Medusa's Gaze

"Wonderful!" Lu Bu exclaimed in admiration as he strode inside.

"Hey, we're taking this route for convenience, not so you can take things!" Yue Mei hurriedly said. If Lu Bu packed up this place, she would be in serious trouble.

"I know, I know..." Lu Bu answered casually, though his eyes still lingered on the items to either side.

Yue Mei's face twitched. She suddenly regretted taking this route. Another way might have been better.

"Huh? Sand Mandara?" Lu Bu stopped before a collection of medicinal ingredients. It was a box of dried Sand Mandara, five stalks in total.

This was part of his deal with Hai Bodong. Hai Bodong would help Lu Bu find the Heavenly Flames, and Lu Bu would help him find Sand Mandara.

"Thanks for nature's gift!" Lu Bu sighed, then unceremoniously stored it in his Ring.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" Yue Mei flew into a rage, glaring at Lu Bu's shameless behavior. It was clearly an item from the temple treasury, yet he called it some gift from nature!

"I won't do it again. I promise!" Lu Bu said with a solemn expression. "Hurry up. It'll be troublesome if we're late."

"Let's go!" Yue Mei said resentfully.

Just then, Medusa's aura erupted from the temple and appeared above Holy City, facing Gu He's group.

"Your Majesty the Queen has appeared!" Yue Mei was overjoyed. Had Her Majesty given up on using the Heavenly Flames to evolve?

"Don't even think about it. Impossible." Lu Bu immediately doused her hopes with cold water. "That's her energy avatar. Her true body is still in the temple... Huh?"

Lu Bu suddenly raised a brow, as though something had occurred to him. "This is a special Dou Technique of your Snake People Tribe, isn't it?"

Yue Mei's expression changed, and her body stiffened. Then she grabbed Lu Bu's hand and hurriedly pulled him away. "No, it isn't. Don't ask. Hurry and find the Heavenly Flames. Once we pass through the treasury, we'll reach Her Majesty the Queen's bamboo garden!"

"Wait a moment!"

When they reached a platform, Lu Bu abruptly stopped. On it lay a grayish-white scroll that emitted strange soul fluctuations.

"What's this?" Lu Bu rubbed his hands together and asked with a grin.

"Medusa's Gaze, a mid-tier Earth-class Dou Technique... Damn it, you can't touch that!" Yue Mei hurriedly tried to stop him, but Lu Bu had already snatched it into his hand.

"Let's make a trade." With a flick of his finger, Lu Bu sent a jade bottle onto the stone platform.

Yue Mei glanced at it and began to hesitate. It contained a Sixth Grade Huang Ji Pill. To a race like the Snake People Tribe, which was incapable of producing alchemists by nature, every pill was incomparably precious.

But this Dou Technique scroll... could be made again. It wasn't a major problem!

"Wonderful!" Lu Bu chuckled. His visit to the Snake People Tribe had not been in vain.

"Let's go. Stop looking around!"

After Lu Bu's atrocious behavior just now, Yue Mei no longer dared slow down. She dragged him quickly through the treasury.

A small lake came into view. There was an island in its center, and a bamboo grove at the heart of the island. Queen Medusa was within it.

Outside the temple, three Dou Wangs of the Snake People Tribe, along with Medusa in the sky, faced Gu He's group of four.

Logically speaking, the Snake People Tribe was extremely powerful. They had eight Dou Wangs and one Dou Emperor openly known to the public, and that Dou Emperor was even at the peak level. Gu He's side had two Dou Wangs and two Dou Emperors, so it should have been impossible for them to leave unscathed.

That was right, two Dou Emperors. Aside from Yun Yun, Gu He was also a Dou Emperor.

Although he was known as the Pill King, he was a Sixth Grade Alchemist. His Dou Qi cultivation was also at the sixth rank, that of a Dou Emperor, rather than the Dou Wang people had originally imagined.

Soul cultivation was extraordinarily difficult. Aside from a cheater like Xiao Yan, few people could become Sixth Grade Alchemists while still at the Dou Wang level.

