The Great Tao Desert was a place where the sun was a tyrannical sovereign, beating down upon the endless dunes of golden sand until the air itself shimmered with a lethal, undulating heat.

Ordinarily, this was a graveyard for any traveler foolish enough to cross its borders, but deep within its heart lay a hidden sanctuary, a marvel of architecture and biological adaptation: Lamia City.

Built from sandstone infused with spirit-quartz and cooled by subterranean rivers that ran beneath the desert crust, it was a sprawling oasis of serpentine elegance.

At this moment, Huo Yue, Zhu Ziyan, Medusa, and the rest of the Huo Clan were here, surrounded by thousands of Lamias.

The desert warriors stood with their long, powerful tails coiled beneath them, their scales glistening like jewels under the harsh light.

The atmosphere was thick with tension, but it wasn’t the tension of hostility; it was the vibrating energy of a tribe greeting its long-lost goddess.

"Queen! You finally returned!"

Hua Lin, one of Medusa’s most trusted generals, suddenly slithered towards them from the main gate.

Her pink hair, as vibrant as a desert bloom, fluttered with every fluid movement of her body as she moved with a grace that masked a terrifying lethality.

Huo Yue, who had become acutely sensitive to spiritual fluctuations, noticed that compared to before, this girl was already at the peak of the Spirit Ascension Realm.

In the Eastern Region, such a level was enough to make her a regional hegemon, second only to the Pope of the Spirit Hall, that was Medusa’s level before she went on a journey with her.

Medusa nodded at them, her orange eyes sweeping over her subjects with a mixture of pride and regal detachment. "I came here this time to check up on you. How has the clan been since I left for the Central Region?"

"We have been well, Queen." Hua Lin smiled proudly, her tail giving a satisfied flick. "Since you left, the resources you provided and the new cultivation methods have borne fruit! Three more sisters aside from me have broken through to the peak Spirit Ascension Realm! Our tribe’s strength is at an all-time high."

Medusa nodded, acknowledging the report with a slight tilt of her head. "And the Barbarians? I have seen the destruction they have caused, but they didn’t cause much damage here, I hope?"

Hua Lin shook her head dismissively, her expression turning into one of cold contempt. "No. Those red-skinned brutes tried to cross the shifting sands once. We have beaten them so thoroughly they don’t even dare step foot in the desert anymore. Their flames are nothing compared to the heat of the Great Tao, and their physical strength is useless when they are sinking into quicksand with a thousand arrows in their throats."

"Mm." Medusa nodded, but at that moment, her focus shifted.

She noticed that the Lamias seemed to be looking around the group, their necks craneing and their eyes darting behind Huo Yue and Ziyan, as if searching for someone who was conspicuously absent.

"What are you doing?"

The Lamias looked embarrassed and a collective blush seemed to spread through the gathered serpent-women, and even the bold Hua Lin dared not to meet Medusa’s piercing eyes.

"What is it?" Medusa glared at them, her aura beginning to flare with a dangerous, golden intensity. "Speak."

"This..." Hua Lin stammered, her fingers fidgeting with the hilt of her scimitar. "Is... is Young Master Haoran not with you?"

The other Lamias also looked eager, their tails twitching in anticipation.

The memory of the handsome, golden-haired young man who had once visited their city, the man who carried himself with the grace of a god and the power of a sovereign, had become a legend among the tribe.

Huo Yue felt her cheek twitch as a vein throbbed almost invisibly at her temple as she remembered that moment years ago when a group of these very Lamias were serving Haoran as if he were their king, feeding him grapes and fanning him while she was standing there, staring at them, dumbfounded.

Zhu Ziyan also remembered that moment, and despite the gravity of their situation, she couldn’t help but feel a bit amused as she turned towards Huo Yue.

Seeing the "Flame Empress" getting jealous of a group of snake-women was a rare treat.

"You..." Medusa felt a surge of genuine anger bubbling inside her as her scales momentarily flickered in existence along her neck. "Just who is your Queen!? You see me return after more than two years of life-and-death struggle, and the first thing you ask for is a human man!? You dare have rebellious thoughts!?"

The Lamias got flustered and immediately apologized, their tails thrashing in a frantic display of submission.

"Queen! We don’t mean that! We are loyal only to you!"

"Yes! Yes! It’s not like that at all! We missed you terribly!"

"It’s just..." one younger Lamia whispered from the back, "you are our Queen, so, so how about you make Young Master Haoran our King? Then everything would be perfect!"

Medusa’s eyes flared up, her pupils narrowing into slits. "You rebellious subjects! So you really do want to replace me! Or rather, you want to sell your Queen just to get a glimpse of him!?"

