Xiao Yan and Hai Bodong

"Teacher, are we going straight into the Tagor Desert?"

Xiao Yan raised a hand and gently wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead. He brushed at the nonexistent dust on his alchemist's robe and strolled through Desert City.

"Without a map and supplies, you could wander around the desert for a year and still not find your way out."

Yao Lao's teasing voice rang in Xiao Yan's heart.

"If you don't prepare medicine to drive off snakes, just wait until Ten Thousand Snakes Devouring the Body."

"All right."

Hearing this, Xiao Yan helplessly shrugged and looked toward the street, searching for a map shop or a supply store.

Following directions from a helpful passerby, Xiao Yan slowly made his way to an old-fashioned map shop, marveling at how useful an alchemist's status was.

A banner bearing the words "Ancient Map" fluttered in the wind. Despite the dim light inside, quite a few people were quietly waiting there. The place seemed very popular.

"Are there really that many people heading into the desert?"

A trace of doubt flickered through Xiao Yan's mind, but he couldn't very well ask. He politely walked past several surprised onlookers and came to the counter, where a white-haired old man was hunched over, drawing a map.

"Sir, I'd like the most detailed map of the desert you have!"

Hai Bodong's hand paused. He looked up at Xiao Yan's handsome face, then lowered his head and pointed.

"They're all on the shelves. Find one yourself."

Xiao Yan cupped his fists in salute. Ignoring the others' gazes, he searched through the shelves on his own.

"Elder Hai, my teacher is willing to refine a pill to break your seal. He's also willing to help you resolve your feud with the Snake-Person Tribe. Please, give it some more thought."

The well-dressed young man at the front of the group spoke respectfully.

"An alchemist?"

Xiao Yan murmured under his breath as he looked through the maps.

The Snake-Person Tribe? A seal? An alchemist?

Alas, Hai Bodong remained hunched over like an old man on the verge of death. He neither answered nor paused in his work.

"Then I won't disturb you for now. I'll come see you again in a few days."

Seeing that Xiao Yan, an outsider, was present, the young man in fine clothes didn't dare say anything more. He could only bow and lead the others away.

A moment later, only Hai Bodong and Xiao Yan remained, standing back to back. In the spacious map shop, the rustle of Xiao Yan searching for maps and the soft scrape of Hai Bodong's brush against paper echoed through the room.

After picking out a map, Xiao Yan saw that Hai Bodong still showed no sign of stopping. With nothing better to do, he wandered over to an old, dust-covered shelf and casually pulled out a scroll of maps, giving it a shake.

"Cough, cough..."

"Clap!"

Xiao Yan waved away the swirling dust and bent to pick up an old, ragged fragment that had accidentally fallen to the floor.

"What is this..."

Xiao Yan hadn't finished muttering before his expression froze. He blinked, then leaned in and stared hard at the map. A moment later, wild delight appeared in his eyes.

"Lucky kid..."

Yao Lao's sigh came as well, his attention on the strange patterns and broken lotus on the fragment.

"On the vast Dou Qi Continent, in a remote little place like this, you've actually found three fragments of the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame map. This really is..."

Xiao Yan was also overwhelmed by his good fortune. He carefully held the map, and the handsome face that so often wore a gentle smile came to mind.

"Sir."

Xiao Yan came to the counter and gently set the map and fragment before Hai Bodong.

"How much would you like for these?"

Hai Bodong glanced at them and replied quietly.

"One silver coin for the map. The fragment isn't for sale."

Xiao Yan's smile stiffened. A faint purple flame flickered in his eyes.

"Don't be rash!"

Yao Lao's voice rang out in Xiao Yan's mind.

"A Dou Emperor sealed down to Dou Ling strength is still a Dou Emperor. Even if you used every trump card you have, you couldn't beat him!"

"Dou Emperor?!"

Xiao Yan's fist clenched hard, but then he relaxed it.

"The fragment isn't for sale. Don't think about snatching it. That won't do you any good..."

Hai Bodong spoke softly, without even bothering to look up at Xiao Yan.

"Yeah... There's no way I could snatch it from someone who used to be a Dou Emperor."

