Chapter 95: Thunderclap

As the red mist gradually dispersed, a mesmerizing figure slowly emerged before Xiao Bai.

Draped in a form-fitting crimson dress that accentuated her stunning curves—her ample bosom, slender waist, and the graceful sway of her skirt revealing glimpses of long, perfectly shaped legs—she exuded an air of effortless allure.

Her posture was languid, her dark hair cascading like clouds, her snow-white skin set against lips as red as roses. Her long, phoenix-like eyes flickered with an entrancing glow, radiating an overwhelming seductive charm.

The sight of her, combined with the potent allure she emitted, caused Xiao Bai's face to flush red. His breathing quickened, and his mind wavered, caught in a daze.

Alarmed, he hastily shut his eyes, taking a deep breath as he silently recited:

"A heart as clear as ice, unshaken by heaven's collapse. Steady amidst all change, serene in mind and soul. Unstained by dust, untouched by the mundane."

Only after a long moment did he manage to suppress the restless desire stirring within him.

Xiao Bai had not expected Queen Medusa's spiritual charm to have grown so powerful.

With his soul energy depleted, he had nearly succumbed to it. If not for his firm will, he would have embarrassed himself just now!

Once he had fully calmed the turmoil within his body, he reopened his eyes, his starry gaze once again clear.

Noticing the faint curl of the woman's lips, Xiao Bai asked coldly.

He knew Queen Medusa was born with a natural charm, a seductive power that, for men, was like the most potent aphrodisiac.

Given her strength, she should have complete control over this allure. How could it have suddenly flared up like that?

"This queen has no idea what you're talking about!"

Medusa glanced at Xiao Bai dismissively, refusing to admit anything.

"Hah—so it was my own fault for meddling, draining my spiritual energy until I nearly embarrassed myself just now. Her Majesty must be delighted, isn't she?"

Xiao Bai let out a cold chuckle, ignoring her as he walked toward the golden egg resting beside Xiao Yi.

Hearing this, Medusa hesitated for a moment. Looking at Xiao Bai's slightly pale face, a trace of guilt flashed through her eyes.

She had only intended to tease him a little—she hadn't thought too much about it!

Picking up the golden egg, Xiao Bai noticed that as long as Xiao Yi was nearby, the egg did not resist.

A new guess formed in his mind.

Now that Medusa had reappeared, his previous assumptions were completely overturned.

This thing was likely connected to that golden lightning bolt from earlier… But for some unknown reason, it had transformed into an egg!

"What is that?"

Medusa approached from behind, curiosity flickering in her eyes as she glanced at the object in his hands.

"No idea."

Sensing the faint fragrance drifting from beside him, Xiao Bai didn't turn his head, responding in a detached tone.

After a moment, he finally turned to look at her, sighing helplessly.

"I really don't know. I dug it out from the same place where you just appeared."

Even with his soul energy depleted, his spiritual senses were still intact. This woman had been watching him intently the entire time, making him feel incredibly uneasy.

And for some reason, there seemed to be a faint trace of… grievance in her gaze?

Was he imagining things?

"My guess is that it has something to do with that golden lightning from the tribulation. But whether it's because of you… or because of Xiao Yi, I'm not sure."

"Xiao Yi? You mean that?"

Medusa pointed at the floating sphere of cyan lightning before Xiao Bai.

"That's right. It's the Daoist Righteous Thunder of Yi Wood. I call it Xiao Yi."

Xiao Bai's gaze softened as he looked at the cyan lightning.

Medusa found his expression odd.

For some reason, the way he looked at that cyan lightning seemed… strange.

Like a father gazing at his beloved daughter.

"…Can I take a look at it?"

Medusa asked softly.

This green lightning had been a great benefactor to her.

It had healed her injuries when she was burned by the Heavenly Flame, strengthened her Seven-Colored Bloodline when it awakened, and even reduced the damage her body suffered during the lightning tribulation.

Without it, her evolution might have failed entirely.

Xiao Bai handed Xiao Yi over.

Sensing the remnants of Yi Wood energy in Medusa's bloodline, the lightning remained calm, hovering quietly in her palm.

As Medusa observed the green lightning, she felt an intimate connection from her bloodline, and a faint smile surfaced in her beautiful eyes.

Unable to resist, she extended a slender finger to lightly touch the surface of the lightning sphere. A tingling, cool sensation spread through her, incredibly soothing.

"So this is Xiao Yi…"

Medusa's fondness for the green lightning sphere was unmistakable, practically overflowing from her eyes.

"Alright, that's enough."

Xiao Bai called Xiao Yi back, sensing that the golden egg was starting to struggle again.

"You—!"

