The moment Xiao Jie finished speaking, he threw a punch. A colossal flaming fist, carrying terrifying heat, sped toward Queen Medusa. Wherever it passed, the burning flames and dreadful fire-attributed energy twisted the surrounding space beyond recognition, even covering it with spiderweb-like cracks. Power involving space could only be wielded by at least a Dou Zong. This punch had clearly reached the might of a Dou Zong!
The Mystic Yellow Lotus Heart Flame, formed from the fusion of three Heavenly Flames, enhanced the Earth-Tier Intermediate Heaven-Burning Fist, pushing the power of this Dou Technique beyond the Earth Tier!
As Medusa watched the flaming giant fist rapidly approach, her pupils shrank. The countless tiny snakes atop her head all turned toward it, simultaneously spewing colorful pillars of energy at the energy fist formed by the Heaven-Burning Fist. At the same time, Medusa's mouth and eyes each shot out a colorful energy beam, which struck the Heaven-Burning Fist first at an even faster speed. Immediately afterward, the beams emitted by Medusa's snake hair followed. When the immense energies collided, the Heaven-Burning Fist paused slightly, and its speed toward Medusa dropped further.
Seeing this, Medusa once again unleashed the Snake-People Tribe's signature Dou Technique, Myriad Serpent Devour. Countless tiny energy serpents emerged from the void and swiftly surrounded the Heaven-Burning Fist. The energy snakes charged at it like moths to a flame. The collision of the two utterly different energies produced sizzling sounds, slowing the Heaven-Burning Fist once more and shrinking it by nearly a third.
Xiao Jie's expression did not change. He merely parted his lips slightly and uttered one word.
"Explode!"
Medusa's expression changed drastically. She flashed away, intending to escape the Heaven-Burning Fist's blast radius, but she was still too late. The instant Xiao Jie spoke, the remaining energy within the Heaven-Burning Fist detonated.
The explosion produced by the immense energy caused Medusa, who had not yet escaped far, to falter. She was struck by the explosive shockwave and sent plummeting straight down beneath a distant sand dune, blasting the dune into nothing but a huge crater.
After the Heaven-Burning Fist exploded, Xiao Jie activated Lightning Flash Thunder Sound and flashed to Hai Bodong and Shi Jian's side. Grabbing their shoulders, he sped toward the Jia Ma Empire. Under Lightning Flash Thunder Sound, the three became a streak of purple light and vanished before the Snake-People Tribe's two Dou Wangs could react.
Xiao Jie led Hai Bodong and Shi Jian out of the depths of the desert as a purple streak of light. Along the way, they ran headlong into a Snake-People Tribe Dou Wang who had come to provide support. However, Xiao Jie had no intention of tangling with him. After swiftly brushing past him, he disappeared beyond the horizon.
The Snake-People Tribe Dou Wang was so frightened that he abruptly stopped. Looking back, he could not see a trace of anyone. He muttered to himself.
"How can this human Dou Emperor be so fast? Oh no, Her Majesty the Queen..."
With that, he accelerated once more and rushed toward the Snake-People Holy City deep within the Tager Desert.
Meanwhile, on Queen Medusa's side, a slender, fair arm suddenly stretched out from a crater in a sand dune. The next moment, the entire crater exploded again, and a purple figure shot into the sky. Queen Medusa trembled with rage all over. Now that she had withdrawn from her battle state, terrifying fury surged within her narrow phoenix eyes. Though she did not say a word, anyone could fully sense her boundless anger.
Since the day she was born, she had never been teased by someone and then beaten into such a sorry state—especially not by a human whose cultivation was lower than hers. Although her injuries were not severe, this was an outright trampling of her dignity, something she could never tolerate. She took a deep breath and calmed herself before parting her alluring red lips.
"Investigate him! I want all the information on this person."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Xiao Jie was currently flying back toward Shi-Mo City. His aura had already fallen back to the level of a Four-Star Dou Emperor, and weakness welled up within him again. This was the backlash of activating the Heavenly Fire Three-Mysterious Transformation. Once Xiao Jie sensed that Medusa was not pursuing him, he voluntarily withdrew from the Heavenly Fire Three-Mysterious Transformation.
He took pills to restore Dou Qi and heal his injuries from his Storage Ring, swallowed them, and flew side by side with Hai Bodong and Shi Jian toward Shi-Mo City.
"Brother Xiao, I truly never expected you to be so powerful. With merely the cultivation of a Four-Star Dou Emperor, you actually beat Queen Medusa until she was covered in dust and ash. I have never seen her in such a miserable state!" Shi Jian said excitedly.
"This was indeed thrilling and dangerous, but Brother Shi, you must be even more vigilant. The Shi-Mo City you guard borders the Snake-People Tribe's territory. If Medusa attacks the Jia Ma Empire without regard for the consequences because of this matter, Shi-Mo City will be the first to bear the brunt. You should strengthen its defenses and closely monitor the movements of the Snake-People Tribe to avoid being caught in a surprise attack."
Hai Bodong spoke with a grave expression. He had clearly considered matters more deeply and further ahead than Shi Jian.
"That is right. Queen Medusa suffered a loss in her fight with me this time, and with her temperament, she likely will not let this go. However, Brother Shi, there is no need to worry too much. The Jia Ma Empire has three Dou Emperor-level experts publicly known, while Jia Xingtian of the Jia Ma Imperial Family is, like Medusa, a Peak Dou Emperor. With Hai and me included, we have five Dou Emperor-level experts. On the Snake-People Tribe's side, there is publicly only Queen Medusa as a Peak Dou Emperor, while their Grand Commander and First Elder are Dou Emperors, and the rest are merely Dou Wangs. In terms of numbers, their Snake-People Tribe cannot compare to the Jia Ma Empire in either Dou Emperors or Dou Wangs. In terms of quality, the Jia Ma Imperial Family's Jia Xingtian and I make two Dou Emperor-level combatants. If Medusa were to lead her entire tribe in attacking the Jia Ma Empire out of a momentary fit of anger, then she would be unworthy of her position as the Snake-People Tribe's queen."
Xiao Jie continued. He was not overly concerned. Although Queen Medusa had suffered a temporary defeat this time, as the leader of an entire race, she could not possibly act rashly over momentary anger. If Queen Medusa were someone who acted on impulse, she likely would never have risen to the position of Snake-People Tribe queen. After all, the Snake-People Tribe still had several Peak Dou Emperor Supreme Elders hidden away, though no one knew of them. However, there was one thing Xiao Jie had not told Shi Jian: all of this only held true if Medusa and the Snake-People Tribe had no Dou Zong. If Queen Medusa or one of the Snake-People Tribe's Supreme Elders broke through to the Dou Zong realm, the Snake-People Tribe would launch large-scale attacks on the other nations. Their desire to find a new place to thrive had not arisen only recently, and Medusa was the same.
"Brother Xiao's reasoning is most sound. Not to mention our Jia Ma Empire, the other nations are also eyeing the Snake-People Tribe greedily. After all, Snake-People female slaves are quite popular. If they attack the Jia Ma Empire regardless of all consequences, they will simply be courting their own destruction!"
Shi Jian had been somewhat worried after hearing Hai Bodong's words, but after listening to Xiao Jie's analysis, he set those concerns aside. Still, he was the lord of a city, and he would not let down his guard merely because the possibility was small. What if Medusa went mad? Shi-Mo City would be the first to suffer. Thus, he nodded and voiced his own thoughts.
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