Royal City

The inky-black figure folded his Dou Qi Wings and landed beside Yue Mei.

The male Snake-Person was somewhat brawny, with a thin garment casually draped over his body. His arms were covered in strange black tattoos.

"Yue Mei, who were you fighting?" The moment the inky-black figure spoke, a ferocious aura seemed to rush forth.

"A mysterious human expert. He has already left. Mo Ba Si, weren't you inspecting the Mo Snake Tribe? Why are you here?" Yue Mei frowned, clearly not yet recovered from the shock of what had just happened.

"Her Majesty the Queen sensed a large-scale energy disturbance here from the Royal City and specially used a secret technique to order the Clan Leaders of the Eight Great Tribes to investigate. I was merely the closest, so I arrived first. Yan Ci and the others are still rushing here at full speed. I didn't expect it to be you fighting someone." Mo Ba Si shook the two vicious black snake tattoos on his chest.

"What? Didn't you receive Her Majesty the Queen's secret communication?" Mo Ba Si asked.

"Secret communication?" Yue Mei somehow produced a dark green little snake no longer than a human finger. The small snake, which should have been quietly lying dormant for communication, had long since stiffened into death.

"Hmph, it was shaken to death in the battle just now." Yue Mei expressionlessly tossed the dark green snake onto the ground.

"Shaken to death? Yue Mei, who exactly was it that left you in such a sorry state?" Mo Ba Si asked in confusion.

"We'll talk after returning to the Royal City. Let's go." Yue Mei clearly had no desire to discuss it further. She spread her green Dou Qi Wings and prepared to leave.

"Hmph, these human experts are truly arrogant. What do they take our Snake-People Tribe for? They come whenever they please and leave whenever they please. Since our war with the Jia Ma Empire ended twenty years ago, no one has dared provoke our Snake-People Tribe like this. Are the humans trying to start a war with us? We must return to the Royal City quickly and report to Her Majesty the Queen." As Mo Ba Si spoke, he too spread his Dou Qi Wings and followed her.

The dark canopy of night was about to fade, and dawn was approaching.

On a quiet stretch of sand, Xiao Yan sat cross-legged, circulating the mysterious Flame Mantra to restore the Dou Qi he had expended in the fierce battle.

"Phew." Xiao Yan opened his eyes, a sharp gleam flashing through them.

Turning to Yao Lao, who was also seated nearby regulating his breathing, he said, "Teacher, I've changed my mind. I'm not returning to Mo City now. I'm going to the Snake-People Tribe's Royal City."

"The Snake-People Tribe's Royal City? What are you going there for? At this time, the Royal City should be gathered with the Snake-People Tribe's experts and heavily guarded." Yao Lao asked doubtfully.

"Hehe, I'm going to find myself a Dou Zong thug. Since the Snake-People Tribe dared to provoke me first, I'll give them an unforgettable lesson and abduct their Queen." Xiao Yan smiled mysteriously.

"Yan boy, the more you talk, the more confused I become." Yao Lao frowned.

"Teacher, Queen Medusa, the leader of the Snake-People Tribe, is currently at the peak of the Dou Emperor realm and on the verge of breaking through to Dou Zong. Due to the Snake-People Tribe's unique racial limitations, they can only break through the Dou Zong barrier by either slowly waiting it out or using an extraordinary method."

"As the ruler of the Snake-People Tribe, Queen Medusa certainly would not be willing to slowly wait out the Dou Zong barrier. Besides, a Dou Zong attained that way would have no potential whatsoever. She might even have no hope of reaching Dou Zun for the rest of her life."

"Queen Medusa's true form is the Purple Nether Flame Snake. The ancient book you gave me last time mentioned the evolution of the Purple Nether Flame Snake. As a blood descendant of the ancient overlord magical beast, the Seven-Colored Heaven-Swallowing Python, the only way for it to truly break through is to use a secret technique to temper its body within Heavenly Flames. That would evolve its soul, allowing it to shed its original body and condense a truly new body with the power of its soul." Xiao Yan explained patiently.

"The Seven-Colored Heaven-Swallowing Python? Hehe, your ambitions are not small, boy. You not only killed the Snake-People Tribe's Da Dou Shi, but now you want to abduct their Queen as well." Yao Lao was speechless.

"Still, having a Dou Zong thug would be good. When danger arises in the future, your teacher won't have to act every single time."

Yao Lao then reached out and lightly tapped Xiao Yan's forehead. "Subduing Queen Medusa will not be easy. Her race is infamous throughout the continent. This is an unnamed Dou Technique your teacher found in an ancient ruin. Plant it within someone's soul, and it can make that person willingly serve your commands."

"However, the conditions for using this method are extremely harsh, and its success rate is far too low. Since its effects are excessively vicious, the continent's experts jointly banned it long ago. Use it with caution. You can plant it in her body while she is tempering herself in the Heavenly Flames."

"Hehehe." Master and disciple exchanged a glance and began to laugh wickedly.

"It's close to dawn now, the best time to sneak in. Besides, the Snake-People Tribe's experts will never expect us to head straight for their Royal City. Teacher, let's go." Xiao Yan summoned his Purple Cloud Wings. With a piercing sound of wind, he shot toward the Snake-People Tribe's Royal City marked on the map.

After flying for nearly an hour, Xiao Yan stopped in midair. Flapping his Dou Qi Wings, he looked down at the heavily guarded massive fortress below, where numerous fully armed Snake-People patrolled atop the walls.

"Teacher, this should be the Snake-People Tribe's Mei Snake Tribe. The snakewoman Yue Mei who fought us earlier is the leader of this tribe," Xiao Yan said.

Xiao Yan looked up and saw more than a dozen large black birds circling back and forth above the fortress in the distant sky, their sharp eyes constantly sweeping across the sky and within the city walls.

"Those should be flying magical beasts specially raised by the Snake-People Tribe to guard against aerial enemies and observe the situation within the city. Yan boy, be careful." Yao Lao warned from within the Storage Ring. Then streams of pale white flame surged from Xiao Yan's robes and wrapped around him.

Xiao Yan tightened his black robe and cautiously circled around the flock of black birds ahead.

Just before daybreak, Xiao Yan finally arrived at a city constructed from countless enormous stones.

"So this is the Snake-People Tribe's Royal City?" Xiao Yan gazed down at the immense city with slight shock. At its center, a spacious and luxurious Divine Temple rose from the ground.

Even in Xiao Yan's previous life, constructing walls dozens of meters high would have required considerable effort. In this world, where great power belonged to the individual, building such structures would likely require Dou Wang experts to lend a hand.

Within the magnificent and luxurious Divine Temple below, a graceful purple figure leaned leisurely against a purple crystal throne. Beneath the throne stood four imposing figures.

One was Xiao Yan's old acquaintance Yue Mei; one was Mo Ba Si, Clan Leader of the Mo Snake Tribe, who had later rushed to Yue Mei's aid; one was a burly man in red robes; and one was a Grey-Robed Elder.

P.S. Making up for yesterday's.