Severely Injured

Hua She'er hesitated for a moment, but ultimately decided to obey Her Majesty's orders.

"These medicinal herbs are all rather precious. I'm afraid we can gather at most ten sets."

"Only that many? Then forget it. My success rate is probably still below fifty percent. With ten sets of ingredients, I can only refine three or four pills at most. That would be a waste of materials."

Hua She'er looked puzzled. In her understanding, when asking an alchemist to refine pills, one generally prepared three sets of medicinal herbs in exchange for one pill, along with additional compensation tempting enough to move the alchemist.

In short, wasn't producing three or four finished pills from ten sets of materials perfectly normal? How was that wasting materials?

Xiao Yan took out another pill recipe, this one called the Pure Yuan Blood Changing Pill. It was the follow-up to the Ancestral Return Pill. After a Magical Beast had taken the Ancestral Return Pill for a long time and acquired a trace of powerful bloodline, it could take the Pure Yuan Blood Changing Pill to purify and strengthen that bloodline.

Hua She'er accepted the new pill recipe and studied it with a frown for a long while. Then she summoned a Snake Person at the Dou Ling level. "Go find Elder Jing Gu and have him look over this pill recipe."

"You couldn't understand it?"

"My duty is to guard Her Majesty!"

"...Sound reasoning. Very convincing."

And so, Xiao Yan settled down in Queen Medusa's temple. Besides Hua She'er guarding his safety, a group of Dou Shi-level Snake People had also been assigned to attend to him.

The Snake People Clan did not have many ingredients for the Pure Yuan Blood Changing Pill, but that Elder Jing Gu sent over the Snake People Clan's hoarded Fifth Grade pill recipes and their corresponding medicinal herbs.

Ordinarily, the Snake People Clan simply consumed these medicinal herbs together. Now that they could be directly refined into pills, it was naturally far better than swallowing them raw.

Xiao Yan maintained a pace of refining two Fifth Grade Pills a day, and his success rate gradually stabilized at around sixty percent.

However, barely a week later, trouble came knocking.

"Human! Get the hell out here!"

A furious roar infused with Dou Qi exploded outside Xiao Yan's residence. The green flames within the Medicine Cauldron trembled, and the Fifth Grade Pill Xiao Yan had been about to form was instantly burned to ruin.

"Mo Bass! What madness are you causing here? Are you going to defy Her Majesty's orders?"

"I refuse to believe Her Majesty would punish her own clansman for some human!"

After a few shouted exchanges, two Dou Wang powerhouses actually began fighting right inside Queen Medusa's temple.

However, Mo Bass was clearly wary of something and did not strike with much force. Once he had tested Hua She'er's determination to protect Xiao Yan, he stopped.

"I'll report this to the elders! Her Majesty has definitely been deceived by this damned human!"

"You idiot! Do you think you're wiser than Her Majesty?"

After letting out several more foul-smelling, thunderous farts outside, Mo Bass finally left.

Xiao Yan sighed. Although the hatred between the Snake People Clan and humans was nearly impossible to reconcile, this incident had mainly happened because Mo Bass had something wrong with his head.

It was understandable to lust after Queen Medusa—any normal man would—but Mo Bass developing possessiveness toward Queen Medusa was rather baffling. How big did his heart have to be for a mere Dou Wang to feel possessive toward his Dou Huang-level leader?

And since he had already made a move, couldn't he have been more decisive? He came here shouting a few lines, obviously looking for trouble. Wasn't that just making an enemy for no reason? In the end, he had not achieved what he wanted and had gained another enemy instead.

Hua She'er awkwardly slithered in at that moment. Only after seeing that Xiao Yan appeared unharmed did she let out a breath of relief.

"Go report it. I want to see Queen Medusa."

"Th-this... Mo Bass was only acting on impulse... and you weren't really injured..."

Hua She'er hesitated, clearly hoping to turn a major matter into a minor one and let the minor matter pass.

"What level are the elders Mo Bass mentioned? If they can make a Dou Wang like him submit and defy Queen Medusa's orders, they must be Dou Huang-level, right?"

"Tsk, everyone thinks the Snake People Clan has only Queen Medusa as a Dou Huang. Who would've thought the waters ran so deep beneath the surface?"

"...I'll go request an audience with Her Majesty right away!"

Xiao Yan touched the Ancient Ring on his chest and said to Old Yao, "Teacher, I'll really need you to step in and establish my authority this time—before Queen Medusa, severely injure whichever elder comes looking for trouble, at a speed she cannot react to."

"The Snake People Clan probably has more than one elder. Otherwise, they couldn't possibly stand against Queen Medusa, a Peak Dou Emperor. Teacher, are you confident?"

"Heh, looks like you've underestimated me. A few mere Dou Emperors are nothing worth worrying about."

"That's good."

After a moment of silence, Old Yao suddenly asked teasingly, "But speaking of which, why are you putting so much effort into subduing the Snake People Clan? The Jia Ma Imperial Family and the Mite'er Family should be easier, shouldn't they? Don't tell me Queen Medusa has dazzled you blind?"

"Teacher, my ambitions are greater than you imagine—I want it all."

"Confidence is a good thing, but pride is not. Though I am protecting you, you are still only a Dou Ling. Though your combat strength rivals a Dou Wang, though you're only fifteen, though you're a Fifth Grade Alchemist... sigh."

As Old Yao spoke, he suddenly sighed and fell silent.

"Teacher, do you think I should be proud?"

"...You'd better be more careful. Your teacher's enemies back then were quite terrifying."

"Don't worry, Teacher. I'm already making plans for your affairs. I'll definitely keep you safe and sound!"

"...Let's hope so."

Not long afterward, Hua She'er swayed back before Xiao Yan.

"Let's go. Her Majesty has agreed to see you."

Xiao Yan put away the Medicine Cauldron and followed Hua She'er, once again meeting that utterly seductive woman.

"These past few days, our Snake People Clan has gained quite a few Fifth Grade Pills, all thanks to you, our Chief Alchemist. And Hua She'er tells me your success rate is very high. I suppose you'll soon break through to the Sixth Grade?"

"Pfft—" Xiao Yan's face went pale, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

"!"╭(°°)╮╰(°°)╯

Hua She'er's mentality collapsed on the spot. When she reported back, she had told Her Majesty the Queen that Mo Bass had been stopped and that Xiao Yan was safe and sound.

Yet not only had Xiao Yan coughed up blood, his aura had also clearly become unstable. Though he suppressed it in an instant, he hardly looked safe and sound no matter how one looked at it!

"Your Majesty! He really was fine before we came!" Hua She'er said in a panic.

"It has nothing to do with you. It is normal for someone who cannot even understand a pill recipe to be unaware of an alchemist's taboos."

Xiao Yan's tone was calm, and his voice was full of strength, as though what they had just seen had been an illusion. Yet the bloodstain on the ground proved that Xiao Yan was definitely not in good condition.

"Her Majesty is right. After a week of adjustment, I was confident that I could break through to become a Sixth Grade Alchemist. So today, I began attempting to refine a Sixth Grade Pill. Just as I was mentally exhausted and at the critical moment before the pill formed, I was interrupted by an idiot."

"I naturally suffered backlash and damaged my soul. Then Her Majesty's words provoked me, so I spat blood."

Queen Medusa: "..."()Д(ヽ)