Chapter 81: The Side Effects of the Fountain of Youth

  Medusa Queen?

  Even Hussein's complexion changed slightly at the mention of this name.

  Although Du Wei was originally not very familiar with the system and data of magic beasts, he gradually learned a lot about the theoretical knowledge of magic beasts through conversations with Dada Nie Er on the way. After all, Dada Nie Er had been a mercenary in his youth, hunted magic beasts, and this time he came out to find the Golden Eyed Python, he also collected a lot of data on this aspect beforehand.

  Medusa Queen, basically the ultimate state of the Golden Eyed Python system magic beast. The Golden Eyed Python is already a high-level magic beast to begin with. After evolving into Medusa, it can be considered a top-tier magic beast!

  There are thousands of species of demons, but in the end, only Medusa Queen can transform into a human form at the highest level!!!

  None of the three had ever truly seen what Queen Medusa looked like, but legend has it that this top-tier magical beast could transform into a human figure, and was an exceptionally beautiful woman. She had a head of golden hair, a pair of beautiful eyes... But what's terrifying is right here. Her eyes still retained the instincts of a golden-eyed python, staring at her opponent would petrify them! And its power was even stronger. As for her hair... her hair could transform into thousands and millions of pythons at any time! Each one was a golden-eyed python!!

  What is this concept? It's equivalent to facing a Medusa Queen when you're facing a Golden Eyed Python Army!!

  When Queen Medusa is enraged, she can transform back into a serpent body... but it's transformed into a gigantic python, enormous beyond compare! Her body can easily crush a city! Her colossal body is enough to bring disaster to the world of humans!

  The most terrifying thing is that this Medusa Queen is currently recognized as the smartest among all magical creatures! The Medusa Queen not only has a terrible ability, but more importantly, she also has clever and cunning wisdom and brains! If it were a powerful magical creature, humans could still use their wisdom to deal with it, but the Medusa's wisdom is comparable to that of human sages!

  The most frightening thing is that the Medusa Queen, who possesses intelligence comparable to that of humans, can also use this intelligence to learn! To learn about human civilization... and they can even learn magic!!! They can learn other magics that they wouldn't normally know!!!

  Its immense power combined with its intelligent mind makes it widely regarded as the most terrifying of all known magical creatures.

  Even some magicians think that it's fortunate that the Medusa Queen is a rare creature, because the Golden-Eyed Python has weak reproductive abilities and needs to cultivate for many years before evolving. Wanting to evolve into a Medusa is even more extremely rare! It's also because of this that there are few records of Medusas in history... at least not one has been discovered in three hundred years. Every time the Medusa Queen appears, it brings disaster to humanity!

  If... if the number of Medusas were slightly higher, those magicians even thought that this top-level magical beast could threaten the position of the recognized strongest creature "Dragon Clan"!

  As the three humans couldn't help but reveal their tense expressions, Gigi Wu felt very satisfied, thinking that her chances of survival had increased. However, Hussein soon dispelled her intentions with a calm and cold tone: "Continue speaking, don't think that one Medusa can intimidate me."

  Indeed, the most frightening thing about Medusa is not their "petrifying gaze", but rather their ability to transform their hair into countless golden pythons, or turn into incredibly powerful giant pythons.

  What's most terrifying is their intelligence. Their learning ability! Think about it, a top-tier magical beast originally possesses innate magic and the instincts of a magical beast, yet she also possesses extraordinary learning intelligence! If she were to learn other types of magic... fire, wind, water... and so on.

  They possess a long lifespan and wisdom. If they really learn... A Medusa Queen, also a terrible super magician! What concept is that?

  "Luckily, it's a Medusa that has withdrawn into this valley and doesn't come into contact with the outside world," Du Wei said. As he spoke, he suddenly furrowed his brow and looked at Gigi Witch: "She didn't kill you, could it be that she wants to learn magic from you?"

  Gegi's eyes immediately shrank in fear, and she stuttered: "Th-th-this... I..."

  Du Wei sighed: "I know, alas, it's not your fault either. At that time, in order to save your life, you were forced to do something, and it's not your fault."

  Du Wei spoke surprisingly well, but Gu Gu Wu hastily distinguished: "It's not... Although I've taught her a lot of magic over the years. But originally my true magical abilities were limited, and... My best transformation technique, she couldn't learn, so..."

  Gegere hesitated for a moment, then the timid mouse prime minister let out a sigh: "That day... I remember. She grabbed my neck with her hand, and two fingers pinched my neck, pulling me up from the spring water. At that time, my body was not as big as it is now, only about the size of a small mouse. I thought I was dead for sure, but after she pulled me out, she looked at me for a long time, then asked me a question: Did you drink this spring water just now?

  Du Wei's eyes lit up as he stared at Gege Wu's mouse-like body, seemingly having thought of something. He immediately asked, "Did you answer?"

  "Of course! At that time, I was completely stupid and could only admit it. That damn Fountain of Youth, I drank it and... Moreover, this damn thing really made me miserable!"

