Marriage Alliance

"You... broke through again?"

A beautiful, alluring Snake-Person swayed through the doorway. She cast Xiao Yan a complicated glance. In barely half a year, he had broken through ten levels and risen from a Fourth-Rank Alchemist to a Sixth-Rank Alchemist.

Many experts across the Snake-People Tribe had seen their cultivation soar alongside his.

Even she had taken a Dou Ling Pill, rising from a Three-Star Dou Wang to the peak of four stars.

A Sixth-Rank Alchemist whose future might surpass even Pill King Gu He of the Jia Ma Empire—no wonder the elders had held countless meetings over the past few months to discuss Xiao Yan's "marriage."

Some had proposed using her to secure a marriage alliance. Yue Mei could only smile bitterly. She would have liked that herself. Her figure and beauty ranked among the finest in the Snake-People Tribe, but he simply had no interest in her.

With the young man's talent and cultivation, he would likely rise to prominence throughout the Northwest Region within a few short years. However beautiful she was, she clearly did not qualify as a marriage partner in his eyes.

"Commander Yue Mei, I doubt you came all this way just to congratulate me." Xiao Yan smiled, his hands clasped behind his back. His snow-white robe stirred gently in the breeze. Between his handsome face and his prestigious status as a Sixth-Rank Alchemist, even Yue Mei was momentarily dazed.

She turned her blushing face away and coughed softly. "Her Majesty sent me to fetch you. The elders are waiting at the Main Altar..."

At the Snake-People Tribe's Main Altar.

Inside a quiet, ancient-looking Secret Chamber.

The leaders of the Snake-People Tribe had gathered.

Seven tribal commanders, Queen Medusa, and four Snake-People Tribe elders seated at the head of the chamber.

"I object!" Mo Bass sprang to his feet in a rage. "Why should Her Majesty lower herself to marry that human? She is the symbol of our tribe! I won't accept it!"

"Be quiet, Mo Bass. This is not your place to speak."

The Grand Elder slowly opened her eyes and cast him a cold glance. The hulking, ink-dark Snake-Person fell silent at once and sat back down, seething.

The other commanders wore mixed expressions.

Under the Snake-People Tribe's rules, marriage with humans was forbidden. A half-blood like Qing Lin would struggle to survive even among the Snake-People.

But Medusa was simply too exceptional. No man in the entire tribe could match her, and in a few years, she might even be ready to attempt a breakthrough to Dou Zong.

The human youth was more monstrous still. In just half a year, both his cultivation and alchemy had soared, the latter reaching the sixth rank. Word was that he had already begun preparing to refine Emperor's Extreme Pills, which could raise a Dou Emperor by one or two stars, and Sect Breaking Pills.

A talent like him was a dragon trapped in a shallow pool. Once released into the sea, he would rise beyond its bounds, with the whole vast world before him.

The little Jia Ma Empire could never hold him.

"Then cripple him. Or lock him up and stop supplying him with Medicinal Materials. Let him remain a Sixth-Rank Alchemist for the rest of his life." Mo Bass gritted his teeth, glanced at the stunning Queen Medusa beside him, and growled.

"No." An older Snake-Person in a gray robe shook his head and gave Mo Bass a level look. "We cannot afford to make an enemy of an Alchemist."

Yan Ci and several other commanders nodded.

They had seen the changes a single Alchemist had brought to the entire tribe. Unless they had absolutely no choice, they could not turn against him.

"What about you, Medusa?" The Grand Elder looked toward the breathtaking beauty seated nearby, elegantly tending to her violet nails. There was a trace of apology in the elder's eyes, but her voice was firm. "This is a chance for our tribe to rise, the likes of which we may not see again in a thousand years. The four of us old relics have little time left. We no longer expect to reach Dou Zong. But you... you are different."

Medusa blinked, her gaze troubled.

Who could have imagined that the human boy she had seized on a whim years ago, after failing to find the Heavenly Flames, might truly become her husband?

Though they had lived and eaten under the same roof for the past half year, Xiao Yan had mostly stayed in a side hall of her chambers. They had scarcely interacted.

They had merely gone from hostility to occasionally greeting each other.

"All right." Medusa turned her gaze aside and bit her red lip. She knew what a marriage alliance meant. It would not be an engagement in name alone; it would mean sharing his bed.

The elders meant to bind the human youth to the tribe through her. Given his temperament, he would never be easily fobbed off. Besides, all these years, he had insisted on her and no one else...

Even when Mo Bass had repeatedly tried to kill him over the past half year, he had never changed his mind. He wanted her...

As queen of the Snake-People Tribe, she did not know whether this choice was right or wrong. If that man had a conscience, perhaps it would not be so bad.

He was just a little too young.

"..."

The other commanders quietly breathed easier. The Snake-People Tribe had no blood feud with humanity as a whole. Their grudge was with the Luo Yan Empire and the Mulan Empire, which had driven them here. As for the Jia Ma Empire... relations were passable.

Often enough, they could even sit down and do business.

Otherwise, where had the tribe's Pills come from in the past?

So they thought well of Xiao Yan, the talented human Alchemist. He worked tirelessly, refining Pills day and night with astonishing speed. Their quality was excellent, and they had no side effects.

If a marriage alliance could persuade someone like him to stay, so much the better.

The Grand Elder also breathed a quiet sigh of relief. She had feared Medusa would refuse to "lower herself." Feelings could not be forced too hard, but with Medusa willing, perhaps the two could still be brought together.

She had never expected Xiao Yan to remain with the Snake-People Tribe forever. This place was only a shallow pool; it could not hold a True Dragon. Ideally, Medusa would become pregnant while he was still here. That was the Grand Elder's true aim.

Blood was the strongest bond.

"Elders, Master Xiao Yan is outside."

The Secret Chamber door opened, and Yue Mei bowed slightly.

"Show him in." The Grand Elder glanced at Medusa. She appeared perfectly composed, but beneath the table, her slender fingers were clenched so tightly they had turned white. Clearly, despite Queen Medusa's fierce and ruthless reputation, she was nowhere near as calm as she looked.

"Yes." Yue Mei turned and left. Moments later, a handsome young man in a snow-white robe followed her in.

Unlike everyone seated in the chamber, he had two legs instead of a snake's tail.

Xiao Yan stepped into the Secret Chamber and paused at the strangely tense atmosphere.