Upon hearing Hai Bodong's question, Xiao Yan merely smiled beh his bck robe. Gripping the Heavy Xuan Ruler, he slowly desded from the air and nded on the ground before st the ruler in his ste ring.

  His keen Spiritual Strength allowed him to notice that Hai Bodong no longer had any battle i. Even the circution of his Dou Qi had slowed down signifitly.

  The reality was indeed as such. After a round of fierbat and mutual probing, it became apparent that if Xiao Yan really wao escape, Hai Bodong might not even be able to match his flight speed with only the strength of a Dou Spirit.

  Moreover, with the suppressive effect of the Ten Thousa Fme against ice attribute Dou Qi, even though Hai Bodong was more profit with Dou Teiques and had higher-css Dou Qi, he still couldn't prevent Xiao Yan from leaving.

  "Old Hai has good eyes. This is indeed a Heavenly Fme," Xiao Yan said without any cealment. The fact that he was able to suppress Hai Bodong's ice attribute Dou Qi made the answer self-evident.

  He was actually quite satisfied with the oute of this battle. To defeat a former Dou Emperor as a 1-star Dou Grandmaster seemed unrealistiatter how one looked at it.

  However, at the very least he now khat he had the ability to tend against a Dou Spirit. If his oppo was an ordinary low-star Dou Spirit who did not cultivate a High Xuan Css Qi Method and was unfamiliar with Di Css Dou Teiques, he was fident he could eve them.

  He had gained a better uanding of his own strength.

  A hint of dread fshed through Hai Bodong's mind when he heard Xiao Yan's admission. 'Could this kid be from one of those fas?'

  As a former Dou Emperor, he had oempted to leave the Jia Ma Empire aure to the more tral regions of the Dou Qi ti. There, he had entered disciples of the ti's top fas.

  Di Css Qi Methods were nothing to those top fas. Rumors even said they possessed Tian Css Qi Methods. Elite Dou Aors, who were unheard of in the Jia Ma Empire, were not unon in those pces.

  Hai Bodong found it difficult to maintain his posure after being shocked by the terrifying strength of those transdent fas.

  Moreover, Xiao Yan had mentioned from the beginning that he was colleg these map fragments uhe orders of an anization.

  Of course, Hai Bodong had no way of knowing that Xiao Yan was just trying to intimidate him. But it recisely this intimidation that made Hai Bodong treat the matter with more caution.

  "Sigh, I never expected that after hiding here for over twenty years, I would be reduced to such a sorry state by a Dou Grandmaster. It's quite pathetic." Hai Bodong's voice was tinged with a hint of desotion.

  Then his tone suddenly ged as he looked at Xiao Yan and calmly said, "Kid, this map fragment is very important to you, isn't it?"

  Xiao Yan fell silent for a moment before nodding.

  Hai Bodong smiled smugly and said, "Take a closer look at that map fragment. That's only half of it. After obtaining the map fragment, I spent over a decade before finally managing to split it into two halves. The other half is hidden in a pown to no o me."

  Xiao Yan's heart trembled. He opened his palm and examihe map fragment, only to discover that one of the fes was muewer, distinctly different from the other three edges. It was evident that this edge had been cut retly, leaving behind such traces.

  His expression turned a little unsightly and displeased as he realized this. He had thought he had stumbled upon a treasure, but who would have thought it was only half of one?

  "Hehehe, boy, I don't care what fa you e from, how talented you are, or how amazing your Master is. I, Hai Bodong, have no children, no family, ives. Now that my Dou Qi has been sealed and I've fallen to the strength of a Dou Spirit, I don't have much time left to live anyway. If I don't want to say it, no one force it out of me," Hai Bodong sneered with a smug look on his face.

  Xiao Yan remained silent for a moment, and instead of making threats, he removed his hood, revealing a youthful, tender face.

