Battle Through the Heavens: Xiao Yan, who was kidnapped to another world

"Nonsense, what else could I be but your brother?" Having been tapped by Xiao Ding, Xiao Li raised his hand and smacked Xiao Yan on the head without hesitation. "What kind of nonsense are you spouting, really..."

"My dear brother!" Xiao Yan pretended to be seriously injured. "Let's not talk about introductions for now. I pretty much know who Xue Lan is, but who is Qing Lin?"

"Huh? Didn't I tell you?" Xiao Li blinked and said strangely.

"What did you say?" Xiao Yan grinned.

"Look, this is Qinglin!" Xiao Li put his arm around Xiao Yan's shoulder, pointed to the girl next to Little Fairy Doctor, and then lowered his voice and said, "Qinglin is a half-human, half-snake. My brother and I found her not long after you came home last year. When we brought Qinglin back, I told her that she would be your future child bride, and she agreed to it right away!"

"Right, Qinglin!"

As he spoke, Xiao Li's voice gradually grew louder, until he was even openly asking the girl in the light green dress.

Hearing the second half of Xiao Li's sentence, Qing Lin's face was already flushed red, even her ears were burning hot. However, after hearing Xiao Li's question, Qing Lin still softly replied, "Yes, Young Master Xiao Yan..."

"Now it's Young Master Xiao Yan, aren't you tempted at all?" Xiao Li wouldn't miss any opportunity to tease his younger brother. "By the way, Xue Lan, have you also taken a fancy to my little Yanzi? Do you want me to introduce you?"

Upon hearing Xiao Li's words, Xue Lan's cheeks flushed red, and she lowered her head, not daring to speak.

"Big brother, do something about second brother!" Having had enough of being tormented by his second brother, Xiao Yan didn't hesitate to ask for help.

"Alright, second brother, stop talking," Xiao Ding said with a smile, stopping Xiao Li's nonsense. Then, amidst Xiao Li's muttering, he looked at the girl named Xue Lan and asked, "You have something to report, don't you?"

"Yes!" Xue Lan finally remembered why she had followed along and looked up, saying earnestly.

?

Xiao Ding, who had only intended to give Xue Lan an excuse, was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, then sat up straight and said, "Tell me what it is now."

Xiao Yan and Xiao Li also put down their wine bowls, sat upright, and looked at Xue Lan seriously.

"Grand Master, do you still remember the stone statue of the Sand Mercenary Group?" Xue Lan asked earnestly.

Stone statue?

Xiao Yan frowned, turned his head, and looked at his two elder brothers.

"Have they appeared again?" Xiao Ding frowned, asking in a deep voice, "Where were they found? How many are there? Whose people are they?"

"It's still in the east of the city, in the same location as the Sand Mercenary Group's statue last time," Xue Lan reported in a low voice. "There are thirteen statues in total, all of them are people from the city lord's mansion, and one of them is even a confidant of the city lord."

"The city lord's confidant?" Xiao Ding's face instantly turned ashen.

As the city closest to the Snake-Man Tribe, the city lord of Stone Desert City, like the city lords of other major cities, is a Dou Wang (Battle King) level expert. Although his strength cannot compare to the top ten experts selected each year, he is still a well-known figure. The city lord of Stone Desert City is even known as the city lord who has come closest to the top ten experts in the past ten years.

With such formidable strength, the confidants of the Stone Desert City Lord are naturally not weak either. As far as Xiao Ding knows, even the weakest of the City Lord's confidants has the strength of a Great Dou Master, and the strongest are even Dou Ling!

"Which one is it?" Xiao Li asked in a deep voice, his expression also grave. "A fox or a snake?"

The city lord of Stone Desert City had a total of twelve confidants, the two weakest of whom were known as Fox and Snake.

“It’s a tiger…” Xue Lan pursed her lips and finally said softly.

"Tiger?"

Veins bulged on Xiao Ding's palms. If it were a fox or a snake, he could say that the two were too careless and were caught off guard by a magical beast, but a tiger...

As the city lord's most trusted confidant, his strength has already reached the level of a one-star Dou Ling! He can completely defeat the powerful members of the Mo Tie Mercenary Group even without using his hands and feet!

"Everyone, pack your things and be ready to evacuate Stone Desert City at any time!" Without hesitation, Xiao Ding stood up and shouted loudly.

"What do you mean by the stone statue?" Little Fairy Doctor looked at Xiao Yan with some confusion as Xiao Ding and the mercenary group explained what had happened.

After shaking his head, Xiao Yan turned his puzzled gaze to Xiao Li.

"...About half a month ago, someone discovered three stone statues in the eastern part of Stone Desert City," Xiao Li said softly after taking a sip of wine. "After identification, the people from the City Lord's Mansion confirmed that they belonged to the Sand Mercenary Group."

