Battle Through the Heavens: Beauties Abound Starting with Yunlan and Her Disciples

226: Section 226Without even needing to deliberately investigate, Yun Xiancheng could clearly perceive an extremely powerful yet highly unstable surge of energy fluctuations originating from the very center of the island in the middle of the lake—that was undoubtedly where Queen Medusa was in seclusion.

”The situation seems quite bad.”

Just then, Medicine Lady’s voice, carrying a hint of gravity and a sigh, echoed in Yun Xiancheng’s mind.

”Judging from the disorder and violent nature of these energy fluctuations... that Queen Medusa’s refinement of the Heavenly Flame has likely... fallen into an extremely dangerous deadlock.”

Medicine Lady sighed softly and continued, ”Sigh, using something as Extremely Yang and rigid as a Heavenly Flame to forcibly refine one’s own Yin-cold bloodline, attempting to change one’s fate against the heavens and break through the bottleneck... for the Snake-People Clan, who are inherently Yin-natured, this is a gamble with a slim chance of survival. It is far too... difficult.”

”Then... that Medusa Protagonist... she... could she... die?”

Xiao Yan had been quietly leaning in Yun Xiancheng’s arms, but hearing Medicine Lady’s words, she suddenly looked up. Her voice carried a hint of tension and trembling she hadn’t even noticed herself as she blurted out the question.

To be honest, when she first heard that this Queen had ”stolen” the Green Lotus Core Flame that should have belonged to her, her heart was filled with loathing and hostility.

But after the experiences in the Snake-People Tribe these past few days, Sister Yue Mei’s pungent yet sincere care, and... most importantly, the fact that her Senior Brother seemed quite interested in that Queen...

With various factors intertwined, that initial hostility had long since faded. In fact... she had already secretly regarded that Queen as an inevitable member of the future ”harem,” an opponent worth competing with, or even someone she could ”bully” a little.

But now, Medicine Lady was saying she might fail? Or even... die? ”Senior Brother?”

Xiao Yan subconsciously gripped Yun Xiancheng’s lapel and looked up at him, her clear eyes filled with inquiry and a trace of subtle fear. ”Right now, there is nothing we can do.”

Yun Xiancheng gently patted her back, his voice low and calm. ”Refining one’s body with a Heavenly Flame is an act against the heavens, fraught with immense danger. Outsiders cannot intervene.”

”Whether she can cross this tribulation... in the end, depends entirely on her own will and fortune.”

Xiao Yan fell silent. Along this journey, the number of enemies who had died under her xuan heavy ruler was at least eighty if not a hundred; she considered herself long since indifferent to life and death. Yet for some reason, at the thought that this Queen—whom she had never met but whose fate was faintly linked to her own—might perish like a fading flower, her heart...

...surged with an indescribable, heavy sense of suffocation.

This feeling of worrying and feeling pain for the fate of someone close to her... she didn’t like it, didn’t like it at all.

Please help her, Senior Brother, Master.

Xiao Yan disliked this sense of helplessness.

Although she hadn’t met Medusa much, based on her understanding of her Senior Brother... he was definitely going to pursue Medusa. Sooner or later, Medusa would become their sister.

To have to watch her future sister be in such danger while they could only stand by and watch... this feeling was not good.

It made her heart feel blocked, as if a giant boulder were pressing on her chest, making even breathing heavy. Perhaps she was being a bit sentimental, but that was exactly what Xiao Yan was thinking at this moment.

”Senior Brother. Master.” She looked up, her clear eyes flashing with unwillingness and a hint of a plea.

”Is... is there really nothing we can do but watch like this? Is there... is there no way at all to help her?”

Looking at the furrowed brows of the young girl in his arms and the pure kindness and stubbornness in her eyes that couldn’t bear to see life pass away, Yun Xiancheng’s heart couldn’t help but soften.

