On the ninth floor of the Ten Thousand Dragon-Phoenix Pagoda, the radiance flowing across the starry dome seemed to freeze under some invisible force, as though even time had slowed its steps. The immense, pure Earth Vein Dragon Qi and the Heavenly Snake Supreme's seven-colored glow intertwined into a dreamy mist, silently billowing and spreading. Yet they could hardly conceal the weighty awkwardness in the air, along with... a certain indescribable flutter, quietly beginning to stir.
Xiao Zhan looked away and forced his mind to focus on the enormous curtain of dragon qi projected across the tower wall. He tried to dispel the thoughts surging through his mind like storm-tossed waves by watching the many forces lurking beyond the oasis, all eyeing it like tigers and itching to strike. Yet that fleeting glimpse into the depths of his soul—the seven-colored world, the confusion and burdens hidden beneath her cold, aloof exterior, and, most of all, the trace of panic he had caught at the very end, so faint it was almost an illusion, brought on by his approach—all had burned themselves into the deepest reaches of his consciousness like a red-hot brand. Even he, steady as a mountain and usually unruffled, could not keep his breath from turning slightly uneven, betraying the turmoil within.
Queen Medusa sat cross-legged atop the Seven-Colored Lotus Platform, her violet-gold eyes lowered. Her long, thick lashes lightly veiled the seven-colored radiance roiling beneath them, like the most brilliant star in the night sky half-hidden by clouds. Their brief soul-deep fusion had let her glimpse Xiao Zhan's unwavering resolve to protect everything, and she had felt even more keenly the heavy concern he had buried deep within him over her slumber... This unprecedented sensation of being "seen through" without reservation by a human man was like