Lightning Swamp

"I know of a place that might interest you."

Hai Bodong spoke slowly. Lin Mu stopped in his tracks, turned to look at Hai Bodong's somewhat cunning face, and immediately understood. "Heh, the Ice Emperor wants to negotiate terms with me?"

"Right now, you're merely a Dou Ling."

Hai Bodong shook his head. "Though I am currently a Dou Ling, my Dou Emperor strength will recover sooner or later. Little brother, while you are also a Dou Emperor, judging by your aura, you are likely only a one-star Dou Emperor."

"If I recover my full strength, not only can I become an excellent friend to you, but I can also offer you the greatest assistance within the Jia Ma Empire."

"Besides, little brother, you look like an upright man. Surely you would not do something like murder and robbery. As long as I say nothing, perhaps you will never find out where the place you seek truly is."

Lin Mu was left speechless by Hai Bodong's string of words.

He shook his head helplessly. "Fine. It's merely an equal exchange. Not a bad idea."

"Heh heh."

Hai Bodong seemed satisfied as he nodded. With a flick of his finger, a scroll appeared in his hand.

"This scroll was something I happened to obtain deep in the desert during my youth. It records a place called Lightning Swamp. I heard that it is filled with incomparably terrifying lightning all year round. Even Peak Dou Emperor experts would face the danger of death if they entered it."

Hai Bodong sighed helplessly. "Back then, I entered it myself, but I feared the terrifying heavenly lightning and retreated."

"This is the location of Lightning Swamp."

Hai Bodong placed the scroll on the table, then looked at Lin Mu, seemingly asking with his eyes what price Lin Mu could offer in exchange.

"If such a place truly exists, then that would naturally be excellent."

Lin Mu nodded. "Unfortunately, I don't have anything valuable on me."

"Still, I imagine there is one thing the Ice Emperor might find interesting."

"Oh?" Hai Bodong was taken aback.

Blazing purple flames suddenly surged before Lin Mu. Within those purple flames, a longsword gleaming with a cold light slowly descended before Hai Bodong.

"This is..."

Hai Bodong frowned. He had seen plenty of longswords, but the weapon before him felt extraordinary. It seemed to conceal a certain spirituality, making it truly remarkable.

"Ice Emperor, feel free to test the power of this Purple Spirit Sword."

Lin Mu had just come up with the name, but the Purple Spirit Sword showed no dissatisfaction. Lin Mu simply took that to mean it liked the name very much.

Hai Bodong narrowed his eyes and tentatively grasped the Purple Spirit Crystal. Strangely, the Purple Spirit Crystal's unique scorching aura did not clash with Hai Bodong's own icy aura. Instead, it seemed to be constantly adapting itself to Hai Bodong!

This sensation made Hai Bodong reveal a look of shock. He drew a deep breath and instantly rushed out of the house.

Boom!

Hai Bodong slashed out with his sword, Dou Qi blooming from his body like heavenly light. A frigid sword aura swept forth, yet atop that ice clung a layer of terrifying purple flames. Ice and fire—two elements that had always been irreconcilable—now fused together, unleashing power even greater than before!

The sword light Hai Bodong unleashed struck a massive boulder in the desert ahead head-on. Terrifying flames instantly scorched it, followed by the ice wrapped within bringing extreme cold and freezing it solid.

The two powers overlapped, instantly shattering the boulder.

"W-What a terrifying weapon! It can actually raise one's strength to such a degree!"

A stormy sea had long since risen within Hai Bodong's heart.

That strike just now had already possessed the power of a Dou Wang, yet his current strength was only that of a Dou Ling!

"This little brother, could it be that you intend to use this sword to..."

Hai Bodong looked at Lin Mu excitedly, then realized he had lost his composure and hurriedly returned to a normal tone.

"Heh, sorry, Ice Emperor. I forged this sword myself, and it possesses a certain spirituality. If it were to acknowledge another master, I fear it would lose that spirituality."

Lin Mu stretched out his hand, and the Purple Spirit Sword returned to it.

"Ah... I see. Spirituality..."

Hai Bodong was somewhat disappointed, but then he suddenly realized something and cried out sharply, "Your sword has spirituality?"

"Yes. That is precisely the trade I wish to propose to the Ice Emperor. I will forge another weapon to exchange for the scroll in your hand. What do you think?"

Hearing this condition that tempted him beyond measure, Hai Bodong simply could not find any reason to refuse. He had already witnessed the sword's power. To him, it would be immensely useful!

"Heh heh, little brother, the one you forge will be the same as this one?"

Lin Mu smiled. "Naturally."

"Heh heh, then it's a pleasure doing business with you."

Hai Bodong handed the scroll in his hand to Lin Mu. Seeing this, Lin Mu smiled in satisfaction as well. "Heh heh, may I know little brother's name?"

"Lin Mu. Since that is settled, I'll take my leave first. Once I return here from Lightning Swamp, I will forge the weapon for the Ice Emperor."

With that, Lin Mu intended to leave.

Hai Bodong frowned slightly. He had assumed Lin Mu would forge it for him immediately, which was why he had agreed so readily. But now, if Lin Mu ran off with the scroll, wouldn't he suffer a huge loss?

However, just as Hai Bodong hesitated over whether to call out to Lin Mu, an object the size of a longan, radiating an icy aura, fell into his hand.

"This is the Magic Core of a Sixth-tier Magical Beast. Your expression practically says you're worried I'll take the item and leave. Consider this temporarily pledged to the Ice Emperor."

After saying that, Lin Mu spread his black-and-white wings and vanished into the sky.

"This powerful aura... even among Sixth-tier Magical Beasts, it was likely an exceptionally formidable existence. With his strength as a one-star Dou Emperor, where did he get the power to kill such a powerful Magical Beast?"

Hai Bodong said in confusion.

Although Sixth-tier Magical Beasts were comparable to human Dou Emperors, there were differences in strength among them, just like the gap between a one-star Dou Emperor and a nine-star Dou Emperor.

And this Magic Core was clearly not something a one-star Dou Emperor could handle...

"What an unfathomable fellow. When did someone like this appear within the Jia Ma Empire...?"

"Hai Bodong really wasn't willing to suffer even the slightest loss."

Lin Mu sighed, then opened the scroll in his hand. What was recorded on it was indeed a place called Lightning Swamp, but it was far away, at the border of the Cloud Empire.

That meant that for Lin Mu to get there, he not only had to leave the Jia Ma Empire first, but also cross the entire Cloud Empire.

"It's a long journey..."