Dou Huang Expert

Green Man burst into laughter, her beautiful eyes fixed tightly on the girl before her. She even involuntarily reached out, placing her hand on the girl's fair, tender face and gently stroking the sides of her eyes.

In Green Man and the others' original plans, once the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils appeared, they were to be destroyed. These eyes posed a fatal threat to snake-type magical beasts, and even to those who cultivated snake-type cultivation methods. Heavenly Snake Mansion was practically innately restrained by them!

Yet unexpectedly, the owner of the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils was not some powerful expert, but a young girl who had barely experienced the world and had not even begun cultivating!

That changed everything. There was much more room to maneuver...

Her gaze repeatedly swept over Qing Lin, finally settling on those eyes that radiated a faint, peculiar allure.

What kind of eyes were those?

Clear and limpid, with a streak of emerald within the pupils shining as brilliantly as the most precious gemstone on a crown.

Around those emerald-like pupils were three tiny jade-green dots, faintly visible, like stars surrounding the moon and accentuating the pupils.

Staring at those somewhat bewitching jade-green pupils, Green Man's mind briefly drifted before she instantly regained her senses. The joy on her face could no longer be concealed.

"Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils. They really are the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils!"

"Heaven truly favors Heavenly Snake Mansion! Heaven truly favors Heavenly Snake Mansion!"

She was a Dou Huang expert, and a Seven-Star Dou Huang who had been immersed in the Dou Huang realm for many years!

And Qing Lin?

She was merely a maid who had not even cultivated dou qi. The gap between them was as vast as heaven and earth, yet despite such a disparity, Green Man, a Dou Huang, had actually been momentarily dazed by Qing Lin.

Worthy of being the number one wondrous pupil in the world!

The corners of Green Man's lips curved upward. Her strange gaze frightened Qing Lin. She tried to struggle, only to discover that she could not move in the slightest.

"You... what is your name?"

"Ah?"

The girl froze slightly. It seemed like an utterly ordinary question, yet for some reason, she sensed a suppressed, restrained feeling in the woman's voice.

"I, I'm called..."

"Release Qing Lin!"

An angry shout cut Qing Lin off.

Xiao Li's face was filled with fury. He had received Xiao Yan's letter today and had been in an excellent mood. He had even planned to reward Qing Lin before having her send a reply back along the same route.

Yet the moment he stepped outside, he saw this scene!

"Who are you, and why have you abducted someone from our Desert Iron Mercenary Group?!"

Xiao Li glared fixedly at Green Man. Though he could not sense this person's aura, her youthful face made him relax somewhat. At the same time, dou qi gathered in his palm. Violent lightning-attributed dou qi condensed there, silver radiance mixed with arcs of electricity, poised to strike.

"Someone from the Desert Iron Mercenary Group?"

Hearing Xiao Li's words, Green Man could not help letting out a sneer. "As far as I know, this little girl is merely a maid. She isn't on your mercenary group's roster, is she?"

"If I'm not mistaken, she's still registered as a slave in the Jia Ma Empire."

The moment those words were spoken, Xiao Li's expression stiffened. Qing Lin's pretty face also turned slightly pale and dimmed somewhat.

She truly was not an ordinary citizen of the Jia Ma Empire. As a half-blood of snake-person and human, she had been born as the lowliest kind of slave. Moreover, this was the edge of the Tagor Desert, and everyone in Desert City bore more or less a blood feud against snake-people.

Whenever those people remembered that the little girl before them carried the blood of those filthy snake-people, they could not help revealing disgust. Almost nothing could suppress such feelings. It was the revulsion born from the long-standing hostility between humans and snake-people!

Even within the Desert Iron Mercenary Group, such a situation was no different.

Seeing the gloom on Qing Lin's face, Xiao Li angrily shouted, "Don't spout nonsense! So what if she's part snake-person? Qing Lin is still one of us in the Desert Iron Mercenary Group!"

"Tch. Do you even believe that yourself?"

Green Man sneered. "Judging from the bloodlust on you, there must already be hundreds, perhaps thousands, of snake-people and mixed-bloods who have died by your hand. The contempt in your eyes cannot be concealed at all."

"Taking in these half-human, half-snake people is merely your way of comforting your own cold, filthy heart."

Qing Lin's pupils contracted as she stared at Xiao Li in disbelief.

"Shut up!"

Xiao Li ground his teeth and roared. A powerful aura suddenly erupted from him. His robes billowed fiercely as he flipped his hand, and a straight tungsten-steel spear appeared in his palm. Gripping it tightly, silver dou qi surged from his body, eventually forming a layer of silver dou qi gauze over his skin.

The next instant, Xiao Li gripped his spear and thrust forward with the cunning of a venomous snake. Silver arcs of lightning danced incessantly around the spearhead, its might unparalleled!

"With an attack like that, are you planning to kill this little girl along with me?"

Green Man sneered. Facing the incoming attack, she made no move to dodge. Just as the spear was about to strike, a vast, terrifying aura erupted with a boom, directly sending Xiao Li and his spear flying back into the house.

"Second Brother!"

A cry of alarm came from inside. Xiao Ding stared in shock at Xiao Li, who had smashed through countless pieces of furniture before embedding himself in the wall and coughing up blood. He hurriedly supported him and poured dou qi into his body.

His dou qi was wood-attributed and possessed a certain degree of healing ability.

"What happened, Second Brother? How did you..."

"Big Brother, be careful..."

Xiao Li forcefully swallowed the bloody taste in his throat and staggered to his feet, his gaze grave as he watched Green Man enter the room.

"Do you still wish to fight? To achieve what you have in Desert City, you shouldn't be someone so ignorant of life and death."

Green Man looked calmly at Xiao Ding and Xiao Li within the room. She took a light step forward, then flashed strangely before them again, her hand shooting out to tightly seize Xiao Li by the throat.

"When encountering an unknown powerful enemy, caution should come first. You're acting so recklessly... could it be because you think a woman like me is easy to bully?"

"Please show mercy, ma'am! Please, show mercy!"

Xiao Ding hurriedly spoke. How could he not realize by now that this woman in blue robes was someone he simply could not afford to provoke?

"Our Desert Iron Mercenary Group has always kept to itself in Desert City, and my second brother is certainly not someone incapable of reading the situation. There must be some misunderstanding between us, ma'am. Please show mercy."

"At least you have some brains."

Green Man sneered, her gaze shifting between Xiao Ding and Xiao Li. "Unfortunately, since you're connected to this little girl, it's best that you disappear from this world."

Her icy voice was accompanied by a sudden eruption of terrifying pressure. Countless tiny cracks spread across the ground beneath her feet with sharp cracks, filling Xiao Ding and Xiao Li with horror.

"D-Dou Huang?!"