Word Count: 2,577 Words
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Xiao Yan's Spiritual Strength remained locked onto the Nine Serene Yellow Spring. His primary objective this time was the spring itself, and he couldn't allow the Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe to quietly spirit away any resources or treasures.
'A 2-star Dou Saint... That must be their previous Tribe Leader, Yao Ming. The Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe truly did have another card to play.' After part of the Nine Serene Yellow Spring's water had been drawn away, violent fluctuations set the deep pool churning. Xiao Yan keenly sensed powerful energy surging from the spring's depths.
This Dou Qi fluctuation was clearly more powerful than First Elder Yao Ce's. What surprised Xiao Yan, however, was that although the aura reached 2-star Dou Saint level, it somehow lacked momentum, as if Yao Ming's internal Dou Qi was insufficient, as though something were suppressing it.
Of course, Xiao Yan didn't dwell on other possible explanations. It was entirely normal for magical beasts to push themselves to the brink of death in pursuit of a breakthrough.
His gaze shifted toward Yao Xiaotian, and his brow furrowed. Every powerful faction possessed deep foundations that couldn't be underestimated.
An ordinary 1-star Dou Saint simply couldn't execute an Intermediate Tian Class Dou Technique. Even among battles between 3-star to 5-star Dou Saints, such techniques served as ultimate trump cards kept in reserve.
But Yao Xiaotian and the Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe were not to be trifled with. This was, after all, their territory, and they undoubtedly possessed trump cards outsiders knew nothing about.
'By borrowing the Nine Serene Yellow Spring water to execute an Intermediate Tian Class Dou Technique, even though Yao Xiaotian is only a middle-stage 1-star Dou Saint, the power rivals that of a 2-star Dou Saint using a Low Tian Class technique.' Xiao Yan's Spiritual Strength rapidly assessed the situation. Even he couldn't help furrowing his brow. The might of this enormous seal was definitely not weak.
Transformed into his true form, Yao Xiaotian roared at the heavens. As his roar shook the sky, the Nine Serene Yellow Spring waters coalesced into a black giant seal as massive as a mountain peak, so immense it blotted out sun and sky.
"I will suppress you all in the land of the Yellow Spring for a hundred million years! Die for this King!!"
"Intermediate Tian Class Dou Technique, Yellow Spring Great Seal!!!"
Yao Xiaotian laughed wildly as the seal took shape. His enormous serpent tail whipped once, and the black seal spun sharply before plummeting toward Cai Lin and the others below. It descended like a massive mountain falling from the heavens. An indescribable icy chill poured forth, instantly thickening the surrounding space into something viscous and heavy.
"Suppress!"
The black giant seal trembled at his shout and pierced directly through space. In a flash, it appeared overhead before crashing down to bury Cai Lin and the others completely.
"Nine-Headed Heaven Serpent!" Qing Lin's expression turned grave as she cried out.
Fierce light flashed through the Nine-Headed Heaven Serpent's eighteen serpent pupils. It instantly shook off First Elder Yao Ce as black light surged across its body. All nine heads simultaneously condensed their bloodline strength, and an enormous pitch-black energy vortex materialized before them.
Hiss, hiss!!
The Nine-Headed Heaven Serpent let out a thunderous roar. A massive black sphere that twisted space like a black hole shot straight toward the mountain-like black seal.
Boom, boom!
The huge black sphere struck the descending seal head-on. Two matchless forces clashed in midair, and the collision of Dou Saint-level powers sent shockwaves that overturned the sky. Space itself was annihilated, layer after layer peeling away like skin to reveal a vast swath of naked void. Even spatial turbulence dared not appear.
"Hahaha, the Nine-Headed Heaven Serpent is indeed formidable, but your current bloodline strength is less than a tenth of what it once was! What can you possibly use to fight me? Go!"
Yao Xiaotian, now in his true form, wholly pitch-black and indistinguishable from an Ancient Heaven Serpent, let out a booming shout. His bloodline strength boiled as an even more terrifying force pressed downward.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!!
The enormous black seal overwhelmed the Nine-Headed Heaven Serpent's beast technique and pressed downward like a falling meteorite. Even the Nine-Headed Heaven Serpent could no longer hold against it!
Ferocity and anger flared in the Nine-Headed Heaven Serpent's eyes as its beast technique crumbled. The gulf between its current state and its prime was simply too vast. Even after revival, its strength remained less than a tenth of its former might, completely unable to unleash its strongest state.
A low hum rang out as the Nine-Headed Heaven Serpent faltered. Little Fairy Doctor spat out her Poison Pill and formed hand seals, merging all her Woeful Poison into the Thousand-Eyed Night Zhen.
Wings spread wide, the Thousand-Eyed Night Zhen cried out sharply. Its entire body burned with Ghostly Poison Flame as it charged toward the seal like a phoenix wreathed in terrifying poison fire.
Tuan Tuan refused to be outdone. It reverted to pill form, wrapped in boundless vitality. With a sharp screech, it streaked skyward against the falling force, a jade-green sphere that crashed into the seal with a thunderous boom.
