After tossing out the Hell King Sword five hundred times, Zhou Xuanji realized the sword will for Ranged Sword Propelling.
By controlling the sword with his heart, his will united with the Hell King Sword and penetrated a mountain with just one shot. The sword shot through the entire forest, meaning it was immensely powerful.
Little Jiang Xue walked to the hole in the mountain wall. She saw the forest on the other side of the mountain through the hole and she gulped.
With such power, if it was tossed at someone, how terrifying would that be?
She turned around to look at Zhou Xuanji as though she was looking at a little monster.
He raised his hand with his palm facing the sky and laughed proudly, "I'm awesome, right?"
Smack!
The Hell King Sword came out from the canopy above and landed in his hand.
His body was straight up, handsome and elegant!
He even twitched his brows at her, waiting for her to praise him.
But she rolled her eyes and said, "You are only a small kid, and you already know how to act cool."
Small kid...
He felt as though he was struck by lightning and instinctively wanted to retort.
But to think carefully, she was right. He was only nine years old, a small kid indeed.
He felt a little discouraged. It's taking so long to grow up.
Looking at his sour face, Little Jiang Xue walked to him and comforted him by patting his head, saying, "It's alright. It's not bad, you're so cute. What if you become ugly when you grow up?"
This was what he always used to say to make fun of her, telling her though she looks cute now she's young, in the future, she might turn ugly.
Zhou Xuanji curled his lip and sighed, "How I want to grow up faster!"
"Why? What do you want to do after you grow up?" Little Jiang Xue asked.
"I will work that out later, after getting a dozen wives and concubines first." Zhou Xuanji replied.
He was only joking. He did not have much of a desire for women.
When Little Jiang Xue heard him, she pinched his small cheeks and snorted, "So young, yet you are thinking about this bad stuff!"
She had interactions with people other than him, so she knew what wives and concubines were.
But she did not think about it, because she had yet to understand what it meant to be married.
A couple in Green River Village said that to be married is to accompany one another for life, to neither leave nor forsake the other.
A couple, for life.
...
Zhou Xuanji spent a week to get fully familiarized with the Hell King Sword.
When he summoned the Hell King's soul in the Hell King Sword, his entire body was enveloped with dark smoke. A faint shadow overlapped with his body and that was the Hell King.
After being possessed by the Hell King, his spirit energy, strength, speed, and even sensory power increased significantly.
But it got Little Jiang Xue so scared that she thought he was cursed.
Today, Zhou Xuanji and Little Jiang Xue rode Ah Big and Small Er out of the valley.
They prepared to enter into the Southern Snow Kingdom to explore the streets.
Zhou Xuanji was very wealthy, so of course, he would not want to continue living like a savage.
As long as he did not expose his identity, the underlings of the Empress of Great Zhou should not be able to find him on this trip that would only last a few days.
After flying for almost half a day, they were nearing the customs of the Southern Snow Kingdom. Zhou Xuanji stopped Ah Big and Small Er, because it would be too extravagant to bring two dragon eagles into the city.
"Return to the valley straight away so that you won't get captured. Understand?"
He instructed the dragon eagles. The two creatures were already two stories tall and looked majestic.
Ah Big and Small Er nodded their heads, spread their wings, and left.
Little Jiang Xue held his hands and asked, "Xuanji, when will we go back to take a look at Green River Village?"
The Green River Village was situated outside the boundary of the Southern Snow Kingdom, which was in the wilderness. The quickest way to return was to cut across the Southern Snow Kingdom. To detour around it would waste too much time.
He tilted his head and questioned her, "You miss your grandma?"
To be honest, he did not want to return. He was afraid that she would be snatched away by her grandma.
But that was too selfish. If she wanted to go back, he would accompany her.
The girl looked at his eyes, as though she understood what he was thinking. She curled her lip and said, "A little. I only want to know how she is now. But forget it, it's too far."
Without Qiu Baili's navigation, it would be hard for them to find Green River Village on their own in a short time.
"Wait until I break through to the Enlightening Stage and we will go back. How about that?"
Zhou Xuanji muttered. When he reached the Enlightening Stage, it would be time for him to begin his plan.
He wanted to first ask about the whereabouts of Lady Zhao Xuan.
Whether dead or alive, he must see her.
She was his mother in this life, so he must at least give her a proper burial.
The next step would be to participate in the Great Zhou's Heaven Selection.
He wanted to appear before Emperor Yan of Zhou with another identity.
He wanted to use his talents to get the Emperor's attention!
As long as he had more potential than Zhou Yalong, he would have the opportunity to enter the Royal Palace of Great Zhou. Then, he would find the opportunity to assassinate the Empress.
At that moment, no matter how furious the Emperor Yan of Zhou got, he would think twice whether it was worth it to kill him.
Frankly, Emperor Yan of Zhou was rather fond of him.
Although the Emperor always looked stern and cold usually, a big grin could be seen on his face whenever he saw Lady Zhao Xuan and Zhou Xuanji.
He remembered that the Emperor once said to Lady Zhao Xuan, that if he had extraordinary talent, it might be possible to appoint him as the crown prince.
It might be this statement that brought fatal disaster to Lady Zhao Xuan.
Both Zhou Xuanji and Little Jiang Xue were deep in thought as they walked toward the gate.
Along the way, she would take a look at him at times.
But he was thinking about his plans for revenge, so he did not notice that she was looking at him.
"I must accompany Zhou Xuanji no matter what. Without me, no one would knit clothes for him."
The expression in her eyes turned gentle. If not for him, she might have fallen into a terrible fate because of her grandma.
When she thought about the days they had spent with each other over the years, as well as how he fought for her with his life, she felt that she must not let him down.
He's more important than her grandma.
After walking for about an hour, they finally reached the gate.
To enter, they had to pay two pieces of level one spirit stones, as well as register their identity.
Such a gateway was to prevent refugees from other kingdoms from swarming in.
Zhou Xuanji and Little Jiang Xue did not look like bad guys. Their appearance as a pair of lovely children gave others the false impression that they were part of a clan. The soldiers let them enter after they collected the spirit stones.
After entering through the gate, the two looked ahead. They could see the contour of the city miles away.
There was an army camp nearby. All the soldiers were training with their spears displaying their bare chests, looking strong and mighty.
There were many people around them, some were entering the city, while others were leaving.
After walking for five hundred yards, a young man who was about to leave the city was stunned at the sight of Zhou Xuanji. He rubbed his eyes and looked pleasantly surprised.
The young man immediately walked to him and excitedly said, "Sword God Zhou... What brings you here?"
After a year and a half, Zhou Xuanji had destroyed thirty-eight brigand strongholds and saved nearly two thousand people.
The young man was one of them.
But Zhou Xuanji did not remember him.
When the young man saw Zhou Xuanji's knitted brows, he thought that he disrespected his savior and quickly muttered, "Senior, are you here in the Southern Snow Kingdom for a battle?"
Although Zhou Xuanji looked young, he did not take him to be a kid.
This senior cultivator must have mastered some kind of technique to return to his youth.
He had seen the Sword God's sword techniques before, and he could still remember in his heart the elegance of that slash.
Zhou Xuanji was stunned and asked, "What battle?"
The young man replied, "A month ago, Northern Sword Valiant passed by the Southern Snow Kingdom and heard about you. He laid down a challenge for you at Cloud Swallow City and claimed that if he were to lose to you, he would take you to be his master. If you are defeated, then your title as Sword God Zhou would be just a joke."