  "And then? She let you off?" Du Wei asked.

  "There's something strange in her eyes too: 'She said, you're also one of the victims, so I won't kill you, because finally someone is suffering with me.'"

  "Ah, I see." Du Wei suddenly smiled, as if he had understood something. He looked at Gege Wu and said with a smile: "It's actually pitiful for you, being treated like an old mouse all these years."

  "Did you guess something?" Hussein looked at Du Wei.

  "Let our prime minister explain it then." Du Wei smiled with narrowed eyes: "It seems that the Spring of Eternal Youth is not quite right, huh?"

  "More than just inadvisable! It's downright harmful! Back then, when we first came here, Shu Ren mentioned the Spring of Eternal Youth, and even I thought it was a good thing. Not only could it make Shu Ren live forever, but also allow magical beasts to advance. Maybe it would have benefits for humans too. But after I drank it, I suffered terribly!!"

  According to Gigi Wu's interpretation, this Spring of Eternal Youth seems to be very useful for Tree People and Magic Beasts. But for humans... it is completely useless!

  This spring water can make a person's life last longer... In fact, after Gege Wu's personal experience, it is actually a kind of thing similar to "slow magic", making the metabolism of life slow down countless times! Slow to the point of being "frozen".

  Unfortunately, after drinking this stuff, there's no benefit to one's lifespan, but the "solidification" solidified in other aspects! For example, this poor Gege Wu Maoshi, a great magician skilled in transformation magic, was unfortunately unlucky. On that night, he was busy escaping and transformed into an old mouse with the smallest and most agile body!

  As a result, he fell into the spring water and after drinking the spring water... he was forever "frozen" in the state of a mouse! He could no longer transform back into a human or become something else... For this lifetime, he could only be a mouse!

  "This is a state of petrification." Gege sighed: "For humans, it's more like an eternal petrifying spell...... I think this spring water, although beneficial to demons and treants, has only harm and no benefit for humans! Oh no... perhaps, there are only two benefits for humans!"

  "What?"

  "The first is healing, even severe injuries can be cured immediately, and wounds will automatically heal. However, this ability isn't very useful, as the same effect can be achieved with holy water and magic healing spells. But there's another benefit... anti-corruption!" Gegg Wusu smiled wryly: "Although drinking it won't change one's lifespan, even after death, the spring water will transform the body, allowing a person's corpse to never rot! The physiological body will remain in perfect condition. That's all."

  It's really like that.

  Du Wei smiled wryly and said that humans only have these two benefits. Originally thought to be a precious thing, it seems that it's really not of much use after all.

  Treating injuries... can indeed find many alternatives. No need to challenge a top-level Medusa Queen for this.

  And as for decay... Du Wei didn't care at all whether his body would rot or not after he died. If it didn't rot, wouldn't that make him a mummy? What a joke!

  But suddenly... a thought flashed through Du Wei's mind.

  So that's what it means... The corpse of Aragorn, the peerless strongman who died a thousand years ago, wouldn't also be forever preserved? Hehe......

  This idea just flashed through Du Wei's mind casually and he didn't think much of it.

  "It seems that's how it is." Du Wei furrowed his brow and said, "But what I don't understand is why Queen Medusa said 'we're all victims'? She was originally a magical beast, shouldn't she have benefited greatly?"

  "Of course, she was originally a golden-eyed python. It's just that after drinking this spring water, she evolved. However, this spring water also made her lose a precious ability, which is to transform. When she evolved into Medusa, she had already become human in shape and could never change back into a snake body again."

  Dadanier furrowed his brow and said, "You've transformed into a human form, isn't that good enough? You can no longer transform into a snake, what's the loss in that?"

  Du Wei sighed, gazing deeply at Dada Nie Er, and smiled slightly. "Dada Nie Er, this is the typical thinking of humans," he said in a low voice. "Because we are human, we naturally think that being human is the best form. But let me make a comparison: dragons are stronger than humans. Would you want to become a dragon and remain one forever? You would no longer be able to eat human food, make human friends, sleep in soft beds, drink fine wine, or even find beautiful women... Not to mention that when you need it, your consciousness is still human, but you have to mate with a 'beautiful female dragon'... Would you be willing to give up all the pleasures of human life? Would you?"

  He roughly imagined a scene with the "Beautiful Mother Dragon" and Dathanil immediately turned pale, shaking his head repeatedly: "Of course not!! I don't want to!"

  "That's right." Du Wei smiled and said, "You and I both feel that being human is the most comfortable, so Queen Medusa is the same. Although she can transform into a human form, after all, her previous life was always a snake, naturally feeling that being a snake is the most comfortable state. Becoming a person would lose the life of being a snake, and it's natural to feel uncomfortable."

  Although Gigi didn't say anything, her eyes couldn't help but reveal a hint of sadness, and she couldn't help but let out a deep sigh.