“Although the Snake-People tribe has been a bit arrogant lately, everyone knows that only Queen Medusa of the Snake-People tribe can petrify people. So everyone thought they were just three unlucky guys who encountered some other magical beast that can petrify people. After all, a week has passed, and there have been no other victims besides those three.” Xiao Li exhaled a breath of turbid air.

“But now, the city lord’s trusted confidant, a one-star Dou Ling, has been petrified… This is something that no similar magical beast could do,” Xiao Li licked his lips, his voice slightly hoarse, “It’s almost certain that the one lurking nearby is that snake-woman queen…”

For a moment, everyone fell silent.

As citizens of the Gama Empire, everyone knows that the Gama Empire's greatest enemy is not the diverse snake-people tribes, but the snake-people's sole leader, Queen Medusa, who is said to possess the strength of a peak Dou Huang!

Such a terrifyingly powerful figure had actually appeared near Stone Desert City, and had even petrified several people who had seen her...

“I want to go to the City Lord’s Mansion,” Xiao Yan suddenly said after a brief silence. “Maybe Miss Xue Lan is mistaken, maybe it really is just a magical beast with similar abilities…”

Of course, if it really were Queen Medusa, Xiao Yan would definitely have his two older brothers lead the Mo Tie Mercenary Group away from Shi Mo City without hesitation!

“Little Yanzi, you have the identity of an alchemist. If you go directly there, the city lord shouldn’t refuse.” Xiao Li nodded and said.

"Um……"

"Qinglin, what's wrong? Are you scared?"

Just as Xiao Yan nodded, preparing to go to the City Lord's Mansion to find out what was going on, Little Fairy Doctor suddenly looked at Qing Lin, who had shrunk behind her, with some curiosity.

Upon hearing Little Fairy Doctor's voice, Xiao Yan and Xiao Li simultaneously turned their gazes toward Qing Lin.

Being watched by three people simultaneously intensified Qing Lin's fear, and she stammered, "There's something... east of Stone Desert City..."

East? Now?

Xiao Yan frowned. "Qing Lin, are you sure it's to the east?" He half-squatted down and looked directly into Qing Lin's eyes.

Staring at Qing Lin's pair of bright, clear eyes, Xiao Yan noticed that they were slightly greenish, and... deep within the pupils, there seemed to be three extremely tiny emerald green dots hidden.

“Over there…” Qing Lin, feeling a little shy as Xiao Yan stared directly into her eyes, turned her head away, then raised her hand and pointed in a direction.

It wasn't until he heard Qing Lin's soft, sweet voice that Xiao Yan snapped out of his daze, a hint of surprise flashing through his mind. In the Northwest Continent, the soul power of the Spirit Realm was undoubtedly at the top level, but he had actually been distracted by staring into Qing Lin's eyes.

"Is it over there?" Xiao Yan quickly composed himself and looked in the direction Qing Lin pointed. At the same time, his soul power burst out of his body and rushed towards the southeast of Shimo City, which Qing Lin had pointed to.

'Are these the ones who were petrified?'

As his soul power surged southeastward, it happened to pass by the City Lord's Mansion. Xiao Yan also happened to "see" the dozen or so unlucky people who had been petrified, as well as a Dou Wang whose feet had turned grayish-white.

'So it really is Queen Medusa?'

Before he could think further, Xiao Yan's soul power had already caught up with the figure, or rather... the snake shadow, in the southeast direction.

With her alluring face, graceful figure, slender waist, and wild purple snake tail below, there was no doubt that this figure was the Medusa Queen whom Xiao Yan was wary of.

However, Xiao Yan's mind was not at all focused on that body that could drive any man mad—

In Queen Medusa's hand was a lotus throne carved from strange crystal, upon which a blue flame was slowly rising.

This ball of azure flame is extremely spiritual. As it churns slightly, it sometimes condenses into the shape of a lotus flower, and sometimes into a tiny azure flame snake, floating and coiling in the lotus seat, which is extremely cute.

Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame!

The moment Xiao Yan saw that ball of flame, the name popped into his mind. Although he had never seen what the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame looked like, Xiao Yan, who had read the book on the Strange Flames Ranking provided by Yao Lao, was able to guess its name!

'So, you were seriously injured while collecting the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame?' Finally, Xiao Yan's attention turned to Queen Medusa.

At the same time, Xiao Yan finally understood why Queen Medusa, who possessed the strength of a nine-star Dou Huang, had not noticed his undisguised soul power!

"Qinglin, well done!" After withdrawing his soul power, Xiao Yan raised his hand and patted Qinglin's little head.

Suddenly praised, Qing Lin raised her head in confusion, looking at Xiao Yan with bewilderment.

