Xiao Yan narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at Hai Bodong with a smile curling on his lips. For some reason, a chill ran down Hai Bodong's spine from being looked at in this manner.

  Xiao Yan chuckled and said, "Old Hai, although the fa behind me is powerful, they are not specialized in alchemy. There are indeed higher-tier alchemists, but I am the only one who possesses a Heavenly Fme."

  "To be ho, although I only refih-tier pills right now, my innate Spiritual Strength is much higher than the average person's. It has already reached the level of a 5th-tier alchemist."

  Hai Bodong suddenly realized something upon hearing these words. He thought to himself, 'No wohis kid's attacks are so sharp, almost as if he see through my moves. His Spiritual Strength is actually parable to that old fellow Fa Ma!'

  Xiao Yan revealed a brilliant smile and said, "Moreover, I'm actually only oep away from being a 5th-tier alchemist myself. All I need is to practice refining 5th-tier pills, which means I just need resources to get there quickly."

  ! ! ! !

  Hai Bodong's eyes widened. He inally thought Xiao Yan's bat strength was already astonishing enough, but he didn't expect his alchemy skills to be even more astounding! Whose disciple was this?!

  "Old Hai, I'm fident that I reach the level of a 6th-tier alchemist within one year at the earliest, or three years at the test. By then, I will be able to refihe pill you need."

  If the Amethyst Winged Lion King were here, it would likely curse Xiao Yan for being a great deceiver. How familiar this spiel sounded!

  But! Xiao Yan's bluff worked like a charm every siime! Hai Bodong actually started to seriously sider it. The main reason was that Heavenly Fmes were extremely difficult to obtain, and it was even rarer to find a 6th-tier alchemist who possessed a Heavenly Fme.

  Hai Bodong had searched for over twenty years without finding one. Xiao Yan could be said to be the most promising didate he had entered in the past two decades. If he missed this opportunity, Hai Bodong might not live long enough to wait for the one.

  Most importantly, Xiao Yan was still very young and even possessed a Heavenly Fme. Being a 6th-tier alchemist, which was difficult for others to achieve, might not be too challenging for him.

  Xiao Yan was getting more and more skilled at making these empty promises. His ability to bluff had gone from impressive to dht masterful!

  "What do you want?" Hai Bodong uood Xiao Yan's iion to some extent. While he was trying to ihe value of the map fragment, Xiao Yan was raising his own worth.

  The two of them were engaged in a subtle game of bargaining.

  "Old Hai, it's not about what I want, it's about what you offer me," Xiao Yan replied, a fox-like smile spreading across his face.

  "As," Hai Bodong couldn't help but sigh. He khat Xiao Yan had him ered, as he was his only hope to break Queen Medusa's seal.

  His hair was already white; he couldn't afford to wait much longer.

  "I'll give you the remaining map fragment."

  "Old Hai, I'm afraid the map fragment you have is likely only a small part of the entire map. An inplete map isn't worth that much, is it?"

  "Once I recover my strength, I will be a 5-star Dou Emperor. You help me refihe pill, and I take a for you ohis was ihe usual price, a 6th-tier medial pill to warrant the aid of a Dou Emperor.

  Xiao Yan still shook his head and said, "Old Hai, the pill you need is not an ordinary 6th-tier pill, but a special ohat requires a Heavenly Fme to refine. And even if yain your strength, it's uain how strong of a Dou Emperor you'll be after being sealed for over twenty years. I'm afraid it won't be suffit."

  Hai Bodong's face turned red with anger! But he was also uo refute Xiao Yan's words for a moment. There were differences in quality even among 6th-tier pills, and naturally, there were also differences in strength among Dou Emperors. A Dou Emperor who had been sealed for over twenty years indeed couldn't be sidered very strong.

  "Boy, this is my final offer. If you still disagree, then there's nothing to discuss. If you really help me refihe pill within a year and remove Medusa's seal, I will give you half of the Miteer Au House in the imperial capital of the Jia Ma Empire. But the offer is off the table if it takes more than a year." Hai Bodong directly threw out a bombshell!

  Even Xiao Yan was stunned upon hearing this! The Ice Emperor had such a e with the Miteer Au House?! The Miteer Au House in the imperial capital was the headquarters!

  In Wu Tan City, tless s wao take over the Miteer Au House, but no one had succeeded. Let alohers, even when Ya Fei had offered to exge the au house for the pill recipe back then, he had beeed for a moment.

