All things said, there was a still fact that could not be denied — the chances of him requiring a warhorse would grow lesser, or perhaps even dwindle to none.
However, now that Reddie had grown attached to him… if he were to disappear, there was no guarantee that Reddie wouldn"t do something stupid if the loneliness and solitude became unbearable.
A psychic, n.o.ble steed like this would only heed one master in its entire life.
A n.o.ble steed was normally buried along with its deceased master. Events like these were not rare occurrences in this world, and Yun Yang most certainly would not like things to play out that way.
Reddie"s joy came in unusual ways — it seemed incredibly elated from just being able to stay by its master"s side. Sometimes it would frolic, das.h.i.+ng from one end to the other, occasionally with a fresh flower in it"s mouth which it would then present enthusiastically; sometimes it would give Yun Yang some licks — a lick to the left then to the right — its thick, s.h.i.+ny tail swis.h.i.+ng about, like it could not wait to attach itself to its master; sometimes it would stop at the peaks, look to the sky and let out a shrill neigh, expressing its grace and glory as the king of all steeds.
Ji Lingxi never seemed to get fed up with Reddie"s obsessive attachment, for, Yun Yang aside, Reddie seemed pretty keen to please her as well.
It did not seem to realize that its owner would leave its side to a faraway place after this momentous battle.
Just this point alone had caused Ji Lingxi to grow an uncanny fondness towards Reddie.
"The key question now is — what would happen to Reddie once we enter the Bound of Universe? Where would it go?" Yun Yang questioned Ji Lingxi worriedly.
In the midst of stroking Reddie, Ji Lingxi"s hand came to an abrupt stop as she froze in her tracks.
She was aware of the troubles this may bring in the future — very heavy and severe ones indeed, and with an equally high likelihood of occurring!
"Could you not take Reddie along with you?" Although Ji Lingxi possessed a strong cultivation base, her mental fort.i.tude was still not adequately polished and tested. When she was struck with this moment of epiphany, her entire being seemed to have lapsed into a state of panic.
"Objectively speaking, of course, I would like to bring it along, if I could."
"However, that is still not the kindest way to go about it. Reddie"s happiness mostly lies in the mortal realm. It could do as it wishes, unfettered by anything, and express its grace as the king of all steeds. If it was to be taken along with us forcefully, it will not be happy, and it will never be for the rest of its life," Yun Yang replied calmly.
"The realm of the Bound of Universe is levels above Tianxuan. The sheer number of experts itself in there is already a foreseeable fact. There are even pract.i.tioners — pract.i.tioners with higher cultivation bases — who possess a speed even faster than Reddie even if Reddie exerted itself wholly; they could even disregard any form of obstacles by choosing to travel by air. Under such circ.u.mstances, how would Reddie be happy?"
"It is incomparably the best mount in the entire world — it is the most precious steed and the most supreme of all. Its speed is the main reason for its existence, hence, if this special trait is no longer valid, then it would ultimately become depressed. Inconsolable pain, sadness, frustration, and resentment are considerably normal symptoms at that point — how does this benefit Reddie, even in the slightest?"
"A n.o.ble steed — a precious breed like this — can only exist in a mortal world like Tianxuan. If it were to go to the Bound of Universe, it"ll be stripped of its dignity and it"ll be plagued with loneliness until its end."
Yun Yang gave a gentle sigh. "If that"s the case, I rather leave it here, and let it be free and happy forever."
"If it would like to join the battle and gallop on the battlefields, I will have Fu Baoguo take care of her. If it wants freedom, and be the king of all steeds, I will set it free, and give it an eternity of freedom and volition."
"I don"t want Reddie to be miserable, and neither do I want it to be in any situation of risk, especially in vile, foreseeable cases."
"Still, Reddie has clearly identified you as its only master… it will only be unhappy when it leaves you, feeling lonely as ever," Ji Lingxi replied.
"At least it wouldn"t die. If it goes to the Bound of Universe, it would surely die from losing its pride — in the most depressing way possible. Its dignity as a king will cease to exist," Yun Yang replied sombrely.
Ji Lingxi"s gaze fell onto Reddie, who was frolicking around happily. "That is still uncertain, is it not? Under our care, how could it die?"
Yun Yang reiterated his stance, "My point is, Reddie is a king! It may only be the king of all horses, but it is still a king! When a king"s dignity has been lost, how can he still exist? It applies to both man and horse! At least, a man could simply get on with life and still try their very best in getting a future; a horse"s world is simple — if its dignity is lost, that would be the end of it!"
A long and shrill neigh could be heard as Reddie dashed over from afar at full speed, a fiery red flower about the size of a bowl in its mouth. It tilted its head and presented it to Yun Yang.
Yun Yang accepted it. Reddie then nudged against his hand with its head, pus.h.i.+ng it towards Ji Lingxi"s direction.
Yun Yang could not help himself but laugh. "Do you mean to have me give this flower to her?"
Reddie rocked its head and swished its tail, it"s entire being filled with unbridled happiness.
Yun Yang brought the red flower before Ji Lingxi accordingly. She accepted it, red-faced, and hugged Reddie, planting a kiss on it. Reddie"s delight was through the roof — almost instantly, it took off in a form of a red silhouette and sped off into the distance.
Ji Lingxi grew even more reluctant by the moment. "Yun Yang, Reddie seems to have noticed something…"
Yun Yang"s heart was struck with a pang of sadness. "Reddie is now a psychic ent.i.ty, so naturally it would be more sensitive in picking up certain things. Hence, in the largest degree of self-expression, it is leaving behind happy and hopeful thoughts, along with the best and most precious memories."
In the next few days, Reddie seemed even more cheerful than ever. It galloped and frolicked, das.h.i.+ng around like the wind, never leaving their sides.
Yun Yang had a very strong and clear feeling that Reddie was coming up with ways to win his favor and to make him happy. Perhaps it was trying its best to earn its place here… or perhaps, it was only trying to make both of them as happy as possible in their final days together.
Yun Yang and Ji Lingxi walked even slower than before, their voyage largely reducing from a thousand miles a day to a hundred, sometimes even lesser.
In these few days, Yun Yang would travel quite a distance to procure fresh gra.s.s at certain intervals of time. He pounded the Eastern Amethysts into powder form and had them mixed into the gra.s.s feed before feeding it to Reddie.
Reddie ate with pleasure; it swished its tail in sheer happiness as it indulged. The atmosphere was filled with joy.
To Yun Yang"s realization, the powerful Qi contained within that was enough to kill a common pract.i.tioner had almost no effect on Reddie. Reddie continued to chew and ingest them calmly, indulging upon the special food which seemed no different from common gra.s.s.
Fueled by curiosity, he simply fed the Eastern Amethysts to Reddie for every meal. Hence, within the span of these few days, Reddie had ingested almost seven to eight pieces of Eastern Amethysts.
If Ling Xiaozui and Dugu Chou were to b.u.mp into such a sight, they would have gone mad, even risking their lives to confront Yun Yang themselves for the matter.
Those were Eastern Amethysts!
Boss, can you stop wasting them like that?
The two of us only get a few to share between us, and here you are, feeding your horse these supplements as part of its meal on a daily basis — what happened to our so-called friends.h.i.+p?
However, that was not the end of the wastage. Yun Yang even squeezed out some of his own blood essence, enticing Reddie like before by wiping them across its feed, then fed them to Reddie.
Reddie still munched on happily, barely containing its joy.