Word Count: 2,789 Words
******
"We pay our respects to Her Majesty the Queen!!"
Voices of worship rose from every direction across the Yellow Springs Mountain Range. These cries carried genuine devotion and willing submission, nothing like the Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe, who ruled through mere strength and a faint trace of Ancient Heaven Serpent bloodline.
Cai Lin's regal bearing stood in stark contrast to Yao Xiaotian's ferocious, blood-spitting state. No explanation was needed. Everyone understood who truly deserved to rule the snake tribes, who was the rightful sovereign of the Central Plains' myriad serpent races!
All the snake tribes already worshipped Cai Lin as a deity. They believed that under her leadership, the serpent race would reclaim its ancient glory and return to the primordial age when serpent-kind had rivaled the Ancient Void Dragon Tribe as one of the continent's supreme magical beast races!
The Nine-Headed Heaven Serpent watched through eighteen wary pupils as multicolored radiance wreathed Cai Lin's form high above. Her brilliant figure stirred something deep in the great serpent's memory, a shadow from ages past!
"Wow, Mother is so amazing, so cool!" Xiao Xiao's eyes sparkled with pure worship as she gazed upward, the light in them twinkling like stars.
Hiss, hiss!! Xiao Cai hissed excitedly, her eyes wide with stunned amazement.
Cai Lin's magnificent form had clearly branded itself deep into both daughters' hearts. Each silently vowed that when they grew up, they would become someone just like her!
Xiao Yan rubbed his nose ruefully. This is bad. My position as family head has truly been demoted to family runt!
"I am the King! I am the ruler of the snake tribes!" Yao Xiaotian, fully transformed into his true body, roared furiously at the sky. His defiant bellow echoed across the entire Yellow Springs Mountain Range.
Cai Lin fixed him with a cold, emotionless gaze before glancing at Little Fairy Doctor. "This one is mine."
Little Fairy Doctor's beautiful eyes flicked toward her. With a small nod, she took Tuan Tuan and shot toward the Nether Serpent Guards and the remaining Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe Elders still entangled with Qing Lin's snake slaves.
Qing Lin's snake slaves had never been weak to begin with. Now, with Little Fairy Doctor and a Tier 9 Pill Beast joining the fray, the several Great Elders of the Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe were steadily beaten back. The Nether Serpent Guards fared no better. What had been an even contest moments ago collapsed in an instant.
Hiss, hiss!
Yao Xiaotian's serpent tail slammed violently against the ground. The earth split open with a deafening crack as his enormous body rocketed upward, bloody maw gaping wide, lunging at Cai Lin hovering in midair.
His bloodline had already reached the level of an Ancient Heaven Serpent. Yet not a hint of panic showed in Cai Lin's eyes. Her expression remained as cool and distant as ever. She snapped her right hand outward, and a ribbon of three-colored Heavenly Flame lashed out like a whip, cracking down viciously onto Yao Xiaotian's head.
Snap!
Several of his hard black scales were sent flying. That single strike flayed his flesh wide open, and great gouts of poisonous blood sprayed from the wound.
"Die!" Yao Xiaotian's jaws yawned wide. Pitch-black poison mist billowed out like a tidal wave, surging toward Cai Lin.
She answered by pressing her palm downward.
BOOM!!
Nine-Colored Heavenly Lightning descended from the sky. Bolts as thick as mountain ridges crashed down in a cascading wall that resembled a heavenly waterfall. It was magnificent beyond compare.
Heavenly Lightning and Heavenly Flames were the purest, most Yang forces on the Dou Qi Continent, natural nemeses to dark powers like poison mist.
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!!
The instant the Nine-Colored Heavenly Lightning struck, the poison mist simply could not endure it and evaporated in the blink of an eye. The lightning carried unstoppable momentum, punching straight through the collapsing mist and hammering directly into Yao Xiaotian's massive body.
Cai Lin gripped her longsword. Her tail snapped once, and she shot toward Yao Xiaotian in a streak of light. She raised her blade and brought it down in a single fluid motion. A sword shadow cleaved downward with a tearing shriek. Yao Xiaotian's true body utterly failed to withstand even this single strike.
Hiss, hiss, hiss!!
A shrill, wretched scream tore from Yao Xiaotian's throat.
The Beast Region experts watching the battle could only shake their heads as they witnessed him being overpowered so completely.
"It seems the Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe is finished. This Medusa is far too fierce."
"She doesn't just possess a supreme secret technique; she's actually awakened the Serpent Mother's power. Just how great of a fortuitous encounter did she receive?"
Many magical beast experts could see it clearly: Cai Lin was able to fully suppress Yao Xiaotian because of bloodline pressure. That kind of suppression from a superior of the same race sapped the inferior's body of strength and forcibly crushed their bloodline strength.
It was just like the Dou God Bloodline. When Xun Er, bearing a Divine Grade bloodline, displayed her Grade 9 Clan Mark, she could directly suppress the Clan Marks of her fellow clansmen, rendering them unable to use their Clan Mark strength at all.
