Queen Medusa's Change

Above a desolate stretch of sand, two figures stood suspended in the air. The fierce sunlight baked the grains until they were scorching hot, and even the air rippled slightly from the heat.

Su Baichen wore spotless white robes, utterly out of place amid the yellow sands filling the sky.

At his side stood Queen Medusa, whose beauty and ferocity were equally renowned.

Today, she wore a purple brocade robe that perfectly outlined her graceful curves. Her peerless face seemed even more enchanting beneath the sunlight, though the occasional flash of authority in her violet eyes reminded others of her noble status as the leader of the Snake-People Tribe.

"Sir, according to the scout who was injured, the source of the Heavenly Flame's fluctuations should be beneath this area." Queen Medusa tilted her head slightly as she spoke to Su Baichen. There was a trace of barely perceptible respect in her tone, along with an almost overly eager enthusiasm.

Hearing this, Su Baichen swept his gaze across the seemingly ordinary sand below and slowly nodded without saying much.

He had long sensed the blazing, pure fire-attributed energy hidden deep underground.

During this period of time, because of Caidie's presence, the Snake-People Tribe's originally tense relationship with Su Baichen had changed significantly, especially Queen Medusa's own attitude toward him.

From her initial concern to her current trust and reliance, the honorific "sir" had become the common form of address used for Su Baichen throughout the Snake-People Tribe.

"Yes, I can already sense that powerful fire-attributed natural energy." Su Baichen spoke calmly, his voice without a ripple. "Though it is hidden very deeply, that unique heat and vitality cannot be faked. It should be beneath this sand."

A glimmer flashed through Queen Medusa's beautiful eyes as she volunteered, "The crust here is hard, and ordinary methods would have difficulty breaking through it quickly. In that case, let me clear the way for you, sir."

As soon as she spoke, without even waiting for Su Baichen's response, brilliant red light erupted from her body and engulfed her like blazing flames. A powerful energy fluctuation swept outward, causing the surrounding space to tremble faintly.

Within the red glow, Queen Medusa's figure rapidly blurred and lengthened. As the light gradually faded, the alluring woman had vanished, replaced by an incomparably enormous purple python!

The giant python's body coiled and twisted, its scales gleaming with a cold metallic luster. The tyrannical pressure of a sixth-tier magical beast spread through the area, making several Snake-People elders behind her lower their heads instinctively.

This was Queen Medusa's original form before her evolution—the Purple Flame Snake! A sixth-tier magical beast with a fire-leaning attribute and an innate affinity for flames.

In the original course of fate, she would use the power of a Heavenly Flame to risk evolution, transforming her true form into the even more powerful Seven-Colored Heaven-Swallowing Python. Yet that evolution also brought the peril of soul fusion, causing the newly born Seven-Colored Heaven-Swallowing Python's soul to take control of her body for a time. That was what led to her later tangled encounters with Xiao Yan...

As Su Baichen looked at the purple giant python before him, so full of power and savage beauty, his thoughts drifted afar.

He recalled Queen Medusa's coldness and dominance in the original storyline, along with all her later changes. Comparing that to this queen before him, whose temperament was no longer as lonely and frigid as in the original work because her younger sister Caidie was safe and sound—and who was even remarkably warm and proactive toward him—he could not help feeling somewhat strange as he silently reflected:

"Caidie's survival has changed many things. Her personality is no longer so extreme, and she has even found the Green Lotus Core Flame ahead of time... This butterfly that accidentally entered this world has merely fluttered its wings, yet it truly seems to have altered quite a few paths of fate."

Just as Su Baichen's thoughts raced, Queen Medusa, transformed into her Purple Flame Snake form, let out a low hiss. A mental fluctuation entered Su Baichen's mind. "Sir, I'm starting! Follow after me!"

Before her words had even faded, the enormous purple snake body suddenly moved. Like a purple mountain carrying overwhelming force, it crashed fiercely toward the hard sandy ground below!

Boom—!!!

A deafening explosion erupted, like thunder striking the earth!

The entire sandy plain shook violently. The point of impact exploded in an instant, and countless rocks, sand, and clumps of earth shot into the sky like a fountain, forming a massive mushroom cloud of dust that blotted out the heavens.

When the billowing dust slowly dispersed, a gigantic black hole more than ten meters in diameter had appeared in the formerly flat sand. Its edges were smooth, and its depths could not be seen, as though it led straight to the earth's core. Waves of scorching geothermal air poured out from within.

Seeing this simple and brutal method of opening a path, Su Baichen was briefly rendered speechless.

During this time, Queen Medusa had mostly displayed her seductive side before him or discussed tribal affairs with him. Though she never lacked a queen's majesty, it was rare for her to reveal such a wild side through the direct display of her true form's power, and he found himself somewhat unaccustomed to it.

After all, this queen had recently been so enthusiastic before him that at times, she seemed completely unlike the decisive, proud, and icy Queen Medusa he remembered.

"This level of initiative and efficiency saves me some effort." Su Baichen shook his head slightly, suppressing that odd feeling.

He could sense that the passage had already been opened, and that it extended extremely deep.

A moment later, Su Baichen's powerful Soul Power detected that Queen Medusa had reached the depths underground and come to a stop.

He wasted no more time. With a flicker of his body, he turned into a streak of white light and plunged into the bottomless hole.

The inner walls of the tunnel were smooth, evidently melted by the intense heat created when the Purple Flame Snake had forcibly smashed through.

Su Baichen fell rapidly, while the temperature around him climbed higher and higher. The pungent scent unique to sulfur began to permeate the air.

Before long, the view before him suddenly opened up. He had passed through the long tunnel and arrived in a vast underground space.

Queen Medusa had returned to human form and stood beside a scorching lava lake that bubbled and emitted a dark crimson glow.

The lava lake stretched wide, and waves of heat rushed toward him, bathing the entire underground space in red light.

When she saw Su Baichen descend, Queen Medusa immediately pointed toward the lava lake ahead. Her voice carried a trace of gravity. "Sir, the Green Lotus Core Flame's unique energy fluctuations have become exceptionally clear here. Its source must be beneath this lava lake."

After saying this, Queen Medusa paused before continuing, "However, some kind of fire-attributed creature seems to be lurking in the lake. Its aura is not weak. The moment I approached, I felt a concealed Soul Power lock onto me."

Hearing this, Su Baichen looked toward the churning magma. His Soul Power spread outward like spilled mercury, instantly piercing through the scorching lava. The corner of his lips rose slightly, for he already knew what creature Queen Medusa meant.

The Double-Headed Fire Spirit Snake. In the original story, this was precisely the fellow that had "led" Xiao Yan to the place where the Green Lotus Core Flame was born.

"Yes, I have sensed it already." Su Baichen's tone was calm, as if he were discussing something insignificant. "Hiding its head and showing its tail is no way to treat guests. I'll 'invite' it out. Since it has lived here for so long, it must know the Green Lotus Core Flame's exact location. It can lead the way for us, saving us from having to search through this magma bit by bit."

With that, Su Baichen casually raised his right hand and gently grasped downward toward the vast lava lake before him!

There was no earth-shaking display, yet an invisible, vast, and majestic surge of battle qi instantly burst forth, condensing in the air into a gigantic translucent hand of energy!

The hand seemed solid, its lines clearly defined, and it radiated a pressure that made one's heart tremble, as if it could seize mountains and stir rivers!

Ignoring the terrifying heat capable of melting gold and iron, the giant energy hand plunged straight into the churning lava and reached toward a hidden presence deep below, as easily as taking something from a bag!