Above the forest, moonlight poured down like a waterfall.
Queen Medusa stood proudly in midair, her long black dress snapping in the night wind.
Her arms were folded across her chest, her seven-colored slit pupils looking down on Shen Luo from on high. A mocking curve tugged at her red lips.
"Now I'm starting to look forward to this."
Her voice was languid, yet carried a blade's chill. "An Alchemist who won't stick to refining pills, and instead wants me to call you... Master!"
"For the sake of those pills, I'll strike an elegant pose when I plant my foot on your head!"
Shen Luo rolled his neck, his bones cracking crisply. "Your Majesty, not just any stray cat or dog gets to call me Master!"
Shen Luo and Medusa had traveled far from the Inner Academy, deep into the mountains.
Here, the two of them would fight it out!
"Insolence!" Medusa sneered. Her slender fingers undid the fastening behind her neck, and her long black dress slipped down with a rustle, like a shed snakeskin.
Boom!
A mighty pillar of seven-colored Dou Qi shot skyward, instantly pulverizing every tree within a hundred yards.
Amid the raging energy storm, Medusa's body swelled rapidly. Magnificent seven-colored scales surged from beneath her skin, covering her entire body in an instant.
A Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Giant Python, a thousand feet long, coiled in the air. Her body was as thick as a palace column, her scales refracting the moonlight like a flowing vein of gemstones.
Those slit pupils, larger than lanterns, looked down at Shen Luo. As her forked tongue flickered, the cloyingly sweet scent of snake saliva filled the air.
Hiss!
"Proud Alchemist, is this form of mine worthy of your admiration?"
The giant python spoke in a voice like metal scraping against metal, though Medusa's habitual arrogance remained unmistakable.
Shen Luo looked up at the enormous creature and softly exhaled.
"Wicked beast, now that you've revealed your true form, lower your head obediently and acknowledge me as your master! I require you to aid my cultivation!"
Medusa's pupils narrowed. "You're courting death!"
Her immense tail swept across with a sonic boom. That blow could have shattered a small mountain into rubble, yet Shen Luo merely raised his left arm and blocked it casually.
Bang!
The tremendous crash shook the forest, sending countless birds and beasts fleeing in panic.
Medusa's enormous tail struck Shen Luo's arm with the clang of metal, as though she had hit an entire mountain range. The recoil left her whole tail numb.
"How is that possible?" Medusa's pupils abruptly contracted.
Even a Four-Star Dou Zong would have to think twice before taking a blow from her true form head-on!
How could he do it?
Medusa's serpentine face lost its composure.
Before her words had faded, Shen Luo's figure flashed into motion.
Medusa saw only a blur before the human who had been standing on the ground appeared above her head.
Moonlight outlined his tall, slender silhouette from behind. His right fist clenched. There was no flashy glow of a Dou Technique, only a punch of the purest, most brutal force.
Boom!
That fist smashed into Medusa's head, sending seven-colored scales exploding outward. Her immense serpentine body plunged straight toward the ground as though struck by a meteor.
A mushroom cloud of dust erupted in the forest.
Medusa felt as though her skull had nearly split open. Her head rang, and through her blurred vision, she saw Shen Luo slowly descending from the sky, his fist still held in the position of his strike.
"You..." She struggled to lift her head, then spat out a mouthful of bright red blood.
"So what if you're a Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python!" Shen Luo flexed his wrist. "Forget you-even if a Nine-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python came, I'd beat her just the same."
Medusa was utterly enraged!
"Seven-Colored Breath!"
She raised her head and hissed at the sky, Dou Qi surging wildly around her.
Space rippled as countless streams of worldly energy gathered in the giant python's mouth, instantly condensing into a glowing ball of energy hundreds of feet across.
The ball continued expanding at a furious pace. Mighty Dou Qi poured into it ceaselessly, and in moments, it had grown to a thousand feet across!
This was her trump card, her ultimate killing move.
