Battle Through the Heavens: I Can Solidify All Talents

He suddenly came to his senses and instantly sobered up.

That was right. The youth before him was a mysterious existence who had effortlessly broken Queen Medusa's seal!

That utterly terrifying Soul Power, enough to make his very soul tremble, would not weaken in the slightest just because he had recovered his Dou Emperor cultivation.

Even now that he was a Dou Emperor again, he still could not see through Xiao Qing's cultivation!

"Ha ha, you must be joking, my friend! You give this old man far too much credit!"

Hai Bodong's expression changed in an instant. The coldness in his eyes quickly faded, replaced by an almost fawning smile.

He hurriedly withdrew his Dou Qi Transformation Wings and descended from midair, lowering his posture considerably as he joked, "This old man's cultivation was restored thanks to you, my friend. I have not even had time to thank you properly. How could I possibly harbor even the slightest dissatisfaction toward you?"

"I merely lost my composure because of the excitement from recovering my cultivation. I hope you will not take offense, my friend!"

"It had better be... that way."

Xiao Qing narrowed his eyes. The smile on his face remained unchanged, yet the invisible pressure of his Soul Power made a thin layer of sweat appear on Hai Bodong's forehead.

Hai Bodong gave two dry laughs and hurriedly changed the subject, trying to ease the awkward atmosphere.

After thinking for a moment, he voiced his guess. "Well... my friend came to the Tagor Desert, presumably... for the Heavenly Flame deep within the desert?"

After all, aside from a Heavenly Flame born between heaven and earth, what else could draw such a young alchemist here? To this harsh and perilous desolate land?

"It could not possibly be for... that infamous Queen Medusa, could it?"

Hai Bodong had no idea what he was thinking, but the words slipped out immediately.

Queen Medusa...

As though he had realized what he had just said, Hai Bodong involuntarily shuddered from head to toe!

Merely mentioning that name made a chill seemingly rise from the depths of his soul and instantly spread through his entire body!

The flush on his wrinkled old face gradually faded, replaced by a pale expression of fear and humiliation.

Over these years, his cultivation had been sealed, ultimately causing it to stagnate. He had lived like a rat in the gutter, hiding away in this tiny Desert City.

At the thought of being dominated by Queen Medusa's powerful yet cold and beautiful figure, memories from those years surged into his mind like a tide.

For more than a decade, Hai Bodong had lived beneath Queen Medusa's shadow.

It had not merely been the defeat of a battle. His pride had been completely shattered, and his dignity trampled deep into the mud!

This... was the pain and humiliation that Hai Bodong, the Ice Emperor, could never forget for the rest of his life!

If he, Hai Bodong, were given another choice, he would never set foot in this damned Tagor Desert again!

Not even half a step!

His heart was filled with regret and endless wariness toward the land of the Tagor Desert.

Xiao Qing looked calmly at Hai Bodong. Hai Bodong's almost furious expression stirred no ripples in his heart; his mind remained perfectly clear.

Hai Bodong's reaction only proved how powerful and terrifying Queen Medusa was.

Yet this did not make him shrink back. Instead, it further stirred a trace of anticipation and desire for a challenge within him.

Queen Medusa... Heavenly Flame...

He silently repeated the words in his heart, his gaze seeming to pierce through every obstacle and reach the depths of the desert where Queen Medusa resided.

To him, the source of Hai Bodong's terror was nothing more than that.

His goal had never changed—

Solidify Talents, find Heavenly Flames, increase his strength, and reach the pinnacle of this Dou Qi World!

And that queen, whose very name could make the Ice Emperor Hai Bodong turn pale, might also become one of the opponents he would face in the future.

He just did not know what kind of scene it would be when he truly encountered Queen Medusa.

Xiao Qing's lips curled upward, his heart filled with anticipation.

A long while later—

Holding the map of Heavenly Flame clues Hai Bodong had given him, Xiao Qing walked out of the ancient map shop.

A hot desert wind rushed toward him, stirring the black hair on his forehead.

He did not immediately set out.

