461: trade

After another two hours of travel, everyone arrived at the Serpent-human Clan's royal palace.

The architecture here was much more refined than in the outer areas, but it still couldn't compare to the buildings of the Lingyun Sect.

Qing Yi then smiled and said, "I've prepared rooms for everyone. You can rest first, or visit our Serpent-human Clan's territory."

"Miss Peng Yu, as the leader of the Human Race's reinforcements this time, please come with me! I will take you to meet the Queen to discuss the defense arrangements."

"Alright!"

The followers Miss Peng Yu brought scattered, while the four leading individuals followed Qing Yi towards the council hall.

Stepping into the council hall, Lu Xingchen finally saw the legendary Queen of the Serpent-human Clan.

Queen Chiluan was a beautiful woman.

That's right, the word Lu Xingchen used to describe Qing Yi was "madam," while the word he used to describe Queen Chiluan was "woman."

Because she not only looked younger than Qing Yi, but also exuded a strong feminine charm, with a voluptuous figure and a magnificent Aura.

Although Lu Xingchen knew this was because Queen Chiluan had been maintaining her body with battle Qi, which was why she was so beautiful.

Generally, people with high Martial Dao Realm, regardless of gender, had decent looks.

But Queen Chiluan's natural beauty certainly wouldn't be too bad either.

Yun Li raised her right foot and kicked Lu Xingchen, chiding, "Have you stared enough?"

Lu Xingchen hopped a few times in pain, quickly retracting his gaze.

"Miss Yun Li, in front of outsiders, at least give me some Face!"

Yun Li said indifferently, "When you're out and about, Face isn't given by others; it's earned by yourself."

"..."

Lu Xingchen was on the verge of tears.

Miss Peng Yu and Queen Chiluan both covered their mouths, trying to suppress their laughter, while Zi Chen looked at Lu Xingchen with sympathy.

To prevent the situation from becoming even more awkward, Queen Chiluan quickly said, "Please take a seat, everyone. Let's discuss the defense arrangements."

Seeing that it was time for serious matters, a hint of solemnity appeared on everyone's Faces.

Everyone took their seats, and Queen Chiluan went straight to the point.

"Young friend Miss Peng Yu, I hear you are one of the nine prodigies of the central continent, and also the Saintess of Medicine King Valley. Your influence should be very strong. May I ask how many people you brought?"

Miss Peng Yu slightly raised her head, a hint of pride on her Face.

"The 208 followers I brought are all Martial Venerable Experts. They should be able to help you, right?"

Upon hearing this, Queen Chiluan was greatly astonished.

"So many? Our entire Serpent-human Clan only has a little over three hundred Martial Venerables, and in less than ten days, you were able to recruit so many helpers!"

Miss Peng Yu chuckled, "My title as one of the nine elites is not for show."

What Miss Peng Yu didn't say was that with her strength alone, she couldn't have recruited so many experts. It was mainly due to the influence of Medicine King Valley.

These Martial Venerable Experts were willing to follow her because they wanted to gain benefits from Medicine King Valley.

Miss Peng Yu's actions were essentially spending the Sect's money to leverage her own connections.

Queen Chiluan continued, "But even so, the disparity in strength between our two sides is still huge. The Martial Venerable Experts of the Three Great Demon Clans combined certainly exceed a thousand, not to mention the assistance of Luo Chen, the head of the nine prodigies."

Miss Peng Yu nodded heavily, saying in a deep voice, "A head-on confrontation is definitely not feasible. However, the Alliance of the Three Great Demon Clans is not a monolithic entity. As long as we deplete a significant portion of their combat strength, they will become hesitant and withdraw their troops. Therefore, what we need to do is not to win, but to show our Aura."

Queen Chiluan gave a wry smile, "Your strategy is correct. But if a battle truly occurs, I don't know how many lives our Serpent-human Clan will lose."

Miss Peng Yu said in a deep voice, "I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do about that. The Tianyuan Continent has always been where the strong are respected and the victors are kings. Does the Serpent-human Clan have any protective Formations? Defense inherently consumes less power than offense. If we set up a Formation in advance, we can greatly reduce casualties."

Queen Chiluan shook her head repeatedly, smiling wryly, "Our Serpent-human Clan has limited cultivation talent and no ability to train Spirit Array Masters. There are no Formations protecting our clan."

Upon hearing this, Miss Peng Yu frowned and said in a deep voice, "Then we can only fight to the death? The casualties will likely be very heavy!"

Queen Chiluan smiled bitterly again.

"Our Serpent-human Clan has nowhere left to retreat. To protect our homeland and territory, we must fight with all our might."

Although there was sympathy in Miss Peng Yu's eyes, she didn't say much more.

After all, it was a matter concerning another race; the survival of the Serpent-human Clan had nothing to do with her.

Miss Peng Yu said in a deep voice, "These 208 Martial Venerable Experts I brought can be at the Queen's disposal, but I also have one condition."

Queen Chiluan said in a deep voice, "Young friend Miss Peng Yu must be after the candle dragon flame that our Serpent-human Clan has guarded for generations, right? But this candle dragon flame is the Serpent-human Clan's greatest treasure, rumored to possess the Opportunity to become a Saint. I absolutely cannot give it away!"

Upon hearing this, Miss Peng Yu frowned, but she wasn't too surprised.

If the candle dragon flame could be obtained so easily, it wouldn't live up to its reputation.

Miss Peng Yu said in a deep voice, "Your Serpent-human Clan has guarded the candle dragon flame for hundreds of years, but you have never discovered the Opportunity to become a Saint, and it's highly unlikely you will succeed in the future."

"The candle dragon flame is just a mascot to your Serpent-human Clan, while our Medicine King Valley has true Saints, and our probability of obtaining the Opportunity is much greater than yours. Even if we cannot become a Saint, given the quality of the candle dragon flame, it can still be used by our Medicine King Valley's Alchemists."

"I believe Queen Chiluan can clearly calculate the pros and cons of this!"

Queen Chiluan smiled wryly, "I know that's the truth, but I still want to secure the greatest benefit for the Serpent-human Clan. After all, the candle dragon flame is simply too precious!"

Upon hearing this, Miss Peng Yu rejoiced inwardly.

Since the other party was willing to negotiate, there was a possibility of successfully obtaining the candle dragon flame.

"I know what is most urgent for Your Majesty right now. Even giving you more Medicinal Pills would be useless, but I can give you a guarantee!"

"Our Human Race's Chosen One gave each participant a life-saving Spirit Talisman. When facing a fatal threat, the Spirit Talisman will activate, teleporting us back to the Tianyuan Continent."

"My guarantee to you is that in the upcoming great battle, all the Martial Venerable Experts I brought will fight with all their might, unafraid of death. Unless the battle is won or they are teleported back to the Tianyuan Continent, they will continue to fight."

"Exchanging the lives of 208 Martial Venerable Experts for the candle dragon flame, I believe Your Majesty will not refuse this deal, right?"

Before Queen Chiluan could answer, Lu Xingchen gasped.

Miss Peng Yu's price was too exorbitant, wasn't it?

Exchanging the lives of over two hundred Martial Venerable Experts for a spiritual flame—who would refuse such a condition?

And Miss Peng Yu actually had the ability to do it!

Medicine King Valley was the head of the Nine Provinces' Alchemist Sects, with more than one Ninth-Grade Alchemist within its valley, making it incredibly wealthy.

Even if she used Medicine King Valley's money to buy life-saving Spirit Talismans for these followers, they would agree.

Damn it, Miss Peng Yu was truly too rich!

It's great to be rich!