Breaking the Seal

In the secret chamber deep underground, Hai Bodong fell silent after swallowing the Po E Pill.

When Liu Xi saw Hai Bodong form the cultivation seal and devote himself to absorbing the Po E Pill's medicinal power, all the dissatisfaction on his face vanished. A hint of a smile even appeared in his eyes as he thought, Hai Bodong, I hope you won't disappoint me. Otherwise, I'll let you know just how heartbreaking it is to have your restored strength sealed away again!

Liu Xi had indeed tampered with the refinement of the Po E Pill, if only a tiny bit. Knowing he had no one to rely on, Liu Xi had always planned before acting. Without absolute confidence, he would never act rashly, much less place his hopes on whether others would remain rational.

Thus, when the Po E Pill finally took shape, he condensed a flame seed within it. Since the Po E Pill had originally been refined using the Green Lotus Core Flame, it was hardly strange for it to carry some of the Green Lotus Core Flame's aura. Even if Hai Bodong investigated it, he would find nothing unusual.

Liu Xi's sealing Dou Technique required his opponent not to resist in order to succeed. If Hai Bodong became overconfident after regaining the strength of a Dou Emperor, Liu Xi truly had no way to make him offer no resistance. But Liu Xi only needed to trigger this flame seed to seal his cultivation back to the Dou Wang realm, or even lower, and let Hai Bodong learn what true despair was.

Seeing Hai Bodong sink into silence, with no idea how long it would take for him to break the seal, Liu Xi pulled over a chair from the chamber and sat down. He lifted Qing Lin onto his lap, then waved a hand to spread a layer of pale cyan Energy Shield around them, protecting Qing Lin from the icy chill of the ice cavern. Then he raised his head and carefully observed Hai Bodong's condition atop the ice platform.

Qing Lin, who had no ability to resist Liu Xi at all, merely blushed. She did not resist in the slightest, and even cautiously wriggled closer into Liu Xi's embrace.

Hai Bodong sat atop the ice platform with an exceptionally calm expression, his body covered in frost like an ice sculpture. Yet the aura radiating from within him continued to rise.

This continued for roughly half an hour. The surging aura within Hai Bodong seemed to reach its peak, and waves of icy energy spread from his body one after another, sweeping through the chamber with him at their center. The tables, chairs, and benches inside were smashed to pieces, while only the area beneath Liu Xi's cyan Energy Shield remained intact.

At this moment, Hai Bodong was clearly unaware of anything outside. His body began to tremble, his aged face twisted in pain, his brows tightly furrowed. At the center of his forehead, eerie dark cyan energy rapidly gathered.

In only a moment, it formed a slender, dense dark cyan snake-shaped seal. The coiled seal writhed continuously, firmly sealing away the surging Dou Qi within Hai Bodong's body.

The moment the snake seal appeared, pale purple energy slowly wound upward from Hai Bodong's neck. In the blink of an eye, it began clashing with the dark cyan snake seal.

The purple energy and dark cyan snake seal remained locked in a stalemate above and below Hai Bodong's forehead. The two energies constantly collided at the center of his brow, and Hai Bodong's expression grew increasingly ferocious. The sensation surely could not have been pleasant.

As time passed, the stalemate was broken. The dark cyan snake seal grew dimmer and began to flicker in and out of view. Purple light surged brightly, and the purple energy looked ready to shatter the snake seal in one stroke. Clearly, the Po E Pill truly had remarkable effects in breaking seals.

"Looks like Hai Bodong's Dou Qi is about to recover," Liu Xi muttered, becoming vigilant.

Taking advantage of its suppressive effect, the purple energy mercilessly drove the snake seal back. After gradually forcing it to the top of Hai Bodong's forehead, the purple energy suddenly surged forward and forcefully squeezed the snake seal out of Hai Bodong's brow.

The moment the snake seal left Hai Bodong's head, it trembled before turning into a wisp of green smoke and dissipating into the air.

Once the snake seal had completely left his body, Hai Bodong's tightly shut eyes suddenly flew open. His previously clouded eyes were now sharp and radiant, and a fierce aura like that of a lion erupted from him. He was completely unlike the frail old man from before.

