Chapter 432: Farewell!
The little cub, that seemed to have just been born and was probably not yet a month old, wore a look of innocence and naivety. Its every movement was cute and clumsy, helplessly so.
The Moire Python watched it but as it did, tears streamed again from its eyes.
The Moire Python watched the little critter like it was its greatest treasure; as the little bear ran back and forth, weaving in a drunken manner, the Moire Python acted like a responsible babysitter as it followed it closely with its gaze, not even daring to blink.
When it saw the little bear falling down every now and then, it would pick it up quickly; when it saw the little bear running to a dangerous place, it would unleash its power of fief that belonged to high-level mystical beasts, so that no other beast would approach to threaten the cub.
The care and effort, as well as the heightened sense of caution, was no less than that of a biological parent!
Yun Yang, who was an audience to the scene, felt an indescribable feeling fill his heart.
It was either God was looking after Yun Yang and did not wish for him to go through the pain of losing his family and comrade again, or Yun Yang's perfectionism had created a miracle - it was not the most perfect but it was comfort enough.
Yun Yang had cleaned up the little bear's physical body and insisted on recovering its mystical core to be put back into the Niello Bear's remains in hopes for Blackie to be buried intact. However, when Yun Yang was replacing the mystical core, he had also sent a ball of refined air of vitality with the intention to reunite the mystical core and the Niello Bear's wounded skull as one, so that things could be as perfectly completed as possible.
The original owner of the refined air of vitality was not Yun Yang. It was Emmie. The stingy Emmie had, of course, coveted Blackie's mystical core, but it would never dare take it as its own because of Yun Yang. It was still great to touch and come into contact with the core for a bit though, so there was a sliver of Emmie's thoughts mixed in with the refined life force. Of course, it was only to gratify its yearning to touch it; it would never dare to absorb the Niello Bear's remains!
In spite of all this, it was pure coincidence that these actions were graced by a miracle.
The Niello Bear was a high-level mystical beast and was even called the king among others. Its ability was already formidable and it had reached its bottleneck a long time ago; usually, there was no way of breaking through it unless there were numerous bouts of severely demanding situations. However, the only beast in the forest that could duel with Blackie was the Moire Python. These two creatures were beasts that valued their lives immensely, so they would never fight by abandoning all caution. This caused them to stagnate for many years, and it was such a state that allowed Yun Yang to subdue them without much effort.
The Niello Bear had been injured many times in today's battle and had recovered much from the air of vitality. Despite the damage and strain mentally and physically, the damage had caused the bottleneck to tremble and crack. When it had tossed away the Moire Python at the last moment, the Niello Bear had forgotten about death and the price it had to pay; it only wanted its comrade to be safe. The explosion in its capability had exceeded its limit under usual circumstances. Otherwise, how could it have held off, albeit momentarily, the Albasword Saint, Lv Lingyun, whose ability was above that of Yun Yang?
The Niello Bear's breakthrough was at the last minute, thus posing a limitation to the increase in prowess, especially when it had lost the support of Yun Yang's vitality. Ultimately, it was a lost cause; the bear had perished and had been amputated, its mystical core dug out and cast aside.
Things wouldn't have changed, and death was still a certainty, but the Niello Bear was still in the state of its last-minute breakthrough then. Most of its soul had been concentrated in the mystical core. Although Emmie's efforts to save Old Dugu was a failure, the effort had increased its knowledge of soul and spiritual sensing. Therefore, the sliver of thought had sensed the concentration of the Niello Bear's spirit contained within the core immediately.
Even then, it was futile effort to resurrect the Niello Bear. Despite the whole mystical core and presence of the soul, the bear's physical body was dismembered and its injuries were so severe that the body was unsalvageable.
All that Yun Yang could do was to collect as much of the little bear's dissipating soul into its mystical core and place this mystical core into a newly-born Niello Bear cub.
However, this was basically possessing the cub. Once the soul was unleashed, everything would come apart.
Thus, Yun Yang formed a restraint using Emmie's special power. Only when the Niello Bear's ability had returned to the state of a seventh-level mystical beast could it absorb the energy within the mystical core and reignite its journey to becoming the pinnacle king of mystical beasts.
