"The Royal Consort is pregnant."
As soon as these words fell, they exploded in Medusa's ears like a bolt from the blue, causing her to fall completely into a daze.
No matter how calm she usually was, hearing what the Great Elder said shocked her instantly, leaving her mind completely blank.
Medusa's usual decisive ruthlessness had vanished entirely. She slightly parted her lips, but the upheaval in her heart prevented her from uttering a single word.
For a woman like her, taking lives on the battlefield was something she could do without batting an eye.
Yet, when faced with this matter, she was like a flustered little girl, completely clueless about how to handle the situation.
The Great Elder stood quietly to the side, waiting for Medusa to recover her wits.
In the Great Elder's view, Medusa was only stunned because she was overly excited.
After Medusa returned to the Snake People race, she concealed some things to prevent the elders from worrying about her.
In any case, Medusa would have to work for Xiao Xue from now on.
It was better for the elders to treat Xiao Xue as a somewhat special superior than to know the truth and worry about her safety constantly.
Medusa had been raised by the elders; it was not an exaggeration to call these elders her family.
Naturally, Medusa did not want the elders to worry about her.
Therefore, in the version Medusa told the four elders, she had indeed won over the Alliance Leader.
However, their relationship had not yet been disclosed to Xiao Xue's teacher.
Consequently, their relationship could not be made public yet.
It would only be possible later, after receiving approval from that Dou Venerate.
Since the elders had fabricated this identity for Xiao Xue in their minds, they would treat her respectfully and avoid incurring her displeasure.
And under the pretense that their relationship "couldn't be public," the elders wouldn't speak carelessly and risk Xiao Xue hearing them.
In the future, she would certainly follow Xiao Xue to the Central Plains.
These Dou Emperor elders would not follow, eliminating the risk of exposure.
By then, she would only need to keep up the charade on both sides.
Thus—the plan was perfect.
But clearly, one lie required countless others to maintain.
The Great Elder clearly believed that Medusa and Xiao Xue had a remarkably good relationship.
If she knew that Xiao Xue had not "approved" of Medusa as they imagined, but was instead holding a fatal threat over Medusa, the Great Elder would definitely not be as calm as she was now.
She would be scared stiff.
"Um... Great Elder, are you... perhaps mistaken in your sensing?"
After a long while, Medusa finally recovered from her stupor and asked anxiously.
After all, she didn't have that ability.
Furthermore, if a new individual truly existed, how could Xiao Xue, with her strong soul power, fail to detect it?
In terms of soul power alone, Xiao Xue was many times stronger than her, a Dou Zong.
If a life aura suddenly appeared inside her body, how could Xiao Xue not notice?
"That life aura is extremely faint; had we not used a secret technique to investigate, it would have been difficult to sense."
"It is normal for the Royal Consort not to have noticed," the Great Elder said.
"..."
Medusa's intended words were suddenly stuck in her throat.
"The Snake People race is different from humans, and Your Majesty's current evolved form is the ancient exotic beast, the Heaven Swallowing Python, so naturally, there are some aspects that are out of the ordinary."
"During this process, nothing is strange."
"Therefore, achieving this is not impossible."
Pausing, the Great Elder looked at Medusa and asked:
"After Your Majesty evolved, did you sense the soul of the Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python?"
Medusa subconsciously shook her head. "I did not."
Then, as if realizing something, Medusa's expression changed drastically.
"That confirms it." The Great Elder did not notice Medusa's change of expression; she nodded, showing an understanding look.
Then, she continued to thoughtfully "educate" Medusa:
"According to ancient records, after the Medusa lineage evolves, the soul transforms into the ancient exotic beast, the Heaven Swallowing Python, and naturally reaches the seventh rank."
"At the same time, a new Heaven Swallowing Python soul is also conceived within the new body."
"One needs to undergo self-fusion before they can perfectly control the Heaven Swallowing Python's body."
The souls of the Medusa lineage are actually quite peculiar.
When they evolve, while the old body turns to ash, the soul does not immediately and perfectly integrate with the new body.