Xiao Yan gave a quiet laugh, but his eyes remained fixed on Hai Bodong.

"The Misty Cloud Sect? The Imperial Family? Or..."

Hai Bodong's muttering echoed through the shop, and the Ancient Map Shop's door slammed shut.

A sign reading "Closed for the day" was promptly hung on it.

He reached out and put the fragment into his Storage Ring. A thin mist of ice spread around him as Hai Bodong's hunched body slowly straightened. His tall, imposing figure emerged, radiating pressure.

"Ice attribute? A Dou Emperor?"

Xiao Yan suddenly recalled the young man in fine clothes addressing Hai Bodong. A piece of information he'd once memorized immediately surfaced in his mind.

"He's the Ice Emperor!"

"So the Ice Emperor, who vanished for more than twenty years, was hiding in this desert and even became a map seller!"

Xiao Yan thought it—and said it aloud.

Hai Bodong felt that he might have misjudged the situation, but after being bothered by one group after another, he was thoroughly fed up. At that moment, all he wanted was a fight.

This kid's aura was strange. He looked like a mere Five- or Six-Star Dou Shi, but somehow he always gave Hai Bodong a sense of danger.

"Clang! Clang-clang!"

Countless spiraling ice spikes spun rapidly toward Xiao Yan. They struck the huge, pitch-black ruler with a series of crisp clangs.

Purple flames coiled around the Heavy Profound Ruler, burning away its thick coating of frost. Xiao Yan's steps blurred, afterimages flickering as he reached Hai Bodong and brought the ruler crashing down from a foot away.

Hai Bodong raised a hand. A snow-blue ice shield, several feet across, appeared on his left arm and blocked Xiao Yan's massive ruler. The impact sent waves of air surging through the shop, flipping the counter and its stacks of scrolls.

Ice crystal encased Hai Bodong's fist as he suddenly punched with his right hand. Xiao Yan's Dou Qi veil covered his body. His arms crossed to block the blow amid surging purple flames, but the tremendous force still sent him flying until he slammed hard into the freezing blue wall.

Xiao Yan curled his hand into a claw and drew the Heavy Profound Ruler into his grasp from the floor. Purple fire erupted from his right hand as he thrust it forward.

"Fire Blowing Palm!"

Under the force of the mighty wind, the purple fireball instantly turned into roaring flames. The temperature in the room surged. The ice fog filling the shop evaporated in an instant, and Xiao Yan and Hai Bodong faced each other in plain view.

"Purple flames? A Heavenly Flame?"

Perhaps the pain had momentarily slipped Hai Bodong's mind as he became absorbed in the fight. He seemed a little more human than usual.

Hai Bodong raised a hand and clenched it in midair. Blue ice Dou Qi converged, taking on the vague shape of a long spear. The next instant, a halberd wrapped in an Ice Dragon appeared in his hand.

"The Mystic Ice Dragon Frost Halberd, the Ice Emperor's famed weapon..."

Xiao Yan's expression turned grave as he looked at Hai Bodong, now clad in blue ice armor. He tightened his grip on the Heavy Profound Ruler.

"When will I finally break through to Da Dou Shi?"

Xiao Yan gazed enviously at Hai Bodong's dazzling battle armor. Nothing else mattered—it just looked so cool!

And its defensive power was far beyond that of the thin layer of Dou Qi covering his own body.

"Kid, if you still don't give it everything you've got, I'll have no choice but to throw you out!"

Hai Bodong warned him, then flashed in front of Xiao Yan and swung his halberd, filling the air with afterimages as the two clashed.

The Heavy Profound Ruler spun in Xiao Yan's hands. Pressed by Hai Bodong, he too swung it in a blur of afterimages, clanging as he fought and retreated. The gusts of wind unleashed by their battle carved deep furrows into the ice walls and shelves.

"It's over."

After dozens of exchanges, a trace of disappointment flickered through Hai Bodong's eyes. Perhaps that sense of danger had only been an illusion.

"Ice Seal Storm!"

Ice fog burst through the room, and a chill radiated from the ice shell. Several small whirlwinds, filled with ice crystals, rose from the floor and circled around Xiao Yan, enclosing him.

