The lightning condor king had indeed changed his mind. He felt like the best option was for Xiang Shaoyun to stay here. As for Xiang Shaoyun, he was crying dry tears from regret.
"Lightning condor king, you have saved my life, so I will naturally repay you for that. But if you make me stay here, even if I spend my entire life cultivating, I still won’t be able to reach the King Realm. I will only disappoint your expectations." Xiang Shaoyun tried changing the lightning condor king's mind.
"Why not? Although I am not a human, I still know that it won't be hard at all for someone with innate purple lightning to reach the King Realm. Are you lying to me simply because you don't want to stay here?" questioned the lightning condor king resentfully.
"No, not at all. Listen to me. Although I possess the innate purple lightning, a human needs more than that to advance in cultivation. To advance in cultivation, I need to comprehend the numerous ways in which I can make use of my strength and power. By staying here, I will keep thinking about the human territory, resulting in a chaotic mental state. And with a chaotic mental state, it is natural that I won't be able to advance in cultivation," Xiang Shaoyun explained.
"I understand none of that. What I do understand is, if you stay here, I will help you reach the King Realm with all my strength!" said the lightning condor king stubbornly.
"If you want to help me, you should just be my mount and follow me back to the human territory. When I become a King, I will help you reach an even higher realm." Xiang Shaoyun decided to stop beating around the bush and countered with his own offer instead. If he was made to stay here, how would that be different than being the lightning condor king's human slave? He could not accept that.
"No, I have changed my mind," the lightning condor king insisted.
"Don't push it, lightning condor king. It won't benefit either of us." Xiang Shaoyun started becoming angry as well. As the great lightning condor king, how could he turn back on his words? Where was the honor of a King?
"Are you threatening me?" The lightning condor king stood up and glared at Xiang Shaoyun.
"You're a mere Demon King. So what if I threaten you. Just eat me if you can." Xiang Shaoyun decided to completely throw caution to the wind and activated his lightning bone, causing the dragon and tiger within his spine to charge out.
The dragon and tiger orbited him, emitting a pressure unique to dragons and tigers. This was the manifestation of his presence of a king; and of the dragon and tiger, the purple dragon now looked even more solid while the tiger looked comparatively weaker.
Even so, the moment the dragon and tiger appeared, Xiang Shaoyun's presence seemed to have changed completely. A majestic aura emanated from him, making it hard for one to even look straight at him.
The lightning condor king also roared as his demonic aura surged out to meet Xiang Shaoyun's aura. Since the lightning condor king was a true Demon King, his demonic aura was boundless and powerful.
But when the demonic aura surged over, the purple dragon and tiger behind Xiang Shaoyun roared, and they both pounced forward. Facing the purple dragon and tiger, the demonic aura was actually scared into retreat.
Dragons and tigers were the kings of beasts, and their imperial aura was not something a lightning condor king could hope to contend with. This was the difference between levels of bloodline.
But the defeat of his aura did not mean the lightning condor king was helpless against Xiang Shaoyun. He was after all a Demon King while Xiang Shaoyun was still a seventh-stage Astral Realm cultivator, comparable to an Intermediate Demon. The lightning condor king could totally beat Xiang Shaoyun up if he wanted.
Xiang Shaoyun did not give the lightning condor king a chance to react as he quickly started fleeing. He would try escaping no matter what, as he would not accept the fate of turning into the lightning condor king's food. Alas, he hadn't even left the cave when the lightning condor king appeared before him with a flicker.
"Lightning condor king, demonic beasts never lie. You promised not to eat me!" Xiang Shaoyun said.
"Yes, I did say that. Let's go, I'll take you out. I hope you will remember the favor I did you in the future," said the lightning condor king.
"Don't worry. I, Xiang Shaoyun, am not a person who forgets favors. In the future, I will definitely repay you for your help," Xiang Shaoyun said gleefully.
Everything would be fine as long as the lightning condor king was willing to let him off. But it was a pity that the lightning condor king had changed his mind and was not going to be his mount anymore.
Otherwise, Xiang Shaoyun would have an additional great helper when he returned to the Martial Hall Palace. The lightning condor king was conflicted as well. He had just become a Demon King and would hate to part with his clan right now. He still needed to stay behind and protect them. Thus, he had to give up on his thought of following Xiang Shaoyun.
When sending Xiang Shaoyun out, the lightning condor king offered him a young lightning condor as a mount instead. But Xiang Shaoyun rejected. Although he also wanted a lightning condor mount, since he already had Little White, he did not have the time to take care of a lightning condor in addition to Little White.
More importantly, the bloodline of an ordinary lightning condor wasn't too powerful. The highest realm a lightning condor could reach was probably the Demon King realm. If others found out that Xiang Shaoyun had rejected a free lightning condor, they would probably be infuriated to death.
One ought to know that flying beasts were the hardest to subdue. The moment one obtained a flying mount, one would immediately be able to soar through the sky and overlook the world below. But Xiang Shaoyun did not care for that, as he had tasted the feeling of soaring freely through the air long ago.
"A human King has been staying right outside my territory, seemingly looking for something," said the lightning condor king. This was the territory of the lightning condors. Thus, he knew everything that was going on around there.
"Is he the one who attacked you previously?" Xiang Shaoyun asked.
"No. I wouldn't have left him alone otherwise," the lightning condor king said.
"Bring me to him, then. He might be my man," Xiang Shaoyun said.
Thus, the lightning condor king personally brought Xiang Shaoyun outside the lightning condor's territory. There, Elder Zhen Peng and Zi Changhe could be found.
When Elder Zhen Peng sensed the approaching lightning condor king, he was immediately on guard. But he suddenly saw that someone was riding the condor king, and when he saw who that person was, his face was covered with joy. "It's the young master! He is still alive!"
It had been many days since Xiang Shaoyun's disappearance. Elder Zhen Peng had been searching everywhere for him. He was even considering extending his search into the lightning condor's territory. But the sheer number of lightning condors forced him to stop his search.
After all, if Xiang Shaoyun had really been captured by the lightning condors, he would have been dead by now. It was pointless for him to charge in there anyway. But he still believed that Xiang Shaoyun was safe. No matter what, his young master did not look like someone who would die young.
Thus, he waited here patiently.
"Old Peng, senior brother!" Xiang Shaoyun shouted when he saw them. Then, the lightning condor king landed before the two and let Xiang Shaoyun get off him.
"Young master, are you fine?" Elder Zhen Peng asked. Although he was very shocked to see Xiang Shaoyun arrive mounted on the lightning condor king, he still suppressed his shock and did not let it show.
"I'm fine. The lightning condor king saved me," Xiang Shaoyun said.
"Remember your promise," said the lightning condor king before flying away.
"Young master, is he not your mount?" Elder Zhen Peng was confused.
"He did want to be my mount, but I gave him the cold shoulder," Xiang Shaoyun said nonchalantly.