13: Queen's Eyes, Escape from Despair

Hiss… Hiss…

The sound didn't come from his ears; it resonated directly in the depths of his Soul, cold, slimy, and imbued with an ancient majesty that seemed to pierce through time and space. Lin Chen's muscles instantly tensed like iron, his heart clutched by an invisible icy hand. Every beat pulled at the stinging pain brought by the Soul Erosion Guidance and the throbbing of new power.

The dense, ghastly green poisonous miasma rolled like a living thing, obscuring his vision, yet unable to block the gaze that pierced through. It was cold, indifferent, like a high and mighty god looking down on ants, yet also carrying a hint of curious scrutiny and playfulness, as if discovering a new toy.

Danger! Extreme danger!

His Shadow Erosion Dou Qi instinctively screamed a warning, far exceeding what he felt when facing the Hall of Souls Protector earlier! The twenty drops of liquid Dou Qi, glowing with a dark purple, demonic light in his Dantian, instantly boiled. The pitch-black vortex spun at an unprecedented speed, forming a layer of solid, constantly collapsing deep purple-black light film around Lin Chen's body, enveloping him tightly. On the surface of the light film, wisps of highly toxic Qi and devouring power intertwined, emitting faint "sizzling" sounds, resisting the terrifying pressure brought by that invisible gaze.

The poisonous miasma slowly parted to both sides, like subjects clearing a path for their monarch.

A figure of breathtaking grace appeared silently, ten zhang in front of Lin Chen.

It was a woman. Or rather, a being with the perfect upper body of a Human Race woman, but whose lower body was a gigantic, purple-scaled snake tail!

Her beauty was stunning, enough to eclipse the sun and moon. Her features were exquisitely crafted, like the Creator's most perfect masterpiece. Her skin was fairer than snow, yet subtly exuded a cold, jade-like luster. A cascade of smooth purple hair fell like a waterfall, its ends swaying without a breeze. Most chilling were her eyes—a pair of almost pure purple vertical pupils! Deep and cold, they seemed to contain an endless starry sky and vortex. Wherever her gaze fell, even the poisonous miasma seemed to solidify.

She floated languidly above the poisonous miasma, her purple snake tail gently swaying, each opening and closing of her scales creating subtle spatial ripples. An indescribable, terrifying pressure, like an invisible tide, emanated from her. This pressure was not the cold, dead stillness of the Hall of Souls, but an absolute dominance and nobility stemming from Bloodline and power! It was as if she was the Dominator of this poisonous swamp, the Queen of this land!

Medusa Queen!

Lin Chen's mind instantly exploded with the Yingu Old Man's memory fragments describing the Snake-People's most terrifying existence! Peak Dou Huang! Possessing an abnormal flame capable of incinerating everything (at this time, the evolution was incomplete, and the Green Lotus Core Flame had not yet fully Fused)! And she also wielded a terrifying talent that could petrify everything!

He never imagined that the dead end he desperately fled into was where this notoriously fierce Queen was undergoing her evolution ritual! No wonder this poisonous swamp was so strange, its energy so violent and chaotic!

"Human Race?" the Medusa Queen's red lips parted slightly, her voice like ice beads falling on a jade plate—clear and pleasant, yet carrying a bone-chilling coldness. Her purple vertical pupils scrutinized Lin Chen with interest, especially the constantly collapsing, deep purple-black light film on his body, which emitted both devouring and highly toxic Qi, and the dark red brand on his left wrist, entwined with purple-black poison patterns.

"Interesting." She tilted her head slightly. This normally innocent gesture, performed by her, carried a deadly aura of danger. "A mere Four-Star Dou Practitioner, yet able to withstand the highly toxic erosion of the 'Soul Erosion Swamp's' core region, and even temper his body with it? This Dou Qi… domineering, evil, with the taste of annihilation and devouring, and a hint of… a disgusting Hall of Souls brand. You carry many secrets."