This girl... usually seems cold and independent, yet at critical moments, she always shows such concern for the big picture, even running about and worrying for a ”potential sister.”

This breadth of mind, this sense of responsibility... it truly is...

He marveled inwardly and couldn’t help but lower his head to plant a gentle kiss on her smooth forehead, his voice so tender it could melt. ”Silly girl...” Although in his heart he believed that ”everyone in the harem is equal” and there was no true ”primary wife” distinction,

the magnanimity and poise Xiao Yan displayed at this moment truly gave him a feeling of appreciation and love, as if thinking, ”With a wife like this, what more could a husband ask for?”

He looked up into the depths of his consciousness and asked Medicine Lady, ”Master, in your opinion, is there... a reliable method to lend Queen Medusa a hand?”

Within the conscious space, Medicine Lady’s illusory figure also fell into deep thought. After a moment, she finally spoke slowly, her tone carrying a bit of gravity: ”A way... it’s not entirely non-existent... it’s just that this method is extremely dangerous, especially for you, Xiancheng.”

She paused and explained, ”Queen Medusa’s biggest problem right now is that the Heavenly Flame energy she forcibly absorbed is too violent, exceeding the limits of what her body and soul can bear. She cannot effectively suppress and refine it, which has led to the energy spiraling out of control and being on the verge of collapse.”

”If you want to help her, the only way is to find a way to share and convert a portion of that violent Heavenly Flame energy within her.” ”Specifically,” Medicine Lady’s voice became serious,

”you, Xiancheng, need to use yourself as a ’vessel,’ acting as a temporary transit station. Actively attract and take on a portion of the most violent and out-of-control Heavenly Flame energy overflowing from Medusa’s body.”

”Then, channel this portion of energy into Yaner’s body. She will then rely on the mysterious nature of the Flame Mantra technique to quickly refine and purify this violent energy, converting it into relatively gentle and pure Heavenly Flame power.”

”Finally, feed this gentle Heavenly Flame energy refined by Yaner back into Medusa’s body to replace a portion of the violent energy. This will help her restabilize the situation and gain a chance to catch her breath, thereby giving her the opportunity to continue the refinement and evolution using her own strength.”

”This process,” Medicine Lady’s tone was full of warning,

”will be a massive ordeal for you! You will need to directly bear the impact of the most primitive and violent energy of the Heavenly Flame! That pain is beyond what ordinary people can imagine! One slip-up, and at best your meridians will be destroyed; at worst... your soul will be extinguished!”

”And as for Yaner, although she has the Flame Mantra for protection, refining such a massive amount of Heavenly Flame energy in a short time will also be a huge burden on her Dou Qi and soul power.”

”Do you two... have the determination to take such a singular risk?”

As Medicine Lady’s voice fell, a brief silence descended upon the island in the lake.

Xiao Yan looked at Yun Xiancheng, her eyes full of worry, but even more so, a kind of trust and determination.

Yun Xiancheng smiled, a smile carrying his usual confidence and... a hint of resoluteness that spared no cost to achieve his ”target.”

He lowered his head and kissed Xiao Yan’s lips again, saying softly, ”Don’t worry. For our future... ’family,’ what does this bit of pain matter?” He looked up, his voice firm and decisive: ”Master, we’ll do as you say! I will not shrink from this responsibility!”

Her consciousness was blurred, as if drifting in a boundless sea of scorching lava.

Every inch of skin, every meridian, every wisp of her soul was enduring an indescribable tearing and burning.

Queen Medusa felt like a small boat about to be swallowed by a raging storm, struggling bitterly in a violent ocean of energy, yet drawing closer and closer to being completely capsized.

Is this... the taste of failure?

Countless days and nights of bitter cultivation, countless times wandering on the edge of life and death... for the future of the Snake-People Clan, to break the shackles of her bloodline, to lead her people toward a more glorious tomorrow. She had sacrificed far too much. As a Peak Dou Huang, she had long since stood at the apex of this continent, revered and worshipped by thousands of her kin.

