Medusa's Evolution

Medusa brought Jiang Xing to a small island surrounded by a lake.

This was a circular, open area, with a small pool at its center.

The pool was filled with crystal-clear liquid, its surface shrouded in white mist. A single glance was enough to reveal the bone-chilling cold contained within. At the center of the pool stood a lotus platform carved from crystal.

The liquid in this pool was Ice Spirit Cold Spring. It was a cold-attributed heavenly treasure that existed in liquid form, and one of the essential items needed when absorbing Heavenly Flames.

In the original story, Xiao Yan had relied on Ice Spirit Cold Spring and the Blood Lotus Pill to barely absorb the Green Lotus Core Flame at the Dou Shi realm.

However, Medusa was not planning to absorb the Heavenly Flame. Rather, the crystal lotus platform at the center of the pool needed the power of the Ice Spirit Cold Spring to trap the Green Lotus Core Flame within it.

Medusa formed a seal with her hands. Before long, a purple glow spread out from her body, enveloping the entire island.

Jiang Xing could not quite understand this. He was already here to stand guard for her, so why did Medusa need to add another protective barrier? Did she distrust his strength that much?

Seemingly guessing what Jiang Xing was thinking, Medusa explained.

"This is safer."

"What if I need to leave?"

"It's fine. You can enter and leave freely."

Hearing that, Jiang Xing said nothing more.

"Let's begin. Put the Green Lotus Core Flame into that crystal lotus platform first."

After taking a deep breath, Medusa spoke.

"Alright."

Jiang Xing took the Heavenly Flame out of its container and sent it into the lotus platform.

Once the Heavenly Flame was placed inside, the lotus platform automatically formed a light screen around it.

The cluster of green flame was extremely sentient. As it gently churned, it would sometimes take the shape of a lotus flower, and sometimes condense into a tiny green flame snake. Yet whenever it tried to leave the light screen, it was blocked.

After finishing this, Jiang Xing stepped back, leaving Medusa plenty of space.

Then Medusa suddenly spoke.

"You... turn around first."

"Hm?"

At first, Jiang Xing was rather confused. Just get started. Why do I need to turn around?

But when he saw Medusa's flushed face, he immediately remembered that Medusa had to take off her clothes to evolve in the original story! And Xiao Yan had even watched from hiding...

Damn it, how can that be allowed!

I can look at my own wife, but no one else is allowed to!

Thinking of this, Jiang Xing immediately shouted, "Ji Feng, go outside and stand guard. Don't let anyone approach this island! That includes you!"

"Yes, Young Master."

Only after confirming that Ji Feng had truly left did Jiang Xing breathe a sigh of relief.

Then Jiang Xing quietly stood there, smiling at Medusa as though he had not heard her tell him to turn around.

Medusa:?

Jiang Xing thought, What's wrong with looking at my own wife?

Seeing Jiang Xing like this, Medusa knew that even if he turned around, he might secretly turn back to look. So she simply ignored him.

Medusa's beautiful eyes remained fixed on the green flame atop the lotus platform. After staring silently at it for a long while, she suddenly let out a soft breath, looked up at the sky, then glanced at Jiang Xing. The hesitation in her eyes turned into resolve.

Queen Medusa gently bit her red lips with pearly teeth, her jade-like hands slowly undoing the clasps of her brocade robe. In the next moment, a flawless body that seemed like heaven's masterpiece was revealed amidst the bamboo grove.

Seeing this from behind, Jiang Xing's heart began pounding.

As expected of my wife. She looks beautiful with clothes on, and without them... ahem.

At that moment, Medusa's body was suddenly enveloped by a dense ring of light. A moment later, a roar somewhat like a lion's and somewhat like a tiger's came from her direction.

Hearing that roar and knowing Medusa had returned to her true form, Jiang Xing still felt somewhat reluctant.

Above the island, a gigantic purple snake over thirty meters long floated in the air. Its body was slender and powerful, carrying a faintly elegant beauty, yet no one who saw it would overlook the terrifying aura emanating from it because of its appearance.

After circling through the sky several times, the enormous purple snake suddenly let out a clear, low cry, then plunged toward the Green Lotus Core Flame without hesitation.

The instant the purple snake drew close to the Heavenly Flame, Queen Medusa's shrill scream echoed across the island.

