Deep within the Tagor Desert in the eastern part of the Jia Ma Empire. The scorching sun grilled the boundless yellow sand, and the air itself distorted from the high temperature.
Inside the Temple of the Snake-people's sacred city.
A figure, so enchanting it was suffocating, reclined lazily on the throne. A seven-colored brocade robe outlined her breathtaking curves. Beneath the hem, a purple snake tail swayed gently, exuding a wild and dangerous beauty. Her face was exquisite, yet it carried a natural indifference and majesty, as if she were a queen on high, looking down upon all things in the world. It was Queen Medusa.
At this moment, her long, alluring purple eyes held less of their usual disdain and more a sense of gravity and contemplation.
Below, an elder of the Snake-people was respectfully reporting intelligence from the core region of the Jia Ma Empire.
"...The Sect Master of the Yun Lan Sect, Yún Shān, had his cultivation crippled. The sect has sealed its mountain, and ninety percent of its resources have been seized. A Protector from the Soul Hall has also fallen. All of this is due to a man named Xiāo Chén. He is the eldest son of the Xiao Family in Wutan City, who has been missing for fourteen years. It is rumored... that he possesses Dou Zun strength."
The words "Dou Zun" fell, and the entire temple seemed to fall silent for a moment. The Snake-people powerhouses standing guard on both sides exchanged glances, their eyes filled with disbelief. How could a Dou Zun possibly appear in a place like the Jia Ma Empire?
Queen Medusa's slender jade fingers tapped lightly on the armrest of the throne, making crisp sounds. She parted her red lips, her voice carrying a unique hoarseness and magnetism, alluring yet cold: "Xiāo Chén... Xiao Family..."
She was not unfamiliar with the Xiao Family. That young man who possessed two Exotic Flames and had a complex entanglement with her—Xiāo Yán—hailed from the Xiao Family. Her original plan was to use Xiāo Yán's Green Lotus Earth Core Fire to complete her evolution. Although the evolution was later disrupted by the chaotic Exotic Flame, leading to her current form as the Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python, and she developed a peculiar symbiotic link with Xiāo Yán.
Now, Xiāo Yán's long-lost elder brother had returned with Dou Zun strength and had swept through the Yun Lan Sect and the Soul Hall Protector with thunderous might? This news was too shocking, forcing her to re-evaluate many things.
"Has the information been confirmed?" Queen Medusa asked calmly.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, multiple sources have cross-verified the intelligence. It is largely true. The Dou Zun pressure on Yunlan Mountain that day, and the subsequent disappearance of the Soul Hall Protector's aura, were not false. The Xiao Family in Wutan City has now become an existence that no one in the Jia Ma Empire dares to provoke," the elder replied respectfully.
Queen Medusa was silent for a moment. Dou Zun... that was a realm she was currently far from reaching. The Snake-people were confined to the desert with scarce resources. Her greatest wish as queen was to lead her people to find a suitable oasis. For this, she had risked devouring Exotic Flames, nearly perishing in the process.
The emergence of a Dou Zun had completely disrupted the power balance in the Jia Ma Empire and even the surrounding regions. For the Snake-people, this was both a crisis and perhaps... an opportunity?
She thought of Xiāo Yán. That stubborn and somewhat special young man now had a Dou Zun brother as a backer... Their "link" seemed to have become somewhat different.
"Where is Xiāo Yán now?" Queen Medusa asked, her tone revealing no hint of emotion.
"According to scout reports, Xiāo Yán has returned to Wutan City with his elder brother, Xiāo Chén. After Xiāo Chén's return, the Xiao Family has been very active, seemingly vigorously reforming the family and enhancing its strength."
Queen Medusa nodded slightly, her purple snake eyes flickering with a light, her thoughts unknown.
Just then, the space within the temple, without any warning, rippled with an extremely subtle disturbance.
Queen Medusa abruptly sat up straight, her snake tail instantly coiling. A powerful peak Dou Huang aura erupted, filling the entire temple, and she shouted sternly, "Who?!"
The Snake-people elder and guards also tensed instantly, drawing their weapons and warily scanning their surroundings.
The spatial ripple dissipated, and a figure in a green robe, like a ghost, appeared silently in the center of the temple, as if he had always been there.
The newcomer had a handsome young face and an ethereal, detached demeanor; it was Xiāo Chén.
His gaze calmly swept over the Snake-people, who were like facing a formidable enemy, and finally rested on the incomparably enchanting and icy-auraed Queen Medusa on the throne.
"Queen Medusa, I've heard much about you," Xiāo Chén said with a slight smile, his tone peaceful, as if he were merely visiting a neighbor. "I came uninvited; I hope you'll forgive me."
Queen Medusa's heart churned like a stormy sea! She hadn't noticed at all how the other party had appeared! She could barely sense even the slightest spatial fluctuation! Was this the power of a Dou Zun?
She suppressed the shock in her heart, maintaining her queenly dignity, and said coldly, "You are Xiāo Chén? Why have you trespassed into my Snake-people's sacred city? What is your intention?"
Xiāo Chén paid no mind to her cold tone. Instead, his gaze, with a hint of appraisal, fell upon Queen Medusa's enchanting face and graceful figure, especially lingering for a moment on the peculiar state within her body where her soul was intertwined with the Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python's soul.
"As expected, she has merged with the Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python. Her soul is not yet fully stable, and the two consciousnesses are still in a tug-of-war..." Xiāo Chén realized, this aligned with the original plot he knew.
He withdrew his gaze and looked directly into Queen Medusa's wary purple eyes, stating calmly, "I am here with no ill intentions. I have come specifically to speak with you, Queen... about my younger brother, Xiāo Yán."
His words were very calm, yet they carried an undeniable weight.
"Furthermore, regarding Your Majesty's soul fusion with the Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python, and the future path of the Snake-people, perhaps... we can also have a discussion.\