Medusa's hands were suddenly empty. She glared at Xiao Bai, clearly displeased.

But he ignored her. A new thought had just come to him.

This golden egg seemed overly dependent on Xiao Yi—almost as if it had some ulterior motive.

Thinking of this, Xiao Bai guided a trace of pure Yi Wood energy into the golden egg. He had long sensed that this thing was filled with an immense source of lightning energy.

So, its interest in Xiao Yi likely wasn't due to the lightning attribute. That only left one possibility—it was after the Yi Wood energy.

Sure enough, as soon as the pure Yi Wood energy appeared at Xiao Bai's fingertip, golden arcs of lightning flickered across the egg's surface, instantly wrapping around the energy and absorbing it completely.

"Huh?"

Xiao Bai's expression showed a hint of surprise.

After absorbing the Yi Wood energy, the golden egg no longer felt lifeless. Instead, it now emitted a faint pulse of vitality.

Yet, it still wasn't satisfied. Floating closer, it nudged Xiao Bai's fingertip, as if urging him for more!

"Heh."

Xiao Bai chuckled and released another strand of Yi Wood energy. He wanted to see what changes would occur once the egg had absorbed enough.

A flash of golden lightning—absorbed.

Another nudge at his fingertip.

A trace of Yi Wood energy appeared again.

A flash of golden lightning—absorbed.

Another nudge.

Yi Wood energy surfaced!

Golden lightning flashed—absorbed.

Again. And again.

After absorbing more than ten strands of Yi Wood energy, the golden egg was still unsatisfied. It nudged Xiao Bai's fingertip once more.

This time, Xiao Bai refused.

This thing was like a bottomless pit! Looking at the egg, which showed no visible changes, he had no idea how much more it needed.

Damn it! He had assumed it would only take a few strands. Who could have guessed it would require this much?

Looking at the egg still nudging his finger, Xiao Bai scowled.

"That's it! If you want more, go find someone else!"

Damn, did this thing think it was Wu Song?

It was supposed to stop at three bowls, yet here it was, downing eighteen!

At least Wu Song stopped after eighteen—this thing kept demanding more!

Glancing at the now slightly weakened Xiao Yi in his palm, Xiao Bai felt a bit guilty.

"Good child, I'll find something with a wood attribute to replenish you later."

"You call that being a father?"

Medusa shot Xiao Bai a glare before taking Xiao Yi into her hands. With a flip of her palm, a small, pale-green crystal appeared, which she held out to the cyan lightning sphere.

The crystal was only the size of a thumb, yet it radiated a dense, wood-attributed vitality, making Xiao Bai feel as if he had returned to the small island from earlier.

"What is that?" Xiao Bai asked, his curiosity piqued.

"No idea."

Medusa gave him a bland glance before turning her attention back to Xiao Yi, which was eagerly absorbing the energy from the crystal.

Xiao Bai was speechless.

This woman was a queen, yet her pettiness knew no bounds—she even had to retaliate with words!

Couldn't she be more magnanimous, like him?

"…It's called a Wood Spirit Crystal," Medusa finally spoke, after noticing Xiao Bai's frustrated expression. "When my tribe first migrated here, we found it on that small island. Of course, the name 'Wood Spirit Crystal' was just something a past Queen Medusa came up with. Its true name is unknown."

She didn't tell Xiao Bai that the crystal had the ability to extend one's lifespan by a hundred years.

Nor did she mention that it had incredible healing properties—so long as someone wasn't dead, this crystal could heal them, inside and out.

"Do you have more? I can trade something for it."

Xiao Bai was shocked to see that even a small piece of Wood Spirit Crystal contained so much pure wood energy that Xiao Yi hadn't absorbed it all at once.

This was a treasure!

"No more."

Medusa shook her head.

There hadn't been much Wood Spirit Crystal on the island to begin with, and after years of use, she was left with only this one piece.

She had originally planned to use it during her evolution, but since Xiao Bai had given her Xiao Yi, she hadn't needed it anymore.

Xiao Bai felt a tinge of regret.

Other than Heavenly Flames, this was one of the rare treasures that lightning could actually devour.

"Take it! Take it already!"

Annoyed, Xiao Bai pushed away the golden egg, which kept lightly bumping against him.

This thing was like a persistent piece of gum—impossible to shake off.

Its spatial abilities were like a bug in the system, appearing and disappearing without a trace. It was driving him crazy!

When Medusa took out the Wood Spirit Crystal, Xiao Bai had thought the egg would be drawn to it.

But it didn't even spare it a glance.

Now, it only cared about the Yi Wood energy he provided, not even clinging to Xiao Yi like before.