Anyone else who heard that sound would have felt their scalp go numb, but Jiang Xing only felt heartache.

Yet there was nothing he could do. This was Medusa's only way to evolve into the Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python.

He could not possibly stop Medusa from evolving. If she used a Transformation Pill to break through instead, then even if she reached the Dou Zong realm, she would not possess the Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python bloodline.

So no matter how much Jiang Xing's heart ached for his wife, he could only watch helplessly.

Meanwhile, before the Divine Hall's city walls.

Gu He, Yun Yun, Yan Shi, and the other eight had arrived before the Snake-People Tribe's Divine Hall city walls.

However, unlike the original story, there had been one Dou Emperor, three Dou Kings, and four Dou Spirits.

But now, besides Yun Yun, the Dou Emperor outside the city walls, there was another Dou Emperor whose aura was clearly even stronger than Yun Yun's.

This Dou Emperor was Jia Xingtian, the guardian of the Jia Ma Empire's royal family, known as Old Ma Pao and one of the Jia Ma Empire's ten greatest experts.

Having already reached the peak of the Dou Emperor realm, Jia Xingtian could be said to be the strongest publicly known expert in the Jia Ma Empire. He had once fought Medusa, the Queen, and retreated unscathed.

Above the city walls, five figures slowly rose into the air. The Snake-People Tribe's Great Elder spoke in a cold voice, "Jia Xingtian, you trespassed into our territory without permission. Are you trying to provoke a war between the Jia Ma Empire and the Snake-People Tribe?"

The Snake-People Tribe's Great Elder was also a peak Dou Emperor. However, because her lifespan was nearing its end and she was no longer suited for battle, she had remained behind the scenes.

Yet she had never expected Jia Xingtian and the others to appear at the Divine Hall on the very day the Queen was making her breakthrough.

There was no helping it. The Queen was currently at the critical moment of her breakthrough.

The other three elders had already reached the point where their lifespans no longer allowed them to fight. If she did not step forward, no one in the Snake-People Tribe could stop Jia Xingtian.

"Hehe, Great Elder, I am Gu He. I have presumptuously come to your tribe merely because there is something I wish to discuss with Medusa, the Queen. Might I ask Her Majesty to show herself?" Gu He asked with a polite smile.

"Hmph! What could you humans possibly have to discuss with our Queen? You trespassed into our Snake-People Tribe. Leave at once, or once the Eight Tribe Chiefs arrive, it will not be so easy for you to leave."

Hua She'er was Medusa, the Queen's personal guard, so she naturally knew that the Queen was currently making a breakthrough. She hoped this threat would make the humans below leave quickly.

Gu He's expression turned somewhat unsightly upon hearing this. Before coming, he had believed that Medusa, the Queen, was the Snake-People Tribe's only peak Dou Emperor, so he had enlisted Jia Xingtian by offering to refine healing pills for the Deep Sea Flood Dragon.

That way, with Yun Yun on their side, they would have one more Dou Emperor than the Snake-People Tribe.

Even if the Eight Tribe Chiefs arrived, they would have nothing to fear.

What he had not expected was that the Snake-People Tribe's Great Elder had not died.

If Medusa, the Queen, appeared and joined the Snake-People Tribe's Great Elder in holding them back until the Eight Tribe Chiefs arrived, then how many of them would make it back alive would be anyone's guess.

Thinking of this, Gu He sighed, turned to look at his companions, and shook his head helplessly.

"Old He, are we just leaving like this?" Yan Shi glanced at the Snake-People Tribe's Great Elder in the distance and frowned.

"What else can we do if we don't leave? You all know Medusa, the Queen's strength. Now there's another Snake-People Tribe Great Elder. If we try to take it by force, who can stop her?" Gu He sighed.

Gu He was naturally unwilling to accept this. After searching for Heavenly Flames for so many years, one had finally appeared, only for Medusa, the Queen, to get to it first.

There was no helping it. The other side was simply too powerful, and this was their territory.

If they did not leave now, they would likely all fall here.

Just as Gu He and the others were preparing to compromise and leave, a voice came from somewhere unknown.

"Don't let them fool you. Medusa is currently using the Heavenly Flames to evolve and break through to Dou Zong."