Jianmu and Great God

The three-foot sword radiance collided with the red serpent in midair, the two constantly grinding each other down. They were evenly matched.

Behind the red serpent, Queen Medusa frowned and formed another hand seal, causing the already weakened, illusory serpent to blaze with red light once more.

But Xiao Heng had no strength left. He could only watch helplessly as the sword radiance dwindled to the size of a palm. Then, Xiao Heng let out a furious roar!

"Break!"

The palm-sized sword radiance shone again, then pierced straight through the serpent and arrived before Queen Medusa.

Queen Medusa no longer had time to defend herself. She could only allow the sword radiance to pass through her abdomen.

Queen Medusa gave a cold snort, a streak of bright red blood spilling from the corner of her mouth. At the same time, the red serpent passed through Xiao Heng's body. His hair visibly turned white at an alarming rate.

At last, he collapsed weakly. The sky was blue, without a single blemish. Through it, Xiao Heng seemed to see a sky full of stars. Blood flowed from every wound on his body, while blood continued pouring uncontrollably from his mouth and nose!

He uttered two words: "Goodbye!" Then he closed his eyes.

Sealing her wounds with Dou Qi, Queen Medusa came before Xiao Heng. She had heard his final goodbye, but she did not know whom it was meant for, nor why this human had said it.

She merely admired the human Kid's composure. If, back then... she had been able to do the same, would the outcome have changed? She did not know.

But now, it was all over. Dou Qi gathered in her hand. She would send this human on his way and take what she wanted.

Deep within Xiao Heng's Qi Sea, a point of Silver Light flickered. At its center, a vermilion flame burned slowly. Then, the firelight surged! It passed through Xiao Heng's Qi Sea, gathering every last remnant of power in his body!

Heavenly Flames possessed intelligence. When Myriad Beasts Venerable had told Xiao Heng to refine the Myriad Beasts Spirit Flame, he had also told him not to erase its intelligence. Xiao Heng had kept his word. Even when he later fused the Heavenly Flames, he allowed the Myriad Beasts Spirit Flame's intelligence to control the fire instead of taking the chance to erase it.

Now, the Myriad Beasts Spirit Flame—no, it should be called the Crimson Lotus Beast Fire now... It wanted to protect its master, using the last remnants of Xiao Heng's strength to make the person trying to kill him pay the price.

In truth, there was no extra strength left in Xiao Heng's body. His own power had long been exhausted. All that remained was the residual power of the Six-star Dou Huang Experience Card.

Boom!

A palm-sized lotus formed from vermilion flames slammed viciously into Queen Medusa.

The red light shield shattered, and blood once again spilled uncontrollably from Queen Medusa's lips. New burn marks appeared across her body. At the same time, the wound on her abdomen split open again, flowing with bright red blood.

The Sword Intent she had barely managed to suppress began wreaking havoc inside her body once more. After gathering Dou Qi again to suppress it, Queen Medusa returned to Xiao Heng's side.

That strike had only carried the power of a Dou Huang-level attack. Had she been at her peak, she could likely have blocked it with a casual gesture. But Xiao Heng had already seriously injured her, and the attack had caught her off guard. Her condition was truly far from good now.

After returning to Xiao Heng's side and spending several more minutes there, she temporarily suppressed all the injuries on her body.

She looked into the distance. The intense battle fluctuations from earlier had already been sensed by quite a few people, so she needed to leave quickly. She was not in good condition, and she had to avoid the Jia Ma Empire's experts arriving. If they managed to hold her up then, it would be troublesome.

Looking at Xiao Heng again, she saw the Crimson Lotus Beast Fire condensed into a palm-sized flame, guarding him. Since there was no power left in Xiao Heng's body, this was all it could do now.

It looked ferocious, as though it wanted to attack whenever Queen Medusa approached. But after several attempts, Queen Medusa understood that this flame could no longer unleash the same power as before.

After considering it, an unpleasant expression appeared on her face. "Lucky Kid!"

Then, she forcibly restrained her killing intent, used her immense Dou Qi to suppress the Heavenly Flame, and flew into the distance with Xiao Heng.

More than twenty minutes later, a Dou Wang arrived at this place. Soon after, another Dou Wang came, followed by many Dou Ling and Da Dou Shi experts in succession!

One of the older Dou Wangs picked up a seven-colored scale, and a trace of gravity appeared on his wrinkled face.

"It was Queen Medusa, no mistake!"

Another sturdily built Dou Wang nodded as well. "That's right, it really was Queen Medusa. But we don't know who the other expert was. To actually injure Medusa, their strength must not have been low!"

"We just don't know who won and who lost!" As he spoke, the old man gazed deeply toward the Snake People Tribe's territory in the distance.

The muscular Dou Wang laughed carelessly. "Whoever won has nothing to do with us! Right, Elder Feng?"

