Cooperation: Each Gets What They Need

Medusa swept her gaze around, finally fixing it on the alley where Ye Xiu was hiding.

"Get out here."

Her voice was ice-cold.

Ye Xiu didn't move.

Medusa sneered and flicked her hand. A crimson wave of Dou Qi descended from the sky and slammed straight into the alley.

Boom!

Broken stones flew everywhere as dust billowed through the air.

The alley had been completely leveled.

But when the dust cleared, there wasn't a soul in sight.

Medusa frowned.

Just then, a flash of purplish-gold light shot into the sky from another direction!

Ye Xiu spread his flame wings and hovered in midair, facing her.

They stared at each other from several dozen meters away.

Medusa fixed him with a terrifyingly cold gaze.

"A human?"

Her voice held a trace of surprise.

The Snake-People Tribe lived deep in the desert. No human dared come here, let alone sneak in in the middle of the night. Even if the man before her was a Dou Huang, coming to the Snake-People Tribe alone was practically a death sentence!

"Who are you? What are you doing in Snake-People territory?"

Ye Xiu looked at Medusa and smiled.

"Just passing through. I thought I'd take a look around."

"Take a look around?" Medusa sneered. "Do you think this is a human marketplace? Don't take me for a fool!"

As soon as she finished speaking, the sound of rushing wind suddenly filled the air around them.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

Seven or eight figures shot into the sky from various parts of the tribe. In the blink of an eye, they had Ye Xiu completely surrounded.

They were all Dou Wangs!

At their head was a burly Snake-Person man with bulging muscles and a scar across his face. He gripped a long spear, and his aura was around that of a Five-Star Dou Wang. Several others followed behind him, both men and women, all glaring at Ye Xiu.

"Your Majesty!" The man cupped his fist toward Medusa. "Your guard arrived late. Please forgive us!"

Medusa waved a hand without speaking, her eyes fixed on Ye Xiu the entire time.

The man turned to Ye Xiu, sized him up, and sneered.

"You little punk, you dare trespass in Snake-People territory? You're asking to die!"

A female Snake-Person behind him chimed in. "Human, you'd better tell us the truth. Who sent you? What are you here for? Otherwise, you'll die without a body left to bury!"

Ye Xiu glanced around at them. Seven Dou Wangs, plus Medusa, a Peak Dou Huang.

Quite a welcome party.

But he was a Four-Star Dou Huang now. With pills to help him, they still wouldn't be able to stop him if he tried to escape.

So even with seven Dou Wangs surrounding him, Ye Xiu remained calm.

Medusa stared down at him, looking at him as if he were already dead.

"Human, I'll give you one last chance." Medusa's voice was so cold it could freeze the air. "Tell me who sent you and what you're doing in my territory."

Ye Xiu glanced at the Snake-Person Dou Wangs around him, then looked at Medusa and smiled. "If I say I really am just passing through, will you believe me?"

"You're courting death!"

The Snake-Person man with the spear exploded in rage. He shook his weapon, and his Dou Qi burst forth with a boom as he lunged at Ye Xiu.

"Lord Mo Basi is making his move!"

"Kill him!"

The Snake-Person guards around them cheered.

Ye Xiu didn't even look at the spear. He casually threw a punch.

Boom!

The instant his fist collided with the spear tip, Mo Basi's expression changed.

The force was simply too great. There was no way he could withstand it.

The spear flew right out of his hand. Mo Basi was sent hurtling backward as if he'd been struck by a sixth-tier magical beast, crashing into the ground and leaving a deep crater.

Pfft—

Mo Basi spat out a mouthful of blood and lay in the crater, unable to get up for quite some time.

Silence fell around them.

The Snake-Person Dou Wangs who had been preparing to attack froze in place, their eyes practically popping out of their heads.

Mo Basi was a Five-Star Dou Wang, one of the top five fighters in the Snake-People Tribe. And yet this man had taken him down with a casual punch?

Medusa narrowed her eyes and stared at Ye Xiu.

"A Four-Star Dou Huang at such a young age?"

Her voice held a trace of surprise.

What?

A Four-Star Dou Huang?

The Snake-Person Dou Wangs' expressions changed completely.

This human looked only fifteen or sixteen. A Four-Star Dou Huang? What kind of joke was that?

