Ye Xiu pointed at the massive jar, speaking with clear irritation, "Who cares if it's righteous or evil? This Nine Poisons Ferocity Array is no good thing to begin with. Anyone powerful enough to be inside shouldn't be anything decent.

You should worry more about how we're going to open this exit. Should I try the Purple Flame?" "The Bone Gatherers worship the Crimson Serpent; the Crimson Serpent is the symbol of flame. Do these jars perhaps fear fire?" Old Liu muttered, somewhat dejected, as his own Thin Face Blade hadn't managed to scratch the towering jars.

Ye Xiu nodded in agreement, as he had already blasted a smaller bone jar with his Purple Flame earlier. Apart from opening its lid, the jar hadn't reacted much. Seeing the fully formed Crimson Serpent carvings on the bone jar, he genuinely felt like he had witnessed a legendary dragon.

At this critical juncture, neither Ye Xiu nor Old Liu intended to yield. "Since we can't damage the jars, how about we make whatever is inside come out?" Old Liu’s suggestion was clearly well-considered, yet its inherent danger was obvious. "What I mean is, both of us touch the jar simultaneously and see what emerges." "One you plus one me?

Let’s make it two against two!" Ye Xiu felt a strong urge to refuse, but it seemed this was the only viable option left for them. Reluctantly, Ye Xiu agreed. "Perfect, I actually wanted to witness my own subconscious and see just how formidable it truly is." With that said, the two leaped together into the deep pit.

The enormous jar loomed before them, several times taller than they were. After a brief hesitation, they nodded at each other, confirming their intent, and both placed their hands on either side of the jar. At that very moment, the sand and soil beneath the jar began to tremble violently.

"Swish, swish..." As the sand shook, the jar also vibrated. But strangely, the Thin Face Blade tucked in Old Liu’s sleeve shot out as if a mouse had spotted a cat, fleeing far into the distance. "Your Earth Mole has run away!" Ye Xiu couldn't help but admire the sentience of the Thin Face Blade, but why would this little thing flee?

Was it pure instinct from the Earth Mole? "Damn it, I think I've guessed what's inside the jar. The creature the Earth Mole fears most is the serpent." Old Liu turned back, murmuring some mysterious incantation toward the Thin Face Blade, and then sprinted back toward the edge of the deep pit.

Ye Xiu remained rooted to his spot, yet his entire body swayed back and forth along with the jar. In an instant, the deep pit seemed to grow even larger, and his feet felt nearly welded into the shifting sand: "You're saying there’s a snake in here? No, it must be what the Bone Gatherers worship—the Crimson Serpent." The moment Ye Xiu finished speaking, a deep rumbling sound began emanating from within the jar, much like the roar of a train.

As the sound grew more frantic, a blast of pressurized air swept over them. The entire jar emitted a piercing shriek like a steam whistle, stirring up clouds of dense fog. The world fell silent, as Ye Xiu found no sound adequate to describe the aftermath.

The fog obscured all vision, and the surroundings were pitch black. He suppressed the fear rising in his heart and summoned the Purple Flame in his hand, trying to illuminate everything. "Ugh..." A long, drawn-out sigh echoed again, one that no single person could possibly produce.

Could it be the Crimson Serpent? But the sound seemed to originate from directly above him, almost drowning out everything else. "No, no, no!

Run!" Old Liu’s voice called out from afar, but this time he didn't deploy the Thin Face Blade or any other artifact; this was the pure, unadulterated terror of an ordinary man. Ye Xiu slowly raised his head, and in that instant, he found another head staring directly back at him—a massive head, with eyes as large as harvest moons. It was a serpent's head, the head of the Crimson Serpent.

"Aaaaah!" This colossal beast let out a hungry, screeching cry. It stood as tall as three stories, and while its eyes glowed a brilliant green, the rest of its body was entirely fiery red. The gaze it fixed on Ye Xiu was nothing like a common serpent eyeing prey; its eyes held a look of utter contempt, almost broadcasting to everything around it: You have offended a god.

"This is beyond my capability now. Neither of us can escape," Old Liu said, having lost his reliable weapon, the Thin Face Blade, knowing in his heart that no matter how potent his Earth Mole technique was, it stood no chance against such a formidable natural predator. "Damn it, I won't die just like this." Ye Xiu couldn't tolerate Old Liu's panicked cries from above the pit.

At this moment, his fear seemed to ignite a dormant fighting spirit within him. No matter what this giant snake intended, Ye Xiu only wanted to defend himself right now and test the limits of his potential. "I don't care about Crimson Serpents or anything else.

As the pride of the Reaper, I will strike you down with the Purple Flame!" Ye Xiu’s anger burned fiercely. He secretly channeled the Purple Flame through both hands behind his back, and in that instant, he felt his power augmented significantly. He unleashed a torrent of Purple Flame directly toward the serpent's head.

"Boom, boom!" After several impacts, the Purple Flame writhed around the serpent's head as if searing food on a grill. Though the Crimson Serpent’s scales sustained little visible damage, it slowly closed its eyes. "Hurry and find a way to strike its eyes!" Ye Xiu sensed a weakness.

With a powerful tumble, he rolled out of the snake head's direct line of sight. Just as he rapidly circled around to its rear for a surprise attack, he stumbled and was flung several yards away by the Crimson Serpent's tail, leaving him writhing in pain on the ground. Old Liu, observing from his elevated position, clearly saw Ye Xiu's actions.

Evidently, Ye Xiu's fearless behavior stirred up his own inherent arrogance. He now pulled out a pentagram-like object from his waist pouch. After chanting an incantation, he tossed it into the air: "Celestial Net of Ice!

I can only manage to restrain it. The Thin Face Blade is useless against it!" Ye Xiu cursed under his breath, once again using the smoke generated by his Purple Flame to vanish from the Crimson Serpent's view. At this moment, he noticed Old Liu's pentagram had reached a position directly above the Crimson Serpent.

Old Liu's artifact appeared unremarkable on the surface, but the moment it neared the serpent, it transformed into a thin layer of ice that struck the serpent's head. With several cracking sounds—kaka-ka—the thin ice rapidly spread across the entirety of the Crimson Serpent, freezing it along with the massive jar. "Well done!

Watch me destroy this snake!" Ye Xiu grew bolder with every move, knowing he had to channel the full force of his Purple Flame into the Crimson Serpent's eyes this time. As he leaped high from a position halfway up the serpent’s body, he again heard the kaka-ka sound of cracking ice near his ear. Unfortunately, this time it wasn't ice forming; Old Liu’s ice spell was instantly incinerated into steam by the intense red flames blazing across the serpent's body.

But Ye Xiu's momentum was unstoppable, leading him into a perfect face-off with the Crimson Serpent. "Roar!" The Crimson Serpent finally seemed angered, letting out a furious bellow. It opened its gigantic maw and roared down at Ye Xiu, its long, crimson tongue predicting a pitiful end for him.