On the contrary, a new soul is directly born within the newborn body.
Although the strength of the newborn soul is only around the Dou King level, which is incomparable to the Dou Zong level soul of the main body after evolution.
However, if the two souls cannot merge, having two souls in one body will naturally affect the main body's strength.
Therefore, the "evolution" of the Medusa lineage is more like a "Nirvana" and a "seizure of the body."
They need to "seize" the new body after the old one turns to ash.
Moreover, eradication is impossible; only soul fusion is possible.
This is because the two souls share the same origin and can influence each other.
From the original work, the fact that the Dou Zong-level Medusa could be influenced by the Dou King-level Heaven Swallowing Python soul shows how deep the connection between the two souls is.
Furthermore, if the newborn soul is erased before the two souls become independent and mutually unaffected, it will cause severe consequences for the main body.
Therefore, for countless years, the Medusa lineage has always followed the path of fusion after evolution.
And this process usually lasts for a very long time.
It is precisely because magical beasts are not proficient in the aspect of the soul.
That is why, in the original work, Medusa asked Xiao Yan to procure the Soul Fusion Pill for her to accelerate this process.
The current Medusa, however, was busy fleeing after her evolution.
Thus, she subconsciously overlooked some matters.
Now that the Great Elder reminded her, Medusa immediately recalled it.
It seemed that since her evolution, she had never been affected by the Heaven Swallowing Python's soul.
Coupled with the faint, intermittent soul resonance from the past... "...This old one speculates that the Heaven Swallowing Python's soul, due to its instability, must have..."
The Great Elder timely finished the thought that Medusa hadn't voiced.
"Great Elder, you haven't told her about this yet, have you?!"
Medusa suddenly thought of something and anxiously interrupted the Great Elder.
Hearing this, the Great Elder shook her head. "Not yet."
"After all, for the Royal Consort, knowing about her... now is a bit too soon."
The Great Elder glanced at Medusa somewhat awkwardly. "This matter is of great importance, and us old folks dare not speak carelessly."
"It is more appropriate for Your Majesty to find an opportunity to personally inform the Royal Consort later."
Hearing this, Medusa sighed heavily in relief.
That made sense. If Xiao Xue knew now, wouldn't she just roast her into snake jerky?
Medusa shivered, remembering the Bone-Chilling Flame in Xiao Xue's hand.
"Great Elder, given this situation, what... what should I do?"
Medusa forced herself to calm down and, slightly urgently, asked for the Great Elder's advice.
To maintain her persona, she awkwardly phrased her question indirectly.
"Whether this faint life aura is truly a sign of pregnancy still requires investigation..." the Great Elder said after thinking for a moment.
"However, if this matter is true, then our Snake People race will have another successor, which is the most paramount event for our clan!"
By the end of her sentence, a flush appeared on the Great Elder's face, and her eyes showed great excitement.
The elders had originally thought Medusa's bloodline would end here.
But Heaven had not blocked the path for the snakes; the bloodline actually had a chance to continue.
How could this current situation not excite the Great Elder and the others?
Even just the hope of continuation made them overjoyed.
"Regardless of whether this matter is true, you must remember to pay special attention to the Royal Consort from now on."
"Perhaps after waiting for a while longer, this old one and the others will be able to completely determine the cause of the anomaly within the Royal Consort's body."
Then, the Great Elder lectured Medusa at length, advising her to appease Xiao Xue and preserve the last of the Medusa bloodline.
It would naturally be best if the Medusa bloodline could be continued; if Xiao Xue didn't want to keep it... it seemed there was nothing they could do.
However, judging by Medusa's previous behavior, the elders were quite optimistic about the outcome of this matter.
Looking at the intensely excited Great Elder, Medusa's mouth twitched. She truly couldn't bring herself to say anything that would dampen her spirits.
She estimated that once Xiao Xue discovered the truth, not only Medusa but the entire Snake People race would suffer, right?
This matter, which the elders interpreted as a wonderful surprise but Medusa interpreted as a terrifying shock, gave her an immense headache.
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