Hai Bodong's Suspicion of the World

Cao Ying returned to her room, preparing to calmly study the Pill Recipe for the Po E Pill.

However, she soon noticed something unusual.

For the past several days, Dan Chen had come without fail every morning to discuss alchemy with her.

Yet today, she had not appeared even after a long while.

Puzzled, Cao Ying pushed open the door to her room and walked outside.

She had not gone far when she spotted Dan Chen in the courtyard.

Dan Chen was patiently instructing Qing Lin on how to condense a vortex of qi and become a Dou Zhe.

"Sister Dan Chen?" Cao Ying approached and asked curiously, "Why didn't you come to see me today? Are you feeling unwell?"

Dan Chen turned at the sound of her voice.

Her delicate little face flushed scarlet in an instant. Her gaze darted about as she stammered, "N-No, I'm not unwell... It's... it's that Her Majesty the Queen passed by this morning and told me...

She said that Sister Ying, you... you and Brother Shen Wen were... were doing things only married couples do... She told me not to disturb you today, to... to let you rest properly for a while..."

"Boom—!"

Cao Ying felt a rush of heat shoot straight to her head. Her incomparably alluring face instantly turned as red as a cooked shrimp.

Even the tips of her ears and her neck were stained crimson.

That woman Medusa! How could she say something like that?!

Qing Lin, who had been listening attentively at the side, was still young, but because of her difficult past and her half-snake person heritage, she was not entirely ignorant of such matters.

Hearing Dan Chen's words and seeing Cao Ying's mortified expression, her little face could not help flushing as well. She shyly lowered her head, her small hands nervously twisting the hem of her clothes.

For a moment, the atmosphere in the courtyard became exceptionally awkward and ambiguous. The air itself seemed filled with the hot, embarrassed irritation radiating from Cao Ying.

Just as Cao Ying wished she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into, a smiling voice broke the stifling silence at just the right moment:

"Why are you all gathered here?"

Shen Wen walked over at an unhurried pace. His gaze swept over the three blushing women, and he had already guessed most of what had happened.

As though nothing had occurred, he changed the subject and said to Cao Ying, "Ying'er, how is your research on the Po E Pill coming along?

I just remembered that the Snake People Holy City's treasury may have Sand Mandala. Once the pill is refined, we'll make a trip to Mo City."

He remembered that Hai Bodong still possessed part of the fragmentary map of the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame. He could take it from him while they were there.

At the mention of business, Cao Ying forcibly suppressed her embarrassment. Taking a deep breath, she tried to make her voice calm again. "I have already memorized the Pill Recipe. Since all the medicinal herbs are prepared, I can begin refining it now."

"Good. Dan Chen and I will stand guard for you." Shen Wen nodded.

The group moved to the alchemy room.

Cao Ying summoned the Sky Burning Cauldron. With a thought, a wisp of Green Flame leaped from her fingertips—it was the Green Lotus Core Flame she had already begun refining.

The Heavenly Flame entered the cauldron, and the temperature within abruptly rose. Yet it possessed a stability and liveliness that had been beyond reach when she had previously used the Blood Spirit Demonic Flame.

Cao Ying focused completely as she placed stalk after stalk of medicinal herbs into the cauldron. Under the tempering of the Green Lotus Core Flame, the speed and precision of purification far surpassed anything she had achieved before.

Impurities that had once required painstaking care to remove seemed to have encountered their natural bane before the Heavenly Flame, easily burned away and stripped out.

And with the Sky Burning Cauldron, which was exceptionally beneficial for stabilizing medicinal properties, she even felt that she could attempt refining a Seventh-Grade Pill.

Dan Chen watched without blinking, her clear eyes full of amazement and envy.

Looking at the dancing Green Flame, she could not help sighing softly, "Heavenly Flames truly are miraculous

...If... if only I could possess a Heavenly Flame too..."

All she possessed was a Beast Flame her clan had found for her. Compared to these spiritual wonders born of heaven and earth, it was truly like the difference between clouds and mud.

Cao Ying's hand controlling the flame paused slightly, and her willow eyebrows lifted almost imperceptibly.

Seeing this, Medusa leaned lazily against the doorway and spoke. "Heavenly Flames are creations of heaven and earth. They can be encountered, but not sought.

This Queen searched the Tagor Desert for many years and only confirmed the whereabouts of the Green Lotus Core Flame, yet you... got there first."

Her tone was calm, revealing no emotion. Then, changing the subject, she continued, "However, This Queen has heard that in the chaotic Black Corner Region, there is a man known as the 'Medicine Emperor,' named Han Feng.

His alchemy is quite exceptional. Since he can establish himself in a place like that, I imagine... he should possess a Heavenly Flame as well."

Though her words sounded casual, they were like a stone cast upon a lake, sending ripples through Dan Chen's heart.

After saying this, Medusa instinctively looked at Shen Wen, only to find his expression unchanged.

He did not respond. He merely watched Cao Ying refine the pill with full attention, as though he had not taken her words to heart.

It seemed Dan Chen's place in Shen Wen's heart still could not compare to Cao Ying's.

With the Green Lotus Core Flame's assistance, the refinement of the Po E Pill proceeded exceptionally smoothly.

In just over half a day, the fragrance of pills filled the air. A pill the size of a longan, radiating strange energy ripples, emerged successfully from the furnace and fell into the jade bottle in Cao Ying's hand.

"It's done." Cao Ying let out a breath, a satisfied smile appearing on her face.

Shen Wen took the jade bottle and nodded. "No time to waste. Let's head to Mo City at once."

"I'll go too."

Medusa spoke up.

Over the past few days, Medusa had learned that Shen Wen had found the Green Lotus Core Flame because of the map made by Hai Bodong, whom she had sealed away back then.

She secretly cursed herself for not killing that menace sooner!

The group boarded the Flying Boat once more, leaving the Snake People Holy City and speeding toward Mo City.

Before long, the Flying Boat landed in Mo City.

Shen Wen and the others headed straight for the shop called Ancient Map, where Hai Bodong was staying.

Inside the shop, Hai Bodong was as he always had been, his head lowered as he studied the intricate maps spread across his desk.

Hearing footsteps, he did not even raise his head. In his habitual arrogant tone, he said, "Pick your own maps. The different—"

His words cut off abruptly.

A cold yet familiar powerful aura—one that had once carved itself into his very bones—locked onto him in an instant!

Hai Bodong jerked his head up, his gaze immediately landing on the seductive purple figure beside Shen Wen.

Medusa!

"Medusa!!!"

Hai Bodong's expression changed drastically, his pupils contracting. Almost by reflex, the combat energy remaining in his body after the seal began to circulate madly. He shot backward, intending to smash through the wall behind him and flee!

The fear of being sealed for decades had long since seeped into his bones!

Yet just as he moved, a calm voice rang out, like invisible shackles pinning him in place.

"Hai Bodong, what are you panicking for?"

Seeing Hai Bodong's pale face and wary stance, Shen Wen smiled. "Don't you want your seal broken?"

Only then did Hai Bodong notice Shen Wen. Amid his terror was also utter bewilderment.

His gaze shifted uncertainly between Shen Wen and Medusa.

His dry throat bobbed as he spoke in a trembling voice filled with disbelief. "You... How are you still alive? Medusa, she..."