"Haha! This damned seal has finally gotten lost! This old man is a Dou Emperor again!" Hai Bodong released the power of a Dou Emperor without restraint, speaking with high spirits.

Hai Bodong now resembled a child who had obtained his favorite toy, endlessly showing it off to others. The entire secret chamber could barely withstand the might of a Dou Emperor. The ice layers around them cracked continuously, while the icicles overhead swayed as though they might fall at any moment.

After laughing wildly like a fool for quite some time, Hai Bodong, standing atop the ice platform, finally restrained the urge to keep laughing. He suddenly lowered his head and looked toward Liu Xi, who sat below with the pretty maid in his arms. His eyes narrowed, concealing the coldness within them as he seemed to ponder something.

Liu Xi acted as though he could not sense the increasingly sharp gaze from the ice platform. He continued holding Qing Lin on his lap, his expression unchanged. With a smiling face, he raised his head and looked at Hai Bodong, who was now flaunting his restored Dou Emperor cultivation.

Their gazes met in the air, as though sparks of electricity flashed between them. The scene fell silent. Both men possessed absolute confidence in themselves, waiting to see who would be the first to speak—or act.

Although Liu Xi held Qing Lin in his arms, triggering the seal inside Hai Bodong was no more than a matter of thought. At worst, he could use an Illusion Technique to escape directly and deal with Hai Bodong later. It all depended on whether Hai Bodong dared to make a move.

As Hai Bodong felt the vast power flowing through his body, the mindset of a strong man that he had suppressed for decades returned. Once one of the ten greatest powerhouses of the Jia Ma Empire, the man known as the Ice Emperor, Hai Bodong had always been cold and overbearing. He had always been the one robbing others of their treasures; when had anyone ever dared to rob him of his?

Then Liu Xi came along. Not only did he want to seize the mysterious fragmentary map that Hai Bodong had obtained after risking Queen Medusa's pursuit across thousands of miles, he had even beaten him up. It was simply the greatest humiliation.

At that thought, killing intent surged in Hai Bodong's heart, and cold air continuously spewed from his palm. But when he finally looked at the smiling young face below, it was as though a bucket of cold water had been poured over him. The killing intent in his heart was completely extinguished, replaced instead by a tragic sense of a hero growing old.

His newly restored Dou Emperor cultivation no longer seemed so appealing. Hai Bodong's aged body appeared even more hunched as he sighed inwardly, He's too young. In less than ten years, this boy's cultivation will likely reach the peak of the Dou Emperor realm. Besides, even now, he can leave Queen Medusa's hands without a scratch. Can I truly keep him here?

Nothing was more sorrowful than seeing the Dou Emperor cultivation one took pride in treated by another as something easily obtained, something not even worth caring about. Hai Bodong gave a bitter smile and clasped his hands. "I will remember your great kindness, little friend. If you ever need anything in the future, so long as this old man can do it, I will not refuse."

Seeing that Hai Bodong had calmed down, Liu Xi teased, "Is that so? Seeing the overbearing and flamboyant might of a Dou Emperor around you just now, Senior, I thought you were about to fight me!"

Hai Bodong smiled somewhat awkwardly. "How could that be? I had only just broken the seal, and the Dou Qi in my body was not yet fully under my control. I seem to have startled you, little friend."

Liu Xi stopped beating around the bush and asked directly, "Since Senior has recovered the strength of a Dou Emperor, shouldn't you hand over the fragmentary map now?"

"Of course. This is what you deserve, little friend." With that, Hai Bodong reluctantly took a small piece of ancient-looking yellowed parchment from his Storage Ring. He rubbed it a few times with his hand before tossing it toward Liu Xi.

Liu Xi stood up and set Qing Lin down from his lap, catching the incoming fragmentary map in one hand. Feeling the scorching aura emanating from it, he took out the other small piece of the fragmentary map he possessed and lightly pieced them together. When he saw that there was not the slightest gap where the two fragments connected, a smile appeared on his face.

Thanks to readers Nine-Fingered Keyboard Immortal Is Me and Uchiha Jiraiya for the rewards!