Breaking the Seal, Hai Bodong Refreshed!

After spending a tender moment with Xun'er, Lu Yu returned to his own courtyard in high spirits, still holding that precious Jade Slip in his hand.

The moment he stepped through the gate, he saw Hai Bodong sitting leisurely on a stone stool, enjoying the breakfast Little Fairy Doctor had prepared.

"Old Hai? What brings you here?"

Lu Yu asked, slightly surprised.

Hai Bodong unhurriedly sipped a mouthful of rice porridge, then lifted his eyes and glanced at him. "What, this old man can't even come beg a bite to eat?"

He set down his bowl and chopsticks, his words carrying a pointed meaning. "Someone did promise to help this old man undo all of his seals..."

Lu Yu smiled at that. "What a coincidence. I was just about to speak to you about that."

His expression turned serious, and he said solemnly, "Today, I'll help you completely remove all the seals and help you return to the Dou Huang realm."

"Truly?"

Hai Bodong's chopsticks paused in his hand, and a sharp gleam burst from his eyes.

"Naturally."

Lu Yu nodded with a smile and explained, "When I was breaking the Five Snake Poison Brake Seal, I gained some insight. Now I'm fully confident."

Helping Hai Bodong break the seal at this point was also something he had considered carefully. Rather than continuing to split the process into two attempts, it was better to remove everything in one go.

It could also count as earning Old Hai a favor.

More importantly, now that he had safely returned to the Xiao Family and would be heading to Jia Nan Academy in just over two months, he no longer needed Old Hai as a guard.

It was time to return the old man his wide-open world!

"Good! Good! Good!"

Hai Bodong was overjoyed when he heard this. He grabbed Lu Yu by the wrist and was about to drag him into the room.

"Young Lu, this old man really didn't misjudge you! Then what are we waiting for? Let's begin now!"

"Old Hai, wait!"

Lu Yu hurriedly pulled his hand back, not knowing whether to laugh or cry as he pointed around them. Helplessly, he said, "Let's go to the Back Mountain instead. If you get excited, I'm afraid my courtyard will be full of ice sculptures again."

Thinking back to the cold air that had erupted during the previous attempts to break the seal, he still felt lingering fear even now.

"Hahaha, fair enough!"

Hai Bodong laughed heartily, and a pair of crystal-clear Ice-blue Dou Qi Wings suddenly unfolded behind him. Before Lu Yu could react, he grabbed him up, and his entire body turned into a streak of flowing light that shot into the sky.

"Old Hai! Slow down—"

Lu Yu's cry stretched into a long note in midair, and in the blink of an eye, the two had vanished from the courtyard.

The Xiao Family's Back Mountain.

Old Man Yao was focused on guiding Xiao Yan in practicing his cultivation method when his expression suddenly turned stern. In a deep voice, he said, "Little Yan, a Dou Wang expert is approaching! Your teacher will hide for now. Cultivate on your own for a moment..."

Before Xiao Yan could respond, Old Man Yao's soul body had swiftly entered the Storage Ring.

In that split second, a streak of blue light tore across the sky and landed steadily in front of Xiao Yan.

When the light faded, an old man in blue robes stood there with his hands clasped behind his back, and standing beside him was none other than Lu Yu, whom Xiao Yan knew all too well.

Xiao Yan looked in astonishment at the old man who had suddenly appeared before him and hesitated. "Brother Lu, this is...?"

Lu Yu smiled faintly, raised a hand, and introduced him. "Brother Yan, let me introduce you. This is Senior Hai Bodong. He was once ranked among the Ten Great Experts of the Jia Ma Empire, known as—the Ice Emperor!"

"The Ice Emperor? A Dou Huang expert?"

Xiao Yan's pupils shrank, his heart shaken. His father had clearly said this old man was a Dou Wang, but he had never expected that the person Brother Lu brought back would actually be a Dou Huang!

"I'm going to help Old Hai break the seal in a moment. Move a little farther away so you don't get caught in it."

Lu Yu warned him.

"Hmph, kid, enough nonsense!"

Hai Bodong could no longer hold himself back. With a sweep of his sleeve, a gentle surge of Dou Qi wrapped around Xiao Yan and lightly sent him into the distance.

Crack!

A crystalline ice wall instantly condensed in front of Xiao Yan.

Without turning his head, Hai Bodong said, "This old man has set up protection, so there's no need to worry about him. Now—we can begin!"

Lu Yu nodded, then directly sat down cross-legged. He made an inviting gesture and said, "Old Hai, just sit down. I'm starting now."

Without another word, Hai Bodong sat down on the ground at once.

Lu Yu's expression sharpened. His hands formed seals at high speed, and mysterious runes glowed at his fingertips. Azure and crimson energy marks flowed between his palms, and with a soft shout, he sent those marks one after another into Hai Bodong's body.

"Ugh!"

Hai Bodong's body suddenly shook, and the Dou Qi that had lain dormant inside him for many years abruptly surged violently. At the center of his brow, a dark cyan snake-shaped mark gradually appeared, giving off an extremely cold, sinister aura.

