The Battle with Hai Bodong

Seeing how arrogant the old man was, Xiao Yan stopped holding back. He gave a mocking laugh and said disdainfully:

"Well, well, Senior Hai Bodong, one of the empire's legendary ten strongest experts, known as the Ice Emperor. How did you end up selling maps here? It doesn't look like you're enjoying your retirement, either!"

The old man's expression changed, and his whole body trembled for a moment before he quickly regained his composure.

Xiao Yan shoved the ice blade away from him, then put the map fragment back into his Storage Ring and spoke to Yao Lao in his mind:

"Teacher, I can't sense this guy's cultivation, but I think he's a Dou Emperor at most. Lend me some soul power, and I'll sound him out."

Yao Lao nodded slightly at his words and casually released a ball of milky-white energy. It attached itself to Xiao Yan, smoothly raising his presence to that of a Peak Dou Ling.

Feeling his presence steadily rise, Xiao Yan grew bolder and continued his explanation:

"This man can wield ice-attribute Dou Qi with such consummate skill, and he's also intimately familiar with the geography of the Tagor Desert."

"It's hard not to think of... that senior who disappeared in the Tagor Desert more than ten years ago... Am I right, Ice Emperor Hai Bodong?"

The youth reached out and pressed down on the map the old man was drawing. He took it and waved it in the air provocatively, instantly rousing Hai Bodong's anger.

Although he held the man in great respect and had always called him Elder Hai in his previous life, Hai Bodong did not know him yet.

Rather than waste time going around in circles, it would be more satisfying to fight.

The victor became king, the defeated an outlaw. One fight would settle it!

Once he had obtained the things he wanted, he would naturally give Hai Bodong ample benefits.

"Hmm..."

Crushing the ice blade in his hand, Hai Bodong glared at the youth and unleashed his Dou Qi. A frigid gale threw the entire shop into chaos, and the atmosphere abruptly dropped to freezing point.

"Boy, who are you? How do you know where this old man is? Who sent you here...?"

A cold gleam flashed through Hai Bodong's murky eyes. He concealed one hand behind his back and formed a diamond-shaped ice crystal as he began pressing Xiao Yan about his origins.

He had not shown himself in more than ten years, and the world already believed him dead. Why had this person come looking for him? There had to be something suspicious about it.

"Who I am isn't important..."

Xiao Yan spread his palm, and a violent vortex of Dou Qi appeared before him. A seven-colored fire dragon shot out of it and circled the old man.

"You'd better worry about yourself first!"

As he spoke, Xiao Yan clenched his fist. The fire dragon's gaze suddenly turned savage, and it lunged at the old man's face with bared fangs and claws.

"Damn it... Million Ice Barriers!!"

Seeing Xiao Yan attack at the slightest disagreement, Hai Bodong flew into a rage. His hands were no slower, and he waved them in an instant to defend against the fire dragon.

Layer upon layer of ice walls rose from the ground, forming a thick ice shield that fiercely resisted the scorching heat of the fire dragon.

As ice and fire collided, a violent explosion erupted, accompanied by an invisible shock wave of Dou Qi.

Whoosh-!

Firelight flickered ceaselessly, joining with the ice shield's frigid chill to form a violent force powerful enough to unleash a hurricane. In an instant, it blasted the entire shop apart.

Many scrolls were swept away by the gale and fell from above, blotting out the sky.

Along with them came countless pieces of the shop's wreckage, wood, stone, and jade, none of it spared.

Amid the ruins, the two stood facing each other, the old man still holding up his hands to keep the shield stable.

But the fire dragon was unstoppable. It continued melting the ice crystals, quickly burning a passage roughly ten feet wide through them and bearing down on Hai Bodong's face.

In that critical moment, Hai Bodong's expression changed drastically. He leaped into a somersault, using the wood chips and shattered stones in midair to propel himself aside, and only narrowly avoided the fire dragon's attack.