  "Gege Wu, tell me, since you've turned into a little mouse, how can you turn back into such a large body? Your volume will be roughly the same as that of a human being, right?" Du Wei said with a smile, his tone much softer now, and in his heart he had already felt some sympathy for this guy who had transformed from a human to a mouse.

  "This is the result of many years of effort." Gigi sighed: "Of course, I don't want to be a mouse forever. I want to turn back into a human. Unfortunately, I was solidified in the shape of a mouse, and my transformation technique became useless. I've tried many times, and finally, I found that the most I can do is make myself slightly bigger, just like this size, which is already my limit. I can freely change my size, but if I want to transform into another form, it's absolutely impossible. Queen Medusa originally wanted to learn my magic, but since she was also solidified in human form, she couldn't learn my transformation technique either."

  "So what's this kingdom all about?" Du Wei asked with a smile.

  "This...," Geggwu thought for a moment, his answer surprising Du Wei and the others: "These are my own ideas. Anyway, I'm really bored, Queen Medusa doesn't kill me or control my actions. She understands that I won't be able to escape... If I were to escape into the human world, as a humanoid rat, I would be burned at the stake as an evil creature and viewed as a monster! The whole world is big, but only this place can accommodate me." Geggwu's tone was very sad: "Even if she lets me go, I have nowhere else to go. So, I'm extremely bored, so I might as well build a country here. Medusa thinks it's quite interesting, so..."

  "Why are they all mice?" Du Wei smiled and said, "Since I entered the canyon, the most I've seen are mice! You won't turn this whole country into a mouse kingdom just because you're a mouse, will you?"

  She rolled her eyes and let out a helpless sigh: "Do you think I want to? Summoning a bunch of magical beasts? Those powerful magical beasts might just swallow me whole one day when I'm not paying attention! Queen Medusa won't be protecting me every second! My proudest transformation technique is gone, and with the abilities I have left, I don't dare live among a pile of magical beasts! After some thought, the best solution is to not find magical beasts, but ordinary animals. But this is the Ice-Sealed Forest! There are no ordinary animals here; even if there were a thousand years ago, they would've been eaten by magical beasts long ago! In a place like this, ordinary animals have no way of defending themselves and have gone extinct. But mice are different!"

  Du Wei nodded immediately: "That's right! Even in the most terrible living environment, anywhere in this world, any era, I've heard of any ethnic extinction, but never heard that mice will be extinct! So, in this forest, the only ordinary animal left is the weakest and smallest, but with the strongest vitality and reproductive capacity - the mouse! Right?"

  "Yes, Medusa agreed with my approach, and then I gathered a group of mice and fed each one a small drop of the Fountain of Youth's water. The water has an upgrading effect on magical creatures. It turns out it also works on animals, just not humans... However, those mice that drank a drop of the water all evolved into intelligent, physically strong beings... just like humans. Unfortunately, after evolving, they lost their ability to reproduce."

  Du Wei's face suddenly sank, and he glanced at Gege Wu: "Fortunately so! Otherwise, you would be the sinner of all humanity!!"

  Gege was taken aback for a moment, and after careful consideration, she couldn't help but feel a lingering fear!

  Why?

  This is a mouse! When mice were weak and small, without wisdom, and low-level organisms, they were known for their strong survival ability and reproductive ability!

  Suppose, let's think about it, mice, became roughly the same size as humans, with roughly the same level of intelligence! And add to that their terrifying reproductive ability...... Then in this way...... The "mouse people" would reproduce and wouldn't they pose a threat to human survival?!!!

  Gegi's mouth opened wide, and she suddenly said: "You're right! I almost triggered a terrible disaster!"

  Du Wei patted Ge Gemo's shoulder, but then he withdrew his hand, looking a bit nauseous, and forced a smile: "However, your country is indeed made to look like the real thing. I suppose your Prime Minister's days are quite comfortable?"

  "Do you think I enjoy being the prime minister?" Gégé Wū seemed to be about to jump up, her beady eyes wide with excitement: "Do you think it's fun to teach a group of mice who have transformed into human-like creatures how to speak, how to behave, and how to be civilized for over a decade? And in this godforsaken country, I was purely bored out of my mind when I brought a batch of mice here, and now I've become the leader of the mice! That Medusa queen is always sleeping and doesn't care about anything! The hundreds of mice in the valley eating, drinking, and defecating all need me to manage them! Do you know how much effort I put into training these mice not to urinate or defecate randomly?"

  "Wait a minute." Du Wei suddenly picked up an important piece of information from his words: "You said... Medusa, she's been asleep all along?"

  Gegere immediately came to her senses, saying in a low voice: "Yes, she has been asleep all the time. Her palace was built on top of that Spring of Eternal Youth, and the spring's source is right in her bedroom. She has been asleep, waking up only once every ten years."

  It will wake up once every ten years.

  Du Wei and the three of them looked at each other... it seems there's still a chance!

  (Remember to smash vote and collect oh~)