Battle Through the Heavens: Xiao Yan, who was kidnapped to another world

Sitting in the carriage heading to Blackrock City, Little Fairy Doctor looked at Xiao Yan with some confusion, "How come Xiao Lan's speed is faster than the carriage's?"

“Blackrock City is a large city,” Xiao Yan sighed. “All large cities have weapons to disperse flying magical beasts. Let alone your Xiao Lan, who is only a first-tier magical beast, even a fourth-tier magical beast cannot get within a hundred miles of Blackrock City!”

"Are all large cities like this?" Little Fairy Doctor blinked and asked.

“At least most of the major cities in the Gama Empire are like this,” Xiao Yan thought for a moment and said, “The Izumo Empire might be different… However, it’s better to be careful when we go to the Izumo Empire later, and it’s better to keep Xiao Lan away when we get close to the big cities.”

"Are you really going to the Izumo Empire?" Little Fairy Doctor asked with a pained expression.

“I already told you, that poisonous swamp was the training ground I wanted to go to from the beginning,” Xiao Yan rolled his eyes after glancing at the somewhat pretentious Little Fairy Doctor. “Besides, it only takes three days at most to get to the Tagor Desert by air transport fleet. You can just treat it as an opportunity to experience the local customs and culture.”

"Why waste so little time experiencing local customs and culture?" Little Fairy Doctor muttered to herself. "Besides, what can you possibly experience while riding on the back of a flying magical beast?"

"We're almost at Blackrock City," Xiao Yan said, pretending not to hear, and looked out the window. "There's an Alchemist Guild in Blackrock City. Would you be interested in checking it out?"

"I'm not an alchemist, what would I be doing there?"

"After I find a place to stay, I'll head over by myself," Xiao Yan said, unsurprised. "We'll meet at the flight transport team's location at seven o'clock tomorrow morning. Don't be late."

"Yes—" Little Fairy Doctor dragged out her words weakly. She always felt that agreeing to come to the Tagor Desert with Xiao Yan first and then go to the Chuyun Empire was a mistake.

After spending the night in Black Rock City, Xiao Yan and Little Fairy Doctor boarded a flying magical beast bound for Desert City early the next morning.

Mocheng, the only large city in the Tagor Desert, is the last stop for those who go to the Tagor Desert to search for treasures. It is also the closest trading place for the natural treasures produced in the Tagor Desert. However, compared to the natural treasures produced in the desert, snake-woman slaves are the most famous products of this city.

"Is it hot?" Xiao Yan, who had already changed into an exquisite alchemist's robe that looked like a work of art, stopped and looked at the Little Fairy Doctor beside him, who was covered in sweat.

"What do you think?" Little Fairy Doctor rolled her eyes in annoyance. "It's so hot here, and you're still wearing a long robe. Aren't you afraid of dying of heat?"

"The alchemist's robe has a cooling effect," Xiao Yan said with a faint smile. "Unless you're in a volcano or the Earth's core, this robe is the best clothing to keep you cool." As he spoke, he took out a new robe from his Awakening Flame Ring.

"It was issued after the first assessment, and I've never worn it." Before Little Fairy Doctor could refuse or complain, Xiao Yan explained the origin of the robe.

"At least you have some conscience..." After muttering to herself, Little Fairy Doctor changed into the robe that Xiao Yan handed her.

At the city gate of Mo City, dozens of armored soldiers were holding long spears and shouting to passersby to pay the city entrance tax. Looking at the soldiers who were fully armed despite the heat, Xiao Yan frowned slightly. Although Mo City was the only major city in the Tagor Desert, he had never seen such a solemn scene when he came here before.

"What's been happening lately?"

Following the flow of people, Xiao Yan stopped at the city gate and casually asked a question.

“The snake people in the Tagor Desert have been quite restless lately,” the officer-looking soldier said cautiously, swallowing hard after noticing the third-grade alchemist badge on Xiao Yan’s chest. “Several cities have been attacked by snake people tribes. If you are not in a hurry, sir, please stay in Mo City for a while longer.”

"Has the city lord ventured deep into the desert?" After scanning the entire city with his soul power and failing to sense the Dou Wang-level city lord of Desert City, Xiao Yan asked.

"Yes, the city lord has already summoned the city lords of other cities and gone deep into the desert," the officer said, a hint of relief on his face. "In at most a week, those snake-people tribes will settle down, and then..."

During this period, the officers had advised alchemists of all levels not to venture deep into the desert recently, but Xiao Yan was the first one who was so easy to talk to.

“I know what I’m doing,” Xiao Yan interrupted the officer, “Just mind your own business.”

After saying that, he walked towards the city with the Little Fairy Doctor beside him.

'Damn it, all these alchemists are the same...' the officer cursed inwardly, but didn't dare to look at Xiao Yan again. After returning to his post, he vented his anger on the passersby entering the city.

As I slowly walked out of the somewhat dimly lit city wall passage, my vision suddenly brightened, and a unique city complex with desert-style architecture came into view.

"Are you going to stay in Mo City for a while?" Standing on the street, Little Fairy Doctor asked after scanning the bustling street with her eyes.

