--- Chapter 43 ---
Baek Ain stared at the quest panel with a complex look. Defeating Queen Medusa in a week is impossible with his current strength. With all the foundation and boost from Golden Crow's Possession, he still couldn't reach Dou Emperor Realm.
At best, Baek Ain will be around Peak Dou King.
And that's still far compared to Queen Medusa, who possessed Peak Dou Emperor Realm.
The best way to defeat Queen Medusa without too much risk is a 6-Tier Pill called Dou Sacrificial Pill. It's Yao Men's recipe, which raises one's Dou Qi to the level of Dou Emperor temporarily by consuming Life Force.
The only problem is Baek Ain doesn't possess a single material to make this pill.
"Fuck me..." Baek Ain let out a groan of frustration.
As Baek Ain drowned in his thoughts, Hai Bodong was confused because the brat spoke an unknown language and asked Lan Rou, "Is there something wrong with his head?"
Lan Rou shook her head and replied, "Sometimes Ain is like that."
"He seems frustrated about something, but I don't know... He'd tell us soon."
Yi Xian and Qing Lin listened to Lan Rou's replies, staring at Baek Ain and hoping he was fine.
After a few minutes, Baek Ain stared at them and firmly stated, "Change of plan."
"Ice Emperor, I want you to protect these girls and ladies."
"I'll fight Queen Medusa alone."
"Wait, what?" Hai Bodong was speechless. "Are you insane, brat? It is Queen Meduse that we were talking about. Her strength is even greater than mine. You fighting her is a death wish."
"No... You're courting death by doing this."
"Even though Green Lotus Core Flame is important for Tengshan's recovery, it's not worth your life."
Hai Bodong didn't know that Baek Ain could purge Primer Tengshan's poison with his current Gnome's Heavenly Four-Colored Flame and Pyrokinesis(S), but explaining it would be a hassle.
Baek Ain stared into Hai Bodong's eyes and said, "Let me do this, Ice Emperor."
"You said Yafei deserves a more respectable fiance, and here I am to prove it to you."
"..." Hai Bodong wants to refute that statement, but he did say something similar when they met. He couldn't even criticize Baek Ain's decision now.
In the first place, that grumpy comment should never get taken seriously, but the young man before him bravely accepted the challenge without fear.
"How dare you use my own words against me..."
"Fine, you can die there alone, brat."
Baek Ain smiled weakly and responded, "I'm not going to die if things move correctly, but we aren't short on time."
"Ice Emperor, for the next six days... I wanted to spar with you."
"Don't hold back on me."
"Please." He added while lowering his head.
Hai Bodong looked at Baek Ain with a complicated gaze and complained in frustration internally. "Hmph! I'll make every day hell for you." He indifferently returned.
However, Baek Ain laughed and commented, "Haha, That'd be nice."
...
...
Six days later.
In the outer layer of Tager Desert, Blue Ice and Golden Flame danced with each other.
Baek Ain's body was "directly." covered with intense golden flame as he swung his new weapon, the Severed Green Lotus Blade. It's a long blade with a green edge and a slick black handle.
He slashed through Hai Bodong's ice wave and approached the man known as Ice Emperor, leaving a trail of flame in the desert.
"Haaa!" Baek Ain let out a howl, stunning Hai Bodong for a few seconds.
Hai Bodong frowned and clicked his tongue in annoyance, "This annoying trick of yours again. It won't work this time, brat!"
Shaking off the stun, Hai Bodong lifted his right arm and smashed it against thin air. A wave of low temperature washed the area and froze everything in ice.
Baek Ain's blade shone with dim green light. He waved his weapon down and created several fiery wheels of green fire, countering the ice wave.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Smoke rose to the sky, surrounding the area from being visible.
"Where is he..." Hai Bodong glanced around, using his Dou Qi sense to find Baek Ain. "Tch, being a shadow guard sure makes his presence thinner than usual."
Hai Bodong shouldn't have a problem finding Baek Ain, who recently broke into 1-Star Dou King. After relentless sparring with Hai Bodong, that brat was "obviously." bound to become better and stronger.
The Ice Emperor witnessed Baek Ain's growth personally, watching the small cat turn into a wild tiger. No, He's a wild tiger with wings.
Usually, the wild tiger needs time to mature, but Baek Ain is different.
He devoured every piece of information and experience that the Ice Emperor parted in the spars, adapting to the greater height. He broke bones and lost a chunk of flesh for six days straight, but that wasn't enough to stop him.
SWOOSH!
"There." Hai Bodong noticed the shift in the air.