Her gaze was like the most precise probe, as if wanting to see through Lin Chen from inside out. Lin Chen felt that all his secrets—Shadow Erosion Dou Qi, source core fragment, the remnants of Yingu Soul Fire, and even the process of refining the poisonous miasma—were exposed under those eyes! The Soul Erosion Guidance at the Soul level, stimulated by this even more vast and terrifying pressure, felt like it was doused in boiling oil. The sharp pain suddenly intensified, making his vision blur and him almost unable to stand.

"Your Majesty…" Lin Chen uttered a few words with difficulty, his voice hoarse and dry, each syllable pulling at the pain throughout his body. He forced himself to maintain the last shred of consciousness, his brain working at an unprecedented speed. Fight head-on? That was courting Death! Beg for mercy? Meaningless in front of the Medusa Queen! The only chance for survival… was to utilize the environment and her current state!

The Yingu Old Man's memory fragments flashed rapidly: The Medusa Queen's evolution was imminent and required an abnormal flame! Although her Qi was strong at the moment, it seemed somewhat unstable. A subtle, hard-to-detect ripple of disorder occasionally flickered in the depths of her purple vertical pupils. Clearly, the evolution had reached its most crucial stage, and she couldn't easily use her full power!

"Soul Erosion Swamp… severe poison… chaotic energy…" Dark red and dark purple light flickered madly in Lin Chen's eyes. An extremely risky, almost suicidal plan instantly formed!

"Noisy." The Medusa Queen seemed to lose patience. Her jade hand casually lifted and gently waved in Lin Chen's direction.

There was no earth-shattering energy explosion, only a subtle, almost transparent purple ripple, like a wave, instantly traversing space and appearing before Lin Chen!

Fast! Extremely fast! Lin Chen's pupils suddenly contracted to needlepoints! The Shadow Erosion Dou Qi's warning screamed madly! This seemingly casual wave contained terrifying power capable of instantly obliterating an ordinary Dou Spirit! It also contained a trace of the petrification Law from the Medusa Queen's Bloodline!

"Shadow Erosion · Devouring World!" Lin Chen let out a dying roar! He no longer held anything back. The twenty drops of highly toxic Shadow Erosion Dou Qi in his Dantian burned madly! The deep purple-black light film on his body suddenly expanded and collapsed, forming a miniature black hole vortex about ten feet in diameter! At the center of the vortex, terrifying devouring power erupted to its extreme, actively meeting the fatal purple ripple!

Hiss—!

There was no loud bang, only a sharp hiss that made one's Soul tremble, as energy was violently torn apart and annihilated! The purple ripple crashed into the black hole vortex, like an ice cube thrown into a furnace, instantly torn apart and decomposed by the violent devouring power!

However, the disparity was too great!

The power level of the Medusa Queen's casual attack far exceeded Lin Chen's limit! The energy contained in that purple ripple was as vast as the sea, and it carried a trace of the Law! The Shadow Erosion vortex only lasted for less than half a breath before emitting a groan of unbearable strain, its surface instantly covered with spiderweb-like cracks!

"Pfft!" Lin Chen was hit as if by a ten-thousand-pound hammer, blood mixed with fragments of internal organs spurting out! His entire body flew backward like a broken sack, and the Shadow Erosion shield on his body shattered with a bang! The residual purple power violently slammed into him, and he heard the clear sound of bones cracking in his chest! Even more terrifyingly, a cold, strange energy with petrifying properties invaded his Meridians along with the impact. Wherever it passed, his flesh and blood showed a tendency to stiffen and turn gray!

Intense pain! Death! Petrify!

A triple-killing blow descended instantly!

"Ant-like power." A trace of boredom flashed in the Medusa Queen's eyes. She seemed slightly surprised that Lin Chen could block this attack, but that was all. Her jade finger slightly bent, as if she was about to deliver the final blow, completely obliterating this little bug who had trespassed into her Forbidden Ground and possessed strange power.

