Evolution

After waiting a moment, Queen Medusa slowly rose, twisting her slender, willow-branch waist as her purple snake tail slid over the ground. The blue flame was reflected in her autumn-water eyes. Her cherry lips parted slightly, her expression resolute as she murmured to herself, "I have to succeed."

As soon as the words fell, Queen Medusa slowly shed her brocade robe, revealing a body like white jade. Jia Lie Jun kept swallowing, his breathing quickened, and his face flushed crimson. Queen Medusa, this beautiful snake-woman, was truly a natural temptress, her whole body exuding a thick allure. Even the mature Ya Fei paled somewhat in comparison. As for Xun Er, she had not fully grown into herself yet and was still a little childish, making her even less comparable to Queen Medusa.

Queen Medusa slowly reached her jade hand toward the Heavenly Flame. The instant she touched it, the small cluster of flame suddenly blazed brightly, spreading over her entire body in the blink of an eye. Within the flames, Queen Medusa gave a muffled groan, her willow brows tightly furrowed and her silver teeth clenched as her hands slowly formed seals. With the fall of the final seal, a violent gust of wind swept out in all directions.

Jia Lie Jun stared fixedly at Queen Medusa with both eyes. He saw her graceful figure slowly transform into a gigantic seven-colored python, its seven-colored scales gleaming brilliantly beneath the sunlight. The enormous python continuously writhed and rolled, appearing to be in extreme pain. The flames grew fiercer and fiercer, to the point that even space seemed to distort. Before long, the seven-colored scales had been burned pitch-black.

Suddenly, thunder boomed across the sky. The originally azure heavens were instantly covered in dark clouds, and silver lightning streaked through the air like giant serpents. Immediately afterward, a powerful pressure spread throughout the entire Medusa Temple. Sensing this pressure, the people locked in battle all stopped in tacit agreement. As they looked at the lightning in the sky, thick as a water barrel, a sense of terror gradually crept into everyone's hearts. Yun Yun's willow brows knitted tightly, her eyes filled with worry.

"Sect Leader Yun, what's going on?" Yan Shi asked in a trembling voice. When had he ever witnessed such heavenly might? If that lightning struck down, it would surely reduce them to ash.

Yun Yun said with a face full of concern, "I once read in an ancient text that whenever a strange beast is born or advances, it is accompanied by anomalies of heaven and earth."

"Then has Queen Medusa successfully evolved? If that's the case, this is bad. If Queen Medusa steps into the Dou Zong realm, it'll be difficult for us to retreat in one piece." Sensing the tyrannical pressure permeating the air, Yan Shi spoke shakily. The other Dou Wang experts were also filled with fear. Although they could obtain generous compensation from this trip to the Tagor Desert, they had no intention of throwing away their lives for nothing.

"It's too early to say that. Whether Queen Medusa can withstand this Tribulation Lightning is still uncertain." Yun Yun shook her head, her fists clenched tightly, sweat soaking her palms.

"Her Majesty the Queen will definitely succeed. You pieces of trash can just wait obediently for death!" Mo Ba Si shouted loudly, his neck flushed red, as though he were also trying to encourage himself. As a leader of a Snake-People Tribe, he had heard something of this secret method. It was abnormally dangerous, with an extremely low success rate. The slightest carelessness would lead to being annihilated, body and soul.

With a deafening boom, a bolt of silver lightning as thick as a water barrel struck fiercely toward the seven-colored giant python. Faced with the terrifying Tribulation Lightning, the seven-colored giant python not only did not shrink back in the slightest, but let out a long hiss and charged straight toward it. With a crack, the Tribulation Lightning struck viciously against the seven-colored giant python. The python twisted its body in agony, letting out shrill howls.

