The beginning of the journey

Liu Yu naturally knew these four elders, and they got along quite well. After all, his contributions to the Snake-People Tribe were undeniably real!

What was more, the Snake-People Tribe had raised him. Without exaggeration, he counted as one of them!

“Grand Elder, with Her Majesty's strength, wouldn't tempering her body with Heavenly Flames be as easy as reaching out and taking something? She's made her breakthrough and is simply recuperating now!”

Liu Yu gently raised his hand, revealing the Seven-Colored Little Snake to everyone.

"Could this be..."

Looking at the Seven-Colored Little Snake in Liu Yu's hand and sensing her familiar aura, the four elders could not help recalling the records in their tribe's ancient texts: a body of seven colors, eyes tinged with purple, flesh that exuded fragrance, and power that reached the heavens...

The Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python!

Feeling more than a dozen gazes converge on her, the Seven-Colored Little Snake grew a little frightened. A flash of seven-colored light later, she vanished from Liu Yu's hand.

“The queen is still asleep. Another soul is controlling this body.” The corner of Liu Yu's mouth twitched. The little snake was darting all over his body...

The four elders understood. Naturally, they knew about the two souls.

Seeing Liu Yu's pale face and weakened aura, the Grand Elder told him to rest first. With the Seven-Colored Little Snake behaving like this, they could only leave her in his care.

Liu Yu did not refuse. He gave Hua She'er a reassuring look, ignored Yue Mei's resentful gaze, and left the island in the middle of the lake first. The four elders and the various leaders would handle what followed.

Night fell. A full moon hung in the sky, its clear light spilling over the land.

Inside Queen Medusa's bedchamber in the Divine Temple, the recovered Liu Yu was tirelessly teasing the Seven-Colored Little Snake.

At the same time, he wondered when his Queen would awaken.

As the sun rose, the temperature in the Tagor Desert began to soar.

Forcibly booted awake, Liu Yu slowly opened his red eyes. The sight before him set his blood racing, instantly jolting him fully awake!

Queen Medusa's flawless, jade-like body lay exposed before his eyes, especially where his hand was...

"You're awake!"

Queen Medusa looked at Liu Yu with a teasing half-smile, one delicate hand resting lightly to the side.

"Do you like it?"

Liu Yu honestly nodded.

"Do you want it?"

That seductive voice sent Liu Yu sinking completely under her spell, and he nodded instinctively.

Watching Liu Yu stare at her in a daze, Queen Medusa revealed an enchanting smile. She leaned forward slightly and brushed his lips with a light kiss.

"We'll talk about it when you're grown!"

Her ethereal yet alluring voice brought Liu Yu back to his senses somewhat. He then looked at Queen Medusa with an aggrieved expression.

At the same time, Liu Yu silently pulled over the quilt beside him and gently covered Queen Medusa's body, hiding those tempting curves! As the saying went, out of sight, out of mind!

But Queen Medusa did not let him off. A delicate hand emerged from beneath the quilt, pulled Liu Yu straight underneath, and gathered him into her embrace.

Liu Yu had thought his Queen was about to do something naughty to him and had even prepared to put up a token resistance. He had not expected her merely to hold him in her arms.

Liu Yu sighed inwardly and wrapped his arms around Queen Medusa's slender, willow-like waist, savoring this moment of peace.

Wutan City, Jia Ma Empire.

A handsome youth with a tall, slender figure, dressed in an exquisite pale-purple robe, walked down the street. Yet the people around him seemed unable to see him at all. Sometimes they walked straight toward him, and the purple-robed youth turned slightly to avoid a collision.

This youth was none other than Liu Yu. After Queen Medusa had awakened that day, she had taken him to the Elder Hall to discuss certain matters with the four elders before turning back into the Seven-Colored Little Snake.

And Liu Yu had begun his journey of training. Yes, training!

Queen Medusa required him to reach Dou Emperor before returning to the Snake-People Tribe, and his alchemist rank had to reach at least the sixth rank. If he met her requirements, she would consider giving him some rewards!

