Seeing Hai Bodong Again

In the cultivation chamber, where neither sun nor moon could be seen, no one knew how much time had passed. Moonlight stones embedded in the walls cast a soft white glow over two naked bodies entwined together.

"Mmm~"

Little Fairy Doctor, sprawled across Xiao Yan's chest, struggled to open her heavy eyelids. She braced her hands to get up, only for someone's large hand to hook around her and pull her back down.

"Ah! What are you doing? It's already noon outside!" Though the cultivation chamber offered no view of the outside, Little Fairy Doctor could still sense the passage of time.

"Mmm... I want to sleep a little longer."

"Then go to sleep. Let me get up first!"

"Stay with me."

"Oh, honestly." Little Fairy Doctor tried to struggle again, but she seemed to have forgotten their current state. With one careless movement, Xiao Yan reacted once more.

With a flip, she was held beneath him.

"Ah!"

The pleasures within needed no explanation to outsiders...

It was not until the sun was nearly setting that Xiao Yan finally emerged from the cultivation chamber, which had been sealed for days.

After stretching lazily, Xiao Yan turned to look at the girl behind him.

Thanks to someone's beastly behavior, Little Fairy Doctor was having some difficulty moving. Leaning against the doorway, she shot Xiao Yan a resentful glare.

Xiao Yan grinned, feeling rather pleased with his own prowess.

Speaking of strength, refining the Green Lotus Core Flame this time had brought Xiao Yan tremendous progress. Not only had his cultivation risen from a Seven-Star Great Dou Master to the peak of a Nine-Star Great Dou Master, but the Flame Mantra had also evolved to the Half-Step Earth Tier. Though it was only Half-Step Earth Tier, the condensed quality of his Dou Qi, having just been tempered by a Heavenly Flame, could rival the Dou Qi cultivated by a mid-level Earth Tier technique.

As for why the Green Lotus Core Flame had only raised Xiao Yan's cultivation by two stars, it was because he had deliberately limited his absorption of its Heavenly Flame energy to avoid advancing too quickly. The excess had not gone to waste either; all of it had been stored in the seal that had previously contained the Volcanic Rock Flame. Gu Yuan had originally expected Xiao Yan to refine the Volcanic Rock Flame within five years, so roughly two and a half years remained.

The reason for limiting himself was mainly to prevent problems with control over his cultivation and his state of mind. Especially his state of mind. Control could be developed after advancing first, but issues with one's mindset could only be tempered through enduring at that very realm.

As for what use one's state of mind truly had, Xiao Yan could not explain it clearly either. Still, caution kept one safe for a thousand years. One more measure of accumulation, one more measure of insight—perhaps it would prove unexpectedly useful in the future.

In any case, based on energy alone, Xiao Yan's current strength was enough to rival that of a four- or five-star Dou Spirit. Add the Dou Techniques he had cultivated and the fused Volcanic Azure Lotus Flame, which could rival the eleventh or twelfth-ranked Heavenly Flame, and even a Dou King would be worth challenging!

If he encountered Hai Bodong now, it was hard to say who would win and who would lose!

Speaking of Hai Bodong, now that he had found and refined the Green Lotus Core Flame, perhaps it was time to seek him out.

"What are you thinking about?" As Xiao Yan considered how to meet Hai Bodong, Little Fairy Doctor overcame the ** problem and walked over as normally as ever. Seeing Xiao Yan standing there without moving, she asked curiously.

"Nothing. I was just thinking about Old Hai's matter." Xiao Yan walked over and naturally pulled Little Fairy Doctor into his arms. Young people who had just tasted forbidden fruit always seemed tireless in holding each other.

"Old Hai? Indeed, now that we have obtained the Green Lotus Core Flame, we should fulfill our original agreement. But..." Little Fairy Doctor naturally nestled against Xiao Yan's chest, breathing in his masculine scent as she spoke anxiously.

"But we don't have Sand Mandrake, and we can't refine a sixth-grade pill." Xiao Yan voiced the words Little Fairy Doctor had left unsaid.

Xiao Yan was still only a Great Dou Master. Even with the support of a Heavenly Flame, and even if he pushed his alchemy to the limit, he could at most refine fifth-grade pills. There was an insurmountable gulf between that and sixth-grade pills. Even if Xiao Yan raised both his cultivation and alchemy on the spot, Sand Mandrake remained unresolved. Could he really run straight into the Snake-People Clan's lair now? He was not tired of living yet.

"It's not as though there's absolutely no way."

"You have a way?!" Little Fairy Doctor asked in surprise. "What way?"

Xiao Yan raised his right hand. A blue-red flame appeared above it, shaped like a lotus flower. Although Little Fairy Doctor sensed only warmth from it, she knew that was the result of Xiao Yan's control. In truth, this was a powerful flame that even a Battle Ancestor could not afford to underestimate!

