Word Count: 3,361 Words
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One day later, in the dead of night, inside Medusa's room.
A pair of piercingly cold, beautiful eyes stared fixedly at Xiao Yan. Medusa's face was as icy as frost. Despite possessing a Heavenly Flame body, her gaze remained so cold.
Xiao Yan didn't dare look at her. He slowly averted his gaze and defended himself, "You know how it is. The Ten Thousand Beast Flame is unreasonable. It'll burn all the clothes, and your true form is too large now."
Medusa was no longer the little snake that had once been held in Mao Wu's mouth. After fully condensing her physical body, her true form had grown to an unimaginable size.
To use the Ten Thousand Beast Flame for healing and to stimulate her bloodline strength, she could no longer directly burn her true form as she did back at Jia Nan Academy.
Being blasted by Heavenly Flames was not something simple pills could heal. Xiao Yan had spent a full day refining medicine to create a tub of medicinal liquid for treating her injuries.
Moreover, it required the cooperation of the Yin-Yang Life and Death Flame and the Ten Thousand Beast Flame to achieve better healing results.
Medusa's face grew even colder by a few degrees upon hearing these words. However, Xiao Yan was the alchemist here. Though she was formidable in combat and killing, she knew nothing about alchemy.
She tossed a black cloth to Xiao Yan and said coldly, "If you dare use Spiritual Strength to perceive, I will kill you!"
Xiao Yan's expression changed when he saw the black cloth in his hand. Her Majesty was getting fancy! She wanted him blindfolded!
Of course, Xiao Yan, whose strength was inferior to Medusa's, could only comply. He used the black cloth to cover his eyes, withdrew all his Spiritual Strength perception, and even placed Venerable Tian Huo's storage ring outside.
Medusa's frosty face gradually softened when she saw that Xiao Yan had blindfolded himself. Then a piercing pain caused her exquisite features to twitch involuntarily.
Undoubtedly, that battle had been anything but easy for her.
After glancing at Xiao Yan once more to ensure he wasn't peeking, she slowly untied her clothing.
Xiao Yan couldn't help swallowing when he heard the rustling sounds of clothing. Facing Medusa in human form in such a situation, he wouldn't be a man if he didn't have fantasies!
Xiao Yan silently recited Xun Er's name to stabilize his mind, keeping his heart as calm as an ancient well.
Splash!
A splashing water sound rang out. Medusa's eyes narrowed in pain the instant her wounds contacted the medicinal liquid, but the strong-willed Medusa quickly endured it.
She slowly sat in the wooden tub. The scalding medicinal liquid brought her some relief. She tied up her hair and slowly raised her head to look at the man before her. Her beautiful eyes flickered with strange colors as unknown thoughts crossed her mind.
"You can start," she said in an icy voice.
Xiao Yan didn't dare make a sound. He only smelled a medicinal fragrance in the air, though it seemed mixed with some enticing aroma that stirred one's heart.
He spread the fingers of his left hand, and a pair of Yin-Yang fish appeared in his palm.
The white fish's Life Flame swam to Medusa's side. After lightly kissing her cheek, a jade-white flame appeared to heal her wounds, while the black fish's Death Flame spat out Death Flames to decompose the flesh burned by Heavenly Flames. Then the Life Flame regenerated new flesh.
Death and life cycled endlessly.
Although Xiao Yan had withdrawn his Spiritual Strength, he knew how serious Medusa's injuries were through the feedback from the Yin-Yang Life and Death Flame. Her front, back, arms, and snake tail all had extensive burns. Moreover, these were all burns from Heavenly Flames, extremely difficult to heal without special methods.
Only after healing the external wounds would he use the Ten Thousand Beast Flame to begin repairing the damage to her bloodline.
"I'm sorry. If my strength had reached the Dou Ancestor realm, you wouldn't have had to suffer such severe injuries." Xiao Yan couldn't help feeling somewhat guilty. The Yan Alliance was his proposal. To put it bluntly, recruiting Medusa back then was taking advantage of her, utilizing her strength.
And now, she had stepped forward to defeat the Sky Serpent Mansion, Thunderbolt Sect, and Profound Lion Sect.
Medusa glanced at the somewhat guilty Xiao Yan and merely said indifferently, "I also have a share in the Yan Alliance."
Xiao Yan nodded lightly and smiled. "Then from now on, we can be considered companions."
"This is an alliance relationship, not partnership!" Queen Medusa's rosy lips curled as she completely dismissed Xiao Yan's thoughts of drawing their relationship closer.
