Chapter 426: Return
Translator: Law Editor: Hitesh
Yu Yu gave another long and resonant laugh while a dense sphere of cloud grew out from under his feet, holding him up into the air. Soon, Yu Yu disappeared without leaving a trace, and within the blink of an eye.
Ji Hao and Po kneeled, kowtowing for a few times towards Yu Yu’s silhouette that was merging into the clouds. They then stood up, looking at each other while bursting into waves of loud laughs and punching each other in the chest.
After a short catching up on things that happened after Po left Gold Crow Clan, Ji Hao learned that during the past few years, Po had traveled for quite a long while in the center of the Southern Wasteland. Rather fortunately, he collected some rare and precious treasures and took a few kids, who were truly not bad, as his disciples; after all these, he satisfyingly returned to the Midland.
While chatting, Po turned his palm over, and a six-foot tall fire-red coral showed up before Ji Hao’s eyes instantly.
The whole body of this red coral was crystal, and not even a single flaw could be seen; additionally, it was wrapped in a warm layer of fiery light. Treasures like corals were normally produced in the sea, but this fire coral held in Po’s hand was found deep inside an extremely old volcano.
“I haven’t decided how to use it yet.” said Po while grinning at Ji Hao and fiddling with this fire coral, “I will present it to you, my brother, after I make this coral into a magic treasure, as a protection. Hm… that Wuzhi Qi… hehe!”
Ji Hao gave a sneer. Po seemed to already know that the tight armor he made for Ji Hao was shattered by Wuzhi Qi with his stick, and had remembered this with concern. Ji Hao was quite ‘happy’ for Wuzhi Qi now, that big monkey was going to take some real suffering.
After packing that fire coral up, Po proudly showed Ji Hao all the natural treasures he collected from the Southern Wasteland one after another. They together sealed the cave that was opened up by Yu Yu as a temporary residence and flew towards the base camp of the human army side by side.
Yu Yu left for something that he had to deal with in person and told Po to look after Ji Hao for a while. Ji Hao had just gained the basis of the Great Dao. Yu Yu was there to explain the profound meaning of the scripture, and with the help of the power of that black and yellow mist which was a reward given by nature, Ji Hao’s primordial spirit was directly upgraded. It passed straight through the trial of wind, fire, and thunder and reached the level of being able to leave the physical body and travel ten thousand miles away. But after all, as a cultivator, he hadn’t yet laid a solid foundation. Therefore, staying with Po, a mature cultivator who was powerful enough to resist Priest Hua, and receiving his directions and advice would be highly beneficial for Ji Hao to consolidate the basis of his cultivation.
Not to mention that on their way back to the base camp of the human army, Po frankly told Ji Hao that Yu Yu was worried about Ji Hao as disciples of Priest Hua might exert their ’unique talents’ on being shameless as they always did. They could gather a group of powerful ones who might be at the same level as Po and Gui Ling were and go after Ji Hao regardlessly.
Despite the fact that no one among Priest Hua’s disciples could rival Po, those people had been cultivating themselves ever since the prehistoric era. Even though they hadn’t yet managed to reach an ideal level, the powers they had accumulated during such a long time would be more than enough to get Ji Hao easily crushed.
A good talk had been lasting all the way between Po and Ji Hao. Abruptly, Ji Hao asked Po with curiosity, “Big brother, how old are you now?”
Po paused for a second, looking at Ji Hao confusedly. He then spent quite a while on counting his own fingers, but at last, he gave a bitter grin and spread his hands as he said to Ji Hao, “I don’t know. I was there ever since this world was created. In that prehistoric era, people wouldn't count years. Back then, even this sun hadn’t been born yet… it was only a gathered sphere of natural essence power.”
Hearing Po, all of Ji Hao’s fine hairs stood up, and waves of goosebumps attacked his body. So, Po, who looked only like a teenage boy, turned out to be so ‘mature’!
On the way back, Po had been talking all the time. He told Ji Hao about all those famous disciples under Yu Yu’s guidance one after another.
For example, Gui Ling’s real body was a giant black turtle, born not long after the world was created. She was born with a strong sense of Yin and Yang of nature, and with a pattern of an inclusive star map on her shell. She could get to know the fortune and misfortune of people, look into the mystery of nature, and had many other great talents. Apart from all this, that stunningly great strength of hers made her extremely powerful, even among Yu Yu’s disciples.