Gu He was the same. He was a Dou Emperor, though he was not skilled in combat. His fighting strength could barely contend with a peak Dou Wang.

So while the Snake People Tribe's six peak Dou Emperors appeared formidable, the Jia Ma Empire's royal family, Yun Lan Sect, and Alchemist Guild together had at least five Dou Emperor-level figures. Add in the major clans across the nation, and there were more than a dozen, perhaps even twenty Dou Wangs.

The Snake People Tribe could take down the Jia Ma Empire, but they would have to lose several teeth in the process. Then the Mulan Empire, Luoyan Empire, and Cloud Empire would swarm in and divide the spoils. The Snake People Tribe would be finished!

That was why the five powers among the four nations remained relatively balanced. No one wanted to be devoured, so they could only stomach each other's existence. They despised one another, but there was nothing they could do.

The reason Medusa was willing to risk her life to evolve was to break this balance and lead the Snake People Tribe out of the desert. The climate here was scorching, resources were barren, and supplies were scarce. It was not a suitable place to live.

If they had a choice, who would want to stay in this godforsaken desert, eating wind and sand? Who wouldn't want green mountains, clear waters, fertile black soil, game to club and fish to scoop up?

Still, Gu He's group of four had not come to fight. They had come to trade. Combined with his identity as a Sixth Grade Alchemist, even if the Snake People Tribe refused the exchange, they would not forcibly keep them here. Thus, Gu He believed leaving safely would not be a problem.

But they had no idea why Medusa wanted the Heavenly Flames, so this transaction could never succeed.

Looking at the peerlessly beautiful figure standing proudly in the sky, a trace of pain flashed across Gu He's face. He cupped his hands and said, "I am willing to offer two Sixth Grade Dou Ling Pills... and one seventh-grade Hua Xing Pill in exchange for the Heavenly Flames. What does Your Majesty the Queen think?"

At those words, the eyes of the three Dou Wang-level Snake People immediately lit up. Dou Ling Pills could raise a Dou Wang by one star without injury or pain. How much arduous cultivation could that save?

The Snake People Tribe had no alchemists by nature, and their relationship with the surrounding humans was poor. Pills were absolute luxuries to them.

Among the eight great leaders, only one or two High-level Dou Wangs had taken Dou Ling Pills. Mo Bass, Hua She, and Yan Ci had never taken one. Yue Mei, who was currently inside the temple, had not taken one either.

"Very tempting terms..." Medusa's lips curled slightly. In an instant, an overwhelming seductive charm bloomed forth, leaving everyone present briefly dazed.

However, her tone abruptly shifted as Queen Medusa said coolly, "I refuse!"

"Why?" Gu He's expression changed drastically as he hurriedly asked. He could not understand why Medusa would reject such generous terms. Had she lost her mind?

"Hehe!" Medusa glanced at him and did not deign to respond.

"Hua She, Mo Bass, see the guests out," Medusa said blandly with a wave of her hand.

Gu He's face turned from green to white, but in the end, he sighed, his face full of dejection. Medusa's beauty and ruthlessness were renowned throughout the surrounding nations. Her terrifying strength was not something the four of them could withstand.

But just as Gu He called for the other three to leave, Yun Yun, seated atop a magical beast, suddenly flickered. In an instant, she appeared behind Medusa, her slender, fair hand lightly pressing against Medusa's back.

"Outrageous!"

"Bastard! How dare you show disrespect to Her Majesty the Queen!"

"Damn human! I'll kill you all!"

"..."

Hua She and the other two immediately flew into a rage, roaring repeatedly as powerful gusts of force shot forth. However, they were intercepted by Gu He's three companions.

"You are not Medusa... Or rather, you are not Medusa's true body, are you?" Yun Yun said calmly.

As soon as she spoke, her jade-white hand suddenly trembled. A burst of force erupted and slammed into Medusa.

With a puff, Medusa's body shuddered and transformed into specks of starlight, vanishing.

"As expected of a Dou Emperor. You actually saw through my avatar..."

Medusa's calm voice drifted down from the sky, the killing intent within it chilling everyone to the bone.