Breaking the Seal! Medusa?

Hai Bodong considered himself familiar with the Heavenly Flame ranking, yet the azure-red flame before him had completely exceeded his understanding.

Though he did not know what kind of flame it was, the surging heat waves told him that it was an extraordinarily terrifying flame. Even a Dou Emperor would meet a fate of death and soul destruction if caught by it carelessly.

Of course, Xiao Yan was only a Great Dou Master and simply could not unleash a vast sea of flames sufficient to entangle a Dou Emperor. But that was Xiao Yan's problem, not the flame's.

Hai Bodong roughly understood what Xiao Yan meant.

Indeed, if it was the flame before them, even Medusa Queen's seal could be shaken!

It was just...

Hai Bodong secretly glanced at Xiao Yan. This flame could do more than burn away the seal; it could also destroy his meridians. If Xiao Yan harbored any ill intentions during the process, he would become fish on the chopping block, at another's mercy.

In the end, however, Hai Bodong still chose to accept Xiao Yan's proposal. After all, poison could also be added when refining the Calamity-Breaking Pill. What else could he do?

"All right, that works too. What do I need to prepare?" Hai Bodong asked.

"Just prepare a quiet room. You wouldn't want anyone interrupting while I help you lift the seal, would you?"

Hai Bodong nodded in agreement.

"Fine. Follow me."

With that, Hai Bodong took the lead toward a side door, while Xiao Yan and Little Fairy Doctor followed close behind.

Beyond the side door was a corridor, with a room at its end.

After entering the room, Xiao Yan swept his gaze around and found no passage leading outside apart from the door they had entered through. Even that door was specially made. Looking at the door, which was as thick as an arm, Xiao Yan reckoned that even a Dou Spirit expert would have difficulty entering easily. In Mo City, where powerful experts were scarce, practically no one besides Xiao Yan and Hai Bodong could break in.

"How is it? This was originally where I planned to have the alchemist I found refine pills for you. Not bad, right?" Hai Bodong said rather proudly. Although this room was nothing much when he had still been a Dou Emperor, it was exceedingly valuable to a Dou Spirit. Hai Bodong had spent considerable effort constructing it.

"Mm, it's acceptable." Xiao Yan nodded indifferently. Little Fairy Doctor might have been somewhat surprised upon seeing defenses of this level for the first time, but Xiao Yan, who had even traversed the Gu Clan, the pinnacle of the Dou Qi Continent, found it rather ordinary. At the very least, it was not enough to surprise him.

Hai Bodong carefully observed Xiao Yan and Little Fairy Doctor's expressions. Although Little Fairy Doctor hid it well, a trace of surprise could still be seen. Xiao Yan, however, showed not the slightest fluctuation. Perhaps this kid held a higher position within the power behind him and was therefore used to such things. Hai Bodong suppressed some of the suspicions that had arisen over the past few days.

People always tended to think all sorts of things after making a decision, or conduct a detailed review of it. Hai Bodong naturally belonged to the latter category, and he realized that Xiao Yan and Little Fairy Doctor had never presented any conclusive proof that a great power stood behind them. Even now, that remained the case.

"All right, now that we're here, stop talking nonsense. Hurry up and find a place to sit," Xiao Yan urged Hai Bodong.

"Mm." When it came down to it, Hai Bodong was the most anxious person here. Naturally, he would not delay any longer. With a casual wave, he pushed the table originally meant for medicinal ingredients aside from the center of the room, then sat down cross-legged.

Xiao Yan brought over a chair placed beside the table and had Little Fairy Doctor sit in a secluded corner of the room. Then he sat cross-legged behind Hai Bodong.

Pressing both hands against Hai Bodong's back, he first sent his soul consciousness into Hai Bodong's body.

As another person's consciousness entered his body, Hai Bodong instinctively felt a trace of discomfort. His brows furrowed slightly, and the Dou Qi in his body instinctively tried to expel the foreign presence, but he promptly restrained it.

As Hai Bodong suppressed his body's instincts, Xiao Yan saw the seal within him that had suppressed his cultivation for decades.

Mysterious runes of varying colors covered Hai Bodong's meridians—blue, red, yellow, green, purple. Every rune resembled a living venomous snake that emitted a chilly aura as it slithered through Hai Bodong's meridians. When Xiao Yan's soul consciousness entered, they seemed to sense his presence as well. Pairs of snake eyes stared coldly at him from the darkness, sending chills down his spine!

Fortunately, these multicolored rune snakes did not possess true intelligence. They soon returned to their original state, traveling deep along the meridians before returning from within.

Following the direction in which they moved, Xiao Yan passed through a layer of mist. At the center of the intertwined seven-colored strands formed by countless rune snakes, a phantom figure lay lazily on her side.

