An Agreement

"Who exactly are you?!"

Ice Emperor Hai Bodong looked at Xiao Lin, a trace of coldness gathering in his eyes as if he might strike at any moment.

"Originally, I was merely an ordinary Dou Wang from a remote border town. As for who I am now..."

Xiao Lin smiled, recalling the title of the man before him, and continued.

"If I reveal my true strength, I should be called the Wind Emperor."

As soon as he finished speaking, the powerful aura of a Dou Emperor surged through the small ancient map shop without the slightest concealment!

"Dou Emperor!"

Xiao Yan's eyes widened sharply. He was practically frozen in place, unable to believe this was real.

"No wonder..." A memory suddenly flashed through Yao Lao's mind. When he had first met Xiao Lin, the man had said that the Xiao Family originated from Middle Continent but had been forced to leave and come to the Jia Ma Empire.

In less than a year, he had risen from a One Star Dou Wang to a One Star Dou Emperor. Only those Super Powers in Middle Continent could possibly achieve such a feat!

"The Xiao Family? Which one could they be connected to? One Hall, One Tower, Two Sects, Three Valleys, or the Four Pavilions?"

Yao Lao sank into thought.

"A Dou Emperor... No wonder... no wonder..."

A bitter smile appeared on Ice Emperor Hai Bodong's face as he shook his head.

"Ice Emperor Hai Bodong, rest assured. My grandson and I are reasonable people. We will not bully you with our power and simply seize that ancient map. How about we make a deal?"

"What deal?" Hai Bodong's eyes shifted as he considered how to break the deadlock. Even when facing a Dou Emperor, he could not simply surrender.

"You are seriously injured, and only possess the strength of a Dou Ling now. We can help you recover your cultivation."

After saying that, Xiao Lin signaled Yao Lao to display his Heavenly Flame.

Hai Bodong remained unconvinced. He knew that his cultivation had been sealed, and breaking it would be extremely difficult.

However, a pale white flame flashed past, and Hai Bodong's eyes were instantly drawn to it. He asked in a trembling voice, "Th-That is a Heavenly Flame?!"

"Now, we can talk peacefully, right?" Xiao Lin waved his hand, and a light breeze swept through the shop, causing the door to close directly.

"Sigh... After participating in that inter-empire gathering of experts back then, I came to the Tagor Desert and happened to obtain that Fragmented Map. But because of it, I drew the pursuit of the desert Snake Clan's monarch, Queen Medusa. You must know that Queen Medusa is among the strongest of Dou Emperors. If the Snake People Clan had more than one expert of her level, they might have long since begun attacking the human empires."

Seeing hope of breaking the seal, Hai Bodong recounted the events of the past one by one.

"In that battle, I was defeated by her without any surprise. Although I managed to seize an opportunity to escape afterward, I was struck by her Snake Seal Curse. Not only did my body rapidly age, but my strength was also sealed at the Dou Ling level."

Hai Bodong sighed. "All these years, I have been hiding here and studying the secret of that Fragmented Map, hoping to find something that could remove the seal. But this Fragmented Map is only a small part of an entire map. No matter how experienced I am, there is no way I could decipher it."

"A Heavenly Flame can break that seal?" Xiao Yan narrowed his eyes and asked.

"That's right. Over these past decades, I obtained a prescription capable of breaking the seal. As long as the pill described in it is refined, I can recover my strength."

Hai Bodong said this.

"Why didn't you seek out Pill King Gu He? He is the strongest Alchemist in the entire Jia Ma Empire, isn't he?" Xiao Yan asked, somewhat puzzled.

"The foremost requirement for refining this pill is a Heavenly Flame, and Pill King Gu He does not possess one."

Hai Bodong took a deep breath and said solemnly, "As long as you can refine the Sixth-grade Pill I need, I will not only personally offer up that Fragmented Map, but you will also gain the friendship of Ice Emperor Hai Bodong."

"Don't overthink it. This old fellow split that Fragmented Map in two. The one in your hands is only half of it, so this deal is not a loss for us."

Seeing that his grandson Xiao Yan seemed hesitant because the pill was sixth-grade, Xiao Lin decisively spoke up to remind him.

Only then did Xiao Yan realize that the ancient map in his hand was half the size of the one he had obtained while training with Xiao Yi Xian last time. It seemed that, just as his grandfather had said, this Ice Emperor had stored the map separately after splitting it apart.

Seeing Xiao Lin and his grandson nod, Hai Bodong also let out a breath of relief, a faint smile appearing on his face.

After several decades, he had finally seen hope of recovering his cultivation and returning to the Dou Emperor realm!

After speaking for two hours, Xiao Lin, Xiao Yan, Yao Lao, and Hai Bodong had essentially formed an alliance.

Just as Xiao Yan thought that his grandfather and Hai Bodong would accompany him into the desert to search for medicinal ingredients and that Heavenly Flame, both of them refused.

Hai Bodong had been sealed by Queen Medusa. The moment he entered the desert, he would be discovered, so he did not dare go.

As for Xiao Lin, he had other matters to attend to and had no time to search with Xiao Yan.

It was worth mentioning that Xiao Lin knew the Heavenly Flame had already been taken by Queen Medusa, so he only had Xiao Yan search for medicinal ingredients.

As for himself, he was going to search for the birthplace of the Green Lotus Core Flame. Although the Heavenly Flame had already been taken away...

The Green Lotus Platform formed by the Green Lotus Core Flame was still a valuable treasure.

The Green Lotus Platform was formed from the Earth's fire after a thousand years of condensation. If it was removed, sitting upon it while cultivating in the future would increase one's cultivation speed severalfold. It could truly be called a cultivation treasure.

Within the Green Lotus Platform were also Earth Fire Lotus Seeds, known as the essence of fire spirits. One formed every Hundred Years, and each one was enough to move even a Dou Emperor.

Since Queen Medusa was not an Alchemist and did not understand such things, she had missed those treasures.

Thus, the group of four temporarily parted ways in Mo City. Xiao Lin soared into the air and vanished beyond the horizon.

Xiao Lin did not have only one grandson, Xiao Yan. He had two others, named Xiao Ding and Xiao Li.

Those two had long since left the Xiao Family in Wutan City to train outside. They had now established a force called the Desert Iron Mercenary Group in Stone Desert City, which ranked among the top three in the entire city. It was considered quite impressive.

Compared to cities within the empire, cities in the desert carried an added sense of simplicity and solidity.

Perhaps because it was close to the Tagor Desert, the defenses here were also far stricter than those within the empire. Fully armed soldiers could be seen patrolling everywhere throughout the city.

But Xiao Lin had no intention of entering through the city gates. With a gentle flap of his Dou Qi Wings, he descended directly from the sky and entered Stone Desert City.

He stopped someone on the street and asked, quickly learning that the famed Desert Iron Mercenary Group was located in the south of the city.

Upon arriving in the city's southern district, Xiao Lin saw a large camp, almost comparable in size to the Xiao Family before his revival.

Above the courtyard, a banner fluttered in the wind. The words "Desert Iron Mercenary Group" were emblazoned upon it, faintly giving off an aura of iron-blooded toughness.

Outside the compound, several burly men stood straight with weapons in hand, their sharp gazes constantly sweeping over the passersby outside the gates.

As soon as Xiao Lin approached, the weapons in those burly men's hands trembled, ready to thrust out at any moment.

"Go inform your commander. Tell him someone from the Xiao Family of Wutan City has arrived."

Xiao Lin did not make things difficult for the guards. With his hands clasped behind his back, he spoke those words.