After leaving the Magical Beast Mountain Range, Xiao Yan headed straight for the Tager Desert. Although there were still over two years left before his agreement with Queen Medusa expired, he now possessed enough strength to unilaterally break that promise. He had lingered long enough in the Jia Ma Empire and had no intention of wasting more time here. His plan was to swiftly reclaim the Green Lotus Core Flame, return to the Xiao Sect, activate the spatial scroll, and head to the Central Plains.
However, upon arriving at the Tager Desert, Xiao Yan encountered an unprecedented sandstorm. Though his strength as a Four-Star Dou Zun rendered him immune to the storm's effects, what truly surprised him was discovering a peculiar Heavenly Flame at the storm's very center.
The Windfury Dragon Flame—ranked eighteenth on the Heavenly Flame List—typically formed only at the eye of desert storms. With its tornado-like form, it rampaged unpredictably across the desert, making it extraordinarily difficult to locate. Xiao Yan hadn't expected to stumble upon such a flame here, but naturally, he seized the opportunity and subdued it with ease.
Given his current cultivation level, refining a flame of that ranking posed no challenge. However, due to its lower rank, the Windfury Dragon Flame brought him little improvement. It didn't even enhance his strength by a full star, nor did it advance his Flame Mantra further.
Xiao Yan had anticipated this outcome. Flame Mantra had already evolved into a Heaven-Rank technique, and advancing it further would require an enormous amount of energy. Even combining the Windfury Dragon Flame with the Green Lotus Core Flame likely wouldn't be enough to elevate it to mid-tier Heaven Rank.
Having subdued the Windfury Dragon Flame, Xiao Yan wasted no time and made his way to the heart of the Snake-People territory—the Medusa Temple. Thanks to the soul imprint he had left within the Green Lotus Core Flame, he could easily track its exact location. In just a blink, he arrived at the secluded area where Queen Medusa had stored the flame, moving with such stealth that no one detected him.
The Green Lotus Core Flame had been placed by Queen Medusa on a small island in the deepest part of the temple. A pool formed from Ice Spirit Cold Spring surrounded the island, and in the center sat a crystal lotus pedestal. Upon that pedestal, the Green Lotus Core Flame quietly floated, pulsing with brilliant green light.
"Tch, that woman's not without her brains. Using the cold spring to suppress a Heavenly Flame... she does have some ingenuity." Xiao Yan immediately saw through the mechanism. Just as he was about to take the Green Lotus Core Flame, a subtle splash sounded from beneath the water.
A seductive figure burst from the pool. With a flash of her wild, alluring purple serpent tail, a surge of Dou Qi hurtled toward Xiao Yan's head. However, the moment it got within half a meter of him, it disintegrated. Xiao Yan casually brushed the dust from his clothes and said coolly, "It's been a while. Is this how you welcome old friends?"
Truthfully, with Xiao Yan's strength, he should have sensed Medusa's presence. However, the pervasive chill from the Ice Spirit Cold Spring completely masked her aura and life force. That spring, even among top-tier Heavenly Flames ranked fifteenth or lower, exerted a certain suppressive power. Without using his soul perception, Xiao Yan had failed to detect her hiding beneath the surface.
"It's you?" The woman who had emerged was none other than Queen Medusa, once the prideful ruler of the Snake-People and Xiao Yan's former adversary. She gazed at him, stunned to realize that this time, she couldn't see through him at all. For some reason, an unfamiliar sense of fear stirred within her heart. "Why are you here?"
"I came for the Green Lotus Core Flame. What else? You don't think I came to watch you bathe, do you?" Xiao Yan chuckled lightly.
"You and I agreed to five years. Only half that time has passed. Are you trying to break our agreement?" Medusa's eyes narrowed coldly.
"You could say that." Xiao Yan smiled. "But I think you know better than anyone that agreements like that are just empty words. Back then, if you'd had any confidence in killing me, you wouldn't have made that five-year deal in the first place."
Medusa's expression darkened, but she didn't argue. Indeed, had she not feared Xiao Yan's potential, she would have destroyed him without hesitation. Even now, if she held overwhelming power, she wouldn't bother with their past agreement. Unfortunately, the balance of power had shifted.
Though she clearly understood that Xiao Yan spoke the truth, her pride would never allow her to surrender something as crucial as the Green Lotus Core Flame without resistance. As she prepared to unleash her full Dou Qi and fight him, Xiao Yan snapped his fingers. Instantly, the Dou Qi swirling around her body vanished into nothingness, and she sensed the surrounding space locking down.
"I suggest you don't act rashly. If we do fight, I can't promise your Snake-People will survive. Your Majesty… surely you don't want to see your people suffer, do you?" Xiao Yan smiled, but his tone was ice-cold.
"You… you broke through to Dou Zun?" Medusa's eyes widened with disbelief. With just one casual gesture, he had rendered her completely powerless. Two and a half years ago, this youth had only been a Dou Wang, and now he stood at a height she could barely dream of reaching.
"What do you think?" Xiao Yan answered casually. With a wave of his hand, the Green Lotus Core Flame flew obediently into his palm from the crystal lotus pedestal. Medusa's eyes flickered with deep unwillingness, but the vast gulf in strength meant she could do nothing but stand helplessly and watch.
Xiao Yan glanced at her and sighed, seemingly moved by some passing emotion. "Sigh… fine. I suppose we've known each other for some time. I'll give you another chance."
He turned around, made a dismissive gesture, and the space lock around Medusa shattered. "Now's your chance. Use this flame to complete your evolution. What do you say?"
(End of Chapter)
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