"You'd better clean up your mouth."
Mo Bas's angry curses hadn't finished yet when a surge of Dou Qi struck his stomach. His insides churned, stopping his words. A force lingered in his throat, allowing him only to hiss but not to utter a sound.
"Let's go!"
Yan Qingshan didn't make too many excessive moves, or rather, this one move just now was already excessive. However, he had come with Yue Mei and Hua She'er, and what Mo Bas was about to curse out was definitely not pleasant, so no one pursued the matter.
"Mister Yan, we meet again, friend."
Within the Snake-people's consecrated temple, Yan Qingshan once again met the elders of the Snake-people race. At this moment, these grey-haired old women stared at him with appreciative gazes, as if scrutinizing a prospective son-in-law.
"Four Elders!"
Yan Qingshan felt a little awkward. This situation was truly... and he still had Queen Medusa in his sleeve. This whole affair was truly something else.
The Great Elder's gaze suddenly sharpened, her voice abruptly turning stern. Four cold, sharp gazes shot over, locking onto Yan Qingshan. "Our tribe has always had deep enmity with humans. Relationships between snake-women and humans are absolutely forbidden. Mister Yan, do you know what the consequence is if discovered?"
Yue Mei and Hua She'er's expressions subtly changed. These four elders suddenly putting on such a display made them quite alarmed. Yan Qingshan, however, remained unfazed, for he could tell this was a tactic the four elders were employing to start a conversation!
The Second Elder, beside the Great Elder, suddenly said with a chilling tone, "According to our tribe's rules, Mister Yan would need to endure the Myriad Snakes Devouring Body Punishment."
Yan Qingshan remained composed. The Great Elder no longer beat around the bush and directly said, "However, Mister Yan, your good fortune with Yue Mei and Hua She'er was by the Queen's previous command.
We, too, implicitly consented to this matter, so naturally, we won't let you suffer the Myriad Snakes Devouring Body Punishment. However, our Snake-people race has some matters that require Mister Yan's assistance."
"Four Elders, please speak."
Yan Qingshan said faintly. Yue Mei and Hua She'er felt slightly relieved. They had been afraid that these four elders would suddenly turn hostile and use the opportunity to detain Yan Qingshan or something unfavorable. Now it seemed they were indeed seizing the opportunity, but without overly excessive intentions.
"Mister Yan, do you know of the inheritance of our Snake-people Queen Medusa?"
The Great Elder spoke in a deep voice, and without waiting for Yan Qingshan's reply, continued, "Medusa is the royal lineage of our Snake-people race. Her bloodline has always been scarce, and in this generation, there is only the Queen.
The Queen is missing. Although we have confirmed her existence through a secret technique, it is likely that something has gone wrong. In this situation, we must make early considerations.
The Medusa lineage has always had few offspring, and there have been many instances of the bloodline being in danger of breaking. For the continuation of the bloodline, our Snake-people race has also prepared some contingencies, leaving behind ancient Medusa bloodline that can be fused into unborn infants.
However, the Medusa bloodline created by such means is not naturally born after all, and there is a problem of insufficient foundation. Fortunately, our Snake-people race possesses a secret technique."
The Snake-people Great Elder slowly revealed a secret, "The Medusa bloodline is extraordinarily powerful. A naturally born Medusa infant, even while still in the womb, requires countless pills and miraculous medicines for nourishment.
In this way, when the infant is born in the future, its strength and potential will be extremely terrifying.
According to our clan's secret technique, the nourishment of a Medusa infant is divided into three grades: low, medium, and high. Infants nurtured with these three grades will have different potentials.
An infant nurtured with the low-grade secret technique, if it doesn't encounter a great opportunity in the future, will stop at the Dou Emperor stage. If nurtured with the medium-grade secret technique, its potential will be enough to reach the Dou Ancestor stage, and the high-grade secret technique is even stronger.
The low-grade secret technique only requires some common energy-rich pills and miraculous medicines. The medium-grade secret technique, however, begins to require a Tier 6 medicinal pill called the Snake Marrow Bone-Shedding Pill as the main medicinal primer.
Our current Queen used the medium-grade secret technique. At that time, our Snake-people race expended a tremendous cost, almost exhausting most of our clan's reserves, just to invite a high-level Alchemist to act. After that, it took a long time to complete the nourishment.
The high-grade secret technique requires a Tier 7 medicinal pill called the Heaven Soul Blood Bone Pill, which is extremely difficult to refine. This pill can maximize the Medusa infant's potential, and its future achievements will be terrifying.
However, this medicinal pill is too difficult to refine, and because it possesses the ability to seize the power of heaven, there is also a Pill Tribulation that accompanies its formation. A single mistake, and the pill is destroyed and the person dies, which is a very common occurrence.
For so many years, our Snake-people race has never produced a single Medusa bloodline nurtured by the high-grade secret technique."
The Great Elder spoke with a hint of regret at the end, then looked at Yan Qingshan, "If Medusa truly fails to overcome this tribulation, our Snake-people race will have to consider fusing the ancient bloodline with an unborn infant.
In this situation, the low-grade secret technique will absolutely be unable to help this artificially created infant. At the very least, a medium-grade secret technique would be needed to allow this infant to barely possess the potential that a naturally born Medusa infant using the low-grade secret technique would have.
Now, our Snake-people race has suffered considerable losses. It is likely that we will need Mister Yan's help. Mister Yan is a Tier 6 Alchemist..."
"So, you want me to help you refine the Snake Marrow Bone-Shedding Pill?"
A hint of understanding flashed in Yan Qingshan's eyes. So this was Queen Medusa's plan. Bloodline transformation was extremely perilous, and she had long prepared for failure, but the Snake-people race could not be without a Queen.
