Night Owl, known to have the ability to see beyond skies, below the earth, into the depths of the abyss and the oceans. However, they were all myths and legends. It was said that to possess these qualities, Night Owl had to evolve into its highest forms.
These legends were not known by many. Yang Zhai knew this because he had spent many years traveling the world. If the shopkeeper knew about this, then, she wouldn't be selling the Night Owl for only one hundred and fifty mid-grade essence stones. Of course, the price was this high because the Night Owl was not found on Si mountain or in its surroundings. But, if she knew about these legends, then the price would have been even higher.
The shopkeeper brought the Night Owl with her and placed it on the counter.
It was totally black. Its eyes were yellow with red lines at the end of its irises. It looked at Yang Zhai silently and did not look away, it was as if it was trying to look through Yang Zhai. It had red stripes at the end of its wings. Its claws had blue stripes in them.
"Sir, would you like to enslave it here?"
"No, just hand it over to me." Yang Zhai took the Night Owl from the shopkeeper.
Night Owls had a strong vision and hiding instincts, but their bodies were not so strong. Yang Zhai himself had a lot of strength: so, he did not have any problems with handling it without any enslavement methods.
He simply turned his hands into wooden hands and grabbed the Night Owl.
"Don't tell me you don't even have methods to subdue it?!!" Eun Woo looked at Yang Zhai in an awkward manner. She was impressed to see Yang Zhai handling the Night Owl without any subjugation methods.
"Well, about that, you know I am just a kid and as I have just become a cultivator, I don't have much experience. Therefore, I simply deal with them using my strength."
"Uh, so I was right, you really don't have any methods to subdue it. Anyway, will you really be able to absorb its power like this?" Eun Woo shook her head after seeing Yang Zhai just grabbing the Night Owl and not subduing it.
"No, even though it is a little difficult, I can take care of it."
"Okay, if you don't have anything else to buy, let's go then."
Yang Zhai and Eun Woo walked out of the shop, when Yang Zhai suddenly said,
"Wait, I forgot something, I will be right back, wait for me here."
"Huh,"
Yang Zhai went inside the shop and bought many spirit stones. He needed spirit stones to absorb the power of the Night Owl. It was, in a way, a connection bridge to absorb someone else's essence.
"What did you forget?"
"Nothing, I forgot that I forgot nothing. I just wanted to check if I dropped any essence stones inside, they are really difficult to obtain."
"Huh?"
"Anyway, elder, can you please do me a favor?"
"Of course, but will it be the one-time help that I promised you, or do you want this favor for free?" Eun Woo also knew what Yang Zhai was getting at. Otherwise, he would have told her to fulfill the condition she had promised.
"No, not for free exactly, but I can teach you another technique that I also learned when I was in the Ma clan. What do you say?"
"Oh, can it match the technique that you used yesterday?"
"Definitely,"
"Okay then, deal. But what do you want in return?"
"Nothing, I just want you to come with me to someone's house."
"Who?"
"Elder Cu Gil." Yang Zhai showed a sad expression when he said this.
"What?!"
"Elder, he lost his daughter. I can't even imagine how he must be feeling right now. I want to apologize: I think that Ci An died because of me. It's really hurtful when you lose someone you love dearly. I couldn't even sleep last night after thinking of Ci An. I am feeling sad for elder Cu Gil '' Tears began to fall down Yang Zhai's eyes. He did not wipe them, though: otherwise, he might lose the Night Owl.
"Hmm, that's true, even I can't help but feel sad for him. He lost his daughter, the one he loved more than everything. But, it wasn't your fault, you know." Eun Woo looked at Yang Zhai and could not help but smile after seeing him.
He has a really good heart. He is feeling sad for the others, and he blames himself even though it is clear that he did nothing. Even though he can endure a lot of pain, his heart cannot endure much: Eun Woo pondered after looking at Yang Zhai.
If Ci An knew what Eun Woo was thinking about Yang Zhai, she would have died once again.
"No, elder, I won't be able to relieve my pain myself if I don't go and see Elder Cu Gil for myself. I can't even imagine how I would feel if I lost, lost… my aunt and uncle. I am even scared of just thinking about it, please, elder." Yang Zhai looked at Eun Woo with determined eyes that were filled with sadness.
"Cough, cough, okay, let's go. But, why do you want me to come with you?"
"Because you are nice, maybe. Otherwise, I don't know how I would be able to talk if I go alone: after all, she died because of me." Yang Zhai's answer was filled with awkwardness, making Eun Woo not question him any more about this.
Both of them began to walk in the direction of elder Cu Gil's house.
"Why did you waste so many essence stones on this beast? You could have also captured a random rank 1 beast from the forest, right?" Eun Woo suddenly asked.
"It's because as I absorb their powers, my strength grows according to their specialties. If I absorb the Night Owl's power, my eyesight will improve a tiny bit as well. This way, I will be able to see even more clearly, and would be able to see my enemies' attacks a little more clearly. And besides, it's also difficult to capture rank 2 beasts with my strength."
"Oh, so that's why."
After a while, Yang Zhai and Eun Woo reached elder Cu Gil's house.
Both of them entered the house. The servants did not stop them because of Eun Woo's identity. However, they still entered after the servants took permission from elder Cu Gil to let them in.
Yang Zhai and Eun Woo followed a servant into a room.
"My Lord said that he would be arriving in a short while. Until then, he asked you to wait here. Also, if you need anything, I will be standing outside the room."
The servant left the room after saying this.
Let's see how you will deal with this: Yang Zhai thought and looked outside the Shoji.
The Night Owl looked at Yang Zhai's eyes and then in the direction of a certain wall. It was as if it had seen something. It was extremely silent, so silent that if a person did not look at it directly, they would not be able to tell if the Night Owl was present here or not.
!*****!*****!