Actual combat is the sole criterion for testing strength.
Most people can bully the weak, but only a small handful can defeat the strong with weakness.
Chen Xiao and Hai Bo Dong's cultivation methods were exactly the same.
However, the latter's realm, the number of Dou Skills he knew, his combat experience, and even his physical fitness were all far superior.
This meant that in today's sparring session, Chen Xiao was still at an absolute disadvantage, almost completely suppressed.
Moreover, because there was no limit of a hundred moves today, the two fought for a longer time, making Chen Xiao feel that he was improving rapidly, but the outcome was even more pathetic than yesterday.
"You have too little experience fighting others. Although you are improving quickly, you still need to practice, otherwise you will suffer a great loss in the future. From now on, I will practice with you for an hour every day. Let's set the time for the morning. For the rest of the time, you can go to the edge of the desert to temper yourself. Just show off a little wealth, and there will be plenty of mercenaries willing to fight to the death with you. If you are lucky enough to encounter Snake-People harassment, your progress will definitely be a thousand miles a day."
After fighting for a while, Hai Bo Dong pointed his Ice Spear directly at Chen Xiao's forehead, smiled slightly, and then dispersed the Ice Spear, speaking slowly.
After two days of contact, he could feel Chen Xiao's progress, which made his desire to take Chen Xiao as a disciple even stronger.
Hearing Hai Bo Dong's suggestion, the four words "fishing for law enforcement" immediately appeared in Chen Xiao's mind.
This method could indeed be used.
"I will go."
Without thinking too much, Chen Xiao nodded in agreement.
In the desert, not only humans and Snake-People were active, but there were also many Magical Beasts and poisonous insects living there.
Even occasionally, there would be people from other empires.
"Okay, let's stop here for today. Last night, I already sent a message to Teng Shan. He will definitely arrive within three days. You should be prepared."
Hai Bo Dong nodded, glanced at Qing Lin who was standing in the distance watching with a nervous expression, and left leisurely.
Only then did Qing Lin dare to approach, examining him carefully. Seeing that Chen Xiao only looked pathetic but was actually fine, she finally felt completely at ease.
The previous fight between the two, in Qing Lin's eyes, was much more terrifying than the several mercenary group clashes she had seen.
"Don't worry, both I and the Ice Emperor have a sense of proportion. Let's go back too. Today I will teach you how to absorb Qi. From now on, you don't have to accompany me running around during the day. Just cultivate well in the inn."
Qing Lin nodded her head, walked beside Chen Xiao for a while, and spoke softly.
"Young Master, can I ask a question?"
"Anything is fine, no taboos."
"Qing Lin still doesn't know Young Master's name."
"Ah, I forgot. My name is Chen Xiao. It's not as pleasant as Qing Lin's name, but it's easy to remember."
Qing Lin nodded, it was indeed easy to remember.
But suddenly she felt that this was implying her name was better, so she shook her head repeatedly.
No, that's not right either!
Qing Lin's small face was full of entanglement, looking quite cute, which made Chen Xiao unable to help but laugh out loud.
...
In the following three days, Chen Xiao's routine was very regular.
He would wake up from cultivation in the morning, then go outside the city to spar with Hai Bo Dong, and then enter the desert to train in the edge area.
He ultimately didn't use the method of fishing for law enforcement, because after entering the desert, Chen Xiao found it completely unnecessary.
There were at least a hundred mercenary groups in the surrounding cities, and even more mercenaries were active on the edge of the desert every day. Among them were some with malicious intentions, who, adhering to the idea that killing and arson lead to wealth while building bridges and roads leave no corpses, specifically targeted people who looked easy to bully.
And Chen Xiao happened to be among this group.
This meant that he was always being targeted and never lacked opponents to fight.
Slightly regrettable was that the strength of these mercenaries was mostly average. Even with a large number of people, it was difficult to pose a threat to Chen Xiao, forcing him to suppress most of his strength in order to feel the benefits of fighting.
On the fourth day, early morning.
As soon as Hai Bo Dong opened the map shop, he saw several figures flying from high in the sky.
From those pairs of dazzling and colorful Dou Qi wings, it could be confirmed.
These people were all powerhouses above the Dou Wang realm!
Fortunately, it was too early, and there were almost no people on the streets, otherwise, seeing this scene would inevitably cause a sensation.
