Meeting With Jack - 338

"What's brought you all the way out here?" Jack asked. 

"I just happened to be in the area." Zhou Fan responded.

"Alright then." Jack said as he took a drink from his cup.

"I heard you lost to Ying Xiong." Zhou Fan said as he created a chair and sat down across from Jack.

"Indeed. And in just 3 moves." He said with a sigh.

After a moment of silence, Zhou Fan continued to speak.

"Are you gonna try and defeat him?" Zhou Fan asked.

"Why would I? There would be 0 chance of success. I'm so much older than him, yet I still lost in three moves. His talent is far too high." Jack said.

"Talent isn't everything, you know." Zhou Fan said.

"That's rich coming from you. Tell me, have you ever met anyone more talented than yourself?" Jack asked.

Zhou Fan didn't need to think of an answer, but he considered Jack's words.

"Of course I haven't." Zhou Fan said.

"Then how could you possibly understand the feeling of seeing someone work half as hard and get 10 times the results?" Jack asked.

"I couldn't understand, but I've seen someone far less talented than his worst enemy defeat him." Zhou Fan said.

"That's just it, I don't have that sort of motivation. Defeating Ying Xiong and becoming the strongest in the galaxy would be nice and all, but it would only be nice, nothing else. He is not my mortal enemy and I don't crave revenge." Jack said.

Zhou Fan nodded in understanding.

"My life has been a long one full of loss." Jack said. "First my race, then my pride as one of the strongest, and even my greatest comrade." Jack said as he held up his trident.

Zhou Fan didn't pay it any attention before, but there was a clear crack going down the trident's shaft. 

Zhou Fan held his hand out and spoke. "Let me see that."

Jack nodded and handed it to him.

"It was cracked during my battle with Ying Xiong. He did not mean to do it, that much was clear. Afterwards, he even apologized and offered to repair it, but he could not. It was beyond him, and I figured that only the creator could possibly fix it." Jack said as he watched Zhou Fan.

"Couldn't this provide as motivation for defeating him?" Zhou Fan asked, although he already knew the answer.

"Motivation over a true accident? I am not so petty. Either way, defeating him would not fix my trident." Jack said.

After looking at it for a while, Zhou Fan waved his hand. The trident was repaired and its maximum level was upgraded to the inner world realm. 

"Thank you." Jack said sincerely.

"It is not difficult for me." Zhou Fan said. "I do have an offer for you." 

"What would that be?" Jack asked.

"I want to try out a possible technique. It would bind the soul of you and your weapon. If you died, so would your weapon, and if your weapon broke, you would die." Zhou Fan explained.

Jack put his hand on his chin as he thought.

"Of course, it is not a meaningless procedure. Your weapon would display much more power in the same realm and would even feel much more connected to you. Even if it was lost on the other side of the galaxy cluster, you would know where it is." Zhou Fan said.

Jack did not need to think much longer.

"That sounds good to me." Jack said.

Zhou Fan grabbed at Jack and took part of his soul. Since Jack's soul was much weaker than his, Jack did not even feel a thing. 

Zhou Fan implanted his soul into the trident. It was almost as if he was creating life. It was also similar to the creation of Heaven.

Soon, as Zhou Fans hands moved, Jack felt like a string appeared, directly connecting him to his trident.

After a short amount of time, Zhou Fan took Jack's blood and smeared it on the trident.

He then handed it back to Jack.

"It won't have intelligence or anything, but it will now feel like an extra limb to you." Zhou Fan said.

"Thank you. Do you think this will allow me to defeat Ying Xiong?" Jack questioned.

"No. He is on an entirely different level in terms of talent. The words I spoke earlier were not completely false, but it would require a level of will that even I do not possess to catch up to him." Zhou Fan said.

The difference between Tian Fu and Yao Mun was one thing, but a much wider gap existed between Jack and Ying Xiong. 

Even Pangu would find it nearly impossible to bridge the gap, though his talent was second only to Ying Xiong.

"Now, Jack, would you want me to recreate the mermaid race for you?" Zhou Fan asked.

This time, Jack looked at Zhou Fan suspiciously.

"Why are you offering me so much? I'm not in danger am I?" Jack asked jokingly.

"It doesn't take any effort from me. I'm just feeling nice I suppose." Zhou Fan said.

Zhou Fan thought to himself. 'I suppose that realizing the beasts were dead has caused me to be a little sad.' 

"No, there is no need." Jack shook his head.

"Really. Are you sure?" Zhou Fan asked.

"The mermaid race perished long ago. Even if you brought them back, I would not be attached to them since everyone I know died. It's best to just let me live the rest of my life peacefully." Jack said.

Zhou Fan stood up with a smile. "I understand. I hope you manage to achieve that." Zhou Fan said as he turned around and walked out the cave.

Just before he left, he turned around.

"This may be the last time we meet. You are the oldest person I know that is alive as well. Goodbye Jack." Zhou Fan said with sincerity.

As he left, Jack mumbled goodbye as well. 

As Zhou Fan stood in space once again, he looked upon the Zhou galaxy.

"It seems that once again, another thing connecting me to this place will soon be gone." Zhou Fan said to himself as he flew away.