Stone Desert City

This was because his method of subduing Heavenly Flames

was not the usual devouring and refining.

Instead, it resembled a form of sealing!

Simply put,

as long as Hai Bodong himself

could defeat a Heavenly Flame in a clash on the spiritual level,

then its will,

whose spiritual power was inferior to his,

would be completely worn away by him.

From then on, it could only serve at his command!

His own Divine Blood Realm

would also improve to a certain extent after absorbing all the Heavenly Flame's source energy.

However, because Hai Bodong could only use the characteristics of his bloodline power to absorb the source energy contained within Heavenly Flames,

his Dou Qi cultivation in the Ice Dou Qi he practiced would not improve during this process.

Of course, because Hai Bodong's body

was nourished by the source energy contained within the Heavenly Flame, his cultivation aptitude would improve greatly!

And for the sake of his master, Old Yao,

Hai Bodong decided that each time he absorbed a Heavenly Flame,

he would retain a portion of its source energy

to assist Old Yao in cultivating the Flame Mantra in the future.

After all, although he himself could only cultivate Ice Dou Qi and therefore could not cultivate the Flame Mantra,

he also wanted to see just how far the Flame Mantra, that peculiar cultivation technique said to be capable of evolving,

could grow if it had enough Heavenly Flames!

As it happened, Old Yao also needed Hai Bodong

to refine a new body for him.

By then,

Hai Bodong would surely have collected at least

three types of Heavenly Flames.

And with Old Yao's own Bone Spirit Cold Flame added in,

a Flame Mantra that had reached at least the Earth tier would be enough to support Old Yao's Dou Qi cultivation at the Dou Zun level.

As Hai Bodong poured pure Dou Qi into his Dou Qi Wings with all his strength,

at noon that day,

while flying, Hai Bodong caught sight of a flash of gold suddenly appearing on the distant horizon.

Following the route in his memories,

he confirmed the direction.

Then, Hai Bodong continued

flying straight toward Stone Desert City.

After covering some distance, Stone Desert City, located on the eastern outskirts of the Tagor Desert,

gradually

came into clearer view.

Compared to the cities within the empire,

Stone Desert City, situated on the eastern outskirts of the Tagor Desert, possessed a little more simplicity and solidity

and far less luxury.

Perhaps because it lay so close to the Tagor Desert,

its defenses

were only slightly weaker than those of the Jia Ma Imperial Capital.

Throughout Stone Desert City,

fully armed soldiers could be seen everywhere

conducting their patrols diligently.

Hai Bodong had chosen this place as his base not only because it was close to the likely location of a Heavenly Flame, but also because he wanted to hire some local mercenary groups to help survey the terrain.

After all, although he had long collected some information regarding the Green Lotus Core Flame,

over the years,

in order to avoid encountering Queen Medusa,

Hai Bodong had never

conducted any overly thorough field surveys.

Moreover, Hai Bodong had always been a germaphobe.

Surveying beneath the desert floor

was dirty, exhausting work. Unless absolutely necessary,

he generally would not do it himself!

After entering this Stone Desert City,

which he had visited long ago, in a low-key manner,

Hai Bodong followed his memories directly to the south of the city, searching for the Desert Iron Mercenary Group, which he had heard had a fairly good reputation.

After turning through several streets, a courtyard about the size of an ordinary estate

appeared in Hai Bodong's sight.

At the entrance to the large courtyard, where the Desert Iron Mercenary Group's flag was raised, several burly men stood ramrod straight, each holding an axe.

From the faint scent of blood emanating from their bodies, it was easy to tell

that those standing at the gate were elite mercenaries who had seen plenty of bloodshed.

Compared to rookies of the same level,

their combat strength was countless times greater.

However, such trash

was far inferior to the Shadow Guard Unit of the Mite'er Family

that Hai Bodong had commanded in his early years!

To put it bluntly, these few were merely untrained, third-rate trash!

"Go tell the leader of your Desert Iron Mercenary Group that a big deal has come knocking!"

Stopping at the entrance, Hai Bodong did not waste words and spoke directly to the mercenaries guarding the gate.

Upon hearing Hai Bodong's words, the wary expressions of the burly men instantly changed.

Then, they immediately said in unison with great respect:

"Please wait a moment!"

Although they did not yet know Hai Bodong's purpose, the Desert Iron Mercenary Group was, after all, a mercenary group.

Naturally, they had to be more respectful toward a customer like Hai Bodong, who appeared to spend generously.

After waiting for a moment, the burly man who had just left hurried back and respectfully said:

"Honored guest, please follow me. The leader of our Desert Iron Mercenary Group is already waiting for you in the main hall!"

"Mm. Lead the way!"

Hai Bodong casually replied.

Then, following behind the burly man responsible for receiving him, he entered the reception hall within the courtyard.

"Hehe, I am Xiao Ding, leader of the Desert Iron Mercenary Group. This is our second-in-command, Xiao Li. Please, have a seat!"

The older young man wore a gentle smile as he clasped his hands toward Hai Bodong.

However, compared to the mild and courteous Xiao Ding,

the second-in-command, Xiao Li, appeared somewhat cold.

He merely nodded slightly and said nothing more.

After instructing a maid nearby

to serve Hai Bodong tea, the somewhat puzzled Xiao Ding was the first to smile and ask Hai Bodong:

"Honored guest, may I ask what exactly is this big deal you mentioned earlier?"

"To be frank, our Desert Iron Mercenary Group ranks among the top three mercenary groups in all of Stone Desert City."

"Moreover, our prices are fair and our reputation is excellent. This is recognized throughout Stone Desert City."

Hearing this, Hai Bodong did not waste words. He directly tossed Xiao Ding a low-grade Storage Ring containing five hundred thousand gold coins.

Then, he said, "There are five hundred thousand gold coins inside. This is your payment."

"My request is also simple. I only need you to survey the terrain at these locations!"

After speaking, Hai Bodong took out a map of the Tagor Desert from his Ice Spirit Storage Ring,

marked with several special locations,

and handed it to Xiao Ding beside him.

When Xiao Ding saw the map Hai Bodong had produced, which contained information regarding the Green Lotus Core Flame,

he interrupted somewhat uncertainly:

"Uh... You're also here searching for a Heavenly Flame, aren't you?"

"To be honest, a few months ago, an esteemed alchemist also brought out a map almost identical to the one in your hand!"

"Although we followed the markings on the map and ultimately helped that lord find the location of the Heavenly Flame,"

"judging by that lord's expression afterward, the Heavenly Flame had likely already been taken by someone else!"

Xiao Ding paused, then returned the Storage Ring Hai Bodong had tossed to him earlier and said:

"So even if you give us these five hundred thousand gold coins, we won't be able to accomplish anything. You should take them back!"