Word Count: 3,080 Words
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Figures stood scattered throughout the vast hall. The Sky Serpent Mansion's numbers had diminished significantly. Those Rank 5 Serpent Kings and low-level Rank 6 Serpent Emperors were absent, likely searching for resources in the primeval forest outside. Only the high-star Serpent Emperors and Dou Ancestors remained. The Sky Serpent Mansion clearly had a specific goal—upon entering the ruins, they had headed straight to this place.
When Xiao Yan and his companions entered the hall, they immediately drew She Tianhao's attention. Gazes filled with caution or hostility instantly focused on them.
Xiao Yan merely smiled at these looks. His eyes swept over to where She Tianhao and the others stood, their faces dark as they stared at him. They were clearly unwilling to share the inheritance treasures with him.
A cold smile appeared at the corner of Xiao Yan's mouth. He carried Qing Lin forward at a measured pace under the watchful eyes of many and finally stopped in the middle of the hall.
"Young Master Xiao Yan, I'm feeling much better now. You can put me down," Qing Lin said, her cheeks flushing red. The medicinal pill's effects had begun to work, and she had regained some strength.
"Oh oh, alright." Xiao Yan felt a slight bit of reluctance in his heart.
Upon entering the hall, Xiao Yan discovered more than a dozen figures standing beneath the light clusters. These figures were stone-gray in color and looked like statues from a distance, their eyes tightly shut. They had maintained this posture for countless years. Despite their seemingly inanimate state, these statue-like figures deterred everyone from daring to seize the light clusters.
"Hmm? Are these serpent puppets controlled by the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils?" Xiao Yan asked quietly upon seeing these lifeless, statue-like figures.
"Yes, and these serpent puppets are already dead, yet even in death they couldn't escape the illusionary control of the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils... If I'm not mistaken, each of these serpent puppets should have the strength of a Dou Ancestor, and some might even reach the level of a 9-star Dou Ancestor." A solemn light flickered in Medusa's eyes.
These puppets could definitely move. There were two pools of blood on the ground, and two giant pythons lay collapsed in those crimson puddles. Clearly, members of the Sky Serpent Mansion had already attempted to seize the treasures. Once they tried, the serpent puppets were activated, resulting in an extremely brutal and bloody confrontation.
Moreover, if Xiao Yan's guess was correct, these dozen or so serpent experts controlled by the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils had likely once been Dou Venerates!
Only after these many years had their bloodlines weakened, causing their cultivation to decrease to the Dou Ancestor realm.
"So the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils cannot be undone even in death?" A Sky Serpent Mansion expert glanced at Qing Lin, then at the serpent puppets that had been dead for who knows how long, and couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart.
After all, Qing Lin possessed that same Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils. Not even death could free one from it. This was akin to a curse from the heavens.
She Tianhao and his associates' expressions changed slightly at these words. Qing Lin was still weak now, but once she truly became powerful, would anyone in the serpent races be able to stand against her?
When Qing Lin had served as the Saintess of the Sky Serpent Mansion, they hadn't considered this a problem. But now, they began to worry.
"No wonder the Jade-Eyed Snake Saint was driven out by all serpent races in the Beast Region. This ability would be a nightmare for any race." A Serpent Emperor couldn't help but shudder. They finally understood why the ancestor of the Sky Serpent Mansion had been expelled back then.
Qing Lin's expression turned a bit downcast at these comments. She naturally knew that her ability was not well-received.
Noticing this, Xiao Yan gently patted her head and said softly, "Only the weak fear your ability. Look at Queen Medusa. She doesn't bat an eye."
Medusa glanced at Xiao Yan, then at Qing Lin. Her red lips parted slightly as she said, "Your ability has no effect on me."
Such was the confidence of the strong!
Xiao Yan used spiritual voice transmission to ask, "Qing Lin, can you control these serpent puppets with your Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils?"
As he expected, Qing Lin shook her head and replied, "The gap between their cultivation and mine is too great."
Normally, Qing Lin would have needed to reach the Dou Ancestor realm to open this inheritance site. Upon arriving at the hall, she would have been able to counteract the illusions using her pupil ability.
Counteracting the illusionary abilities of the Jade-Eyed Snake Saint's Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils would have been the final trial of the inheritance. However, as it stood, Qing Lin was only a Dou Emperor.
