Fiery Golden Eyes, Go Find Medusa!

The golden lotus bloomed, its radiance illuminating eternity!

The instant that golden lotus containing all of Xiao Yao's origin and Dao Fruit bloomed to its fullest, its dazzling light suddenly contracted inward, condensing once more into Xiao Yao's handsome, upright figure.

After taking out his clothes, he was still dressed in black with black hair, yet his entire aura had undergone an earth-shaking transformation!

Before, he had been a sword with its edge fully exposed, daring to pierce the azure heavens. Now, he gave off the feeling of encompassing all things, restrained yet containing endless mysteries!

Perfectly unified, the Dao followed nature!

Not far away, Qing Lin had long since been terrified by the world-destroying phenomenon. She huddled in a corner, using the massive body of the Two-headed Fire Spirit Snake as a shield, trembling as she gazed at that figure who seemed like a god reborn from flames and lightning. Her unique emerald-green eyes held nothing but endless, fanatical worship!

"Y-Young Master..."

She muttered to herself, so shaken by the scene beyond the limits of mortal imagination that she could not utter a complete sentence.

Xiao Yao smiled gently at her, that smile seeming capable of soothing all fear and unease in the world.

Then he slowly raised his right hand and casually beckoned toward the Green Lotus Platform below.

"Come."

Whoosh!

The Green Lotus Platform flew directly up. Using the Pot-Heaven Divine Ability of the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts, he shrank it to palm size and caught it in his hand.

Xiao Yao then flipped his hand, and with a thought, the Green Lotus Core Flame emerged, circling his body and covering the area around the Eight Trigrams Furnace.

Hahaha! The furnace fire has reached perfection! This is true mastery of furnace fire! Xiao Yao was utterly exhilarated.

Then, the voice of a mature woman complaining rang out from within Xiao Yao's heart.

"Little disciple, why didn't you look at me first?"

Xiao Yao hurriedly begged Fire Spirit for forgiveness. Samadhi True Fire surged forth, and golden-red flames appeared in his palm.

Xiao Yao played with the true fire, which was now completely connected to his will, with great interest. At a thought, the golden-red flames constantly transformed into all kinds of wondrous shapes at his fingertips. At times, they became a roaring, galloping fire qilin; at others, a fire phoenix spreading its wings in flight!

It was as though this Samadhi True Fire had always been a part of his body. He controlled it as easily as moving his own arm, without the slightest sense of sluggishness.

This was also the ultimate control over power brought by his breakthrough in realm!

At that moment, the Daoist Immortal System in his mind sent out another series of notification chimes. The instant he saw the panel, his heart nearly stopped for half a beat.

[ Ding! Congratulations, Host. You have successfully refined your first Heavenly Flame and, using it as an opportunity, passed the Calamity of Yin Fire, comprehended life and death, realized your true self, and established an incomparably solid foundation! ]

[ Ding! Detected that the Host possesses the seed flame of the Dao Sect's supreme divine flame, Samadhi True Fire, and has preliminarily refined the origin of a Heavenly Flame. The prerequisites for unlocking a special ocular Divine Ability have been fulfilled! ]

[ Ding! Divine Ability pending unlock detected: Fiery Golden Eyes! ]

A brand-new Divine Ability icon filled with endless temptation slowly lit up within the system's exchange panel!

[ Divine Ability: Fiery Golden Eyes (Locked) ]

[ Description: A supreme ocular art of the Dao Sect, a Divine Ability formed when the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, by a fortunate coincidence inside the Eight Trigrams Furnace of the Supreme Dao Ancestor, tempered his eyes with true fire. Once this ocular art is achieved, one can distinguish truth from falsehood, identify countless demons and devils, observe the fortune of heaven and earth, and see through all illusory deceptions! The gaze is like lightning, its divine might unparalleled! ]

[ Unlock requirement: 1,800 Merit Points. Detected that the Host has successfully forged his body through divine fire and achieved Divine Transformation. Available to learn. ]

"F-Fiery Golden Eyes?!"

At that moment, Xiao Yao's heart began pounding wildly and violently, completely beyond his control!

Ecstasy!

Unparalleled ecstasy, impossible to describe with words!

This was Brother Monkey's signature Divine Ability!

Distinguishing truth from falsehood and probing fortune! Such utterly heaven-defying effects made it practically a bug, whether for treasure hunting and exploration or fighting enemies!

"Good, good, good! This is wonderful! This journey has truly been immensely rewarding!"

"Exchange! Unlock!"

In an instant, divine light entered his eyes! Xiao Yao slowly opened them.

Bzzz—!

In that instant, two brilliant golden beams of divine light, each several zhang long, shot explosively from his eyes, boring two enormous, bottomless holes straight through the magma ahead! They remained unhealed for a long time!

His eyes also gained an unparalleled divine charm, as if they could pierce all falsehood and see through the origins of all karmic causes and effects in the world!

That overwhelming sensation made him feel invincible beneath the heavens!

Just as his heart surged and he began planning for the future, Xiao Yao sensed an overconfident fellow spying from the entrance to this underground magma world. The man then turned and approached the immobilized Yue Mei with a savage grin.

That aura belonged to a fairly capable six-star Dou Emperor.

"Did he sense the phenomenon and come looking for an opportunity, only to take advantage of a snake in distress?"

Xiao Yao casually flicked a finger!

A tiny green flame, nearly invisible to the naked eye, silently flew from his fingertip, instantly piercing through the barrier of space!

"Ah—!!!"

A terrified scream sounded from the distant tunnel entrance! It was immediately followed by the sound of someone tearing through the air in a desperate escape.

That six-star Dou Emperor expert, powerful enough to dominate a region within the Jia Ma Empire, had one arm burned away by a casual flick of Xiao Yao's finger.

After familiarizing himself with his vastly increased strength, Xiao Yao brought Qing Lin, who was still in a state of boundless worship, out of this underground magma world that had been fated with him.

He also casually brought along the snake woman Yue Mei, whom he had immobilized for half the day and who was now pale with terror and utterly shaken.

"S-Senior! Yue Mei was ignorant and disturbed you. I beg for your forgiveness and ask that you let me leave. I am willing to offer everything I possess." The moment Yue Mei regained her freedom, she hurriedly knelt on the ground. Her alluring, voluptuous body trembled and swayed, perhaps from fear.

"Bring a message to your Queen Medusa. I have taken the Green Lotus Core Flame. If she wants it, she can come find me. I possess a divine treasure that can help the Snake People Tribe undergo transformation and evolution."

With that, Xiao Yao ignored Yue Mei's excitement and prepared to leave with Qing Lin.

"It is time to look for the medicinal ingredients needed to refine the Tong Zhen Qi Ling Pill."

But when his divine sense swept across this vast desert once more, he could not help but stop.

The place nearby with the most medicinal ingredients, the oldest harvests, the most abundant energy, and the greatest suitability for refining Seventh Grade pills...

A highly amused smile curled across his lips.

Isn't that Queen Medusa's home—the temple the Snake People Tribe has managed for thousands of years?

Perfect. I thought Her Majesty the Queen would come over after seeing that phenomenon just now. Since she hasn't, I'll go to her and see what kind of bearing this peerless queen, renowned throughout the entire Northwest Continent, truly possesses!