Of the enemies present, none was more terrified than Protector Wu. At this moment, he existed only as a soul body—there was no way he dared clash directly with Queen Medusa's beast spirit.
"What are you all standing around for? Kill her!"
Seeing Yun Shan, Han Feng, and the others unmoving, Protector Wu roared furiously. With a violent shake of his arm, three shadowy chains shot out from his back with a clattering sound. They writhed like venomous serpents, circling endlessly above his head.
"Three-Segment Soul Lock!"
His palm, shrouded in black mist, stretched outward. With a change of his hand seal, the three black chains hovering above him howled as they shot forward.
The chains, crossing in the void, perfectly sealed off the beast spirit's path of advance.
"All Yunlan Sect disciples, kill!" Yun Shan turned his head and issued a cold command.
The gates of Qinghong City burst open. From within surged countless disciples clad in white cloud-patterned robes, long swords in hand, rushing into battle like a flood.
"Remember what you promised me," Yun Shan muttered aside to Yun Yun.
"Soldiers of the Empire, the time has come to shed blood for your nation. Kill with me!" Mu Chen, atop the city walls, bellowed as the Dou Qi wings on his back flared, propelling him toward the Serpent-People's army.
From within the city, armored troops poured forth in droves.
"Elder Ying Shan, once the Serpent-People are exterminated, I will fulfill every promise made to you," Han Feng said with a respectful bow toward the black-robed old man beside him.
The elder's expression remained cold and impassive, though the faint trace of savagery in his features was enough to make the Gold and Silver Elders tremble.
This was once one of the top three experts on the previous Black Ranking.
With gray hair and a sharp hawk-like nose, Elder Ying Shan gave no reply, only a curt nod before stepping into the air, heading straight toward the Serpent-People army.
Han Feng frowned slightly, then turned toward the Gold and Silver Elders as well as Fang Yan, the Great Elder of the Burning Flame Valley. Bowing once again, he said, "I'll be relying on you as well."
The Gold and Silver Elders no longer dared treat Han Feng lightly. That he had managed to invite three Dou Zong was something they hadn't expected. Smiling faintly, they replied:
"Rest assured, Medicine Emperor. Though we cannot match Queen Medusa, dealing with the rest of them will be child's play."
Fang Yan also nodded, indicating no issue.
"Be careful. That brat hasn't appeared yet," Han Feng reminded with a frown.
The Gold and Silver Elders instantly knew who he meant. Their eyes flickered with unease.
After all, having crossed paths with Chen Mo twice, they had developed a deep fear of his methods.
The saying "a single move shakes the whole body" was apt. Protector Wu's opening strike immediately triggered chaos on a massive scale. Terrifying Dou Qi erupted in waves across the skies above Qinghong City, its pressure so overwhelming that even weaker cultivators struggled just to breathe.
"Kill!"
Neither Yunlan Sect nor the Imperial Army held back. Facing their assault, the Serpent-People roared in defiance. Having survived the brush of death in the last battle, Die understood clearly: this was a fight where only one side would live.
Their enemies even openly shouted the slogan of exterminating the Serpent-People as a race. Die's gaze turned icy. With a cold cry, she erupted forward, Dou Qi surging to its limits, colliding head-on into the battlefield.
In a flash, she struck down a Dou Wang from the Yunlan Sect.
Boom! Boom!
The two great armies clashed in the skies like thunder colliding. Explosions of energy resounded, and rippling shockwaves swept across the heavens.
Meanwhile, Queen Medusa's beast spirit was shattered under the combined assault of her enemies.
She stepped onto the void, intercepting one Dou Zong after another, preventing them from descending upon her army.
She understood clearly.
This was a battle of blood.
She had wronged her people. If not for her own personal feelings—hesitating and seeking peace with the humans because of Chen Mo—she would never have wasted so much time. That hesitation had led them straight into this ambush.
Now, as the Serpent-People steadily fell into disadvantage...
The only thing she could do was block the enemy's Dou Zong, buying her people precious survival.
As for the Dou Huang experts charging forward...
"Hehe... Queen Medusa, you alone think you can hold back the four of us? How delusional," Protector Wu sneered, staring at her as she stood tall, seven-colored serpent sword in hand, holding off himself, Protector Xuan, Yun Shan, and Elder Ying Shan.
Behind her, Han Feng, the Gold and Silver Elders, and Fang Yan had already bypassed, descending upon the Serpent-People army.
With the strength of three peak Dou Huang and one eight-star Dou Huang, it would not take long before the Serpent-People's experts were completely massacred.
That was why Protector Wu could afford to slowly wear her down.
And indeed, the slaughter began.
"Leader!"
"Leader Du Qianteng!"
Shua! Elder Jin's fist exploded the head of Du Qianteng. One of the eight great Serpent-People chiefs had fallen.
"No!"
The Serpent-People erupted in panic. Rage and grief flooded their warriors, eyes reddened as Dou Qi flared violently.
"Die, all of you!" Die transformed into her serpent form, surging toward the Gold and Silver Elders.
"Five-Serpent Venom Seal!"
The three Great Elders of the Serpent-People took over command, unleashing a combined attack—but they were intercepted by Yun Yun. Her expression wavered, but in the end she steeled herself.
"I will not kill you. But you will not pass."
"Damn humans! If you win today, this Queen will see you damned for eternity!"
The fall of Du Qianteng ignited Queen Medusa's fury. With a wave of her slender hand, dazzling seven-colored energy erupted, condensing into a rainbow-like radiance that shimmered in her palm.
One hand wielding her long sword, the other channeling rainbow energy, she launched the first strike.
"Do not hold back—attack together!"
The shadow of their last battle still haunted Protector Wu. Now that they held overwhelming advantage, he would never be foolish enough to face her alone.
At his shout, four Dou Zong attacked in unison.
"Shameless..." Yue Mei spat from the distance upon seeing the scene.
The combined might of four Dou Zong shook the void itself. Overwhelming energy blasted forward, engulfing Queen Medusa.
But at the moment of impact, the space around her suddenly rippled. Her figure vanished.
When she reappeared, she stood right before Protector Wu.
"Spatial power...? Impossible!" Elder Ying Shan's face changed drastically.
The power of space was something only a Dou Sheng could wield. How could Queen Medusa possibly have mastered it?
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