"The High Priestess was right; Her Majesty the Queen isn't so easily fallen."
"But why has Her Majesty ended up like this?"
"Well... there might have been some mistake during her evolution."
"A mistake?" Yan Ci thought back to the energy fluctuations that had disappeared in the city earlier. It seemed plausible, so he added, "Since it's Her Majesty the Queen, we definitely can't let this kid go."
"Kid, hand over Her Majesty the Queen now, and I'll leave you with a whole corpse," Yan Ci said coldly.
The other tribal leaders, seeing that their Queen was not only alive but had also successfully evolved, exchanged looks of disbelief before their faces lit up with joy. "The heavens are truly watching over our Serpentfolk!"
So, when the boy in front of them tried to use their Queen as leverage, their auras flared up, and they glared at Chen Mo with fury. "Hurry up and hand over Her Majesty the Queen!"
Once they got their Queen back, it would be time for their Serpentfolk tribe to take revenge on the humans. This was what they all believed.
The furious shouts woke the small seven-colored snake from its sleep. Noticing the clearly hostile gazes from those around it, the little snake's body immediately stiffened. A vast and terrifying aura suddenly erupted from that tiny body, enveloping everyone at a shocking speed.
The flame mark on its forehead flickered, and with a snap of its jaws, a jet of azure fire shot toward Yan Ci.
"This is... a Heavenly Flame!" Yue Mei's heart skipped a beat. Not only had their Queen successfully evolved, but she had also refined a Heavenly Flame.
"Watch out, Yan Ci, retreat quickly!" Yue Mei cried out in alarm.
The situation had escalated so suddenly, and Yan Ci hadn't expected the Queen to attack him. Before he could react, the Azure Lotus Flame had already engulfed him. The fire blazed on his body, and in no time, the smell of charred meat filled the air.
But after all, he was a Battle King, and with the help of the other seven, they quickly managed to extinguish the flames. However, his entire body was now covered in severe burn marks.
"You brat, I'm going to kill you!" Yan Ci roared, blaming everything on Chen Mo.
"You're impossible..." Chen Mo muttered, exasperated that Yan Ci would survive and still pin the blame on him. At the same time, he couldn't help but marvel, "Her Majesty is truly formidable. Even in this tiny form, she's still so fierce."
"What did you do to Her Majesty the Queen? There's no way she would attack us!" The others closed in even tighter.
"Don't do anything rash, or I'll have your Queen give you another taste of that," Chen Mo quickly held the small snake in front of him, using it as a shield.
The little snake seemed to understand Chen Mo's words, and the flame mark on its forehead began to flicker again.
Seeing this, the eight leaders hastily retreated.
The snake opened its mouth again, but this time the azure flame sputtered out after barely traveling half a meter.
The little snake turned its head to look at Chen Mo, its big watery eyes filled with a hint of grievance.
It was the pitiful look of a hungry creature.
"You little..." Chen Mo felt a wave of embarrassment wash over him. Here he was, trying to put on a tough front, but the snake's sudden loss of power left him feeling awkward.
With no time to feed it, Chen Mo quickly took advantage of the leaders' retreat and stuffed the little snake back into his robe, bolting away.
The little snake, still awake, squirmed out of his robe and poked its head out.
"After him!" The eight leaders hadn't expected the kid to be so cunning. In just a short moment, he had managed to slip quite a distance away.
The gap in power between a Battle Master and Battle Kings was vast.
It didn't take long before the distance between them started to close rapidly.
As attacks rained down behind him, Chen Mo noticed that, perhaps due to their concern for Queen Medusa, none of the attacks were lethal.
Sensing an incoming attack, Chen Mo stamped his foot on the ground, and a dragon-like shadow appeared, propelling him to the side.
The attack missed, and where it landed, the grass withered in an instant.
This attack wasn't just powerful; it was also poisonous.
"Hmm, this kid has some skill." Seeing that all their attacks had missed, Yue Mei frowned, then with a flap of her wings, she disappeared into the night, reappearing right in front of Chen Mo.
As she landed, the force of her speed carved a massive trench in the desert sands, stretching for a hundred meters.
The sandstorm kicked up by her landing blinded Chen Mo, forcing him to halt.
Once again, the eight leaders surrounded him.
"Little one, if you obediently hand over Her Majesty, perhaps I'll consider sparing your life," Yue Mei said, her voice dripping with seduction as she looked at the panting boy.
"Really? You should have said so earlier," Chen Mo panted, taking the small snake out of his robe and placing it on the ground as if he was truly about to hand it over to Yue Mei.
"Haha, don't play tricks. I'll be taking both you and Her Majesty," Yue Mei chuckled, seeing through his act. She had guessed that the Queen's memory might have been affected during her evolution, leading her to forget them and instead become attached to this boy.
"Oh? Didn't you just say you'd let me go? Changing your mind already?" Chen Mo laughed.
"I never said I'd let you go. I said I'd spare your life, but I didn't say I'd let you leave," Yue Mei replied with a smile, covering her mouth with her delicate hand. "I happen to be in need of a servant. Would you be interested?"
"Forget it. With that tail of yours, there's not much fun in it," Chen Mo retorted, exhaling slowly. Part of his mind was focused on the system's store, where he was considering exchanging some fortune points for a Battle King experience card to make his escape, as the Battle Emperor and Battle Ancestor cards were too expensive.
Yue Mei's smile faltered when she realized her words weren't tempting him. Instead, he responded with a taunt. "If you won't drink the wine offered, you'll have to drink the punishment. Today, you'll remain in this desert."
"Isn't it shameful for the mighty leaders of the eight tribes to bully a mere Battle Master? Aren't you afraid of becoming a laughingstock?" A sharp wind blade suddenly shot toward Yue Mei. Sensing danger, she swiftly dodged, and the wind blade struck the desert floor, exploding with a thunderous bang and kicking up another sandstorm.
As the dust settled, under the moonlight, a figure clad in black robes holding a strange, glowing blue sword flew toward Chen Mo and landed in front of him.
"Yun Yun..." Chen Mo whispered.
From beneath the black hood, a pair of beautiful eyes turned to Chen Mo with a hint of reproach. "You should have stayed in the sect. Why did you come here?"
"Well..." Chen Mo scratched his head, unsure of how to explain.
"The mysterious Battle Emperor from before..." Yue Mei's surprised expression quickly shifted to one of deep caution.
"What of it? Battle Emperor or not, if you don't hand over Her Majesty, no one's leaving here today. We'll settle all our scores at once!" Yan Ci roared. "Form up! Even without the High Priestess, the eight of us are enough to keep them here!"