"This is the Volcanic Azure Lotus Flame, formed from the fusion of the Green Lotus Core Flame and the Volcanic Rock Flame. What Old Hai wants, ultimately, is to regain his peak cultivation. As long as I use the Heavenly Flame to burn away the Serpent Sealing Curse that seals his cultivation, I can fulfill Old Hai's request. The Calamity-Breaking Pill is not actually necessary."

Though that was true, both Xiao Yan and Little Fairy Doctor knew things would not be so simple. Xiao Yan had originally pretended that a great power stood behind him in order to make Hai Bodong believe they could provide a Calamity-Breaking Pill. That was also the greatest assurance that Hai Bodong would not turn hostile after the deal was completed!

No matter how good Hai Bodong's relationship with Xiao Yan might become in the original story, that had nothing to do with the present. The necessary precautions could not be neglected.

Unfortunately, Xiao Yan could not refine a pill that reverted someone's body to infancy, and if he used a Heavenly Flame to solve the problem, there was no reason to make anyone swallow a pill in the first place.

"What do you plan to do? How about setting Old Hai's matter aside for now? Once you become a Dou King, or even a Dou Emperor, you can fulfill the agreement then. At your current cultivation speed, even reaching Dou Emperor should take less than ten years." Little Fairy Doctor suggested. Though that approach was somewhat unscrupulous, it had to be admitted that it was indeed a solution.

"No. I plan to help Old Hai solve this problem in a few days," Xiao Yan said.

"You trust him that much?" Little Fairy Doctor's body tensed as she asked nervously.

Xiao Yan stroked Little Fairy Doctor's soft hair and reassured her, "Don't worry. Since I dare to do this, I naturally am not afraid of him turning hostile."

Hearing Xiao Yan say that, Little Fairy Doctor was still worried, but she did not argue further.

"All right, then. But I'm going with you when the time comes." Little Fairy Doctor's gaze was firm, and her tone left no room for negotiation.

"Uh..." Xiao Yan rubbed his nose and looked at Little Fairy Doctor somewhat awkwardly. "Well, if he turns hostile after recovering his Dou Emperor strength, I might only have the ability to escape alone, so..."

Little Fairy Doctor said nothing. She merely stared directly at Xiao Yan. He had wanted to stand his ground, but after only a moment, he surrendered. "Fine, you can come with me. But let's agree on this first: you must stay close to me. Don't run around recklessly, understand?"

"Of course."

Over the following days, Xiao Yan continued his secluded cultivation, mainly familiarizing himself with control over his new Heavenly Flame. After all, he was going to help Hai Bodong burn away the seal. It would be disastrous if poor control accidentally damaged Hai Bodong's meridians.

Within the pitch-black Black Demon Cauldron, blue-red flames blazed fiercely as dozens of colorful medicinal liquids danced within.

"Condense!"

The heat within the Black Demon Cauldron gradually reached perfection. Xiao Yan shouted, and the dozens of medicinal liquids condensed into several clusters inside the cauldron. The blue-red flames suddenly flared.

Before long, a medicinal fragrance spread from within the cauldron.

"Rise!"

The lid flew open, and five white pills shot out, landing in the jade bottle Xiao Yan had prepared beforehand.

"Mmm, not bad. Smooth color, rich medicinal fragrance." Xiao Yan inspected the pills he had refined and nodded in satisfaction.

The pills he had refined this time were improved Fourth-Grade Qi-Recovery Pills. As Xiao Yan's strength increased, the original Third-Rank Qi-Recovery Pills were not unusable, but they did have shortcomings in emergencies—their Qi recovery was not fast enough. Thus, Xiao Yan had improved the formula himself. This kind of pill was comparatively easy to refine among pills of its grade, so Xiao Yan succeeded after only a few attempts.

Even so, this meant that Xiao Yan had thoroughly entered the realm of fourth-grade alchemy.

Moreover, successfully using the Volcanic Azure Lotus Flame to refine Qi-Recovery Pills proved that Xiao Yan's control over Heavenly Flames had reached an extremely profound level.

"It's time to fulfill my agreement with Old Hai," Xiao Yan muttered.

After putting away the jade bottles on the ground, the remaining herbs, and the Black Demon Cauldron, Xiao Yan walked out of the alchemy room.

After greeting his two older brothers, Xiao Ding and Xiao Li, Xiao Yan took Little Fairy Doctor and flew west toward Mo City.

On the distant horizon, a golden sunrise was slowly rising. Warm sunlight dispelled the cold of the desert night and brought the vitality of a new day. The heavy city gates gradually opened, and mercenaries and merchants who had rested through the night filed out from within in a disorderly yet orderly stream.

On the other side, unlucky people who had failed to enter the city before the gates closed the previous day crawled out of sand dunes one after another and headed sporadically toward the gates.

Xiao Yan and Little Fairy Doctor were among those unlucky people who had not entered the city the day before, because Xiao Yan had only arrived outside Mo City late at night.