After pinching Qinglin's cheek, Xiao Yan looked at Xiao Li and said, "Second brother, tell eldest brother that we don't need to pack anything."

"Huh... huh?" Xiao Li also looked bewildered.

"Queen Medusa has left, but..." Purple Cloud Wings unfurled behind Xiao Yan, "I have something to discuss with her!"

With a flap of his purple cloud wings, Xiao Yan's body gradually floated up. "Don't worry, my teacher is nearby, we'll be back soon!"

After leaving behind a message, Xiao Yan's body flew into the air and then sped off in the direction where Queen Medusa had left.

Chapter 155 Queen Medusa

Queen Medusa, a super strong woman renowned throughout the Gama Empire.

Several decades ago, the Gama Empire wanted to send troops to annihilate the Snake People tribe, and even invited three Dou Huang powerhouses to do so. However, even so, they were still severely wounded by Queen Medusa and had to return.

Since then, the Gama Empire has never again considered sending troops to suppress them.

If Queen Medusa were at her peak, even if it were confirmed that the Snake-People's Holy City possessed a different kind of fire, Xiao Yan would not dare to act rashly.

Although Xiao Yan did not believe he would lose to Queen Medusa in a one-on-one fight, the Snake-People tribe had several Dou Wangs besides Queen Medusa, who was a Dou Huang level expert. Without absolute certainty, Xiao Yan would not be able to set foot in the Snake-People tribe's holy city.

However, Queen Medusa is currently extremely far from the Snake-People's Holy City, and she was severely injured while trying to capture the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame. This is undoubtedly great news for Xiao Yan, but—

"So, why does Queen Medusa want to find the Strange Flame?" Xiao Yan asked curiously during the flight.

The snake-people are born with a nature that leans towards yin and cold. If they were to absorb a strange fire, it would undoubtedly be courting death. However, Xiao Yan really couldn't understand what other effects the strange fire had besides absorption.

"It's hard to say..." the old doctor pondered. "The only thing I can be sure of is that she absolutely could not have absorbed the strange fire."

"Then let's ask her face to face..." Xiao Yan smiled slightly, already able to see the snake's shadow ahead, and put on his hood.

*

Queen Medusa nearly exhausted all her fighting spirit while capturing the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame.

Despite being merely the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame, ranked nineteenth on the Strange Flame Ranking, possessing extremely low intelligence, and unable to reach the peak level of a Dou Huang even at full power, Queen Medusa was severely injured during its capture.

"If it weren't for the ability..."

As she made her way toward the holy city of the Serpent People, Queen Medusa couldn't help but glance once more at the blue flames on the lotus throne in her palm.

She was already at the peak of Dou Huang, and although she was only one step away from Dou Zong, Queen Medusa knew that unless someone delivered the Breakthrough Pill to her, her strength would stop there.

Of course, there is another possibility, which is to evolve through a different kind of fire. However, the success rate of this kind of evolution is extremely low. If she is not careful, she will be completely burned into nothingness by the different kind of fire. Even if she is lucky enough to survive, she cannot predict what kind of changes this kind of evolution will bring to her.

"What a pity..." Queen Medusa's eyelids drooped slightly, then in the next instant, her snake eyes snapped open, "Who is it!"

Invisible sound waves emanated from Queen Medusa's mouth, and huge sand waves suddenly formed as the sound waves spread, crashing down on the surroundings like a tidal wave.

Purple ice crystals quietly covered the sand waves, then quietly slid away, and the sand, having lost its momentum, fell helplessly to the ground.

Then, a dark figure appeared behind the falling sand.

"Hehe, Your Majesty, why make such a fuss?" Beneath his hood, Xiao Yan's eyes were fixed on Queen Medusa opposite him. "I was just passing by."

"Just passing by?" Queen Medusa scoffed. "If I hadn't noticed you, were you planning to keep passing through all the way to the holy city of my snake-people?"

Even though she had lost only a tenth of her original strength, Queen Medusa showed no weakness whatsoever when facing this mysterious man in black robes.

“If this is Her Majesty the Queen’s invitation…” Xiao Yan’s lips curled up slightly, “then I have no choice but to refuse. After all, the leaders of the eight tribes of the Snake-People are still in the Holy City, aren’t they?”

Although he didn't know why Queen Medusa wanted to find this strange fire, combined with what he had heard in Mo City not long ago about "multiple snake-people tribes attacking major cities" and the guard's words that "the city lords of several main cities have gone deep into the desert," Xiao Yan could easily deduce that in order to find this strange fire, Queen Medusa was willing to use her own people as bait to deceive all the city lords who would pose a threat to the snake-people tribe... or rather, to her search for the strange fire.