Battle Yue Mei

Yue Mei had never imagined that an ordinary bath would lead her to encounter such a young human Dou Wang. Ever since she had claimed this oasis, she had designated it a forbidden area because of the clear lake within it, so precious in the desert. Normally, only she was allowed to use it.

This time, Yue Mei had come to bathe as usual, only to find a set of women's clothes left on the shore. She had never expected anyone in the desert to dare defy her orders and bathe in her private lake. Furious, she had intended to find that woman and punish her severely.

Unexpectedly, she had found not a woman, but a human Dou Wang. Moreover, the Green Flame swirling around him filled Yue Mei with an inexplicable sense of dread. So, she had planned to use her beauty to lull him into complacency, then strike him hard while he was off guard and slowly investigate his background afterward. After all, she knew perfectly well what filled the minds of male humans.

Yet this man had not fallen for it. The flames in his hand had even burned her snake venom clean away, suppressing her greatly. After incinerating the venom, the Green Flame had continued spreading toward her true body, forcing her to retreat.

At this moment, Dou Qi Wings spread from Yue Mei's back. With a flick of her finger, a stream of dark green energy emerged and condensed into a robe that draped over her body. Floating above the lake, she stared coldly at Liu Xi, killing intent in her eyes, and said in a frosty voice, "Who exactly are you? You infiltrated deep into our race's territory—what are you after?"

Faced with a human Dou Wang who had suddenly appeared in the depths of the Tagor Desert, and with her attempt at seduction and ambush having failed, she could only focus all her attention and deal with him cautiously.

Meanwhile, Liu Xi's Green Flame continued burning, thoroughly incinerating the poisonous mist Yue Mei had left behind. In the past, facing such potent snake venom, Liu Xi would have needed to swallow a Detoxification Pill to neutralize it. But now that he had a Heavenly Flame protecting his body, his resistance to unusual energies such as poisonous gas had increased greatly.

Hearing Yue Mei's questioning, Liu Xi replied calmly, "Since you insist on getting to the bottom of this, I don't mind telling you. My name is Liu Xi, and I am a Fifth-grade Alchemist. I came here only to search for a medicinal herb—Sand Mandara!"

Yue Mei's gaze sharpened at those words, though she continued coldly, "If you truly were a Fifth-grade Alchemist, you would surely be surrounded by attendants. How could you possibly seek medicinal herbs yourself? A nobody like you thinks you can deceive me?"

Liu Xi felt somewhat helpless as he thought, Wasn't it because that old man Hai Bodong set me up? Usually, other people bring their own ingredients and ask me to refine pills for them. But who told him to have a Demon Fire Fragment Map in his hands?

Liu Xi flicked his hand and said irritably, "Believe it or not. Can't an alchemist personally search for medicinal herbs? Once I take a trip to the Alchemist Guild in the Jia Ma Empire's Imperial Capital, my reputation will naturally soar."

Yue Mei was so furious that she laughed instead. "Fine! No matter who you are today, since you dared enter deep into our race's territory, I will capture you and hand you over to the Queen for judgment!"

Above the lake, Yue Mei's beautiful face turned icy. Two streams of dark green energy twisted continuously in her palms before condensing into enormous green serpents. These green serpents were even more lifelike than the ones from before. Their bodies were covered in hard scales, and as their enormous jaws opened and closed, sharp, ghastly white fangs flashed into view. Most shocking of all, the serpents seemed to possess life itself. Two faint yet savage auras emanated from within them as they darted and lunged strangely toward Liu Xi, snapping at him.

Facing a mid-level Dou Wang fighting at full strength, Liu Xi also had to respond with caution. The power of a Dou Wang erupted from his body, and the Green Flame around him swelled ever larger. Yet strangely, it released no heat. Instead, the surroundings became increasingly frigid. The lake froze over, and wisps of white mist condensed in the humid air. All heat was plundered by the Azure Halo outside the Green Flame, causing the flames within to become an even deeper shade of green.

"Flame Blade!"

Watching the enormous green serpents draw closer, Liu Xi's gaze was deep and fearless. After a low shout, the flames around him surged toward his right hand and, moments later, transformed into a green blade that shone with chilling light.