Crack, crack.
Even the Yellow Spring Great Seal, formed from condensed Nine Serene Yellow Spring water, couldn't withstand the combined impact of these three terrifying forces. Cracks spider-webbed across its black surface, and the seal was violently shoved back.
A vicious light flashed through Yao Xiaotian's eyes as the seal was forced back. In the next instant, First Elder Yao Ce appeared at his side, hands forming a seal as Dou Saint might erupted. He unleashed the Yellow Spring Finger once again.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
A colossal finger descended like a meteor and struck the seal directly. Combined with First Elder Yao Ce's Yellow Spring Finger, the Yellow Spring Great Seal plummeted wildly. Its icy power froze even the void. The Yellow Springs Mountain Range instantly resembled the depths of winter as snowflakes began drifting down from the sky.
"So the Yan Alliance still falls short after all."
"They overreached. They just had to attack the enemy's ancestral ground. Without the Nine Serene Yellow Spring, on different terrain, the Yan Alliance with its Nine-Headed Heaven Serpent and Tier 9 Pill Beast might not necessarily have lost."
Many spectators shook their heads as Little Fairy Doctor and the others poured out their Dou Qi futilely against the descending Yellow Spring Great Seal. They felt the Yan Alliance had acted too hastily, foolishly choosing to fight in someone else's backyard.
Xiao Yan's brow furrowed tighter and tighter. At his side, Xiao Xiao and Xiao Cai both wore tense expressions.
A thin wisp of flame slowly rose from his body. Just as he was about to intervene, a voice, domineering yet gentle, sounded directly in his heart.
"Your time to act has not yet come."
!?
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Three Heavenly Flames flew from his Acceptance Soul: the Ten Thousand Beast Flame, the Green Lotus Core Flame, and the Fallen Heart Flame. They instantly crossed the void and appeared beside Cai Lin.
The moment all three materialized, the freezing temperature spiked dramatically. Snowflakes melted as they fell. The three Heavenly Flames floated around Cai Lin. Clad in divine armor, she was already proud and heroic, her graceful, curvaceous figure full of allure that no armor could conceal.
Under the flickering glow of the flames, her breathtaking curves became even more naturally enchanting.
Her aura began climbing wildly. A seven-colored giant python's illusory figure appeared in the sky above, stirring thunder across the heavens as if it could swallow heaven and earth in a single bite.
Cai Lin possessed the Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python bloodline. As her bloodline strength activated, her cultivation instantly surged from peak Six-Change Dou Venerate to peak Seven-Change, then Eight-Change, and finally Nine-Change!
As the supreme royal bloodline of the ancient super magical beast Heaven Swallowing Python Tribe, this power would make any serpent-type magical beast covet it desperately.
Mad greed flashed through Yao Xiaotian's eyes when he sensed Cai Lin's Heaven Swallowing Python bloodline erupting and her cultivation surging by three full changes. A wicked glint curled in their depths as he threw his head back and laughed:
"Hahaha, what a fine Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python bloodline! Once this King captures you, I'll make sure you enjoy yourself thoroughly every night. In the future, we'll surely birth a supreme beast that surpasses both the Heaven Swallowing Python and the Ancient Heaven Serpent!"
Cai Lin was already a peerless beauty, a true femme fatale. Combined with her precious bloodline, she was an irresistible temptation for any serpent-type magical beast.
Cai Lin's beautiful eyes narrowed at his words, and her expression darkened. Then, under Xiao Yan's stupefied gaze, she slowly formed a hand seal he knew all too well!
"Skyfire Three Mysterious Change, First Change—Beast Spirit Change."
!?
Cai Lin's red lips parted slightly. The Ten Thousand Beast Flame obediently slipped between them and began circulating along the Skyfire Three Mysterious Change's secret technique pathway. A tremendous Heavenly Flame power erupted within her body.
Her already boiling Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python bloodline surged even more vigorously, as though fuel had been thrown onto the fire.
On the scales of the seven-colored giant python's shadow overhead, a blood-red pattern emerged. Cai Lin's cultivation, which had momentarily stalled, began climbing once more!
"No way..." Xiao Yan's shock compounded with each passing second. Magical beasts couldn't cultivate the Skyfire Three Mysterious Change. He had given it to Cai Lin long ago, but she hadn't been able to learn it. Magical beasts' physiques and meridians were entirely different.
"Holy shit, what secret technique is this?! It can actually raise cultivation to Half-Saint level!!"
"Three Heavenly Flames!"
"That looks like Burning Flame Valley's Skyfire Three Mysterious Change!"
Experts who moments ago had written off the Yan Alliance now wore drastically changed expressions. Could there still be a reversal?!
Was Queen Medusa, who hadn't made a single move, the true trump card all along?!
"Skyfire Three Mysterious Change, Second Change—Green Lotus Change."
