Reframing Medusa's Understanding

Inside the Snake-People Temple, Medusa had just returned from searching the southern region of the Tagor Desert, a trace of barely perceptible weariness in her beautiful eyes.

She had searched the entire southern region and still found no trace of the Green Lotus Core Flame. However, it was not a total loss; at least one area had been eliminated from the search.

Now, only the area east of Shimo City and two regions in the west remained unsearched.

She believed she would find it soon!

Returning to the temple's main hall, Medusa sat upright upon the queen's throne. The languid air around her faded, replaced by a measure of majesty.

The chieftains of the various tribes whom she had summoned earlier had already been waiting for quite some time.

Medusa began issuing orders. "Increase patrols around the tribes in the near future. Guard strictly against humans approaching. If any powerful human is discovered nearby, kill them immediately!"

After a pause, she added, "Also, send people everywhere to search for materials such as Ice Spirit Cold Spring and Purple Crystal Jade Marrow. The more, the better. They are needed for my cultivation."

Medusa did not say that she intended to use these materials for evolution, merely that they were needed for cultivation.

She knew that evolving with the aid of Heavenly Flames was a near-certain death experience. If she revealed the truth, the clan elders and the chieftains of the various tribes would definitely oppose her with all their strength.

Though she could suppress them, it would still be troublesome.

Just then, Medusa suddenly frowned, and her heart clenched.

She clearly sensed an exceedingly powerful spatial fluctuation coming from outside the temple. The fluctuation was violent and carried an oppressive force, something no ordinary powerhouse could possibly cause.

Medusa had no time to think further. With a flash, she appeared outside.

The moment she stepped out of the temple, she froze. Her pupils abruptly contracted, and the gravity on her face was instantly replaced by shock.

Above the temple, a pitch-black spatial rift slowly widened, dense spatial energy surging wildly from it.

At that moment, two figures slowly emerged from the spatial rift and stood steadily upon the Void—it was Ling Yuan and Ling Yun.

No one knew that Ling Yuan had specifically instructed Ling Yun to create that earth-shaking commotion.

He deliberately wanted to draw Medusa out, casually display sufficient strength, and suppress this proud queen through sheer presence first, laying the groundwork for controlling her later.

Otherwise, if Ling Yun had deliberately concealed his aura, then with his Ban Sheng strength, he could have appeared silently before Medusa. As a Nine-Star Dou Emperor, she would never have sensed the slightest thing.

Ling Yuan's move had clearly achieved its intended effect.

Medusa's pupils had contracted sharply, and stormy waves rose in her heart.

"Tearing through the Void... that is an ability possessed only by Dou Venerate experts!"

She had lived for so long, yet the strongest experts she had ever seen were merely Dou Zong. She had never personally witnessed anyone tear through the Void. Seeing it with her own eyes now, the shock was beyond words.

Looking at Ling Yuan standing upon the Void, Medusa could roughly sense that he was stronger than her, but not to an outrageously overwhelming extent.

"He should be a Dou Zong expert." Medusa secretly guessed.

Then she could not help but sigh inwardly—she had never seen such a young Dou Zong expert.

Thinking of herself, trapped at the Nine-Star Dou Emperor realm for over a decade, exhausting every effort without being able to break through, she looked at Ling Yuan, who had become a Dou Zong at such a young age. Her eyes were filled with barely concealed envy.

But when her gaze fell upon Ling Yun, who stood half a step behind him, she could only feel that he was unfathomable.

Merely sensing the strength of that aura gave Medusa a feeling of powerlessness. She could not even summon the slightest thought of resistance.

It was as if he could utterly crush her with just one finger.

Such a young Dou Zong expert actually had a guard whose strength was at least that of a Dou Venerate, perhaps even higher!

This was something Medusa had never even dared imagine before.

In almost an instant, Medusa marked Ling Yuan as someone she absolutely could not afford to offend.

To possess such strength and such a powerful guard, his background had to be unimaginably immense—far beyond anything the Snake-People Clan could provoke.

She did not even dare think about why such an important figure had suddenly come to the Snake-People Temple.

Meanwhile, Ling Yuan looked down at Medusa below him, his gaze slowly sweeping across her body.

Medusa's beauty was unparalleled. Her brocade robe outlined her full, exquisite figure, her flesh and bones perfectly proportioned, every inch of her radiating mature allure.

Coupled with the noble queenly temperament she had been born with, she was simply a fatal temptation to men.

Even Ling Yuan could not help sighing inwardly that Medusa truly was a peerless beauty. In terms of appearance, she absolutely stood at the pinnacle of this continent.

Before evolving into the Heaven-Swallowing Python, Medusa was a top-tier pretty face.

After evolving, she would possess beauty, strength, and talent alike.

Medusa steadied herself, suppressing the shock in her heart. She bowed slightly and said, "Welcome, Young Master and Venerable One. I am Queen Medusa of the Snake-People Clan. I did not know the two of you would descend upon our clan today, and I failed to welcome you from afar. Please forgive my offense."

As the queen of the Snake-People Clan, Medusa had always been proud and had never bowed her head to anyone. Yet before experts of Ling Yuan and Ling Yun's caliber, for the first time in her life, she took the initiative to lower herself and display a respectful attitude.

She feared that any slight on her part would bring a catastrophic disaster upon the entire Snake-People Clan.

Hearing this, Ling Yuan turned to Ling Yun behind him and said with a light laugh, "Venerable One? Elder Yun, she underestimated you."

Ling Yun remained expressionless as he replied calmly, "A little girl from some backwater place lacking knowledge—it is perfectly normal."

Ling Yuan said, "By the way, Elder Yun, how many years has it been since you were still at the Dou Venerate realm?"

Though this sounded like a casual question, Ling Yuan had deliberately said it aloud. He wanted Medusa to hear it and understand more clearly just how powerful his background and strength were.

If he wanted to subdue Medusa and make her completely cast aside her pride as a queen, he had to crush her with absolute strength and background.

Ling Yuan wanted her to understand that everything she took pride in was utterly worthless before him.

"Reporting to the Young Clan Master, it has been two hundred years since this old man broke through to the Nine-Revolution Dou Venerate realm."

Though the two had belittled her as a backwater little girl, Medusa did not dare refute them or even show the slightest anger.

Because she had already been stunned by the conversation that followed.

A breakthrough beyond the Nine-Revolution Dou Venerate? Beyond Dou Venerate? Could he be a legendary Saint Realm expert?

Medusa's heart pounded wildly. She knew that an expert of such a level had no need to lie or put on a show for a Nine-Star Dou Emperor like her.

In other words, everything Ling Yun had said was true.

A Saint Realm expert serving as a guard?

This completely reshaped Medusa's understanding.

It made her even more respectful toward Ling Yuan.

Ling Yuan landed on the ground, his gaze falling openly upon Medusa, his eyes filled with admiration.

"I heard that Queen Medusa possesses peerless beauty. Now that I have seen you today, the rumors truly did not exaggerate."