The moment the emerald three-flowered pupils appeared before her eyes, Queen Medusa immediately recognized them as the legendary Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils recorded in the ancient tomes of the Snake People, an existence hailed as nothing short of a miracle.
At this instant, Queen Medusa's emotions surged like a raging tide. Shock, joy, regret, and countless other feelings intertwined, leaving her unable to put them into words.
As the queen of the Snake-People, Medusa naturally understood this bloodline miracle better than anyone. Within the tribe, there existed an ancient precept, one that had never been properly carried out: once a bearer of the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils was discovered within the tribe, they were to be granted the same status and treatment as the reigning Queen Medusa of that era.
The ancestors of the Snake People had long known that the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils themselves represented a direct pass to the Dou Venerate realm. Once fully matured, such an individual would become a supreme guardian of the Snake People.
Yet ironically, the greatest miracle born of the Snake People's bloodline, The Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils, rarely belonged to the Snake People themselves.
Recognized as the number one strange pupil under heaven, The Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils had not appeared for many years. The last recorded bearer was the Dou Venerate expert who founded the strongest power in the northwest, the Heavenly Serpent Mansion and that individual did not belong to the Snake People.
The reason was simple: aside from the requirement that the bearer be of mixed Snake Person blood, the birth of the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupil followed no other discernible law. Due to the deep-seated hostility between the Snake People and surrounding human factions, half-blood Snake People were often discriminated against by both sides. Given the exceedingly low probability of the pupils' appearance, successive queens lacked the patience to devise means to protect and preserve the status of such mixed-blood individuals. As a result, those who grew up bearing the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils naturally felt no sense of belonging toward the Snake People. Once they became powerful, they had no reason to return.
Looking at Qing Lin before her, and recalling the day she had asked whether Qing Lin wished to return to the Snake People after discovering her talent, only for Qing Lin to choose, without hesitation, between becoming the Snake People's eldest princess and remaining a Alchemist maid—the latter—Queen Medusa already knew that this bearer of the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils was destined not to belong to the Snake People.
As the queen of the tribe, she would once again witness one of the Snake People's greatest regrets unfold during her reign.
Qing Lin, however, was unaware of the complicated emotions surging within Queen Medusa. She swiftly branded the three-flower seal upon the Iceflame Jade Serpent's head and easily subdued it.
After being subdued, the Iceflame Jade Serpent looked at Qing Lin with deep obedience in its eyes. With a gentle wave of her hand, the serpent obediently lowered its jade-white head before her, allowing her to stroke it lightly, its submissive posture laid completely bare.
Although Queen Medusa had long known of the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils' extraordinary nature, witnessing with her own eyes a mere Dou Master so effortlessly subdue an Iceflame Jade Serpent that was close to the Fifth-Grade still left her deeply shaken. Only now did she fully understand the painstaking intent behind that ancient precept left by her ancestors. The title of the world's number one strange pupil was truly well-deserved.
"Young Master, I've already subdued it. I can communicate with it now," Qing Lin said as she turned toward Lin Yuan, her face blooming with a radiant smile.
"Mm." Lin Yuan walked to her side and pointed toward the giant tree that once bore the Soul Origin Fruit. "Qing'er, ask it when and by whom the spirit fruit on that tree was taken."
"Alright, Young Master." Qing Lin responded and closed her eyes, beginning her communication with the Iceflame Jade Serpent.
After a short while, she opened her eyes and said to Lin Yuan, "Young Master, I've found out. According to it, about two months ago, three humans with powerful and very similar auras came to this valley. Their strength surpassed the original ruler of this place—the Sixth-Grade magical beast, the Polar Frost Wolf King. They defeated it and took the spirit fruit from the tree."
"So that's how it is," Lin Yuan thought inwardly. He then turned to Queen Medusa. "Your Majesty heard it as well. These three humans with similar powerful auras are most likely the Mulan Three Elders, cultivators of the Three-Beast Savage Art. They're truly cautious, even dealing with a Polar Frost Wolf King, they moved together."
The matter of the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils can wait. What matters now is the task at hand, Queen Medusa thought to herself. Suppressing the turmoil stirred up by the revelation, she spoke solemnly, "Then it must be them. We'll need to think of a solution."