"That was close... I was almost roasted!"

Hai Bodong said, still shaken.

He recalled how full of vigor and ambition he had been more than ten years ago. Even Dou Emperors had not been worthy of his regard.

But after being sealed by Queen Medusa, he had finally understood that beyond every person stood another, and beyond every heaven lay another.

That battle had shattered nearly all his pride, leaving him unable to recover.

Now he had fallen like a tiger onto the plains, bullied by dogs, to the point that even a junior dared to spout arrogant words at him.

At the thought, Hai Bodong's heart filled with unwillingness. He brought his palms together before his chest, then abruptly spread them apart.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle...

A great mass of cold Qi surged out and instantly froze, hanging in midair as a densely packed sea of ice spikes. They whistled down from above, heading straight for Xiao Yan.

"Come on, then!"

Xiao Yan snorted coldly, took the Heavy Xuan Ruler from his Storage Ring, and spun it horizontally around his body. A tornado sprang up around him, blowing all the ice spikes away.

He then gathered strength for another second. A seven-colored fire dragon coiled around the ruler as vast energy from heaven and earth gathered.

"Flame Splitting Wave Ruler!"

Xiao Yan immediately swung the ruler hard, sending a wave of fire sweeping straight toward Hai Bodong.

The fire wave was a hundred meters long and a hundred feet wide, vast and majestic, its momentum like a rainbow!

In the desert, which had burned beneath the sun for so long, the power of Xiao Yan's attack...

Was at least thirty percent greater than usual.

"Not good!"

Hai Bodong cried out in alarm and once again created an ice shield in front of himself. As he defended, he used his soul power to stay briefly aloft and run through the air, trying to evade.

Unfortunately, the fire wave proved superior!

In an instant, the ice shield shattered, and scorching heat swept over Hai Bodong's entire body. He felt his skin burn as the fire wave passed straight through him.

Boom-!

The attack still did not stop. The scorching fire wave exploded in the clear sky in the distance, forming a sea of fire that painted heaven and earth in a blaze of color.

Bang!!!

The sea of fire exploded, and the aftershock rippled outward, instantly raising a skyful of sand and dust that swallowed the old man.

"Elder Hai, I'm sorry."

Xiao Yan muttered to himself, put away the Heavy Xuan Ruler, and quickly reached the cloud of dust. He seized the old man by the throat and pulled him out.

As the dust cleared, Hai Bodong's entire body was charred black, his hair curled, and his clothes torn. He looked utterly miserable.

Xiao Yan stared at him coldly and threatened him in an icy voice:

"I came here for only two things. The first is that map fragment from earlier. I know you split it into two halves, and I want the other half."

He paused, then continued:

"As for the second... it's information about the Heavenly Flames."

Clenching his teeth and bearing the humiliation, Hai Bodong immediately replied, "In your dreams!"

Knowing the man's temperament, Xiao Yan wasted no more words. He seized Hai Bodong, smashed him away, and threw him back into the nearby ruins.

With his hands in his pockets, Xiao Yan strolled past the map fragments around him. When he saw Hai Bodong struggling on the ground again, he stopped and looked down at him.

"I know you've been afflicted by Medusa's Snake-People Sealing Technique. I can undo it for you in exchange for those two things. How about it?"

He made no secret of it, fully explaining why he had come.

Yao Lao likewise had no doubts about Xiao Yan's actions.

After all, they had come here in the first place to search for the Heavenly Flames.

And since Hai Bodong was so familiar with the geography of the Tagor Desert, it was highly likely that he possessed information about the Heavenly Flames.

"Impossible!"

Lying facedown on the ground, Hai Bodong stubbornly shook his head and rejected Xiao Yan's offer, then added:

"Never mind how you learned those two things existed. Just the fact that you attacked me makes it impossible for me to hand them over to you."

Although his attitude was firm, there was a hint of uncertainty in his voice. Clearly, the terms Xiao Yan had offered were tempting as well.