In a Sorry State

"Mystic-tier Advanced Dou Technique: Prajna Palm!"

Xiao Yan watched the gaping maw lunging toward him and raised his hand to unleash a Mystic-tier Dou Technique. A golden palm, five or six meters long—nearly twice the size of the one he had used as a Dou Practitioner—materialized against the wind and slapped directly into the massive, snake-shaped energy ribbon.

The moment the palm appeared, it filled the area with a sense of Buddhist tranquility and peace, instantly calming the hearts of all present.

"Bang!" The golden hand shattered the energy snake cleanly upon contact. Without checking the result, Xiao Yan shifted his focus and summoned the Purple Cloud Wings onto his back. With a single flap, his figure shot toward the distant horizon.

"Hmm? Is this... one of the Seventy-Two Unique Skills of the ancient Buddhist sects?" Yue Mei, the snake-woman, remarked as she watched the golden palm effortlessly crush the energy snake she had unleashed on a whim.

Although it was merely a casual strike, Yue Mei knew that even a Dou Ling expert would not have fared well had they been struck by it.

Just as Yue Mei decided to stop wasting time and capture this human, she suddenly noticed Xiao Yan had summoned his Purple Cloud Wings and fled.

Yue Mei's long, phoenix-like eyes narrowed on her enchanting face, and she asked in confusion, "Dou Qi manifesting as wings? A Dou King? No, a Dou King's aura isn't this weak."

"Well, things are getting interesting." Yue Mei chuckled softly, then summoned her own cyan Dou Qi wings and took flight in pursuit, never once sparing a glance for the Snake-People Tribe members on the ground.

In the pitch-black sky, a black figure plummeted toward the ground.

"Cough, cough. I'm running low on Dou Qi. Damn it, this stinking woman has been chasing me for ages—is she obsessed with me?" Xiao Yan retracted his Purple Cloud Wings, landed on the ground, and gasped for air.

Not far away, another black shadow descended. Retracting her cyan Dou Qi wings, Yue Mei walked over, arms folded, smiling sweetly.

"Little brother, Yue Mei wants to warm your bed, so why are you running so fast? I could barely keep up with you," Yue Mei teased with a coquettish huff.

"Heh, I doubt you're taking me back to warm your bed. You're probably taking me back to breed with those ugly women. I've heard that the snake-women of the Snake-People Tribe love nothing more than capturing young human talents for breeding," Xiao Yan said, leaning on his Wind Chaser sword to stand up.

"The little guy knows quite a bit, doesn't he? Since that's the case, stay here for good." Yue Mei's pretty face turned cold, and she began forming hand seals.

Over a hundred giant energy snakes emerged behind Yue Mei, intertwining to form a profound, mysterious formation that descended from the sky to envelop Xiao Yan.

"Myriad Manifestations!" she cried out.

To Xiao Yan, the voice that would usually sound melodious now felt like a death knell.

"Damn it, I had to struggle for ages just to fight one stinking snake. How am I supposed to fight this many?" Xiao Yan offered a bitter smile, raising his Wind Chaser sword horizontally across his chest.

"Heh heh, little Yan, do you need my help?" Just as Xiao Yan fell into despair, a voice suddenly echoed in his ear.

"Teacher, you finally appeared," Xiao Yan said with a forced smile; at this moment, Yao Lao's voice was undoubtedly the sound of heaven.

"Heh heh, I was just trying to train you, wasn't I?" Yao Lao chuckled.

"Train?" Xiao Yan's eye twitched as he looked at the hundred giant energy snakes radiating terrifying pressure behind Yue Mei.

"Alright, here I come. Relax your mind and let me take over," Yao Lao said.

Immediately, the aura surrounding Xiao Yan shifted, instantly becoming profound and ancient.

"Earth-tier Low-level Dou Technique: Gale Swift Sword!" A thunderous shout erupted from the sky.

"Xiao Yan's" momentum surged, and he swung the Wind Chaser sword.

A massive, ten-meter-long blade of light suddenly manifested and slashed toward the snake formation descending from above. By the time they collided, the blade had expanded to over twenty meters in length.

"Whoosh!" The twenty-meter-long blade sliced through the snake formation like a knife through butter, shattering it into pieces without any resistance.

"Hmph!" Watching the snake corpses fall from the sky, Xiao Yan let out a cold snort. Wisps of ghostly white flames suddenly appeared on his body, burning the falling snake fragments into nothingness.

"How is this possible??" Yue Mei stared in disbelief as her signature technique, "All-Encompassing Manifestations," which she had mastered after becoming a Dou King, was instantly broken by a human boy whose strength was only at the Dou Shi level. This was a technique praised even by the Queen herself, considered invincible among peers!

Before Yue Mei could think further, the human boy with the strange aura emerged from the collision of techniques, raised his sword, and assumed a fencing stance. Yue Mei felt instantly locked in place, unable to move a muscle.

"This... how can this be? That human boy's aura was clearly only at the Dou Shi level before; how could he suddenly become so powerful? Could it be some old monster playing the pig to eat the tiger?" Yue Mei's pretty face turned ashen.

"An existence with this kind of aura must be at least a high-level Dou King or a Dou Emperor. Which expert from the Jia Ma Empire is this?" Yue Mei thought, her mind in chaos.

"Howling Gale!" A crisp, unique voice filled with age rang out.

Yue Mei felt a torrential, storm-like pressure about to erupt. She closed her eyes in resignation, her enchanting face filled with despair.

A moment later, Yue Mei felt her body lighten. The mysterious human boy's lock on her aura suddenly vanished, and the storm-like technique she had anticipated never arrived.

"Hmm?" Yue Mei opened her eyes in disbelief, searching for the human expert.

But the space opposite her was already empty; Xiao Yan was nowhere to be found.

"Damn it, I was played!" Yue Mei stomped her foot, her waist swaying like a water snake, and bit her alluring red lips.

In the distant sky, "Xiao Yan" was flying away rapidly, his back adorned with wings made of ghostly white flames.

"Teacher, why didn't you finish her off?" Xiao Yan asked, puzzled.

"Haha, I sensed a Snake-People Tribe expert approaching nearby. Further away, a peak Dou Emperor has also noticed me and is preparing to head this way. I suspect that must be the one they call the Queen—Queen Medusa. While I don't fear her, being swarmed by so many Snake-People experts would be troublesome. We have achieved our goal, so it is better to stop while we are ahead," Yao Lao replied.

"Hmph! Goal? You mean sending me to my death?!" Xiao Yan retorted angrily.

"Hahaha, let's go!" Yao Lao laughed heartily.

At Yue Mei's location.

A tiny, ink-black dot suddenly appeared on the horizon. In the blink of an eye, it shot toward the ground beside Yue Mei with a sharp, wind-piercing whistle.

ps: I'm sleepy, the second update will be posted in the morning.