Battle with Hai Bodong

"Ha ha, old sir, you misunderstand. I'll buy it. Name your price."

Xiao Yan smiled faintly.

"Not for sale!" the old man said coldly.

"Ha ha, old sir, that's where you're wrong. Since you put it on the wooden rack, it means it's for sale. If a customer wants to buy it, you have to sell it."

Xiao Yan wore a smile as he spoke with conviction.

"What a sharp-tongued little brat."

The white-haired old man set down the drafting pen in his hand and sneered. He said:

"I see you're an Alchemy Master. Since you want to buy it, then offer five sixth-tier pills."

"Five sixth-tier pills? Even ordinary sixth-tier pills are worth thirty million gold coins. You're selling a map worth less than a hundred gold coins for thirty million. Old sir, you're gouging customers. Is this some kind of black market shop?"

Xiao Yan said exaggeratedly.

"Little brat, on the Battle Qi Continent, the strong are respected. Reasoning is useless. Since you refuse to hand it over, I'll have to take it myself."

The white-haired old man frowned tightly and spoke coldly.

Xiao Yan assumed a fighting stance and smiled.

"Old sir, if you resort to violence because you can't win the argument, then come on. But let me make this clear first: I won't compensate you if anything in your shop gets broken."

"Good, good, good. I'd like to see what makes you so tough."

The old man tapped a spot on the tabletop, and the open shop doors slammed shut with a boom. His sharp eyes fixed on Xiao Yan as an icy, powerful aura spread from his body.

Frosty energy rapidly filled the room. White mist enveloped the entire shop, immediately obstructing Xiao Yan's vision.

Not only was his vision impaired, but even his sense of direction weakened. The mist seeped into his body, greatly reducing his agility.

With a thought from Xiao Yan, streams of Purple Flame battle qi surged from the pale-purple vortex in his lower abdomen.

The Purple Flame battle qi swiftly circulated through all the meridians in his body. Then Xiao Yan's body shuddered, and a purple battle qi veil emerged over his skin.

The purple veil was nearly solid. Wisps of Purple Flame blazed across its surface, burning away all the mist within several meters around Xiao Yan.

"A high-star Dou Master? A Purple Flame Veil? No wonder you're so bold. But is that enough?"

From within the white mist came the old man's surprised voice, followed by a faintly mocking remark.

"Old sir, I really won't compensate you if I break anything in your shop."

Xiao Yan said softly with a smile.

"Boy, cut the nonsense. Hand over the map, or use your life as payment."

The old man sneered.

As a former Dou Emperor, the old man did not strike first. Instead, he waited for Xiao Yan to make the first move.

"Whirlwind Dance."

Xiao Yan gripped the Profound Heavy Ruler in both hands. Using his body as the center and his arms and ruler as the radius, he spun through the shop.

The maps on the wooden racks inside the shop were instantly destroyed.

"Good brat, you actually dare to make a move. I can't spare you now."

The old man's icy voice came from the white mist.

"Pfft..."

Several sharp whistling sounds followed, and several ice spikes shot explosively out of the mist.

Xiao Yan swung the Profound Heavy Ruler, striking down each ice spike.

The ice spikes collided with the Profound Heavy Ruler and immediately turned into puddles of icy water, giving off frigid vapor.

As though alive, the icy water crawled along the Profound Heavy Ruler toward Xiao Yan's hands.

Even when Xiao Yan shook the Profound Heavy Ruler, he could not fling off the icy water.

"Fire overcomes ice. Fire, come!"

Xiao Yan raised the Profound Heavy Ruler above his head with both hands. Battle qi rapidly poured from his vortex, flowed into his hands, and entered the ruler.

The strange patterns on the ruler immediately lit up as if they had caught fire.

Once the icy water was touched by the Purple Flame, it was instantly burned into white, frigid mist that rushed toward Xiao Yan's face.

Ice became water, and water became vapor. The Ice Emperor's understanding of physics was truly impressive.

Xiao Yan sighed. Then he opened his mouth and actually spat out a stream of Purple Flame, burning the mist into nothingness.

Back when Xiao Yan had engaged in Dual Cultivation with Yun Yun to heal her injuries, he had forced the Purple Flame from her body out through her mouth, then sucked the Purple Flame away with his own mouth.

That was why he had also mastered the ultimate technique known as Flame Spitting.

"What a bizarre battle technique!"

From within the white mist, the old man—who was none other than the Ice Emperor Hai Bodong—cried out in surprise.

Xiao Yan had truly given him quite a few shocks.

Generally, creatures capable of breathing fire were magical beasts. It was a racial talent of magical beasts.