The old man nodded as well. Though they belonged to the Jia Ma Empire, they had not truly joined any faction. Thus, this matter really had nothing to do with them. They had only come over for a look because they were nearby.

Queen Medusa brought Xiao Heng back to the Snake People Tribe's territory, casually tossed him onto the ground, and said to a female snake person standing nearby, "Save him!"

Seeing Queen Medusa covered in such a sorry state, Hua She'er could not help stepping forward slightly. She said anxiously, "Your Majesty, you..."

Before she could finish, Queen Medusa cut her off. "I said, save him!"

Hua She'er looked at her noble queen and did not dare step forward again. Lowering her head, she bowed. "Yes, Your Majesty!"

"Mm. Leave. I'm tired."

The instant Hua She'er closed the palace doors, Queen Medusa clutched the wound on her abdomen. A streak of fresh blood flowed from the corner of her mouth again, and the clothes around her abdominal wound were slowly dyed red.

The clothes on her lower body slipped away and turned to ashes. Then Queen Medusa turned and entered the pool behind her.

"Wake up, Kid! Wake up!"

At that moment, Xiao Heng felt as though he were in a void. There was no time, no space, nothing at all. It was as if everything had come to a standstill. He lay there, and everything happening outside had nothing to do with him. He simply lay there comfortably, as though asleep!

"Kid, wake up!"

Suddenly, he felt someone calling to him. He wanted to remain in that comfort, yet he also felt that he could not stay like this. So, he slowly opened his eyes.

The world spun around him, and he recalled everything that had happened before.

"Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!" He gasped heavily. About five minutes later, he finally raised his head and slowly saw everything before him clearly.

A rather melancholy-looking man stood before him and even smiled at him.

"Kid, you're awake!"

Xiao Heng's eyes swiftly swept over the surroundings. He found the place lush with greenery, several towering trees he did not recognize laden with fruit. Not far away stood a three-story tower. Looking farther, the place stretched endlessly, as though there were no end in sight.

Coming back to his senses, Xiao Heng looked at the melancholy middle-aged man before him and asked, "Senior, did you save me?"

The middle-aged man shook his head. "I didn't save you. But you really aren't dead yet."

After saying that, he studied Xiao Heng curiously. "Strange. You're so weak, yet you actually entered this place. How strange!"

Only then did Xiao Heng look at himself. His body was unexpectedly translucent. Even more questions filled his heart. I'm not dead, but where is this? Who is this man? Countless doubts arose within him, and just as he was about to ask the person before him—

The middle-aged man said, "I know you have many questions, but I can't answer them either. Right now, I'm merely a projection of the main body!"

"Although I don't know why someone as weak as you could come here, since you're here, I'll first tell you about my task!"

A task? Xiao Heng was even more puzzled, but he did not ask again. Instead, he quietly listened as the middle-aged man continued.

"The space we are in, I named it the Second World. In your terms, it should be called the System Space."

System Space. A flash of shock crossed Xiao Heng's eyes. How could that be? This place... is actually the System Space.

"In Ancient Times, there was said to be a colossal tree that reached the heavens, called Jianmu. It connected the Three Realms, rooted itself in Chaos, and provided the Three Realms with an endless supply of nourishment. But one day, Jianmu suddenly began to wither. Ten thousand years later, it completely dried up and was divided among the Primordial Deities, who refined it into magical treasures. From then on, Jianmu vanished!"

"But no one knew that after Jianmu withered, it produced a seed. Jianmu was divided among many Primordial Deities, yet that seed happened to remain behind. Many years later, it was picked up by a passing deity."

"At first, the deity did not think much of the seed. He merely found it incomparably hard and thought it might be the seed of some fine spiritual plant, so he brought it back to his cultivation ground and planted it."

"But countless years passed, and the seed still did not sprout. The deity gradually forgot about it, until one day, an enemy came seeking him out."

"After killing that enemy with Thunder-like methods, the deity unexpectedly discovered that the seed was absorbing the dead deity's origin—and in the end, it actually sprouted."

"The deity could not help but grow curious. After making many inquiries, he finally determined that the seed in his possession might be a seed from the Sky-Reaching Jianmu of old. Thus, he wanted to grow another Sky-Reaching Jianmu. Unfortunately, no matter what he fed it, the little sapling showed no sign of growing!"

"Many years later, the deity killed another Primordial Deity and discovered that the sapling had actually grown a little. He immediately understood that Jianmu grew in the void and pierced through the Three Realms. Therefore, it could only grow by absorbing the most fundamental power of heaven and earth. The two deities he had killed before were both Primordial Deities, and both possessed the most primordial origin of heaven and earth within them. That was why Jianmu had grown."

"But that deity was not a bloodthirsty person, so Jianmu never grew any further! Until the deity died. Although Jianmu had not grown larger, under the deity's cultivation, it gradually developed a trace of intelligence. However, it was not very intelligent—roughly like a one- or two-year-old child."