gestures didn’t pause. The earth and stone beneath him rose up, forming an even larger earthen cage, guiding the flames straight toward the wall encasing Evan Lin.
In the blink of an eye, the blazing fire wrapped completely around Evan Lin, igniting a massive fireball in the clearing.
"Master Lin!"
When he saw Evan Lin swallowed up by the flames, Warren Wu’s face changed drastically. He cried out in alarm, clearly terrified.
The python’s serpent fire could be used for alchemy or soul rituals. Having been fed all kinds of spiritual medicines for years, the Blue-Flame Blood Python had only grown stronger—its breath was far hotter than ordinary flames.
As Evan Lin was completely engulfed, the earthen barrier Elder Tu had raised began to crack under the intense heat of the fire.
"This serpent fire was meant for refining Human Pills. Today, Evan Nine Mysteries, I’ll refine you completely! I want to see what you can possibly do to dare set foot in Medicine King Valley!"
"Anyone who dares offend Medicine King Valley must die! You are beyond forgiveness!" Elder Tu spoke in a deep, solemn voice.
The Blue-Flame Python flicked its tongue, its blood-red pupils icy cold.
The inferno showed no sign of stopping. The flames grew even fiercer, burning with a constant crackle and roar.
"That kid’s ninety-nine percent going to get burned alive," Henry Yuan gulped, clearly shaken by the sight.
Trent Yuan gritted his teeth beside him. "Of course. No matter how tough Evan Nine Mysteries is, there’s no way he can beat Medicine King Valley. Acting so arrogant at his age—if he gets burned to death, he totally deserves it!"
Yvonne Qu heard the Yuan brothers talking but didn’t dare chime in. She just stared at the blazing fire, her heart pounding with fear.
The Three Maiden Spirits saw Evan Lin completely engulfed by the scorching flames and their expressions changed. One of them kicked Elder Tu aside, but the fire was so fierce and wild, and as yin-cold ghosts, they couldn’t get close. All they could do was hover anxiously at the edge, pacing back and forth.
If Evan Lin died, the Soul-Sacrifice Beauty Scroll on him would likely be destroyed by the flames. Without the scroll, the Three Maiden Spirits would vanish from this world in no time.
The fire kept burning.
At this moment, Elder Tu was already feeling quite proud.
"My earth-confinement spell—even a fourth-grade Vajra can’t break free! With the Blue-Flame Python’s serpent fire reinforcing it, the earthen barrier is tougher than iron. Evan Nine Mysteries, just wait to be burned alive by this serpent fire!"
Just as Elder Tu finished speaking, his eyes suddenly narrowed.
He saw that the earthen barrier around Evan Lin, covered in fine cracks from the heat, was now splitting open wider and wider.
"Huh?"
Elder Tu frowned.
In the next moment, his face changed dramatically.
Boom!
Suddenly, the earthen barrier wrapped in flames exploded apart.
Burning debris flew in all directions, startling the Medicine King Valley crowd, who turned and scrambled away in panic.
From beneath the shattered wall, Evan Lin strolled out of the flames with his hands in his pockets.
Around him swirled eighty-one translucent Soul-Locking Chains, twisting like living serpents and encircling Evan completely.
The raging flames burned furiously outside the chains, trying to get close, but each time they were shattered by the chains before they could touch Evan.
"He can actually externalize his inner force to this level!"
Seeing all eighty-one Soul-Locking Chains, Elder Tu’s face darkened as he stared at the serpent fire being completely blocked.
"In the whole world, you’re the first to ever try refining me, Evan Nine Mysteries. Today, you can die with your eyes closed."
Evan Lin’s face was calm as he looked up at Elder Tu standing atop the Blue-Flame Python’s head, his dark eyes reflecting the blazing fire all around.
"You—!"
Seeing Evan Lin emerge unscathed from his spell and the python’s serpent fire, Elder Tu’s face turned icy. Hearing Evan’s words, he immediately stomped on the Blue-Flame Python’s head. The serpent, sensing Evan’s power, turned its head and tried to flee toward the mountains.
"Trying to run?"
Evan Lin snorted coldly and stomped the ground. The eighty-one Soul-Locking Chains swirling around him shot forward at his command, streaking toward the Blue-Flame Python.
Each chain moved as if alive. In an instant, they reached the python.
On the ground, Grant Tu—who had just survived the Three Maiden Spirits unscathed—snorted and tried to block the chains with his iron-hard body. But before he could even grab one, a chain pierced right through him like he was nothing.
"A little ant like you dares to get in my way?"
Evan Lin tilted his head slightly, the wind lifting his bangs. The eighty-one Soul-Locking Chains tore through the air, and as they reached the python, dozens of chains wrapped tightly around its massive body, pulling taut.
The Blue-Flame Python howled in pain, spewing fire as it tried to burn the chains away. But the chains didn’t retreat at all—instead, they sank deep into its flesh with overwhelming force.
Dozens of chains bound the giant python—half the size of a mountain—until, with a thunderous crash, it finally collapsed, blood streaming from its body.
Elder Tu tried to dodge, but the Three Maiden Spirits grabbed him and tossed him aside.
Evan Lin strode forward, stopped in front of Elder Tu, and looked down at him with a calm face. "Do you yield?"
Elder Tu spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes full of venomous hate. Before he could reply, a figure appeared on a distant mountaintop, hands behind his back, holding a woman’s skull. From beneath Medicine King Valley, a chorus of wails rose up.
"The Valley Master has done it!"
Seeing that man, Elder Tu couldn’t help but brighten. He grinned, his smile both relieved and tinged with sorrow.