Yao Xiaotian's original cultivation had been at middle-stage 1-star Dou Saint, stronger than Cai Lin, who had only temporarily elevated herself to the Dou Saint realm through the Heavenly Flame secret technique and her bloodline. However, his own mixed and impure Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe bloodline stood no chance against hers and was thoroughly suppressed.
On top of that, he had forcibly unleashed the Yellow Spring Great Seal, consuming an enormous amount of Dou Qi, and then suffered a backlash from the Nine Serene Yellow Spring's frigid yin-cold power. His current combat strength had fallen below even that of an ordinary 1-star Dou Saint.
"I'm afraid her Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python bloodline has already reached major mastery."
"Did you notice the glowing stone in her hand? That thing must be a supreme treasure. It's entirely thanks to that stone that Queen Medusa can draw out such powerful bloodline strength."
"The Yan Alliance came prepared."
For magical beasts, bloodline was everything. And this sort of territorial struggle was far too common: victor as king, loser as prey.
The Yellow Springs Mountain Range was enormous and rich in resources, particularly housing a top-tier sacred land like the Nine Serene Yellow Spring. Who wouldn't covet it? Countless magical beasts had long been eyeing this place, entertaining thoughts of claiming the Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe's throne for themselves.
First Elder Yao Ce, locked in a standoff with the Nine-Headed Heaven Serpent, narrowed his eyes. He had never imagined that even with the Nine Serene Yellow Spring's support, they still couldn't defeat Medusa's Snake-People Tribe and the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils!
"Yao Xiaotian! If this continues, forget the Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe being replaced or the ancestral land being lost... we might actually die here!" Yao Ce's voice transmission reached Yao Xiaotian, low and urgent.
He dodged another attack from the Nine-Headed Heaven Serpent, then shot a glance toward the Nine Serene Yellow Spring. "Release Yao Ming. Otherwise, the Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe is finished!"
Yao Xiaotian's body shuddered at those words!
The previous Tribe Leader Yao Ming had neither died nor gone missing. He had been framed by Yao Xiaotian and Yao Ce together, then sealed beneath the Nine Serene Yellow Spring to be tortured for all eternity.
"If we let Big Brother out, he'll kill us!" Yao Xiaotian sent back, his voice thick with dread.
In both talent and strength, Yao Ming had surpassed him in every way hundreds of years ago. Otherwise, there would have been no need to resort to underhanded schemes to seize the position of Tribe Leader.
"If this keeps up, do you think the Yan Alliance will spare us?! Not only will the ancestral ground be lost, our tribesmen will be all but wiped out! Once the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils reaches the Dou Saint realm, the Yan Alliance will turn us into snake slaves just the same!" Yao Ce's gaze shifted toward Qing Lin, fear etched into his expression. They were already losing on their home ground. If they were driven out and given time for Qing Lin's Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils to reach major mastery, they would be snake slaves for eternity. Wouldn't that be worse than death?
Moreover, the opponent currently had three Dou Saints. The gap in strength compared to the Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe was simply too vast!
"Besides, Yao Ming only had the strength of a Half-Saint back then. You're already a middle-stage 1-star Dou Saint now. Releasing him would only be to hold off that Pill Beast," Yao Ce continued quickly. "Yao Ming is the Tribe Leader after all. He won't stand by and watch his clansmen be slaughtered, nor watch the ancestral ground be lost. As for other matters, we'll deal with those after we survive this!"
Unwillingness and resentment flickered through Yao Xiaotian's eyes, but in the end, he could only nod.
They had no better option!
BOOM!
Yao Xiaotian and Yao Ce simultaneously erupted with power, forcing the Nine-Headed Heaven Serpent back. The two of them tore through space and appeared above the Nine Serene Yellow Spring in a single stride.
Cai Lin and the others saw them rip open the void, but rather than flee, they dove back toward the underground world. None of them made a rash pursuit. They simply watched through the rent in space, senses on full alert.
"That should be the Nine Serene Yellow Spring."
Little Fairy Doctor's brows knitted slightly as she stared at the yellow pool seething with cold air. Even her Woeful Poison Body felt a distinct sense of danger from that Yin chill.
"Hah!"
Yao Xiaotian and Yao Ce formed the same profound hand seal simultaneously. Vast torrents of Dou Qi poured into the seals before they pointed toward the Nine Serene Yellow Spring in unison.
With a resonant hum, two beams of light shot from their hands, piercing through the spring water and stabbing straight toward the very bottom. A harsh creaking echoed up.
Splash, splash, splash...
The Nine Serene Yellow Spring began to boil. Terrifying cold energy rose in surging waves.
"What is that?!"
"That's the Nine Serene Yellow Spring!"
"What are the Tribe Leader and First Elder trying to do?"
"Look, quick—there's something under the Nine Serene Yellow Spring!"
As the Yellow Spring churned, a thunderous boom resounded. A massive formation rose from the depths beneath. The center of the spring hollowed out, revealing a sunken space.
Inside that hollow, a gaunt, utterly withered man hung suspended, bound fast by several enormous iron chains.
The other ends of those chains were anchored deep into the mountain bedrock at the spring's bottom. Countless runes crawled along the chains' surfaces, their power constantly suppressing the withered man within!
