As they spoke, the swarm of venomous snakes grew larger and fiercer.
At this moment, a look of fear and dread appeared on the mercenary's face. He seemed to recall something, and shivered involuntarily.
"Heh, you're scared, aren't you? Such is the courage of a hero..."
Zhou Yan sneered, his eyes filled with mockery. "However, I think your courage is much better than those martial apprentices."
"Huh?"
Upon hearing Zhou Yan's taunting words, the mercenary was stunned for a moment, then roared, "You know nothing, brat..."
"These venomous snakes are too dangerous. One wrong move, and you won't even know how you died. I was once attacked by venomous snakes and almost lost my life."
The mercenary took a deep breath, lowered his voice, and warned, "Kid, you're still young, you can't take risks."
"You talk too much,"
Zhou Yan replied indifferently, and directly swung his saber, unleashing a sharp blade light.
Instantly, more than half of the fierce venomous snakes were cut down by the blade's glow, scattering blood and leaving corpses everywhere.
"Little brother, you..."
Seeing this, the mercenary was stunned, staring at Zhou Yan in disbelief.
That saber strike just now was too powerful, its might astonishing.
The mercenary believed that if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, no one would believe that such incredible combat power could be possessed by a young man around twenty years old.
"You're a lunatic."
After a long while, the mercenary finally reacted, and couldn't help but curse, "Knowing you'll die, you still won't leave. Are you looking for death!"
"Heh, that's none of your business."
Zhou Yan shrugged, then his gaze fell on the venomous snakes, his eyes flashing with a sharp light. "Since these venomous snakes are so ferocious, I'm in need of food."
*Boom~*
With that, Zhou Yan's body vibrated, his muscles swelled and bulged, his fists clenched, unleashing immense power. Like a tank, he charged directly into the snake swarm.
*Whoosh whoosh whoosh!*
Instantly, thousands of venomous snakes swarmed forward, opening their ferocious mouths, spitting out dense smoke, and lunging to bite Zhou Yan.
Each of these venomous snakes had venom comparable to that of a high-ranking war dog.
More importantly, with so many snakes gathered together, their venomous mist obscured vision and made friendly fire more likely.
*Bang!*
In an instant, Zhou Yan crossed his arms, blocking in front of his chest.
*Clang!*
A loud noise erupted, and gusts of wind swept out.
A powerful force was transmitted, causing Zhou Yan's body to tremble. His steps involuntarily moved back, knocking away two or three venomous snakes before he could stabilize himself.
"Hiss hiss hiss..."
Instantly, the venomous snakes seemed to sense danger and retreated.
"Huh?"
Zhou Yan was slightly taken aback. He hadn't expected his full-power strike to fail to kill these venomous snakes, which was hard to comprehend.
After all, ordinary people had weak physiques and would have been terrified and fled in the face of a snake attack.
However, Zhou Yan's will was firm. He had practiced martial arts with his grandfather since he was young, and his will was strong, so he was not afraid.
Furthermore, Zhou Yan cultivated the "Chaos Emperor Art," which tempered his physique and bones, greatly improving his physical condition.
Now, a trace of dragon aura was contained within Zhou Yan's body, making him immune to all evil and impervious to insects, so he was not afraid of venom.
"Hoo~"
Suddenly, Zhou Yan's gaze shifted, looking at the mercenary, a cold smile playing on his lips.
"This brat, he's not looking at me again, is he?"
The mercenary's heart sank, a chill ran down his spine. He felt Zhou Yan's cold gaze like sharp arrows piercing him, making his scalp tingle.
At the same time, the mercenary understood that Zhou Yan was indeed crazy to dare to enter the snake den alone.
However, despite his shock, the mercenary felt no pity. He just hoped that Zhou Yan would die quickly, so as not to drag him down.
After all, the mercenary was used to such situations.
Meanwhile, Zhou Yan shook his head and murmured, "Alas, I didn't expect that a few mere venomous snakes couldn't be dealt with. They're too pathetic."
Before his words fell, Zhou Yan stepped out, his palm open, and grabbed a venomous snake.
*Riiip~*
With a forceful pull, the venomous snake was immediately torn into pieces, its blood spurting out.
"..." The mercenary's eyes widened, his face frozen in shock, almost petrified.
This young man was truly insane, completely disregarding the venomous snakes, like a human beast.
Such an action was too reckless.
"Hmm? What is this..."
Suddenly, Zhou Yan's brow furrowed. He noticed that the blood flowing from the venomous snake was dark brown and had a strange smell.
Zhou Yan reached out, dipped a drop of blood, and brought it to his nose to smell.
*Buzz!*
Instantly, a mysterious aura seeped in through his fingers and quickly integrated into Zhou Yan's body.
In a flash, Zhou Yan felt streams of heat flowing from his internal organs to his mind, then along his meridians to his dantian, and finally settling within his Sea of Consciousness.
*Whoosh~*
In a moment, the illusory spiritual fire burned fiercely, emitting intense heat and engulfing the entire spiritual fire.
*Sizzle sizzle sizzle~*
Instantly, the spiritual fire, like a living thing, transformed into various shapes, finally evolving into the model of a lotus.
A Lotus of Spiritual Fire!
The Lotus of Spiritual Fire bloomed slowly, eventually turning into a lotus seedpod, crystal clear, emitting a faint, ethereal fragrance.
"This... this is... the Lotus of Spiritual Flame."
This scene sent Zhou Yan's heart into turmoil, and he was extremely excited, even forgetting the danger around him.
"This Lotus of Spiritual Flame is of extremely high grade."
Zhou Yan observed it carefully and found that the Lotus of Spiritual Flame was composed of nine petals, which were bronze, gold, obsidian, purple obsidian...
"As expected of an ancient ruin..."
Zhou Yan sighed inwardly. This single Lotus of Spiritual Flame was worth a fortune, an absolute rare treasure, far surpassing ordinary medicinal herbs.
"The Lotus of Spiritual Flame is a wondrous creation of heaven and earth, only nurtured and born in special environments."
"Such a place might contain a spiritual spring, otherwise, it's impossible to cultivate a Lotus of Spiritual Flame..."
"This means that there might be some powerful creature in this area."
After some thought, Zhou Yan's eyes lit up, and he immediately took action.
*Swish swish swish~*
Zhou Yan leaped out, as fast as lightning, his dagger dancing in his hand, tracing an arc, preparing to hunt some fierce snake beasts.
*Bang~*
Suddenly, a dull thud. Zhou Yan felt his tiger's mouth go numb, almost losing his grip.
It turned out that in this short period, a colossal creature had suddenly sprung out, its sharp fangs fiercely striking, carrying a fierce aura.
It was a mottled venomous python, about ten meters long, with a thick body and a coiled tail covered in scales. Its scarlet eyes exuded a sinister aura, as if warning of something.
"Roar..."
The venomous python roared to the sky, revealing its sharp teeth, its eyes blazing with ferocity, as if it would pounce in the next second.
"Hmph, beast, get out of my way!"