According to Emmie's narration, the Niello Bear's 'revival' was not a terrible act. Its true potential had far exceeded its initial state. As long as its cultivation base grew and it had returned to its initial level, followed by its amalgamation with the mystical core that was in a breakthrough state, its former memories would return. Even its ability could evolve to a terrifying level.
As for the long journey of its growth now to the day it became a seventh-level mystical beast, the physical and spiritual self would undergo a process of fusion and purification.
It was because of this totally unexpected accident that the vicious king of beasts, the Moire Python, was guarding the little cub before it with endless gentleness and care. It was comforted that Blackie was still here.
The little bear is in this small critter.
Little bear will come back one day! I will wait for you!
"I don't suppose you will be leaving with me?" Yun Yang sighed, looking at the Moire Python.
The Moire Python hissed twice, a sense of longing painted in its eyes, but turning to look at the cub's innocent actions, it shook its tail once with a resolute gaze.
I'm staying here to look over it.
I want to see it ascend to the pinnacle again!
I shall wait for it to awaken and realize its former memories!
If I leave, it will be bullied by other mystical beasts, seeing as to how weak he is now. It'd be hard for it to grow up again.
"What if I bring it along? Will all of you stay by my side?" Yun Yang suggested.
The Moire Python shook its head vehemently.
Mystical beasts like the Niello Bear had to grow in its natural environment, within the dense forest.
Only by facing the challenging climate and all sorts of danger could it become a king.
Besides, this is where a little bear begins its journey. Only by being here can the little bear's reawakening be more natural and complete, for him to be stronger!
"Alright." Yun Yang kept quiet for a while and said, "Don't forget me. If you need help in the future... you can come to me anytime."
The Moire Python slid over and wrapped itself around Yun Yang's calf lightly, snuggling intimately. Then, it let go reluctantly. Its initially cold and brutal eyes landed on the cub again, filled with anticipation and gentleness.
Yun Yang sighed, rubbing his hands as dozens of balls of the rich air of vitality drifted and landed in front of the Moire Python.
The Moire Python took a step back. Honest yearning flashed in its eyes but it did not eat it right away as it usually would. Instead, it pushed the little bear with its head to make the latter eat it.
Before this, the moment a ball of air of vitality was produced, these two kings would fight to the ends of the earth. Now, the Moire Python was actually giving it all up for its small charge. This gentle yielding made heat rush to Yun Yang's eyes.
"These are yours." Yun Yang said softly, "There is more for him."
Immediately, another dozen balls of air of vitality were thrown onto the little bear. It cried out happily and devoured them with a contented expression.
It was only at this point that the Moire Python began consuming the spiritual Qi given to it. When it came to the end of the feast, there were still two balls left and it sent them to the little cub to have the latter consume them.
Yun Yang chuckled dryly with a shake of his head.
Before he left, he tossed another two balls of vitality right into the Moire Python 's mouth surreptitiously.
With the amount of spiritual Qi he had given, he believed that the Moire Python and the little bear could very possibly break through the limitation of ninth-level beasts and even ascend to tenth class and become super-level beasts. It wasn't impossible for them to surpass that and move on to a higher-level existence.
He only hoped that he would still be able to meet them again by then!
...
Yun Yang stood at the edge of the forest quietly. In front of him, there lay two winding paths.
In the forest, a quiet hissing could be heard, brimming with longing and reluctance.
The hissing had traveled far, coming from the deeper part of the forest.
"I will come back to visit. I promise!"
Yun Yang sighed softly, "I hope the both of you will already have regained your familiarity and achieved a true bond by then."
Yun Yang soared right into the open skies, turning into a gust of breeze and a cloud that drifted slowly towards the west.
The hissing came again from deep within the forest as the breeze drove the cloud in the sky.
A large Moire Python's head could be seen hiding under the dense canopy of leaves as it wound itself around a large tree to look at the drifting cloud. It remained there, looking at the receding cloud for a very long time before it finally slithered back into the forest.