With his extraordinary eyesight, Hai Bo Dong could clearly see that among the five people flying over, the most familiar Teng Shan was among them.
However, he was not in the center of the five.
The one in the very center was a person wearing a Black Robe, whose gender could not be distinguished, and whose face could not be seen for the time being due to the angle.
Apart from this person and Teng Shan, Hai Bo Dong recognized the other three at a glance. They were respectively—
The Jia Ma Empire's Lionheart Marshal, of the Nalan Family, Nalan Jie!
Yan Shi, known as the Lion King!
Feng Li, known as the Wind Walker!
These few people were all among the top ten powerhouses in the Jia Ma Empire!
"What is this Teng Shan fellow up to?"
Looking at the rather luxurious lineup, Hai Bo Dong slightly furrowed his brows.
This time they weren't going to attack the Snake-People Race, and the probability of a fight breaking out wasn't even high, so why make such a big fuss?
Under Hai Bo Dong's gaze, the group of five quickly flew down and also saw him standing at the entrance.
It was only then that Hai Bo Dong recognized the identity of the person wearing the black robe.
It was none other than the Sect Master of the Yun Lan Sect, Yun Yun.
A genuine Dou Huang expert!
With such strength, being guarded in the center was well-deserved.
"Elder Hai, it really is you! When you left and never returned, I almost used all my power, but I couldn't find any trace of you."
Seeing Hai Bo Dong, Teng Shan, dressed in luxurious robes, immediately stepped forward quickly, his expression particularly excited as he spoke.
Hai Bo Dong nodded slightly, temporarily setting Teng Shan aside, and stepped forward to greet the other four.
"Sect Master Yun, Nalan Jie, Yan Shi, Feng Li, I didn't expect Teng Shan to invite all of you."
"Ice Emperor."
"Haha, the conditions Teng Shan offered are very generous, it's really hard to refuse."
"Ice Emperor, after so many years apart, I didn't think we would have a day to meet again."
Yun Yun and the other four responded one after another.
They all noticed at this moment that the Ice Emperor's condition was much worse than before, but none of them brought it up.
After a brief greeting, Hai Bo Dong led the five people into the shop.
After sitting down, Teng Shan, who had the closest relationship with Hai Bo Dong, was the first to impatiently ask.
"Elder Hai, is your current state perhaps caused by that powerful enemy? Within the Jia Ma Empire, there are only a few Dou Huang experts. I wonder which one attacked Elder Hai?"
Hearing this, Yun Yun and the others also pricked up their ears, full of curiosity.
Hai Bo Dong was a Dou Huang expert who had been famous for many years, unlike rising stars like Yun Yun.
To be able to make Hai Bo Dong suffer such a big loss, and even be forced to ask for help, the person who attacked must be a high-level Dou Huang!
It was with this doubt that Teng Shan hadn't even informed the royal family this time.
After all, the one in the royal family was also a suspect.
Although Teng Shan couldn't think of a motive.
Feeling the gazes of the five people, Hai Bo Dong became more and more confused the more he listened.
"No, who told you that this old man was in danger?"
He did have some problems, but that problem dated back many years.
For now, Hai Bo Dong had no intention of seeking revenge.
Medusa Queen was too terrifying!
Hai Bo Dong couldn't think of anyone within the Jia Ma Empire who could steadily defeat her.
Moreover, behind Medusa Queen, there was the entire Snake-People Race!
"Not in danger?" Teng Shan was stunned.
After being stunned for a moment, Teng Shan suddenly realized that he had most likely misunderstood the matter, which had led to a hoax.
"This matter, I was too worried and overthought it, thinking that Elder Hai had encountered danger."
With a bitter smile, Teng Shan sorted out the whole story.
At the same time, he also took out the letter from his Storage Ring.
After opening it, there was only a simple sentence on it—
"Find a strong expert, come quickly to Mo City to help!"
Seeing this, Nalan Jie and the others laughed rather unkindly.
It wasn't surprising that Teng Shan misunderstood, as this sentence easily led to speculation.
Hai Bo Dong shook his head helplessly. The matter concerning Chen Xiao was a bit complicated, and it was difficult to explain clearly in a few words on paper. He had originally planned to discuss it in detail after Teng Shan arrived, but he didn't expect it to turn out like this.
"Never mind, it doesn't affect much anyway. Since you all have received the reward, then you can all go together when the time comes."
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