“There’s no need,” Xiao Yan shook his head. “Unless the snake people want to start a full-scale war, the leaders of the snake people tribes will restrain their snake people when the city lords of the major cities venture deep into the desert.”

The relationship between the Gama Empire and the Snake People tribe is not good, but the Tagor Desert, where the Snake People live, is the border between the Gama Empire and neighboring empires. Unless the Snake People join forces with other empires, the Gama Empire cannot go to war with the Snake People.

Similarly, to avoid being wiped out by a joint effort of two hostile empires, in most cases, as long as the empire's powerful warriors venture deep into the desert, the leaders of the snake-people tribes will restrain their snake-people.

"Then let's just leave the city?"

“…No, first go buy an accurate map of the Tagor Desert, then purchase enough water,” Xiao Yan shook his head, his eyes flickering slightly. “I’ll leave the water to you, and I’ll take care of the map.” He naturally assigned the tasks.

After pursing her lips, Little Fairy Doctor still accepted the task assigned by Xiao Yan, and then followed Xiao Yan's directions to the nearest water source for sale.

After watching Little Fairy Doctor leave from afar, Xiao Yan took a deep breath and walked in the direction his soul power sensed.

In fact, Xiao Yan had both an accurate map of the Tagor Desert and sufficient water in his Awakening Flame Ring. The map was obtained from the city lord of Mo City half a year ago, and its accuracy was definitely higher than that of any map sold in Mo City.

However, just now, when Xiao Yan released his soul power to try and confirm whether the city lord of Mo City was still in the city, he sensed something strange in a certain place...

To be precise, Xiao Yan's soul power encountered the same situation in this city as it had in the Monster Mountain Range before—he was completely unable to detect what was being swept through his soul!

"The previous map was of the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame..." On his journey, Xiao Yan licked his slightly chapped lips. "What will we find this time?"

Gradually, Xiao Yan slowed down and finally stopped in front of a shop called "Gu Tu".

"Ancient map? Is this the best map shop in Mo City?" After muttering this in a fake manner, Xiao Yan walked into the shop.

The shop wasn't very spacious, but the faint glow of the two moonstones illuminated it quite brightly. After scanning the shop and confirming that there was no one else besides the Dou Ling who had drawn the map, Xiao Yan muttered, "Did we come to the wrong place?"

Xiao Yan wandered around the shop casually, occasionally picking up the map on the counter to look at it, appearing very satisfied.

After a long while, Xiao Yan slowly walked to a quaint wooden shelf in the corner of the shop.

The wooden frame is clearly very old, riddled with holes from decayed wood. On top of it, some yellowed maps are piled up haphazardly. Judging from the tattered marks on the surface of these maps, they seem to be failed attempts at mapmaking.

As he casually flipped through the yellowed maps, Xiao Yan narrowed his eyes when he saw one. The familiar, messy route was instantly recognizable to him, even though it was only the second time he had seen it.

'Tsk tsk, lucky fellow, to find such a clueless map fragment in a place like this. It seems you really do have some kind of destiny with that Pure Lotus Demon Flame.'

In Xiao Yan's heart, Yao Lao's voice, which contained a hint of surprise, rang out. Clearly, he had never expected that Xiao Yan would be able to obtain two mysterious map fragments in just one month.

One of the four sides of the map in my hand is very new, completely different from the other three sides, which is obviously the result of being cropped recently.

After scanning the area with his soul power and finding that there was indeed no other fragment of the map, Xiao Yan sighed inwardly, picked up the fragment of the Pure Lotus Demon Flame map, walked up to the shopkeeper, and asked, "Old sir, do you have any more of this kind of map here?"

Upon hearing Xiao Yan's question, the old man, who had been intently drawing a map, trembled slightly in his hand. He then slowly raised his head, his gaze sweeping over the tattered map in Xiao Yan's hand. A strange meaning flashed in his cloudy old eyes.

"Have you seen fragments of this map before?" The old man's eyes swept over the badge of a third-grade alchemist on Xiao Yan's chest, his voice tinged with surprise.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan narrowed his eyes slightly, smiled and shook his head, saying, "I seem to have seen this kind of map fragment at an auction once. I casually bid for it, but I gave up because the other party's bid was too high. The map fragment I saw here today seems to be somewhat similar to the one I encountered before, so I wanted to ask about it."

"Oh."

The old man's gaze swept across Xiao Yan's face, and he seemed to believe Xiao Yan's words. He said calmly, "That's all. I only obtained this by chance. Based on my many years of experience in cartography, it seems to be just a fragment of a map."

"Then could you tell me, sir, where did you obtain it?" Xiao Yan frowned slightly and continued to ask.

"Found it in the desert," the old man said calmly, without the slightest ripple of emotion.

Xiao Yan gave a wry smile at the old man's extremely irresponsible answer, holding the tattered map in his hand, and said, "Old sir, can you sell me this map? I'm willing to pay a high price."

"Not for sale." The old man slowly lowered his head, focusing his attention once again on the still unfinished map. His tone was calm, but it carried an unquestionable air.

