Chapter 320

The Grand Elder's forehead broke into sweat—if she attacked the Inner Court, Su Qian would be utterly unable to stop her. If Su Qian hadn't trusted Xiao Yan, he wouldn't have dared leave this great Buddha beneath the Tian Fen Lian Qi Ta.

Everyone understands the principle that a gentleman does not stand beneath a crumbling wall, but the Grand Elder had initially assumed she was merely breaking through to Seven Rank, believing he could handle any trouble himself.

But now, this aura was far more than just a beginner Dou Zong!

"Here it comes!"

Wum!!! Suddenly, a Seven-Colored Divine Light surged from the base of the Tian Fen Lian Qi Ta, and the terrifying seven-colored radiance pierced straight through the tower, through space, and shone upon the sky!

Instantly, the entire Inner Court was engulfed in seven-colored light; though the radiance harmed no one, its sheer scale still filled every student with dread.

"Could it be… the Fallen Heart Flame has erupted again!" a student who had experienced that incident trembled.

"Are you stupid? Haven't you read the inscription on the stele? Elder Xiao Yan already reclaimed the Fallen Heart Flame!"

"But didn't Elder Xiao Yan find a second one and donate it to the academy, allowing the Tian Fen Lian Qi Ta to function again? Maybe it's the second one!"

"Bro, forget the rest—the Fallen Heart Flame isn't even colored! And whatever Elder Xiao Yan gave the academy is definitely safe."

Xiao Yan's fame had even surpassed that of the elusive Dean.

Moreover, very few in the entire Inner Court knew what lay beneath the Tian Fen Lian Qi Ta.

"It's coming!" the Grand Elder exclaimed, voice low.

No sooner had Grand Elder Su Qian spoken than seven-colored light flared—a rainbow beam like a celestial arc shot straight into the heavens, as if a great treasure had just emerged.

But if viewed from afar, the seven-colored radiance bore an uncanny resemblance to a colossal serpent, its body stretching thousands of kilometers in length!

"What is that thing!"

"It looks… it looks like a person!"

All students of Jia Nan Academy—including those from the Outer Court—turned their gazes upward, utterly captivated by the seven-colored light erupting from the Tian Fen Lian Qi Ta.

As core members of the Xiao Clan, Xiao Mei and Xiao Yu knew full well that Mei Du Sha Queen was cultivating beneath the Tian Fen Lian Qi Ta.

After all, Mei Du Sha Queen was now an ally of the Xiao Clan.

"So beautiful…" Xiao Mei stared blankly at the slender figure within the rainbow light; even though she herself was one of the most sought-after beauties in Jia Nan Academy, when she saw Mei Du Sha—fully evolved, her Three-Flame Serpent Body perfected—her beauty rendered Xiao Mei utterly insignificant.

Before such beauty, Xiao Mei dared not call herself beautiful.

At this moment, Mei Du Sha wore a noble, ornate gown, her back shimmering with streaks of seven-colored light, exuding breathtaking beauty.

Mei Du Sha's jade feet trod upon the rainbow, its radiance rising, her figure swaying gracefully, her face radiant as moon and flower, her mature allure laid bare.

Her cold, elegant gaze added to her nobility; already stunningly beautiful, and as a sovereign of a nation, her allure was intoxicating, her regal aura towering above all, making one instinctively wish to kneel at her feet, bowing head in willing obedience.

At this moment, Mei Du Sha slowly turned her gaze—and for some reason, her first glance was not toward Su Qian, the strongest Grand Elder, nor toward the two thousand elders hidden in the Library Pavilion, but toward Xiao Yu!

Seeing Mei Du Sha's gaze, Xiao Yu instinctively stepped back half a pace, yet for some reason, she bit her lower lip, gathered her courage, and lifted her head to meet it directly.

But soon, Mei Du Sha withdrew her gaze, glancing at the stone statue of Xiao Yan atop the Tian Fen Lian Qi Ta, and instantly unleashed a terrifying Soul Force sweep—naturally, she found no trace of Xiao Yan.

"After Xiao Yan emerged over a year ago, he returned to the Jia Ma Empire shortly after—he's not in the Black Horn Region now," Grand Elder Su Qian, sensing Mei Du Sha's Soul Force sweeping across Jia Nan Academy, naturally guessed whom she sought, and spoke at once.

Hearing Su Qian's words, Mei Du Sha merely cast a cool glance, about to leave—when her eyes flickered with a flash of cold light, and she clenched her fist slightly toward the statue of Xiao Yan below.

Boom—the entire statue instantly turned to dust, then vanished.

With Mei Du Sha's departure, the rainbow light faded, as if the spectacle had never occurred, like a mirage.

The Grand Elder, sensing Mei Du Sha's departure, exhaled in relief; he had assumed her cultivation was merely at the beginner Dou Zong level, but never imagined she had reached High-Level Dou Zong!