Clang!
The sealed man's eyes snapped open. They burned with resentment so concentrated it had almost taken on physical form. His hoarse roar tore from his throat.
"Yao Xiaotian!!"
BOOM BOOM!!
The man sealed beneath the Nine Serene Yellow Spring let out roar after ragged roar. A mighty aura erupted from his body: 2-star Dou Saint!
The chains perpetually drained his Dou Qi, leaving him in a half-dead state beneath the Nine Serene Yellow Spring!
There was no doubt: this man was the Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe's previously 'missing' Tribe Leader, Yao Ming. What Yao Xiaotian and Yao Ce had never imagined was that after hundreds of years of sealing, not only had Yao Ming's cultivation not regressed, it had actually climbed to 2-star Dou Saint!
He now surpassed both of them!
"Who is that?! How can his strength be so high?!"
"I don't know. Why is there someone under the Nine Serene Yellow Spring? And his aura seems even stronger than the First Elder's."
The Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe's Elders and Nether Serpent Guards who had retreated to the Yellow Spring could only stare at one another in bewilderment. When had their tribe gained another Dou Saint?
Some of the old monsters among them exchanged glances. By rights, the Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe really did have one more Dou Saint!
"Could that be our missing Tribe Leader, Yao Ming?!"
"He's been sealed under the Nine Serene Yellow Spring this whole time, suffering endless torment!"
Many among the elder generation finally understood. No wonder Yao Xiaotian and Yao Ce had claimed Yao Ming had vanished after suffering Qi Deviation. So that had been their scheme all along!
"Yao Xiaotian, Yao Ce! Let me out!" Yao Ming bellowed with all his might.
Terror clenched Yao Xiaotian's heart as he felt just how much stronger his brother had become. If he set him free, wouldn't that be the end of him?
But then his gaze flicked to the spatial rift. A colossal Shuttle Space Boat was slowly forcing its way in along the very crack he and Yao Ce had opened. His eyelids twitched violently.
Either way, they were dead!
Yao Xiaotian and Yao Ce looked at each other. At last, they reached a decision. Their hand seals shifted again, and a beam of light shot downward.
The chains suppressing Yao Ming suddenly lost their power. They no longer drew away his Dou Qi.
Yao Ming's eyes widened. They're really letting me out???
With his strength at the 2-star Dou Saint level, his Dou Qi recovery speed was terrifying. The instant the seal failed, his energy surged back.
"Ah!"
Crack, crack, crack!
The chains binding him shattered in rapid succession. A savage gleam flashed in Yao Ming's eyes. He bent his legs, then exploded upward with a thunderous boom, blasting out of the Yellow Spring's depths and shooting straight for Yao Xiaotian. He looked every bit a man intent on fighting his brother to the death.
"Yao Xiaotian! My good little brother!! You mongrel, today I'll tear you into a thousand pieces and throw you into the Ten Thousand Snake Pit!" His eyes went blood-red. Endless venomous hatred poured from his gaze. His hoarse roar echoed ceaselessly through the deep gorge.
Yao Xiaotian did not even dare defend himself. He dropped straight to his knees, wailing, "Big Brother, the Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe is about to be annihilated!"
"Hm?" Yao Ming's withered hand stopped mid-strike.
He had already sensed many extremely powerful unfamiliar auras in the area. And nothing about Yao Xiaotian's behavior made sense. Why would that man release him?
First Elder Yao Ce also hurriedly kneeled. "Tribe Leader, we admit our guilt. If you wish to kill or torture us, wait until the foreign enemies are driven out! Otherwise, the Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe will be destroyed, and our people will be enslaved by the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils for all eternity!"
Yao Ming's expression hardened. In the end, he still didn't strike. Instead, he turned his head to look toward the spatial rift, and his brows slowly drew together.
"Nine-Headed Heaven Serpent! A Tier 9 Pill Beast! A Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python... and the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils!!"
The moment his gaze fell on Qing Lin, Yao Ming's composure finally cracked. Not only had the Nine-Headed Heaven Serpent, extinct for countless ages, appeared again, but there was also the bearer of the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils!
No wonder Yao Xiaotian and Yao Ce had been willing to release him from beneath the Yellow Spring. This lineup really was enough to wipe their entire tribe from the map!
Yao Ming drove his bloodline strength to circulate, rapidly restoring his Dou Qi. His skin, originally gray and withered, regained a visible flush of color.
A single glance around was enough for him to piece together the rough sequence of events. He lifted his head to meet Cai Lin's gaze and spoke in a heavy voice: "I don't care who you are. This is the territory of the Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe. Leave here immediately."
Even if he killed Yao Xiaotian and Yao Ce on the spot, the Nine Serene Deep Ground Python Tribe could not lose its ancestral land. Cai Lin and the others were clearly invaders who had come to seize the Yellow Springs Mountain Range!
Cai Lin studied him and sensed the power gathered within his body. Her brows creased slightly.
A 2-star Dou Saint.
But she did not panic. Yao Ming's appearance had always been within the Yan Alliance's expectations.
Because the Yan Alliance... still had a hidden card!