Three days later, Er Hu's injuries began to visibly improve.
The medicinal power of the Hundred Blossom Jade Dew seeped into his body, strengthening his bones and organs, allowing him to get the effects of body purification and strengthening before Mortal Shedding. Besides that, Er Hu had also absorbed some Fire Element power, which made his body possess the Fire attribute. In the future, he would be naturally talented whenever it came to Fire-type mantras and techniques—a little silver lining to this disaster.
Tang Jie officially accepted him as his disciple. After passing onto him the Blazing Yang Mantra, he set off again to continue his travels.
Most of the time, Yiyi would go with Tang Jie.
Rarely, he would bring the ghost guard too.
On those occasions, Er Hu would be left all on his own in the estate.
But after his last experience, Er Hu didn't dare to stick around that building, instead rushing off after dropping off the food.
But occasionally, when he looked back at that house, he would hear a familiar sigh.
The time Tang Jie was gone varied.
If he was fast, he would be back in as soon as a day, and if he was slow, it might be five days. The longest he had spent was half a month, and when he returned, he was covered in blood and radiating a savage, murderous aura. At times, he would bring back some fiend corpses, handing them to Er Hu and telling him to feed it to that person in the side house. The war between the humans and fiends had never really stopped. In these last three years, while Tang Jie had never officially stepped onto the battlefield, he had killed many fiends who had infiltrated the rear, spilling copious amounts of blood. As time went on, even Er Hu became as familiar with these fiends as one would with the furniture in their own home—especially with how to cook them.
But as time went on, the intervals between Tang Jie's returns grew longer and longer. It went from the longest being half a month to the shortest being half a month, with the new record being almost two months.
Er Hu knew that this was because Tang Jie was traveling farther and farther away.
He was in the middle of traversing all of Fengshan, all the way until there was nowhere left to go.
And then…
Er Hu didn't even want to think about it.
Weng Tongrang would also visit every so often.
Whether Tang Jie was there or not, he would come bringing news, missions, and rewards.
Er Hu knew that some of these missions were normal and recurring.
These were missions from the ruler of Fengshan, inviting him to head to the battlefield between the humans and demons.
As these were ordinary battles, Tang Jie refused them all.
Other people simply thought that Tang Jie was cowardly and afraid of death, someone who only bullied the weak and feared the strong, only having enough guts to make easy money but not courageous enough to battle against the main fiend army. As for the battle of Hundred Battle City, who knew if it was the truth or just hyperbole?
Only Er Hu knew that Tang Jie was unwilling to go not because he was a coward, but because once he went, he wouldn't come back. Thus, before he went, he had to explore every corner of Fengshan.
With each foray into greater Fengshan, he got closer and closer to the battlefield.
Weng Tongrang came again today.
Surprisingly, Tang Jie was home this time.
The wind brought their conversation to Er Hu's ears as he was chopping firewood.
"The situation on the front line has been growing rather tense. The fiends have been attacking Dongjin Pass like crazy, and we've suffered heavy losses among the soldiers. If this goes on, we might lose the pass."
"The State Preceptor and Sovereign Liu have yet to move out, no? There's nothing to be worried about."
"The fiends are probably trying to force those people to intervene. The two sides signed a treaty that Violet Palace and Divine Division experts would not interfere in this war. At the time, the number of Violet Palace cultivators and Divine Division fiends was even, so the treaty served to keep both sides from ending up badly wounded. But in the last few years, the fiends have produced two more Divine Division great fiends, and the number of peak experts has tipped in one direction. Thanks to the Heavenly Dao Oath, those Divine Division great fiends won't break that treaty lightly, so they've commanded the lower fiends to crazily attack in the hopes of forcing us to break the pact first."
"Isn't there also a rule that armies shouldn't exceed ten thousand?"
"There is such a rule, but it is not bound by a Heavenly Dao Oath, but because the fiend ancestors had sought to breed humans. But now, some of the fiends have started to ignore this rule."
"They no longer plan to keep breeding humans?"
"They're just anxious to take down our Violet Palace cultivators. I hear… the State Preceptor is about to break through."
Weng Tongrang spoke in an extremely soft tone when he said this. Tang Jie raised an eyebrow.
The State Preceptor of Fengshan, Feng Wuxiang, could be considered the number one expert of humanity, possessing profound cultivation and domineering strength. As a youth, he had overflowing talent, could memorize anything he saw, and was able to infer three things when he learned one thing, always learning the best and the fastest. He reached Celestial Heart after fifty years of cultivation, Soul Transformation after two hundred, and Violet Palace after five hundred—a truly smooth path. It had to be understood that he didn't have as many lucky encounters as Tang Jie, and he had attained such speeds purely through his own efforts. After he reached Violet Palace, the ruler of Fengshan granted him the title of State Preceptor, turning him into an official. This delayed his cultivation, or else he would have been able to ascend long ago.
The fiends hadn't been able to do as they pleased with the humans mostly because of this person. If he broke through again, the advantage in numbers the fiends had built up would be easily broken, and the humans would probably end up being the ones who forced the fiends to break the pact.
This was why the fiends had recently intensified their attacks.
After some thought, Tang Jie finally nodded. "Fine. If that's the case, then I agree."
"Many thanks, Sir!" Weng Tongrang was delighted that he had agreed. He was finally able to carry out the ruler's orders.
After saying a few more words, Weng Tongrang hastily left to report the good news.