He stomped the ground and made a surge of ice upward, creating a sturdy pillar to hit nothing but smoke.
"What?!"
ZZZ!
The sounds of lightning filled the area. A golden flash passed through the smoke and appeared before Hai Bodong's side.
"You gotta be kidding me-!"
Baek Ain flashed with two pairs of wings on his back. The first pair is from the "Wings of Freedom Technique." which used the wings of a Wind-Lightning Hawk, granting him extreme lightning-like speed.
The second pair is from his succession becoming Dou King, allowing him to form Golden Wings from Dou Qi. Since he cultivated the "Record of Burning World." these wings granted him explosive speed.
Combining these qualities and Super Jump, Baek Ain gained a key to surpass any Dou Emperor in speed. He should be able to catch any Dou Emperor off guard, but the energy consumption is no joke.
Maintaining the Dou Qi Wings alone is exhausting for Baek Ain.
Even Hai Bodong couldn't react to Baek Ain's speed. That's why he shouted nonsense right now.
"Seven Star Blade Art."
"Final Act: Devouring World."
Baek Ain skillfully wielded Corrupted Scythe and Severed Green Lotus Blade simultaneously, swinging them diagonally like X. It caused the surrounding Dou Qi to suck everything like a vacuum and formed a majestic tiger.
The White Tiger opened its mouth and pounced on Hai Bodong, swallowing the man into chaos.
ROAR! BAM!
"Ha..." Hai Bodong smiled in defeat.
BOOOOOOOM!!
The outer area of Tager Desert is swept over by a shockwave, causing sand and rock to fly everywhere.
Baek Ain stood on a destroyed land and spurted a mouthful of blood because moving at extreme speed put a load on his body. He kneeled on the ground and mumbled, "It's still not enough."
Looking at unscathed Hai Bodong, Baek Ain sighed and added, "My last attack only destroys your clothes. Fucking hell, the difference between Dou King and Dou Emperor is massive."
"What are you talking about?" Hai Bodong walked out of the crater and brushed the sand off his shoulder. "Your last attack is impressive enough and definitely could injure any Dou Emperor with proper timing."
"Your problem is fighting me, who mastered Ice Dou Qi."
"My Dou Qi reduced around 40% of your fire-infused attack's damage, making it ineffective when landing on my body."
"If you are fighting Queen Medusa, there is a chance you could win. Well, it's abysmally small."
"Your speed is good enough if you want to run, anyway."
"Thanks for the compliment." Baek Ain smiled at him.
Hai Bodong rolled his eyes and returned, "I'm not praising you. I simply don't want my niece to be sad."
"Sure, sure... Let's leave it like that." Baek Ain dropped to the sand, staring at the blue sky.
Baek Ain hasn't shown Golden Crow's Possession to Hai Bodong, which could bump his winning chance from 5% to 15%. It's a rough calculation, but if Ice Emperor said he could win with these stats, boosting his strength by five small realms should ease up the fight later.
"Senior, catch!" Baek Ain threw Green Lotus Slaying Cloak at Hai Bodong.
Hai Bodong caught the cloak and questioned, "What's this?"
"It hides your presence from Fire-Sensing. The green-colored protective layer also resists extreme heat and piercing attack." Baek Ain explained the function of the Green Lotus Slaying Cloak. "If I die in the fight, please use that and take my corpse away."
"Yafei would hate me if my body didn't return in one piece." A wry smile appeared on his face.
"Brat, you..."
"Hehe, Don't worry. I haven't accepted my death yet. I'm just not afraid of it."
Hai Bodong listened to Baek Ain's words and said, "Very well."
...
...
Returning to the Rock Desert City, Baek Ain had a nice dinner with his companions and told them he'd be fine. He climbed up to the bed and saw Lan Rou sitting on the chair with her cup of tea.
"Hi, there." Baek Ain greeted his lover.
Lan Rou sipped her tea and asked, "Are you afraid?"
"..." Baek Ain gave her a "Are you kidding." look.
"Of course, I'm afraid."
"I'm afraid I'd get separated from you and Yafei."
"Good. I taught you well." Lan Rou nodded in affection. "Remember that fear and survive."
"Hahaha... I like how unfazed and blunt you are, Rou."
"My charming teacher, isn't it." Baek Ain laughed and watched Lan Rou walking to bed, crawling under his blanket.
Lan Rou smiled under the blanket and returned, "Let me reassure you tonight. My Ain won't get defeated."
"W-Well... Yeah." Baek Ain accepted her offer.
That night, Baek Ain was such a happy man.