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

Before Hai Bodong could figure out what Xiao Yan meant by those words, the fire serpent that had been completely 'extinguished' by his icy fighting spirit suddenly burst open.

?

Without a second thought, Hai Bodong formed a hand seal and uttered a soft shout: "Ice Spirit Armor!"

As Hai Bodong's voice fell, the icy mist surrounding him instantly formed a thick suit of armor that shimmered with a cold luster on his body.

Almost the instant the armor was completed, the exploding flames and shattered ice struck Hai Bodong's body.

Something's not right!

Even though he had completely blocked the shattering flames and solid ice, Hai Bodong's heart sank—

The Ice Spirit Armor on his body was entirely formed from his battle qi, an ability of those above the Battle Spirit level on the Battle Qi Continent. The armor's defense was naturally unmatched by ordinary armor, which is why the shattered flames and solid ice left no trace on it.

However, Hai Bodong felt an icy chill on the armor formed from his own icy battle aura!

Hai Bodong reacted quickly, and the moment he realized something was wrong, he mobilized his battle qi to begin dispelling the Ice Spirit Armor. However, affected by the attack, he was still a step too late. An unimaginable chill spread from the Ice Spirit Armor, engulfing Hai Bodong in an instant.

In less than a second, Hai Bodong was transformed into an ice sculpture!

Looking at Hai Bodong, who had become an ice sculpture, Xiao Yan narrowed his eyes. The next moment, his Dou Qi surged out, completely dispersing the mist that filled the shop.

"Looks like I've won this time." After clapping his hands and putting away the Xuan Heavy Ruler, Xiao Yan looked at the ice sculpture with a smile.

Although Hai Bodong was frozen, he was naturally not unconscious because he was of the ice attribute. In fact, if Xiao Yan did not rely on his soul power to maintain the ice sculpture, he could break through the thin layer of ice in less than a second.

"...I did underestimate you."

From within the ice, Hai Bodong's slightly weary voice rang out, "What you just used was soul power, wasn't it?"

After being frozen, Hai Bodong finally realized why he was a little slow in removing the Ice Spirit Armor after feeling the chill from it.

"I slightly used my soul power to influence your judgment, sir," Xiao Yan smiled nonchalantly. "If we were outside the city, I might have been in the mood to compete with you, sir. But since we are inside Mo City now, if we make too much noise, it might attract the attention of the City Lord's Mansion, and then I'll have a bit of a headache."

Looking at Xiao Yan's smiling face, Hai Bodong had reason to suspect that this man was confident he could defeat him with just his fighting spirit.

"Haha, I never expected that after living in seclusion here for more than 20 years, I would be made so pathetic by a junior like you. It's really quite pathetic!"

The old man's voice carried a hint of desolation, but after a moment, his tone suddenly changed. His gaze pierced through the eerie ice layer, fixed on Xiao Yan outside, and he said calmly, "Boy, is this fragment of the map very important to you?"

"Alright, I'm not some greenhorn," Xiao Yan said with a casual smile. "Hand over the other half as well. Although you divided it very cleverly, there are still some flaws."

"..."

Hai Bodong, who was inside the ice, was speechless for a moment. He thought that Xiao Yan had not noticed, so he specially spoke up to "remind" him.

but--

"Hey, so what if you know?" Hai Bodong chuckled. "The piece that was cut off isn't in my storage ring. If I die, even if you have extraordinary abilities, you won't be able to find the other fragment!"

"Without that one small piece of the map, even if you eventually piece the map together completely, you won't be able to find the treasure it contains!"

"...Speak, what exactly do you want?" Xiao Yan exhaled and said in a deep voice, "It's not just to mock me, is it?"

No one is unafraid of death, let alone willing to die for an unknown fragment of a map.

The reason Hai Bodong brought up the incomplete map after Xiao Yan's defeat was simply to find out its importance to Xiao Yan and to raise its price so he could sell it for a better price.

"This little guy is indeed exceptional. I'm really curious which old freak trained you. I'm afraid you'll be able to conquer the Jia Ma Empire in less than ten years, right?" Seeing Xiao Yan's calm demeanor, the old man couldn't help but sigh.

Xiao Yan remained noncommittal in response to Hai Bodong's assessment, and said calmly, "Tell me, what exactly do you want in exchange for handing over the other small fragment of the map?"

"Could you release me from the ice first? If you're not afraid of my counterattack," Hai Bodong said with a smile.

Xiao Yan narrowed his eyes and stared at the old man. After a moment, he casually waved his hand and removed the soul power from the ice layer.

Feeling the solid ice on his body gradually turning into sparks and dissipating into the air, Hai Bodong's eyes flashed with a hint of surprise, "The flame you're using... could it be a strange flame?"

Xiao Yan raised his eyes, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

Hai Bodong was not surprised by this and continued, "You should know that my original strength was that of a Dou Huang, right?"

