Returning from the Immortal World

After seeing the size of each of the blood pools, Tang Xiu could hardly imagine how many people needed to be hunted and killed to fill the 49 pools like these, especially considering how peaceful today’s society was. From the looks of the pools’ sizes, each of them would at least need 1,000 people’s blood. 49 blood pools meant that it would need at least 50,000 or more people’s blood!

50,000 people for God’s sake! How did the Lian Family succeed in reaping the lives of 50,000 people?!!

Tang Xiu hardly suppressed the killing intent that raged inside him. He instantly unleashed his perception to monitor the area covered by the Underworld Great Array. To his surprise, there was a gateway inside a seven-plus meters rockery which actually led to a subterranean open space.

“Huh?”

Through his perception, Tang Xiu was surprised to find that the underground had a 100 square meters wide hall with three corridors that extended to 49 secret rooms. At the moment, there was nobody inside the hall except for two of them, but the rest of Lian Family’s members were in other secret rooms, and they looked very old.

In addition, there were also three old men sitting cross-legged on the futon in the wide hall. A dark mist could be seen constantly swirling around them, giving off an unspeakable bizarre feeling.

“I get it now.”

Tang Xiu inhaled deeply, yet the killing intent gleaming in his eyes turned more intense. He softly patted Miao Wentang’s shoulder and turned back to the previous direction of where they came from.

Miao Wentang looked doubtful and suspicious, yet he still caught up to Tang Xiu’s side and asked, “What did you find you out, Brother Tang?”

“I understand what the Lian Family is doing now. I’ve figured out what they rely on the most,” explained Tang Xiu. “There’s something I have not yet clarified, though. As long as I can verify it, completely eradicating the Lian Family is just a matter of time.”

“What exactly is it?” hurriedly asked Miao Wentang.

Tang Xiu grabbed his shoulders and kept treading forward. After quickly leaving the Underworld Great Array, only then did he release Miao Wentang and speak, “The Lian Family’s arrangement of the Underworld Great Array acts as an array protective measure from the Netherworld. But if it’s augmented with a blood sacrifice and combined perfectly, it can be used to enhance the strength of Ghost cultivators. I just saw through a rockery in there. There’s a big open space underground with a channel to the Underworld; it can continuously pull out the Netherworld energy to help in tempering humans’ body, making them much stronger.”

Miao Wentang was astonished and he asked again, “How could it be possible to have a link to the Underworld? Isn’t that a ridiculous fantasy? What’s more, is there really an Underworld in this world?”

“There’s no such plane in this world naturally since this world is of mortals,” said Tang Xiu with a thin smile, “Yet, the Underworld does exist in higher planes. Of course, the Yama—or what people call the King of Hell in legend, is nothing but a story in myths, though there are also terrible existences that are similar to a King of Hell. They are the ones who control the Six Path of Samsara and reincarnation—those who judge good and bad karma in death. They are also the ones who will decide the path of reincarnation through their judgment.”

Miao Wentang’s lips squirmed a few times and he asked again, “So, shortly put, I’d meet them if I were to die and go to hell?”

“Others perhaps would. But for you… it will be very difficult.” Tang Xiu shook his head.

“Then… could it be said that you can go to heaven without going to hell?” asked Miao Wentang with a pleasantly surprised expression.

“Hahaha.” Tang Xiu couldn’t help but burst into laughter. “How and where is there any Heaven in this world? That’s only the place assumed to be existed by those Western people who believe in spiritual Gods. If you died now, you would enter the Underworld before heading to one of the Six Paths of Samsara, and then be reincarnated again. But if you reach a certain level of strength in the future, once you die, you’ll lose both shape and soul.”

“Lose both shape and soul?” Miao Wentang was horrified. “Isn’t that…”

Tang Xiu raised his hand to interrupt him and smilingly said, “Once people like us die, their soul will fly away and scatter into nothingness. Or they could seize their rebirth, or even turn into a Soul cultivator. Yet, the ultimate goal is to make yourself stronger and stronger to finally shatter the shackle that binds us, then ascend to the Immortal World.”

“It seems like I must be extra careful in the future; otherwise, I might lose any chance to be reincarnated once both my body and soil get destroyed,” said Miao Wentang cautiously with a heavy nod.

