The instant their gazes met, Meng Hao suddenly couldn’t see the azure-robed man anymore. When he reappeared, he was standing next to Meng Hao.
Meng Hao’s scalp went numb; it was impossible to see the level of the man’s Cultivation base. Trying to do so gave Meng Hao the same feeling you might get when looking into a deep ocean.
He immediately stood up and bowed deeply toward the azure-robed man. “Meng Hao of the junior generation greets senior.”
The man looked over at Meng Hao, then sat down off to the side. He took a sip of alcohol, and, his face as disconsolate as ever, said, “Are you on your way to Sealbreaking Continent?”
“Sealbreaking Continent?” replied Meng Hao, a blank expression on his face. He thought back to the jade slip map, and the description of the place he was headed to. Finally, he nodded.
“So, we happen to be heading in the same direction,” said the man with a slight nod. After that he said nothing more. Leaning up against a protruding rock, he drank and looked off into the blackness of the void.
Meng Hao looked at the man hesitantly for a moment, then made his way some distance off and sat down cross-legged. Unfortunately, he couldn’t slip into a meditative trance. All he could do was sit there as time passed.
One day, two days, three days…. In the blink of an eye half a month had passed.
During that time, the azure-robed man continued to recline there, drinking. It seemed the alcohol in his flagon was endless. He drank and drank, looking out into the blackness, his expression morose. His bleakness continued to grow more and more apparent.
The stubble of a beard could be seen on his face; it seemed as if it had been a very long time since he was inclined to clean up. His robes were wrinkled, and although the man should have cut a sorry figure in his state of disarray, his aura was filled with an indescribable charm. As such, he seemed… lonely, but not a mess.
The alcohol flagon he held in hand was crafted from wood, and the woodgrain was even visible on its surface. It was impossible to determine how much he drank during the half month.
He did not speak, nor did Meng Hao. It seemed that this azure-robed man really was just heading in the same direction and didn’t feel like walking. Therefore, he had decided to share the rock with Meng Hao.
They maintained their mutual silence for another month as they proceeded onward.
Meng Hao was finally able to slip into meditation. However, he left a sliver of will on the outside. He knew that doing so was essentially pointless, but he was used to the practice and it wasn’t something he would stop doing.
One day as the three hundred meter wide rock flew forward, the previously listless and melancholy azure-robed man suddenly sat up and looked off into the distance.
The movement immediately caused Meng Hao to open his eyes. He looked out into the blackness, but saw nothing. The azure-robed man, however, seemed very intent, as if he was completely focused on looking off into the distance.
Meng Hao was puzzled, but didn’t show it, and instead continued to look out into the void. Time passed, three days in which the azure-robed man and Meng Hao both looked out into the blackness.