Ancient Map Shop in Desert City, First Meeting with the Ice Emperor!

The Tagor Desert was vast and boundless.

Golden dunes rose and fell in endless succession, like a frozen golden sea. Beneath the scorching sun high in the heavens, waves of visible heat shimmered upward, warping the air. Dry gales swept up grit and sand, howling past with a mournful wail, and the desert stretched as far as the eye could see.

At the same time, the fire-element energy here was so dense it was nearly tangible, making this place a paradise of cultivation dreamed of by countless earth- and fire-element practitioners.

"Whoosh—!"

Amidst this silent yet violent world, a dazzling golden streak flashed across the distant horizon like lightning tearing through the night, vanishing in an instant!

It moved so swiftly that it left behind a golden trail thousands of meters long, carrying a faint trace of the Dao that lingered in the air for a long while.

Countless flying magical beasts transporting goods through the desert under the blazing sun suddenly saw the sky above them brighten. A terrifying aura that made their very souls tremble and submit had already vanished into the distance.

Xiao Yao's destination was very clear.

It was Desert City, the massive city standing at the heart of the endless yellow sands!

In no more than a few moments, Xiao Yao had arrived within this earthen city, filled with rugged charm and exotic flair.

Scorching waves of air mixed with dust and sand rushed toward him, making his skin sting with searing pain. Most of the people passing through the streets were dark-skinned, lean, hardened mercenaries and desert merchants who carried an air of fierce toughness.

Xiao Yao remained calm. His Heaven Realm soul power spread like an invisible tide, silently enveloping the entire Desert City in an instant. Everything within the city, from the layout of every street to the transactions and conflicts taking place in every hidden corner, formed an incomparably clear three-dimensional image in his mind.

Then the corners of his lips curved upward in a knowing smile. With a flicker, he vanished from the bustling street as though he had teleported, drawing no one's attention.

The next moment, he appeared at the end of a secluded, desolate street, before an unremarkable old shop built of weathered yellow earth and wood.

The shop's signboard was covered in thick dust, with three faded words carved across it in bold, sweeping strokes—Ancient Map Shop.

Without the slightest hesitation, Xiao Yao reached out and pushed open the creaking, dilapidated wooden door as though he were returning home.

"Creak—"

The shop was dimly lit, and the air was filled with the distinctive scent of old parchment, mixed with a faint trace of mildew. Compared to the noisy streets outside, this place was exceptionally deserted, almost lifeless.

Only an old man with white hair and a scar across his face sat behind a dust-covered counter. With his head lowered, he carefully drew a map in his hands using a long quill pen.

Yet under Xiao Yao's soul perception, this seemingly ordinary old man, who looked as though he had one foot in the grave, concealed within his gaunt body a mass of pure ice Dou Qi, like an iceberg that had slept for ten thousand years!

In the Jia Ma Empire, his ice Dou Qi absolutely stood at the very peak of the pyramid!

Found him.

Xiao Yao grinned, understanding everything.

The second fragment of the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame map, and... Hai Bodong, the Ice Emperor, one of the Jia Ma Empire's Ten Greatest Experts!

He did not stand on ceremony. Walking straight to the counter, he extended a slender finger and pointed at the oldest, most inconspicuous yellowed map hanging on the wall, buried beneath countless others. In an unquestionable tone, he got straight to the point.

"Boss, the map hanging on your wall is half of a complete map, isn't it?"

"I want the whole thing."

"Name your price."

"Swish!"

The old man, who had been drawing his map with his head lowered, abruptly stopped moving.

Slowly, very slowly, he raised his head.

His aged face was covered in deep, chiseled wrinkles, but a sharp, dazzling glint flashed through his supposedly clouded old eyes, so subtle it was almost impossible to detect!

"Hehe, have you seen similar maps before, young man?" Hai Bodong's voice was hoarse, like two pieces of sandpaper grinding together. Affecting an air of profundity, he looked Xiao Yao up and down, trying to discern something from this youth who was far too young, yet possessed a mysterious presence that made him uneasy. "How could a mere fragment of a map interest you?"

As he spoke, a stream of icy cold air, invisible to the naked eye, began to spread soundlessly like a venomous snake, completely enveloping the small shop!

The temperature in the air plummeted at an alarming rate! A thin layer of white frost even began forming over the shop's doors and windows!

Heh, this old bastard really was cautious. He was already preparing to make a move on me? Xiao Yao found it rather amusing.

He could not be bothered to keep acting with the old man. He laid everything bare, his voice carrying undisguised mockery and ridicule.

"Enough, Hai Bodong. Stop playing dumb with me."

"Did Queen Medusa scare the wits out of you? After all these years, you've become a cowardly turtle? I'm just buying something from you. Was that enough to make you so nervous that you even set up your ice Dou Qi?"

Xiao Yao's words were like thunderbolts falling from the heavens, striking viciously against Hai Bodong's heart!

"If I asked a few more questions, would you even use your signature technique, Mysterious Ice Dragon Soars, to entertain me?!"

"You—!!!"

"Who exactly are you?!"

Hai Bodong's aged face changed drastically in an instant! He could no longer remain composed!

His clouded old eyes suddenly became incomparably sharp! They were filled with boundless killing intent and bone-deep horror!

His hidden identity here had always been his greatest secret! Who exactly was this brat before him?! How could he know everything about him so clearly?!

There was no time to think. With his identity completely exposed, Hai Bodong's killing intent surged!

No matter what, he could not allow this brat who knew his secret to leave alive!

"Since you openly exposed this old man's identity, leave your life here today!"

A furious roar brimming with icy killing intent erupted from his mouth! The ice Dou Qi within him no longer held back in the slightest, exploding like a burst dam!

"Crack! Crack! Crack!"

Within the entire shop, even the air seemed to freeze completely at that moment! The ground, walls, tables, and chairs were covered in an instant by a layer of hard ice crystals half a foot thick, gleaming with a sinister dark-blue chill!

"Ice Thorn Blast Kill Formation!"

With his low roar, the countless hard ice crystals instantly transformed into more than a hundred incomparably sharp dark-blue ice spikes, each capable of easily piercing the protective Dou Qi of an ordinary Dou Ling. Like a torrential rain of pear blossom needles, they shot wildly toward Xiao Yao at the center of the shop from every direction, sealing off all of his escape routes without a single blind spot!

Xiao Yao smiled faintly. Golden Flame erupted in his eyes—Immortal Technique · Sky-Burning Martial Display!