"An alliance is still an ally relationship, still companions." Xiao Yan shamelessly persisted, then grinned and said, "But since we're already in an ally relationship, I can't just call you Medusa directly, right? Isn't Medusa your race's name? It's too easy to cause confusion. How about I give you a name? Otherwise, when I call your name in the future, others will know your identity."
"No need for your concern!" Medusa replied coldly to Xiao Yan's presumptuous suggestion.
"How about 'Cai Lin'? It suits you very well." Xiao Yan pondered for a moment before suggesting this, not caring at all whether the name he came up with was corny.
He didn't know why he chose this name. Perhaps it was destiny.
Medusa's beautiful eyes filled with cold intent as she stared at the young man before her. However, when she saw the brilliant warm smile on his face, the anger in her eyes somehow eased slightly for unknown reasons. She said coldly, "Queen Medusa is my name and also my identity. I don't need you to give me any other name."
"But this way it's easy to cause confusion. What if there's a second Medusa one day—"
"Scram!" Medusa erupted instantly, her patience broken by his chatter. Her eyes narrowed as an imposing force rippled outward like a gust of wind.
The rush of air caused the loosely secured black cloth over Xiao Yan's eyes to drift away. When his vision returned, he saw a sight that tugged at the deepest impulses in a man's heart. He instantly felt something rising, his blood surging, making him feel a bit dizzy.
"It was an accident! This isn't my fault!" Xiao Yan tried to explain, but words were useless at this moment.
"Argh!! You did this on purpose!"
"Agh, no, it really was an accident!"
"Ow ow ow, that hurts! Why are you in such a rush? It's not like I haven't seen it before!"
"Aaahhh~~!!"
Before long, pitiful cries echoed through the residence. In the adjacent room, which happened to be Yun Yun's room, upon hearing his series of agonized yet... pleasurable screams, Yun Yun's cheeks immediately flushed.
"Master, wasn't Medusa the one injured? Why is Xiao Yan the one screaming?" Nalan Yanran asked curiously from within the room.
Yun Yun's face grew even redder. She covered Nalan Yanran's ears and said, "You're still too young. Don't listen."
Nalan Yanran was left baffled. Too young??
Yun Yun, meanwhile, could only think, 'I didn't expect Xiao Yan to have such a... fetish.'
...
Early the next morning, Xiao Yan appeared in the Yan Alliance mansion's main hall covered in injuries, while Hai Bodong struggled to suppress his laughter. Yun Yun turned her blushing face aside, clearly having misunderstood something.
All four leaders of the Yan Alliance were present, including Medusa, because starting yesterday, the Yan Alliance had received numerous visitation requests, hoping to pay their respects at the Yan Alliance mansion.
And this was exactly what Xiao Yan, or rather the Yan Alliance, needed!
Xiao Yan put away his playful expression and nodded to his elder brother Xiao Ding beside him. Xiao Ding and Xiao Li understood tacitly, and the two walked to the mansion's front door to welcome guests.
Countless people had already gathered outside the Yan Alliance mansion's gates. These people were all renowned experts of the North-Western Region, powerful figures, and even leaders of various forces.
Now, these famous experts all wore nervous or even trembling expressions. They actually took the initiative to line up and wait for the mansion doors to open. Let alone cutting in line, these Dou Emperor and even Dou Ancestor level experts didn't even dare whisper to each other, only silently waiting.
Creak!
Nalan Yanran and Qing Lin slowly pulled open the doors. The Yan Alliance mansion slowly opened. Second brother Xiao Li brought out a table and chair, taking out paper and ink to record things.
The eldest brother Xiao Ding walked to the front door and revealed a harmless smile, "We thank everyone for thinking highly of our Yan Alliance. Unfortunately, there are too many visitation requests, so we must ask everyone to wait outside for a bit."
"Is the Sect Leader of the Tiger Sword Sect present?" Xiao Ding asked with a smile.
A peak Dou Emperor expert hurriedly walked up from the back. A hideous scar ran from his forehead to his chin on his face, but this person who should have looked fierce and vicious now approached with a face full of smiles.
"Present, present." Tiger Sword Sect's Sect Leader Hu Tianchou said with a beaming smile.
Some onlookers clicked their tongues in amazement seeing Hu Tianchou, who had a notorious reputation for killing without blinking in his empire, behaving like this.
But they could understand. Let alone someone with a fierce reputation, even if the sect leaders of the Sky Serpent Mansion, Thunderbolt Sect, and Profound Lion Sect came, they would still have to greet with smiling faces.
Simply because this was the Yan Alliance's territory!
Xiao Ding smiled and said, "Sect Leader Hu's reputation precedes him. This way please."
Xiao Ding led Hu Tianchou inside. As they walked, he probed a little, saying things that scared Hu Tianchou so much that his back was drenched in sweat, and he hurriedly denied any wrongdoing.