“Ice Emperor, Hai Bodong,” Xiao Yan said casually, “I know your name after knowing your attributes.”

"...It seems my reputation hasn't faded away with time!" After a brief silence, Hai Bodong became smug after hearing Xiao Yan's words.

"Ahem, it's good that you know who I am," Hai Bodong coughed twice after noticing Xiao Yan's disdainful look, and continued—

"This fragment of the map was found in the Tagor Desert. After finding it, it unexpectedly attracted the pursuit of the Snake-People Queen, Medusa." After confirming that Xiao Yan did not have a puzzled expression, Hai Bodong gave up the idea of ​​introducing the Medusa Queen.

“Unsurprisingly, I was defeated by Queen Medusa. Although I managed to escape safely in the end, I was still caught in her serpent seal. Not only did my body age rapidly, but my strength was also sealed at the Dou Ling level,” Hai Bodong sighed. “For decades, I have been trying to break the seal, but I have never been able to do so…”

"You don't want me to help you break the seal, do you?" Xiao Yan suddenly asked, squinting his eyes.

"Ah."

"You overestimate me. I don't have that ability." Xiao Yan shook his head and said decisively.

"Over the past few decades, I have obtained a prescription that can break the seal. As long as I can refine the pills described in the prescription, I will be able to restore my strength," Hai Bodong said in a deep voice.

"...I think you should go find Gu He. In the entire Empire, there are probably not many people who can compare to him when it comes to alchemy. I'm just a lowly third-grade alchemist." Xiao Yan shrugged and said, feigning helplessness.

“He can’t do it,” Hai Dongbo shook his head and said with a wry smile, “The primary condition for refining this kind of pill is that the alchemist must have a different kind of fire… It seems that Pill King Guhe does not have this.”

"Oh?" Upon hearing this, a hint of surprise flashed through Xiao Yan's mind. What kind of pill required such stringent conditions?

“In fact, I hesitated to tell you until I was sure you used fire to freeze me.” Hai Bodong exhaled.

"As long as you can refine the pills I need, I will not only give you that small fragment of the map, but I will also owe you a favor. You should know... what a favor from a Dou Huang powerhouse is worth..." Hai Bodong said in a deep voice.

Xiao Yan was slightly tempted and asked softly, "What grade of pill do you need?"

"A sixth-grade pill." Hai Bodong licked his lips and smiled.

In fact, 'believing' in Xiao Yan is complete nonsense. What Hai Bodong is after is the person behind Xiao Yan. After all, a sixteen or seventeen-year-old third-grade alchemist must have a high-grade alchemist teacher behind him!

Sixth rank? That's perfect...

Xiao Yan breathed a sigh of relief, looked at Hai Bodong, and nodded slightly, "Okay, I promise you."

Seeing Xiao Yan nod, Hai Bodong finally breathed a sigh of relief, and a smile appeared on his face.

"Give me the pill formula. Oh, by the way," Xiao Yan gave Hai Bodong a bright smile, "you should know the rules for hiring an alchemist to refine pills, right? You have to bring your own medicinal materials, and... three portions!"

With a wry smile, Hai Bodong nodded. He naturally knew this rule, but... he scratched a few strands of his beard with his withered hand and said somewhat awkwardly, "I've gathered most of the medicinal herbs needed for the prescription, but I'm still missing one..."

"This medicinal herb is called Sand Mandrake. It can only be found in the Tagor Desert. The higher the temperature, the easier it is to find, but my strength..." Hai Bodong chuckled dryly.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan curled his lips: "You don't expect me, a Great Dou Master, to go deep into the Tagor Desert to find it for you, do you? The incomplete map is indeed quite important to me, but to both refine pills and help you find medicinal herbs is going too far, isn't it?"

Hai Bodong chuckled awkwardly, hesitated for a moment, and then said helplessly, "Alright, perhaps I can provide some information that might interest you..."

"What intelligence?" Xiao Yan asked casually.

"Information regarding... the Strange Flame," Hai Bodong shrugged and smiled, "I wonder if this information would be enough to persuade you to help me find the Sand Mandala?"

Upon hearing the words "strange fire," Xiao Yan's heart visibly skipped a beat, but his face remained calm. "Strange fire from the Tagor Desert? Guess why I came here?"

“But you don’t know the exact location, do you?” Hai Bodong said, his eyes flickering slightly.

"If you knew the exact location, you would have already exchanged information about the Strange Flame with Gu He, right?" Xiao Yan snorted. "But you didn't do that, did you?" A disdainful smirk appeared on his lips.

"Uh..." Hai Bodong was a little embarrassed.

He didn't actually know the exact location. During his decades of seclusion in Mo City, he only knew which places were more likely to possess strange fire.

"...As long as you agree to help me obtain the Sand Mandala, in addition to handing over all the information I have about the strange fire, I can also give you half of the wealth of the Mittel Auction House in the capital of the Gama Empire!" With a determined look, Hai Bodong dropped a bombshell.

