Chapter 132: Duplig the Purple Spirit Pill!

  Hai Bodong, who had his seal released, gleamed with sharpness in his eyes as he slowly looked at Gu He.

  "Is this old guy uo restrain himself?" Sensing the pierg gaze of Hai Bodong, Gu He's lips curled up slightly, and he raised his head, his face calm and posed as he stared back at him.

  As their gazes locked onto each other, the atmosphere in the room suddenly became extremely delicate.

  Gu He leaned casually in his chair and thought, "Old man Hai, I hope you won't make a mistake."

  Gu He had saved Hai Bodong this time, partly due to his own is but more because of their past friendship. He couldn't bear to see the onineering and spirited Ice Emperor tio nguish.

  However, it seemed that this old guy wasn't very appreciative.

  Hai Bodong's previous suspis and attitudes had already annoyed Gu He, and their past friendship had been gradually eroded.

  If Hai Bodong wao attack him now, Gu He wouldn't care about their past friendship.

  Even though Hai Bodong had recovered most of his strength by now, Gu He was fident that he could easily deal with him if Hai Bodong wao fight.

  As the atmosphere grew increasingly tense, in mid-air, Hai Bodong's gaze tu He became even more intense.

  His murky eyes fixed firmly on Gu He below, and he suddenly released a faint chill from the palm of his hand.

  After having his seal released and feeling the recovery of his strength, Hai Bodong's suppressed emotions from the past dozen years burst forth at this moment.

  Thinking about the half-scroll relic that beloo him in Gu He's hands, a cold gleam fshed in Hai Bodong's eyes.

  The former Ice Emperor had been cold and overbearing, and no one had dared to take anything forcibly from his hands. Gu He taking the mysterious relic that Hai Bodong cherished so mudoubtedly broke his taboos.

  In the past, due to his inability tain his strength, Hai Bodong had not shown any hostility. However, now that the seal was broken and his strength had rgely returned, he had some other thoughts.

  Although Hai Bodong didn't know what the relic was for, based on Gu He's attitude toward it, there must be a tremendous secret hidden within it.

  Otherwise, why would Gu He, a six-grade alchemist, risk his life to venture deep into the Tagore Desert to find the Desert Manda?

  Hai Bodong still remembered how, because of this relic, he had been pursued by the Queen Medusa for thousands of miles, leading to his ultimate sealing.

  In other words, he was sealed because of this relic.

  After experieng so much suffering, it was difficult for Hai Bodong to simply hand over this relieone else.

  Floating above the ground, Hai Bodong was surrounded by a cold aura, and his eyes remained fixed on the calm Gu He. Various thoughts raced through his mind.

  He believed he had a good uanding of Gu He's strength. Gu He was known as the Pill King because his cultivation had remai the Dou Wang level. Although his strength had not fully recovered, it was more than enough to deal with a Dou Wang.

  Hai Bodong naturally tried to use his soul perception to sense Gu He's cultivation.

  Strange! Following his perception, Hai Bodong couldn't sense Gu He's cultivation.

  Weird! Was Gu He using some kind of method to ceal his aura?

  Staring at the calm Gu He below, Hai Bodo a growing sense of unease.

  Gu He's silend enigmatic demeanor had made Hai Bodong apprehensive. If this powerful six-grade alchemist decided to take a against him, it wouldn't bode well for him.

  After a moment of ption, Hai Bodong's overfident attitude was gradually repced by reason. He realized that something wasn't right.

  He narrowed his eyes into tiny slits and thought about the figure above him. It had ventured deep into the Tagore Desert aurned unscathed.

  Back then, because he had ventured deep into the Tagore Desert, Queen Medusa had sensed him, eventually leading to his sealing. Gu He had also ventured into the Tagore Desert but returned unharmed.

  This made Hai Bodong quite suspicious.

  Then, as he remembered the purple fmes Gu He had dispyed earlier, an ominous feeling suddenly rose within him.

  He nearly fot; Gu He possessed a unique fme!

  Even though he wasn't an alchemist, he had some knowledge of legendary celestial fmes like this.

  Refining such celestial fmes was a life-threatening process, even for Dou Huang-level experts.

  Gu He's ability to refiial fmes indicated his exceptional skill.

  As the chill in his heart rose, Hai Bodong shivered slightly, and the ess on his face gradually melted away, repced by a seemingly gentle smile on his aged face.

  After pting for a while, Hai Bodo a growing unease about the situation.

  He began to recall the many misfortunes he had faced due to the relic, which had ultimately led to his sealing.

  He realized that everything he had endured was because of this relic.