How could he, Liu Yu, possibly be tempted by such "paltry benefits"? He simply wanted to grow stronger!

Truth be told, he was a little excited to leave the Tagor Desert for the first time.

After all, he had spent most of the past ten years in the Divine Temple. Even his occasional outings involved being taken to an oasis by that "brazen hussy" Yue Mei so she could take liberties with him...

The reason he had come to Wutan City was to meet the protagonist of the Dou Qi Continent—Xiao Yan!

He held none of that supposed hostility toward Xiao Yan. If they could become friends, he would be more than happy to!

At least as far as he knew, Xiao Yan was a good person overall. He distinguished kindness from grudges, always repaid favors, and remained steadfast toward his friends.

Some of his childhood behavior had been downright outrageous, but nobody was perfect!

Compared with a certain San, the difference was heaven and earth. Oh, no, there was no comparison whatsoever!

He truly agreed with that saying online in his previous life: "Better to be Xiao Yan's underling than Tang San's brother"!

Ah, enough of that. How could a petty villain like that San disturb my Dao heart!

Hehe, Little Yanzi, I'm coming to see you!

"So this is the Xiao Clan?" Liu Yu murmured as he looked at the estate before him. Using the information he had overheard along the way, he had accurately located Xiao Yan's whereabouts.

He had actually come this time to confirm the timeline, though the timeline of Battle Through the Heavens had always been rather vague.

With a soft chuckle, Liu Yu activated Thousand Illusion Body at full power. His body nearly merged with space itself as he quietly infiltrated the Xiao Clan.

Thousand Illusion Body was what gave him the confidence to visit Xiao Yan at the Xiao Clan. Back when he had achieved minor mastery of it, he had used it to evade the detection of all four elders in the Elder Hall. Those were four experts at the Peak Dou Emperor level! Otherwise, with his current strength, he would never have entered the Xiao Clan.

He knew there was a "love-addled fool" in the Xiao Clan, along with a Dou Huang expert hidden in the shadows. If they mistook him for someone plotting against Xiao Yan and disposed of him, that would be terribly unjust!

Of course, his greatest source of confidence was his queen! If something unexpected really happened and he was discovered, he would unleash the dog... Pah! He would ask his queen for help! (Queen Medusa: ?!)

Soon, guided by his senses, Liu Yu arrived at the Xiao Clan's square. It was bustling with a sea of people, and he happened to hear a voice that sounded strange to him.

"Xiao Yan, Dou power, third stage! Grade: low!"

Discussion rippled across the square, allowing Liu Yu to learn that Xiao Yan was now fifteen. This was precisely the beginning of his journey to the summit!

Watching the boys and girls in the square sneer at Xiao Yan, Liu Yu inexplicably thought of a very fitting saying: "Today you look down on me; tomorrow I'll be beyond your reach"!

Who could have imagined that this "trash," as everyone considered him, would ultimately become the Flame Emperor whose might shook the Dou Qi Continent!

Speaking of the Flame Emperor, Liu Yu could not help thinking of Flame Mantra. This was a cultivation method that could continually evolve by devouring Heavenly Flames! In theory, it could evolve without limit, provided it had all manner of wondrous flames to consume.

But Liu Yu felt that his Myriad Forms Divine Art was even more amazing. It could accommodate countless cultivation methods within a single body, which meant he could cultivate Flame Mantra too!

Moreover, when he had first cultivated Divine Flame Art, Myriad Forms Divine Art had circulated automatically. Then, miraculously, a special master-subordinate connection had formed between the two cultivation methods.

After that, Divine Flame Art had also begun circulating automatically. That effectively meant he was cultivating every moment of every day. It could hardly have felt better!

"Next, Xiao Xun'er!"

The examiner's voice pulled Liu Yu back from his wandering thoughts. In his sight, a girl dressed in purple stood gracefully to one side. Though her lovely face was still youthful, her cool, composed bearing resembled a green lotus just beginning to bloom.

