After leaving the Golden River Valley, Xiang Shaoyun did not head toward the Martial Hall Palace. Instead, he roamed about aimlessly with Little White and Jin Wo. As he wandered about, his mind drifted away as well. Scenes of his previous life surfaced in his mind, the paradise he once lived at, the tall and straight man who had protected him all those years...all of them resurfaced in his mind, filling him with a yearning desire for a past long gone.
"You are my son. Therefore you are free to waste all I have made. Who dares to say anything about it?"
"Son, the maid you want is here. If you are really capable, you should get me a dozen grandchildren or something. Your father shall take care of your kids for you."
"What? You're feeding the dog a king medicine? Sure. Feel free to grab more king medicine if you want. We have too many of those anyway."
"Son, I need to battle someone. Wait for me to return in triumph. When I'm back, I'll arrange a wedding for you. In the future, you only need to focus on making grandchildren for me. I really want to be a grandfather."
...
Slowly, Xiang Shaoyun's eyes turned moist. He grew up without a mother. His father played the role of both parents and had always pampered him. It was the happiest period of his life. His father's disappearance after the battle was something he could not let go of.
That was a man powerful and confident enough to battle the entire world. Xiang Shaoyun refused to believe that someone like that would suffer defeat.
Father, you said that you will arrange my marriage after you get back. If you still refuse to come back, I will just stay single until I die of old age. Our Xiang Family’s bloodline shall end with me, Xiang Shaoyun thought inwardly.
For him to vow that he would stay single forever if that man did not return, it was clear how important that man was to him.
"Boss, where are we going?" Little White suddenly asked, bringing Xiang Shaoyun back from his thoughts.
He calmed his emotions before saying, "What do you have in mind?"
"I want to pay the Hundred Beast Mountain Range a visit," Little White said. He added, "I need to complete something on behalf of the ancestor. I must go back at least once."
"Sure, you can go, but I won't be going with you," Xiang Shaoyun said. Although he was reluctant to part with Little White, he still decided to let Little White go. Of course, he would not think that Little White was now looking for an excuse to leave him after growing strong. Little White definitely had something he had to do.
"Why don't you come with me, boss? I will continue following you anywhere you go when I'm done with my mission," said Little White. He was similarly reluctant to part with Xiang Shaoyun.
Xiang Shaoyun patted Little White's shoulder and said, "Your boss has his own mission to complete. A day will come when we meet again."
"Boss, I will go look for you after completing my mission. Or you can come look for me at any time," Little White said.
"Haha, alright. There's no need to get all soapy. Ok, this is where we part," Xiang Shaoyun said.
"Boss, take this. With this, we will be able to sense each other whenever we are in close proximity of each other. It will make it easier for us to meet each other again in the future," said Little White as a drop of blood flew out of his forehead.
It shocked Jin Wo greatly. He was well aware that the drop of blood was in fact heart essence blood. It was the true essence of a white tiger and was incomparably precious.
Xiang Shaoyun accepted it and kept the drop of blood into his astral cosmos sea. He then gave Little White a big hug and said, "I don't know what your mission is. I can't help you with it either. But I do hope that you will be careful in everything you do. Who knows, maybe you can unify the demonic beasts and assist me in dominating the entire world!"
"Yes, I will work hard, boss," Little White said confidently.
The brothers were going to go separate ways. Little White wanted Jin Wo to stay and protect Xiang Shaoyun, but Xiang Shaoyun rejected. Little White would most definitely need help at the Hundred Beast Mountain Range. Thus, he would need Jin Wo even more.
By the side, Jin Wo was completely confused listening to the conversation. After all, telling him to follow Xiang Shaoyun was the same as Little White abandoning him. Fortunately, Xiang Shaoyun made the proper choice of allowing him to stay with Little White.
Thus, Little White left with Jin Wo for the Hundred Beast Mountain Range. He kept looking back at Xiang Shaoyun as he walked, his eyes filled with reluctance. It persisted until Xiang Shaoyun finally waved his hand, turned, and walked away in a carefree manner.
Boss, I'll come look for you soon! Little White inwardly vowed before he hopped on to Jin Wo's back and flew away.
Only after Little White left did Xiang Shaoyun turn around. His eyes lit up as he muttered, "Little White, you will be the king of beasts. Your boss will be the overlord of humans."
Now, he was all alone, his heart in low spirits. But at the same time, he was also filled with expectations for the hopeful future. Along with the growth of his strength, Xiang Shaoyun's confidence in retaking what was his in 10 years grew as well.
In the coming days, Xiang Shaoyun traveled on foot. Every now and then, he stopped to take in the view and immersed himself in nature. Occasionally, he would pass by some villages and would come into contact with people of different customs and backgrounds. Through his experiences, his heart grew calmer and clearer.
Apart from that, he also spent a lot of time studying battle techniques during his travels, gaining quite a lot of improvement through his studies. The two tier-3 battle techniques he knew, Berserk Lightning Blade and Star Destroying Finger, were both fully mastered.
With the newly gained vicious gold energy, he started studying the tier-3 Gold Helix Fist he had obtained from the ex-town head of Wu Town. There were 18 stances in the Gold Helix Fist, each stance stronger than the stance before. Each of the stances involved sending out tough and indestructible spiraling punches.
Now that Xiang Shaoyun was a Transformation Realm cultivator, he had a much easier time practicing tier-3 battle techniques. Even before actually testing the Gold Helix Fist in a real battle, he was able to reach 80 percent mastery. But to fully master the technique, he would need actual combat experience.
After all, actual combat was the only way a person could utilize and fully master a battle technique and gain a better comprehension of the essence of a battle technique. Apart from the Gold Helix Fist, Xiang Shaoyun also started practicing the first stance of the Nine Overlord Skyslaying Saber Technique, Lightning Slash From The Clear Sky.
The Nine Overlord Skyslaying Saber Technique had an impressive might, a technique capable of slaying even gods. Thus, practicing even the first stance of this technique wouldn't be easy.
Generally speaking, it was impossible for one to practice the first stance, Lightning Slash From The Clear Sky, without first reaching the Skysoar Realm. That was because the first stance required the power of lightning to unleash the prowess of this technique.
A normal cultivator had to first reach the Skysoar Realm before he could start borrowing the power of lightning with his presence of a king. He would then be able to start blasting his opponents with the borrowed lightning power.
Since Xiang Shaoyun had an awakened lightning bone containing innate purple lightning, he had an advantage over regular cultivators. Therefore, by using his innate purple lightning, he was able to unleash a tiny portion of the Lightning Slash From The Clear Sky's real power.
One should never look down on this tiny portion of power. It was strong enough to give even late-stage Transformation Realm cultivators a hard time. Traveling aimlessly, Xiang Shaoyun arrived at the Blackhill Town without realizing it. This was the territory of the Blackhill Sect.
When he realized where he was, Xiang Shaoyun narrowed his eyes and muttered, "The people who tried to kill me at the Golden River Valley are Blackhill Sect members."
He then strode into the Blackhill Town, one of the top 10 towns under Cloud Margin City.