A Cruel Ritual (Requesting Data)

On the solemn, oppressive plaza platform of the Snake-People Tribe's palace, fate played a cruel joke on these sisters who shared Medusa's bloodline.

Two beautiful, graceful Snake-People women stood there. They had similarly exquisite faces, yet their eyes held entirely different expressions.

One was resolute and unwavering, while the other was frail yet hid an imperceptible stubbornness within. The elder presiding over the ritual spoke in an icy voice, each word striking the hearts of every Snake-Person present:

"Only one Queen Medusa may exist! Defeat the other, and the one who remains shall become this generation's Queen Medusa! She will lead our Snake-People Tribe out of this desert and toward its peak!"

The elder's gaze swept over the sisters. Her usual kindness had long since been replaced by the ruthlessness demanded by the ritual.

That look filled both sisters with sorrow. Better than anyone, they understood the cruelty of this inheritance ritual—failure meant death.

The younger sister lowered her head, her slender fingers clutching the hem of her clothes tightly as her body trembled faintly.

The elder sister saw her younger sister's fear, then looked toward the elder she had always respected, whose face was now cold and expressionless. The last trace of hesitation in her heart turned into an almost inaudible sigh. She made up her mind.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, the elder sister slowly made her way toward the magnificent garments placed at the center of the platform, symbols of Queen Medusa's Authority.

She did not put the garments on herself. Instead, she gently gathered them into her arms, then turned toward her younger sister and slithered over to her.

When the younger sister saw what she was doing, her tears instantly burst forth, rolling down like scattered pearls from a broken string. She understood that her sister was giving her the chance to live!

"Why are you crying?" The elder sister slithered before her, raised her face, and gently wiped away the tears on her sister's cheeks. Her voice was so soft that only the two of them could hear it. "I'm the elder sister. It is only natural for an elder sister to take care of her younger sister."

After saying that, the elder sister no longer looked at her younger sister's grief-stricken face. She turned resolutely and slithered toward the stone pillar at one side of the platform, the symbol of failure and finality.

She voluntarily placed her slender wrists and snake tail into the cold restraints on the pillar, binding herself to the altar that represented sacrifice.

"You!" The supervising elder trembled with rage at the sight. The queen she had favored was the elder sister, whose talent was greater and whose character was more decisive!

Yet now, the elder sister was voluntarily seeking death, handing the throne to the seemingly delicate younger sister! This disrupted all her plans, but she could not openly interfere with the ancient rules of the ritual. She could only force out an enraged command through clenched teeth: "Kill her! Complete the ritual!"

The younger sister shuddered at the harsh shout. Looking at her sister, bound to the stone pillar with her eyes closed as she awaited death, she felt as though countless blades were scraping her heart.

"I... I..." She choked back sobs, unable to move.

"Little sister, don't be afraid." The elder sister's voice remained calm, carrying a heart-wrenching gentleness. "Kill me, and you can live. You can lead our people..."

The younger sister's tears flowed even more fiercely. Torn between the elder's harsh urgings and her sister's gentle encouragement, it felt as though a long century had passed.

At last, she seemed to make a decision. She raised her tearful eyes, looked deeply at her sister, then swept her gaze over the livid elder. Then she moved.

She did not rush for a weapon, nor did she gather battle qi. Instead, just as her sister had done moments before, she slowly and firmly slithered toward her bound sister.

Feeling her younger sister approach, the elder sister's heart became calm, even carrying a trace of relief. She completely relaxed and waited for death to descend.

Yet the pain she expected never came. Instead, she felt something cold and heavy gently settle upon her hair.

She opened her eyes in shock—before her was her younger sister's tear-streaked face, wearing a brilliant smile. And atop her own head sat the crown that belonged to Queen Medusa!

"Little sister! What are you doing?!" The elder sister's voice was filled with terror and confusion.

"Big sister." For the first time, the younger sister's tone was light and resolute. "I don't want to be Queen Medusa. I'm afraid of responsibility. I don't have the ability to lead the Snake-People Tribe out of this desert."

"But you're different. You're more talented than me, braver than me, and you understand responsibility better than I do. You are the one who should be Queen Medusa, leading everyone toward a better future!"

Before her words had even faded, a dazzling red light suddenly erupted from the younger sister's body! A powerful yet extremely unstable wave of energy instantly swept across the platform!

"This is bad!" The elder's expression changed drastically as she instantly understood the younger sister's intention. "She's going to forcibly ignite her bloodline potential and traverse space! Stop her! She'll be reduced to dust!"

The elder shot forward, attempting to intercept her.

"No! Stop!" Bound by the chains and unable to move, the elder sister could only cry out in despair.

Within the red light, the younger sister wore a sorrowful yet resolute smile. "It's all right, Big Sister. You must live well. Become the greatest Queen Medusa and lead everyone... out of the desert..."

Boom!

The red light exploded, and the powerful energy blast even halted the elder charging forward. When the radiance finally dispersed, only the elder sister remained on the platform, wearing the crown and locked in place, along with faint embers of energy left behind by her younger sister's disappearance.

The entire plaza fell silent. The Snake-People below looked at one another in bewilderment, at a complete loss. The ritual came to an abrupt end in a way no one had anticipated.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the vast Tagor Desert.

Su Baichen and his young disciple, Cao Ying, had already been wandering aimlessly through the scorching sea of sand for several days.

"Damn it, could my luck really be this bad? I've searched for so long, and I haven't even found a trace of the Green Lotus Core Flame?"

Su Baichen could not help muttering in frustration. Over the past few days, he had used every method at his disposal. His powerful spiritual force swept across stretches of desert like a spiderweb, while the Liuli Burning Heaven Flame within his body was pushed to its limit as he tried to sense the aura of the Green Lotus Core Flame, another of the Heavenly Flames. Yet he found nothing.

He could not help doubting his life. Could his luck really be this terrible? He had searched for days without finding anything.

"Master, what exactly are we looking for? This place is practically roasting me into dried fish!"

Cao Ying complained weakly, her little face flushed red from the sun as she continuously fanned herself with her hand.

Though she was young, she could tell that her master had been distracted these past few days. He had to be searching for something extremely important. But the desert environment was simply too harsh. Her cultivation was still shallow, and she was beginning to struggle.

Su Baichen was vexed and distracted, paying little attention to his disciple's complaints. He could only cry helplessly to the heavens in his heart: Heavens, give me a hint. Even the tiniest clue would do!

As if in response to his plea—

Just as Su Baichen finished wailing inwardly, he keenly sensed an extremely faint yet unusually abrupt spatial fluctuation coming from above his head! He instinctively looked up.

In the clear blue sky, a black dot appeared without warning and rapidly grew in his vision!

"What is that?" Su Baichen narrowed his eyes.

The black dot fell at an incredible speed, and he could vaguely make out a humanoid outline. "Hm? It looks like a person?"

The next second, as the figure drew nearer, Su Baichen clearly saw the snake tail, utterly unlike human legs, dangling weakly through the air. His pupils shrank, and he could not help blurting out a curse:

"Damn it! No, it's a Snake-Person!!"

Before his words had faded, the figure had already fallen like a meteor, trailing a lingering tail of blood-red energy as it plunged straight toward where he and Cao Ying stood!