Vol.3-Chapter 11 – Things Change With the Passage of Time

Yan Province

At night, two bright lights flew from the south to the east over the wilderness. The golden and cyan lights were particularly bright at night.

The two figures on the flying swords were naturally Zhao Jiuge and Su Su. After reaching the Foundation Realm, cultivators no longer needed to eat and only ate things with spirit force. Of course, there were naturally some exceptions, like cultivators who couldn’t control their own desires.

Zhao Jiuge and Su Su rushed through the night toward Dong Yang City. There were people Zhao Jiuge wanted to deal with there: the Xiao family and the Flowing Cloud Sect, which couldn’t even be considered a third-rate sect.

After visiting the old man’s grave, Zhao Jiuge’s mood gradually improved while being accompanied by Su Su. The more Su Su helped him, the more guilt he felt toward her. He had decided that he would tell her about everything when they arrived at the valley on the way to Dong Yang City.

Perhaps people would mature as time passed, and they experience more of life. At this moment, Zhao Jiuge had a different view toward love.

The old man was gone, and he should properly walk down the path he had chosen. He had already made plans for the future. After resolving the matter at Dong Yang City, he was going to head all the way east until he reached the Hai Province in the eastern edge. Then he would go north and circle around back to the Xuan Province. Along the way, when he passed the Qing Province, he would see if he could obtain the rest of the Eight Desolate Sword Diagram.

Zhao Jiuge no longer had any distractions left aside from those feelings he wasn’t sure about. The only other thing left was to improve his strength.

With the help of the moonlight, Zhao Jiuge finally saw the familiar valley ahead. After he left the village, he had spent a few months here until he found Little Black’s mother battling another Spirit Formation Realm spirit beast.

He also wandered to the nearby cold pool and encountered the shocking Ling Bo Re, which led to everything else that happened afterwards.

“Let’s go to the valley. This is where I started. I don’t know if Little Black is still here after more than five years.”

After saying all of this, Zhao Jiuge wasn’t certain. When he left, Little Black’s cultivation was not high and he didn’t have good talent, so his cultivation would be slow. Zhao Jiuge wasn’t expecting much and just wanted to take a look. Not to mention, it was on the way to Dong Yang City.

“We already came all the way here, we’ll know once we go inside,” Su Su said softly. Zhao Jiuge had already told her about his experiences before. Back in Dong Yang City, Su Su found that the Pi Xu Jade Token Zhao Jiuge was carrying was a bit strange, so she followed him and they met at the unmarked graveyard.

The two flying swords turned, forming an arc, and flew into the valley. The bright light released by the swords lit up the entire valley, but it was only for an instant. Once they put away their flying swords, the night quickly devoured the valley once more.

When Zhao Jiuge landed on the ground, he didn’t immediately move around searching for Little Black but instead carefully looked around.

His Spirit Core Realm cultivation directly spread out. If Little Black were still here, he wouldn’t ignore these spirit force fluctuations and would come to check out the situation.

Zhao Jiuge was looking around and found that this place hadn’t changed much from five years ago. The only difference was that the spirit force here was more dense than other places. The flowers and grass here were more lush, and some had already grown waist high.

Su Su didn’t say a word and quickly stood beside Zhao Jiuge. Her beautiful eyes looked at Zhao Jiuge with a tender gaze.

He didn’t hide his aura at all and released it for a long time. However, there was no movement at all, much less another spirit force fluctuation.

This caused Zhao Jiuge to secretly frown, wondering if Little Black had already left or had already left his world. Zhao Jiuge felt a burst of irritation as he didn’t know what to do. He could only wait in silence.

A spirit force aura not weaker than his own suddenly spread, which shocked Zhao Jiuge. When did such a small valley have such a powerful presence? He felt like it was similar to his own power. Could it be that Little Black had already fallen to something else?

Su Su was relatively calm and she slightly raised her eyebrow. A Spirit Core Realm enemy was not a danger to her; she was only worried that Zhao Jiuge’s mood would be bad because Little Black was not here.

Roars from a spirit beast echoed. They weren't very loud, but due to the silence of the night and the valley being empty, they were particularly ear-piercing.

Zhao Jiuge’s body tensed up and the spirit force inside him began to move. However, he didn’t move and didn’t reach for the sword on his back. Instead, his eyes narrowed and locked on to the source of the roar.

