Hai Bodong

Hai Bodong, the former Ice Emperor, first meets Xiao Yan while living as a sealed map-shop recluse. Their bargain restores his cultivation and develops into a durable alliance through which he protects Xiao Yan, the Primer clan, and the coalition that becomes the Yan Alliance. (Chapters 176–241, 301–377, 681–736)

Biography

The Desert Hunt for a Heavenly Flame

The former Ice Emperor lives as an old map-shop owner after Queen Medusa sealed his cultivation for decades. He wants the seal broken and guards the second half of a mysterious map fragment as leverage. He tests Xiao Yan, bargains the remaining map for a Breaking Adversity Pill, consumes it, briefly considers seizing the fragments after recovering, and ultimately follows Xiao Yan as hired protection while awaiting further medicinal aid. (Chapters 176–180, 236–241)

Fear of Queen Medusa shapes his caution; his transactional relationship with Xiao Yan becomes respect when Xiao Yan and Yao Chen prove able to restore him. He regains Dou Huang strength, gives Xiao Yan the fragment, returns to the Primer clan, and becomes one of Xiao Yan's first senior political allies. Isolation and suspicion give way to a durable debt-based loyalty. (Chapters 176–180, 236–241)

The Capital Contest and the Three-Year Duel

Back in the capital, Hai Bodong resumes his identity as the Ice Emperor and assesses how far to risk himself for Xiao Yan. He wants full recovery and honors their compact, while understanding that open conflict with the Misty Cloud Sect could endanger the Primer clan. He monitors Xiao Yan's recovery, accompanies him to the duel, intervenes against Yun Leng, shields his retreat, and condemns Yun Shan's sneak attack during the later crisis. (Chapters 301–377)

His alliance with Xiao Yan pits him against the Misty Cloud Sect; his lingering terror of Medusa remains explicit even after he has recovered. His public intervention binds the Primer clan's fate more tightly to Xiao Yan and helps Xiao Yan escape the first sect confrontation. He moves beyond a narrowly transactional bodyguard role and repeatedly acts before payment or safety is assured. (Chapters 301–377)

Return and the Misty Cloud Reckoning

During Xiao Yan's exile, Hai Bodong and the Primer clan bear the Misty Cloud Sect's pressure and fight to protect the remaining allied families. He seeks to keep the Primer and Xiao survivors alive and then supports Xiao Yan's plan to end the sect threat permanently. He fights multiple enemies over the capital, helps plan the assault, consumes the Spiritual Recovery Purple Pill, leads senior fighters into battle, and joins the deliberations that create the Yan Alliance. (Chapters 681–736)

His bond with Xiao Yan is reciprocal: Xiao Yan returns in time to save him from being overwhelmed, and Hai Bodong commits the strength he recovered through Xiao Yan's medicine. The Misty Cloud Sect falls, the Primer clan survives, and Hai Bodong becomes a senior Yan Alliance pillar. The old Ice Emperor becomes a coalition elder willing to share authority and institutional responsibility. (Chapters 681–736)

The Yan Alliance and the Poison-Sect War

The new alliance needs alchemists, veteran judgment, and a coordinated defense against neighboring empires. Hai Bodong therefore works to stabilize a coalition assembled from former rivals, supports Xiao Yan's effort to recruit Gu He, and takes part in the alliance's military and political response. His value in this phase lies as much in imperial experience as in combat power. (Chapters 734–790)

Working with Fa Ma and other former imperial powers requires Hai Bodong to share responsibility rather than act as the solitary legend he once was. Gu He's recruitment gives the Yan Alliance stronger alchemical infrastructure, while Hai Bodong's participation confirms that the coalition can absorb old competitors into a common command. His latest substantial role is consequently that of a trusted senior adviser. (Chapters 734–790)

Appearance and personality

Introduced as an elderly map-shop recluse; after recovery he retains a cold, overbearing manner associated with the Ice Emperor. (Chapters 176, 180, 241)

Cautious and calculating, including briefly testing whether he can reclaim the map, but capable of loyalty, blunt humor, and intervention on Xiao Yan's behalf. (Chapters 241, 329, 366, 690, 709)

His fear of Queen Medusa is a lasting consequence of being sealed by her. (Chapter 354)

Abilities and cultivation

Ice-affinity Dou Qi

Origin and mechanics. His established cultivation as the renowned Ice Emperor predates the corpus. He forms ice barriers, cold air, wings, blades, and large-scale frozen attacks from Dou Qi; exact cultivation method is not named. Its demonstrated effects are strong defense, battlefield control, and Dou Huang-level ranged offense. (Chapters 177, 180, 240–241, 350, 366, 709)

Applications and interactions. Map-shop duel, aerial protection, formation resistance, and coalition battle. The Breaking Adversity Pill removes the seal; the Spiritual Recovery Purple Pill accelerates later recovery. Representative uses include fighting Xiao Yan's borrowed power in Chapters 177–180, blocking Yun Leng in Chapter 350, and leading an ice attack in Chapter 709. (Chapters 177, 180, 240–241, 350, 366, 709)

Limits and development. Queen Medusa's seal reduces him to a fraction of his former power for decades; even after breaking it, recovery is gradual and Yun Shan exceeds him. Medicinal aid restores him first to Dou Huang and then closer to his old peak. At the latest confirmed point, he remains a senior Ice Emperor and Yan Alliance combatant; the cited evidence establishes no later breakthrough. (Chapters 177, 180, 240–241, 350, 366, 709)

Power progression

Relationships

• Xiao Yan: From bargaining opponent and hired bodyguard to senior ally whose public protection and clan resources repeatedly support Xiao Yan. (Chapters 176, 241, 329, 377, 681, 736)

• Cai Lin: Former enemy who sealed him; he retains strong fear of her. (Chapters 176, 180, 354)

• Fa Ma: Peer among Jia Ma's senior experts and collaborator in Yan Alliance affairs and Gu He's recruitment. (Chapters 301, 366, 786)

Items

• Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame Map: Finder and former custodian of one fragment, which he splits and uses as bargaining leverage before giving the remainder to Xiao Yan. (Chapters 176–180, 236–241)

• Spiritual Recovery Purple Pill: Recipient and consumer; Xiao Yan refines it to accelerate recovery toward Hai Bodong's former peak. (Chapters 653, 660, 709)