The mighty Ice Emperor swept past the Xiao Clan like a gust of wind, so fast that even his silhouette was blurred.
Who could possibly scare the Ice Emperor like this?
Xiao Ding silently wondered a question mark in his mind, and his gaze involuntarily turned to the woman in the colorful dress standing under the pomegranate tree.
However, before the two could even guess, Xiao Huohuo added in a low voice after finishing his introduction.
" Cai Lin is none other than Queen Medusa of the Snake-People Tribe."
Medusa!?
Upon hearing this, Xiao Ding and Xiao Li's eyes widened immediately, and they exclaimed in surprise.
Xiao Ding's pupils shrank to the size of pinpoints in that instant, and Xiao Li subconsciously took a half-step back.
The two exchanged a glance, both seeing an indescribable shock in each other's eyes.
Queen Medusa, that name is legendary in the Jia Ma Empire.
It is a name that strikes fear into the hearts of countless powerful individuals.
Her infamy spread far more widely than her fame for beauty.
The legends about Medusa involuntarily surfaced in Xiao Ding's mind.
The woman standing under the pomegranate tree, dressed in a colorful long dress and with a face of unparalleled beauty, was none other than the Queen Medusa, who was said to be a ruthless killer.
Xiao Li felt that his worldview had been turned upside down at this moment.
He had met many powerful figures over the years, but none could compare to Queen Medusa.
And his third brother, the troublemaker he'd watched grow up, had somehow managed to bring Queen Medusa home without a word?
A strange sense of absurdity arose in the minds of Xiao Ding and Xiao Li.
" Huohuo, this is truly..."
Xiao Ding reached out and pulled Xiao Huohuo over; the movement seemed casual, but the force was considerable.
He leaned close to Xiao Huohuo's ear and whispered the question.
"That's right."
Xiao Huohuo spoke, his tone carrying a hint of complexity.
That complexity contained helplessness, guilt, and a trace of emotion that even he himself couldn't quite explain.
His relationship with Medusa cannot be explained in a few words.
The accident that occurred within the primordial flames of the Fallen Heart Flame remains an unresolved knot between the two.
She chased him for almost half a month before a temporary truce was reached through the mediation of the Yao Lao.
She didn't verbally defend Xiao Huohuo, but she always stepped in to help him whenever he was in danger.
Xiao Huohuo wasn't stupid, but she didn't know how to define this relationship, nor how to explain it to her older brothers.
" Cai Lin and I are in rather special circumstances; you'll understand later, brothers."
When he said this, his tone carried a certain certainty, as well as a gentleness that he himself was unaware of.
Hearing Xiao Huohuo's assurance, Xiao Ding and Xiao Li didn't say anything more.
The two simply nodded slightly, but their eyes couldn't help but linger on Cai Lin's direction a few more times.
Looking at the graceful figure in the distance, Xiao Ding and Xiao Li still felt a sense of dreamlike wonder.
After exchanging pleasantries, Xiao Yan did not disturb the gathering of the Xiao Clan brothers.
He was meeting Xiao Ding and Xiao Li for the first time. Although he was nominally Xiao Huohuo's "good friend," he knew that the three brothers hadn't seen each other for two years and must have a lot to say.
His presence as an outsider actually made them feel awkward.
Under Xiao Ding's arrangement, a Xiao Clan led him to a courtyard to rest.
The courtyard is small, but it is quiet and secluded.
After entering the courtyard, Xiao Yan calmed down and continued his cultivation.
He sat cross-legged on the bed, slowly circulating his Soul Power along his meridians.
He also ignored the internal affairs of the Xiao Clan and Xiao Huohuo's affairs.
Xiao Huohuo has his own family, his own elder brother, and his own responsibilities to deal with.
He was just a passerby, a stranger temporarily finding refuge in this world by using Xiao Huohuo's identity.
Calm down and feel the Soul Power within your body, which has increased by several tens of percent compared to before.
With Soul Power cultivation level of 67, coupled with his Heavenly Flames Martial Soul and various Soul Skill, he has enough to gain an advantage in battles at the Dou Emperor level.
Relying on the special effects of his Soul Skill, he can even fight against experts who have just entered the Dou Zong.
Xiao Yan felt no joy whatsoever; instead, he felt an increasing sense of urgency.
Whenever he closed his eyes, Zhu Zhuqing's pale face would involuntarily appear in his mind.
That was a wound in his heart that could never heal; every touch brought a tearing, excruciating pain.
Zhu Zhuqing mysteriously disappeared, swept away by the dark, Nether Power into an unknown space that he could not reach at all.
He still has no leads.
It was only when facing the attack of that mysterious old man from the Slaughter City that Xiao Yan truly felt his own insignificance.
His proud level 67 Soul Power, and the combat experience he accumulated in the two worlds of the Douluo Continent and Dou Qi Continent.
His many years of painstaking training in various Soul Skill and Dou Technique were as fragile as a sheet of paper in front of that mad old man's Clear Sky Hammer.
He unleashed his strongest attacks to date: Cold Heart Lotus Explosion, Startling Soul Spike, and Demon-Breaking Light. Each of these attacks was easily neutralized by the old man with a casual hammer blow.
The Demon-Breaking Light, which he was once so proud of and whose Soul Bone Skill could ignore all defenses and act directly on the body, couldn't even penetrate the opponent's skin, leaving only a faint scorch mark the size of a fingernail on the chest.
That was the first time Xiao Yan had seen the Demon-Breaking Light almost completely fail.
Even Soul Emperor is nothing more than an ant before such a powerful being.
An ant whose hopes were shattered with a single blow from him.
"God..."
Thinking of this, a surge of hatred resurfaced in Xiao Yan's eyes.
He had already refined most of that hatred with the help of the Calming Heart Pill, but the remaining hatred was still embedded deep in his soul like a red-hot iron nail.
In this dog-eat-dog world, the weak don't even have the right to protect the people they cherish most.
Unconsciously, Xiao Yan thought of the stone that Venerable Feng had used against him.
That dark blue stone sealed away the Venerable Feng's trump card for a full-force attack. He used it to shatter the dome of the Pope's Palace in Spirit City, severely injuring Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo, forcing Bibi Dong to take action herself.
"The attack of one Dou Zun was enough to defeat three Titled Douluo."
"If it is Dou Sheng above, can he also kill a god?"
A fierce flame ignited in Xiao Yan's eyes.
Even if you are a god, I will still kill you.
He spoke these words very softly, as if talking to himself, or as if declaring war on some distant being.
Xiao Yan and his group stayed in the capital for half a month.
During this period, Xiao Yan did not go out; he spent his days cultivating in the secluded courtyard of the Xiao Clan.
His life was so regular it was almost rigid. He would get up early in the morning to meditate and regulate his breathing, circulating his Soul Power through his meridians for nine major cycles.
In the morning, they studied the Yao Lao; in the afternoon, they practiced the precise control of their Soul Skill, repeatedly expanding and contracting the domain of the Everfrost Mausoleum within three feet of their bodies.
At night, one should calm down and integrate what one has learned and understood during the day into one's own combat system.
Even when Xiao Huohuo occasionally came to visit, he would only exchange a few words before immersing himself back in his cultivation.
Xiao Huohuo initially wanted to take him out for a walk and show him the prosperity of the capital.
But seeing his focused expression, he didn't try to persuade him any further. Instead, he would bring some fresh tea and snacks to place on the stone table each time he came, and then leave quietly.