Medusa's Request

The voice had naturally been transmitted by Yao Lao to Gu He and the others.

Xiao Yan and Yao Lao had originally planned to wait for Gu He and his group to throw the Snake-People Tribe into chaos, then seize the Heavenly Flames amid the confusion.

But unexpectedly, Gu He had been frightened off by a few words from the Snake-People Tribe and was about to leave.

How could that be allowed? They quickly transmitted a message to the group, telling them that Medusa was undergoing a breakthrough.

In truth, Yao Lao was not certain whether Medusa was evolving. It was merely his speculation.

Still, the words proved rather effective.

Gu He and the others halted, hurriedly scanning their surroundings.

However, Xiao Yan had Yao Chen helping him conceal his aura, so Gu He could not detect him at all.

Though Gu He could not sense Xiao Yan, he did notice that something else was amiss.

Given Medusa's temperament, they had already reached the outside of the Divine Hall. How could she possibly not come out?

Now that he had heard that voice and recalled the warnings from the Great Elder and Hua She'er, every word had been a threat urging them to leave at once.

At that moment, Yun Yun spoke in a cool voice. "I once saw a piece of information about the Queen of the Snake-People Tribe in an ancient text. It said that if Medusa obtained the Heavenly Flames at the peak of the Dou Emperor realm, she could use them to evolve. If the evolution succeeded, Medusa would assume human form, and her strength would break through to the Dou Zong realm."

Hearing Yun Yun's words, combined with his earlier suspicion, Gu He immediately understood. Medusa was likely at a critical moment in her breakthrough and could not show herself!

Though he could not be completely certain, Gu He decided to take a gamble.

If it was truly as that voice had said, and Medusa really was breaking through, then disturbing her now would leave her dead or gravely wounded...

Gu He thus transmitted his thoughts to the others.

When Jia Xingtian heard that this could leave Medusa seriously wounded or even kill her, his eyes immediately lit up.

He was the guardian of the Jia Ma Empire's imperial family. For all these years, the Snake-People Tribe and the imperial family had clashed without end.

The imperial family had suffered immeasurable losses because of this. If they could use this chance to kill Medusa, the snake-people would no longer be able to oppose the imperial family. They might even be able to wipe out the Snake-People Tribe entirely.

Though the others felt there was some risk, after Gu He promised them double compensation, they all agreed to follow his lead.

As the saying went, men died for wealth, and birds died for food.

Having made up his mind, Gu He took the lead and flew toward the Heavenly Flames. Jia Xingtian, Yun Yun, and the others followed close behind.

Seeing that Gu He and the others were preparing to leave, the Great Elder and Hua She'er had just breathed a sigh of relief.

But when Gu He and his group suddenly flew toward the Queen, the Great Elder and Hua She'er flew into a rage. Flashing forward, they immediately moved to stop Gu He's party.

Seeing the Snake-People Tribe's reaction, Gu He became even more convinced that Medusa was unable to appear at this moment.

Knowing they likely could not bypass these snake-people and reach Medusa, Gu He and the others began fighting them.

Of the Snake-People Tribe's eight great leaders, only three had arrived. Including Hua She'er and the Great Elder, their lineup consisted of one Dou Emperor and four Dou Kings.

The Great Elder, who had originally thought he would not need to fight, had no choice but to brace himself and confront Jia Xingtian.

Meanwhile, Yun Yun was held back by Hua She'er and Yue Mei, Yan Shi faced Mo Basi, and another leader was responsible for stopping Gu He.

But this left Feng Li, a Dou King powerhouse, without a Dou King snake-person to restrain him.

In the end, the Divine Hall's Snake Guards could only intercept Yan Shi.

Feng Li led four other Dou Lings into the ranks of the Snake Guards.

Since there was no Dou King among the snake-people capable of confronting Feng Li head-on, the three Dou Ling experts among the Snake Guards could only take turns exchanging a blow with Feng Li before hastily retreating and letting another take their place.

Yet even so, one Dou Ling was caught by Feng Li because he failed to retreat in time and was blasted into grievous injury.

As for the other four human Dou Ling experts, they were engaged by one Dou Ling and a group of Da Dou Shis.

Thus, after several clashes, the Snake-People Tribe lost several Da Dou Shis.

Under the pressure from Gu He and his group, the battlefield was soon pushed to a point not far from Medusa's small island.

The closer he got to the island, the more clearly Gu He could feel the violent energy of the Heavenly Flames.

They had provoked her to such an extent, yet Medusa still had not appeared.

Gu He and the others became even more certain that Medusa was at a critical stage of her breakthrough, and they tacitly intensified their attacks.

Seeing Gu He and the others nearing the island, the snake-people were enraged.

At the same time, in order not to disturb their Queen, they all went all out, attacking the invading humans with utter disregard for their lives.

The snake-people had practically abandoned defense in favor of all-out offense. Though it briefly suppressed their enemies, their losses became even more severe, and before long, several Da Dou Shis fell.

Because they were already so close to the island, the disturbance quickly drew the attention of Medusa, who was in the midst of confronting the Heavenly Flames.

Watching her clansmen charge forward without fear of death, only to be killed by Feng Li in the end—

Medusa let out an enraged roar. At this moment, she wanted nothing more than to rush out and tear those humans to pieces.

But this was the critical moment of her breakthrough. If she gave up now, the backlash from the Heavenly Flames would leave her severely injured at best; at worst, her strength would regress, and she would never be able to advance in cultivation again.

"Jiang Xing, help me! Help me kill them!"

With no other choice, Medusa could only look pleadingly at Jiang Xing, who was standing guard for her.

"Leave it to me. Focus on your breakthrough."

Although Jiang Xing did not want to admit it, he had no choice but to admit that he really had wanted to wait for Medusa to speak first.

After having Ji Feng stay behind to stand guard for Medusa, Jiang Xing stepped into the void and flew toward the battle.

As for why he had not asked Ji Feng to make a move while he himself stood guard for Medusa?

Since Medusa had asked him to act, Jiang Xing felt it would be better to go personally.

Jiang Xing was extremely fast, and before long, he arrived at the site of the battle.

The Snake-People and Gu He's group, who were locked in combat, also noticed Jiang Xing flying over.

At first, both sides thought that some leader of the Snake-People Tribe had arrived to provide reinforcements.

But once the Great Elder of the Snake-People Tribe saw who it was, he was overjoyed and hurriedly shouted.

"These people are trying to break in and disturb the Queen's evolution. I ask the Queen Consort to act and suppress them."

When Gu He and the others saw a young Dou Zong emerge from the Snake-People Tribe's side, they had already sensed that something was wrong.

Then, upon hearing the Great Elder of the Snake-People Tribe address this young man as the Queen Consort, they were utterly terrified.

The Snake-People Tribe's Great Elder called this young man the Queen Consort—did that not mean he was Medusa's husband?

When had Medusa gotten a husband, and one who was even a Dou Zong expert?!

But the situation was urgent, and Gu He's group no longer had time to be shocked.

In the battle just now, they had only held a slight advantage.

If it had merely been a Dou Wang, they might not have been willing to give up.

But the one who had come was a Dou Zong expert. Were they supposed to risk their lives fighting him?

Even if all of them joined forces, they might not necessarily be a match for that Dou Zong!

When disaster struck, everyone fled for themselves. At this moment, they no longer cared about whatever reward Gu He had promised.

What could possibly be more important than their lives?

Right now, they only wanted to escape as quickly as possible.

But now that the Queen Consort had arrived, how could the Snake-People Tribe possibly let them get away so easily?

Ignoring the consumption of their Dou Qi, they desperately entangled the humans and refused to let them leave.