Parting

The stars glittered overhead. Xiao Heng sat on a rock in front of the wooden cabin, gazing up at the sky full of stars.

The nights in this world were beautiful, like the starry sky over his hometown when he was young. Whenever Xiao Heng looked up at the vast expanse of stars, he always felt exceptionally peaceful.

Xiao Yi Xian sat beside Xiao Heng and said casually, "You're leaving tomorrow, aren't you?"

Xiao Heng lowered his head and stroked the sword in his hand. Smiling, he said, "How did you know?"

He had been here for nearly five months. Counting the scattered time before that, he had been away from Wutan City for almost half a year. It was time to head somewhere new.

Cultivation was a lonely path. Gaining strength was never so simple. He could not stay here forever; eventually, he had to set out. Though it was sad, it was unavoidable.

Brushing a lock of hair from her forehead, Xiao Yi Xian smiled sweetly. "Otherwise, why would you be keeping me company to watch the moon?"

"You're still as smart as ever," Xiao Heng replied softly. Partings were always sad.

Without looking at his face, the gentle girl said gently, "Promise me something, okay?"

"Go ahead."

"Stay alive."

Xiao Heng turned to look at her beautiful profile. A gentle breeze passed by, stirring her dark hair slightly, and the corners of Xiao Heng's lips lifted into a faint smile.

"You too."

From her profile, Xiao Heng could clearly see Xiao Yi Xian's smile. It was as though this was not a farewell, but preparation for their next reunion.

"Mm!" The girl happily agreed to that simplest of requests. She would definitely fulfill it.

The two of them quietly watched the stars filling the sky, watching them glitter overhead. The years were peaceful; they would always meet again.

After a while, a weight suddenly settled on Xiao Heng's shoulder. A voice said, "Let me borrow your shoulder for a while."

"Mm."

Leaning against the shoulder of the person beside her, watching the stars in the sky and listening to his strong heartbeat, she felt unexpectedly at peace. Slowly, she closed her eyes. The sound of steady breathing drifted out...

The next day!

Xiao Heng spread his Purple Cloud Wings and arrived at the valley of Bear One and Bear Two. They had long since prepared everything and were merely waiting for him.

"Bear Two, let's go!"

The girl opened her eyes and immediately got up, running toward the young man's room. Unfortunately, there was already no one inside. There was only a wooden bed, which seemed to retain a trace of warmth. Sunlight shone in through the doorway, falling at her feet and telling her that it had all been real.

After closing the door and returning to her own room, the girl discovered a letter beside her pillow. She opened the envelope.

"Xiao Yi Xian, I'm not very good at farewells, so I could only leave behind this letter. I was the one who found you, so I should be the first to say goodbye. There is a Storage Ring beneath this letter."

The girl hurriedly looked, and sure enough, there was a Storage Ring. Clutching it tightly in her palm, she continued reading.

"Inside the Storage Ring are some medicinal pills. I've labeled what each one does. There is also a Dou Technique Scroll, which should suit you well. Lastly, goodbye!"

A teardrop fell onto the letter. After a long while, the girl wiped away her tears and smiled sweetly.

"Goodbye, my friend, Xiao Heng!"

After folding the letter, Xiao Yi Xian opened the Storage Ring. It contained all kinds of medicinal pills, with a note attached to every bottle clearly stating its effect. Besides those, a green Scroll lay quietly inside.

"Myriad Leaf Flying Flower Flow!" Opening the Scroll, Xiao Yi Xian softly read out the name of the Dou Technique.

Walking out of the wooden cabin, a Blue Eagle landed before Xiao Yi Xian.

Screech!

The Blue Eagle gently rubbed its head against Xiao Yi Xian, as though comforting her.

Xiao Yi Xian stroked the Blue Eagle's head. "Let's go, Xiao Lan. It's time for us to set out too!"...

Under the blazing sun, a bear over two meters tall and a handsome young man walked forward step by step. If anyone saw them, they would certainly find the pair strange.

Bear Two took out a waterskin, uncorked it, and poured the water into his mouth. But how could such a tiny waterskin possibly satisfy a bear? He drained it in just a few gulps. Shaking the waterskin and confirming that it was indeed empty, Bear Two angrily threw it onto the ground.

Turning to the young man beside him, he said, "Xiao Heng, when will we reach the next town? I really want some water!"

Xiao Heng took out another waterskin and handed it to Bear Two. He had not expected Bear Two to drink so fiercely. The water that should have lasted until the next town was nearly gone when they were only halfway there.

"It's not far. We'll be there soon."

"But you've already said that four times." Bear Two quickly drained the second waterskin as well, then said distrustfully.

Uh! Xiao Heng blinked awkwardly. "This time, we really are almost there. I'm not lying to you. Really."

Bear Two looked unconvinced. Liar. I'm never trusting you again.

He was not directionally challenged. It was just that there were no landmarks at all in a place like this; anyone would be confused. Taking out the map, he carefully compared it again. Only after confirming that the nearest town was ahead did he say with greater certainty, "This time it's real. There definitely won't be any problem."

Bear Two looked at Xiao Heng suspiciously. He suspected that this person was tricking him again, but he had no proof, so he decided to trust Xiao Heng one more time. Mainly because he had no choice but to trust him. Thus, he could only say, "Alright!"

