"You..." Zhai Xishan hadn't finished speaking when a bloody hole appeared on his shoulder, and he fell backward.

"Brother Zhai!" the others exclaimed. Si Yu squatted down and helped him up. No one could see how the man with the snake tattoo had injured Zhai Xishan.

"You four go first. This person is hiding his strength; we're probably no match for him," Ye Yan said, shielding the four behind him. "I'll lure him away; you take Brother Zhai out for treatment first."

"Run!" With that, Ye Yan used his movement technique to rush towards the man with the snake tattoo.

"Insignificant mortal, daring to oppose the gods!" The man with the snake tattoo transformed his spiritual power into a stick, and with a single swing, he sent Ye Yan flying.

"Breaking through the mortal realm!" Ye Yan coughed up blood uncontrollably from the corner of his mouth, and hurriedly steadied his breathing. "You are actually not restricted by this ruin!"

"Hehehe, what's so difficult about that? You mortals can't possibly match the God's methods." The man with the snake tattoo took out a black bead from his pocket, which was probably the effect of that item.

It seems that the item must have a time-limited effect, otherwise this man wouldn't have used his full strength to deal with Ye Yan from the very beginning.

Ye Yan rushed forward again, unleashing the Hidden Dragon technique and channeling all his spiritual power into it.

The man with the snake tattoo remained motionless, deflecting the attack simply by striking with a straight stick.

Another blow sent Ye Yan flying once more.

Fortunately, Ye Yan was prepared this time and only rolled twice on the ground before stopping. However, his internal injuries were more severe, and he couldn't stop the blood from his nose from flowing out.

'The difference in strength is too great; the opponent is at least at the mid-stage of the Transcendent Realm.'

Having made this judgment, Ye Yan shot out the Soul-Devouring Blade and smashed the stone platform beneath his feet with a punch. Taking advantage of the rising dust, he ran towards the cave on the far right of the cavern.

The man with the snake tattoo flicked his wrist slightly, and the Soul-Devouring Blade shattered in mid-air. He looked back at the stone platform, where the person had vanished, and smiled with narrowed eyes.

When Ye Yan reached the very end of the cave, he was surprised to find that it was a cliff with an endless abyss below.

'That shouldn't be,' Ye Yan thought, puzzled, as the nightmare voice sounded behind him.

"Why did you stop running? Are you too tired to run anymore?" The man with the snake tattoo licked his lips and said in a somewhat disgusted tone.

"Hmm, your spiritual energy is pure and profound." The man with the snake tattoo scanned him from bottom to top, then said, "I'll give you two choices: either join our plan and become my plaything, or become an experimental subject, or continue to be at my mercy."

"You're dreaming," he said with a determined look in his eyes, then leaped straight into the abyss.

"Ye Yan!" Zhou Yaoxia learned from Si Yu and the others outside that Ye Yan was facing a powerful enemy alone here, and then she saw this scene.

Without thinking, she jumped down with him and desperately tried to grab his hand.

Watching Ye Yan jump off the cliff, he sighed softly, "What a pity, such a good experimental subject is gone."

He glanced again at the girl who had just jumped down and said sarcastically, "The word 'love' in this world is the most laughable thing; it's nothing more than keeping company in the underworld."

After saying that, as if sensing something, he left.

(Alright, that's all for now. The author needs to go back to class. Five days a week, 8 am tonight, getting busy. I'll update every two weeks on weekdays, and double updates on weekends if I'm free. I won't skip it.)