Back then, Yu Yu had just taken Po as his first disciple. The two of them were traveling freely in the foreworld, reaching out their hands to any treasure they found. That was the time when Po raised his habit of collecting treasures and precious material, then converting those materials into magic treasures by himself.
When they firstly met Gui Ling, Gui ling hadn’t yet grown any understanding on cultivation. At that time, Gui Ling was injured seriously and was still being beaten severely by a man who had snatched a precious spirit herb guarded by her for many years. Without much of hesitation, Yu Yu and Po rolled up their sleeves and rushed straight up and badly wounded that man who snatched the herb. That man was injured gravely and fled after which, Gui Ling became Yu Yu’s disciple, and also became Po’s younger sister.
Yu Yu had many disciples, most of them taken by by him in different places when he was traveling around the world with Po. Those disciples had many friends and relatives and contacted them after learning the fact that Yu Yu was a nice Shifu who treated disciples very well. They introduced people they knew to Yu Yu, and thus, new disciples came group by group, and the number of Yu Yu’s disciples grew bigger and bigger.
Just like the way he found Ji Hao. Po met Ji Hao in Southern Wasteland and liked him, therefore, he sent messages to Yu Yu and a few brothers of his. As a result, Yu Yu came in person and took Ji Hao as his disciple, and stayed in Chi Ban Mountain for Ji Hao for such a long time. Yu Yu had even set up the sword formation for Ji Hao, helping him earn a lot of natural rewards, with which Ji Hao directly made the first breakthrough on his path of cultivation.
“Ji Hao, in the future, if you meet someone talented and has a good nature, you just directly send a message to our Shifu,” said Po grinningly, “Our Shifu is just like that. His hands get itchy every time he hears about a talented one who could make a great disciple of his, and he just can’t stop wanting it. He is also extremely protective to his disciples. Therefore, all our brothers and sisters are rather close to each other.”
Ji Hao nodded all the time when hearing Po. Meanwhile, he held his hand inside his sleeve, stroking that jade tablet given by Yu Yu before he left.
That jade tablet was only the size of his palm, embossed with an island which was surrounded by surging waves. The edges of this square-shaped jade tablet were decorated by patterns of clouds, and on the frontal side of this tablet, Ji Hao’s name was inlaid in an ancient style. This jade tablet represented Ji Hao’s identity as a disciple of Priest Yu Yu.
Ji Hao was the youngest disciple taken by Yu Yu himself. Therefore, this tablet of his was slightly different. Except for the magic cast by Yu Yu, that allowed Ji Hao to directly send messages to Yu Yu anytime, this tablet could also be used to contact the other disciples of Yu Yu, who happened to be in the nearby areas. Moreover, this tablet also had some other functions; it could help to clear one’s heart and settle one’s mind, cast the evils and dirtiness away, disperse poisonous bugs and miasma. This tablet was truly an exceptional supportive treasure.
During this relaxed chat, Po gave Ji Hao a general overview of Yu Yu’s disciples. Meanwhile, they had already arrived at the base camp of the human army with a lightning speed.
Ji Hao led Po and walked in the camp for a while. Every corner of the camp was now filled with rapturing human warriors, many of whom had been packing their bags and counting their gears. The human army had won this great war, and Si Wen Ming already begun mobilizing some of the forces, ordering them to head back to their own clans.
In a tent, Ji Hao saw Man Man and the other few of his teammates.
What surprised Ji Hao was that Taisi and Shaosi, who were kept indoor by Candle Dragon Gui for these couple of days, had finally been released by that old freak.
This small team finally had its reunion, and the ending of this great war was rather satisfying. Happy laughter and cheerful voices instantly filled the tent up once they saw each other.
Po was an extremely amicable and friendly person and soon got familiar with the others in this small team. In a short while, he was already sitting together with Yu Mu and Feng Xing, gulping wine and wolfing meat, having a truly nice time.
Such a life continued for seven to eight days, after which, the special army that Ji Hao and his teammates belonged to had received the order as well. They could now head back to Pu Ban city.