Queen: Address Him as Lord Guest Elder

The Purifying Lotus Triple Flower Pupils had established a connection with the Purple Nether Flame Snake's soul.

Lu Yuan's shadow could feel the pain Queen Medusa was enduring.

The Snake-People Tribe was born with a cold-natured bloodline. Even though the Purple Nether Flame Snake had a fire attribute, being burned by Heavenly Flames was torment from a naturally opposing force.

The pain did not merely affect her body; it had already penetrated straight into her soul.

Even the Purple Nether Flame Snake's soul could not escape the burning of the Heavenly Flames and had begun to transform.

Perhaps this was the secret behind the Snake-People Tribe's evolution through the power of Heavenly Flames.

"Her Majesty has begun to evolve."

"As long as she succeeds, our Snake-People Tribe will have a Dou Zong expert again after hundreds of years."

"If Her Majesty succeeds, we can leave this damned Tagor Desert."

"You must succeed, Your Majesty!"

"..."

Queen Medusa had caused too much of a commotion. Her piercing screams had echoed through almost half the city, so naturally, the matter could not be kept secret.

Countless Snake-People prayed devoutly, the entire guard force went on the defensive, and deep within the Snake-People Tribe's holy temple, the four elders activated a formation to monitor the entire city.

Hai Bodong stopped cultivating and suddenly thought, Queen Medusa isn't using Yun Yun and me as guards, is she?

With Lu Yuan there, they would certainly guard him diligently. They were practically hired muscle she had gotten for free!

Hai Bodong thought it was ridiculous. Queen Medusa had sealed his strength for so many years.

Yet not long after regaining his strength, he was serving as her guard while she evolved.

Queen Medusa's screams continued for nearly half an hour before finally growing weaker, until they vanished altogether.

Only Lu Yuan could see the enormous purple snake's body fall to the ground and stop thrashing. Her body, once covered in beautiful purple scales, was now charred black.

Her body, once over a dozen zhang long, had been reduced to just two or three zhang by the Heavenly Flames. Most of her flesh and bones had burned away, and she gave off a scorched stench.

"Did she fail!?"

As Queen Medusa's screams died away completely, the entire city fell into a deathly silence.

Yun Yun and Hai Bodong rose to their feet and looked toward the back of the temple, their nerves taut.

If Queen Medusa's evolution failed,

the Snake-People Tribe would very likely make a move to keep them and Lu Yuan there. They had to be ready to break out at any moment.

"Hm!?"

Yun Yun and Hai Bodong looked up at the sky over the island behind the temple almost simultaneously.

The energy of heaven and earth was surging there, seemingly about to gather into thunderclouds.

"A phenomenon of heaven and earth?"

It was said that in ancient times, certain legendary magical beasts would encounter the trial of a lightning tribulation when they were born or advanced.

Did that mean Queen Medusa had succeeded and only needed to face the trial next?

Meanwhile, at the center of the island behind the temple.

Now!

Without hesitation, Lu Yuan summoned the pupil power of both eyes and contacted the nearly unconscious Queen Medusa through the Purple Nether Flame Snake's soul. "Your Majesty, return quickly."

If Queen Medusa faced the lightning tribulation alone, there was a slim chance she might pass it safely, and then he would not get a shred of credit.

He might as well improve Queen Medusa's chances and gain some fortune for himself in the process.

With Queen Medusa staying inside her pupil space, their contact would be extremely close.

"All right!"

Queen Medusa regained a little clarity and directed the Purple Nether Flame Snake's body toward Lu Yuan.

The instant they touched, an invisible spatial ripple appeared and swallowed the Purple Nether Flame Snake.

The power of heaven and earth lost its sense of her presence, and the lightning tribulation gathering in the sky began to dissipate before long.

"What happened!?"

At the sight of the lightning tribulation disappearing, the expressions of the Snake-People throughout the Snake-People Holy City changed, as did those of Yun Yun and Hai Bodong.

Had Medusa's evolution failed!?

"Not good!" With a thought, Yun Yun and Hai Bodong summoned their Dou Qi Wings and flew out of their respective side halls.

If Queen Medusa had failed, Lu Yuan might be in danger too.

The Snake-People Tribe's experts might also make a move against her.

But before the two had flown far, a voice spread throughout the Snake-People Holy City.

"My evolution has succeeded. I must sleep and recuperate for a time. All affairs within the Snake-People Tribe are to be handled as I have instructed. If anything urgent arises, consult the four elders."

"The human Lu Yuan helped me evolve successfully. From today onward, he is a guest elder of our Snake-People Tribe. No one is to treat him with disrespect."

"If the guest elder wishes to take anyone away, no one is to stop him."

Inside Lu Yuan's Purifying Lotus Triple Flower Pupils space, Queen Medusa had sensed a special power nourishing her the instant she entered. It helped speed up her bloodline's transformation and heal her injuries.

Originally, without the help of pills, she would have needed half a year to return to her peak. That was before undergoing the lightning tribulation; after passing it, even if she broke through to Dou Zong, it would only take longer. But now she felt she could recover in about a month.

By then, she would be able to face the lightning tribulation at her peak and turn the trial into a resource for her breakthrough.

"This cooperation went smoothly."

Seven-colored light shone beneath her purple serpent body. Queen Medusa closed her eyes, preparing to fall asleep.

But before that, she had not forgotten to announce the good news of her successful evolution to the entire tribe, or to grant Lu Yuan a token of immunity from death.

"Her evolution succeeded!" Hai Bodong breathed a sigh of relief.

Although Queen Medusa would become even more fearsome than before, he no longer had to worry about Lu Yuan being in danger or fear an uprising by the Snake-People Tribe.

"A guest elder." A glimmer of interest flashed in Yun Yun's eyes.

As expected of the man she held in high regard. Not only had he helped Queen Medusa achieve a breakthrough, he had also become a guest elder of the Snake-People Tribe.

Once she returned to the Misty Cloud Sect, she would announce that Lu Yuan would henceforth be a guest elder of the sect as well.

"Phew."

At that moment, Lu Yuan also breathed a sigh of relief.

Having successfully helped Queen Medusa, he had taken several steps forward in his plan.

Next, it was time to take stock of his gains so far.

[Fortune figure: Queen Medusa]

[Black Snake Secret Manual (Low Earth Tier)/Snake Seal (Low Earth Tier bloodline secret technique)/Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python (bloodline power) Half-Step Dou Zong (cultivation) Middle Mortal Realm (soul power)...]

[Elementary copy/plunder (progress 100/30)]

[Elementary copy or plunder available.]

Queen Medusa was undoubtedly a fortune figure who met the compendium's criteria for inclusion.

In just a few days of contact, fortune had already accumulated to 100, though that was inevitable.

After all, the deeper the contact, the more efficiently he could obtain fortune.

Queen Medusa could now be considered within his sphere of influence.

All three copies can only be random.

I'll have to wait until the first supreme-tier draw before I can choose.

Hopefully my luck is good enough to randomly get her cultivation.

Queen Medusa's prize pool was extremely rich, but for Lu Yuan, that was not necessarily a good thing.

If every prize had the same chance of being drawn, then the more prizes there were, the lower his chances of winning a grand prize would be.

The only thing worth celebrating was that the odds were not distributed in tiers, so his chances of drawing the grand prize he wanted were not low either.

It's all down to luck. Let's begin!

Activate copy.