  With a gentle smile, he shrugged and said, "If Old Hai has something to say, just say it. No matter how precious something is, it should have a price, right? I don't think Old Hai would iionally say those things just to anger a junior like me."

  Xiao Yan was astute. He khat an old fox like Hai Bodong wouldn't deliberately say things just to provoke him. Moreover, from Hai Bodong's words, he could be certain that Hai Bodong already believed he came from some major fa and had someone bag him.

  If he truly believed that Hai Bodong wasn't afraid of death, then he would have lived these past ten-odd years in vain. No one was truly unafraid of death, and it was even less likely that someone would be willing to die over an unkno fragment.

  The reason Hai Bodong said those things had only one purpose—to raise the price by pying hard to get.

  Xiao Yan naturally uood the game Hai Bodong ying, so he didn't beat around the bush either. He simply revealed his true face to the other party.

  Hai Bodong was shocked to see Xiao Yan's youthful and tender face. This was just a teenager!

  He excimed in amazement, "You're truly a monster. Which fa could possibly cultivate such a little monster? I fear that ihan ten years, you will be able to domihe entire Jia Ma Empire!"

  Hai Bodong khat the stro expert in the Jia Ma Empire eak 9-star Dou Emperor. In other words, he believed Xiao Yan would definitely bee a Dou Aor within ten years!

  Xiao Yan shrugged nonittally and said calmly, "Old Hai, you are n to dig into my background, are you?"

  Hai Bodong pondered for a moment before asking with utmost seriousness, "Since you possess a Heavenly Fme, are you an alchemist?"

  "Well, although my tier is not high, I still be sidered one," Xiao Yan replied modestly.

  "What tier?"

  "About the 4th-tier."

  Hai Bodong's eyes dimmed slightly upon hearing Xiao Yan's alchemist tier.

  Notig this, Xiao Yan frowned and asked, "Old Hai, you don't expect me to refine a pill to break Queen Medusa's seal, do you?"

  Hai Bodong nodded and said, "Well, I've found a pill recipe that break this kind of seal over the past twenty years."

  Xiao Yan's expression turned exasperated. "Old Hai, as far as I know, Queen Medusa's strength is that of a peak Rank 6 magical beast. The seal she used to seal you for twenty years 't possibly be an ordinary one. You would least a 6th-tier medial pill to break a special seal teique of a Rank 6 magical beast. Wouldn't it be better to seek out Gu He for that?"

  "He 't do it. The first requirement of the pill recipe I found is a Heavenly Fme, and I know that Gu He doesn't have one," Hai Bodong sighed. He wouldn't have been sealed for over twenty years if it were that simple.

  "You possess a Heavenly Fme, and I was hoping you could ask the fa behind you to help refi," Hai Bodong said.

  Xiao Yan's eyes flickered as he uood Hai Bodong's iion. However, the problem was that he didn't actually have any fa bag him. The Hall of Souls couldn't be sidered a real fa. It was more like a pany. You worked for them, and they paid you. The Hall of Souls took orders from the Hun , and he was not a member of the Hun .

  The Hun d the Yao were examples of true family-based fas.

  But!

  As it turned out, he actually had a way to break the seal!

  Back when Yun Yun was affected by the Amethyst Winged Lion King's seal, he relied on the Nihility Dev Fme to devour the seal entirely!

  Moreover, Mao Wu was much stronger now than back then. Although Queen Medusa eak Rank 6 magical beast, Xiao Yan believed that the Nihility Dev Fme could still devour the seal. It was just a matter of time.

  Xiao Yan didn't o refine any pills at all. He could directly use the Nihility Dev Fme to help Hai Bodong break the seal.

  Hai Bodong could never have imagihat the eighteen-year-old boy in front of him actually possessed the Nihility Dev Fme, the 2nd-ranked fme on the Heavenly Fme Ranking!

  'If this matter is handled properly, it could turn into a lucrative opportunity.' Xiao Yan's mert-like mind had already started calg how to squeeze Hai Bodong dry!