Tang Jie looked at the estate, softly sighing.
He knew that this farewell might be a final one.
He probably wouldn't have a chance to return to this place.
Lightly stroking the chair he had been sitting on, Tang Jie walked out and saw Er Hu standing in front of him.
Holding a large axe, he said, "Master, are you leaving?"
"Mm." Tang Jie nodded.
"Will you be coming back?"
Tang Jie froze. He wanted to trick him and say that he would still come back, but when he saw the look on Er Hu's face, he realized that the youth already knew the answer.
He shook his head. "I'm afraid not."
"Then Master should bring me along," Er Hu resolutely said.
Tang Jie shook his head. "The place I'm going is too dangerous. I probably won't even be able to protect myself, let alone you."
Deep disappointment appeared on Er Hu's face.
Tang Jie's heart softened after seeing that disappointment, and he truly wanted to take Er Hu into the diagram.
But in the end, he gave up on the idea.
The world in the diagram was too cold, quiet, and lonely.
Living in there wasn't living, it was jail.
He Chong was in jail, Deng Yuqing was in jail, Duan Fourth was in jail, and he himself had been in jail there for a time. There was no reason to have Er Hu suffer this.
But after some thought, he said, "You're too weak, so you can't keep up with me. One day, when your cultivation has improved, if I'm not dead and haven't left yet, you can come and find me. If you still insist on following me by then, I will let you."
Er Hu only asked, "When will my cultivation be considered enough?"
Tang Jie replied, "Celestial Heart. Only when you enter Celestial Heart will you be considered to have enough."
Celestial Heart!
Reaching Celestial Heart in this limited time was much easier said than done!
Even Tang Jie had needed nearly thirty years to get this far.
Thirty years… Would Tang Jie wait that long?
How could Er Hu get so far in so little time?
Nobody knew.
But Er Hu said nothing, only bowing to Tang Jie before turning and leaving.
For him, this was a test that Tang Jie had given him.
What he needed to do was complete this test, not be scared out of his wits by this immense and seemingly impossible mission.
"Wait!" Tang Jie suddenly said.
Er Hu stopped.
Tang Jie raised his head and began to write in the air. One flashing character after another appeared in the air, finally turning into a stream of light that flowed into Er Hu's mind.
Tang Jie then said, "Your nature is honest and considerate, steady and determined, so rather than dabbling in many things, you should focus on one thing. This Blood Bane Classic is a secret I obtained. It enters the Dao through Slaughter and is extremely powerful, but it is no longer of use to me. I now pass it on to you, and if you cultivate it well, you might be able to rise up in the future. But this art has a flaw in that it is too focused on Slaughter, which is liable to create Heart Demons. This was also one of the reasons I did not learn it, but I think your will is resolute enough."
This Blood Bane Classic was one of the arts that Tang Jie had obtained when he had cleaned out the Celestial Flame Pagoda. It could be considered the most valuable art within that place, able to be cultivated all the way to Violet Palace. The only problem was that this was a Demon Gate mantra, which entered the Dao through Slaughter. Tang Jie didn't care about any Demon Gate. In his view, what made it righteous or demonic was the way it was used. But Demon Gate arts affected the mind, and there was a very real chance of the user becoming a demon, which was why he did not recklessly attempt to learn it. Moreover, he had been facing the Heart Demon Tier at the time, so he had no desire to add onto his problems.
Even so, it was still a supreme mantra, so leaving it unused was a pity. Tang Jie didn't dare to pass down the Basking Moon Sect's high-level mantras without the permission of the sect, and after wracking his mind, he found that the Blood Bane Classic was all he could give. Moreover, it was the only mantra that gave Er Hu any hope of reaching Celestial Heart in a short time. As for the problem of becoming a demon, based on these years of observation, Tang Jie found that Er Hu's greatest advantage was his persistent and tough personality. And given that Tang Jie had also passed on to him some mind-purifying methods some time ago, he felt like Er Hu would be able to hold his own, which was why he was willing to pass on this mantra to him.
He then took out a Mustard Seed Bag, which contained various art relics and talismans, and gave it to Er Hu.
But Er Hu didn't accept it.
He took a few steps back and said, "Master, many thanks for your gifts, but I don't need them."
I don't need them.
These few words left Tang Jie stunned.
The youth began to step back, his eyes brimming with resolve.
Finally, he turned his head and left.
As he looked at his departing figure, Tang Jie felt some melancholy and hesitation.
He didn't know what Er Hu's future would be like, but he saw something in this youth: hope.
Tang Jie wasn't sure which was more difficult: finding the materials for the teleportation formation, or Er Hu reaching Celestial Heart. But he saw in Er Hu's resolve and persistence a courage that could withstand any hardship.
If even a youth could see the path of thorns before him and still push on, what reason did he have to be dejected and depressed?
If he couldn't find the materials, he would just keep looking.
One day, he would have searched through all of the Verdant Cloud Domain.
Whether there was anything there or not, at least he would have given it his best effort and would feel no guilt. He trusted that if Xu Miaoran knew of this, she wouldn't blame him, right?
At that moment, Tang Jie felt a heroic feeling welling up inside of him, and he threw his head back and roared.
Raaaa!
This roar shook the world, as if some giant beast had come back to life.
All the melancholy and disappointment that had built up over the last few years were swept away, and Tang Jie shouted, "Miaoran, wait for me! I will return!"
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