Ye Xiu ignored them and looked up at Medusa.

"Your Majesty, I think we can talk."

Medusa sneered. "Talk? You snuck into my tribe in the middle of the night and injured my people, and now you want to talk?"

"What would you rather do?" Ye Xiu asked. "Have us fight? You're a Peak Dou Huang, and I'm a Four-Star Dou Huang. If we really fought, half your tribe would probably be reduced to rubble. How many of your people would survive?"

Medusa's eyes turned cold.

She knew Ye Xiu was telling the truth. If two Dou Huangs fought in the city, plenty of ordinary Snake-People would die. Even these Dou Wangs wouldn't all make it out alive.

"What do you want to talk about?" Medusa asked.

Ye Xiu looked at her and said, "You have the Green Lotus Core Flame, right?"

Medusa's expression changed at once.

"How do you know?"

By asking that, she had practically admitted it.

Ye Xiu smiled. "There's a lot I know. I also know you don't want the Heavenly Flame for yourself—you want to use it to evolve."

Medusa fixed him with an extremely dangerous gaze but said nothing.

Ye Xiu continued, "You want to use the Green Lotus Core Flame to evolve into a Seven-Colored Heaven-Swallowing Python, right? But the odds of success are—tsk, even one in ten would be generous. One mistake, and you'll be reduced to ashes."

Medusa's gaze grew colder. She was beginning to wonder about the identity of this young human before her. He even knew the most important secret of the Snake-People.

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

Ye Xiu looked at her and spoke one word at a time. "I'm saying I can raise your chances of success to one hundred percent."

Medusa froze for a moment, then sneered.

"Human, do you know what you're saying?" Medusa said. "Few have ever succeeded in evolving with a Heavenly Flame. What makes a young punk like you think you can make such a claim?"

"Because I'm a Sixth-grade Alchemist."

After speaking, Ye Xiu took out his Alchemist Guild badge and casually tossed it to her.

Medusa caught it and looked down.

Four silver bands.

A genuine fourth-grade Alchemist Badge.

But Ye Xiu had just claimed to be a sixth-grade alchemist.

Medusa looked up at him. "This is a fourth-grade badge. Do you dare to deceive me?!"

"I had the guild certify me, and they could only verify me up to fourth grade," Ye Xiu said. "But I really am a sixth-grade alchemist. If you don't believe me, I can refine a batch of sixth-grade pills right here."

Medusa stared at him for a long while.

The Snake-Person Dou Wangs around them didn't even dare breathe too loudly.

A sixth-grade alchemist?

How many years had it been since the Jia Ma Empire had produced a sixth-grade alchemist?

Medusa remained silent for a long while before speaking. "Why do you want to help me?"

"Because I want something, too," Ye Xiu said.

Medusa narrowed her eyes. "What?"

"There are too many people here. It's not convenient to talk," Ye Xiu said, shaking his head. "That thing is useless to you, but it's useful to me. We each get what we need. You use the Heavenly Flame to evolve, and I take what I need and leave. I'll raise your chances of success to one hundred percent, and you won't have to worry about blowing yourself up if the evolution fails."

Medusa said nothing, simply watching him.

Ye Xiu didn't rush her. He just stood there.

After a long while, Medusa spoke. "You say you're a sixth-grade alchemist. What proof do you have?"

Ye Xiu thought for a moment, then took a pill from his Storage Ring and tossed it to her.

"I refined it myself. It's a fifth-grade Fire-Element Pill. Take a look at its quality."

Medusa caught the pill and looked down.

It was round and smooth, with a faint red ring on its surface.

A Pill Pattern.

Medusa's pupils contracted.

As the Snake-People Queen, she was well-informed and knew exactly what a Pill Pattern meant. It was the sign of a pill refined to the highest quality. It took decades of experience to produce one.

And this human before her was only fifteen or sixteen.

She raised her head, and her gaze toward Ye Xiu changed.

"Who exactly are you?"

Ye Xiu smiled. "Just someone who wants to do business with you. What do you say, Your Majesty? Will you consider it?"

Medusa remained silent for a long time.

The Snake-Person Dou Wangs looked at one another, but none dared say a word.

At last, Medusa spoke. "Come with me."

With that, she turned and flew toward the depths of the tribe.

Ye Xiu's lips curled into a smile as he followed.