Cai Lin's hand seals shifted, and the Green Lotus Core Flame was likewise absorbed. A storm of heat erupted around her as terrifying waves of energy exploded outward from the Space Shuttle Boat.
Saint might descended. Thunder and lightning crackled endlessly through the clouds above.
Cai Lin's hand seals changed once more, and the colorless, transparent Fallen Heart Flame was drawn into her as well.
RUMBLE!!
Dou Saint might erupted from Cai Lin's body. This was no Half-Saint. It was genuine Dou Saint power!
Xiao Yan's jaw dropped so wide a duck egg could have fit inside. His mind went completely blank. Even if Cai Lin could somehow use the Skyfire Three Mysterious Change, three Heavenly Flames should at most barely raise her cultivation by two Dou Venerate stars. How could it possibly elevate her to Dou Saint?!
'No... this is the Serpent Mother's power?!'
Xiao Yan snapped his head skyward. The seven-colored Heaven Swallowing Python's giant illusory figure had vanished at some point, leaving only roiling thunderclouds behind. But above the cloud layer, he glimpsed an enormous cloud-mist python! It was so colossal that its end couldn't be seen, and it could only conceal itself within the void!
Because it was simply too massive!
Zi Yan could wield the Ancestral Dragon's power because her bloodline was extraordinarily strong, and as Dragon King, she could channel the Ancestral Dragon's might through inheritance.
Cai Lin possessed the Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python—the royal bloodline of the Heaven Swallowing Python Tribe—but she had no inheritance. The Heaven Swallowing Python Tribe had long gone extinct. Where would inheritance come from?
But Xiao Yan had overlooked something crucial. Cai Lin had also entered the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree and comprehended beneath it! And by that time, she had already obtained the Nine-Colored Origin Stone!
He had never imagined that the Bodhisattva Ancient Tree would read residual soul information from the Nine-Colored Origin Stone, granting Cai Lin a fragment of the Heaven Swallowing Python Tribe's history! Through this, she had comprehended her own version of the Skyfire Three Mysterious Change and discovered the secret to drawing upon the Serpent Mother's power!
What had risen was not merely her cultivation. Her bloodline strength itself had been elevated; the Serpent Mother's power had awakened!
Yao Xiaotian, First Elder Yao Ce, and the rest could only watch in horror as the half-human, half-serpent Cai Lin cradled the Nine-Colored Origin Stone in her left hand and slowly raised her right.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!!
A bolt of nine-colored divine lightning was drawn down from the heavens.
From afar, it looked as though Cai Lin had unsheathed a thousand-foot nine-colored divine sword from the sky itself. The nine-colored radiance illuminated every face in the vicinity.
Though this description took time to tell, it all happened in the blink of an eye. Without a shred of hesitation, her expression cold and impassive, Cai Lin brought the sword down upon the massive black seal!
Just imagine: two mighty forces already locked in collision, neither yielding an inch, the Yellow Spring Great Seal fractured nearly to the point of shattering. Under this single stroke, the crumbling seal and the Yellow Spring Finger bolstering it were cleaved cleanly in two.
The Yellow Spring Great Seal detonated. Terrifying energy engulfed the entire Yellow Springs Mountain Range in blinding radiance so intense that no one could keep their eyes open. With his seal shattered, Yao Xiaotian spat out a mouthful of blood as the backlash slammed into him and his aura plummeted.
When the light finally faded, the half-human, half-serpent Cai Lin stood in the sky above all creation. Thunder rolled endlessly overhead. Beyond the thick cloud layer, something vast and indistinct seemed to peer down, watching over the entire world.
Her left hand held the Nine-Colored Origin Stone. Her right gripped a nine-colored lightning sword. Three-colored Heavenly Flames burned across her body. A bloodline suppression that compelled every serpent-type to submit seeped from deep within her.
Her seven-colored scaled tail swayed gently. From a distance, she resembled the legendary Nuwa holding the divine stone.
Except legend said Nuwa mended the heavens. Cai Lin had not come to mend the heavens; she had come to swallow them!
On the Space Shuttle Boat, several Medusa Race elders trembled and dropped straight to their knees! The Medusa Race was merely a degraded version of their ancestor's bloodline, essentially unrelated aside from a similar outward appearance.
Only now, with Cai Lin's bloodline reverting to its ancestral state, did this lofty, sovereign bearing truly manifest!
"I am the true King!"
Cai Lin's icy gaze locked onto Yao Xiaotian. Her voice brooked no argument. A bloodline suppression born of primordial authority crushed down upon the Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe, buckling their bodies and leaving them powerless to resist kneeling.
The Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe bore no direct relation to the Heaven Swallowing Python, but both the Heaven Swallowing Python and the Ancient Heaven Serpent shared the same ultimate ancestor. What Cai Lin had now activated was the Serpent Mother's power itself!
As her declaration—'I am the true King!'—rolled forth like thunder, the vassal snake tribes dropped to their knees in terror, one after another. Some even found hot tears streaming down their faces.
"We pay our respects to Her Majesty the Queen!"