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Xiao Heng felt rather embarrassed. It was a little shameful to deceive a bear. But that was not even the most important part—the important thing was that Bear Two could not find out that he was lost too.

"Xiao Heng, then hurry up!" After saying that, Bear Two took the lead and strode ahead.

Xiao Heng took a gulp of water as well, then shook the waterskin. That was the last of it. If they still could not find the town soon, he truly did not know how he would bluff Bear Two again.

He could actually fly. At his current level, as long as he did not fight, he could sustain the Purple Cloud Wings for an hour without any problem. He could fly for a while, recover some Dou Qi, then fly again.

But he was not in a hurry. Why rush so much? It was better to travel on foot; he could use the journey to temper his Dou Qi.

And Bear Two—magical beasts like Earth Stone Bears excelled in strength and defense. It was fine to have it fly briefly during battle, but prolonged flight? Sorry, Big Bear couldn't manage that!

That was perfectly normal. On land, they possessed immense strength, heavy defenses, and considerable speed, which also meant they were not so agile in the air or water.

Taking out a Kirin Fruit and eating it, Xiao Heng continued onward.

Another half day passed, and the sun was nearing sunset. Xiao Heng and Bear Two spotted a town around noon. The moment Bear Two saw the town, he charged toward it.

Xiao Heng was not as fast as Bear Two and could only follow behind.

"Hey, did you hear? Old Zhao's wife is having an affair with Old Wang!"

"I knew it ages ago. You could tell that woman was no good just by looking at her. Poor Old Zhao."

"Isn't that the truth? But that woman really is beautiful. With Old Zhao's capabilities, he couldn't keep her anyway."

"I told him long ago not to marry that woman, but he just wouldn't listen."...

At the city gate, two middle-aged men were chatting idly when they suddenly saw a huge cloud of yellow dust rolling toward them from afar.

"Brother Zhang, what's that?"

The man on the left saw the cloud of dust but could not make it out clearly, so he asked the man on the right.

"Huh? You mean..."

The man turned to look. A bear more than two meters tall was already only twenty or thirty meters away from them, charging straight at them.

"A magical beast!"

The two were startled. Generally speaking, magical beasts did not appear here, and judging by its speed, it was clearly no low-tier magical beast. They hurriedly raised the spears in their hands.

"Hey! What are those two up ahead doing?" Bear Two was a little puzzled. Why did those two look like they wanted to attack him? Though those little things could not hurt him anyway! He stopped, intending to wait for Xiao Heng before entering the city.

As for those two men, he paid them no attention at all and simply turned to look toward Xiao Heng.

The two men were so frightened that cold sweat broke out on their backs, yet neither dared approach. They could only hold their spears with trembling hands and stare fixedly at Bear Two.

"Brother Zhang, are we done for? What a pity about my secret savings! If I die, my wife won't find it, will she? And I still haven't saved enough money to visit Little Red!"

The man on the left spoke shakily. The moment he opened his mouth, it sounded as though he were making his final arrangements. The man on the right spoke as well. "Me too! If I die, what will happen to Little Red?"

Only then did Xiao Heng run over. Seeing the state of the two men, he immediately understood what had happened. The man on the right saw Xiao Heng arrive and quickly shouted, "Little brother, run! There's a high-tier magical beast here!"

Xiao Heng smiled. They were not bad people, at least. He quickly explained, "Uncles, don't be afraid. This is my beast pet. He won't hurt you."

The two paused, looked at each other, and only then calmed down. It was not that they were cowardly; they both possessed Dou Zhe cultivation. But the aura Bear Two had casually released just now had truly frightened them.

Normally, when Bear Two restrained his aura, it was difficult for others to sense that he was a Fifth-tier Magical Beast unless they were stronger than him or roughly equal in strength. But he had been too excited just now and let out a trace of his aura. The aura of a Fifth-tier Magical Beast—even just a trace of it—was enough to make these two men, who possessed only Dou Zhe cultivation, tremble.

The two men straightened up again, thinking, So it was a beast pet! No wonder it appeared here. They had seen such things before. Many powerful families kept magical beasts and the like.

After calming down, they saw that Xiao Heng's clothing and bearing were rather extraordinary. He seemed to be a disciple of some great family out gaining experience. They quickly composed themselves, pretending that they had not just made fools of themselves.

The man on the right finally said, "Keep your beast pet under control next time. We'll let it slide, but it wouldn't be good if you scared someone else."

The man on the left had recovered as well and quickly added, "That's right, keep him under control!"

Xiao Heng smiled and did not expose the fact that they had been scared half to death just moments ago. "All right, I understand!"

"Then can we go in now?"

"Yes!" ×2

Only then did Xiao Heng have the time to look over the city. Its walls were entirely constructed from black rock, and above the gates were carved the three words: Black Rock City.

"Black Rock City!" Xiao Heng repeated the three words.

"Let's go, Bear Two!"

Bear Two nodded. "Mm!"

Only after the two had entered did the men at the gate realize something. They... seemed to have said something rather outrageous just now. They looked at each other for three seconds, then each turned away and said nothing more!

Little Red...!