Surprise appeared on Shen Luo's face.
Holy shit.
Isn't that a Tailed Beast Bomb?
That mouth opens so wide. No wonder she's called a Heaven Swallowing Python!
Shen Luo had no intention of avoiding her attack. He would smash every last thing Medusa relied on in a head-on clash!
Every monkey needed a different tether.
With Zi Yan, he had to cater to her tastes and coax her along!
A little girl who tugged at the heartstrings deserved plenty of love and care.
But Queen Medusa was different.
She was an expert from the same era as Yun Shan and Jia Xingtian.
The queen of the Snake-People Tribe, who had fought her way through mountains of blades and seas of fire!
Now that she had advanced to Dou Zong, the arrogance in her bones had only grown fiercer!
The more he fawned over her, the more outrageous she would become!
Shen Luo's black hair whipped wildly, and purple blood energy surged into the highest heavens. The instant his overlord body awakened, the entire expanse of space trembled.
He took one step, and space cracked outright, like glass struck by an invisible sledgehammer.
I am the heavens, and the heavens are me!
Shen Luo threw back his head and roared. An incomparably domineering will howled out of his body, as though an ancient demon god had descended upon the world.
"Heavenly Overlord Fist!" Shen Luo shouted, raising his hand and throwing a punch!
Boom!
A thunderous explosion resounded across the sky.
Shen Luo emerged from the energy storm, his aura deep as an abyss and his face filled with murderous severity.
"Your Majesty, before absolute power, any resistance you offer is meaningless."
"Lying facedown with your ass raised high is your only choice!"
Medusa's slit pupils trembled violently.
The pressure emanating from Shen Luo actually stirred an instinctive flicker of fear in her.
She could not understand it. She was already a top-tier magical beast. What in this world could possibly make her afraid?
"Scared?" Shen Luo asked coldly.
Medusa did not answer.
Who the fuck wouldn't be?
Her enormous forked tongue flickered, then she shot toward the horizon without looking back.
She certainly could not beat him, but as long as she lasted for an incense stick's worth of time, she would still be the winner.
"Your Majesty, why are you running?"
Shen Luo's voice suddenly came from behind her.
Medusa froze and glanced back.
She saw Shen Luo gripping her enormous tail with both hands before giving it a violent swing.
Her tail dragged her body along, and Medusa began spinning uncontrollably through the air.
Like a plaything!
She clenched her teeth, a trace of resolve flashing through her seven-colored slit pupils.
"I'll fight you to the death!"
Medusa opened her enormous jaws and bit down on Shen Luo's body.
Bang!
Medusa's composure shattered.
Not only had she failed to bite through Shen Luo's body, she had also broken one of her sharp teeth.
She cried out in pain, then immediately reverted to human form. Seeing this, Shen Luo promptly released Medusa's ankle!
Medusa went flying, smashing through more than a dozen trees before finally becoming embedded in a massive boulder.
"You... how dare you treat me like this!"
Medusa struggled free of the rock, blood seeping from the corner of her mouth. Her hair was disheveled, her robes torn, and every inch of her body hurt.
Looking at Shen Luo's calm face, she suddenly felt a bone-deep chill.
This Alchemist... something's wrong with him.
Very, very wrong!
Yet Shen Luo showed no intention of cherishing a beauty. Like a savage domestic abuser, he began pummeling Medusa with punches and kicks.
Medusa's wretched screams rose from the ground without cease!
The proud queen of the Snake-People Tribe had met a brute-a brute who showed not the slightest mercy.
A few breaths later!
"Stop, stop, stop!
The queen's pride had not lasted long. Medusa begged Shen Luo to stop. She could feel that if this beating continued, he really would beat her to death.
"Stop hitting me, stop hitting me, please stop hitting me!" At last, she abandoned all her dignity, curling up on the ground with both arms over her head, her long black hair spilling everywhere.
"I'll acknowledge... acknowledge you as my master! Isn't that enough!"
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