At that moment, Medusa felt something hot and heavy pressing against her back as the temperature in the immediate vicinity rose by several degrees.

Turning around slowly, she saw Huo Yue smiling at her—a smile that didn’t reach her burning red eyes.

Huo Yue’s hands were resting on her iconic black ruler, the tip of which was pointed directly at Medusa’s spine.

"Sister Medusa," Huo Yue said, her voice dripping with a sweetness that felt more dangerous than a barbarian’s club. "It seems your tribe wants you to be with my fiancé. It seems they are very fond of the idea. What do you think?"

Medusa felt cold sweat running down her back, despite the desert heat.

She knew exactly how much power was packed into that "teasing" gesture, but she tried to stay calm, her voice pitching up slightly. "I... it’s just their wishful thinking. You know how they are. I don’t even like Shen Haoran."

"Why? Isn’t Haoran very attractive?" Huo Yue pressed her ruler harder on Medusa’s back, the dark metal beginning to glow with a dull, crimson light.

"Attractive. Very attractive. Exceptionally attractive," Medusa said, her words coming out in a hurried rush.

"Then does that mean you want to be with him?" Huo Yue asked, the ruler starting to hiss as it scorched the air.

"No, no, that’s not it at all! He’s your fiancé! I can’t even dream of it!"

"So you tried dreaming of him, but can’t?"

Zhu Ziyan stared at the two and finally stepped in, patting Huo Yue on the shoulder to break the mounting tension. "Sister Yue, please don’t tease Sister Medusa anymore. Remember what we came here for. We need to secure the Huo Clan before we move to the frontline."

Huo Yue lowered the ruler and stored it back inside her storage ring with a practiced flick of her wrist as the oppressive heat vanished instantly. "I am not teasing her. I am simply curious about her tastes."

Medusa sighed in a massive, visible wave of relief, wiping her brow before turning back towards the Lamias with her "Queen" persona firmly back in place. "Alright, everyone. Enough nonsense. We are facing a crisis. Please make sure you protect these people while we go and deal with those barbarians. They are guests of the highest order."

Hua Lin stared at the weary members of the Huo Clan and nodded solemnly, her playful demeanor vanishing. "No problem, Queen. We will treat them as our own kin. I will personally see to it that no harm comes their way, even if the entire Fire Giant Tribe knocks on our gates."

Medusa nodded and turned towards Huo Yue and Ziyan, her expression turning serious. "Shall we go? Those barbarians have almost completed conquered the rehion, and if we don’t hurry, there won’t be an Eastern Region left to save. Don’t worry, your clan will be safe here. No barbarian can navigate the Great Tao better than my sisters."

Huo Yue nodded, her gaze softening as she turned towards her parents and brothers. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Huo Zhang, Fei Ling’an, and her brothers stood there, looking at this group of powerful women with a mixture of awe and concern.

"Mother, father, Brother Li, Brother Shu... please take care of yourselves," Huo Yue whispered, embracing her mother. "Stay within the city walls. The Lamias will look after you. We’ll be going now."

Fei Ling’an looked worried and caressed Huo Yue’s cheeks, her eyes wet with unshed tears. "Child, you should be the one who has to be careful, after all you are going to fight those giants and monsters while we just wait here for your return."

"Your mother is right." Huo Zhang nodded, his voice thick with pride. "Don’t worry about us. We’ve survived this long. Make sure to always be careful, Yue’er. Don’t push yourself too hard."

"Sister, be careful."

"Come back safely, sister! We’ll be waiting!"

Huo Yue smiled at them, a genuine, warm smile that lit up her face as she turned away quickly, not wanting them to see the flicker of worry in her own eyes.

On the side, Zhu Ziyan watched the family reunion, her eyes looking complicated as she stood slightly apart, her hand resting on her side.

She looked up at the vast, clear sky of the desert, as if thinking about something far away... or perhaps someone she had left behind long ago.

’...Are they okay?’ she couldn’t help but thought.

Her heart felt heavy with the weight of the coming battle, but seeing the Huo family gave her a reason to fight.

"Let’s go," Ziyan said, her voice steady. "Before I change my mind and decide to stay here and nap in the shade."

The three women shared a look of grim determination, then with a burst of spiritual energy, they took to the sky, three streaks of light—crimson, purple, and azure—shooting out of the desert toward the smoke-filled horizon of the East.

Below them, the Lamias let out a haunting, rhythmic hiss of farewell, a sound that echoed through the dunes long after they were gone.