Hai Bodong's Misfortune

Time slipped through the fingers like flowing sand. Before anyone realized it, a month had quietly passed.

Although the Snake-People Tribe's secret search for Heavenly Flames deep within the Tagor Desert had been cautious and well-concealed, it ultimately failed to escape the keen senses of the great powers entrenched across the Northwest Continent, arousing suspicion on all sides.

The first to lose patience were two independent Dou Wangs from the Chu Yun Empire.

Confident in their formidable cultivation and bold beyond measure, they joined forces to venture deep into the desert, intending to uncover the Snake-People Tribe's true intentions.

However, they had underestimated the Snake-People Tribe's absolute control over this desert. Not long after entering its depths, their tracks were discovered by patrolling Snake-People experts.

What awaited them was not the one-on-one fight they had imagined, but the thunderous encirclement of three Snake-People Dou Wangs working in perfect coordination.

On the desert's home ground, facing enemies several times their number, even escape became a distant dream for the two Dou Wangs. In the end, they perished amid the yellow sands.

After losing several batches of elite scouts in succession, the Jia Ma Empire, the Chu Yun Empire, and several hidden top factions finally pieced together the heart of the truth from scattered information—a middle-grade or higher alchemist had offered an irresistible fortune to command the Snake-People Tribe to search this boundless sea of sand for some vital treasure.

Though that alchemist's exact grade remained a mystery, the remarkable increase in strength among the Snake-People Tribe's upper-echelon experts during this period became the clearest clue.

Several Dou Wangs had broken through their bottlenecks, while even the auras of Dou Emperor-level experts had grown deeper and more powerful.

The ability to supply Dou Ling Pills in batches to help Dou Wangs break through, especially Huangji Pills capable of increasing a Dou Emperor's strength, was undoubtedly the handiwork of a Sixth-grade Alchemist!

The value of the item that could make an alchemist of at least the sixth grade mobilize such effort in search of it was self-evident.

It could be nothing less than a rare heavenly treasure, a miraculous medicine cauldron left behind from ancient times, or... a Heavenly Flame capable of driving any alchemist or powerhouse mad!

Driven by profit, the Jia Ma Empire and the Chu Yun Empire, these longtime enemies, along with the major top factions, had no choice but to temporarily set aside their old grudges and reach a fragile understanding.

One powerful aura after another began to rise from imperial borders and hidden sect strongholds as they dispatched experts into the Tagor Desert.

Their goal was clear: they had to find that treasure before the Snake-People Tribe did! Since the alchemist wanted the item itself, whoever found it would claim that favor and reward.

If they could use this opportunity to befriend an alchemist who might be sixth-grade or even higher, its long-term value would far surpass a momentary conflict.

"Damn it! Queen Medusa, are you really going to kill me to the last?"

Above the endless sea of sand, a bone-piercing chill hung in the air, yet it was overshadowed by an even fiercer killing intent.

The Ice Emperor, Hai Bodong, held an ice-crystal spear and looked thoroughly disheveled. His luxurious robes were stained with blood and dust, his breathing was slightly uneven, and his eyes were fixed gravely on the peerlessly seductive yet lethally dangerous figure before him.

Queen Medusa stood in the air, her seven-colored snake tail swaying gently as an oppressive pressure spread from her body. Her red lips parted, and her icy voice carried undisguised mockery. "Hehe, what do you think? Relying on your Dou Emperor cultivation to bully my tribe's Dou Wang here, Hai Bodong—you're certainly willing to throw away that old face of yours."

A bitter smile rose at the corner of Hai Bodong's mouth. Regret churned in his heart. Damn it! If I'd known this would happen, I wouldn't have hit that Snake-People Dou Wang so hard! Who could have expected that I'd draw out this killing god? A five-star Dou Emperor against a nine-star Dou Emperor—this is practically suicide!

One day earlier, Queen Medusa had received an urgent report. One of her trusted subordinates had apparently found an exact location related to the Green Lotus Core Flame, but he had been severely wounded and fallen unconscious. Before he could reveal the precise location, he was already on the verge of death.

Seeing a crucial clue within reach only for it to be cut off once more, the fury in Queen Medusa's heart was instantly ignited.

Following the traces of pure ice-attributed Dou Qi lingering on that subordinate's body, she personally set out and launched a bloody search through the desert like a goddess of vengeance.

Any expert sent into the desert by the two great empires who encountered Queen Medusa met with disaster.

