Shen Yi, holding the newly freed snake gently in his palm, turned and walked toward the main entrance, his black robe fluttering majestically behind him in a phantom wind.
"This organization, and all who profit from the sale of sentient beings, shall cease to exist," Shen Yi's voice echoed, cold, clear, and resonating with the absolute, final certainty of an Emperor's decree.
Before anyone could react or even scream, a colossal, invisible explosion of raw, untamed force erupted from the area he had just vacated.
BOOM!
The dark, enormous auction house, along with everything and everyone inside its colossal structure, was instantaneously and violently flattened into a mere layer of dust and fine gravel. It left behind a deep, smoking, perfectly circular crater in the heart of the city. There were no survivors, no struggle, just the absolute, surgical removal of a structure and its occupants from existence.
A moment later, Shen Yi appeared thousands of miles away, on a remote, windswept mountaintop overlooking a desolate, moonlit sea. He still held the small purple snake gently and securely in his palm. Xiao Yixian, who had been swept along effortlessly by his supreme power, stood a few paces away. She was trembling, her face pale with the residual shock of witnessing such terrifying, effortless, and absolute destruction.
Shen Yi looked down at the snake. It was coiled defensively, its beautiful, colorful scales shimmering, still weakened and sealed by the remains of its suppression.
He reached out a single finger, and a brilliant, silver-violet thread of energy... pure Origin Qi, the fundamental power of the Supreme Realm... emanated from his fingertip. This energy, immensely more potent than anything found on the Dou Qi Continent, gently encircled the small creature.
"Shatter," he commanded softly, the word vibrating with cosmic law.
The Origin Qi flowed into the snake's body, not as an attack, but as a pure, divine catalyst. The remaining seals that suppressed Medusa's power and royal bloodline instantly disintegrated into nothingness. The purple snake's body began to swell rapidly, stretching and reforming until it materialized into the stunning, perfect human form of Queen Medusa.
Medusa stood before him, completely naked, her magnificent serpentine legs swaying slightly, her crimson eyes opening slowly. The power of a Dou Ancestor, now completely unsealed and empowered by the Origin Qi, was rapidly ascending toward the Dou Venerate realm.
After a short while, the Dou Venerate level Dou Qi surged fiercely from her, causing the atmosphere to roil violently around her, even tearing open the very void into countless, jagged cracks.
But as Shen Yi watched, the familiar, proud, cold, and calculating spark of Medusa's original soul failed to appear in those crimson eyes. Instead, the eyes held a primal, innocent confusion, a blankness that quickly hardened into a powerful, instinctual, and almost childlike command.
"Medusa," Shen Yi said, his voice remaining subtle, his original guess now sorrowfully confirmed.
The woman before him tilted her head, her exquisitely beautiful face unreadable. "I am not Medusa," she hissed, her voice a low, musical sound, yet filled with the ancient, terrifying arrogance of a mythical beast. "I am the new soul. The old spirit... she is completely gone. Lost permanently in the bloodline fusion."
The creature's lustrous violet hair rippled in the phantom wind, and she looked at Shen Yi with an air of supreme indifference, though a sliver of cautious curiosity remained for the being who possessed such a terrifying and utterly unknown power.
Shen Yi sighed, a profound ghost of disappointment briefly crossing his flawless face. His resurrection and salvage plan for Medusa had hinged entirely on a shred of her original soul remaining intact. "A pity," he muttered under his breath. He had destroyed the Hun Clan for Xiao Yan, and he had come now to save his wife's sister-in-law, only to find the soul he sought had been irreversibly replaced by a new, albeit immensely powerful, spiritual entity.
He looked from the new Heaven Swallowing Python spirit to the bewildered and pale Xiao Yixian. His priorities, once again, had decisively shifted.
"Xiao Yixian," Shen Yi said, turning his focus entirely and definitively to her. "You are completely free now. Go, live your life far away from the conflicts and schemes of the ancient clans."
He glanced pointedly at the new spirit. "As for you," he said to the beautiful woman who had replaced Medusa, "You are a new beginning and an immensely powerful one. But you owe me for your freedom and the perfection of this body. You will now serve the Shen Empire."
The Heaven Swallowing Python spirit hesitated, sensing the utter sincerity and the absolute, raw power behind his words. She had just gained freedom, and already, a greater power was immediately claiming her destiny. After a short moment of intense internal debate, the instinct for survival and the cold recognition of overwhelming strength decisively won out.
"I will," she conceded, her crimson eyes fixed unflinchingly on Shen Yi's. "But only until the day I manage to surpass you."
Shen Yi smiled faintly, a trace of his old, imperious Thunder Emperor arrogance returning with a flash. "Then you have a long, long road ahead of you, General." He waved his hand casually, and a simple, perfectly tailored black garment materialized, settling over her perfect form. "Welcome to the Shen Empire, General."
After sending the now-free Xiao Yixian away with a final glance, he waved his hand, bringing the new Medusa back to his residence on the main island.
…
Soon, the season changed, and the cycles of life and power continued their inevitable rotation.
Time was not just passing; it was counting down to a huge change across the continent. With the old powers falling and the Dou Qi Continent's martial world changing rapidly, a single new power took charge: the Shen Empire.
This was more than just a new kingdom; it was the final joining of all authority under its founder, Shen Yi, who is also known by his supreme title, the Thunder Emperor. He secured his rule after reaching the supreme realm, also befriending the powerful and ancient void dragon tribe, whose dragon blood gave the Empire immense power and protection.
...
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