The instant he saw that figure, Xiao Yan felt as if lightning had struck his soul, leaving him utterly stunned.

Her exquisite body bore no ornaments, only a thin veil that outlined the alluring curves beneath it to perfection. Her breasts were proud, her waist supple. Her delicate oval face carried an aloof coldness that kept others at a distance, yet her closed eyes and slightly parted lips gave her the impression of inviting anyone to pluck her, making one's blood surge.

Looking lower, the snake body that should have ruined the view did not diminish her charm in the slightest. Its occasional movements instead unintentionally stirred the deepest desires within a person. Fine scales glimmered with seven-colored light over her enticing body, adding an even more dreamlike quality.

Only at this moment did Xiao Yan truly understand what it meant to be a natural temptress, what it meant for a woman to conquer a man. He admitted that, at this moment, he had been conquered.

Reluctantly shifting his gaze away from her lovely body, Xiao Yan looked again at the seven-colored strands formed by countless rune snakes. These were the true body of Medusa Queen's Serpent Sealing Curse. As long as they were destroyed, the Serpent Sealing Curse could be lifted.

After giving the alluring figure in the distance one last glance, Xiao Yan suppressed the thought of simply leaving Hai Bodong sealed and summoned the Volcanic Azure Lotus Flame from within himself.

The azure-red flame appeared and swiftly surged toward one of the seven-colored strands.

Hiss!!!

The rune snakes, which had rested peacefully for decades, suddenly suffered the scorching of the Volcanic Azure Lotus Flame and resisted fiercely. Like real snakes, they let out piercing cries. The entire seal trembled, twisted, and warped, as though it were about to pounce upon Xiao Yan.

But a seal was ultimately only a seal. It had no means of attacking an enemy. Aside from struggling continuously and making Hai Bodong, whom it was attached to, suffer somewhat, it had no other effect.

Seeing this, Xiao Yan stopped holding back and fully activated the Heavenly Flame. The azure-red flames seemed to be infected, transforming into a giant serpent that devoured the rune snakes on Hai Bodong's meridians one by one.

A quarter of an hour, half an hour.

One hour, two hours.

No one knew how much time had passed. Xiao Yan's Dou Qi was nearly exhausted, and Hai Bodong was also nearing his limit. Enduring the scorching of the Heavenly Flame and the impacts upon his meridians without pause had left him utterly fatigued.

Suddenly, a powerful chill erupted from Hai Bodong's body, instantly suppressing the high temperature that Xiao Yan's Heavenly Flame had raised within the room. It even went too far, making the room somewhat cold.

Little Fairy Doctor looked at the tea in the cup before her. It had nearly evaporated from boiling, yet was now frozen over. Fine bubbles could even be seen within the white ice crystals, clearly left behind from when it had boiled earlier.

Within Hai Bodong's body, Xiao Yan's soul consciousness let out a long breath as it looked at the seven-colored strand it had finally cleared away. Then, seeing the dozens of remaining seven-colored strands around it, the corner of his mouth twitched.

When the hell am I going to finish this!

Just as Xiao Yan was cursing inwardly, a wisp of pure Dou Qi drifted before him. The seven-colored hue concealed within it, along with the substance that was clearly purer than the Dou Qi within the meridians, revealed its owner's identity.

This was... Medusa Queen's Dou Qi left behind after the seal had been burned away!

Xiao Yan's eyes instantly grew fervent.

This Dou Qi was no ordinary thing. It was Dou Qi capable of sealing a Dou Emperor for decades. Even Medusa Queen could not have used it casually; she had most likely paid a certain price for it.

Xiao Yan turned to look at the remaining dozens of seven-colored strands. This time, not even Medusa's phantom could attract his attention. In his eyes, there were only treasures of heaven and earth that could make him stronger!

Eh? Something wasn't right?

Xiao Yan absorbed all the released Dou Qi. One portion was used to replenish his own depleted Dou Qi, while the other was stored within the Heavenly Flame seal.

But strangely, the amount of Dou Qi was far too little. It was not even enough to fully replenish the Dou Qi he had expended.

Looking more carefully, Xiao Yan discovered that much of the Dou Qi had been absorbed by the meridians below and was currently being refined.

Damn it? This old schemer! He actually dared to steal from him! Xiao Yan had worked so diligently to help him break the seal, yet he had not informed him about such a good thing. This was outrageous!

At this moment, Xiao Yan had completely forgotten that he had also wanted to keep it all for himself. Unbeknownst to him, Hai Bodong was likewise cursing a certain little fox inwardly. This was the essence of Medusa Queen's power at the Peak Dou Emperor realm. If he could fully absorb it, perhaps he could even completely recover the cultivation he had lost over the years from being sealed!

