For more than a month, Xiao Yan had hidden among the scorching sand dunes outside the Snake-People Holy City.
The desert wind howled day and night, carrying fine grains of sand that cut against his skin like knives, yet he did not move an inch. His gaze remained fixed on the distant Sacred City, waiting for a single moment—
The moment Medusa would attempt her breakthrough with the Green Lotus Core Flame.
But that moment never came.
Instead, what Xiao Yan witnessed shattered every assumption he had made.
On the first day, organized groups of humans appeared outside the Holy City. They wore uniform attire, carried standardized tools, and moved with an efficiency Xiao Yan had never seen in the Black-Corner Region. Under the escort of Snake-People warriors, they surveyed land, planted markers, and drew precise boundaries.
On the second day, the earth shook.
Crude stone dwellings were demolished without hesitation. In their place rose towering structures of metal and stone, completely alien to desert aesthetics. Their outlines were sharp, their designs orderly, radiating a sense of cold rationality.
By the third day, wide roads had been paved straight through the sand. Squares were leveled. Even green belts appeared—plants thriving where nothing but yellow death should exist.
Xiao Yan watched in silence, his shock deepening by the hour.
In just over ten days, the Holy City transformed.
What was once primitive, oppressive, and guarded like a fortress of beasts had become a vast, orderly, and bustling trade metropolis.
At the center of the new city, a towering flagpole rose skyward.
A dragon emblem fluttered in the wind.
Xiao Yan's pupils shrank.
"This isn't simple cooperation…" he muttered.
For the Snake-People Tribe to allow outsiders to reshape the core of their Sacred City meant only one thing—their entire tribe had been absorbed into a massive, tightly controlled system.
Even if Medusa succeeded in breaking through, this place would no longer be a lone tyrant's lair.
It would be a node.
A hub.
Infiltration, once difficult, now seemed nearly impossible.
After days of observation, Xiao Yan finally made his move.
Using Yao Chen's soul concealment technique and the disguise mask Yun Zhi had given him, he transformed himself into a rough desert mercenary—skin darkened, beard unkempt, armor battered by sandstorms.
Blending into the crowds, he entered the Holy City.
The inside shocked him even more.
Gone were the chaotic stalls and blood-scented alleys. In their place stood orderly shops lining broad streets. Merchants from the Gama Empire hawked fabrics and grain. Desert traders sold rare ores and herbs. Mercenaries carried Magic Beast materials stamped with Black-Corner Region markings.
The most eye-catching were the shops bearing the Wanbao Pavilion sign.
And at the city's heart, a massive open-air market roared with life.
Xiao Yan moved carefully through the crowd, listening, observing.
Then he stopped.
A stall.
On it lay weapons—not ordinary weapons, but ones that gleamed faintly with flowing patterns.
"This is a first-tier Spirit Tool!"
"Second-tier! Straight from the Sacrificial Shop!"
The stall owner, clad in Wanbao Pavilion attire, shouted enthusiastically.
"Spirit tools?" Xiao Yan frowned.
Before he could think further, a scar-faced mercenary shoved forward, slapped down a crystal card, and grabbed a massive greatsword.
"Stone-Splitting Blade!"
The mercenary roared, infusing Dou Qi.
The blade's dark red patterns blazed to life.
Boom!
A black stone shattered cleanly in two.
The crowd erupted.
Xiao Yan's heart sank.
He had clearly sensed it—the blade refined and amplified the user's Dou Qi.
Even a Dou Shi could unleash an attack beyond his level.
And this was only second-tier.
His thoughts immediately drifted to one person.
Nalan Yanran.
As if summoned by his thoughts, the crowd suddenly parted.
Moon-white robes.
Cold, elegant steps.
Nalan Yanran entered the market like a queen surveying her domain.
She walked straight into the Wanbao Pavilion branch.
Moments later, two jade boxes were presented.
A third-tier Spirit Tool sword.
A defensive inner armor.
Xiao Yan watched as she casually tested them—effortless, confident, overwhelmingly resourced.
She didn't even look around.
To her, the surrounding mercenaries didn't exist.
The gap hit Xiao Yan like a hammer.
Not in talent.
In resources.
After she left, Xiao Yan stood motionless for a long time.
Then he turned, walked straight to the Wanbao Pavilion stall, and purchased two jade slips.
That night, as he studied them, the world changed again.
A terrifying aura erupted from the Sacred Palace.
The sky darkened.
The city trembled.
Snake-People knelt en masse.
"Your Majesty the Queen!"
Xiao Yan's breath hitched.
"A Dou Zong…" Yao Chen whispered.
And yet—
No trace of the Green Lotus Core Flame.
For the first time, uncertainty crept into Xiao Yan's plans.
The World was no longer moving according to the script he knew.
And that realization—
Was the true shock.