Queen Medusa

After fusing all his existing origin flames and divine thunder, Xiao Yu's strength improved considerably as well, since each fusion required him to drain his Dou Qi completely and then recover it.

Over those two months, Xiao Yu advanced to Five-Star Dou Ling.

Afterward, Xiao Yu took Mystic Essence Pills again to cultivate. In a little over a month, he raised his cultivation to Nine-Star Dou Ling, but his body then developed a resistance to the pills, rendering further doses useless.

Recently, strange things had been happening in the southern desert. The sky there first turned icy blue, then red after a while, and finally purplish gray.

Although the south was sparsely populated, the occasional human or Snake-People traveler still passed through.

The energy spilling out of that place was so immense and dangerous that anyone who saw it merely watched from afar before hurrying away.

It was not that they had never considered the possibility of a tremendous opportunity hidden there, but they needed the strength to investigate it. They could not even withstand the residual energy at its edges, so how could they possibly hunt for treasure?

The incident became occasional after-dinner conversation among a small number of desert mercenaries and members of the Snake-People Tribe. Quite a few discussed why such strange phenomena had appeared in the south.

Word also reached Yin Shi, one of the Snake-People Tribe's eight great leaders. To determine whether the reports were true, he made a special trip south to look for himself.

He had intended to approach, but the terrifying, violent energy within kept Yin Shi from drawing near.

He could sense the danger inside. Even as a Dou Wang, he feared that entering would mean certain death!

Thus, he made a special trip to the Snake-People Holy City to report the matter to Queen Medusa.

The Snake-People Holy City

Inside the temple's great hall

An emaciated, white-haired old man wearing a red brocade hat and red robes stood with his serpentine lower body slightly bowed in utmost respect toward the figure before him, his chest half exposed.

Atop a lofty flight of steps, a woman sat upright on an exquisite, imposing throne.

She wore a golden crown and a red, gold-trimmed bandeau, with golden armor adorning her shoulders, arms, and wrists. Her voluptuous, graceful figure was like a ripe peach, exuding a faint, seductive charm.

Her cascading black hair spilled loosely from her fragrant shoulders to her slender, willow-like waist. A section of purple snake tail emerged from beneath the red robes covering her lower body. As it swayed gently, its wild, alluring charm inexplicably sent heat coursing through anyone who looked upon her.

Her nearly flawless face possessed an extraordinary icy beauty. Her enchanting yet noble and stately bearing was utterly mesmerizing.

Such an air could only have formed after years in a position of supreme authority.

Expressionless, the woman did not look at the old man below. Instead, she raised her jade-like right hand before her eyes, gently moving the golden nail guards on her thumb and little finger.

"Speak. What business brings you before me?"

Only then did the old man below begin to speak. "Your Majesty, tremendous strange phenomena have appeared in the southern desert recently. The sky turns icy blue at times, dark red at others, and sometimes grayish purple."

"I investigated personally, but the energy there was so immense that it posed a grave threat to me. I dared not enter rashly, so I came to inform Your Majesty."

After hearing him out, the woman said with interest, "You are a Dou Wang, Chief Yin Shi, yet even you could not enter?"

The old man was none other than Yin Shi, one of the Snake-People Tribe's eight great leaders, while the Snake-People woman seated high above was Queen Medusa herself.

Yin Shi nodded and said respectfully, "Indeed. Even the energy leaking out of that place is extremely difficult for a Dou Ling to withstand. The energy within has already reached a level capable of killing a Dou Wang."

"Then what is your purpose in reporting this to me?"

At her question, Yin Shi cupped his hands and said, "I have never seen energy this powerful in my entire life. It may well have been caused by an extraordinary treasure emerging. Even if it was not, leaving it unchecked would still affect the Tagor Desert-or rather, threaten it."

"I sought an audience with Your Majesty in the hope that you would decide how to proceed. This matter has already exceeded my capabilities."

Queen Medusa nodded lightly. "Yes, it is indeed a threat. I have nothing pressing to attend to lately, so I will go deal with it personally."

"If there is nothing else, you may withdraw."

Yin Shi lowered his head and cupped his hands, responding respectfully, "Then I will disturb Your Majesty's rest no further."

He then withdrew from the hall.

After Yin Shi left, a gleam flickered in Queen Medusa's beautiful eyes. "A little excursion would be welcome," she murmured.