Now!

However, an unprecedented madness erupted in Lin Chen's eyes! Using the immense momentum of his backward flight, disregarding the excruciating pain of his Meridians feeling like they were tearing apart and the rapidly spreading petrifying energy, he poured all his remaining Shadow Erosion Dou Qi—along with the purple energy that had invaded his body but hadn't been fully digested, and the violent poisonous miasma—into the poisonous mud pit beneath his feet, in a near-self-destructive manner!

"Explode—!!!"

"Rumble rumble rumble—!!!"

Centered on Lin Chen's landing spot, the poisonous mud pit for dozens of zhang in circumference exploded skyward as if countless bombs had been thrown into it! Purple-black poisonous sludge, ghastly green poisonous miasma, violent and chaotic energy flows, and the destructive shockwave generated by Lin Chen's self-detonation of his Dou Qi… instantly mixed into a chaotic storm of destruction, completely engulfing the area! Terrifying toxic power, energy turbulence, and mud and poisonous miasma that obscured all vision, swept outwards like a tsunami!

The energy in the core region of this "Soul Erosion Swamp" was already extremely violent and chaotic. Lin Chen's desperate detonation was like lighting a giant powder keg! A chain reaction instantly erupted! The entire poisonous swamp seemed to come alive, the ground shaking, countless poisonous bubbles exploding madly, and deeper, hidden Yin Bone Death Qi being stirred up and spewed out!

"Hm?" For the first time, a clear ripple of emotion, a hint of annoyed displeasure, appeared on the Medusa Queen's exquisite face. A faint purple halo automatically appeared around her body, easily isolating the sweeping poisonous sludge and chaotic energy. But the violent energy turbulence and the soaring poisonous smoke and miasma instantly disrupted the energy field of this area, and also obscured her powerful perception!

More importantly, the energy disturbance in this area subtly conflicted with and interfered with the extremely fragile abnormal flame Fusion and evolution she was currently undergoing within her body! The chaotic ripples in her purple vertical pupils instantly intensified!

"Courting Death!" Bone-chilling killing intent erupted from the Medusa Queen, more chilling than the poison of this Soul Erosion Swamp! Her jade hand violently swung out, and a purple streak, condensed to its extreme, like a heaven-splitting blade, fiercely slashed into the center of the chaotic energy storm!

Wherever the streak passed, the chaotic energy and poisonous miasma were forcibly separated and annihilated! However, at the center of the storm, apart from a giant pit, blasted to an unfathomable depth and churning with even denser poisonous sludge, and the residual violent Shadow Erosion Dou Qi and toxic Qi in the air, where was Lin Chen's figure?

Only a deep claw mark remained on the rock wall at the edge of the giant pit, its edges corroded and pitted. Within the claw mark, a few traces of dark purple-black Dou Qi remained, rapidly being swallowed by the newly emerging poisonous mud.

The Medusa Queen floated above the chaotic energy currents, her purple vertical pupils coldly scanning the devastated poisonous swamp below. Her perception, like invisible tentacles, instantly covered the entire core region, and even rapidly expanded outwards.

However, the ant-like Human Race's Qi, along with the strange Dou Qi and the Hall of Souls brand's Qi, had vanished without a trace, as if evaporated into thin air! Only the violent energy turbulence and the poisonous smoke and miasma continued to interfere with her investigation.

"Shadow Escape… merging into shadows and poisonous environments?" The Medusa Queen slightly frowned, seeming a little surprised by Lin Chen's final method of escape, merging into the Chaos. She raised her jade hand, and a wisp of extremely faint dark purple-black Dou Qi, forcibly peeled from the explosion storm, lingered on her fingertips. The devouring and highly toxic properties contained in this Dou Qi, as well as the will to savagely annihilate energy, made her feel a hint of novelty.