"Then there's no choice. We'll take them by force!" Xiao Yan immediately activated the Skyfire Three Mysterious Change, boosting his strength to the 9-star Dou Emperor stage.
He took a step forward, eyes locking onto the nearest light cluster. The brilliant fire wings behind him flared powerfully, transforming him into a streak of light as he charged toward it.
Simultaneously, those tightly shut-eyed serpent puppets snapped their eyes open. Green light erupted from them, each pupil bearing multiple jade-green flower patterns.
That was the hallmark of being controlled by the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils.
At that moment, a wave of killing intent spread throughout the hall!
Once Xiao Yan made a move, Medusa naturally followed suit, targeting a different light cluster. The Sky Serpent Mansion experts, not to be outdone, also sprang into action when they saw Xiao Yan and Medusa move first.
The previously quiet but tense hall exploded as if a heavy bomb had been dropped. In an instant, the entire main hall boiled like oil in a wok.
The Sky Serpent Mansion still had over twenty people. Everyone desperately rushed toward the light clusters.
"Once you've secured the treasures, leave immediately and return to the Sky Serpent Mansion!" She Tianhao shouted loudly. They had the advantage of numbers.
Light surged brilliantly. After a brief moment of silence in the hall, a sharp scream suddenly echoed. Then endless collision sounds reverberated as waves of powerful Dou Qi erupted throughout the hall. Figures swarmed like locusts, recklessly charging toward the light clusters.
However, faced with the onslaught from so many experts, the light clusters appeared to possess intelligence, twisting and weaving to avoid every reaching hand.
"Splurt!"
Countless figures weaved among one another in mid-air, but those serpent puppets seemed to have received a command. They fiercely guarded the light clusters, attacking anyone who tried to seize them with maddened fury.
Sounds of combat echoed continuously in the air, followed by figures spitting blood and crashing heavily onto the hall floor. The dull thuds made many people's hearts tremble. These serpent puppets had once been Dou Venerates. Although they were now being controlled, their strength was still a notch above Dou Ancestors of the same level. Moreover, being undead, they feared nothing.
"Tsk!" Xiao Yan was only a hair's breadth from grabbing one of the light clusters when a gray silhouette flashed into view. A corroded longsword carrying a ferocious sharp aura cleaved toward him with lightning-like speed.
Xiao Yan's expression shifted slightly upon realizing the puppet had the strength of a 3-star Dou Ancestor. Without hesitation, he drew the Heavy Xuan Ruler and lunged forward. The Ten Thousand Beast Glazed Flame, formed from the merger of the Green Lotus Core Flame, the Fallen Heart Flame, and the Ten Thousand Beast Flame, erupted and enveloped his body.
Scorching and vast Dou Qi burst forth from the Heavy Xuan Ruler in his hands.
"Flame Splitting Tsunami!" he roared inwardly, unleashing one of his signature techniques.
A wave of three-colored flames crashed fiercely onto the serpent puppet.
Boom boom boom!!!
A series of thunderous explosions shook the entire hall. The three Heavenly Flames combined into a new Heavenly Flame that resembled a doomsday attack, frightening many Serpent Emperors out of their wits.
"What a powerful attack!"
"Is he really just a Dou Emperor alchemist? How is his strength stronger than an ordinary Dou Ancestor!"
Boom!
Finally, the Ten Thousand Beast Glazed Flame's power culminated in a deafening explosion. Everyone from the Sky Serpent Mansion witnessed a shocking scene. The 3-star Dou Ancestor puppet was struck into the earth, forced into the ground by some unstoppable force. In a blink, it had vanished into the depths of a gaping pit.
No one knew how long it was before they could finally close their gaping mouths.
The Sky Serpent Mansion had never seen Xiao Yan in action before. They hadn't expected his first move to be so ferocious!
Only Xiao Yan remained grim-faced. Sure enough, the next instant, a rumbling sound occurred as dirt and rocks flew. The serpent puppet emerged once more, charging at him as if nothing had happened.
"What an incredibly tough body!" Xiao Yan's heart sank. Although the bloodline strength of these serpent puppets had dried up and their Dou Qi had dropped to the Dou Ancestor realm, their bodies were still genuinely those of Dou Venerates. Their defenses were far tougher than even Rank 8 armors!