Xiao Yan thought that this would not do. How could someone else reap the benefits after he had put in so much effort? He immediately decided to continue burning away the seal.

Although Hai Bodong would continue absorbing the power this way, as long as he had no means of storing Dou Qi inside his body, he could not possibly compete with Xiao Yan, because Xiao Yan did not need to refine it at all.

On the other hand, if he stopped, Hai Bodong could calmly refine Medusa's power before continuing to absorb it.

Having settled on a plan, Xiao Yan immediately sprang into action. He located another seven-colored strand and pounced on it.

Although Hai Bodong did not know why Xiao Yan had suddenly become so energized and sped up so drastically, the violent Heavenly Flame sometimes caused even his meridians to ache, forcing him to expend more effort mobilizing Dou Qi for protection.

Still, he felt no dissatisfaction. The other party was helping him recover his cultivation faster, so what could he possibly complain about?

But as time passed, Hai Bodong realized something was wrong.

When Xiao Yan burned away the second seven-colored strand, he did not pay much attention, merely cursing inwardly that the brat had indeed discovered Medusa's power.

Although Xiao Yan absorbed the power at an astonishing rate, so fast that even Hai Bodong, who had recovered to the Peak Dou Spirit realm, could barely keep up, Hai Bodong only assumed that Xiao Yan's cultivation technique was far stronger than his own low-level Earth-rank technique.

But by the time Xiao Yan burned away the seventh and eighth seven-colored strands, Hai Bodong could no longer sit still.

Hai Bodong had already recovered to the cultivation of a Four-Star Dou King, yet he still could not match Xiao Yan's speed in absorbing Medusa Queen's power. What the hell was this? Could Xiao Yan's cultivation technique really allow a Great Dou Master to absorb energy faster than a Dou King? Even a Heaven-rank Dou Technique could not do that!

At that moment, Hai Bodong felt the urge to simply take a break halfway through. Thinking it over carefully, he was not really in that much of a hurry, was he? Little Brother Xiao Yan had worked so hard; surely he should be allowed to rest, right?

In the end, however, Hai Bodong did not voice the suggestion.

After some more time passed, Xiao Yan had already burned away the twenty-seventh seven-colored strand. Apart from that, only nine seven-colored strands remained on other meridians, and Medusa Queen's phantom in the distance had become faint and intermittent.

As the twenty-seventh seven-colored strand was burned away, Hai Bodong's power smoothly returned to the Dou Emperor realm.

An aura so powerful it seemed almost tangible radiated from Hai Bodong's body. Even Xiao Yan, protected by the Heavenly Flame, could no longer ignore it.

His soul consciousness was forced out of Hai Bodong's body. Xiao Yan decisively retreated to where Little Fairy Doctor was and shielded her from the continuously surging chill ahead.

Even Xiao Yan found the continuously pouring chill difficult to resist at this point. Elsewhere in the room, where Xiao Yan was not blocking it, thick walls of ice had already formed!

"Hahaha! Finally, this damned seal is finally gone! I'm a Dou Emperor again! Hahaha!" His feet rose into the air as terrifying sound waves echoed in every direction, shattering the ice walls that had just formed. Hai Bodong vented the Dou Emperor power he had finally regained to his heart's content. Although he had only just entered the Dou Emperor realm and remained far from his former peak, that was merely a matter of time.

Watching the ice walls form and shatter, Xiao Yan could not help sighing at the terrifying might of even a One-Star Dou Emperor. Though there was still a world of difference between one and the Dou Saints of the Gu Clan whom he had seen before, as he had once told Gu Yuan, there was not much difference to him between a Dou Saint and a Dou Emperor. Either could easily kill him while he was still merely a Great Dou Master.

"Congratulations, Elder Hai, on recovering your Dou Emperor cultivation." Seeing Hai Bodong gradually emerge from his wild exhilaration, Xiao Yan stepped forward at the appropriate moment and clasped his hands in congratulations.

"Now that our agreement has been fulfilled, may the other half of the fragmentary map we agreed upon be handed over to this junior?" Xiao Yan asked tentatively, a trace of vigilance in his eyes.

"Of course. But there is no rush. Aren't there still nine seven-colored strands left unresolved? Once everything is settled, this old man will naturally give you the remaining fragmentary map." Hai Bodong readily agreed, yet tried to delay.

Xiao Yan narrowed his eyes, his tone turning somewhat cold. "Could it be that you are making a fool of me? With your Dou Emperor cultivation already restored, you can completely resolve the remaining seal yourself. Why use this as an excuse to delay?"

"Though you have always acted as if a great power stands behind you, I have yet to see any sign of the force behind either of you. I would like to ask..." Hai Bodong's tone also turned cold, his eyes carrying a frosty glint. "Do the two of you truly have any background?"