  The most important thing an alchemist needed was experien refining pills. This experience could not be gaihrough shortcuts; it took time and effort to practice alchemy. And to refine pills, one needed medial ingredients, which transted into money.

  The pce with the rgest colle of medial ingredients iire Jia Ma Empire was the Miteer Au House. It was said that the assets owned by the Miteer Au House were eveer than those of the imperial family! It was truly wealthy enough to rival a nation.

  'No wohe Miteer Au House operate so successfully in the Jia Ma Empire. It turns out a Dou Emperor was bag it.' Xiao Yan looked at Hai Bodong and finally uood why the Miteer Au House could grow se without the Jia Ma imperial family interfering with it.

  Who would dare to touch it with a Dou Emperor watg over it?

  This offer was like timely rain for Xiao Yan. To reach the 5th or even 6th-tier aually refihe Body Transformation Pill for the Lion King, he would need a vast amount of medial ingredients to support his 'extravagant' needs. However, he ime to cultivate, so where would he find the time to earn moo purchase those ingredients?

  This was like a pillow arriving just in time when he was sleepy!

  In fact, Hai Bodong also had a little scheme in mind. That was to set the dition that Xiao Yan had to aplish it within a year. He was betting that Xiao Yan wouldn't be able to refi in a year. After all, the pill in that recipe was a high-grade 6th-tier pill, which was anything but easy to refine.

  But how could he possibly imagihat Xiao Yan had an ace up his sleeve!

  "So, what do you say?" Hai Bodong asked.

  Xiao Yan smiled fidently aended his hand. "Happy cooperation, Old Hai."

  The old fox and the young fox smiled at each other as they shook hands, both with their own ing pns in mind!

  Xiao Yan suddenly remembered something and said, "By the way, Old Hai, you know the rule for alchemists refining pills, right? The ingredients must be provided."

  Hai Bodong froze for a moment before awkwardly saying, "Well... there's still an ingredient called Sand Datura that's missing. This medial ingredient is quite rare and only be fouhe desert of the tral Holy City of the Snake-People Tribe."

  "Not eveeer Au House has it?"

  "No."

  Xiao Yan pondered for a moment. He initially wao say it wasn't necessary, but if he said that, not only would he be uo swihe pill recipe and medial ingredients, but most importantly, he wouldn't be able to buy himself time.

  Removing Hai Bodong's seal wasn't a problem. The problem was that o was removed and Hai Bodained his Dou Emperor strength, how could he ensure his own safety?

  Xiao Yan definitely wouldn't remove Hai Bodong's seal and allow him tain his former strength before having the means to protect himself.

  The oo-three-year timeframe he mentioned was a stalling tactic to give himself time to grow strong enough to face a Dou Emperor, or at least be able to escape from one.

  "I help you find it, but..." Xiao Yan raised his eyebrows. The meaning was very obvious.

  It would cost extra!

  "I give you some intelligence. Just half a year ago, Gu He had secretly led a group into the desert to search for a Heavenly Fme."

  !!!? A Heavenly Fme in the desert!

  "Did he find it?" Xiao Yan asked, only to realize it was a stupid question. If Gu He had found a Heavenly Fme, Hai Bodong wouldn't be in such a predit.

  "No, he didn't. That's why this intelligence is so valuable. A Heavenly Fme is a natural treasure of Heaven ah, and only those redestined possess one. Since you have a Heavenly Fme, it might be able to attract each other and help you find another Heavenly Fme. Gu He couldn't find it, but maybe you ."

  Xiao Yan rolled his eyes directly. He had bluffed Hai Bodong, and now Hai Bodong was trying to bluff him back.

  If Gu He couldn't find it, it proved that this intelligence was either false or the Heavenly Fme had already been taken by someone else. Even Gu He had e up empty-handed, so what could he possibly do?

  However, he still agreed in the end because this was somethi for free. He wasn't going to look for any Sand Datura at all. When his strength had increased, he would e baove Hai Bodong's seal and take the map fragment.

  This intelligence was just a free gift, so why not accept it?

  After bidding farewell to Hai Bodong, Xiao Yan unfolded his Purple Cloud Wings and flew directly toward Rock Desert City. Looking at the map in his hand, he saw that it was marked with several circles but tained no other information.

  Xiao Yan shook his head helplessly. This Hai Bodong was too good at deceiving people, almost as good as himself.