Hand It Over—Obtaining the Fragmented Map, Checking In for the Green-Eyed Three-Flower Pupils

Ji Changqing had not come to seek out this king of dirty talk just because he had nothing better to do.

His goal was the fragmented map of the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame.

In the original plot, one of the fragmented maps of the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame was in the Ice Emperor Hai Bodong's map shop.

Ji Changqing passed one counter after another before arriving at an ancient wooden shelf against the wall.

The shelf had clearly been there for many years. Its surface was riddled with decayed holes, and several yellowed maps lay carelessly upon it.

Breathing in the faint mildew scent of the old maps, Ji Changqing casually picked out three scrolls and walked over to Hai Bodong. Altering his voice, he said, "Checkout."

Hearing this, Hai Bodong slowly raised his head. Wearing a monocle, he glanced at the black-robed Ji Changqing.

Then, he extended his aged hand and pressed it onto one of the three maps, saying calmly, "This one isn't for sale."

As expected, the old are still the craftiest.

Though he thought so, Ji Changqing showed no change in expression and nodded. "Then how much for these two maps?"

"Hm?"

Hai Bodong visibly paused, then raised his eyes and looked at Ji Changqing again. A trace of disappointment flashed across his wrinkled face.

He had thought this person had come for that mysterious map fragment.

If so, he could have learned what secret the fragment held.

Hah, looks like I overthought it.

"Three Gold Coins and five Silver Coins."

"Here are four Gold Coins. Keep the change."

"Wait a moment."

Hai Bodong instinctively removed his hand from the map and bent down to search the cabinet for change.

Yet the instant he bent over, his heart suddenly skipped a beat.

Damn it, I've been tricked!

Hai Bodong abruptly raised his head.

He saw a hand snatch up the map, then grab his finger.

From the looks of it, the man was trying to strip him of his Storage Ring?

At the sight, Hai Bodong was stunned for a moment before he laughed in fury.

This brat truly did not take him seriously at all!

If his Storage Ring were stolen, then he, the Ice Emperor, might as well stop showing his face!

"Courting death!"

Hai Bodong shouted sharply.

Ice rapidly condensed over his palm.

He intended to freeze the black-robed man's hand.

Yet to his surprise, an incomparably frigid yet scorching heat suddenly erupted from the other party's palm.

The ice made contact with it and, in an instant, turned into billowing clouds of vapor.

Amid the haze,

Hai Bodong heard a voice.

"Hand it over!"

Ji Changqing turned and ran.

Just how fast was he?

His loose black robe billowed wildly in the wind, and in the blink of an eye, he had darted out of the shop.

"Mother#@*&%..."

Hai Bodong nearly ground his teeth to pieces.

Ignoring the customers still in the shop, he flashed in icy-blue light and appeared outside.

His hawk-like eyes swept the surroundings, yet he could not find any trace of the black-robed man.

Only a lone Storage Ring lay on the ground.

Hai Bodong picked up the Storage Ring. After examining it, he trembled with rage. The other half of the fragmented map was indeed gone as well.

"You bastard, how did you know I kept the other half of the fragment in my Storage Ring?!"

"Damn it, don't let me, Hai Bodong, catch you!!"

High in the sky,

hearing Hai Bodong's furious, exasperated roar, Ji Changqing grinned so widely that his white teeth showed.

"Hehe, got the flame fragment~~"

Ji Changqing was in an excellent mood.

Against Hai Bodong, whether or not Hai Bodong's strength had been sealed, he had absolute confidence.

But still.

Achieving his goal without spilling blood was naturally the most perfect outcome.

He shook the map, and a fragment fell out from within. Ji Changqing put it away in satisfaction.

After giving the shop one final glance, he sped toward the depths of the desert.

In the boundless desert, sandstorms raged.

Ji Changqing flew through the air, looking down over the entire Tagor Desert.

The yellow sands merged with the sky at the horizon.

Having reached the depths of the desert, he could barely see any traces of human activity.

Snake People stood atop watchtowers, gazing toward the human cities with guarded expressions in their slit pupils.

Over the years, humans had often attacked the Snake People Race's territory, while the Snake People had also killed many human cultivators training arduously in the desert.

The hatred between both sides had only accumulated further.

And hatred between races was not something a single individual could change.

Ji Changqing sighed softly and continued flying deeper into the desert.

He was getting closer and closer to the Snake People Race's city.

He decided to reward himself.

"Check in!"

[ Ding! Congratulations, Host, you have obtained the Green-Eyed Three-Flower Pupils! ]

As the system's voice fell, Ji Changqing suddenly felt an intensely refreshing sensation in both eyes.

The sensation came swiftly and vanished just as quickly.

He shook his head and slowly opened his eyes. Two ghostly jade-green gleams burst from his pupils.

But they vanished in an instant.

"Green-Eyed Three-Flower Pupils?!"

Ji Changqing quickly gathered water-attributed energy and formed a water mirror before him.

Reflected in the mirror was a handsome young man. Most striking of all were his strange jade-green pupils, each bearing three petal-like patterns.

The jade-green petal pupils radiated a bewitching aura.

Staring at them for too long gave one the terrifying sensation of being sucked into those pupils.

"Not long ago, I checked in for the Calamity Poison Body, and now I have the Green-Eyed Three-Flower Pupils too."

"Am I going to collect every strange physique for myself?"

Ji Changqing could not help but complain.

He had figured it out.

The system's check-in rewards actually followed a pattern.

For instance, in the Monster Beast Mountain Range, where magical beasts ran rampant, he had checked in for the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame.

And in the Tagor Desert, within the Snake People Race's territory, he had checked in for the Green-Eyed Three-Flower Pupils.

Come to think of it, the Green-Eyed Three-Flower Pupils were no weaker than the Calamity Poison Body.

The Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils could be said to restrain nearly all snake-type magical beasts. They could forcibly establish a one-sided connection with snake-type magical beasts, thereby controlling them.

"Ah, help!"

A panicked cry suddenly rang out from the desert below.

Ji Changqing looked down and saw two Snake People besieging a human.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, and a bewitching gleam flashed through his jade-green petal pupils.

The two Snake People, who had been sneering viciously moments earlier, suddenly had their gazes turn blank. The snake spears they had raised stabbed toward each other instead.

With a muffled pfft, blood sprayed out, and the Snake People perished together.

The human was dumbfounded.

After coming to his senses, he dropped to his knees and bowed in all directions before fleeing in panic.

"The Green-Eyed Three-Flower Pupils' control over snake-kind is actually this tyrannical."

After testing them out, Ji Changqing was somewhat shocked.

A glint suddenly flashed in his eyes.

"Isn't Queen Medusa the key to this Heavenly Flame expedition?"

"If I use the Green-Eyed Three-Flower Pupils to control Queen Medusa before she evolves into the Sky-Swallowing Python, that'll save me a lot of trouble."

"Even if she evolves into the Sky-Swallowing Python, she'll be as blank as a sheet of paper, without any karmic ties. By the time Queen Medusa returns, I reckon I'll have already laid my foundation and become a Dou Di."

"Staying hidden in one place for too long inevitably gets lonely. Keeping a pet sounds pretty nice."

The more Ji Changqing thought it over, the brighter his eyes became.

This was simply all benefit and no downside.

He would do it!