Ning had stopped crying by now. Hijaka didn't stay anything and just stayed by Ning.
"How did you know who I was? It's been 165 years right?" Ning asked.
"Haha, your images are everywhere in the ancestral land. Every time I go there, grandfather makes me look at the statues and posters for hours on end," Hijaka said.
"What? Why would they have a poster of me?" Ning was a little surprised.
"To the Klavian people, you are what led to their growth and expansion of the land. You are also what led to the people's long life as well as let us see the rest of the world."
"Thus, to the Klavian people you are not just a benefactor, you are a god," Hijaka said.
Ning blushed a little. "Aish, here I even told them I was a nobody and that they didn't have to call me a god," he said.
"So, wait. You said you were his grandson; how many children does he have?" Ning asked.
"Grandfather only had 2 children, my uncle, and my mother. Haha, he even named my uncle Ning after you," Hijaka said.
"What? That's a little… " Ning didn't know what to say. "Sigh, I guess I can't really say anything. Instead, I should be happy he even named his son after me," he said.
Hijaka got silent for a bit and asked, "Why did you leave that day, Inikaka?"
"What?" Ning asked.
"Grandfather said that you fought the demon Fufuliki and won. But then you never returned. My uncle and the rest tried to convince him that you died but the older generation never believed us. We even thought they were stupid for putting so much faith in you," Hijaka said.
"Yet, here you are. I can't believe you really survived but, why didn't you return?" he asked.
Ning stayed silent for a while and asked, "They told you what I am right?"
"I… know that you are not human," he said.
"I currently am, technically. And I was one before too. However, after I changed, I became an undying entity that could live without a body," he said.
"Like a soul?" Hijaka asked.
"Kinda, but I'm more untraceable. Anyway, once I killed the snake, I… lost my consciousness and stayed in the deep dark sea for 164 years."
"I only just came back to consciousness a few years ago, and have been trying to get strong to leave this place," he said.
"Grandfather said you can teleport. Can't you do that now?" Hijaka asked.
"I… wouldn't know where to go. I only know that I want to leave. So, I was thinking of increasing my strength before I leave," Ning said.
"I will leave this place after this tournament. Maybe go up north, although I don't know where," Ning said.
"Hmm… I've heard of this place called Seven Lights City, up north to the east. I hear it's one of the most unique lands in all of the continent. Although, that is just hearsay. I've never been there myself," Hijaka said.
'Seven lights city, that's… around 20 thousand kilometers to the right,' Ning thought as he looked at the city's location on the map and its distance from where he was currently.
"Alright, I will think about it. By the way, what sect are you from?" he asked.
"Oh, I'm from the Young Jewels sect, but to better Klavia's relations with the rest of the continent, I was part of a transfer group and thus now, I'm in the Crimson Glory sect for a couple of more years," Hijaka said.
"I see. I guess that's enough dilly-dallying. Come on, we need to go get some more points," Ning said.
Both Ning and Hijaka went into the forest and started looking for beasts to fight. The beasts were no problem for the two of them.
Ning was obviously strong, but Hijaka's strength was no joke as well.
He was fighting against a jaguar beast right now. The beast was in the 8th Qi Condensation realm. The same as him, but he showed no fear.
"Are you sure you don't want my help?" Ning asked Hijaka with a face of concern. He was already looking at the boy from of status of an elder, even though physically, he was older than him.
"It's okay, Inikaka. As I said, this beast is nothing," Hijaka said and pounced at the jaguar. The jaguar was read for the attack and pounced on him too.
The jaguar's paw landed on Hijaka's shoulders, while Hijaka's attack landed on the beast's chest. The beast was sent flying, but Hijaka stayed right where he was.
Ning looked in surprise for a moment and immediately did an analysis on Hijaka. "No wonder he was so confident," Ning thought.
Even if Ning wasn't there, Hijaka would've perfectly been fine. After all, there was no way 2 people in the 8th Qi Condensation realm could win against a man who had both an 8th Qi Condensation realm cultivation base and a 9th level body cultivation.
The jaguar had its ribcage broken and couldn't move anymore. Hijaka dashed forward once more and landed a strong punch with the force of both the cultivation base and physical body behind it.
With a single smash, the jaguar's face was disfigured and it died.
"See Inikaka, it's easy," Hijaka said with a smile.
"Yeah, yeah, stop showing off. Come one let's go," Ning said. They walked around for another few hours. During this time, both of them fought many beasts and picked many different ingredients as well.
Ning helped Hijaka pick up rare ingredients that he didn't know were ingredients, or fight beasts in the Foundation Establishment realm when they did meet them 2 times.
Without a strong defense like the Cerulean Hornsnake, the Foundation Establishment realm monsters had no chance against Ning and died with ease.
Finally, night fell and both of them decided to stop fighting. Hijaka however took Ning with him a little further until they were in another grassland and they finally settled down and started cultivating for the night.
