Heading to the Magical Beast Mountain Range to Take the Amethyst Winged Lion King's Blood!

Several days later, in the Tagor Desert.

Following the clues Lu Changfeng had given them earlier, Mittel Tengshan, Fa Ma, and Gu He searched their way deep into the desert and arrived at the entrance of a mysterious shop.

The shop looked dilapidated, tucked away in an inconspicuous corner of the desert. No one would have noticed it unless they were deliberately searching for it.

Then Mittel Tengshan pushed open the door and walked inside, immediately spotting an old man sitting behind the counter.

The old man wore plain robes, and his face bore traces of life's hardships, but between his brows, one could still faintly discern the imposing presence with which he had once commanded the winds and clouds.

It was none other than Ice Emperor Hai Bodong, who had disappeared for years!

"Elder Hai!" Mittel Tengshan could not help calling out.

Hai Bodong had been dozing behind the counter. Hearing someone call his name, he abruptly opened his eyes.

Shock appeared on his face when he saw Mittel Tengshan, Fa Ma, and Gu He standing at the entrance.

"You... how did you know I was here?"

At the sight, Hai Bodong knitted his brows tightly. He had hidden here for so many years without ever contacting anyone in the Jia Ma Empire. How had these people found him?

Fa Ma and the others also looked at him in surprise, examining him from head to toe.

"Elder Hai, you've been missing for so many years. So Queen Medusa really did seal your strength and leave you trapped here."

Hai Bodong's expression turned somewhat ugly at those words. After a moment of silence, he gave a bitter laugh.

"I've made a laughingstock of myself before you. The Ice Emperor of old now only has the strength of a Dou Ling."

"Queen Medusa's Snake Seal is far too formidable. I've tried many methods, but none could break it. All I could do was hide in a place like this and cling to what little life I had left."

As soon as he finished speaking, Fa Ma and Gu He exchanged a glance, each seeing the other's emotion.

Ice Emperor Hai Bodong, a Nine-Star Dou Emperor whose name had once shaken the Jia Ma Empire, had now fallen to the Dou Ling realm. It was truly a cause for lament.

Looking at them, Hai Bodong sighed. "All these years, I've been searching for a way to break the seal, and I've gathered some medicinal ingredients too."

"But removing Queen Medusa's seal requires at least a sixth-grade pill."

"Other than Gu He, the Jia Ma Empire doesn't have a single sixth-tier alchemist. Besides, I haven't even finished gathering the ingredients, so that little hope of mine gradually faded."

At this point, a hint of self-mockery appeared on Hai Bodong's face. Clearly, he no longer held much hope of removing the seal.

Yet Mittel Tengshan carefully took a jade box from inside his robes, opened it, and held it out before Hai Bodong.

Inside the jade box lay a pill that gave off a soft luster. Its rich medicinal fragrance instantly filled the entire room.

At the sight, Hai Bodong was utterly dumbfounded. He shot up from his chair, his eyes fixed unblinkingly on the pill.

"This is..."

Mittel Tengshan said with a smile, "Elder Hai, this is a seventh-tier pill specifically meant to remove Queen Medusa's seal. Once you take it, you'll be able to undo the seal and regain your peak strength."

Hai Bodong froze at those words. He stared blankly at the pill, his lips trembling slightly.

"A seventh-tier pill? Since when could the Jia Ma Empire refine seventh-tier pills? Where did you get this pill?"

Mittel Tengshan answered truthfully, "A lord refined it. He's only in his early twenties, but he's already a seventh-tier alchemist."

"He was the one who told us you were here, and he was also the one who refined this pill to help remove your seal."

Hai Bodong was even more shocked to hear this. A seventh-tier alchemist in his early twenties?

When had such a figure appeared in the Jia Ma Empire?

Had he grown ill-informed after not returning to the empire for all these years? He had certainly never heard of such a genius before.

"A twenty-year-old seventh-tier alchemist? How is that possible!"

Disbelief covered Hai Bodong's face. In all his years, he had seen no small number of genius alchemists, but he had never heard of anyone reaching the level of a seventh-tier alchemist at twenty.

Yet Mittel Tengshan nodded earnestly. "It's true. I saw it with my own eyes. That lord's alchemy techniques are extraordinarily refined. It doesn't take him long to refine a seventh-tier pill."

"Elder Hai, don't worry about all that for now. Hurry and take this pill to try it."

Hai Bodong still found it rather hard to believe. Could a single pill remove Queen Medusa's seal and even restore his peak strength?

He had tried countless methods over the years, yet the seal had not budged at all. He was already on the verge of giving up. Still, seeing the earnest expressions on Mittel Tengshan and the others' faces, Hai Bodong hesitated for a moment before accepting the pill.

He took a deep breath, then swallowed the pill in one gulp.

The instant the pill entered his mouth, a gentle yet vast surge of medicinal power erupted inside his body!

Then Hai Bodong felt as though a warm current was rushing through his meridians. Wherever it passed, the power of Queen Medusa's seal began to loosen and crumble bit by bit.

It felt like years of accumulated ice and snow rapidly melting beneath the sunlight. A familiar, mighty strength was awakening once more from deep within his body.

Then Hai Bodong abruptly clenched his fists. The instant the seal within him shattered completely, surging Dou Qi burst from his body!

The imposing presence of a Nine-Star Dou Emperor instantly filled the entire room, making even the roof beams tremble slightly a few times.

Feeling that long-lost, mighty strength within him, Hai Bodong was beside himself with excitement.

"My strength... my strength has returned! Nine-Star Dou Emperor! It's truly back!"

"Hahaha! I, Ice Emperor Hai Bodong, am back!"

At that moment, sensing that powerful presence, Mittel Tengshan, Fa Ma, and the others all looked delighted.

Hai Bodong laughed for quite a while before calming down. He turned toward Mittel Tengshan, his eyes brimming with excitement.

"Teng Shan, what's the name of the lord who refined this pill? Where is he now? This young man is extraordinary! A twenty-year-old seventh-tier alchemist, and he even knew about my situation and specially refined a pill to help remove my seal."

"I must thank him properly. Whatever the cost, I must befriend him!"

Hearing this, Mittel Tengshan quickly answered, "That lord is called Lu Changfeng. He's currently staying at a residence in the imperial capital."

Hai Bodong nodded, firmly committing the name to memory.

A twenty-year-old seventh-tier alchemist had appeared in the Jia Ma Empire, and he had helped him so greatly with a single move. He had to build a good relationship with someone like that!

Meanwhile, Lu Changfeng had already left the imperial capital and arrived in the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

A few days earlier, he had just comprehended the formula for a seventh-tier pill. This pill could strengthen the constitution of the child in Xiao Xun'er's womb. In other words, once his child was born, the child's constitution would be further enhanced, and their cultivation speed would double!

However, refining this pill required one special medicinal ingredient: the blood of the sixth-rank magical beast, the Amethyst Winged Lion King.

Thus, Lu Changfeng had made a special trip to the Magical Beast Mountain Range, intending to personally take some of the Amethyst Winged Lion King's blood back with him!