Levels one to three are Low-Level, four to six are Mid-Level; High-Level is naturally seven to nine.

Even Xiao Yan hadn't anticipated this—he'd estimated Mei Du Sha's power at no more than Three-Star Dou Zong.

But he'd overlooked that, after Mei Du Sha joined the Yan Alliance, he had spared no effort back then using the Ten Thousand Beasts Spiritual Flame to constantly activate her Bloodline Power, and had given her over half of the Earth Core Fire Lotus seeds, alongside the tiny Fallen Heart Flame, allowing Mei Du Sha to unify the power of the Three Infernal Flames.

Once her body fully matured to Seven Rank and fused completely with her Spiritual Soul and Bloodline, Mei Du Sha's power blossomed like a chemical reaction.

The Ten Thousand Beasts Spiritual Flame activated the Seven-Colored Devouring Sky Serpent's Bloodline, the Blue Lotus Earth Core Fire evolved her Spiritual Soul, and finally the Fallen Heart Flame refined her body—this entire process could make even a pig fly!

Even Mei Du Sha herself hadn't expected her power to surge so dramatically after full fusion.

Seeing the statue reduced to dust on the ground, Su Qian shook his head helplessly, wondering what anger Mei Du Sha held toward Xiao Yan.

Xiao Mei murmured: "Is she mad at Cousin Xiao Yan for not waiting for her?"

Su Qian's expression twisted; he shook his head: "That's too childish."

Only Xiao Yu looked thoughtful.

Naturally, Mei Du Sha's sudden appearance in the Inner Court spread like wildfire; most people discussed her beauty—and especially her destruction of Xiao Yan's statue.

Many uninformed students, through rumor and distortion, gradually turned it into: Elder Xiao Yan had left Jia Nan Academy, then indulged in romantic escapades outside, provoking this wrathful god—until the tale ended with Xiao Yan having spent one night with a woman, "gotten her pregnant," and now the woman had come to the academy seeking him for justice.

Naturally, Mei Du Sha's emergence from beneath the Tian Fen Lian Qi Ta was something Xiao Yan, far away in the Tian She Empire, could not possibly know.

"Phew… finally arrived."

After seven days of flight, the Yan Alliance group finally reached the capital of the Tian She Empire.

The capital of the Tian She Empire was a vast ancient city, thriving beyond measure, teeming with demons and beasts; here, the number of beasts far exceeded that of humans, and without question, the most numerous were the Snake Race.

Here, one could see all manner of Snake Tribe: Snake People, Horned Snakes, Winged Snakes, Crawling Snakes, Sea Giant Pythons, and more. The Snake Race's ability to interbreed was no weaker than the Dragon Clan's.

As Xiao Yan and the others neared the capital of the Tian She Empire, they could see from afar a colossal emerald-green serpent statue piercing straight into the clouds.

The entire serpent was emerald green—not carved from ordinary stone; from a distance, only its body was visible, its face obscured by clouds.

In the capital of the Tian She Empire, something peculiar was that people told time not by clocks, but by the shadow of this giant serpent statue—its long black shadow slowly shifted with the rising and setting sun, evoking an indescribable dread, as if, within this capital, one was perpetually watched by a colossal serpent in the sky, with nowhere to hide.

The Tian She Empire was named after this giant serpent statue; legends claimed it was the statue of the Dou Sage of the Tian She Mansion, erected to commemorate his great deeds, while others said the serpent retained the Dou Sage's power, guarding the Tian She Mansion as its divine protector.

Although the Tian She Empire was said to be protected by this statue, no one in all these years had ever witnessed it manifest divine power; in fact, over the past thousand years, the Tian She Empire had remained peaceful and stable, with no major wars, and no enemy had ever breached its capital.

Seeing the giant statue meant they were entering the Tian She capital.

Even someone as restless as Zi Yan felt exhausted; Yun Yun, despite her composure, was likewise weary—she hadn't attended the last Sect Grand Meeting, for she had already made her name, but more importantly, it was simply too far away!

Xiao Yan rubbed his temples; he knew Zhong Zhou was even farther!

After passing through the Tian She capital, then traveling across the entire Northwest Region, then flying again—you'd only reach the outskirts of Zhong Zhou!

"Let's land here—the Tian She capital forbids flight." Jia Xingtian patted the scales of the Deep Sea Jiao Beast, and with a roar, the beast slowly descended onto a grassland just outside the Tian She capital.

With a thunderous boom, the massive body of the Deepsea Wyrm crashed down, smashing a huge crater into the ground.

"What was that noise!"

"Such a powerful beast—is that a dragon!"

"Looks like a Sixth Rank Wyrm. This spiritual pressure—another sect must have ridden this beast here."

