Searching for the Lotus Seat

"Otherwise, bear the consequences yourself."

Hearing Hai Bodong's vicious words, the icy mist gathering on the ground grew thicker and thicker. Chen Mo's expression changed, and he hurriedly retrieved the Dou Ancestor Experience Card from the system, ready to crush it at any moment.

In a corner outside the shop, the White-robed Elder sensed the bone-chilling cold and immediately frowned, stepping out of the darkness.

The moment anything went wrong, he would rush into the shop.

Inside, battle was on the verge of breaking out. The Nether Qi Gauze Robe clung to Chen Mo's body, wreathed in Thunder Fire, drawing repeated surprised murmurs from Hai Bodong. Clearly, he had not expected flames to be used this way.

"Ice Emperor, I bear you no ill will. On the contrary, I'm here to help you." Chen Mo had come to recruit Hai Bodong, and unless absolutely necessary, he did not want to use this Dou Ancestor Experience Card.

"Hm?" Hearing this, the icy mist receded somewhat before a mocking voice sounded. "A mere Three-star Dou Master, yet you dare claim you can help this old man?"

Clearly, Hai Bodong had acknowledged his identity.

"Because I could tell at a glance that you're afflicted by Queen Medusa's Snake Seal," Chen Mo bluffed.

Hai Bodong frowned again, and much of the icy mist on the ground retreated. His eyes were fixed tightly on Chen Mo.

After a long while, the hundred or so ice crystals hovering around him shattered one after another. He slowly sighed and said, "Kid, just who are you? Since you can see the seal afflicting me, do you have a way to resolve it?"

Feeling the hostility around the old man dissipate, Nalan Yanran let out a breath of relief. Then her beautiful eyes turned to Chen Mo, a huge question mark practically appearing above her head.

"I'm from the Central Continent." Chen Mo could only keep up the pretense. "As for the seal on you, I have no way of resolving it for the time being."

"Central Continent." Those two words made Hai Bodong's gaze uncertain, and a trace of wariness arose in his heart. But when he heard Chen Mo's next words, his eyes turned cold. "Boy, are you fooling this old man?"

The icy mist that had previously withdrawn began creeping back.

"How would I dare? I said for the time being. As long as the Ice Emperor agrees to join Lingyan Pavilion, I guarantee that the seal in your body will be removed within a year." Chen Mo was not lying about that. The system shop had the Barrier Breaking Pill available for exchange, costing only four thousand Fortune Points.

Even if he did not exchange for it through the shop, getting Gu He a Heavenly Flame and having him refine one would not be much of a problem.

And even if that failed, a year was a long time. Getting a Healing Talisman from the system would not be too difficult either.

"Lingyan Pavilion? What kind of faction is that?" Hai Bodong was stunned. Why had he never heard of it before?

Nalan Yanran parted her red lips slightly, her gaze flickering as she looked at Chen Mo.

"I only founded it recently. It's a new faction."

Hai Bodong grew angry again after hearing that. This time, however, he did not let his anger erupt, instead suppressing it as he said, "You mean you want this old man to join the faction you just founded and be at your beck and call?"

As a Dou Emperor who had been famous for many years, how could he possibly work for a young brat who had not even reached the Da Dou Shi realm?

Did a Dou Emperor's dignity mean nothing?

"Not command. Cooperation," Chen Mo explained.

"Cooperation? Then where is your sincerity?" Hai Bodong sneered. "Is it just that empty verbal promise you made about one year?"

"At present, yes."

"Then you may leave."

"Leave? Of course I can leave." Chen Mo smiled. "It doesn't feel good to be tormented by the seal every day, does it? Over all these years, you must have tried countless methods, yet none could break it. Since that's the case, why not trust me just this once?"

"All I need is for you to agree to join Lingyan Pavilion. Before the seal in your body is broken, you may refuse any task Lingyan Pavilion assigns you. Simply put, you do not need to give up anything, yet you gain a chance to remove the seal in your body. Why not?"

After thinking it over carefully, Hai Bodong found that it was indeed true. In any case, he had nothing to lose.

"If that is truly the case, this old man can indeed join Lingyan Pavilion. But if you want this old man to do things for Lingyan Pavilion, wait until you have broken the seal in my body."

"Then, happy cooperation." Seeing the red dot on the system map grow larger, Chen Mo was delighted. He politely extended his hand.

Hai Bodong did not humor him, merely replying coldly, "I won't see you out."

Chen Mo was not angry. He merely thought that once he had a way to break the seal in Hai Bodong's body, they could have a proper discussion.

When that time came, he would definitely make him pay dearly.

"I don't need your medicinal ingredients for now. Give me the Pill Recipe first, or a copied version will do." Chen Mo did not leave immediately, instead holding out his hand for the Pill Recipe.

"What Pill Recipe?" Hai Bodong was momentarily stunned.

"If you don't give me the Pill Recipe for the Barrier Breaking Pill, how am I supposed to refine the pill for you?"

"How do you know this old man has it?" Hai Bodong was shocked by Chen Mo's seemingly omniscient abilities.

Chen Mo smiled without answering, merely curling the fingers of his outstretched hand in a beckoning gesture.

Hai Bodong hesitated for a while before copying out the Pill Recipe for the Barrier Breaking Pill and handing it to Chen Mo. Then he said, "I understand the rules. I'll provide the medicinal ingredients myself, but there's one ingredient, Sand Mandrake, that I haven't been able to find. It only..."

"Fine, I'll find it for you." After listening to his long-winded explanation, Chen Mo said, "But there's no such thing as a free lunch. You have to offer something too, right?"

"I can tell you about Heavenly Flames." Hai Bodong told Chen Mo everything he knew regarding Heavenly Flames.

He also gave Chen Mo a map marking the location of a Heavenly Flame.

Although Chen Mo knew that the Green Lotus Core Flame had already been taken by the Queen, the Lotus Seat was still there.

That was a good item too.

Before leaving, Chen Mo deliberately swept his gaze around the shop. He picked up the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame Fragment Map and casually waved it. "Keep this thing safe for now. We'll trade for it together when the time comes."

Although Hai Bodong did not quite understand, he still carefully tucked it into his robes.

Not long after Chen Mo and the other left.

A youth carrying an enormous black ruler on his back entered the shop.

"Junior Brother, how did you recognize Ice Emperor Hai Bodong?" Nalan Yanran asked curiously.

Ice Emperor Hai Bodong was a Dou Emperor even more famous than her teacher, a figure from the same generation as the old sect master.

"I told you, I'm from the Central Continent."

"Being from the Central Continent lets you recognize Ice Emperor Hai Bodong at a glance?"

Chen Mo was speechless.

Blind student, it seems you've spotted the key point.

Oh, right. In a sense, Hai Bodong was either Queen Medusa's brother-in-law or younger brother-in-law.

As far as the eye could see, yellow sand raged across the land.

Chen Mo looked at the flat desert before him and sighed softly. Without Qing Lin's guidance like in the novel, could he find any trace of the Heavenly Flame himself?

No, that was not right. In the novel, Qing Lin had only led them to the general area. The exact passage seemed to be beneath this stretch of yellow sand.

It seemed he could only ask the nearby mercenary groups for help.