But only she herself knew the loneliness of being at the top, and... that sense of despair originating from the depths of her bloodline that she could not break through.

The Heavenly Flame was her last hope and her biggest gamble. But looking at it now... in the end, was she still destined to perish here? She was so unwilling.

Truly... so very unwilling.

Just a split second before Medusa’s consciousness was about to be completely swallowed by the boundless darkness and pain, falling into eternal silence—suddenly!

A strange suction force, carrying vibrant vitality, abruptly appeared within her perception!

It was as if an invisible vortex was quietly forming at the edge of that violent ocean of energy within her body, beginning to actively and greedily pull at it.

The most out-of-control and violent flame energy!

This suction was not extremely powerful, but it was incredibly precise, like opening a small flood discharge channel in the midst of raging waves. It allowed her body and soul, which were on the verge of collapse, to suddenly feel a negligible trace of relief!

Immediately after, the moment that violent energy was sucked away, a completely different yet kindred energy quietly flowed back like a trickling stream.

This energy was also the incredibly pure power of a Heavenly Flame, but it had shed all its violent and destructive aura, becoming... gentle, pure, and full of vibrant vitality!

This gentle energy, like rain after a long drought, quickly merged into her nearly exhausted meridians, nourishing her damaged soul. It helped her bit by bit to re-gather her will to resist and confront the violent sea of fire still surging within her body!

What’s... going on?! Who is it?!

Who is helping me?!

Medusa’s blurred consciousness flickered tenaciously like a candle stub in the wind.

She struggled to concentrate her last shred of mental strength, following the flow of that strange energy back to its source. Then, she ”saw” it.

Or rather, she ”perceived” it.

At the blurry boundary where the energies converged, she sensed a familiar yet somewhat strange aura.

It was... the aura of a young human male! It was him?!

That human kid who had only recently appeared in the Holy City, with the Master of the Amethyst Winged Lion following him, and who seemed quite interested in her in his speech?! A storm of shock rose in Medusa’s heart!

She knew of this young human’s existence and had heard some things about him from Yue Mei. She knew he was somewhat mysterious, had some tricks, and seemed to have a deep relationship with the Master of the Amethyst Winged Lion.

But she never imagined!

This human kid, whose cultivation seemed to be only at the Great Dou Master realm, could actually... actually intervene in an energy confrontation of this level between her and the Heavenly Flame?!

Moreover... he seemed to be using an inconceivable method to endure the violent energy that should have completely destroyed her, and then converting it into... a gentle power that could help her?!

This... how is this possible?!

He... just how did he do it?!

Immense shock and disbelief battered Medusa’s fragile consciousness. But what followed was not vigilance or suspicion.

But a... a strange and unfamiliar feeling she had never experienced before.

In that boundless pain and despair, in the cold darkness bordering death, this sudden assistance from an unexpected person was like... seeing a ray of warm sunlight piercing the darkness at the bottom of a ten-thousand-foot abyss.

A trace of... never-before-felt... strange sweetness actually... sprouted and bloomed within her long-frozen Queen’s heart, which had held only pride and responsibility.

This young human...

Was he actually... enduring such pain... just to save her?

Medusa’s consciousness blurred once more, but this time, it was no longer pure darkness and despair.

In that chaos, there seemed to be... an extra touch of indescribable brightness, and a throb that made her heart flutter.

153 Xiao Xiao?

Ultimately, Queen Medusa’s evolution came to a close in a strange way. To say she failed would not be entirely accurate.

Because after that endless pain and struggle, with the help of that external gentle energy, she eventually relied on her own powerful will and her obsession with the future of the Snake-People Tribe to successfully guide the violent Green Lotus Core Flame, completing the final tempering and purification of her bloodline!