Recently, Queen Medusa had been troubled by a certain matter.

It concerned the rise or fall of the Snake-People Tribe, as well as Queen Medusa's own life or death. She was deeply worried and still hesitated over whether to proceed.

If she succeeded, the Snake-People Tribe could escape its current circumstances. She would be able to lead them to a place suitable for Snake-People to live, rather than this scorching desert whose nature clashed with their own.

If she failed, her life and cultivation would end together. Without her presence to deter them, the surrounding nations and factions would carve up and devour the Snake-People Tribe in an instant.

Her Snake-People Tribe had always been regarded as aberrations simply because they had human heads and snake bodies, neither magical beasts nor humans.

Perhaps those of supreme strength would not care, but any faction whose strength was close to that of the Snake-People Tribe would destroy them the moment an opportunity arose.

They coveted both the Snake-People Tribe's treasures and its women.

Now that these strange phenomena had appeared, Queen Medusa could take the opportunity to go out, clear her mind, and consider which choice she should make.

The queen rose, left the temple, and flew out of the Holy City, heading straight south.

Meanwhile, Xiao Yu had no idea that disaster was looming over him. He was still cultivating with increased urgency. Ever since reaching Nine-Star Dou Ling, he had remained immersed in cultivation without relaxing, apparently intending to break through to Dou Wang in one push.

Inside the tent, Xiao Yu sat cross-legged, frantically absorbing the surrounding energy. Medicinal herbs and translucent silver stones were arranged all around him, tiny electrical currents occasionally flickering across their surfaces.

The lightning and fire energy between heaven and earth surged madly into Xiao Yu's tent and entered his body. As it circulated through his meridians, it transformed into Dou Qi and flowed into the rounded Dou Crystal within his dantian.

The disturbance was so great that it affected everything within a thousand meters. After all, even as a One-Star Dou Ling, Xiao Yu's Dou Qi reserves had far exceeded those of an ordinary One-Star Dou Ling. By the time he reached Nine-Star Dou Ling, they had surpassed those of most low- and mid-rank Dou Wangs, approaching those of a High-Rank Dou Wang.

Now that he was advancing from Dou Ling to Dou Wang, the energy required was staggering. Even an ordinary person's advancement to Dou Emperor likely could not compare.

The gap between Xiao Yu and Dou Wang was shrinking bit by bit.

As time passed, the lightning energy within a thousand meters was nearly exhausted, while fire energy continued pouring in wildly. This was not a good sign.

He possessed both lightning and fire attributes. If the two could not advance in step, this breakthrough would most likely fail.

He was not worried about insufficient fire energy. That was the one thing the desert never lacked. As for lightning energy, he had prepared well in advance. While in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, he had collected quite a few lightning-attribute medicinal herbs and spirit stones containing lightning energy (Battle Through the Heavens has no spirit stones in its setting, so these should be understood as unusual stones filled with lightning energy).

Lightning-attribute medicinal herbs were rare, but they could still be found. As for these few lightning-attribute spirit stones, he had simply been lucky enough to pick them up atop an extremely tall mountain.

Xiao Yu had not investigated how they formed, but he believed it was most likely because the mountain was so high that lightning struck the stones at its summit during thunderstorms. After years upon years of such strikes, these unusual stones filled with lightning energy had formed.

Afraid that lightning energy might run short during cultivation, he had arranged all his lightning-attribute medicinal herbs and treasures around himself beforehand.

Using his soul power, Xiao Yu squeezed the lightning energy from the herbs and spirit stones one by one and channeled it into his body.

As lightning energy began flowing in again, Xiao Yu's cultivation rose little by little.

At a certain moment, his energy absorption and Dou Qi conversion finally reached a critical point.

Boom!

A muffled rumble came from within Xiao Yu's body, and the Dou Crystal in his dantian began to change.

The Dou Crystal remained the same size, but its golden-red color grew deeper, giving it a sense of ocean-like vastness.

The origin flames and divine thunder surrounding the Dou Crystal in his dantian rejoiced as well, spinning around it without pause.

"Ah!"

Suddenly, with a great cry, a pair of wings sprouted from Xiao Yu's back-one formed from golden flames, the other from black-and-white lightning!

Framed by those wings, Xiao Yu was shrouded in golden light, yin and yang intertwined around him, like a god who commanded heavenly tribulations!