Bone-deep cold poured toward Xiao Yan. The rapidly spinning ice storm suppressed his purple flames as layer upon layer of ice crystals formed over him.

When the storm dissipated, an eerily lifelike ice-blue statue remained, holding a massive ruler.

"Don't come back again. Next time..."

Hai Bodong strode to open the door, but his expression suddenly changed. His ice halberd shot toward the ice statue while he himself rapidly retreated, his hands flashing through a series of seals.

"The Ice Emperor really is formidable!"

A chuckle rang out. Xiao Yan, his expression calm and his eyes carrying a world-weary look, hovered in midair on his Purple Cloud Wings. The Heavy Profound Ruler shot from his hand, its explosive passage through the air piercing the eardrums.

"Condensed Ice Mirror!"

Several ice mirrors, each several feet across, appeared in front of Hai Bodong. The Heavy Profound Ruler broke through them in an instant and slammed into Hai Bodong's chest, sending him crashing into the ground.

"How... is that possible?"

Blood spilling from his mouth, Hai Bodong tried to get up in disbelief. But a dark shadow flashed past, and a foot rapidly grew larger in his vision.

The blue and purple figures repeatedly collided in the wrecked Ancient Map Shop, sending up bursts of wind and smashing apart the surrounding ice walls.

"Mystic Ice Whirlwind Kill!"

Hai Bodong broke away from the close-quarters fight. An Ice Blade Storm appeared around him in the blink of an eye. A faint Ice Dragon phantom roared within the storm as it swept toward Xiao Yan to tear him apart.

"Heh."

Xiao Yan's lips curled slightly. He planted the Heavy Profound Ruler in front of himself, then drew his Dou Qi veil and purple flames back into his body.

Hai Bodong's expression changed, and the storm slowed as well.

"Don't hold back, Your Excellency Ice Emperor!"

Xiao Yan chuckled. A ball of pale white flame ignited in his palm. He slapped it against the ground, and a pillar of pale white fire shot upward, swallowing the ice storm. With a series of cracking sounds, the flames vanished, revealing a massive pillar of ice with Hai Bodong frozen inside.

"Snap!"

Xiao Yan raised a hand and snapped his fingers. The pillar of ice shattered instantly, and Hai Bodong fell straight to the ground. His faint voice slowly drifted out.

"A Heavenly Flame?"

"My apologies, Your Excellency Ice Emperor."

The world-weary look faded from Xiao Yan's eyes as he spoke softly.

"That fragment is very important to me. I ask that you let it go."

He took out a bottle of pills and gently set it on the battered floor. Then he snapped his fingers again, releasing Hai Bodong.

"I'll make up for everything you've lost, and I'll buy the fragment too."

"if we could have made a peaceful deal, I truly wouldn't have wanted to fight you."

Xiao Yan spoke sincerely.

Hai Bodong rose and worked the stiffness out of his limbs a few times. He stared into Xiao Yan's clear eyes and asked,

"You... hate living this way?"

"Yeah. Unfortunately, I have a promise I need to fulfill, and there's someone I'm trying to catch up to. I can't stop!"

"A promise..."

Hai Bodong murmured under his breath. A gentle face quietly surfaced in his heart.

"Take them. For the sake of your promise, go after the people who care about you and are waiting for you!"

Hai Bodong suddenly took out two map fragments and tossed them to Xiao Yan. Then he turned and walked toward the counter, his white-haired, blue-clad figure seeming proud and lonely.

"Ice Emperor..."

Xiao Yan was touched. The back of this man, so full of stories, reminded him of Big Brother Yun Yun in the Magical Beast Mountain Range. But all he did was raise his hands and offer a fist salute.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

A crisp knocking sound came from the door. Hai Bodong raised a hand, and the ice shell covering the room receded. The door swung open.

"This..."

Yun Zimo stared at the Ancient Map Shop, which looked as if a tornado had torn through it. For a moment, he couldn't find the words.

"Big Brother Yun?!"

"Hey, Little Yanzi?!"

Yun Zimo froze, then raised a hand to his forehead. He thought he had a pretty good idea what had happened...