He couldn't help but click his tongue but had no time to complain. He quickly dodged the incoming attack.
The puppet, having locked onto Xiao Yan, pursued relentlessly. Waves of dark yellow blade light surged forth like a tidal wave. The muscles on its body began to wriggle bizarrely, and a terrifying force rapidly condensed.
These serpent puppets could actually use Dou Techniques!
Xiao Yan had underestimated the terror of the Jade-Eyed Snake Saint. If it had been an ordinary 3-star Dou Ancestor puppet, he wouldn't have been concerned. But these serpent puppets were without life, their bodies unbelievably strong, and even his Heavenly Flames couldn't destroy them. To make matters worse, they retained their Dou Techniques from when they were alive.
'Lifeless yet using the Dou Techniques from when they were alive?' A sudden inspiration struck Xiao Yan. He thought of something and used a spiritual voice transmission to speak to the trembling Qing Lin on the sidelines. "Qing Lin, can you make these serpent puppets pause for just a moment?"
Qing Lin looked at him, startled by the sudden question, and nodded as she replied. "I can."
Xiao Yan's eyes narrowed, a hint of a smile appearing. He quickly put away the Heavy Xuan Ruler and moved his hands rapidly as the Spiritual Strength within him began to surge.
Even the shadow at his feet began to stir.
The puppet lunged toward him, preparing to slice down with its sword. In that instant, Xiao Yan shouted through voice transmission, "Qing Lin, now!"
Qing Lin snapped her eyes open, and a streak of green light burst forth. A faint outline of the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils pattern glimmered across the puppet's brow, as though it were locked in a struggle. Its body quaked ceaselessly.
A sly grin appeared on Xiao Yan's face as he saw the serpent puppet momentarily controlled. A strange light flickered in his eyes as he shouted inwardly, "Abyss Submersion!"
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Clinking sounds echoed as black soul chains flew out from the shadow abyss. These chains pierced into the serpent puppet's body, ignoring its flesh and stabbing directly into its soul!
'Found it! Just as I thought, the Jade-Eyed Snake Saint controlled these serpent tribes through their souls using the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils, thereby controlling their bodies. Puppets created this way not only possess consciousness but can also use Dou Techniques, making them far more troublesome than ordinary puppets.' Xiao Yan grinned, baring his teeth.
No matter how powerful the physical body, a Soul Skill ignored physical defenses entirely and attacked the soul within!
"Come out!" The soul chains forcibly extracted a green light cluster from the serpent puppet's body with a whoosh. Xiao Yan clearly sensed a Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils soul imprint on this soul body. In other words, it was the seal that had kept the puppet under control.
Once deprived of its soul body and the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils soul imprint, the serpent puppet ceased all movement.
The second move of the Asura Soul Reaping Technique, Abyss Submersion, could directly extract a soul from its body and even seal it!
Of course, this required Xiao Yan's Spiritual Strength to be powerful enough.
'So that's how it is. This is the secret behind the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils' ability to cast illusions and control serpents, a soul-manipulating pupil technique.' Xiao Yan hadn't expected to inadvertently uncover the secret of the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils!
However, he felt a slight regret. Due to the passage of time, even the soul of a Dou Venerate had weakened considerably. Just like Venerable Tian Huo back then, whose Spiritual Strength had been extremely weak even with a Heavenly Flame preserving his soul.
The soul body he had just extracted had Spiritual Strength equivalent to that of a 3-star Dou Ancestor, matching the puppet's current level.
Nevertheless, this serpent expert had once been a Dou Venerate. Even at just 3-star Dou Ancestor value, this represented a considerable amount of soul points!
And there were more than a dozen such serpent puppets here!
Greed flickered in Xiao Yan's eyes as he gazed at the remaining serpent puppets. His attitude toward them had entirely changed.
In Venerable Yan's eyes, these serpent puppets were more valuable than the light clusters above!
Xiao Yan raised his eyebrows, subtly forming a hand seal with his left hand. He flew over and appeared before a Serpent Emperor of the Sky Serpent Mansion, a cold smile on his face. "Trying to snatch my things?"
He unleashed the Open Mountain Seal with a palm strike. The Serpent Emperor frantically used a defensive Dou Technique, but he was still sent flying and began coughing up blood.