Liu Xi suddenly stamped the ground with the tip of his foot, his body shooting toward the enormous green serpents like lightning. He then swung the green blade in his hand, and in an instant of flashing sparks—

Amid miserable howls, the enormous green serpents were split in two from their jaws by the fiery blade in Liu Xi's hand, as easily as a hot knife cutting through tofu. The Flame Blade Liu Xi had formed using the Green Lotus Core Flame as its foundation was even more powerful than before, like a genuine divine weapon capable of cleaving through anything.

Seeing her enormous green serpents so easily sliced in half, Yue Mei's eyes flashed with astonishment. Her red lips parted, but no words came out. Then, seeing the green blade still slashing toward her, she could not help but shudder in terror.

With a light wave of her slender hand, the enormous green energy serpents extending from her hands exploded with a thunderous roar. A vast cloud of white smoke rose from the center of the blast, while terrifying airwaves and fierce winds spread in every direction. The Snake People guards watching nearby, along with Qing Lin, naturally had to circulate their Dou Qi with all their strength to resist it. Ling Shuang even directly resumed part of her original form and shielded Qing Lin in front of her.

The terrifying force released by a clash between Dou Wang-level experts meant that even a stray gust of wind could tear them to pieces. They could only watch the two people at the center of the battle from afar.

Yue Mei stared fixedly at the cloud of smoke before her. With a turn of her palm, tiny snakes in all sorts of colors, clearly brimming with terrifying venom, condensed one after another and shot toward Liu Xi, who was shrouded in smoke, to bite him like lightning.

Second by second, the smoke dispersed. At this point, "Liu Xi" had been wrapped by the mass of snakes like a rice dumpling, pain written all over his face. Seeing that Liu Xi seemed unable to resist any longer, Yue Mei finally let out a breath of relief.

"Blowing Fire Palm!"

Liu Xi's calm voice came from behind Yue Mei, and an incomparably scorching burst of energy struck her completely unguarded back.

"Pfft!" Yue Mei spat out a mouthful of blood, her expression filled with horror. The scorching energy rampaged through her body, and the intense heat continuously seared her flesh, causing her body to convulse uncontrollably.

For a moment, she could not even maintain her Dou Qi Wings. Her vision went black, and she crashed down toward the icy surface below, while the "Liu Xi" wrapped in snakes in the distance slowly began to dissipate.

"Bang!" The intense pain jolted Yue Mei awake once more. Full of hatred, she stared at Liu Xi as he slowly descended from the sky and gritted out, "If you dare kill me, Her Majesty the Queen will never let you go."

"I never said I was going to kill you." Liu Xi landed on the ice and looked at Yue Mei thoughtfully.

"Could it be that you want to... I would rather die than let you have your way! Snake Technique—Self-Destruction!" Yue Mei's expression turned resolute as she shrieked sharply.

"Seal Fire Dharma Seal!"

Seeing that Yue Mei was about to self-destruct, Liu Xi hurriedly formed hand seals and used a Dou Technique to seal her Dantian. He gave a soft laugh and said, "Don't be so fiery. You might still have a chance to return."

Liu Xi then turned toward Yue Mei's Snake People guards and shouted, "Go back now and bring me a Sand Mandara. Then you can exchange it for this woman. If you want her to return alive, you had better do as I say. Otherwise, don't blame me for tearing up the hostage!"

Yue Xing and the others, who had originally planned to rush forward and risk their lives to save her, abruptly halted. Then they looked at Liu Xi and shouted sternly, "Human, you had better keep your word. If anything happens to Lady Yue Mei, Her Majesty the Queen will make sure you die without a burial place!"

Then Yue Xing respectfully saluted Yue Mei and said, "Lady Yue Mei, please forgive me. Yue Xing will return soon!"

With that, she turned and left with several Snake People. Liu Xi watched their departing figures.

He thought, Although I never intended to become too entangled with the Snake People Race, since I have already offended them, I may as well trade Yue Mei for a Sand Mandara and flee immediately!

Thanks to reader Wu Zhengjun for the reward.

Also, regarding the battle scenes, the author is honestly rather inexperienced. This chapter had actually been written last night, but then I deleted and rewrote it. Besides, if searching for medicinal herbs alone were too bland, why not simply gloss over it in a single sentence? Naturally, the characters from the Original Work had to appear one by one as well, which was why there was this scene of trading Yue Mei for Sand Mandara.