62: Healing in the royal city, murderous intent lurking in the night.

The night in the Tagor Desert, stripped of the day's scorching heat, was left with only bone-chilling cold and dead silence. Under the clear moonlight, the Snake-People Clan's royal city resembled a colossal beast prostrate in the sea of sand, heavily guarded.

Deep within the royal city, the Queen's bedchamber.

The originally magnificent and exquisite bedchamber was now enveloped in a somber atmosphere. Li Ao carefully placed Medusa, who was unconscious and whose aura was like a flickering candle in the wind, onto the cold jade bed. The spatial rift on her forehead had expanded, resembling a hideous centipede, with wisps of gray-black Qi (remnants of the Hall of Souls' Soul attack) seeping out, continuously eroding her Soul Origin. Her multicolored snake eyes were tightly shut, and her long lashes trembled incessantly, indicating the immense pain she was enduring.

Elder Yin Shi and several other core powerhouses of the Snake-People Clan stood by, their faces filled with anxiety and anger, yet they dared not make a sound, fearing they might disturb Li Ao.

Li Ao stood by the bed, his brows tightly furrowed. Medusa's injuries were even more troublesome than he had anticipated. Not only had old wounds relapsed, but more severely, the Soul attack containing the Hall of Souls' secret technique was incredibly sinister, like a parasitic growth, continuously destroying her Soul Foundation. If not cleared in time, even with Medusa's power, there was a risk of her Soul disintegrating.

"I need absolute quiet. No one is to approach within a hundred zhang of the bedchamber," Li Ao's voice was cold, carrying an undeniable command.

"Yes! We vow to guard it with our lives!" Elder Yin Shi and the others did not hesitate, immediately bowing and retreating, tightening the security around the bedchamber so much that not even a fly could enter.

Only two people remained in the bedchamber. Li Ao took a deep breath and sat cross-legged in front of the bed. He first took out the "returning purple spirit pill" he had obtained from the Mittel Family from his storage ring, and carefully fed it into Medusa's mouth, using its gentle medicinal power to temporarily protect her collapsing heart Meridians and Qi Sea.

Immediately after, he extended both hands, one pressing on Medusa's smooth forehead, and the other hovering above her Qi Sea. The dark golden Black Iron Hegemon Body's Qi and blood power, mixed with pure Dou Qi, flowed into Medusa's body like a warm tide, nourishing her damaged Meridians and Physical Body.

But this was far from enough. The key lay in the Soul injury!

Li Ao closed his eyes, his Soul Power like the finest surgical knife, carefully probing into Medusa's Sea of Consciousness.

A scene of chaos and gloom!

The originally magnificent and vibrant multicolored Soul Origin was now entangled and corroded by large patches of gray-black mist, becoming dim and lusterless, with even subtle signs of disintegration appearing at its edges. The gray-black mist carried the unique coldness, deathly silence, and malevolence of the Hall of Souls, stubbornly resisting any external force.

"What a malicious method!" Killing intent surged in Li Ao's heart. This Protector Wu of the Hall of Souls had actually left such an insidious contingency before his death!

He attempted to use his vast Soul Power to disperse the gray-black mist, but found the effect to be minimal. The mist seemed to be intertwined with Medusa's Soul Origin; forcibly dispersing it could potentially harm her Foundation.

"Only... Annihilation against Annihilation," Li Ao's eyes narrowed. The essence of the Hall of Souls' power also leaned towards destruction and death, bearing some similarities to his Annihilation Rule, but it was far more sinister. He needed to use his own purer, more fundamental Annihilation intent to neutralize and devour those Alien energies!

This was an extremely dangerous process, requiring his control over the Annihilation Rule to reach a level of utmost subtlety. A slight error would not only fail to save Medusa but could also accelerate the annihilation of her Soul!

He held his breath and concentrated, carefully peeling off a wisp of silver-gray Annihilation Rule power from his own Soul, like manipulating the finest thread, slowly extending it into Medusa's Sea of Consciousness, approaching the corroded multicolored Soul Origin.

When this wisp of Annihilation Rule touched the gray-black mist—

"Hiss! Hiss!"

Like cold water dripping into hot oil, a violent reaction erupted instantly! The gray-black mist churned wildly, attempting to resist and corrode this external Rule power, and Medusa's Soul Origin also trembled violently as a result, emitting waves of pain!

Fine beads of sweat seeped from Li Ao's forehead. He concentrated intently, using his powerful Soul control to precisely manipulate that wisp of Annihilation Rule, like the most patient cleaner, little by little "scraping away" the gray-black mist attached to the Soul Origin, and then devouring and annihilating it!

This process was extremely slow and incredibly taxing on his mind. Li Ao had to maintain the highest level of concentration at all times, without the slightest Divided Soul.

Time quietly slipped away in the silent healing. Outside the window, the moonlight gradually set in the west... Just as Li Ao was fully focused on healing Medusa.

Outside the Snake-People Clan's royal city, in the shadows of sand dunes dozens of miles away, several ghostly black figures quietly emerged. They were completely shrouded in black robes, their auras perfectly integrated with the desert night, making them extremely difficult to detect unless one deliberately sensed them.

The leader raised his head, revealing a pair of pupils flickering with a faint green light, looking towards the royal city. His voice was hoarse, like grinding sand:

"According to the last Soul imprint fluctuation transmitted by Protector Wu, the target is within that Snake-People royal city, and her aura is extremely weak. This is the best time to act."

Another black figure whispered, "Steward, there's also that mysterious powerhouse who killed Protector Wu in the city..."

"Hmph," the faint green-eyed black figure, called the Steward, snorted coldly, "He must be fully occupied with saving Medusa right now, his mind greatly depleted, making him at his weakest! Moreover, we have come by the Venerable Envoy's command, carrying the 'Soul Locking Net' and 'Soul Piercing Cone,' specifically designed to counter Souls and spatial escape techniques! As long as we seize the opportunity and act swiftly, we might just succeed! If we can capture Medusa's Soul and that part of the 'key,' it will be a great merit!"

"But... what if we alarm that powerhouse..."

"There are no 'ifs'!" The Steward interrupted, his eyes flashing with a faint green light, "The Venerable Envoy is determined to get that 'key'! This operation must succeed, not fail! Prepare yourselves; as soon as midnight arrives, we will infiltrate the royal city and seize the opportunity to act!"

The black figures once again merged into the shadows, as if they had never appeared. Only the faint, chilling killing intent permeated the cold desert night.

The Snake-People Clan's royal city remained immersed in the somber atmosphere of worry for their Queen, completely unaware that a deadly crisis was quietly approaching under the cover of night.

Inside the bedchamber, Li Ao seemed oblivious to the killing intent outside. His entire mind was immersed in Medusa's Sea of Consciousness. The gray-black mist entwined around the multicolored Soul Origin had been mostly cleared, and Medusa's aura had stabilized slightly. However, Li Ao's face was a little pale; continuously controlling the Annihilation Rule with such high precision was also an immense burden on his Soul.

He glanced at the increasingly deep night outside the window, a subtle glint of sharpness flashing in his eyes.

"They'd better... not provoke me."