Ice Emperor Hai Bodong

Lin Che nodded. "Yes, but I won't be going to the Snake People Clan's settlement. What I need is on the outskirts of the Tagor Desert, so you can rest assured."

Only then did Yun Yun let out a sigh of relief. With a soft smile, she said, "All right, then. Good luck. I'll be leaving first."

"So soon?"

"Yes. The Three-Year Pact will pass in the blink of an eye. Besides, as the sect leader of the Misty Cloud Sect and Yan Ran's teacher, there are matters I must personally attend to."

Yun Yun lifted a hand to smooth the flowing hair by her ear, revealing a smile. Then, like a phantom, she vanished from where she stood, leaving behind only a faint lingering fragrance in the air.

Watching Yun Yun's departing figure, Lin Che did not know what to say. He could only sit alone in the Bamboo Pavilion, drinking for amusement.

The next day.

After leaving the Monster Mountain Range, Lin Che did not linger for long and flew straight toward the Tagor Desert.

As the largest desert in the Jia Ma Empire, it could be called a paradise for cultivating fire-attribute techniques. It contained immensely abundant fire- and earth-attribute energy, and cultivating there would yield twice the results with half the effort.

During this trip to the Tagor Desert, Lin Che intended not only to obtain the Green Lotus Core Flame, ranked nineteenth on the Heavenly Flame Ranking, but also the Fragment of the Netherworld Flame Map.

As a transmigrator, Lin Che had long known the location of the map fragment like the back of his hand. Naturally, he had no intention of missing such a fine opportunity.

After three days of flight, Lin Che arrived at the outskirts of the Tagor Desert.

Gazing at the endless expanse of yellow sand in the distance, Lin Che sighed. This was the kind of environment he hated most.

Due to its proximity to the desert, the weather here was exceptionally dry and hot. Scorching sunlight poured down from the sky, baking the earth beneath his feet until waves of stifling heat continually rose from it. As the heat drifted upward, it even made one's vision slightly warped and blurred.

Without sufficient strength, entering this place would undoubtedly be seeking death.

Deserts were often forbidden zones for humans. While there were traces of human activity around the outskirts, the depths of the desert remained beyond humanity's reach.

Not only did countless desert magical beasts live there, but so did the overlords of the Tagor Desert—the Snake People Clan.

After flying for half a day, Lin Che finally found a shop that sold maps.

In this desolate Tagor Desert, the shop was so conspicuous that, without a careful look, one might truly mistake it for a common desert illusion—a mirage.

Lin Che raised his head to glance at the banner hanging above the shop, then walked inside naturally, as though the place was nothing unusual to him.

The room was not large, but it was remarkably tidy. Many scrolls were displayed on the cabinet along one side. There was no need to guess that these were maps of the Tagor Desert.

Behind the counter sat an elderly man, his head lowered as he carefully drew a map.

The old man was clearly quite advanced in age. Though his head was full of white hair, the withered hand holding the black drawing pen remained steady and strong.

When he sensed someone entering, the old man did not move. Instead, he said coldly, "Take whatever you want yourself. The maps are on the cabinet."

Lin Che glanced at the old man behind the counter. This must be Ice Emperor Hai Bodong, one of the ten great experts renowned throughout the Jia Ma Empire.

It was said that Ice Emperor Hai Bodong was solitary and arrogant. He had once fought Yun Shan, the previous sect leader of the Misty Cloud Sect, atop Misty Cloud Mountain. However, he had been defeated by Yun Shan and subsequently faded from public view.

Lin Che strode over to where the maps were piled. Whether because the place was too remote or because human activity had become rare in the desert, the tabletop had long since been covered in dust.

Even those hand-drawn maps were coated in dust. Picking up any one of them released a pungent, rotten smell.

Lin Che walked to a cabinet and pushed the maps before him aside. A palm-sized fragment of a map immediately appeared before his eyes.

The moment he saw the fragment, a smile appeared on Lin Che's face. Sure enough, the Fragment of the Netherworld Flame Map was here.

Ice Emperor Hai Bodong glanced at the map fragment in Lin Che's hand and reminded him indifferently, "Kid, have you seen this map fragment before?"

Lin Che looked up. "I've heard of it. But you should have another map fragment, shouldn't you?"

Hearing this, Hai Bodong curiously examined the young man before him. With a somewhat peculiar expression, he said, "I don't understand what you're talking about. I dug up that fragment in the desert and casually tossed it there."

"But don't get any ideas about that fragment again. I don't care about money. And don't even think about taking it by force. That won't end well for you."

Hai Bodong was not afraid that Lin Che would leave with the fragment. Instead, he continued drawing the map in his hand at an unhurried pace.

Lin Che smiled. "If you were still the man you once were, perhaps I would fear you somewhat. Unfortunately, you're only a Dou Ling now."

The ink pen moving slowly in the old man's hand suddenly snapped with a crisp crack.

He immediately straightened his back. An icy blue aura surged outward like raging waves, and wherever it passed, a peculiar layer of frost spread across the floor.

Lin Che stood where he was, calmly drinking the strong liquor from his gourd, completely unconcerned by the other man's intimidating aura.

The old man slammed a palm viciously onto the table and leaped directly over the counter. The temperature in the room plummeted, and the heavy door shut with a bang.

Then he stared coldly at Lin Che, who was still drinking, and said flatly, "Who are you?!"

With one hand behind his back, Lin Che hung the wine gourd at his waist and answered softly, "Drunken Sword Immortal Lin Che."

Hai Bodong frowned. He had never heard of anyone like this in the Jia Ma Empire. But since things had come to this, he had no intention of continuing to conceal himself.

"Kid, I didn't expect you to have some skill. I told you, I will not sell this map fragment to anyone. If you wish to court death, this old man won't mind killing you."

"I went to great lengths to obtain this map fragment back then. The power it contains is certainly no small matter. Expecting me to hand it over to you for nothing is nothing but wishful thinking."

Lin Che nodded with a faint smile. "The Ice Emperor truly has an imposing bearing. But with your current strength, it seems you have no grounds to ignore me."

He lightly stamped his right foot on the ground. Surging Dou Qi instantly burst forth, and the ripples it created shattered all the frost in the room. Not only that, but Ice Emperor Hai Bodong was forced two steps back by the shockwave.

"This aura... You're also a Dou Huang expert?!"