Deep within the Imperial Palace, on the shores of Nether Sea Lake.
The place had lost its former tranquility. In a short span of time, it had become a sea of people!
The Imperial Guard surrounded the entire mountain so tightly that not even a bird could fly past.
At the center of the lakeshore, an elderly figure crouched before the Nether Sea Flood Dragon Beast's enormous head. His withered fingers gently touched its shattered scales, a grave look flashing through his clouded eyes.
He was none other than Fa Ma, president of the Jia Ma Empire's Alchemist Guild.
A peak fifth-grade alchemist and Dou Huang expert, his standing among the empire's alchemists was second only to Pill King Gu He.
"President Fa Ma, how are the flood dragon beast's injuries?"
The emperor of the Jia Ma Empire stood by the lake, his expression dark and his voice carrying anxiety he could not conceal.
Fa Ma did not answer. He merely rose slowly and swept his sleeve, sending a strand of pale green soul force from his palm into the Nether Sea Flood Dragon Beast's body like a gently flowing stream.
The flood dragon beast's enormous body twitched slightly, and it let out a low hiss, but still did not wake.
A moment later, Fa Ma withdrew his soul force, an odd expression appearing on his aged face.
"Your Majesty..."
He turned, his voice low. "The Nether Sea Flood Dragon Beast's injuries are not serious."
"Not serious?"
The middle-aged emperor knitted his brows tightly. "Its belly was ripped open and its beast flame stolen, and you call that not serious?"
"There is something you do not know, Your Majesty."
Fa Ma shook his head and explained, "The intruder merely knocked it unconscious and took a wisp of its origin beast flame. Its vital foundations were left unharmed."
"With a sixth-rank magical beast's powerful ability to heal itself, these surface wounds will naturally heal in a short time. The azure water flame... can also be nurtured within its body again."
He paused, his gaze falling on the shattered scales over the Nether Sea Flood Dragon Beast's abdomen:
"Just as it once gifted Her Highness Yao Yue, the Imperial Family's young princess, a wisp of azure water flame to help her advance her alchemy. Though precious, that beast flame is not something that cannot regenerate. The method used back then simply wasn't this violent..."
The emperor's expression eased slightly, only to darken again. "Even so, daring to sneak into the Imperial Palace and attack the Guardian Divine Beast is a crime punishable by death!"
"Your Majesty..."
Fa Ma hesitated for a moment before finally speaking:
"You must understand that although the Nether Sea Flood Dragon Beast suffers from lingering internal injuries, it is still comparable to a human seven- or eight-star Dou Emperor..."
"To find it, defeat it, and take its flame so easily-even Elder Jia, Jia Xingtian, the Imperial Family's protector, could never do that!"
"That..."
Hearing Fa Ma's reasoned analysis, the seemingly furious emperor instantly regained his composure. Cold sweat broke out across his back, and his tone involuntarily softened.
"Moreover, I discovered something else that may... be even more serious than the theft of the beast flame."
"Wh-what is it? Please tell me, President."
Fa Ma turned and crouched before the Nether Sea Flood Dragon Beast again, his withered fingers gently brushing the edge of its wound.
A layer of tiny ice crystals covered the shattered scales there, gleaming with a chilling light beneath the sun.
Yet a closer examination revealed faint traces of scorched blackness beneath those ice crystals.
"Now cold, now hot... like fire, yet not ice..."
Fa Ma murmured, his voice trembling. "The way this flame inflicts damage closely matches the bone spirit cold flame Grandmaster Gu He mentioned that day... the flame that burned down Gute's residence!"
"Bone spirit cold flame?!"
The emperor's pupils contracted sharply, and his entire body jolted.
"The miraculous... heavenly flame Grandmaster Gu He spoke of?"
"Almost certainly."
Fa Ma rose, his aged face filled with gravity:
"Though I have never personally seen a wonder of heaven and earth like the bone spirit cold flame, Gu He described its properties in detail when he visited the guild that day. Extreme cold and extreme heat intertwined, burning even souls wherever it passed..."
"And the energy lingering in this lake is precisely like that!"
He turned toward the emperor of Jia Ma, a trace of hesitation flashing through his eyes:
"Your Majesty, this means... the person who offended Gu He and the Misty Cloud Sect has now set his sights on the Imperial Family's Guardian Divine Beast!"
"Is this person... truly unafraid of being hunted down by the combined forces of both powers?"
The emperor fell silent.
He stood by the lake with his hands behind his back, gazing toward the vast, distant horizon. His eyes flickered uncertainly, and beads of cold sweat crept onto his forehead.
Bone spirit cold flame... Yao Yan... a mysterious expert...
These past days, the winds and clouds had shifted across the Jia Ma Empire. The Misty Cloud Sect had launched a sweeping search for heavenly flames, Gute's residence had burned down, and now even the Imperial Family's guardian beast had been attacked...
Behind it all, an invisible hand seemed to be stirring the entire continent into a vortex.
"President Fa Ma..."
He spoke slowly, his voice low and hoarse. "In your opinion, how strong... is this person?"
Fa Ma pondered for a moment before saying slowly, "To slip into the Imperial Palace without a sound and easily defeat a sixth-rank magical beast, his strength... must be at least at the Dou Zong level."
"A Dou Zong..."
The emperor swayed slightly.
Among the Jia Ma Empire's publicly known experts, even Dou Huang experts could be counted on one's fingers.
Even Yun Shan, the Misty Cloud Sect's former sect master who had spent years in seclusion, might not have truly stepped into that realm.
And now a mysterious Dou Zong expert was running rampant within the empire?
"Pass on my orders..."
He whirled around, his voice filled with urgency and panic. "Find Elder Jia at once!"
An hour later, a gray-robed figure appeared like a phantom on the shores of Nether Sea Lake.
The figure was not tall and was even slightly stooped, yet the aura radiating from him was as deep as an abyss and as vast as the sea, pressing invisibly upon everyone present.
Jia Xingtian.
The Jia Ma Imperial Family's protector, a peak nine-star Dou Emperor with one foot already in the Dou Zong realm.
After Yun Yun's battle with the Amethyst Winged Lion King in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, Jia Xingtian had learned from her that the Lion King was far stronger than before and had faintly touched the threshold of the seventh rank. Now that the Lion King had also obtained a Transformation Pill to aid him, Jia Xingtian, as the empire's protector, frequently visited the border of the Magical Beast Mountain Range to watch for this potential threat.
His face was aged, its wrinkles crisscrossing like ravines, but a sharp glint occasionally flashed through his clouded eyes, as though he could see through everything around him.
Yet the string of strange incidents lately had left even him feeling a faint sense of pressure.
"Fa Ma..."
Jia Xingtian spoke, his voice low and raspy. "Are you certain a Dou Zong expert did this?"
Fa Ma nodded slowly. "Dou Qi, soul, flame-all were far beyond yours and mine. There is little room for doubt."
Jia Xingtian fell silent.
He slowly stepped forward and gently laid his withered palm over the Nether Sea Flood Dragon Beast's wound, his peak Dou Emperor Dou Qi surging into it like a tide.
A moment later, he withdrew his hand, a grave expression appearing on his aged face.
"This person... cannot be overcome by force."
Jia Xingtian slowly turned, a glimmer of resolve flashing through his clouded eyes.
"With matters having come to this, I must visit the Misty Cloud Sect in person!"