Top-Level Mind Game

The Holy City. The room was not large, but it was exquisite. A stone bed, a dressing table, a few scattered books, and a few pieces of clothing casually draped over a folding screen, emitting a faint, elegant fragrance.

This was Medusa's palace.

And her boudoir.

In the center of the room, Medusa sat with her tail coiled. She wore a gauze dress as thin as a cicada's wings. Her long red hair cascaded over her shoulders, and her snake tail curled up languidly.

Unlike in the outside world.

At this moment, her eyes were lightly closed. She lacked the oppressive aura of a lofty queen, instead possessing a bit more of the gentle beauty of an ordinary woman. A cyan flame burned quietly in front of her chest, illuminating her snow-white skin and picturesque features.

The queen's aura and a maiden's charm blended together strangely.

Yet it did not feel out of place.

Her whole person appeared peaceful and serene.

A young man in white stood at the door, his hand still maintaining the posture of pushing the door open, but he was completely motionless.

Time seemed to have stood still for him.

My name is Ye Shu, and I am the Child of Destiny of this world.

I used a paper puppet to disguise myself as the troupe leader, and then swaggered into the snake-people's Holy City, making everyone think the plot was still progressing normally. Then, my true body secretly disguised itself as the dancer Qingyuan, hiding in the dance troupe for two months to pull a bait-and-switch, hypnotizing the city guards day after day with the sound of a flute.

The plan was very successful.

Everyone thought the plot was proceeding normally. Under my guidance, the system, the villains, the female lead, and Medusa all went to the underground cavern.

No one knew that the spirit fire was right here in the bedchamber.

As long as Bingxuanzi held them off.

I could take advantage of this gap to steal the Azure Lotus Heavenly Fire from Medusa's bedchamber and fly far away with everyone.

But when I opened the door.

The Azure Lotus Heavenly Fire was indeed inside, but a wild Medusa had also spawned alongside it.

It only took me half a second to guess the reason. That idiot Xiaobai must have treated Medusa as a reward too, substituting her in for me along with it.

But for some reason, she didn't react at all.

She didn't seem to notice my arrival.

I must stay calm, remain motionless, and maintain the status quo. Otherwise, with her Soul Formation realm cultivation, once she notices me, I'm dead meat.

Meanwhile, in the center of the room.

Medusa, sitting with her tail coiled, also didn't dare to move a muscle, her eyes tightly shut.

My name is Medusa, the matriarch of the snake-people tribe.

Two months ago, a small booklet suddenly appeared in my room. At first, I thought it was a prank by some bold lunatic, but after asking around, no one had seen anyone enter my bedchamber.

At the same time, I discovered that others couldn't see this booklet.

Only I could see it.

This small booklet seemed to have come specifically for me.

So I opened the booklet, and its contents completely shocked me.

The book said that I would accidentally fail while refining the Azure Lotus Heavenly Fire to evolve, and then a little thief named Ye Shu would take the opportunity to snatch the fire. At the same time, both the Taiwu Imperial City and the Yunxiao Sect would send people to rob the fire. He would reap the spoils in the chaotic battle between everyone and escape, while I, having failed my evolution, would be forced to make a three-point agreement with this little thief and cooperate with him.

When I read this, I was already scoffing at it.

A mere Foundation Establishment kid, escaping under the siege of numerous Soul Formation experts? What a joke!

But the book was written in extreme detail, and even somewhat reasonably.

So I continued reading.

I was shocked by what I read next!

The book wrote that this little thief actually took advantage of my weakness to do such a highly disrespectful thing to me!!!

And I!

I actually had his child!

Even because of this child, I gradually developed feelings for him, eventually becoming Dao companions with him, deeply in love.

I laughed out of pure anger at the time.

I, the dignified Queen of the snake-people, a peak Soul Formation expert, the ruler destined to lead the snake-people out of the desert, would actually fall in love with a greenhorn in the Foundation Establishment realm like a little girl?

What a joke!!!

Without thinking, I threw that small booklet into the fire brazier on the spot. But the next day, it appeared intact at the head of my bed.

I tore it, burned it, drowned it in water, stomped on it—it always came back.

So I gave up.

I stopped paying attention to it, treating it merely as a prank by some great figure, but......... a few days later.

The contents of the book came true.

Spies from the Taiwu Imperial City appeared at the edge of the desert.

The location was exactly as the book described.

Now, I had no choice but to start taking this booklet seriously. Since, two months later, so many factions would come to snatch the anomalous fire, it would be better to beat them at their own game and set up a trap to catch them all in one fell swoop.

But with only my Soul Formation realm cultivation, I couldn't kill that many people.

I might even end up playing with fire and getting burned.

So I made a decision that went against my ancestors.

I took the shed skin left behind by the previous snake-people queen when she broke through, and used an ancient secret art to refine it into an external avatar.

Coupled with the imperial secret art obtained from the book.

Under the blessing of the imperial dragon aura, this external avatar would possess combat power in the Holy City no less than my true body.

This avatar would walk the Holy City in my place.

And my true body, will slowly refine the Azure Lotus Heavenly Fire in my bedchamber, taking it step by step, using two months to completely refine the Azure Lotus Heavenly Fire and break through to the Void Return realm.

When that time came, everyone would have only one path: death.

Not long after my plan began, a performing dance troupe came to the city. The troupe leader was at the Foundation Establishment realm, and his guard was at the Golden Core realm.

They were exactly the same as the little thief and Bingxuanzi recorded in the book.

I didn't expose them.

Instead, I built a stage for them and let them perform for everyone, all to attract the attention of those covetous people.

Sure enough.

When the anomalous fire ceremony arrived, everything was perfect.

Those who coveted the spirit fire appeared one by one: Master Mochen, Bingxuanzi, Wu Tianxing, the little thief, as well as Mu Yunxi and the brats she brought along.

Only one thing went wrong.

That little thief..... actually died.

This truly surprised me for a moment; didn't the book say he would survive until the end? But on second thought, a Foundation Establishment brat dying from a sneak attack by a Soul Formation expert was the most logical outcome.

In short, everything went smoothly.

Next, I just needed to refine the Azure Lotus Heavenly Fire, then break through to the Void Return realm, and kill all these humans who dared to covet the holy fire.

It would be as simple as eating and drinking.

And then........

The door was pushed open.

That little thief who was supposed to have died in the underground cavern actually swaggered into my bedchamber just like that!

Right now, my true body was at a critical stage of refinement. I couldn't move and couldn't be distracted, like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.

Fortunately, intimidated by my aura, he didn't dare to move.

I must stay calm, pretend not to have noticed him, and quickly refine the Azure Lotus Heavenly Fire to break through to the Void Return realm before he realizes what's happening.