"An interesting little bug… and that Hall of Souls tracking brand…" A subtle, yet world-shattering, arc appeared at her cold lips. The arc held a hint of playfulness and… interest. "Next time we meet, I hope you can make this King… enjoy herself more." Her purple vertical pupils glanced in the direction Lin Chen disappeared, and then her figure slowly faded, like a reflection merging into water, silently vanishing into the depths of the re-gathering ghastly green poisonous miasma. For her, a Four-Star Dou Practitioner ant who had luckily escaped was far less important than the abnormal flame evolution that was about to be completed within her body.

…

Dozens of miles away from the core region of the Soul Erosion Swamp, in a dark corner where an underground dark river converged with a mountain fissure.

"Plop!"

A figure, covered in purple-black poison scabs and with an extremely faint Qi, like a broken doll, was washed ashore from the rushing dark river onto moss-covered, slippery rocks. It was Lin Chen!

His condition at this moment was incomparably miserable. His chest was caved in, several ribs were broken, and his left arm was again twisted and deformed. His entire skin was covered in strange purplish-gray patches, marks of erosion by the Medusa Queen's energy and the influence of the petrification Law, like shattered porcelain forcibly glued back together. His Meridians were like they had been burned by fire and then thrown into an ice cave, broken inch by inch, yet roughly reconnected by newly generated Shadow Erosion Dou Qi with toxic properties. The pitch-black vortex in his Dantian was dim, and of the twenty drops of liquid Dou Qi, only five thin drops remained, slowly rotating, struggling to absorb the faint poison-attributed energy in the air to repair itself.

The most fatal was his Soul! The Soul Erosion Guidance completely erupted under the stimulation of the Medusa Queen's pressure, like countless ice needles frantically piercing his Sea of Consciousness! The residual thoughts of the Yingu Old Man's remnant Soul, the mental toxins of the poisonous miasma, and the Soul backlash from forcibly detonating his Dou Qi, clung to him like maggots on a corpse, frantically gnawing at his consciousness. The Hall of Souls brand on his wrist, entwined with purple-black poison patterns, had become even darker and more demonic, emitting a cold and persistent stinging pain.

Excruciating pain, weakness, coldness, Soul tearing… countless negative sensations engulfed him like a tide.

"Hoo… hoo…" Lin Chen gasped with difficulty, each breath carrying a heavy smell of blood and rust. He struggled to open his heavy eyelids, his vision blurred, only vaguely able to see the jagged black rock wall above and the seeping cold water droplets.

He had escaped… from the Medusa Queen's hands… and saved his life.

The price was a body almost completely crippled and a Soul on the verge of collapse.

He painstakingly moved his only relatively intact right hand, trembling as he reached into his embrace. What he touched was the Fused dark shadow source core fragment. It seemed to have also suffered heavy damage, its surface glow significantly dimmed, but the pure dark shadow energy and devouring will still existed, slowly absorbing the dark energy from the surrounding environment and feeding back a trace of cool energy, barely protecting Lin Chen's heart Meridian.

Feeling the faint coolness from the source core fragment, Lin Chen's blood-stained and poison-scabbed face twisted into a difficult, almost mad smile.

"As long as I'm alive… there's still a chance…" He used the last of his strength to press the source core fragment tightly against his chest, while fully operating his broken Shadow Erosion Dou Qi. Like a dying traveler in the desert clutching the last drop of sweet dew, he greedily devoured the faint water-attributed energy brought by the underground dark river and the cold earth Qi seeping from the rock fissures, and also devoured the residual poison in his own flesh and blood and the fatal purple energy remnants, attempting to repair his riddled body and Soul.

In the dark, damp rock crevice, only his faint, painful gasps remained, and the subtle "hissing" sound of the Shadow Erosion Dou Qi, never satisfied, struggling to devour energy like a limping, hungry wolf.

The desperate journey was far from over. And the Medusa Queen's cold purple eyes were like a brand, deeply etched into the depths of his Soul.