Tsk, tsk, matching colors... Liu Yu's focus was rather peculiar. Although Gu Xun'er was very "appealing," his Queen was the greatest of all time!

Having achieved his goal, Liu Yu moved and left the area.

He had little interest in what would happen next. He believed that sooner or later, he and Xiao Yan would meet.

The Mittel Auction House.

Liu Yu entered without any hindrance. Naturally, he had come to collect medicinal ingredients. After all, the Mittel Merchant Guild was the largest merchant guild in the Jia Ma Empire, and a member of the Mittel Family's direct line happened to be in Wutan City.

His gaze swept over the glittering, lavish hall before he entered a room marked "Appraisal Room."

He pushed open the door and went inside. In the somewhat empty room, a middle-aged man looked up at the noise. Seeing Liu Yu's luxurious clothes and extraordinary bearing, something stirred in his mind. He hurried over with a smile. "Young master, are you here to have a treasure appraised?"

"More or less," Liu Yu replied in a gentle voice.

Then, with a light wave of his hand, numerous jade bottles appeared on the table beside him.

"These are all pills ranging from the second to the fifth rank."

The middle-aged man froze, looking incredulous.

"Call the person in charge," Liu Yu prompted upon seeing his stunned expression.

"Y-yes, sir!"

The middle-aged man came to his senses. His expression abruptly changed, and he hurried out of the room.

Liu Yu sat down in a chair. A Seven-Colored Little Snake suddenly appeared from his sleeve. This was Little Qi; because she had seven colors, Liu Yu had given her that name.

Little Qi looked expectantly at Liu Yu, her pitiful gaze seeming to say, "I'm hungry"!

Seeing this, Liu Yu took a bottle of medicinal liquid from his Storage Ring. He had specially prepared this liquid containing fire-attribute energy for Little Qi. In terms of value, it rivaled a fourth-rank pill.

Liu Yu planned to make a trip to the Magical Beast Mountain Range afterward. After all, there was something there that his Little Qi liked to eat, and it would be somewhat useful to him as well.

Before long, the middle-aged man returned, but this time two people followed behind him.

One was an elderly man in blue with slightly graying hair. On his chest was an emblem shaped like a medicine cauldron, marked with two silver ripples.

The other was a beautiful woman dressed in a red gown, with exceptionally voluptuous, exquisite curves. When it came to seductive charm, aside from his Queen, probably only Yue Mei could compare with her.

Compared with Yue Mei, however, the woman before him had a hint more youthful innocence, giving her a different kind of appeal.

"Sir, this is Miss Ya Fei, the person in charge of our auction house. And this is Master Gu Ni, a Second-Rank Alchemist!" the middle-aged man introduced respectfully.

Liu Yu gave the old man and Ya Fei an equally brief glance, then continued feeding Little Qi.

Meanwhile, Ya Fei was also studying the youth before her.

He wore a luxurious pale-purple robe, his long silver hair loosely tied to one side. A faint smile lingered at the corner of his fair, handsome face, and his ruby-red eyes seemed to hold countless swirling stars.

For a moment, Ya Fei found herself staring in a daze. She had never seen anyone so perfect. But soon, she came back to her senses and felt a wave of vexation. How could she behave like this...

Meanwhile, Gu Ni was shocked by the medicinal liquid in Liu Yu's hand, which was being licked up. With that exceedingly rich pill fragrance, if his guess was correct, this medicinal liquid had surely reached the level of a fourth-rank pill!

Gu Ni was positively green with envy. This was medicinal liquid comparable to a fourth-rank pill! In the past, he had only been fortunate enough to glimpse such a thing from afar!

What had this little snake of unknown species done to deserve this... What a waste of heavenly treasures!

Brothers, I'm looking for suggestions for Queen Medusa's name. Should I simply use her name from the original—Cai Lin—or give her a new one? If it's a new name, I'd like to hear your opinions, dear readers.

Finally, please support me.