Haibodong

After Jia Xingtian left, the small courtyard briefly returned to peace.

Yao Chen continued pondering his medicinal formula, Xiao Yan trained diligently in the distance, and Lin Hai lifted his teacup, his gaze already turning toward Desert City in the eastern province of the Jia Ma Empire.

He planned to win Haibodong over and have him join Yaoye in forming the Haiye organization. They would draw manpower from the Imperial Family and the Miteer Clan, dispersing throughout the northwest to search for news of other Heavenly Flames. As for the Heavenly Flames whose locations he already knew, Lin Hai had no intention of taking them for now. He would wait until Xiao Yan broke through to Dou Zhe, then take him along to collect them one by one.

The next moment, his figure vanished silently from the Xiao Clan courtyard.

Desert City, inside the "Gu Tu" map shop.

Haibodong was engrossed in drawing a map, trying to piece together clues from countless fragments of information about a Heavenly Flame that might exist deep in the desert.

Suddenly, the door swung open, and a young man in a blue robe walked in.

There were no footsteps, no fluctuations of energy. It was as if he had been standing there all along.

Haibodong's whole body abruptly stiffened. A shiver from the depths of his soul made it nearly impossible for him to hold his pen.

He jerked his head up and saw a pair of deep, tranquil eyes. Their gaze seemed able to pierce his body and reach straight to that damned seal within him.

"Who might you be...?" Haibodong's voice was hoarse. The remnants of the ice-type spiritual energy in his body instinctively gathered, and the temperature in the shop plummeted. Frost even formed on the walls.

This was his instinctive reaction when confronted with extreme danger.

Lin Hai ignored the faint chill. His gaze settled on Haibodong as he said mildly, "You've been trapped by Medusa's seal for so many years. It hasn't been pleasant, has it, Haibodong?"

The words exploded in Haibodong's mind like thunder! The newcomer had uncovered his greatest secret with a single sentence!

"Who exactly are you?!" Haibodong was shocked and furious, his body taut as he faced a formidable enemy, even though he felt as insignificant as a grain of sand before the other man.

"Someone who can undo your seal." Lin Hai's tone was calm, as if he were discussing something trivial. "You have two choices. First, stay here and grow old with that incorrect map of yours. Second, swear loyalty to me, and I'll restore your power right now."

"Right now?" Haibodong's pupils contracted, disbelief filling his eyes. "Without a Break-E Pill, how can you..."

Before he could finish, Lin Hai took a single step and appeared in front of him.

One hand came to rest, seemingly at ease, against Haibodong's dantian.

Haibodong didn't have time to react. He only felt an indescribable, terrifying force as vast as a sea of stars surge into his body!

The power was domineering beyond compare, yet controlled with utmost precision. It effortlessly found the shadowy sealing energy clinging to him like a bone-deep affliction—the Snake Sealing Curse left by Queen Medusa.

The sturdy seal that had once driven him to despair, which he had struggled against for years without moving it a fraction, was as fragile as thin ice beneath the blazing sun before this boundless force. It could not withstand even a single breath. With a silent wail, it crumbled instantly and was utterly vaporized!

"Pfft!"

The instant the seal broke, Haibodong's whole body shuddered, and he spat out a mouthful of black blood that had been clogged within him for years.

But in its wake came the long-missed, surging torrent of ice-blue spiritual energy, rushing madly into his parched meridians and vortex of energy!

Boom!

A powerful, frigid aura burst uncontrollably from his body, about to smash through the shop and alarm the entire city.

Lin Hai frowned slightly. The hand against Haibodong's dantian did not move; he simply flicked his other hand.

The terrifying tide of spiritual energy, powerful enough to freeze the entire shop and half the street, was effortlessly seized by an invisible giant hand and instantly compressed back into Haibodong's body, without the slightest trace escaping.

Passersby on the street merely shivered for no apparent reason, completely unaware they had just brushed past the gates of hell.

Haibodong kept his eyes closed, his body trembling faintly from the tremendous surge of energy and overwhelming joy.

He could clearly feel that his power had returned, stabilizing at the four-star Spirit Emperor level.

A moment later, he abruptly opened his eyes. A brilliant glint flashed in them, and an icy blue gleam vanished in a heartbeat.

Feeling the power coursing through him, he felt as if he had been reborn!

Without the slightest hesitation, Haibodong dropped to one knee and bowed his head deeply. His voice trembled with emotion, yet brimmed with a reverence and submission he had never felt before. "Haibodong thanks you, my lord, for granting me a new life! I'm willing to serve you for the rest of my life. Through fire and water, I will never waver!"

To break the seal of a Spirit Emperor with a wave of his hand, then effortlessly suppress the power that erupted from him—what kind of heaven-defying ability was that?

He didn't even dare guess at the other man's true level. He only knew it was far beyond his imagination!

There was no shame in serving such a mighty figure. It was a tremendous opportunity!

"Rise," Lin Hai said coolly. "Since you've sworn loyalty to me, I have a task for you."

"Please give me your orders, my lord!" Haibodong rose to his feet, standing tall. The cold, stern bearing of the Ice Emperor had returned, but before Lin Hai, he showed nothing but absolute respect.

"First, return to the imperial capital immediately. Consolidate the Miteer Clan's forces and select core members who are absolutely loyal, quick-witted, and reasonably capable. Have them ready for orders."

"Second, on your way back, bring all the medicinal ingredients from the Miteer Clan's stores and whatever else you can gather—especially ingredients used to refine pills that increase cultivation—to the Xiao Clan in Wutan City."

Haibodong's heart stirred, and he immediately replied, "Yes! I'll obey!" He guessed that his lord must have a high-level alchemist under his command. They were about to refine pills on a massive scale.

"Go. Take care of it as quickly as possible." Lin Hai waved a hand.

Haibodong bowed again. Without the slightest hesitation, spiritual energy surged through his body, and he flashed away as a blurred blue shadow, racing toward the imperial capital. He was countless times faster than before the seal was broken, his heart brimming with excitement and drive.

Lin Hai watched the direction in which Haibodong had disappeared, his expression calm.

Once the medicinal ingredients arrived, Yao Chen, his "pill-refining machine," could run at full capacity and supply plenty of "ammunition" for his plans.

He turned and took a step. His figure vanished into the blowing sands of Desert City, as if he had never appeared at all.