Asking the Queen to Die

Medusa, standing beside him, noticed nothing amiss and was about to accept the Snake God Wine.

Long Xiao reached out to stop her.

Then he poured his own wine onto the ground. A wisp of white smoke rose, and the wine on the ground vanished.

Horror surfaced on the High Priest's face at the sight. Had Long Xiao seen through me?

"Long Xiao! What are you doing?"

Medusa snapped at him when she saw what he had done.

"This wine is poisoned."

Long Xiao said it outright.

What? Poisoned!

Long Xiao's words gave Medusa a terrible fright.

How could that be?

Everyone present paled at his declaration.

The High Priest had poisoned the queen? That was impossible!

The High Priest had served two generations of queens. How could he possibly poison her? Yet Long Xiao now commanded considerable prestige, and his words carried weight. Besides, he had absolutely no reason to lie.

After a moment's consideration, Medusa chose to believe Long Xiao. She crushed her wine cup, then turned her cold gaze on the High Priest.

"High Priest, give me an explanation."

Medusa's voice was icy and thick with fury. For daring to poison her, even death would not suffice to appease her anger.

The High Priest felt no turmoil at Medusa's questioning. He had underestimated Long Xiao after all. The man was far too mysterious.

"Your Majesty, this wine is indeed poisoned."

The High Priest raised his head to look at Medusa and spoke respectfully.

What? It really was poisoned?

Medusa was stunned by his admission, then flew into a towering rage.

The man truly had the audacity to defy all bounds. He had actually dared to poison her.

"High Priest! What are you trying to do? How dare you poison the queen! What punishment do you deserve?"

The Eight Great Commanders rose to their feet and condemned the High Priest, their hearts likewise burning with resentment at such an act.

Even if he was the High Priest, betraying the Snake-People Tribe was unforgivable!

Ignoring them, the High Priest continued in a grave voice, "Our Snake-People Tribe has declined for many years. It is time to restore our glory. For the future of the Snake-People Tribe, this old servant implores Your Majesty to die!"

What?

"High Priest, what do you mean by that? You want the queen to die? Have you gone mad?"

At this point, Medusa could no longer endure it either. She shouted angrily at the High Priest, "Insolence! It seems I have been far too lenient with your priestly lineage!"

Had Long Xiao not warned her today, she would never have known that the High Priest, who had always been loyal to the Snake-People Tribe, would actually poison her.

With that, Medusa waved a hand. Snake-People guards appeared, surrounding the hall and encircling the High Priest.

Everyone found it unbelievable. How had things come to this?

The High Priest was the most senior figure in the tribe, and had even assisted Queen Medusa's mother during her reign. Yet the High Priest had done something like this.

And what did he mean by asking the queen to die for the glory of the Snake-People Tribe?

The current queen had abolished the old system, making her authority supreme. Her strength had also soared, and the Snake-People Tribe was flourishing with each passing day.

How could there be any talk of dying for their glory?

Medusa drew a deep breath and stared coldly at the High Priest. "Guards, seize this traitor first!"

At the queen's command, the Eight Great Commanders drew their swords. A murderous chill filled the hall.

Yet beneath the High Priest's mask, the corners of his mouth curled into a mocking smile.

The next instant, he abruptly raised his head, an icy gleam bursting from his eyes. He roared, and a surge of violent Dou Qi swept out, engulfing the entire hall.

Rumble!

The entire hall shook violently, then exploded with a deafening crash.

Boom!

Even Long Xiao had no time to react before the hall exploded!

"There's a powerful expert here!"

Long Xiao and Medusa exchanged a glance, each seeing shock in the other's eyes.

Naturally, neither believed that this power belonged to the High Priest.

"What's going on? How could the High Priest possess such power?"

Yue Mei, Mo Bass, and the other commanders were also dumbfounded. The hall had exploded, even though the palace structure could withstand a full-power strike from a Dou Emperor.

Had they not reacted quickly and dodged in time, none of them would have been getting back up.

Long Xiao narrowed his eyes to slits and scanned his surroundings, searching for the source of that power.

"Where's the High Priest? Did he blow himself up?"

Once the dust cleared, everyone found that the High Priest was nowhere to be seen inside the hall. Debris lay piled all around it.

Long Xiao's and Medusa's expressions shifted slightly.

Suddenly, the earth began to shake. Then a deafening noise came from beneath their feet.

Everyone looked down at the ground. It split open, and an altar emerged from the fissure. It looked exactly like the Snake-People Tribe's Altar, yet carried a far more ancient, timeworn air.

The altar was slowly rising.

Everyone's eyes widened at the sight.

What on earth was happening?

Boom!

Another tremendous crash rang out. Seven-colored radiance appeared in the sky, followed by a terrifying pressure that left everyone struggling to breathe.

Even the heavens seemed to tremble!

What was this? The High Priest actually had an accomplice! He had kept an accomplice hidden!

For a moment, all the Snake-People felt not only a palpable pressure, but terror deep within their bloodlines.

Apart from Medusa and Long Xiao, everyone involuntarily prostrated themselves on the ground!

The High Priest's figure suddenly appeared in the sky.

"High Priest! What exactly are you trying to do?"

A sinister smile curled the High Priest's lips.

"My queen, welcome the descent of the Snake God. She will lead the Snake-People Tribe back to the glory of a thousand years ago."

"The Snake God?!"

Medusa and all her people froze, their faces filled with shock and disbelief.

The Snake-People Tribe had a long history, and for a considerable period, it had been incomparably powerful because of the Snake God. She was their greatest ancestor!

But she had already been dead for eight thousand years!

After reading the records in the Book Pavilion, Long Xiao had also gained some understanding of the Snake-People Tribe's history.

The Snake God was the Snake-People Tribe's founding ancestor and its first ruler. Her true form was a Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python, and she was immensely powerful.

A possibility suddenly occurred to him, sending a chill of fear through him. Could the presence I sensed that night have belonged to the Snake God?

All at once, everything fell into place. Could the Snake-People Tribe's inheritance have been a deception all along?

"High Priest, what nonsense are you spouting? Don't you know this will bring disaster upon the Snake-People Tribe?"

Medusa rebuked him in uncontrollable fury. She would not allow such a thing to happen. Absolutely not!

The High Priest ignored her. Instead, he knelt and respectfully kowtowed three times toward the sky, his forehead striking with audible thuds.

"We respectfully welcome your descent, my sovereign. Our lineage shall forever remain your devout followers."

An eerie chant suddenly drifted down from the heavens. Then dense incantation symbols appeared in the sky. The runes grew ever more numerous and intricate, ultimately forming an enormous formation.

An ethereal, graceful figure dressed in multicolored robes stepped out of the formation.

The figure had a human upper body and a serpent's tail, looking extraordinarily seductive and alluring.

Then, before everyone's eyes, the serpent's tail transformed into a pair of legs! Her eyes slowly opened, and two brilliant rays shot from her pupils!

Medusa's eyes instantly widened. She felt the blood within her boiling, as though it had begun to resonate with something. Yet this person's strength filled her with an inexplicable dread, and she involuntarily retreated two steps.

The Snake God was actually still alive?

"My people, from this moment forth, I shall lead you in rewriting the history of the Snake-People Tribe!"

That cool, majestic voice resounded across the heavens.

At those words, all the Snake-People knelt, unable to move. This was the oppressive might of the royal bloodline!

Medusa, however, was unaffected. She was now a divine beast, and her bloodline was even more powerful than the Snake God's!