Space distorted, and a small, adorable black cat paw emerged from the twisted space. With a swift motion, it stealthily retrieved the light cluster from behind.
She Tianhao paid no mind to his tribe member being sent flying. What concerned him was that Xiao Yan had already secured a light cluster.
"All of you, use your lives to hold off those puppets!" She Tianhao let out a loud shout and fiercely charged toward one of the light clusters. This particular light cluster was guarded by a 9-star Dou Ancestor. The item inside was definitely not simple.
Xiao Yan merely smiled disdainfully. As long as he accumulated enough soul points, he believed the Hall of Souls definitely had serpent-type Dou Venerate or even Dou Saint essence blood.
"Cai Lin, help me keep those serpent puppets busy. I have a way to deal with them." Xiao Yan seemed to have found a great money-making plan and hurriedly transmitted his voice to inform Medusa.
However, Medusa seemed not to hear Xiao Yan's spiritual transmission and continued to engage in combat with a 9-star Dou Ancestor serpent puppet.
Xiao Yan had no choice but to try again: "Medusa! My Queen! Your Majesty!"
Medusa abruptly shoved the serpent puppet away with a booming palm strike. Using the momentum, she pulled back from the area around that light cluster in a graceful arc. Sensing her retreat, the puppet turned to attack a Sky Serpent Mansion Dou Ancestor trying to sneak an advantage.
"You say you have a plan?" Medusa cast her beautiful eyes toward Xiao Yan and asked coolly.
A meaningful smile played across Xiao Yan's lips. "Let's work together. Don't let She Tianhao and the others notice. When the time comes, I'll make them spit out everything they've taken."
Medusa frowned slightly, not understanding what Xiao Yan had in mind, but she nodded without objection.
Two streaks of light shot toward a 5-star Dou Ancestor serpent puppet. Among the dozen or so puppets present, some weren't guarding light clusters but simply attacked all intruders. Xiao Yan had chosen one that was guarding a light cluster.
Seeing the duo suddenly charging toward them, the Sky Serpent Mansion experts trying to seize that light cluster grew tense. They were already struggling against the serpent puppet—if Medusa and Xiao Yan attacked them as well, death would be certain!
But to their surprise, Xiao Yan and Medusa didn't assault them but instead helped block the serpent puppet's attacks!
"What's going on? They're not attacking us?"
"They must be after the light cluster."
Xiao Yan naturally offered no explanation. Suddenly, Medusa burst forth with dazzling seven-colored light, so brilliant it enveloped the entire hall.
'Seven-Colored Serpent Bind!' Medusa said inwardly. Her eyes focused, and a beam of seven-colored light shot out.
The 5-star Dou Ancestor's body actually stiffened like the legendary petrification. Within this seven-colored radiance, Xiao Yan stealthily appeared behind the puppet. He took out the Soul Command Token, and several black soul chains flew out.
Following the same method as before, the soul chains pierced into the 5-star Dou Ancestor serpent puppet. After several seconds, a jade-green soul cluster was drawn into the Soul Command Token!
Xiao Yan grabbed the now soulless serpent puppet and pretended to strike it with his palm, sending it flying away.
Then, space distorted once more, and the little cat paw reappeared.
Meow~o(=∩ω∩=)m: Cat paw, grab. Hehe, got it.
She Tianhuang, the former Mansion Lord assisting his son, was astonished seeing Xiao Yan defeat two serpent puppets in just a few minutes.
"Their strength is truly terrifying!"
Naturally, they couldn't fathom that this was because Xiao Yan had cultivated a Soul Skill from the Hun Clan. Moreover, this Soul Skill was an extremely profound technique even within the Hun Clan.
Otherwise, ordinary Soul Skills wouldn't be able to seize the souls of Dou Ancestors, especially those sealed by the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils.
"Your Dou Technique is very strange." Even Medusa felt that Xiao Yan's technique was odd, but she couldn't pinpoint exactly why. After all, she wasn't an alchemist and knew nothing of the Hall of Souls.
"Jie Jie Jie, as long as they're dead, they belong to me." Xiao Yan's gaze swept around. Thirteen serpent puppets remained. If he could collect all their souls, he'd have enough to exchange for a Tian Class Dou Technique!