Those who were lucky suffered grave injuries and barely fled back to their countries using life-saving trump cards; those less fortunate remained forever in this golden sea of sand, becoming nourishment for the desert.

In the end, relying on her sharp perception of energy fluctuations, Queen Medusa successfully locked onto the source of that ice-attributed Dou Qi—the Ice Emperor, Hai Bodong, who was hiding somewhere in the desert.

When enemies met, their eyes burned red with hatred. Without a single unnecessary word, Queen Medusa unleashed the terrifying aura of a nine-star Dou Emperor and launched a lethal attack on Hai Bodong.

----The timeline returned to the battlefield!

Boom! Bang!

Sandstorms howled, and ice crystals flew everywhere. In only a few breaths, the two had exchanged dozens of blows. Queen Medusa remained elegant and composed, her seven-colored Dou Qi sweeping like a rainbow ribbon, every strike containing the force to shatter mountains and split stone.

Hai Bodong, on the other hand, was being driven back step by step as his famed ice-attributed Dou Qi was suppressed. Several wounds had already appeared across his body, faint cracks had even formed on his ice spear, and the blood seeping from the corner of his mouth showed that he had suffered serious internal injuries.

Damn it, I can't keep fighting her! Warning bells rang wildly in Hai Bodong's heart as the shadow of death loomed over him. She's even more terrifying than the rumors say! I have to escape immediately, or I'll truly die here today!

With that thought, a trace of resolve flashed through Hai Bodong's eyes. He suddenly bit down on the tip of his tongue, and under the stimulation of the intense pain, all the Dou Qi within his body surged out like a burst dam!

Mystic Ice Mirror!

With a low shout, countless thick ice mirrors condensed instantly, stacking layer upon layer between him and Queen Medusa in an attempt to delay her pursuit.

At the same time, his body turned into a streak of light. At the cost of his essence blood, he pushed his speed to the limit and fled desperately toward the edge of the desert!

"Trying to run? Stay here for this queen!"

Murder filled Queen Medusa's phoenix eyes. How could she possibly allow him to escape so easily?

Her hands formed an ancient and profound seal. Red Dou Qi boiled around her body, and behind her, the phantom of a giant red python made entirely of pure energy suddenly emerged. Its eyes glowed scarlet, radiating an ancient, savage aura.

With a slender finger, she pointed through the air toward Hai Bodong's fleeing direction. The red energy python let out a soundless hiss, and its enormous body tore through the sky at a speed faster than lightning, ripples spreading through space wherever it passed!

Feeling the terrifying energy fluctuation behind him, powerful enough to freeze his very soul, Hai Bodong was frightened out of his wits and pushed his escape speed to an unprecedented extreme.

However, the red python followed him like a shadow and was ultimately faster by one step!

Pfft—!

The energy python slammed viciously into Hai Bodong's back. He spat out a mouthful of blood, his body shaking violently as an eerie, domineering sealing force burrowed frantically into his meridians and energy sea like countless venomous snakes, crazily corroding and sealing his Dou Qi foundation.

Enduring pain fierce enough to make him faint and the weakness of his cultivation plummeting, he used the force of the impact to become even slightly faster, turning into a black dot that vanished beyond the horizon.

"Hmph!" Queen Medusa snorted coldly and was about to pursue him, determined to leave behind this great enemy who had injured her clansman and might know clues about the Heavenly Flame.

Just then, a Snake-People Dou Wang flew over at high speed and respectfully reported, "Your Majesty, that unconscious commander... has awakened!"

Queen Medusa's delicate body paused, and her pursuit came to a halt. She glanced in the direction where Hai Bodong had disappeared, a trace of unwillingness flashing through her beautiful eyes. Yet after weighing the matter, information about the Heavenly Flame was clearly more important.

In the end, she gritted her silver teeth, gave up on continuing her pursuit of the severely wounded and fleeing Hai Bodong, and transformed into a streak of red light as she sped toward her tribe's territory.

Above the sea of sand, only the raging aftershocks of energy and a battlefield in ruins remained, telling the tale of that breathtaking battle between Dou Emperors.

Although Hai Bodong had escaped by sheer luck, Queen Medusa's powerful seal had already become like a disease rooted in his bones. It was destined to remain with him for a long time, the painful price he had paid for this journey into the desert.

The other factions had also suffered heavy casualties, and the Jia Ma Empire had lost quite a few Dou Wangs.