This thing likely only needed Yi Wood energy infused with the lightning attribute—the kind produced by Xiao Yi. Pure wood-attributed energy alone probably had no effect on it.

Now that he had the Wood Spirit Crystal, Xiao Bai no longer feared harming Xiao Yi's core. One strand after another of Yi Wood energy was continuously absorbed by the golden egg.

The life fluctuations within the egg grew increasingly intense. Xiao Bai knew that it was about to undergo some kind of transformation, though he had no idea what was inside.

He couldn't see through it. The eggshell seemed to have some kind of barrier that blocked soul power from probing inside.

As the Wood Spirit Crystal shrank smaller and smaller, the golden egg kept absorbing energy. Although its life force grew stronger, there were still no visible changes.

Xiao Bai clenched his teeth in frustration. If this broken egg didn't change by the time the Wood Spirit Crystal was depleted, he'd just smash it!

As if sensing his resentment, the golden egg suddenly trembled. Its life force reached a peak, then settled down, ceasing its absorption of Yi Wood energy.

Xiao Bai slowly exhaled, his eyes locked onto the egg. It was finally about to change.

Medusa, on the other hand, watched the egg with wary eyes.

In the Dou Qi Continent, it was widely recognized that only Dou Zong experts could manipulate spatial power.

Yet, this seemingly unremarkable golden egg, which emitted no Dou Zong aura, could ignore space itself—disappearing and reappearing over short distances, an incredibly eerie ability.

If not for Xiao Bai's interest, she would have stopped him from feeding so much of Xiao Yi's essence to it.

"Crack!"

Before their eyes, a thin crack appeared on the golden egg. Xiao Bai instinctively held his breath.

Despite his extensive knowledge of the Dou Qi Continent, he could only speculate about what lay inside. Until he saw it for himself, he couldn't be sure.

But as long as it played with lightning, even if it was a bit strange, Xiao Bai wasn't too worried.

Earlier, he had noticed that while the egg desperately craved Yi Wood energy, it never forcibly absorbed Xiao Yi's essence.

Whether it was unable or simply didn't dare to, this fact reassured Xiao Bai. It meant the egg either feared Xiao Yi or wasn't particularly powerful—so he had dared to continue feeding it.

As more cracks spread across the eggshell, the golden glow on its surface dimmed, while the golden hue inside grew more intense.

Just as Xiao Bai and Medusa fixed their gazes on the brilliant gold light, eager to see what would emerge—

The sky suddenly darkened.

Far darker than when the thunderclouds had gathered before.

"Boom!"

Xiao Bai felt like he was going deaf.

A muffled thunderclap echoed—not the usual bold and aggressive kind, but a deep, hushed rumble carrying an overwhelming force.

Yet, there were no visible lightning bolts. Only the dimmed sky.

Why was there thunder?

Before he could ponder further, he felt as if an immense weight had been placed on his body. His legs trembled involuntarily.

"I… won't… kneel!"

Gritting his teeth, sweat poured down his face.

Medusa's expression paled. Even as a newly ascended Dou Zong, under that oppressive darkness above, she felt as insignificant as an ant!

In the Snake-People's Holy City, everyone trembled under the crushing pressure, collapsing to the ground.

The pressure radiated outward from the Holy City, spreading across the entire Tagore Desert.

Any living being that sensed it shuddered and prostrated itself in fear.

In a side chamber of the Snake-People's temple, a black ring suddenly trembled.

A hazy, illusory figure emerged—only to nearly be crushed back into the ring by the overwhelming aura.

"This… this aura!"

Yao Lao gasped.

Even though the aura was faint—barely a whisper—his face paled as he recalled something terrifying.

"Not good!"

Focusing on Xiao Bai's location, he steered the ring and rushed toward him.

Along the way, he saw that no one could stand—all had been forced to the ground. Even Hai Bodong and the experts from the Heavenly Serpent Mansion were no exception.

But just as Yao Lao reached the halfway point, the darkness in the sky began to recede. Though he didn't know why, he let out a massive sigh of relief. *Today was like a brush with death—I almost didn't make it.*

"Damn it, I really shouldn't stick around this kid. He's going to scare me to death one day. How the hell did he attract that thing?!"

Wiping cold sweat from his brow, Yao Lao felt the relief of a narrow escape. Even at his peak, he wouldn't dare provoke that—it was a death sentence.

For a moment, he'd truly feared for his soul. If even a single bolt of that lightning had struck, the game would've been over for everyone.

Thankfully, it had only darkened the sky for a moment, releasing a wisp of that terrifying aura before vanishing. Otherwise, not just the Snake-People's Holy City—the entire Snake-People's territory would've been erased in an instant!

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