Humans could also release battle qi flames, but only from their palms, where acupoints allowed flames to be expelled.

However, the human mouth had no such acupoints.

Xiao Yan's Purple Flame came from within his stomach.

He possessed the Myriad Flame Emperor Physique. His body feared no flames and could also store them.

"Profound Ice Drill!"

A massive ice cone condensed out of the mist and spiraled toward Xiao Yan.

The moment the ice cone formed, the temperature inside the shop plummeted.

Even Xiao Yan's Purple Flame battle qi veil dimmed, nearly extinguishing.

If that ice cone struck him, he would likely be frozen into an ice sculpture instantly.

Xiao Yan threw the Profound Heavy Ruler from his hand, smashing it toward the enormous ice cone.

The ice cone shattered into tiny grains of ice, then re-formed in midair and froze the Profound Heavy Ruler.

After throwing the Profound Heavy Ruler, Xiao Yan rapidly darted forward. He vaguely saw a human silhouette within the mist.

"Take one of my divine techniques—Flame Blade!"

Xiao Yan shouted. He shaped his right hand into a blade, purple flames igniting over it as he slashed toward the silhouette.

Flame Blade was not a battle technique, nor was it any sort of divine ability.

Xiao Yan normally absorbed flames to cultivate, storing them within his body.

Flame Blade was a method Xiao Yan had created for using flames.

Just like Flame Spitting.

The Purple Flame was extremely hot. Everywhere the Flame Blade passed, the white mist retreated, revealing the Ice Emperor's figure.

"Ice Condensation Mirror!"

Facing the high-temperature Flame Blade, the Ice Emperor remained calm. His hands rapidly formed seals as the surrounding mist churned. In an instant, a transparent ice mirror roughly half a meter wide abruptly condensed before him.

The Flame Blade suddenly transformed into a Flame Fist in midair. Like rock-paper-scissors, paper turned into rock, and the Flame Fist smashed into the ice mirror.

There was no technique in this strike whatsoever. It relied entirely on brute force and the searing damage of the Purple Flame.

With a crack, the ice mirror shattered.

The Ice Emperor's expression changed. His ice mirror possessed extremely strong defensive power, yet Xiao Yan had shattered it with a single punch.

His motionless body finally moved, flying backward.

At the same time, his hands rapidly formed seals. Spiral ice spikes quickly formed in the air, then shot toward Xiao Yan in a dense, overwhelming barrage.

Dou Practitioners possessed decent physiques and speed, along with the damage output of mages. Thus, Dou Practitioners could also be called battle mages.

"Flame-Blowing Palm."

A powerful gust surged from Xiao Yan's palm and blew toward the incoming spiral ice spikes. Although it did not blow the ice spikes away, it still slowed them down.

As he used the Flame-Blowing Palm, Xiao Yan pushed off with his feet. Like an arrow loosed from a bow, he rapidly closed in on the Ice Emperor.

The slowed ice spikes struck his body like raindrops with repeated pops. They quickly turned into icy water and burrowed into his body.

With a boom, the battle qi veil covering Xiao Yan's body erupted into blazing Purple Flame, driving the icy water from his body and burning it into nothingness.

Xiao Yan looked like a man made of fire.

"Absorption Palm! Flame Fist!"

His left hand used the Absorption Palm while his right hand unleashed a Flame Fist, blasting the Ice Emperor backward into the wall.

Xiao Yan took several strides forward, reached the Ice Emperor, and straddled him.

Xiao Yan's flaming fists struck rapidly, hammering the Ice Emperor's chest again and again.

The Ice Emperor spat out several mouthfuls of blood in succession.

"I'll sell it, I'll sell it. The map is yours."

The Ice Emperor spat out the blood in his mouth and hurriedly begged for mercy.

"I can't afford the price of five sixth-tier pills."

Xiao Yan did not get up. He spoke indifferently.

"One hundred gold coins. I'll sell it for only one hundred gold coins."

The Ice Emperor spat out another mouthful of blood with a wail.

"But it seems this map is missing half of it?"

Xiao Yan continued.

"I'll give it to you. I'll give you everything."

The Ice Emperor cried.

This young man was bullying an old man.

It was no wonder the Ice Emperor cried.

Xiao Yan truly countered him too perfectly.

Otherwise, even with only the strength of a Dou Spirit, he could not possibly have been defeated by Xiao Yan like this.

Xiao Yan himself possessed the physical body of a fourth-tier magical beast, equivalent to the human Dou Spirit realm.

Combined with Xiao Yan's Myriad Flame Emperor Physique, which allowed his body to burn Purple Flame, the Ice Emperor's frost attacks were rendered useless.