My Arts Evolve When Perfected

The Bear Demon wasn't mute. After Jiang Qiu spoke in the Dragon Language, the creature immediately understood the situation. In other words, he knew Jiang Qiu wanted to learn about this forest—or more precisely, about this world.

'This was the strangest part. How could someone not know where this place was?'

'If it was a being that had fallen from above, it should know this place even better. Don't all those beings from High Heaven awaken with profound wisdom the moment they're born?'

'Just like Jiang Qiu. From the moment he was born, he seemed to possess an independent consciousness, able to recognize his strange surroundings and even ask who he was. He wasn't like a newborn duckling, curiously pecking at everything.'

'Clearly, Jiang Qiu was born with wisdom and didn't need to go through the long process of attaining sentience. He was undoubtedly a being from High Heaven who had descended to this world!'

But it was still strange. Why didn't he know where this was? Puzzled as he was, the Bear Demon didn't dare refuse to answer. On the contrary, he told Jiang Qiu everything he knew, down to the last detail.

He used the Demon Language, which was essentially the common tongue that all beings in this world understood. Although he spoke with a thick, gruff accent, it wasn't a major problem. After all, the one listening was a being who had descended from High Heaven!

But in reality...

"You said your name is... Bear Dad?" Jiang Qiu's eyebrow twitched. Something felt wrong, as if he was being taken advantage of. Seeing the displeasure on his face, the Bear Demon's fur trembled, and he kowtowed desperately. "No, not Bear Dad, my lord! It's... it's... You can just call me Xiaoba..."

'Xiaoba? Sounds like 'little dad'...'

Jiang Qiu took a deep breath and didn't spare him another glance. "I'll just call you Xiong Batian."

"Huh?" The Bear Demon's eyes went wide. He froze for a moment, then quickly agreed, "Yes, yes, yes! My name is Xiong Batian!"

A name was important, but not *that* important. Of course, at his current Realm, there was no need to get hung up on the formality of a name. His Realm was too low; a name's influence on his Cultivation wasn't particularly, particularly, *particularly* great.

No, actually, it was a very big deal. Now that Jiang Qiu had changed his name, his future path would inevitably be different. This world was an era of great contention, and the ultimate goal in the First Celestial Realm was to fight for one's name!

Countless beings attained sentience and sought Enlightenment, all for the ultimate goal of ascending to High Heaven. From the moment of their birth, they chose their path. The moment they attained sentience, they named that path and then dedicated their entire lives to its Cultivation, until they either died or ascended to a higher Celestial Realm.

Of course, anyone capable of ascending shouldn't have been born in a backwater place like this...

The Bear Demon knew he had no status, no wisdom, and even less experience. He had only just attained sentience a short while ago. If his name was changed... then so be it.

'Although he was a little unhappy about it, one glance at Jiang Qiu's draconic visage and all his reluctance was swallowed back down. Changing someone's name was something a superior did to an inferior. He had felt the contempt in the other's gaze keenly and understood his own position.'

'That's right. Who else but a being from High Heaven would look at him with such disdain, casually changing his name on a whim?'

'Beings from High Heaven were the stuff of legend; at least, he had never seen one. Now that he had, he felt they were an existence that could not be defied.'

'Sigh... Will I even get out of this alive?'

While the Bear Demon's mind was racing, Jiang Qiu observed his surroundings. He found himself in a dense forest. Looking up, he saw ancient trees that towered into the sky, and everything exuded a primeval aura.

Most importantly, the air was suffused with a pure Spirit Charm, the likes of which he had never felt before. This was no ordinary Secret Realm trial; it was clearly an exceedingly unique pocket of space-time.

However, his Half-Step Unity Realm was gone. With his detection abilities lost, he couldn't perceive what tier of space-time he was currently in.

This was a perfect example of the proverb, "A single leaf can cause Blinding, hiding Taishan Mountain from view."

In his previous life, his true body was no bigger than a sesame seed, but with his perception, he could instantly determine whether he was in a small world or a Great Realm. He could even sense how many people were within a radius of dozens or even hundreds of kilometers.

Now, he couldn't sense any of that. His perception was reduced to his two eyes; what he knew was only what he could see with the naked eye... Oh, but that wasn't all. It seemed that in his current state, he could also feel the density of the Spirit Charm with great sensitivity.

Yes, as a newborn dragon, Jiang Qiu's perception of the surrounding Spirit Charm was exceptionally keen. This wasn't something just any creature could do. Normally, a being would only begin to sense Spirit Charm after they had truly embarked on the path of Cultivation.

It was just like his past self. Back in high school in Gao Yuan City, when he first started practicing martial arts, how could he have known what Spirit Charm was? It wasn't until he later reached the stage of Forged Jade Sinews that he first came into contact with it.

Nearly all beings went through such a process; it was almost impossible to find one born with the innate ability to sense Spirit Charm, let alone a type of Spirit Charm like this one, which he had never encountered before.

Thinking of this, Jiang Qiu understood. He really was in the state of a newborn, stranded in a strange, ancient forest, and had just run into a pathetically weak bear.

Speaking of the bear, he glanced at the creature again, who immediately shivered in fright. "My lord, what are your orders?"

This bear was actually quite brawny. It was larger than any of the ordinary Demon Race members he had seen back in his Blue Star High School days. Even with the creature prostrated on the ground, its back was still far taller than Jiang Qiu.