At that moment, the Infernal Great Serpent's entire body blazed with resplendent radiance, its might climbing higher and higher. Even from a thousand yards away, it made one shudder and gasp for breath—as if it were the sovereign of all heaven and earth.
Everyone staring at the Infernal Great Serpent swallowed hard, a flicker of fear in their eyes. The confidence they'd gained from leveling up was now utterly drowned beneath that crushing aura.
"Evolution?"
Shi Feng watched the Infernal Great Serpent—a creature easily over a thousand meters long—and felt the corners of his eyes twitch.
Though evolution was a fairly common occurrence in the Divine Realm, especially on open-world maps, where players generally considered it a stroke of luck. Normally, open-world bosses were monopolized by the major guilds, leaving no room for ordinary players to attempt them. Monster evolution was random, and after evolving, a monster's tier would rise, essentially making it equivalent to encountering an open-world boss. Moreover, monsters killed shortly after evolving tended to drop better loot.
But a Primordial species of the High Great Lord rank evolving? That was no laughing matter…
The Infernal Great Serpent had already been no pushover—one of the many bosses roaming the Devouring Bone Land. Even a same-level team of 2nd-tier experts would have found it a serious headache to deal with, and could easily be wiped out. Now, with its advancement to 4th-tier Legendary, it would instantly become the strongest boss in the Devouring Bone Land—perhaps even a forbidden existence.
After all, the Infernal Great Serpent was a Primordial species. After ascending to Legendary, its combat power would far surpass that of an ordinary Legendary monster.
In his previous life, something like this had actually happened in the Divine Realm—a Primordial species had suddenly evolved, and the entire map immediately became forbidden territory. That boss had been only level 80, yet it had dragged on until a super-guild led a thousand-strong, level-100 expert team to finally put it down. Among that team were more than a dozen 3rd-tier class experts who represented the peak of the era.
After the battle, the thousand-man squad had lost over seventy percent of its players, and nearly half of the ten-plus 3rd-tier experts had been killed—all to bring down a single 4th-tier Legendary Primordial species…
Now, though the Infernal Great Serpent was only level 70, after its advancement to 4th-tier Legendary, there would likely be no way to deal with it before level 100.
"Guild Master, should we pull back? Once this monster finishes evolving, its detection range will definitely increase, and this place won't be safe anymore," You Ziping suggested.
Though they had witnessed Shi Feng's strength—five Great Lords above level 65 joining forces, sweeping through demonic creatures with unstoppable momentum—they weren't clueless. A same-rank Great Lord going up against a monster about to evolve into a 4th-tier Legendary could only buy a little time at best. There was no chance of actually challenging the Infernal Great Serpent. The gap between them was simply too vast.
"Pull back?" Shi Feng stared quietly at the Infernal Great Serpent, a trace of unwillingness in his gaze.
The Demon Mine was right in front of them—a medium-sized ancient bronze mine. Though its value couldn't compare to a Source Iron Vein, it was still a precious resource, especially at a time when Zero Wing was most short on magic ore.
But facing an Infernal Great Serpent about to ascend to 4th-tier Legendary, he had no way forward either.
This was different from fighting the evolving Silver Moon Demon Rat in the Great Dark Canyon.
The Silver Moon Demon Rat had originally been an ordinary Lord-rank monster with only 18 million HP. During the time it took to evolve, killing it hadn't been impossible.
But the Infernal Great Serpent before him was a level-70 High Great Lord, a Primordial species with a staggering 160 million HP—already incredibly difficult to deal with, let alone killing it during its brief evolution window.
"Guild Master?" You Ziping looked at the suddenly silent Shi Feng and asked, puzzled.
"No—there's still a sliver of a chance." Shi Feng studied the distant Infernal Great Serpent with careful intensity. From the magic patterns gradually forming across its body, he could tell the evolution was proceeding very slowly. He then issued his command: "Everyone, get ready and follow me!"
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
The Demon Mine had appeared in the Devouring Bone Land—securing it certainly wouldn't be easy. He'd initially thought that acquiring the Demon Mine had been simpler than expected.
But now, thinking it over, the evolving Infernal Great Serpent wasn't bad luck. It was almost certainly a preset by the system.
Or rather, this was the system giving the players an opportunity. Otherwise, how else could one explain that the very moment he'd finished clearing out every demonic creature in the vicinity except the Infernal Great Serpent, the creature had suddenly begun to evolve?