  He had suffered so much, and now he had to give it to someone else. He couldn't help but feel some reluce.

  Floating in the air, Hai Bodong exuded an icy aura, his eyes fixed on Gu He. His soul perception was als, but this time, he was cautious and polite.

  Inwardly, he thought, "I 't afford to offend this guy."

  After this thought crossed his mind, Hai Bodong's elderly face softened, and he Gu He with a warm and friendly smile. The cold aura that surrounded him gradually receded into his body.

  With a touch of pyfulness in his gaze, Gu He looked at Hai Bodong, who had suddenly bee less hostile and started to show goodwill. Gu He nontly toyed with the ring on his finger and said without a hint of ge in his tone, "Elder Hai, how is your strength after the seal was removed? I noticed that you seemed a bit off earlier. Did the seal not pletely break?"

  "Ah... Yes, I was at a crucial moment when breaking the seal just now, so it was difficult to trol my aura, which is why I might have seemed a bit out of sorts," Hai Bodong replied quickly after hearing Gu He's words.

  He didn't try to find more excuses. Gu He's strength was beyond his prehension, and as a senior alchemist with the ability to create sixth-grade pills, he khat offending someone like that was unwise. While he might have the ability to kill him on the spot, letting him escape would lead to tinuous trouble iure. Hai Bodong, with his broad experience, uood the influend power of high-level alchemists.

  Upon hearing Hai Bodong's expnation, Gu He slowly sat up from his chair. He extended his palm and gazed closely at Hai Bodong. He smiled and said, "Elder Hai, now that the seal has been removed, my mission is plete. About that half-scroll relic..."

  As soon as the word "relic" reached Hai Bodong's ears, his dry skin twitched slightly. However, he didn't make any more excuses this time. He could sehat Gu He's mood had turned cold, and he was clearly dissatisfied.

  If he pushed further, he might deeply offend this powerful sixth-grade alchemist with extraordinary means.

  Hai Bodong sighed inwardly aantly touched the ring on his finger. A small, extremely old-looking piece of part appeared in his palm. He gently stroked the a relic, saying, "This map is incredibly plex. I oempted to duplicate it, but for some reason, the duplicates turned out to be pletely different from the inal. I eventually had to give up. I suspect this is due to the inplete nature of the map itself."

  Gu He kept his gaze fixed on the fragment as he looked at Hai Bodong's expression. Although he had a vague uanding of the reasons, he didn't expio Hai Bodong.

  After obtaining his first half-scroll reli the Magic Beast Mountain Range, Gu He discovered that these relics tained signifit hidden soul energy. This soul energy was very subtle and nearly impossible for ahout the exceptional mental power of an alchemist to detect.

  This soul energy wouldn't directly harm anyone, but if someoried to replicate the map's path and patterns, the soul energy would gradually erode their sciousness, leading to a dra that was pletely different from the inal.

  In the end, Gu He decided not to reveal these doubts.

  Gu He couldn't expihing to Hai Bodong, who didn't have alchemical knowledge and would find it hard to uand.

  Hearing Hai Bodong's expnation, Gu He sighed. He realized that Hai Bodong's will had been worn down, and he relutly accepted this. The old man had spent many years researg the map, and it seemed that he was destined not to obtain its secrets.

  With a rueful smile, Gu He replied, "It's a plicated relid my attempts at duplication were futile as well. I think it may have to do with the inplete nature of the map itself."

  As he stared at the fragment, Gu He could sense Hai Bodong's inner flid frustration. The Ice Emperor had once faced the same obstacles he did, and now he would have to hand over this mysterious relic.

  Gu He then decided to break the tension with a warm smile.

  In response, Hai Bodong also managed a friendly and sincere smile. The icy aura around him gradually dissipated, ahought, "I 't afford to offend this guy."

  After a few moments of ption, Hai Bodong's overwhelming self-fidence gradually subsided, and he reached a clusion.

  "I 't afford to provoke him."

  He had spent so many years researg these relics, and if this relic was not meant for him, there was no point in keeping it.

  As he sighed inwardly aantly accepted the situation, Hai Bodong's trembling fiouched the ring on his hand, revealing an a and yellowed piece of part. He gently stroked the relic, revealing his reluce as he said, "This map is incredibly plex. I oempted to duplicate it, but for some reason, my duplicates were vastly different from the inal. In the end, I had to give up. Perhaps it has to do with the map's inplete nature."

  As Hai Bodong expined, Gu He tio gaze at the relic. He sensed Hai Bodong's u chose not to reveal the true nature of the relic. Gu He had learned about the hidden soul energy within these relid their impa duplications, but expining this to Hai Bodong would only create more fusion.