A few dozen meters to the southeast, there was a large tree, and the leaves were subtly moving. Zhao Jiuge’s pupils shrank when saw a black silhouette that was less than ? of a meter tall. The roars had come from that shadow.

Zhao Jiuge’s expression sank. From a glance, it was not Little Black. Back then, Little Black was already ? of a meter tall, and after five or six years, he should be larger.

Zhao Jiuge had already determined that Little Black was gone and that this fellow was the culprit. He remained motionless and coldly stared at the shadow in the tree. With the help of the moonlight, he could clearly see the silhouette in the tree that was also looking back at him. However, its body was completely blocked by the dense leaves, so Zhao Jiuge could not see its exact appearance.

Zhao Jiuge didn’t move, so Su Su naturally didn’t move either. Seeing Zhao Jiuge not move, the figure in the tree also didn’t move. The atmosphere was tense and things remained like this for a while.

Just when Su Su was wondering how long this atmosphere would last, the silhouette let out a roar in front of the tree. This sudden roar startled Zhao Jiuge, and he wondered if it was finally going to reveal itself.

Soon, the large tree shook and the silhouette jumped down. It rolled as it landed on the ground and rushed toward Zhao Jiuge.

Zhao Jiuge was prepared to pull out his sword when he noticed something weird. The roar this time was very different from before. It was high-pitched, like it was filled with excitement, unlike the first roar, which was like a warning.

The hesitation caused Zhao Jiuge to suddenly stop, which caused Su Su to become nervous. She was about to make a move and stop this unknown spirit beast.

This hesitation also allowed Zhao Jiuge to get a look at the figure that was rushing toward him.

It was a completely black macaque monkey that was only about the size of his palm. Its belly and face had white fur, making for a lovely sight. It was very different from what Zhao Jiuge had imagined before, perhaps because the little monkey was hiding in the dark.

Zhao Jiuge was in a bit of a daze because both Little Black and his mother were macaque monkeys. They were different from other spirit beasts and were more intelligent than other spirit beasts. Generally, once a spirit beast reached the Core Formation Realm, they would gain intelligence. However, intelligent spirit beasts like macaque monkeys could gain intelligence earlier.

Zhao Jiuge was shocked by the macaque monkey flying toward him and muttered with some uncertainty and doubt, “Little Black?” This caused Su Su, who was ready to make a move, to stop. She looked at the little monkey with some doubt.

What puzzled Zhao Jiuge was that Little Black had become smaller over the last five years even though the aura he gave off was at the Spirit Core Realm. However, Zhao Jiuge was able to see a familiar figure in this little monkey since the white fur in front was exactly the same.

Perhaps because Zhao Jiuge recognized him, the little monkey became excited and began to wave his arms and rushed over even faster. When he was close to Zhao Jiuge, he jumped into Zhao Jiuge’s arms. Fortunately, Little Black was less than ? of a meter tall, so Zhao Jiuge was able to easily catch him.

Seeing Zhao Jiuge holding the little monkey and the little monkey showing no sign of attacking, Su Su was secretly relieved. This little monkey was probably the Little Black Zhao Jiuge had talked about.

Holding Little Black, who had soft and comfortable fur, Zhao Jiuge couldn’t help but smile. “Little Black, how did you become so small and cute? Your cultivation is even on par with mine. It seems like you have been doing well in these years.”

Little Black began squeaking nonstop and his hands started dancing around. Although Zhao Jiuge didn’t know what Little Black was saying, he could see Little Black’s excitement and joy.

Su Su’s eyes contained joy while she looked at Zhao Jiuge’s smile. It was very simple—as long as he was happy, she was happy.

Su Su’s mood was completely dependent on Zhao Jiuge. A few days ago, because Zhao Jiuge was feeling depressed and lost, she was feeling the same. Now that Zhao Jiuge was happy, she felt happy.

After enjoying the reunion, Zhao Jiuge smiled and said, “Little Black, I’m here to take you away with me. Are you willing to come?”

The palm-sized Little Black excitedly nodded at first, but then it seemed to remember something. Its right palm intimately grasped Zhao Jiuge’s long hair and then his left palm pointed forward.

Then it jumped down onto the ground and led the way forward. After talking a few steps, it looked back to see if Zhao Jiuge was following or not.

Seeing Little Black’s actions, Zhao Jiuge and Su Su looked at each other and then quickly followed. They wondered where Little Black was taking them. Perhaps it was related to how its cultivation had improved so fast?