Instead, he compared Hai Bodong's description of the possible locations of the Heavenly Flame with the memories in his mind.

The direction marked on Hai Bodong's map was roughly the same as the sensation provided by the Burning Mantra.

Xiao Qing slightly raised his head, swept his gaze over Desert City one last time, then turned his eyes toward the golden sea of sand that was the Tagor Desert.

Xiao Qing placed a token engraved with the character "Hai" on the front and "Mite'er" on the back into his Storage Ring.

Hai Bodong had given Xiao Qing this token. If Xiao Qing ever needed Hai Bodong's help in the future, he only had to seek him out at the Mite'er Family in the Jia Ma Empire.

Before long, the Jia Ma Empire would surely be thrown into upheaval once more.

The "Ice Emperor" Hai Bodong, who had vanished for more than a decade, was about to display his former prestige again!

But such disturbances had nothing to do with his current goal.

His journey had only just begun.

The vastness of this Dou Qi World was far beyond what a single Jia Ma Empire could compare to.

With a flicker of his body, the Earth Rank Low-grade movement technique, Phoenix Dance Wandering Step, quietly began to circulate.

Xiao Qing's body instantly turned into a blurred shadow and completely vanished into the Tagor Desert.

He thoroughly left behind everything in Desert City, along with the brief interlude brought by Hai Bodong.

Xiao Qing was about to enter alone into this Death Domain, known as the natural barrier of the Jia Ma Empire.

As far as the eye could see, there were only endless golden sand dunes stretching between heaven and earth.

A sandstorm swept up fine grains of sand that struck the invisible protective Dou Qi around Xiao Qing's body, producing a constant rustling sound.

For an ordinary Da Dou Shi, merely maintaining a Dou Qi Veil to resist the heat and windblown sand would already be an enormous burden, impossible to sustain for long.

Yet even while walking through this desert with a Dou Qi Veil activated, Xiao Qing appeared unusually calm and composed.

The Dou Qi within his body circulated faintly, not to fully resist the environment, but to form a wondrous cycle.

The scorching Fire Attribute energy around him not only failed to shake him in the slightest, but became docile the moment it approached his body.

As if it had encountered its master, it gradually began to merge into the circulation within his body of its own accord.

This not only offset the expenditure, but even provided a slight replenishment.

Thanks to his deep affinity with the energy of heaven and earth, this deadly land to others had instead become an unusual cultivation treasure ground for Xiao Qing.

Chapter 39: Underground Lava World; Blocked Soul Perception!

"The fire elemental energy in this desert is abundant. It is an excellent Training Grounds for those with a Fire Attribute!"

"However, the fire elemental energy here is relatively singular in nature. Unless one possesses Fire Attribute Dou Qi or some special constitution, cultivating here for a long time will inevitably cause one's Dou Qi to become tainted with fire poison, damaging the meridians. The harm outweighs the benefit."

As Xiao Qing walked across the dunes as though on level ground, he communicated with Old Yao through his thoughts.

"This directly proves that a Heavenly Flame truly can be nurtured here! And its Heavenly Flame essence must be extremely powerful!" Old Yao's approving voice sounded.

"I wonder which Heavenly Flame it is, and how far it has grown by now..."

Old Yao did not possess Xiao Qing's memories of foresight.

And the Heavenly Flame that appeared in the Tagor Desert was the nineteenth-ranked Heavenly Flame on the list—the Green Lotus Core Flame!

The Green Lotus Core Flame was born in the depths of the earth and tempered countless times by subterranean lava. The essence of its aura shared the same origin as the Fire Attribute energy of this desert, but stood at a far higher level.

Xiao Qing's heart stirred.

Could he actively guide his senses and locate the Heavenly Flame?

He immediately thought of the special resonance the Burning Mantra had developed with Heavenly Flames after being enhanced by the Law of Fire, as well as his innate Talent for affinity with Flame.

Perhaps I can try actively activating the Burning Mantra, combining it with my perception of Fire Attribute energy to pinpoint the Heavenly Flame's location more accurately?