The inheritance of Queen Medusa of the Snake-people race originated from an ancient bloodline. To ensure the continuation of the bloodline, the tribe had always preserved the most ancient and pure bloodline, which would be activated if a Queen's lineage ever broke.
However, a Medusa born from this direct bloodline fusion would certainly not compare to a naturally born Medusa in terms of potential and bloodline. The secret technique used would also need to be more advanced to ensure that the newborn Medusa's potential and bloodline were sufficient to inherit the Queen's position.
The medium-grade secret technique of the Snake-people, the Snake Marrow Bone-Shedding Pill, requires a Tier 6 Alchemist to refine. The intricate steps of the ritual secret technique also require a high-grade Alchemist to cooperate.
But for Medusa to undergo the transformation ritual, the Snake-people had spent a considerable sum. Coupled with Yan Qingshan also refining a batch of pills, though the remaining resources were still substantial, most were common and high-volume resources. It was likely they couldn't afford to invite another Tier 6 Alchemist.
And so, Yan Qingshan was targeted. They used a honey trap; two Dou King-level snake-beauties personally indulged and served him. No matter how shameless Yan Qingshan was, after sleeping with them, how could he refuse such a small request?
After a moment of contemplation, Yan Qingshan suddenly said, "Four Elders, may I examine the secret technique?"
The Four Elders exchanged glances. The Great Elder nodded, retrieving a jade box from the depths of the consecrated hall behind her. "Contained within are the three-grade secret techniques of our Snake-people race.
The many pill formulas within, besides being of great use to our Snake-people infants, are also excellent nourishing and miraculous remedies in themselves.
As long as Mister Yan can successfully refine this Snake Marrow Bone-Shedding Pill in the future, the secret pill formulas treasured by our Snake-people race can be presented to Mister as a reward."
The Snake-people Great Elder spoke in a deep voice. This grand gift was quite significant. The Snake-people's three-grade secret technique involved extremely profound principles of creation, not limited to use for Snake-people infants.
Moreover, several ancient pill formulas among them, especially the formulas for the Tier 6 Snake Marrow Bone-Shedding Pill and the Tier 7 Heaven Soul Blood Bone Pill, it must be known that such high-grade pill formulas are extremely rare, especially a Tier 7 pill formula; exchanging it for a Tier 6 pill would be considered a waste.
However, this also indirectly reflected the current predicament of the Snake-people race. Located in the resource-scarce Tager Desert, although the Tager Desert can also produce some high-grade resources, how many truly valuable resources can there be in such a desolate desert?
As the Great Elder just said, when this generation's Queen Medusa was born, they spent a great deal to invite a Tier 6 Alchemist to nourish her with the medium-grade secret technique.
Then, during this period, Yan Qingshan refined many high-grade pills for the Snake-people race, but also consumed a large batch of the Snake-people's treasures. Of course, both parties benefited from this transaction, but it also meant that the Snake-people had fewer things that could impress a high-level Alchemist.
Then came Queen Medusa's transformation ritual, which expended most of their remaining valuable resources. At this time, the Snake-people race was not poor, but the medicinal ingredients that could impress high-level Alchemists had either been used or converted into pills, making their situation truly difficult.
If not for this, the four elders would not have agreed to Hua She'er and Yue Mei using this honey trap to get intimate with Yan Qingshan first. It should be known that they were usually the most stubborn. If they truly had no other choice, how would they implicitly consent to their own Dou Kings and humans...?
"Exchanging the Snake Marrow Bone-Shedding Pill for the pill formulas, I have no problem with that. However, I have only recently entered the Tier 6 Alchemist realm and haven't refined many Tier 6 pills. The Snake Marrow Bone-Shedding Pill is quite difficult, and I'm afraid I won't be able to produce it in a short time."
Yan Qingshan nodded in agreement to the trade after a moment of contemplation, but also spoke truthfully. Currently, he could at most refine low-grade Tier 6 pills, and his success rate wasn't that high.
"No matter, this can be considered an agreement between our Snake-people race and Mister Yan."
The Four Elders did not intend for Yan Qingshan to immediately produce the item. The Great Elder said, "We are still confirming Medusa's situation. Mister Yan only needs to deliver the item within three years, and these few pill formulas and secret techniques will naturally be yours."
The Snake-people race had not yet given up on Queen Medusa, so they were not overly anxious about the Snake Marrow Bone-Shedding Pill. They merely set an agreement with Yan Qingshan.
They also understood that Yan Qingshan, having just broken through to Tier 6 Alchemist, would likely be unable to refine the Snake Marrow Bone-Shedding Pill at this time, so they did not press him excessively.
…
Yue City, an important base of one of the eight major Snake-people tribes, and also the tribe of Yue Mei. The Moon Palace in Yue City is the residence of Commander Yue Mei of the Snake-people.
At this moment, in the main hall of the Yue Palace, three figures intertwined on a large bed shrouded in misty gauze. Yan Qingshan held two beautiful snake-women with flushed skin in his arms, enjoying himself with an embrace on both sides.
The desolate moonlight spilled into the hall. Yan Qingshan suddenly spoke, "I'm leaving."
As soon as he spoke, the two soft, warm bodies beside him suddenly stiffened. Yue Mei and Hua She'er silently embraced him. Even though they knew this day would come sooner or later, when it actually happened, they couldn't help but feel sad.
"Don't worry! I'll be back, I won't forget you."
Yan Qingshan gently stroked their exquisite heads and whispered. The moonlight suddenly dimmed slightly, the crescent moon covered by dark clouds. The three on the bed intertwined again, and this night was endlessly long.
As dawn broke, a figure left the Yue Palace. After a lingering glance back, he departed without hesitation towards the distance.