At the heart of the Tagor Desert stood a Holy City built over a hundred years. It was the sacred ground of every Snake-People Tribe, and the home of their strongest ruler, Empress Medusa.
Ordinary Snake-People Tribes mostly lived in towns or villages. Most Snake-People led hard, impoverished lives and lacked proper shelters.
Their houses were generally piled together from yellow earth, sand, and stone. Many Snake-People even lived in tents made from animal hides-or human skin.
Only this Holy City displayed the architectural beauty of the Snake-People Tribe, standing apart from everything else in the Tagor Desert.
Rumor had it that the ancestors of the Snake-People were not native to the Northwest Continent, but had migrated here for various reasons.
Snake-People and humans were incompatible by nature, and a long, drawn-out war had once erupted between them.
That war had ultimately ended in the utter defeat of the Snake-People Tribe, and their tribes had been driven into this desert.
When the Snake-People Tribe stood on the brink of extinction, a female Snake-Person awakened an immensely powerful bloodline and talent. She led her people in securing a foothold and even repelled powerful human invaders on several occasions.
She was none other than the Snake-People Tribe's sole ruler today, Empress Medusa.
Empress Medusa's reputation for beauty and ferocity had long since spread throughout the Tagor Desert and the surrounding empires.
Even across the entire Northwest Continent, few supreme experts could stand against her.
At the thought of meeting that notoriously fearsome Snake-People empress on this expedition, Xiao Yan felt a faint stir of excitement.
Of course, his excitement was naturally for the Heavenly Flame in her possession. He certainly did not believe Empress Medusa would show him mercy as Yue Mei, the Snake-People Dou Wang he had encountered earlier, had done.