Twelve years later.
Song Wen emerged from beneath a stretch of flat yellow earth.
During this time, he had remained in seclusion, tempering his rapidly surging cultivation.
Now, his cultivation realm had been completely stabilized.
After using the spirit beast contract to sense Nether Fox's location, Song Wen rose into the air and flew toward the Source-Qi Death Domain.
When the boundless black source qi appeared before him, Song Wen merely slowed slightly before flying into it.
After traveling several thousand more li, Song Wen descended at the foot of a mountain beside a small lake.
"Nether Fox, why haven't you shown yourself?" Song Wen called toward the mountain.
A few breaths later, Nether Fox emerged from a cave at the foot of the mountain.
"Master, why have you come?"
Song Wen stared fixedly at Nether Fox, his expression slightly astonished.
"You've already advanced to the peak of the fourth tier!"
When they had parted ways years ago, Nether Fox had only been at the middle stage of the fourth tier. In just over forty years, it had actually risen two minor realms in succession.
Its increase in strength could not be called anything but rapid.
"I broke through several years ago." A trace of pride appeared in Nether Fox's eyes. "These years, I killed several monsters all by myself."
Song Wen asked, "Did you eat the kind of monster that can shift between corporeal and incorporeal forms?"
Nether Fox said, "They looked different from the one you killed back then, but their bodies could all shift between corporeal and incorporeal forms. However, the ones I killed were not very strong. By the standards of you humans, they should have possessed third- or fourth-tier strength."
"Since you killed so many monsters, you must have ventured into the depths of the