Tian She Empire wasn't just the gathering place for the Sect Grand Meeting; it was also the most prosperous city in the Northwest Region, and as the central power of the Northwest Earth Domain, it was unquestionably the mandatory transit route for all other nations conducting trade.

Many powerful empires maintained trade caravans that traveled across empires via Flying Beasts, buying and selling goods.

After establishing the Yan Alliance and seizing Feng Cheng, the Miter Guild now operated such a flying trade caravan shuttling between the Snake People Empire, the Black Horn Region, and the Jia Ma Empire.

Even in Tian She Empire, a beast as powerful as the Deepsea Wyrm held prestigious status—it could even serve as an Elder in the Tian She Mansion. Back then, the Eight-Winged Black Snake King that Xiao Yan and Hai Bodong had fought together was only slightly stronger than the Deepsea Wyrm.

The Deepsea Wyrm, standing on its hind legs, slowly strode toward the city gate. After all, Tian She Empire was a land of beasts, and its gates were dozens of times larger than normal—so large that even the Deepsea Wyrm could pass through effortlessly.

Sensing the cultivation realms of those atop the Deepsea Wyrm, the gate guards dared not stop them—they knew without a doubt this was a top-tier sect arriving for the Sect Grand Meeting.

"Such overwhelming spiritual pressure."

"There's definitely a Dou Zong among them."

"Which top-tier sect is this? I've never seen such a massive wyrm before."

Nearly a hundred sects and factions attend each Sect Grand Meeting, but only those with Dou Zongs qualify as top-tier. The Chu Yun Empire and the Luoyan Sect were top-tier; the former Jia Ma Empire and the Snake People Empire were merely second-rate factions.

As they entered the Snake People capital, each of them felt different emotions; Zi Yan, Yue Er, and Nalan Yanran—younger and visiting the capital for the first time—were ecstatic.

After stepping into the capital, Zi Yan couldn't help but look around in awe, like Liu Laolao entering the Grand View Garden—especially when she saw that all around her were beasts, even merchants and shop boys were beasts, leaving her stunned.

To facilitate trade, the beasts of Tian She Empire had all learned human language, allowing seamless communication.

"They're really mostly beasts!" Zi Yan exclaimed, thrilled—this was her first time seeing a city inhabited by beasts, and she felt an unexpected sense of familiarity.

She wondered if her homeland was like this too—everywhere, dragons!

As for Xiao Yan, his gaze was sharp as he stared at the statue at the very center of the Tian She capital—he knew that was where the Tian She Mansion stood, and where Qing Lin was.

Years had passed; he had no idea how that girl was doing now.

"Don't rush," Hai Bodong warned Xiao Yan, fearing he might charge straight into the Tian She Mansion. "You'll see that little girl eventually. No matter what, try not to offend the Tian She Mansion for now."

Xiao Yan nodded. He wasn't impulsive. Besides, Bai Ya and Lv Man had once promised to give Qing Lin the best possible inheritance and treatment.

If Qing Lin was well, then that would be enough.

Xiao Yan fell silent. Yun Yun and Hai Bodong, beside him, didn't disturb his thoughts. Only Zi Yan, Nalan Yanran, and Yue Er excitedly looked around, curious about everything.

By the time Xiao Yan and the others entered the capital, night had begun to fall. Yun Yun asked, "Shall we find a place to stay first?"

Xiao Yan and the others had planned to stay for a while to attend the Sect Grand Meeting, so he wasn't in a hurry and nodded.

Sects with cultivation realms at Dou Wang or above—even those with Dou Zongs—were each assigned a vast courtyard, complete with a large pond, perfectly suited for the Deepsea Wyrm to rest.

"This preparation is quite thoughtful," Xiao Yan said, satisfied. As hosts, the Tian She Mansion had done well—over a hundred sects attended, each granted its own independent courtyard.

"Xiao Yan! Let's go out for a walk!" Zi Yan tugged at Xiao Yan's sleeve, pouting.

Xiao Yan nodded. "Good idea. I need to buy some medicinal materials—this would be the best place to find them."

"Old man will go with you," Hai Bodong stood up. "I've been to the Tian She capital before in my youth—I know it well."

"Yanran, you should come too," Yun Yun said, noticing Nalan Yanran's desire to join.

"What about you, Master?"

"I'll stay here and wait for you to return. I feel my cultivation has hit a bottleneck—perhaps I can break through to Star Eight before the Grand Meeting," Yun Yun smiled gently.

In the end, Xiao Yan and Hai Bodong led the young generation—Zi Yan, Yue Er, and Nalan Yanran—out onto the streets.

Before leaving, Xiao Yan subtly nodded to Xiao Li and Xiao Ding; the two of them quietly slipped away from the grand courtyard.

(End of Chapter)