Hu Tianchou followed Xiao Ding into the main hall and saw the four leaders of the Yan Alliance all seated at the head. He was so frightened that his scalp tingled.
The Dou Qi Continent was not a civilized society. This was a world where the strong were respected.
Just like a few days ago, when the Medicine Bone Sect colluded with the Gold Geese Sect and Mulan Valley to frame Yun Yun, no one spoke up. In the end, Medusa appeared and slaughtered them with a flip of her hand. Xiao Yan even killed Gu Tong. The other disciples of the Gold Geese Sect and Mulan Valley all died, yet no one would condemn them for indiscriminate killing.
To put it bluntly, if the Yan Alliance truly wanted to expand its territory, no one would dare to say a word of dissent.
Especially when he saw Medusa sitting in the head seat as if nothing had happened, his throat bobbed up and down in fear.
"Grandmaster Xiao Yan, this is a thousand-year-old tier 7 Bone Nourishing Grass. I heard Her Majesty the Queen was injured, so I specially came to deliver it." Hu Tianchou hurriedly took out a precious box from his storage ring, wanting to respectfully hand it to Xiao Yan with both hands.
However, with just one glance from Medusa, Hu Tianchou stopped in his tracks. Xiao Yan smiled to smooth things over and said, "Sect Leader Hu is too polite. This ordinary low-grade tier 7 medicinal ingredient can be given to Yue Er. This can also serve as a test of her medicine identification abilities."
Hu Tianchou's heart sank. Xiao Yan's words were very clear: a mere low-grade tier 7 medicinal ingredient wasn't qualified to be presented to me; you can give it to Princess Yue Er.
The implication was: I'm not very satisfied.
This frightened Hu Tianchou senseless. However, he was an old fox and naturally had prepared more than one item. He took out another brocade box from his storage ring and handed both to Princess Yue Er, "Princess Yue Er, this is a middle-grade tier 7 Mountain Spirit Grass. It's a congratulatory gift from our Tiger Sword Sect for the Yan Alliance winning first place at the Great Meeting of Factions."
Before Princess Yue Er could even receive the brocade box, Zi Yan snatched it first. As soon as she opened the brocade box, a medicinal fragrance wafted out. She licked her lips, clearly very satisfied.
Jia Xing Tian, who was standing nearby, caught on and smiled. "Sect Leader Hu, what other matters bring you here today?"
Medusa waved her hand, and only then did Yue Mei slowly bring a cup of tea and place it on the seat. Hu Tianchou finally breathed a sigh of relief. He sat down, took a sip of tea, and began discussing matters related to his sect while also probing the Yan Alliance's policies.
This was exactly the result Xiao Yan and the entire Yan Alliance wanted.
Plundering resources, or rather 'receiving gifts'.
Over a hundred factions participated in the Great Meeting of Factions. These factions were all renowned in the North-Western Region. Even the weakest were factions established by Dou Emperors. Even the former Snake-People Tribe, Misty Cloud Sect, and Jia Ma Empire were only ranked as second-rate.
One could imagine what enormous wealth could be gained from plundering resources from these hundred-plus factions.
It should be known that Xiao Yan was now a low-grade 7th-tier alchemist, but if he wanted to advance to middle-grade, high-grade, peak, or even 8th-tier alchemist, the amount of medicinal ingredients needed would be enormous.
The Bone Flame Ring only contained pill recipes, not medicinal ingredients. Medicinal ingredients had always been a huge headache for Xiao Yan.
The Yan Alliance simply couldn't afford to support such a big spender like him. Let alone the Yan Alliance, even any one of the three major factions couldn't afford the medicinal ingredients needed to supply him to tier 8.
And this was under the premise that Xiao Yan didn't need to improve his Spiritual Strength and fire control. For a normal alchemist to reach tier 8, the heavenly treasures required would be enough to severely damage even the Five Major Clans of the Pill Region.
To put it in more modern terms, energy is conserved. A large region could only produce one 8th-tier alchemist because this 8th-tier alchemist had already concentrated many resources to grow.
This was also why Xiao Yan wanted to unify the North-Western Region. Before he left the North-Western Region to go to the Central Plains to participate in the Pill Gathering, he had to collect enough tier 7 and even tier 8 medicinal ingredients to become an 8th-tier alchemist.
The difficulty Hun Huzi had added for Xiao Yan was that Venerable Mu Gu was not only Venerable Yao's junior brother but also an 8th-tier alchemist. To defeat him at the Pill Gathering, Xiao Yan had to reach tier 8.
No matter how capable Xiao Yan was, he couldn't make bricks without straw.
