Three Factions Gather, and the Show Begins

The news spread like a stone dropped into water, ripples expanding in widening circles.

Outside the cavern, yellow sand swept through the air as night gradually deepened.

Several figures were converging on this desert from different directions.

Some came driven by greed, some harbored ambition, and some sought power. But when they truly met in the depths of the desert, what awaited them might not be what they wanted.

In the night of the Tager Desert, undercurrents stirred in the desert's depths. An inexplicable wave of heat was rising from beneath the ground.

In fact, several days earlier, the temperature in the heart of the Tager Desert had begun to climb slowly, and that heat had even spread outward.

Several Snake-People Tribe patrols had passed through the area and caught a faint, faint smell of scorching in the wind.

It felt as though something beneath the earth had been sleeping all this time and was now gradually awakening, breathing out heat in slow bursts.

At the center of the desert stood an inconspicuous little sand dune. Beneath it was the entrance leading to the underground magma world.

That entrance had now been tightly covered with sand and stones. From the outside, it looked exactly like every other part of the desert, with no sign of anything unusual.

Meng Chen hid in the shade behind that dune, draped in a grayish-white cloak that suppressed the fluctuations of Dou Qi around him and kept outsiders from detecting him.

Beyond the rolling sand ridges ahead, he repeatedly glanced in three directions, as though waiting for something.

"They're here."

His voice was soft, and the night wind carried it away the instant it left his lips.

More than ten zhang behind him, Hai Bodong sat cross-legged atop a large boulder.

He had completely retracted the chill around him. He even suppressed the white breath from his mouth with Dou Qi, letting none of it escape.

"Little Divine King, it's Medusa of the Snake-People Tribe!"

Hai Bodong lowered his voice, his tone carrying a trace of caution. "This old man has dealt with that woman several times. Her senses are extremely sharp. No matter how carefully we hide, we may not be able to conceal ourselves completely from her."

Meng Chen nodded. As if sensing something, he looked toward the west.

A streak of dark-purple light was speeding toward them from the west, dragging a long trail of light behind it. From afar, it looked like a meteor streaking across the horizon.

The purple glow abruptly halted around three li from the dune, then drifted down onto the highest sand ridge as lightly as a falling feather.

The night wind swept away the outer layer of purple light, revealing within it a tall, voluptuous, breathtaking figure.

Meng Chen could not help narrowing his eyes.

Under the moonlight, a long purple dress draped along her waist. The wind lifted the hem slightly, exposing the dense purple scales covering her snake tail, each one gleaming with a cold luster beneath the moon.

Her face was so beautiful that one almost dared not look directly at it.

Her slender purple eyes were half-open, their corners slightly raised. Even without any expression on her face, she exuded an oppressive majesty that tightened one's heart.

This was the Medusa Queen.

She stood atop the sand ridge, her purple eyes slightly closed as though sensing the changes in the surrounding auras.

"It's here."

When she spoke, her voice was cold and deep.

Watching from the shadows, Meng Chen secretly nodded. As expected of the Snake-People Tribe's queen. Someone who could lead others truly had the insight of a leader.

She knew perfectly well that once a treasure on the level of a Heavenly Flame revealed itself, she would not be the only one to follow its scent here.

About the time it took to burn an incense stick, a vast mass of thick, blood-colored clouds suddenly churned in the eastern sky.

Hai Bodong's expression darkened when he saw it. He whispered to Meng Chen, "A Battle Emperor expert. Not from the Jia Ma Empire—most likely someone from the Black-Corner Region."

Meng Chen merely nodded after hearing this, but his gaze passed over the bloody mist and lifted toward the higher night sky.

Above the blood mist, two golden streaks flew over side by side, one on the left and one on the right, at astonishing speed!

Only when they drew closer did they see clearly that they were two living men. One wore a golden robe, the other a silver robe. Their faces bore some resemblance, and both looked to be around fifty.

The ones who had arrived were the Gold and Silver Elders!

Meng Chen knew that, in the original story, these brothers were formidable figures in the Black-Corner Region. Both stood at the peak of the Battle Emperor realm.

When they joined forces and used their secret technique, they could contend with a Battle Ancestor!

The two never traveled separately and never fought alone. They were an exceptionally troublesome pair in the Black-Corner Region.

The moment they appeared, Meng Chen immediately recognized who they were.

The leaner man was wrapped in a dark-red robe patterned with flames. An unreadable smile hung on his face as he surveyed the scene and said lightly, "I was wondering who it might be. So it is the renowned Medusa Queen."

"I presume the Medusa Queen is also here for the Heavenly Flame? It is Han's honor to meet Your Majesty here."

Medusa paid no attention to Han Feng's hypocritical words and said coldly, "You carry the aura of a Heavenly Flame."

"Your Majesty truly has sharp eyes." Han Feng smiled and no longer concealed the purpose of his visit, speaking with frankness.

Sure enough, before a treasure like a Heavenly Flame, no amount of pretty words would matter.

Less than half an incense stick later, an eagle's cry rang through the sky. Everyone looked up as a snow-white flying beast swept across the air, followed by three streaks of azure light.

"Gu He and the others are here," Hai Bodong said quietly.

Once the flying beast landed, the white-robed man on its back descended. He looked refined, and his movements were calm and composed.

This was Gu He, one of the foremost sixth-tier alchemists in the Jia Ma Empire!

Not far behind him, a woman in green slowly approached. Her long dress fluttered in the wind, while a light veil covered her face, hiding her expression and making her seem distinctly out of place.

This was Yun Yun!

As the sect leader of the Cloud Mist Sect, Yun Yun's appearance had already drawn everyone's attention.

"It seems the news spread even faster than I expected," Gu He said to Yun Yun after sweeping his gaze over the crowd.

The Black-Corner Region's Medicine Emperor Han Feng, the Gold and Silver Elders, the Blood Sect's sect leader, and the Medusa Queen of the Snake-People Tribe.

Now the people of the Cloud Mist Sect had arrived as well.

Today's gathering was far grander than anyone had expected.

"Since the news was released, why wouldn't anyone come?" Han Feng said lightly.

Yun Yun stepped forward. "The Heavenly Flame is a spiritual treasure born of heaven and earth. Since everyone is here today, we will each rely on our own abilities. Whoever seizes it gets it, and each person bears the consequences of life or death."

Medusa grew interested. "You are much more straightforward than the others."

As the crowd faced off, a golden pattern quietly lit up in the depths of the magma world beneath the sand dune.

Meng Chen curled his lips into a smile and muttered in a low voice, "The show is about to begin."

Behind him, Hai Bodong took a deep breath and forcefully suppressed the chill throughout his body once more.

The wind over the desert blew even harder.