Several more bolts of Tribulation Lightning fell in quick succession. The power of that Tribulation Lightning made Yan Shi and the others' scalps go numb. They feared that even a single bolt would be enough to scatter their souls completely, yet Queen Medusa had actually endured them all. After all the Tribulation Lightning had fallen, the dark clouds slowly dispersed in every direction, and that terrifying pressure gradually vanished as well.

"Could Her Majesty the Queen have failed her evolution?" Sensing that pressure dissipate, Yue Mei's heart sank.

"Haha, your queen failed." Yan Shi laughed loudly, his words full of gloating. Yun Yun also let out a breath of relief. Even if Queen Medusa advanced to Dou Zong, she was fully confident she could retreat safely, but taking Jia Lie Jun with her would have been a very troublesome matter. Thinking of Jia Lie Jun, Yun Yun turned to look at the wind shield, only to see that there was no trace of Jia Lie Jun inside it anymore.

Yun Yun's heart tightened. Her figure flashed, and she asked a Dou Ling beside her, "Where did that young man from earlier go?" Seeing Yun Yun's anxious expression, that human Dou Ling did not dare delay and hurriedly replied, "Earlier, I saw him fly away."

Hearing that Jia Lie Jun was unharmed, Yun Yun calmed herself and carefully sensed the signal emitted by the Heart of the Sea Armor. After a moment, she caught that aura and only then relaxed. However, when she figured out that the aura was coming from within the Medusa Temple, anger immediately rose in her heart. You brat, you really don't know the immensity of heaven and earth. You actually dared sneak into the Medusa Temple alone. Once I catch you, just see how I teach you a proper lesson.

"Sect Leader Yun seems to care quite a bit about that kid. How enviable." Seeing Yun Yun looking so worried, that Dou Ling muttered with a jealous expression.

Sensing that incomparably powerful pressure disperse, Jia Lie Jun hurriedly got up and sprinted madly toward the giant python. Looking at the python's miserable state, Jia Lie Jun sucked in a breath of cold air. A magical beast at the peak of the Dou Emperor realm had ended up like this when facing Tribulation Lightning.

With a crisp rip, the scales that had originally been burned pitch-black slowly split open, and a small snake crawled out from within. This little snake was only several zhang long. Its seven-colored scales shone brilliantly, making it extremely beautiful, and it stared straight at Jia Lie Jun. Jia Lie Jun took out a jade bottle from his Storage Ring, pulled out the jade stopper, crouched down, and said with a wicked grin, "Come on, follow big brother. Big brother will give you something tasty." He looked exactly like a creepy uncle luring away a little girl.

Sensing the pure energy emanating from the jade bottle, the seven-colored snake's eyes lit up. It swam to Jia Lie Jun's side, rubbing its tiny head against his arm with a fawning look. Seeing the little seven-colored snake act like this, Jia Lie Jun could not help laughing. He then poured all of the Companion Purple Crystal Source in the jade bottle into the little snake's mouth. The little snake gave a very satisfied belch, then coiled around Jia Lie Jun's arm and slowly fell asleep. After subduing the Seven-Colored Sky Swallowing Python, he casually put away the Heavenly Flame, then sprinted toward the outside of the temple.

"Gu He, hurry and search for the Heavenly Flame. We'll hold off these snake people," Yan Shi shouted loudly to Gu He. Although there were many snake people, in a battle at the Dou Ling level and above, these snake-people soldiers with low cultivation could not play much of a role and could only cause some interference from the side. Especially because Queen Medusa's evolution had failed, the morale of the Snake People Tribe had fallen greatly, and they were being beaten back step by step.

Jia Lie Jun sprinted at full speed as though his life depended on it. After escaping the Medusa Temple, the great stone in his heart finally dropped, and he let out a breath of relief. With a thought, a pair of purple wings unfurled behind him, and he immediately flew in the direction of Stone Desert City.

"Kid, hand over the Heavenly Flame, and I can spare your life." A voice came from behind him. Jia Lie Jun looked back, and his heart jolted in shock. It was actually Gu He and his party catching up.