Targeting the Green Lotus Core Flame!

"You're... a Dou Wang!"

"Wait, little brother, we can talk this out!"

Seeing his full-force strike easily blocked and sensing the strength of the person before him, Hai Bodong immediately lost any desire to keep fighting.

"Now you want to call for a truce? You'd better lie down obediently first!"

"Explode!"

Xiao Wujiu's gaze turned icy. After absorbing two Spirit Rings, the power of a Five-Star Dou Wang erupted from him. His frigid tone made Hai Bodong's heart pound in terror!

At the critical moment, he hurriedly summoned an Ice Mirror in front of himself.

Then he felt the energy within the shield before him begin to accumulate chaotically, before a powerful explosion violently sent him flying!

Hai Bodong flew backward at an even greater speed and crashed into the counter. He spat out a mouthful of old blood, and his aura visibly wilted.

"Damn it, where did such a monster come from? If I hadn't reacted quickly, I'd have died here today."

Hai Bodong lay amid the ruins, staring at the shop ceiling, questioning his entire life.

"Now, we can have a proper talk."

Only then did Xiao Wujiu walk over. After striking back at Hai Bodong for trying to attack Xiao Yi Xian, much of his anger had subsided.

Hai Bodong was still a man of stature. He would need him to make arrangements after the Xiao Clan disbanded and went into seclusion, and he was also the supreme elder of the Mite'er Family. Otherwise, the last person who dared attack Xiao Yi Xian had not even been left with ashes.

"Take that fragment of the map. I admit defeat today. Losing to you is no injustice."

Hai Bodong knew that although his strength was sealed, the man before him clearly had not used his full power. Moreover, that shield and the flames rising from it were definitely not ordinary Battle Qi Materialization or Battle Qi flames.

Those flames had even given him the feeling of... Heavenly Flames!

As the supreme elder of the Mite'er Family, he had seen enough to know that the man before him was absolutely not a genius the Jia Ma Empire could have cultivated!

"No, no, no. I intend to make a deal with Elder Hai—a deal you cannot refuse." Xiao Wujiu changed his attitude quickly. Showing these old folks an appropriate amount of respect could greatly facilitate a transaction. That was the art of socializing!

"Oh? Then tell me, what deal could I possibly not refuse?"

Hai Bodong did not even lift his head. He merely turned his eyes toward Xiao Wujiu and waited for him to continue.

"Allow me to introduce myself. Xiao Wujiu of the Xiao Clan, a Tier 6 Alchemist. I came here because I heard there was also a Heavenly Flame in this place."

"The deal I propose is this: the other half of this fragment and a detailed map of the Tagor Great Desert. In exchange, I can refine a pill for you once."

Xiao Wujiu's words were highly misleading. He had not forgotten that refining the Break-Eruption Pill required a Heavenly Flame. Back then, Hai Bodong had only volunteered this information after seeing Yao Chen use the Bone Chilling Flame.

What Xiao Wujiu needed to do now was seize the initiative!

Sure enough, as soon as his words fell, Hai Bodong sprang upright, staring at Xiao Wujiu with disbelief in his eyes.

"You just said... you're a Tier 6 Alchemist?"

"No, that can't be... but..."

Hai Bodong shook his head as he looked at the Third-Grade Alchemist badge on Xiao Wujiu's chest. But then he thought of this absurdly young Dou Wang—would he really deceive an old man just for that?

And those flames from earlier...

"Do you think the Jia Ma Empire is qualified to assess a Tier 6 Alchemist?"

Xiao Wujiu responded irritably to his doubts, then asked, "What? I've already given you your chance."

"I have another question. Why do you know this fragment is only half of the map? What exactly does it record?"

He looked at Xiao Wujiu with a searching gaze, though he already had some guesses in his heart.

The latter stared silently at Hai Bodong. After a moment, he only answered the final question. "You would never want to know the origin of this item."

"I understand. I accept this deal!"

Hai Bodong was a smart man and immediately understood. The silence over the first question was the best answer, while as for the second... he would be better off not pursuing it any further.

He stood and dusted himself off, then activated a mechanism behind the counter. A tunnel emitting cold air slowly opened in the floor.

"Wait a moment." With that, he slipped into the hidden chamber below and emerged again shortly afterward.

As he walked toward Xiao Wujiu, he muttered to himself, "Over the past several decades, I obtained a pill capable of breaking my seal, but its requirements for refinement are extremely harsh. It must be refined with a Heavenly Flame!"

"I saw the flames you used earlier. They differed from ordinary Beast Flame, so I would like to ask you to refine this Tier 6 Pill for me!"

As Hai Bodong spoke, he failed to notice the faint upward curve of Xiao Wujiu's lips.

"You understand an alchemist's rules, don't you?"

"Prepare the ingredients and the pill formula, and I will naturally refine it for you."

Hearing that, Hai Bodong gave an embarrassed smile. After hesitating for a long while, he said awkwardly, "The pill formula is not a problem, and I have gathered the vast majority of the required ingredients. I'm only missing one."

"The herb is called Sand Mandala, and it grows in the Tagor Great Desert..."

After saying that, afraid Xiao Wujiu would refuse, he hurriedly added, "I can give you some intelligence you'll be interested in as compensation!"

Xiao Wujiu suppressed the laughter in his heart and asked with a stern expression, "That depends on whether it is worth a Sand Mandala. You know who lies deep within that desert."

"I guarantee it's worth it! My information concerns the Heavenly Flame within the Tagor Great Desert!"

Delight appeared on Hai Bodong's face as he hurriedly took out a specially treated sheepskin map of the Tagor Great Desert.

Xiao Wujiu accepted it and unfolded it, while Xiao Yi Xian also leaned over to examine it with him.

The parchment contained an extremely detailed map of the Tagor Great Desert, utterly incomparable to the maps displayed on the shelves earlier. It not only precisely marked the locations of water sources throughout the desert, but also indicated the Snake-People Tribe.

Most importantly, it bore three flame symbols, located respectively in the east, west, and north.

"Not bad. I accept this deal."

Xiao Wujiu smiled and put it into his Storage Ring.

When Hai Bodong saw the Storage Ring in Xiao Wujiu's hand, he immediately recognized it as a high-grade Storage Ring and could not help feeling even more relieved that his judgment had been correct.

"Once I find the herb, I'll come here to find you. Until then, keep watch over the other half of the fragment."

He was in no hurry to demand the other half of the fragment. Even if he asked, Hai Bodong might not give it to him. He might as well search for the Heavenly Flame first; after all, he already had the herbs.

"Xiao Yi Xian, let's go."

Hai Bodong watched Xiao Wujiu's departing figure, narrowing his eyes before letting out a helpless sigh and beginning to clean up the mess filling the room.