Due to Jiu Youyue’s arrival, Yan Zhen was forced to sleep on the soft couch—simple as crashing on the sofa.
He couldn’t figure it out. Jiu Youyue had come as a representative from the Demon Domain to coerce the Myriad Snake Queen into joining them. The two women should have been at each other’s throats, yet here they were acting like long-lost sisters, with all that “Sister She Ji” talk. If Yan Zhen didn’t have the script, he would’ve sworn they were old friends.
Could Jiu Youyue really just be here for him and Yun Xiu?
Something felt off to Yan Zhen.
Carrying his doubts, he listened as the Myriad Snake Queen outlined tomorrow’s plans. Then he returned to the soft couch and slept soundly. The next morning, he learned that the Sand Scorpion Army had appeared outside the oasis.
Having consecutively breached four fortresses, the Sand Scorpion Army had rested up and was now launching its all-out assault on the City of Water.
The oasis wasn’t like the open desert, so the army’s advance was slower. Still, they’d be at the city gates in just one or two days.
The Myriad Snake Queen urgently summoned the Eight Serpent Generals. She ordered them to proceed as planned: pairing the upper four with the lower four, each duo leading their respective legions to guard the four city gates.
The reinforcements from the Three Major Kingdoms were also assigned to the defense.
The City of Water entered a wartime lockdown. No one was allowed in or out—violators would be killed on sight. Panic gripped the entire city.
“When do we head out?” Yan Zhen asked.
“Just wait a bit longer,” the Myriad Snake Queen replied.
At noon, a terrifying aura closed in from afar in an instant. It whipped up a blood-red sandstorm over the City of Water, blanketing the cool oasis in desert heat.
Amid the crimson sand tornado loomed the faint shadow of an enormous scorpion, its two fiery eyes glowing ominously.
The supreme ruler of the Sand Scorpion Clan—the Red Sand Scorpion Lord!
Once merely at the Mystic Lord Realm and no match for the Myriad Snake Queen, it had now been reborn through the tempering of the Great Crimson Heaven Flame. It had advanced to Mystic Ancestor, its power unfathomable.
“Myriad Snake Queen, this seat keeps its word! Within half a year, my forces would arrive at your gates. The deadline is here. Soon, this seat will lead the Sand Scorpion Army to surround the entire City of Water and exterminate every last Snake Descendant. If you don’t want your people wiped out, kneel before this seat. This seat might yet spare you. Otherwise, in two days, the city falls!”
The vast, booming voice echoed throughout the City of Water, resounding like tolling bells.
The city’s inhabitants erupted in chaos.
Having achieved its goal, the Red Sand Scorpion Lord retracted its blood-red sandstorm and vanished into the horizon.
Inside the palace, the Myriad Snake Queen gazed calmly at the receding storm. Then she turned to Yan Zhen.
“It’s time to go. Get ready and follow this queen.”
With that, she led the way deeper into the palace.
Yan Zhen, Yun Xiu, and Jiu Youyue exchanged glances before following.
“Jiuyou, are you coming too?” Yan Zhen asked suspiciously. “Since when are you and Sister She Ji so close?”
Jiu Youyue rolled her eyes at him.
“What’s it to you, prying into girls’ friendships? Can’t this demoness and Sister She Ji just hit it off right away? You little gossip!”
—Tch! Something’s definitely fishy.
Like a pint-sized detective, Yan Zhen pinched his chin in thought.
Was this demoness a spy? Infiltrating their group, waiting to backstab them once they found the Great Crimson Heaven Flame.
After all, the Demon Domain’s evil cultivators were eyeing it too.
According to the script, Yan Zhen had risked everything to forcibly refine the Great Crimson Heaven Flame because those evil cultivators wanted to kill him and steal it. To survive, he’d had no choice but to fight for his life.
With three or more Extreme Flames in one’s body, one could unleash a special Mystic Technique from the Emperor Flame Technique—directly slaying any Mystic Lord or below, and even a defensively fortified Mystic Ancestor like the Red Sand Scorpion Lord couldn’t tank it.
In short, Yan Zhen stayed on guard. Demonesses were fickle and loved to screw people over.
The trio followed the Myriad Snake Queen to the Holy Spring Hall—the very place where Yan Zhen had first met her.
The spring’s source led to the Remnant Lake outside the City of Water, and beneath that lake lay an underwater passage to beyond the oasis.
They could slip out undetected from here, evading the Sand Scorpion Army’s encirclement.
The Myriad Snake Queen had already left a Mystic Power avatar in the palace to issue orders and avoid combat. It could hold out for ten days or half a month, no problem.
They had planned all this in advance.
Suddenly, the Myriad Snake Queen removed her crown, undid her sash, and shrugged off her outer monarch’s robe. Yun Xiu and Jiu Youyue were startled, and Yan Zhen’s eyes went wide.
But they were overthinking it. Beneath, she wore a lightweight travel dress in deep crimson—simple attire that traded her cold sovereign’s domineering aura for the elegant poise of a noble lady.
“…Why are you all staring at this queen? Get in the water.”
Yan Zhen snapped back to attention. Jiu Youyue covered her mouth with a laugh, while Yun Xiu retreated into her shell once more.
The Myriad Snake Queen huffed. She channeled Mystic Power to envelop her body, then extended a hand toward Yan Zhen.
“?
Yan Zhen blinked in confusion, glanced at his own hand, and tentatively placed it in her palm.
She yanked him close, pulling him into her embrace as her crimson Mystic Power wrapped around him too.
“Your cultivation is too low. Stick with this queen.”
His face buried in the Myriad Snake Queen’s deep cleavage, Yan Zhen flushed slightly and grumbled, “I can manage.”
“The journey’s long. Your Mystic Power won’t last.—Hold on tight. We’re diving.”
“…”
Yan Zhen had no choice but to wrap his arms around the Myriad Snake Queen’s lithe waist.
Yun Xiu’s withdrawn gaze flickered, but she stayed silent.
Jiu Youyue made a mental note. Handy trick.
Ignoring the two women, the Myriad Snake Queen leaped into the Holy Spring Pool with Yan Zhen in her arms, swimming swiftly into the depths.
Yun Xiu and Jiu Youyue channeled their own Mystic Power barriers before diving in, keeping tight behind them.
At the pool’s bottom lay the spring’s eye, bubbling with outflow. They slipped inside to find a hidden world.
As they descended deeper, Yan Zhen felt the water pressure intensify. But shielded by the Myriad Snake Queen’s Mystic Power, it didn’t bother him.
At a sufficient depth, they each unleashed their techniques: a massive blood-red Mystic Power serpent, a white Mystic Power greatsword, and a cyan crescent moon slicing through the currents as they sped toward the city outskirts.
Cradled against the Myriad Snake Queen, Yan Zhen pressed tight to her body, his face squeezed between her soft swells. Her rich fragrance flooded his senses.
As time passed, his restraint frayed. Though submerged in icy depths, his body grew feverish.
The Myriad Snake Queen, focused on the journey, sensed it immediately. She glanced down at him, mindful of his condition, and slyly slipped her free jade hand lower. With Circling Finger Tenderness, she soothed his rising fire.
Yan Zhen hissed through his teeth, the pent-up tension easing noticeably.
He looked up at her impassive face, as if nothing had happened, and a mischievous impulse stirred. He began planting strawberry marks along her chest and collarbone.
