Xiao Feng slightly furrowed his sword-shaped eyebrows. Using the power of his soul, he tried to construct an invisible soul barrier in his mind and successfully blocked out the voices.
Seeing that he could forcibly turn off the mind-reading technique, Xiao Feng let out a sigh of relief and began testing its abilities.
After a simple round of testing, Xiao Feng gained a reasonably detailed understanding of the mind-reading ability.
The mind-reading technique's maximum range was about 200 meters in radius, centred on Xiao Feng. The targets included all beings capable of thought, not limited to humans.
Moreover, the content he could read from the minds of others was random. Whether or not he could glean helpful information was entirely up to luck.
After testing the mind-reading ability, Xiao Feng glanced at [Bond's foresight ability].
Although Bond's foresight was portrayed with significant randomness in the original anime, it was still a life-saving skill when used well.
For example, in the original story, Bond foresaw Twilight's death by a bomb, which Anya read from his mind. The duo of humans and dogs then worked together to change Twilight's fate.
Had Bond's foresight not been random, such a future-seeing ability would have been worth much more than 100,000 merit points.
Xiao Feng inwardly mused, "After Queen Medusa's disciple ceremony, I'll need to find ways to earn more merit points, or else even if I draw something good, I won't be able to afford it!"
...
A Few Days Later
Under the witness of the four great elders of the Snake People tribe, the eight commanders, and millions of citizens from the royal city, the grand disciple ceremony began as scheduled.
Dressed in a purple brocade robe, Queen Medusa gave a brief opening speech before officially announcing the start of the disciple ceremony.
To everyone's surprise, Qing Lin, a Seven-Star Dou Fighter, descended from the sky riding a Six-Winged Black Serpent King and landed in front of Queen Medusa.
The Six-Winged Black Serpent King is the evolved form of the Two-Winged Black Serpent, a valid Tier 5 magical beast with strength comparable to a Dou King.
The Six-Winged Black Serpent King that Qing Lin was riding had been personally captured for her by Queen Medusa.
The Snake People differed from humans. Shortly after birth, the tribe elders would infuse a serpent-type magical beast's soul into their bodies using a secret technique. As they aged and grew stronger, this companion beast would gradually merge with them.
When faced with powerful enemies, they could draw upon the strength of the serpent beast, greatly enhancing their power. This was their ultimate trump card.
Because of this, the Snake People had collected extensive information on various serpent-type magical beasts, including the locations of many Tier 5 beasts.
Once Queen Medusa learned that Qing Lin could tame Tier 5 serpent-type beasts, she led her to these beasts' habitats and helped her subdue three of them.
In addition to the Six-Winged Black Serpent King, the other two Tier 5 serpent beasts she captured were the Frost Giant Python and the Titan King Serpent.
Initially, the Snake People were puzzled as to why Queen Medusa had chosen Qing Lin as her disciple. However, after witnessing Qing Lin's ability to subdue Tier 5 beasts beyond her rank, the pieces started to fall into place.
Only Queen Medusa and the four great elders were Dou Emperor-level experts among the Snake People, while the eight commanders were all Dou Kings.
Yet Qing Lin had managed to tame three Tier 5 serpent-type magical beasts in one go, which was equivalent to adding three more Dou Kings to their ranks.
Currently, Qing Lin was only a Dou Fighter. When she advanced to Dou Master or Dou Grandmaster, wouldn't she be able to enslave even Tier 6 serpent-type beasts forcibly?
Upon understanding the terrifying potential of her Green Snake Three-Flower Pupils, the Snake-People felt it was not only appropriate for Qing Lin to become their Saintess but even reasonable for her to inherit the title of Queen.
The disciple ceremony, hosted by Queen Medusa, lasted more than an hour and eventually concluded amid the cheers of millions of Snake People.
After the ceremony, Queen Medusa hosted a celebratory banquet for Qing Lin, formally introducing her to the top figures of the Snake People tribe.
...
The Next Morning
After having breakfast with Little Doctor Immortal and Qing Lin, Xiao Feng informed them of his plan to leave the Snake People's royal city.
Upon hearing this, they immediately expressed their desire to go with him, but Xiao Feng stopped them.
Xiao Feng wanted to leave the royal city to earn merit points outside and, hopefully, find new opportunities.
Compared to following him on dangerous adventures, Little Doctor Immortal and Qing Lin were clearly better off staying in the royal city to cultivate.
In the royal city, they wouldn't face any danger and could access ample cultivation resources. There was no need for them to suffer the hardships of travelling with Xiao Feng.
Therefore, Xiao Feng made a deal with them: they would remain in the royal city to cultivate for now, and he would return to pick them up in three or four months at most.
Though reluctant to see him go, they recognised that this arrangement was for the best and reluctantly agreed.
"Alright, don't be sad. I'm coming back, you know."
Xiao Feng opened his arms, hugged both women, and smiled, "While I'm gone, you two better train hard, or else you won't be able to keep up with me!"
With that, Xiao Feng summoned his Purple Cloud Wings and flew toward Queen Medusa's palace.
After retrieving what he needed from Queen Medusa, Xiao Feng left the royal city of the Snake People without looking back.
...
A Few Days Later
Desert City, Gutu Map Shop.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh...
Inside the quaintly decorated map shop, an elderly Haibo Dong, his hair snow-white, was meticulously drawing a new map with a black pen.
Xiao Feng, dressed in black combat gear, walked into the map shop and glanced at the focused Haibo Dong. Without a word, he walked directly to a wooden shelf in the corner.
The worn-out shelf held many incomplete maps, clearly failed attempts.
After rummaging through them for a while, Xiao Feng found a piece of an ancient map exuding a mysterious aura — the fragment of the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame Map.
Pulling the map fragment from the shelf, Xiao Feng straightforwardly said, "Sir, I'll take this fragment. Name your price!"
(End of chapter)
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