Seeing this, a sharp light flashed in Lu Yu's eyes, and he shouted in a low voice, "The seal has appeared. Old Hai, hold on!"

Before his words had even faded, azure and crimson light surged from his fingertips. The runes wound upward like chains and stabbed fiercely into that dark cyan snake mark.

"Hiss—!"

The snake seal trembled violently, letting out an ear-piercing hiss as though it were alive and struggling. Hai Bodong gave a muffled groan, veins bulging on his forehead as cold air burst uncontrollably from around him. Thick frost instantly spread across the ground.

"Break!"

The hand seal in Lu Yu's hands changed abruptly. The azure-red mark flared with dazzling light, then shot out and slammed fiercely into the snake seal.

Crack!

A crisp shattering sound rang out, and countless fissures appeared across the surface of the snake seal. In the next instant—

Boom!

Violent Dou Qi shot into the sky from within Hai Bodong. The trees across the entire Back Mountain were pressed low. The old man's silver hair whipped wildly, and his clouded eyes turned sharp as blades once more. Long-lost power surged through his body like a tide.

"Hahahahaha!"

Hai Bodong threw his head back and laughed, vast Dou Huang pressure sweeping in all directions. The air across the entire Back Mountain seemed to freeze for an instant. Layers of Ice Crystals formed on the ground, white frost coated the grass and trees, and even the clouds in the sky were forced back by that chill.

"I, Hai Bodong, have returned!"

Xiao Yan clutched the edge of the ice wall tightly, his knuckles turning white. Eyes wide, he stared at that towering figure like an icy peak, and stormy waves rose in his heart—this was a true Dou Huang expert!

That suffocating pressure was far beyond what a Great Dou Master, or even a Dou Ling, could compare to.

"Congratulations, Old Hai, on breaking the seal and returning to the Dou Huang realm."

Lu Yu cupped his fists and smiled, a hint of amazement in his eyes as well.

Hai Bodong withdrew his aura and slowly landed. He stretched his limbs, his face filled with exhilaration. "Refreshing! I've been suppressed by that damned seal all these years. Today, I've finally held my head high again!"

He patted Lu Yu on the shoulder and said heartily, "Kid, I'll remember this favor!"

Only then did Xiao Yan snap out of his shock, unable to help swallowing.

He looked at the radiant Ice Emperor before him, then at the smiling Lu Yu, and sighed inwardly: Brother Lu can actually help a Dou Huang expert break a seal. Just how many abilities is he still hiding?

"However..."

Lu Yu suddenly spoke, his gaze sizing up Hai Bodong as he said gravely, "From what this junior can see, although Old Hai has broken the seal, it seems you still haven't recovered to your peak state?"

Hai Bodong's expression paused slightly, then he sighed softly. "I was suppressed by that damned seal for too long. If I want to recover completely, it will indeed still take some time..."

Hearing this, the corners of Lu Yu's mouth lifted slightly. He took out a jade bottle from his Storage Ring. "Old Hai, why not try this?"

"This is... a Restoration Pill?"

Hai Bodong raised a brow and said with some surprise, "Where did you get it?"

"When we went to visit Master Gu He a few days ago..."

Lu Yu blinked, then lowered his voice. "This junior conveniently asked for a few extra."

As a fifth-tier healing pill, the Restoration Pill's greatest effect was restoring vital energy and repairing certain aftereffects caused by seals.

Back then, he had used the excuse of asking for pills to heal Yun Yun's injuries, and Gu He had not thought much of it. With one move, he had given him three pills, and now two remained.

Hai Bodong took the jade bottle, a trace of appreciation flashing through his eyes. "Young Lu, I'll remember this thoughtfulness."

He pulled out the stopper, and a refreshing medicinal fragrance immediately spread out. Without the slightest hesitation, he tilted his head back and swallowed that Restoration Pill.

As the pill entered his stomach, a surging wave of Dou Qi immediately erupted from within Hai Bodong. Ice-blue Dou Qi churned around him like something tangible, and the temperature of the entire Back Mountain plummeted once again.

"This is..."

Xiao Yan's eyes widened. He saw Hai Bodong's aura climbing at a visible speed. His original cultivation at one-star Dou Huang was now rising rapidly like split bamboo!

"Two-star... three-star... four-star... five-star!"

In the short span of half a quarter of an hour, Hai Bodong's cultivation had returned to the realm of a Five-star Dou Huang. He slowly opened his eyes, and it seemed as if ten-thousand-year-old ice flowed within them. Every movement of his hands and feet carried a pressure that made one's heart tremble.

"Hahahahaha!"

Hai Bodong suddenly threw his head back and laughed, his voice filled with indescribable exhilaration. He abruptly clenched his fist, and the air within a hundred zhang instantly condensed into countless Ice Crystals, refracting dazzling light beneath the sun.

"Refreshing! Truly refreshing!"

"This old man has never felt so clear-headed and invigorated!"

As he spoke, the Dou Qi around him flowed naturally. Every motion carried a charm of returning to simplicity. This was the true bearing of the Ice Emperor—looking down upon the world, standing proud above all heroes!

The Ice Emperor, Hai Bodong!