The First Intimate Encounter

Looking at the endless flaming desert before him, Xiao Yan's eye twitched. He must have fanned a wisp of Six-Ding Divine Fire out of the Old Lord's pill furnace with the Banana Leaf Fan. Since he had used the Yang Fan, it had fed the flames, creating this spectacle.

Oh no. I've fanned a Flaming Mountain into existence.

Xiao Yan looked slightly embarrassed. He held the Yang Fan, which would only make the flames burn fiercer. To put them out, he needed the Yin Fan.

The Old Lord clearly had no intention of paying him any attention. After refining the pill, he had fallen silent.

"My master's avatar crossed over from another realm earlier specifically to refine this pill. It can gently awaken that trace of bloodline within your body." Xiao Yan coughed lightly twice, changing the subject.

"May I ask, Master Xiao Yan, what grade is the pill your esteemed master refined?" The Grand Elder stared at the jade bottle in Xiao Yan's hand with burning eyes as she cautiously posed the question.

"It should count as... Ninth grade," Xiao Yan said after a moment's thought.

Judging by its effects, it had been tempered and nurtured with Samadhi True Fire and personally refined by the Old Lord. In this world, it probably could not be measured by the usual pill grades at all. But according to its classification, it should fall within the ninth grade.

After all, it had just developed sentience and nearly taken form to escape.

Had the Old Lord not casually subdued and sealed it, Xiao Yan might not have been able to keep it under control himself.

Gulp.

The Snake-People Tribe elders present all looked aghast. Ninth grade! A ninth-grade Immortal Pill!!!

Even an ordinary Dou Zun expert probably could not accomplish such a feat. Could this young man's teacher be... a legendary Dou Sheng?!

Even Medusa cast Xiao Yan a complicated glance with her narrow, beautiful eyes, an indescribable feeling rising in her heart. Half a year ago, she had threatened this young man's life. Now... merely because she had agreed to give herself to him, he was willing to have a pill of such a grade made for her.

He had even asked his teacher, someone of such exalted standing, to personally cross space and come to the Northwest Region to refine it.

This young man... seems to care a great deal about me.

"As for the flames in the desert..." Gradually recovering from her shock, the Grand Elder's smile took on a hint of flattery.

"The weather's lovely today." Xiao Yan raised an eyebrow and gazed out into the desert.

The Snake-People Tribe's Grand Elder's eye twitched. She glanced at the sea of fire stretching across a hundred li of desert. Surely he could still put it out?

Her eyes shifted, and she coughed twice before smiling. "Still, this place lies on the border between our Snake-People Tribe, the Luo Yan Empire, and the Chu Yun Empire. Leaving this sea of fire here gives us another layer of protection. Even a Dou Wang expert would find it extremely difficult to cross..."

Xiao Yan's eyes lit up, and he rubbed his chin.

"Excellent."

The Snake-People Tribe's Grand Elder: "..."

Medusa: "..."

The commanders: "..."

The Snake-People Tribe hinterland.

Inside a quiet little courtyard.

Several Snake-People Tribe elders wore doting smiles as they repeatedly looked Xiao Yan and Medusa over. Only when the pair began to look uncomfortable did they turn and leave.

"..."

An intimate tension hung in the air.

Xiao Yan glanced at Queen Medusa beside him. Her snake tail remained coiled beneath the bench, while her supple, slender waist, like a water snake's, was faintly visible beneath her lavish purple robes.

At that moment, Queen Medusa appeared to be idly playing with her fingers, but her fair earlobes were tinged red. Who knew what those elders had pulled her aside to say before leaving?

"I'll take your pill shortly," Medusa said softly. "The day I emerge from seclusion will be the day we marry..."

"All right." Xiao Yan nodded slightly.

"I'll stand guard outside. No one will disturb you."

"Mm..." Medusa was clearly distracted. Recalling what the Grand Elder had told her earlier, she glanced at the bored Xiao Yan beside her and lightly bit her red lip.

Xiao Yan had closed his eyes to rest, considering whether it was time to send letters to the Xiao Clan in the Jia Ma Empire and Hai Bodong, when a fragrant breeze suddenly brushed his face. Somewhat startled, he opened his eyes.

His gaze met that of an incomparably beautiful face right before him.

Queen Medusa, who had always been lofty, languid, and imperious, with the unmistakable bearing of a ruler, was still struggling to remain composed. Yet her slightly trembling voice and evasive eyes betrayed her.

The next instant, the beauty seemed to make up her mind, and her red lips pressed against his.

Xiao Yan's pupils shook with shock as he felt a cool softness against his lips. The stunning face inches from his own seemed to carry a faint, breathless pant. Her narrow, beautiful eyes shot him a look, as though exasperated by his failure to understand romance.

Still, she leaned toward his ear of her own accord and whispered with fragrant breath, "Hold me tight..."

"Hah..." With Queen Medusa teasing him like this, desire surged through Xiao Yan, and his breathing grew ragged.

Instinctively following her lead, he wrapped his arms around her soft, slender waist.

Medusa's lovely face flushed slightly. Sensing Xiao Yan's increasingly rapid breathing and the heat in his eyes, she wondered if she had gone a little too far. Am I... really that alluring?

But a moment later, Xiao Yan steadied his breathing.

A snake tail had its appeal, but it was a little too unusual for him. He was in no hurry to take things further just yet.

"You enchantress..." Xiao Yan exhaled deeply, glancing at the beauty in his arms as he forcibly suppressed his desire.

"If you keep this up, don't blame me if I can't hold myself back."

"Hmph. Men~"

Medusa gave a soft snort and slipped out of Xiao Yan's embrace, her snake tail swaying beneath her as she headed toward the rear courtyard.

In truth, it looked more like a retreat. It seemed her own feelings had been stirred as well.

Feeling the lingering softness on his fingers, Xiao Yan suppressed the restless desire in his heart. He sent Hua She'er to fetch paper and a brush, wrote a letter each to his father, his eldest brother, and Hai Bodong, then dispatched members of the Snake-People Tribe to deliver them to the Imperial City.

"That should leave me with nothing to worry about." Relief flashed in Xiao Yan's eyes. Once he married Medusa, he would head to the Black-Corner Region for some "training." Now that he had reached the Dou Ling level, he could hardly be considered weak.

And there was that greedy girl, Xiao Yi Xian. He wondered how she was doing without his Netherworld Poison Flame.

The Jia Ma Empire.

The imperial capital.

An attendant galloped down the street on a swift horse, drawing curious looks from many passersby who stopped to watch.

The attendant stopped before the gates of a magnificent residence. On the plaque above them, the name Mittel was written in bold, sweeping calligraphy. This was Mittel, one of the Jia Ma Empire's leading merchant houses, whose auction houses could be found throughout the empire.

At its peak, it had even had a Dou Emperor overseeing it. Though it was no longer as powerful as it once had been, it remained one of the imperial capital's three great families.

"Urgent message!"

The attendant handed the reins to a gate guard and hurried into the courtyard.

Elsewhere.

Hai Bodong stood in a courtyard planted with a grove of bamboo. It was summer, and the bamboo grew lush and green. Seen from above, it resembled a beautiful sea of bamboo.

Yet he was in no mood to admire it.

He let out a long, quiet sigh.

Such are fate and fortune.

He had finally glimpsed hope of obtaining a Barrier-Breaking Pill, only to have it mercilessly crushed by the woman who haunted his heart. How on earth had she tracked them there? No matter how he thought about it, he could not understand.