At this moment, after Qing Lin put away the Iceflame Jade Serpent, the aura around her suddenly began to fluctuate.
Lin Yuan immediately turned his attention to her, only to see her aura rising and falling unstably. Instead of worry, relief appeared in his eyes, this was a sign of an impending breakthrough. Subduing the Iceflame Jade Serpent has brought her an opportunity to advance.
"Young Master—" Qing Lin had just begun to speak when Lin Yuan interrupted her.
"Don't talk. Sit down and cultivate."
As he spoke, Lin Yuan condensed Dou Qi, forming a green jade platform in midair that steadily supported Qing Lin. He then enveloped a ten-meter radius around them with his soul power, isolating all external disturbances and creating an ideal cultivation environment.
Following his instructions, Qing Lin sat cross-legged upon the jade platform, circulating the Azure Sky Profound Codex as she prepared to break through to the Four-Star Dou Master realm.
Lin Yuan then led Queen Medusa to the side and said with a smile, "Well? The words I told Your Majesty earlier—'Don't underestimate her; she might surpass you sooner than you expect'—weren't idle talk, were they?"
Queen Medusa took a deep breath and replied calmly, "I truly didn't expect her to possess the legendary Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils of the Snake People. Your luck is indeed remarkable, being able to take her in and establish such a relationship before she fully matured."
"Qing Lin and I are not in a master-servant relationship," Lin Yuan corrected her. " 'Young Master' and 'Qing'er' are merely the forms of address between us."
"Oh?" Queen Medusa asked with interest. "Then what is your relationship?"
Lin Yuan lightly tapped his temple with his fingers, pondered for a moment, and then said, "Qing'er and I should be considered fellow cultivators or perhaps calling us Dao Companions would be more appropriate."
"Dao Companions?" The unfamiliar term carried a peculiar resonance, stirring a strange sensation within Queen Medusa's heart.
"Yes. Companions who cultivate and train together. On the path of cultivation, we support one another, advance together, research and discuss things side by side, encouraging and helping each other," Lin Yuan explained.
"Dao Companions…" Queen Medusa softly repeated the term. After that, a brief silence fell between the two.
Moments later, Lin Yuan changed the subject and continued discussing the matters of Mulan Valley and the Soul Origin Fruit with Queen Medusa.
"Your Majesty, it has now been confirmed that the Soul Origin Fruit was taken by Mulan Valley. It seems our objectives align. You need the Soul Origin Fruit they took, while I'm very interested in their Three-Beast Savage Art. It appears we both have reason to deal with them."
"What do you plan to do?" Queen Medusa asked. "March straight into Mulan Valley? Although your full-strength burst rivals that of a Dou Ancestor, those old fellows of Mulan Valley are not to be underestimated."
"Do I look like someone who acts recklessly?" Lin Yuan countered.
"You'd better not be," Queen Medusa replied. "As far as I know, Mulan Valley possesses a formation."
"Oh?" The word formation immediately piqued Lin Yuan's interest. He said in a deep voice, "Is it similar to the Covering Sun Cloud Formation of the Misty Cloud Sect? Please explain in detail, Your Majesty."
Seeing how interested Lin Yuan was, Queen Medusa grew serious as well. She spoke solemnly, "The reason Mulan Valley has been able to firmly control the entire Mulan Empire without a Dou Ancestor guarding it lies not only in the Three-Beast Savage Art, but also in Mulan Valley's unique guardian formation—the Beast Spirit Gathering Origin Formation."
"As for the specific details of this formation, I do not know much. I only know that during the war between the Mulan Imperial Clan and Mulan Valley, one of the key reasons for the imperial clan's defeat was that their Dou Ancestor expert charged into Mulan Valley, only to be slain by three elders proficient in the Three-Beast Savage Art working together in conjunction with the Beast Spirit Gathering Origin Formation."
"Three-Beast Savage Art, Beast Spirit Gathering Origin Formation…" Lin Yuan murmured, then smiled. "Mulan Valley has obtained quite a decent inheritance. Very good. It seems this trip to the Mulan Empire will yield even more gains than I originally expected."
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