The ancient bloodline shackles were broken, and a more noble, more powerful force awakened within her body. She evolved into an existence legendary enough to stand alongside divine beasts like the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix—the Seven-Colored Sky Swallowing Python! However, to say she succeeded also carried an air of tragic intensity.

The process of the Heavenly Flame refining the bloodline was, after all, too overbearing and too perilous.

Even with the help of Yun Xiancheng and Xiao Yan at any cost, and even though she finally succeeded in purifying her bloodline, her soul suffered near-catastrophic damage in this confrontation with destructive energy.

Her soul source was almost burnt away, her consciousness dispersed, leaving only a tiny, weak spark of her true spirit, flickering like a candle in the wind, swaying and finally unable to bear the burden...

...falling into an endless slumber.

On the small island in the center of the lake, the violent energy that had been surging and almost swallowing the entire island receded rapidly like a tide.

In its place was a seven-colored haze, soft and brilliant, enveloping the entire island. As the haze dissipated, the peerless and majestic Queen Medusa was nowhere to be seen.

Left behind was only a... small snake, its entire body flowing with a seven-colored glow, only the size of a palm, and looking exceptionally exquisite and cute.

This was the Seven-Colored Sky Swallowing Python hatchling, which, after a successful evolution, had its soul fall into a slumber and its source power exhausted, forcing it to regress back to its larval form.

The little snake seemed to have lost all its power and consciousness, acting only on a shred of instinct and the lingering attachment in the depths of its soul for the aura that had helped it earlier.

Its body involuntarily and lightly drifted toward the young man by the lakeside, who was currently also weak in aura and pale-faced. It landed gently on Yun Xiancheng, its tiny head subconsciously rubbing against his chest.

It was as if only by leaning against this youth, who had given it that last bit of warmth and heartbeat, could it feel a faint sense of security. Its hazy consciousness seemed to really like... the feeling of being on Yun Xiancheng.

And at this moment, Yun Xiancheng’s state was not much better than the sleeping Medusa.

Directly enduring and transferring that violent Heavenly Flame energy had caused him a load and damage far beyond imagination.

He felt as if the meridians throughout his body were being scorched and torn by fire; every inch of flesh was wailing, and sharp, needle-like pains came from the depths of his soul, making his consciousness blurry.

But he did not fall.

When that flowing, brilliant little snake, as exquisite as a work of art, landed gently on him with a near-instinctive attachment, an indescribable sense of satisfaction instantly dispersed the immense physical pain.

He felt it... Queen Medusa’s... defenseless attachment to him, originating from the depths of her soul.

Although his body was suffering great pain, mentally, he felt an immense sense of enjoyment. ”Heh...”

Yun Xiancheng gave a weak smile and reached out a trembling finger to gently stroke the little snake’s cool yet smooth scales.

He lowered his head and, looking at the little fellow who seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep, made a low and firm promise in a voice only the two of them could hear:

”Sleep in peace. I will make you wake up again. Wait for me.”

As if hearing his promise, the seven-colored little snake moved slightly and seemed to let out an almost inaudible chirp of satisfaction.

Medusa’s soul spirit pressed against Yun Xiancheng, and she seemed to say, ”Take care of the Snake-People Tribe...”

Then she became completely quiet, curling up in his arms and falling into a peaceful slumber.

However, just as Yun Xiancheng thought everything had settled and was preparing to first adjust his breath and treat his injuries, another change occurred!

The sleeping seven-colored little snake in his arms suddenly twitched slightly.

Immediately after, a brand new consciousness fluctuation—though weak, yet full of pure life breath—actually began to quietly emerge from that tiny body!

Yun Xiancheng’s expression changed abruptly!

At the same time, the long-absent system notification sound rang in his mind with a hint of oddity! (Special lifeform birth detected! Analyzing... Analysis complete!)

[Due to the host’s intervention in Queen Medusa’s evolution process, her soul source, while on the verge of dispersing, produced an extremely faint resonance and fusion with the soul auras of the host and Xiao Yan.]