Thinking of this, Xiao Qing calmed his mind, and joy rose in his heart.

At this moment, he was no longer merely sensing passively. Instead, he began actively circulating the Burning Mantra, which had already neared the Black Rank High-grade.

The moment the cultivation method began circulating, the Dou Qi within his body seemed to be imbued with spirituality, and his perception of the surrounding energy of heaven and earth instantly increased severalfold.

A moment later, he sensed a faint yet exceptionally clear, unusual fluctuation emerging in the southeast.

It pierced through the interference of countless energy currents between heaven and earth and reached his mind.

It really works!

Xiao Qing was delighted.

Though this fluctuation was weak, the direction it pointed toward was clear. This meant the Heavenly Flame was very likely in that direction, and the distance was not impossibly far.

From then on, Xiao Qing began traveling day and night, following that special sensation as he advanced continuously through the vast sea of sand for three days.

During those three days, his journey was not entirely smooth.

Several groups of desert bandits who had spent their lives living on the edge of a blade saw a young and immature-looking boy walking alone through the desert.

More importantly, though his clothes did not appear luxurious, his temperament was extraordinary. Naturally, they regarded Xiao Qing as a fat sheep delivered right to their doorstep.

There was no need to elaborate on the outcome. Xiao Qing had not even used a Dou Technique—no, it should be said that he had not even used Dou Qi.

He merely condensed his Peak Mortal Realm Soul Power into invisible soul attacks, precisely sweeping across those desert bandits who treated human lives like grass.

Under the crushing force of Peak Mortal Realm Soul Power, those desert bandits, whose cultivation was at most at the Dou Shi level, could not even let out a scream.

Their souls were instantly shattered and dispersed, while their bodies became nothing but empty shells upon the yellow sand.

After many more days of constant tempering, his control over his own power had become even more perfect, and his Dou Qi cultivation had reached the level of a Three-Star Dou Ling.

At noon on the fourth day, after Xiao Qing climbed over an enormous sand dune, the scene before him suddenly changed drastically.

It was a vast sunken basin, completely unlike the rolling sand dunes around it.

At the center of the basin was not the oasis of life one might imagine, but a desert wasteland filled with standing boulders of dull color.

Even more alarming was that the energy of heaven and earth above the desert wasteland was extraordinarily violent!

Fiery red and earthy yellow energy intertwined and compressed like two giant serpents.

They formed visible turbulent currents, giving off low, stifled sounds.

Even the light appeared dim in this place.

"The energy here is abnormally violent. This is not something that could form naturally!"

Old Yao's voice sounded with a trace of solemnity.

"Investigate carefully. Either an extremely powerful Fire Attribute magical beast is lurking here, or... a Heavenly Flame is about to emerge, triggering a heavenly phenomenon!"

Xiao Qing's eyes narrowed. His Soul Power spread out and began sweeping across the basin.

In an instant, the entire appearance of the basin emerged in his mind.

His Peak Mortal Realm perception meticulously scanned every inch of the basin, every stone.

His soul perception even penetrated the surface sand and rocks, probing ever deeper underground.

Very quickly, he "saw" a lake of scorching, churning lava deep beneath the earth.

Crimson molten rock flowed slowly, radiating an astonishingly terrifying heat.

However, when his soul perception attempted to probe deeper into the lava lake, it encountered an unknown obstruction at a certain point.

It felt as though he had struck an invisible wall. No matter how he urged his Soul Power, he could not penetrate it.

"Teacher, there is a lava world underground. Just as my Soul Power was about to probe deeper into the lava, there was a place that completely blocked my soul perception!"

Xiao Qing frowned and spoke to Old Yao in a deep voice.

For something to form a barrier capable of blocking his soul perception in such deep underground lava, it could not possibly be ordinary!

"Oh? There is actually something capable of isolating your Peak Mortal Realm Soul Power?"

Old Yao's voice sounded from within the Bone Flame Ring, carrying surprise and curiosity.

His current state was very unusual. The range and intensity of his soul perception might not even match Xiao Qing's now.