At the same time, Queen Medusa's body crashed heavily onto the grasslands. The once-dazzling, seductive beauty of her face was now twisted in agony. Blood streamed endlessly from the corners of her lips, and her faint violet eyes were unfocused, dulled by the heartfire burning within her veins.
For a long moment she lay still, dazed. Then, trembling, she lifted her head with both hands and tail, only to see above her a massive seal of light descending like judgment itself—its boundless pressure blotting out the heavens.
A flicker of terror crossed her face. Even for the Queen of the Snake-People, whose name struck fear and awe across the three great empires, the breath of death that now pressed down was suffocating.
"Serpent Shadows Overlap!"
Instinct screamed louder than pride. Medusa didn't fear death—after all, she had dared to use a Heavenly Flame to risk her life and evolve—but she could not accept dying here. Not yet. Her clan still needed her.
One after another, enormous seven-colored pythons burst into being around her, each formed from condensed Dou Qi, each throwing itself skyward like moths to a flame, intercepting the descending Radiant Seal.
Her pale face trembled as she poured every last drop of Dou Qi into the technique. Countless spectral pythons surged upward, hurling themselves toward the incoming light.
The Radiant Seal—a Di Class Dou Technique stolen from Han Feng and fused with the Fallen Heart Flame—was a weapon of pure yang, a technique of exorcising evil and crushing darkness. Its destructive power was absolute.
The first seven-colored python touched the seal—and was obliterated instantly, bursting apart into a cloud of rainbow energy. Each one that followed only slowed the attack by a heartbeat.
Then, under Medusa's despairing gaze, the Radiant Seal came crashing down.
A thunderous explosion rocked the world. Shockwaves of energy rippled outward, uprooting grass and stone alike; trees snapped in half, debris filled the air. Medusa's shrill scream was soon drowned by the storm of light, her aura dwindling to nearly nothing.
Moments later, the seal began to fade. The once lush field was now a pit of cracked earth three meters wide and half a foot deep, scorched barren.
Liu Xi lowered himself slowly through the smoke. His sharp eyes soon found Medusa's mangled body lying within the crater, her flesh torn open, her aura barely a whisper.
But he did not withdraw the Fallen Heart Flame. He had fought enough cunning opponents to know—never assume the serpent is truly dead.
He landed beside her, and with a small, dismissive kick to her side, flipped her over.
"Tsk tsk..." he muttered. "What a shame."
Her once-glistening violet scales were shattered and bloodied; her lower body was a ruin of torn flesh. Even her flawless face was smeared with ash and blood, her eyes half open in pain.
Liu Xi gave a low whistle. "You really were beautiful, you know... Too bad you tried to kill me."
"Cough... cough..."
The faint sound froze him.
"Well, I'll be damned... you're still alive?" His brows lifted in surprise. "You're one stubborn one."
Medusa's bloodied eyes flicked toward him, filled with hatred and fear—and behind it, a faint, unwilling despair.
"How does death taste?" he sneered, crouching beside her. "Beg for mercy now, and maybe... maybe I'll show a little kindness."
Medusa said nothing. Her eyes burned with venom, locking onto him like a wounded predator refusing to die.
Liu Xi sighed in mild disappointment. "Suit yourself."
He tugged a storage ring off her trembling finger, rose to his feet, and drifted back into the air.
"Goodbye."
With a flick of his palm, a sphere of invisible flame gathered in his hand—the Fallen Heart Flame pulsing like a living thing. He tossed it casually toward her broken form.
The moment it touched her, the flames roared to life. The crater filled with searing fire, heat distorting the air as Medusa's scream echoed weakly through the inferno.
"I... can't die yet..."
Her mind screamed the words, though her body was barely conscious. In agony, her hands formed a strange seal, trembling violently.
Then—a surge of mysterious energy erupted from her body, swallowing the invisible fire that burned her. Her fading aura began, impossibly, to rise again.
Her form began to change.
Before Liu Xi's startled eyes, her humanoid body dissolved, transforming into a colossal purple serpent, five or six meters long, thrashing violently within the flames.
Liu Xi blinked in disbelief. "So... after transforming into a beast, her vitality actually increased?"
He rubbed his chin, eyes narrowing. "Let's test that theory."
He gathered another orb of flame—larger and hotter than before—and hurled it into the pit.
BOOM!
The Fallen Heart Flame erupted once more, drowning the purple serpent in light and fire. Scales burst, flesh sizzled, and her roars dwindled into silence. Gradually, the massive serpent began to shrink, its flesh and bone burning into nothing.
Half an hour later, the pit was still ablaze, but the serpent was gone—only a charred, blackened husk remained.
Satisfied, Liu Xi let the flame fade from his palm. He was about to turn away when the ground trembled softly. The air itself shifted.
The energy of heaven and earth began to churn, gathering into dark clouds overhead. Lightning crackled ominously across the sky.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me..."
He stared upward, dumbfounded, then back at the smoldering remains.
A flash of lightning split the clouds and struck the crater dead-on, slamming into the corpse in a final, thunderous blast.
Then the clouds dispersed, leaving silence.
Cautious, Liu Xi stepped closer. The blackened serpent body was utterly lifeless—yet within, he sensed a faint new pulse of life.
Suddenly, a portion of the serpent's carcass burst open. A streak of seven-colored light darted free, fast as a shooting star.
But Liu Xi was faster.
He shot forward like a shadow, reaching out and seizing the glow in one hand.
It wriggled—a tiny serpent, no longer than two fingers, covered in glimmering rainbow scales. The moment it was caught, it hissed and snapped at his finger.
Liu Xi chuckled darkly. "Still got some bite, huh?"
He flicked the creature's small head sharply with his finger. The little serpent's amethyst eyes spun dizzily, dazed from the blow.
"Try biting again," he said flatly, "and I'll pull out every one of those pretty little fangs... then seal your mouth shut."
The miniature serpent went still. Its jeweled eyes blinked innocently, as if to say, I'll behave.
Liu Xi grinned in satisfaction, studying it more closely.
"Seven-colored scales... violet-tinted eyes... a faint fragrance... and strength that defies the heavens. No doubt about it—you're a Seven Colored Heaven Swallowing Python."
His eyes gleamed.
"So that's it. Medusa didn't die—she evolved. Her soul shed the old body and rebirthed into this new form... a perfect reconstruction of body and spirit. Incredible."
He lifted the tiny serpent up before his face, smiling.
"Well then, little one, looks like you're mine now. You survived because I burned her with the Fallen Heart Flame—a fire that tempers body and soul instead of destroying outright. Without me, you'd have perished completely."
His grin widened. "You owe me your life."
(End of Chapter)
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