After being flatly rejected, Xiao Yan exhaled a breath of turbid air and narrowed his eyes. No matter what, he was determined to get this fragment of the map and the piece that had been separated. After all, the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame was too attractive to Xiao Yan. Perhaps, in the future, if he wanted to evolve the "Burning Technique" into a Heaven-Rank technique, the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame, which ranked third on the Strange Flame Ranking, would play a crucial role!

'Be careful, this old guy is no ordinary person.'

As various thoughts churned in Xiao Yan's mind, Yao Lao's voice suddenly rang out.

'Isn't it a battle spirit?' Xiao Yan frowned slightly and asked in his heart.

"This old fellow's true strength should be that of a Dou Huang, but it seems he's being suppressed by some strange power, so the strength he can unleash is only around that of a Dou Ling," Yao Lao said with great interest.

'A Dou Huang?' Xiao Yan's brows relaxed as his gaze swept across the old man's face. 'Even if he were at his peak, I would still be determined to obtain this fragment of the map, let alone now!'

A slight smile curved his lips as he slowly closed the five fingers that were gripping the incomplete map, holding it directly in his palm.

boom!

The moment Xiao Yan closed his five fingers, the shop door slammed shut, and the old man unleashed an extremely powerful icy force, his icy battle qi bursting forth.

Faced with the rapidly approaching icy aura, Xiao Yan pushed off with his toes, and the next moment, he appeared at the door.

"court death!"

Seeing Xiao Yan's actions, a murderous aura flashed across the old man's face, and the hideous scar on his face looked even more ferocious. With a stomp of his foot, he shot towards Xiao Yan like lightning.

As the old man flashed by, a chilling aura quickly filled the shop, and a light mist rose up, completely obscuring Xiao Yan's vision.

The moment he sensed the old man getting close, the Xuanzhong Ruler slipped from his hand. With a swing, deep purple flames spread across the ruler, blocking the old man's attack. At the same time, a crescent-shaped beam of light, half a zhang long, shot out from the ruler like lightning, its target the old man whose figure was shrouded in mist.

"Tsk."

With a gasp, the old man's withered hands quickly formed a hand seal, and he softly uttered, "Ice Condensation Mirror!"

The mist churned rapidly, and a transparent ice mirror, about half a meter long, suddenly condensed in front of the old man.

Zizizi!

After a loud noise, the crescent moon light and the transparent ice mirror vanished together, along with the old man's figure.

Chapter 152 Hai Bodong

When Xiao Yan unleashed that crescent moon beam of light, the old man judged Xiao Yan's strength as that of a Great Dou Master.

Even a seasoned elder like myself had never seen a sixteen or seventeen-year-old Grand Battle Master before, at least not in the Jia Ma Empire!

"Put down the incomplete map and leave now, and I can pretend you were never here!" The old man's voice sounded extremely stiff in the pervasive cold mist.

He was absolutely certain that the young man before him was a genius cultivated by some powerful force. His strength had been sealed by Queen Medusa, and he was living in seclusion here to avoid his enemies. If he were to seriously injure the young man before him...

'I suspect not everyone knows that Ice Emperor Hai Bodong is living in seclusion here.'

The old man sighed softly to himself.

Indeed, the old man opposite Xiao Yan, who was hiding in Mo City as an ordinary map seller, was none other than Hai Bodong, one of the top ten powerhouses of the previous generation of the Jia Ma Empire, known as the "Ice Emperor".

"I'm sorry, this is extremely important to me. Please make an exception for me, sir." Without using his soul power, Xiao Yan indeed had no way of finding Hai Bodong's location in this room filled with cold air, so he said loudly.

"Hmph, I went to great lengths to obtain this thing back then. Although I've studied it for over a decade and still don't know its purpose, I at least know that the secrets it contains are definitely significant. You think I'd just hand it over to you for nothing? Dream on!"

Hai Bodong, who was already aloof and arrogant, naturally couldn't stand Xiao Yan's words. He simply snorted and refused without any mercy.

Xiao Yan smiled calmly. He never thought he could get Hai Bodong to give up so easily with just a few words.

Moreover, even if Hai Bodong really let go and allowed Xiao Yan to leave, Xiao Yan would never agree, after all—

"That's a real shame," Xiao Yan sighed and said, "Since you're unwilling to let go, sir... then I'll have no choice but to take it by force, including the other fragment of the map you have!"

The moment the voice fell, the deep purple flames transformed into fire serpents and fiercely attacked Hai Bodong's location.

The moment Xiao Yan sighed, Hai Bodong, whose vigilance was at its peak, naturally wouldn't fall for the trick. He opened and closed his palms, condensing countless tiny ice threads.

With a flick of his wrist, ice threads shot into the sky, then spread out and coiled around the fire serpent, covering it in a thick layer of white ice threads in just a moment.

Under the overwhelming entanglement of ice silk, the high temperature and energy of the fire serpent were quickly neutralized, and it came to a complete stop when it was still half a meter away from Hai Bodong.

"Such powerful icy battle qi," Xiao Yan couldn't help but praise, then a smile suddenly appeared on his lips. "However, old sir, didn't your family tell you not to touch other people's things casually?"