Mittel Auction House?

Xiao Yan's pupils contracted slightly. "You have some connection with the Mittel Auction House?"

“You could say that,” Hai Bodong nodded heavily. “You help me find the Sand Mandala and refine pills, and in return, I will give you information about the Strange Fire and half of the Mittel Auction House. Do you agree?”

"make a deal!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Xiao Yan readily agreed.

In fact, if Hai Bodong had stated from the beginning that he had some connection with the Mittel Auction House, Xiao Yan might have agreed long ago.

After all, without the help of the Mittel Auction House, or rather, without the help of Yafi, the chief auctioneer of the Mittel Auction House in Utan City, the Xiao family might not have been able to produce multiple Dou Ling within a year and a half and control the vast majority of small forces in Utan City.

Chapter 153 Wind Fury and Dragon Flame?

Seeing Xiao Yan nod in agreement, Hai Bodong finally breathed a sigh of relief. He gently rummaged in his pocket and finally pulled out a thin piece of parchment, saying with a smile, "In my exploration, there are three locations in the Tagor Desert where there may be strange fire."

Xiao Yan carefully unfolded the parchment Hai Bodong handed him. It was an extremely detailed map of the Tagor Desert, even more detailed than the map given to him by the city lord of Mo City.

In addition to the locations of water sources in various deserts, the detailed locations of various snake-people tribes in the desert are also provided.

"Do you see the three flame symbols on the map?" Hai Bodong reminded him with a smile.

“How could someone so conspicuous not see it…” Xiao Yan sighed. “Let’s not even talk about the east and north…”

"The western location is deep within the Tagor Desert, isn't it? That place is already close to the central holy city of the Serpent People, isn't it? Is it really possible that the shady-loving Serpent People could build their own holy city on the strange fire?"

Xiao Yan looked at Hai Bodong with suspicion in his eyes.

It is said that the Snake People are a race that migrated from the Central Plains. Coming from the Central Plains, they naturally have their own pride. If it weren't for the oppression of the major powers of the Northwest Continent, how could the Snake People have settled in such a hot place as the Tagor Desert?

Moreover, settling in the desert already clashes with the snake people's innate cold and yin nature, so how could they possibly build their own holy city near the strange fire?

Even the Bone Spirit Cold Flame, the only ice-attribute flame on the Strange Flame Ranking, has a terrifyingly high temperature, which is absolutely unacceptable to the Snake-People race. Even Snake-People at the Dou Huang or Dou Zong level cannot withstand it!

"This..." Hai Bodong was somewhat embarrassed by such an obvious problem being pointed out, but decades of mapmaking had instilled in him a sense of duty to the profession. "Although you probably won't believe me if I say this..."

"But before my power was sealed, I did feel the terrifying heat there," Hai Bodong licked his dry lips, as if recalling the fear of that day once again.

"At the time, I was overconfident in my strength. After feeling the terrifying high temperature, I still wanted to investigate further. As a result, I didn't even see the main body of the strange fire before I was forced back by a fire dragon hundreds of meters long. If it weren't for the treasure protecting me, I might have perished there..."

"A fire dragon hundreds of meters long?" Xiao Yan blinked. This description seemed to fit a certain low-ranking strange fire. "Did you feel a hurricane?"

"A hurricane?" Hai Bodong was completely bewildered. "I was almost dead at that time, how could I have been thinking about wind? But there was a lot of sand, almost crystallizing..."

Hai Bodong's confused expression only confirmed Xiao Yan's suspicions: the Wind Fury Dragon Flame had appeared at the location marked in the west of the map.

"If it's the Wind Fury Dragon Flame, Hai Bodong, at the Dou Huang level, does indeed have a chance of surviving," Yao Lao's words confirmed Xiao Yan's guess. "Moreover, he sensed the presence of strange flames in multiple locations throughout the Tagor Desert, which happens to match the description of the Wind Fury Dragon Flame..."

The Wind Fury Dragon Flame, ranked eighteenth on the list of strange flames, is said to be a strange flame born from a fiery tornado. Moreover, unlike other strange flames, the Wind Fury Dragon Flame does not have a fixed location. It only appears randomly in any part of the desert during the hottest days of the year, making it an extremely rare strange flame.

Most importantly, the Wind Fury Dragon Flame does not appear in the form of flames. Every time it is noticed, it is in the form of a tornado, with wind and fire combined, and the flames reaching hundreds of meters high, like a giant fire dragon roaring forward.

'Although Hai Bodong said he didn't see the true form of the strange fire, that fire dragon hundreds of meters long should be the true form of the Wind Fury Dragon Flame. It's normal that an ice-attribute Dou Huang can't sense the hurricane, and...' Xiao Yan lowered his head, his eyes flashing with a sharp light.

'The eastern flames are close to Stone Desert City, while the south and west are uninhabited areas...'