  Gu He couldn't expect Hai Bodong to prehend the plexities of alchemical knowledge. He simply nodded and replied, "It seems we both faced the same difficulties. These maps are truly enigmatic."

  The two men maintained a calm and polite versation, but beh the surface, tensions ran high. The relic remaihe focal point of their discussion.

  On Hai Bodong's side, he relutly touched the inplete map and sighed after a long while, saying, "Sigh, take it. I guess this map has been divided into several parts, and I only have this one part in my hand. It's not very useful, and moreover, it's almost impossible to find the other missing pieces."

  Smiling, Gu He reached out to receive this somewhat smooth fragment, examining it closely. A faint sense of age and a charm emanated from it.

  The years that this fragment had endured were extremely a, naturally exuding an old-world charm.

  Holding this small piece of the fragment, Gu He took out the other part that he had taken from Hai Bodong's hand the st time from his spatial ring. He gently bihe two pieces, and after finding that there was no seam where they joined, he nodded slightly.

  "Hai, now that you have recovered your strength, I assume you won't tio be the shopkeeper here, right?" Hai Bodong inquired, rubbing his hands. He was still quite curious and asked with a somewhat restrained smile, "What do you need?"

  "Ah, well, I have a few things I need you to help with," Gu He replied with a sly smile.

  Hai Bodong ughed and replied, "I do owe you a favor for helpi out of that predit. If I assist you, we'll be even."

  "I believe, iure, Mr. Hai may owe me even more favors, not for any other reason but because I'm an alchemist, especially a sixth-grade alchemist capable of creating sixth-grade pills," Gu He responded with a faint smile.

  While he sounded arrogant, his statement was not far from the truth. A sixth-grade alchemist was highly sought after, even by Dou Huang-level experts. Hai Bodong nodded in agreement, uanding that alchemists, especially high-level ones, were always sought after by powerful individuals on the ti.

  "Let me hear what you need. As long as it's within my capabilities, I won't refuse," Hai Bodong said, stroking his short beard as he spoke.

  Gu He slowly rose from his seat, still wearing a faint smile. "Hai, rest assured, what I need you to do is well within your capabilities."

  "Oh?" Hai Bodong raised an eyebrow. "Let me hear what you have in mind."

  Gu He didn't beat around the bush. He directly handed Hai Bodong a list. "All you o do is gather the medial ingredients listed here."

  "Medial ingredients?" Hai Bodong looked surprised as he accepted the list from Gu He.

  The list included items such as arrow Leaves, Linglong Fruits, Bloodsoul Grass...

  Hai Bodong's eyes sed the list, and his eyebrows twitched. The medial ingredients listed were all rare and precious. In fact, many of them he had never even heard of.

  As he reached the end of the list, Hai

  Bodong's lips twitched slightly. His expression became somewhat unsightly as he looked at Gu He and said with a cold tone, "Gu He, you must think highly of me. These ingredients are all extremely valuable, and I don't have the ability to gather them."

  Gu He smiled and responded, "Hai, don't uimate yourself. You mao gather the materials for the Heavenly Fme Pill, so you are more capable than you think."

  "Moreover, Hai, don't fet your identity. You are the Grand Elder of the Mittel family, one of the richest families in the Gamma Empire, and the Mittel Au House has branches all over the empire. If you set your mind to it, these ingredients should not be too difficult for you to acquire."

  Hai Bodong frowned, displeased with Gu He's seemingly casual request. "You're being too light-hearted. Do you know how much time and effort it took me to gather the materials for the Heavenly Fme Pill? And these ingredients on your list are even rarer and more difficult to find."

  He tinued, "You should sider a different dition. I 't fulfill this one."

  Faced with Hai Bodong's refusal, Gu He remained calm, indig that he had anticipated this oute. He had a response ready, and after a moment of ption, he said, "Hai, I might be able to help you pletely recover the strength you lost due to the seal breaking. Without too many side effects."

  Hai Bodong's expression ged slightly, showing a glimmer of surprise, but it quickly disappeared. After a brief moment, he regained his posure and stared at Gu He with a guarded look, asking, "How? What method are you talking about?"

  "Have you heard of the 'Purple Spirit Pill'?" Gu He asked, a hint of a smile pying on his lips.

  Upon hearing the words "Purple Spirit Pill," Hai Bodong's face revealed a mixture of delight and astonishment. However, he quickly regained his usual expression and fixed a wary gaze on Gu He, hesitating for a moment before asking, "You've been waiting for me for this moment, haven't you?"

  (End of this chapter)