Chapter Nineteen: Take It All

Just as Medusa's mind reeled and went blank, Lin Hai finally shifted his gaze from the Ice Spirit Cold Spring and landed it upon her.

His eyes were calm and rippleless, devoid of any lewdness or greed, as if he were appraising... well, a rather unique piece of art, carrying a sense of condescending scrutiny and indifference.

"Ice Spirit Cold Spring, the quality is acceptable," he remarked flatly, as if this treasure, which the Snake-Person Tribe regarded as their very lifeblood, were nothing more than a decent basin of bathwater in his eyes.

Before the words had even faded, under Medusa's gaze of shock and fury, Lin Hai slowly raised his right hand and made a grasping motion at the ten-foot-wide cold pool.

Hum—

The space within the entire secret chamber seemed to distort slightly!

The next moment, a scene that Medusa would never forget for the rest of her life unfolded!

The entire pool of ice-blue Ice Spirit Cold Spring, along with the Cold Spring Jade Essence that had settled at the bottom for who knows how many years, was "scooped" up from the ground as if by an invisible giant hand!

Defying all logic, the spring water hovered in mid-air, condensing into a perfect sphere that spun and compressed frantically, its volume shrinking at a speed visible to the naked eye!

In the blink of an eye, the once ten-foot-wide cold pool had dried to the bottom, leaving behind only a barren, empty pit.

All the Ice Spirit Cold Spring had been extremely compressed and refined into a deep blue ice bead the size of a fist, radiating a chill ten times more terrifying than before!

The ice bead slowly descended into Lin Hai's palm, and countless ice crystals instantly condensed in the surrounding air, hissing as they formed.

Medusa stared blankly at the dried-up spring eye, then at the ice bead in Lin Hai's hand that held the essence of the entire spring, her mind a complete void.

The treasure that her Snake-Person Tribe had guarded for generations, the one they relied on to suppress their bloodline restlessness and assist in cultivation... was just... gone?! Taken away in one fell swoop?! He hadn't even given her a chance to react or intervene!

A sense of immense absurdity and powerlessness welled up in her heart, accompanied by a chill that seeped into her very marrow.

In the face of absolute strength, all her pride and power appeared so laughable and fragile.

Lin Hai weighed the ice bead in his hand, seemingly satisfied, and casually tucked it away.

Only then did he turn his gaze back to Medusa, who remained immersed in the dried-up spring, her face pale from extreme shock and the lingering cold.

His eyes paused for a moment on her stunningly bewitching yet terror-stricken face, his tone remaining as flat as if he were discussing the weather:

"Medusa, Queen of the Snake-Person Tribe."

"Consider submitting to me."

"I can allow your Snake-Person Tribe to leave this damned desert and possess a territory rich in water and grass, suitable for survival."

"I can also help you break through to the Spirit Sect Realm with ease, or even... go much further."

"Once you have considered it, come to Wutan City and find me at the Xiao Clan."

Having said this, he did not even wait for Medusa's answer, nor did he spare her another glance.

It was as if the promise he had just given—one capable of changing the fate of the entire Snake-Person Tribe—was nothing more than a casual notification.

His figure flickered slightly, and like ink dissolving into water, he vanished silently from the cold secret chamber.

He had arrived abruptly and departed decisively.

He left Medusa all alone, soaking in the dried-up, cold jade pit that had lost all its chill.

The secret chamber was deathly silent, with only the sound of her rapid heartbeat echoing in the emptiness.

Immense shock, humiliation, fury, and the irresistible temptation contained in those words... all these complex emotions surged like a tidal wave, causing the expressions on her beautiful face to shift incessantly.

Leave the desert? A territory suitable for survival?

Break through to the Spirit Sect Realm? Or even go further?

Every condition struck precisely at her deepest desires and vulnerabilities as a queen!

These were dreams she might never achieve, even if she spent her entire life or gambled her existence on evolution!

Yet that mysterious, terrifying man had spoken so easily, so definitively...

Submit?

Or... continue to struggle in this desperate desert?

Medusa curled up at the bottom of the cold spring, her purple snake tail twitching weakly, as she felt for the first time what it meant to face a true... choice and shock.

Those bewitching, slit-pupiled eyes were filled with unprecedented confusion and turmoil.