However, they had not needed to bury themselves in the sand like everyone else. It was not because their clothes were thicker, but because Xiao Yan possessed a Heavenly Flame and was not afraid of the cold at all. As for Little Fairy Doctor? She could just hide in Xiao Yan's arms. So declared a certain man surnamed Xiao.

"Are you really going to fulfill your agreement with Hai Bodong now?" On a sand dune outside the city gates, Little Fairy Doctor asked Xiao Yan one final time. Once they entered Mo City, there would be no turning back.

"Of course. A person cannot stand without trust. Since we promised him, we must follow through. Besides, I cannot give up the remaining half of the incomplete map in Old Hai's possession." Xiao Yan smiled beside her. "And over the past few days, I've thoroughly familiarized myself with the Green Lotus Core Flame. Even if he recovers his strength and turns hostile, he's only a Dou Emperor. I can still take you away."

Seeing the confidence in Xiao Yan's eyes, Little Fairy Doctor thought of the trump cards he had shown her during their journey and felt much more at ease. Though the price of using those trump cards was great, it was not unacceptable.

"All right, let's go." Xiao Yan patted Little Fairy Doctor's shoulder and took the lead into Mo City.

After entering the city, Xiao Yan and Little Fairy Doctor followed their memories toward the city center. Before long, the signboard of "Ancient Map" appeared before them.

Perhaps because the sun had only just risen and it was still early, Ancient Map's doors had not yet opened. Of course, it was also possible that Hai Bodong, now having hope of breaking the seal, had become too lazy to open for business.

But Xiao Yan was not about to foolishly wait outside for Hai Bodong to wake up and open the shop. He directly used a strand of Heavenly Flame to burn through the hard lock made from special materials. With a gentle push, he opened the door a crack, then slipped inside with Little Fairy Doctor.

Xiao Yan had barely closed the door behind him when Hai Bodong's voice suddenly rang out, carrying an almost imperceptible note of delight. "I never expected you two to return so quickly."

Xiao Yan turned around. At the previously empty counter, Hai Bodong—elderly in appearance and neatly dressed—was somehow already seated there.

"What? Did Old Hai think we should have come later?"

"Not at all. But it has only been around ten days since you left. I'm curious how you managed to obtain Sand Mandrake and refine a Calamity-Breaking Pill in such a short time. Logically speaking, that is not even enough time to search for a Heavenly Flame. Don't tell me you never went looking?" Hai Bodong asked warily. In his eyes, if they had truly found a Heavenly Flame and refined a Calamity-Breaking Pill in such a short time, the power behind them was far greater than he had imagined. He could not afford to be careless.

"As for that, we did find the Heavenly Flame, but we didn't find Sand Mandrake."

Boom!

Terrifying cold energy instantly erupted from Hai Bodong's body, rapidly freezing the door behind Xiao Yan.

"Young friend, I forgot to tell you something. After you left, I put some effort into reinforcing this shop. I dare not say much, but anyone below the Dou King realm definitely cannot escape." Hai Bodong's icy voice echoed through the shop. A chilling glint appeared in his eyes as he looked at Xiao Yan. "Young friend, you did not come here today merely to toy with this old man, did you?"

The tremendous cold caused the temperature inside the shop to plummet. Little Fairy Doctor could not help sneezing. Ignoring Hai Bodong's murderous glare, Xiao Yan pulled Little Fairy Doctor into his arms. The Heavenly Flame circulated through his meridians, dispersing the surrounding chill.

Hai Bodong's eyes narrowed. Though it was only a trace, the aura Xiao Yan displayed was clearly far stronger than when he had come before. It even gave Hai Bodong a faint sense that he could not suppress him.

"Don't be so agitated, Old Hai. Since I came today, I naturally have a way to solve the seal in your body. That is why I came to ask for the remaining incomplete map."

Upon hearing that Xiao Yan had a method to remove the seal, Hai Bodong immediately changed his expression, having been so imposing just moments before.

"Oh? Hahaha, so that's how it is. Why didn't you say so earlier? This old man misunderstood. You came at just the right time, little brother. I was just about to have breakfast. Judging by when you arrived, you probably haven't eaten yet. Why not join this old man?"

"No need. We've both cultivated for many years; breakfast is not important. Let's discuss business first." Xiao Yan smiled. He showed no displeasure over Hai Bodong nearly turning hostile moments earlier, because he would probably have done the same in Hai Bodong's place.

"I see. Young friend, you truly act with decisiveness." Hai Bodong laughed. "May I ask what method you mean for removing the seal?"

Whoosh!

A powerful blue-red flame erupted from Xiao Yan's body. Endless heat swiftly swept away the cold Hai Bodong had just released, leaving only wisps of moisture clinging to the maps on the shelves.

"Could this be... a Heavenly Flame?"