Time to go. If you want more treasures, go back and train hard,” the giant yellow bear urged. Ning nodded. Instantly, a phantom of a giant bear’s head appeared, swallowing Ning with a single gulp.
……….
Serpentwing Lake. Brightheart Island. Soon, everyone on the island knew that after half a month, Ji Ning had left from his secluded meditation.
Aside from Ning, no one else knew of the existence of the underwater estate. Given that Ning’s training room was a place where others were strictly forbidden from trespassing, everyone had assumed that he had been in the room training this entire time.
“Master, Master!” An azure-robed maiden was the first to suddenly appear at the entrance of the room. Ning walked out of it, raising his head to look towards the outside. A cold wind pressed down upon him, and giant plumes of snow were falling down from the skies.
“Master, why is it that after you went into training, I could no longer sense your presence?” The azure-robed maiden stared at Ning, mentally sending to him with franticness, “I felt as though you were very, very far away. I’m your spirit-beast, and our spirit-bond was not dispersed, so I knew that you weren’t dead, but…if you weren’t dead, why couldn’t I sense you?”
The nearby Whitewater Hound walked over, sending mentally, “Ning, son, when you went into training, this Azure Skysnake wanted to go inside to search for you. I had to stop her.”
“Oh.” Ning laughed. The first time he had entered the underwater estate, he had caused his father and mother to be concerned over him. They all knew that he had entered a special, ancient relic site, and naturally, Uncle White had learned this as well.
“I had a stroke of karmic luck,” Ning said. “Luck?” Qingqing was surprised. The Grand Xia Dynasty’s territory was simply too vast and contained far too many secrets; anything was possible within it. For example, someone might be in the middle of a perfectly normal battle when an ancient Fiendgod might suddenly wake up and intervene. If this could happen, what couldn’t?
Qingqing could tell that Ning didn’t want to discuss this in detail, so she just muttered to herself, “So stingy with your secrets.”
Ning laughed. The underwater estate involved Daoist Threelives, and it was so important as to be able to shock the entire Three Realms! How could Ning casually reveal its secrets to others? For example, although he was now the master of the underwater estate, he was the only one who could enter it; others could not. Thus, Ning hadn’t even told his parents; after all, given that his parents couldn’t enter it, letting them know of it would only prove problematic, not beneficial in any way.
“Young master.” Autumn Leaf walked towards them from afar, face covered in smiles. “You’ve left your secluded meditation. During this period of time, young master Ji Mo came. He wished to ask for your instructions, young master.”
“Ji Mo?” Ning nodded. “During those first three days after my return, he hadn’t come.” Ji Mo was, aside from Ning himself, the most talented member of the younger generation of the Ji clan.
“Young master Ji Mo was adventuring and testing himself in the outside world as well,” Autumn Leaf said. “Thus, when you returned, the Patriarch sent people out to find young master Jji Mo. They spent quite a few days before finding him, and afterwards, young master Ji Mo came by himself, arriving on the ninth day of your secluded meditation.”
Smiling, Ning nodded. Suddenly, another figure appeared in the distance. In but two flashes, the figure appeared close to them; it was a tall, sturdy-looking handsome youth with a pair of sword-shaped eyebrows. He stared towards Ning with a blazingly eager gaze, and he immediately said with respect, “I pay my respects to you, young master Ji Ning.”
“It seems as though you’ve improved quite a bit in recent years,” Ning said with a praising laugh. With but a single glance, he could tell that Ji Mo’s aura had changed significantly. In the past, Ji Mo had been quite reserved, but now, Ji Mo seemed like a drawn warblade. He had a powerful, sturdy willpower that was forged through battle.
“Compared to you, young master, I’m still quite inferior,” Ji Mo said respectfully.
“If you are willing,” Ning suddenly said, “You can come here and stay here whenever you please.” Ji Mo was stunned. Instantly, he revealed a look of joy on his face. In the past, he had knelt down to beg Ji Ning to accept him as disciple, but at that time, Ning was focused on his own pursuit of the Dao, and didn’t have any time to spare. Now that Ning had chosen to permanently stay here at Serpentwing Lake…he was naturally willing to occasionally make the time to provide some guidance to the most talented younger members of the Ji clan. This could be considered a way in which he would help the Ji clan train future experts.
Suddenly…
“