It was impossible for the Yan Alliance to unify the entire North-Western Region overnight, but now, with the complete victory at the Great Meeting of Factions, they could proceed to 'receive gifts'.
As long as those faction leaders weren't stupid, they would understand that currying favor with the Yan Alliance now versus when the Yan Alliance came knocking at their door would have completely different costs.
Xiao Ding also suggested the Yan Alliance take a peaceful path. The Yan Alliance would still follow the Yan Alliance Treaty, remaining just a defensive alliance organization that wouldn't interfere with faction operations. However, factions joining later would need to pay annual 'membership fees'.
This was equivalent to becoming subordinate factions in disguise, except the Yan Alliance wouldn't interfere with their daily affairs.
This gift-receiving lasted a full seven days!
After all, this involved over a hundred factions. Even if each sect only talked for ten minutes, that would still be a thousand minutes. Although it was tiring, seeing those tier 7 and even tier 8 medicinal ingredients made it hard for Xiao Yan to feel tired.
It was just that his cheeks were a bit sore from smiling too much.
The Thunderbolt Sect and Profound Lion Sect even specifically offered high prices to request Xiao Yan's help because their sect leaders had Heavenly Flames invading their bodies and needed them removed.
Xiao Yan was naturally very willing. What he wanted were resources and the power to protect his family.
After seven days, the medicinal ingredients the Yan Alliance harvested shocked everyone. Even Medusa's eyes went wide.
Those faction experts were truly... so considerate! Xiao Yan was moved to tears.
"The Thunderbolt Sect and Profound Lion Sect truly have deep foundations. Low-grade tier 8 pill recipes and two stalks of tier 8 medicinal ingredients." Xiao Yan looked at the two scrolls of low-grade tier 8 pill recipes in his hands. This was the price the Thunderbolt Sect and Profound Lion Sect paid for requesting his help.
Even in Venerable Yao's inheritance, tier 7 pill recipes were already very rare, let alone tier 8 ones, which numbered only a dozen or so.
Moreover, if the medicinal ingredients couldn't be gathered for these pill recipes, they would be equivalent to waste paper. So Xiao Yan indeed needed some new tier 7 and tier 8 pill recipes.
"The Thunderbolt Sect and Profound Lion Sect didn't just come to request pills from you, Third Brother. They also came to observe Queen Medusa's injuries." Xiao Ding said with a serious expression.
Xiao Yan smiled and waved his hand nonchalantly, "Then they're destined to be disappointed. With me taking action, Cai... Medusa's injuries are healing very quickly."
Zi Yan pouted and looked at Xiao Yan with pleading eyes.
"Xiao Yan~" she said in a coquettish tone.
"I know, I'll refine pills for you right away." Xiao Yan smiled and patted her little head.
This time was definitely a super harvest. Xiao Yan had also obtained the pill recipe for the Beast Emperor Body Tempering Pill that Sima Lin had refined before. This low-grade tier 7 pill happened to be perfectly suitable for Zi Yan, so he promised to refine it for her.
Refining the Beast Emperor Body Tempering Pill wasn't difficult. Moreover, he specifically used the Ten Thousand Beast Flame to refine it, raising the medicinal properties of this Beast Emperor Body Tempering Pill to another level.
Without a doubt, pills refined by Xiao Yan using Heavenly Flames would definitely attract Pill Lightning. Furthermore, he very deliberately didn't refine it inside the Space Lock but openly refined the pill in full view of the Sky Serpent Mansion.
Pill Lightning descended with a rumbling sound. Xiao Yan remained extraordinarily calm facing the Pill Lightning of a tier 7 pill and easily resolved it.
He directly tossed the pill to Zi Yan and said, "Here you go."
"Yay!" Zi Yan didn't stand on ceremony and swallowed it in one gulp. Her cheeks instantly turned red, and her body released bursts of purple light. She ran back to her room in a flash to begin refining the medicinal strength.
Zi Yan was only Rank 6. Even though she was an Ancient Void Dragon, she still needed some time to refine this tier 7 pill.
"Cai Lin, how have things been these past few days?" Xiao Yan looked at Medusa, who was leaning against a stone pillar guarding him while he refined pills, and asked.
Medusa's face darkened when she heard Xiao Yan randomly calling names, but she still answered, "Most of the factions in the North-Western Region have already left the Sky Serpent Empire."
"As for the Sky Serpent Mansion," she sneered and said, "During these days while you were refining pills, they sent three Dou Ancestors to secretly observe, presumably to assess my injuries."
Xiao Yan smiled and revealed a meaningful expression, "That's normal. They indeed find it difficult to accept the reality of their defeat for a time. Give them some time, and they will come to understand."