“Not really.” Tang Xiu chuckled and continued, “In a higher plane such as the Immortal World, once those Immortals died, they can still enter the Six Paths of Samsara and be reincarnated or transmigrated. It’s just that the lower and higher plane do not belong to the same wheel of reincarnation paths, nor is it the same for the Underworld. In short, you’ll understand all these when you can break through and become an Immortal in the future. I tell you that there too many things that you can’t possibly understand as of now.”

“How come there’s a chance for me to break through the Immortal realm?” Miao Wentang self-deprecatingly mocked himself with a forced smile. “Just becoming a Nascent Soul Stage expert will definitely wake me up from a dream laughing.”

Tang Xiu just patted his shoulder in response and headed towards the outside. The duo came inside in leisure and was also able to leave easily. Without alarming anyone, they left the Lian Family’s manor silently and returned to the Miao Family’s manor at two A.M.

At the back-left of the artificial lake, inside a European-style villa, Xue Yu was sitting on the balcony, holding a cup of red wine while watching the swaying trees in the forest and the dark path there.

“You’ve come back?”

Suddenly, her stunningly beautiful face showed that she was pleasantly surprised. She put down her glass of wine and immediately ran toward the room, soon meeting Tang Xiu on the stairs on the first floor.

“How was it?” asked Xue Yu with a smile. She had been worried about Tang Xiu’s safety, hence the restlessness inside her heart faded away upon seeing him return safely.

Tang Xiu reached out to hug her slender waist and walked side by side to the second floor while speaking, “It’s almost clear that the core members of Lian Family have already fallen onto the demonic path. From another perspective, we can say that they have fallen into the Ghost path—and those kind of people are absolutely ruthless and cruel. We need to eradicate the Lians as soon as possible.”

“The question is, can we easily eliminate them?” asked Xue Yu.

“It’s hard to say,” said Tang Xiu after he thought for a moment. “Eradicating the members of the Lian Family is an easy task, and so is breaking their wicked means and techniques. But what worries me the most now is that there’s a deeper dimension involved within. For instance, some ghosts from the Underworld.”

“The Lian Family is really connected to the Underworld?” interjected Xue Yu with astonishment. “Also, you have mentioned to me the existence of the Underworld… but is that place really… the Netherworld?”

“Yeah.” Tang Xiu nodded.

“So, what should we do next?” asked Xue Yu.

“We’ll head to Kanas first,” answered Tang Xiu. “If we can crack the Immortal Trove in Longquan Bay, we’ll take what’s stored inside. But if we can’t open it, then we’ll come back immediately. We’ll set seven days as a limit. Regardless of whether we can succeed or not in the end, we’ll come back right away. I’ll assign Awu to stay here and thoroughly dig up some intel on the Lian Family.”

“What other information do you still need?” asked Xue Yu with a confused face. “Haven’t you gotten the intel yourself tonight?”

“What I wanna know is whether there are other fiends or devils behind the Lians,” explained Tang Xiu. “Or, whether their family members have a connection with the Underworld. If there are indeed some devils involved, I don’t have much concern even if they are very formidable. But if they are really connected to the Underworld, then this matter will be quite tricky to deal with.”

Xue Yu slowly nodded and said, “If so, could you inform someone from the Green Lake Agricola? After all, the Lian Family’s Patriarch, their two ancestors, and more than 20 of their experts died there. I’m afraid that they will be in danger once the Lians send their men again over there, given that we can’t solve this problem right now.”

Tang Xiu nodded and said, “I’m going to meet Han Sen tomorrow morning, so I’ll send him back to Chang City by himself!”

As the next day came and the blob of a red glow rose from the East, Tang Xiu neatly dressed and went out of the villa. He then found Han Sen sitting cross-legged at the edge of the woods dozens of meters away, and he immediately headed over.

“Boss!”

Han Sen’s injuries had not yet fully healed and he was only around seventy-percent recovered. He learned how to address Tang Xiu from Mo Awu’s group and called out respectfully.

Tang Xiu nodded to him and said, “If my guess is correct, Song Donglai and Ao Wei should have broken through now and become Qi Refining Stage cultivators. What do you think about that?”

A chilling aura exuded from Han Sen’s body, yet his expression was extraordinarily calm as he replied, “My life is yours, Boss. Just tell me everything that I must do. You want me to be a cultivator, then I’ll become one. You want me to stay as I am now, then I’ll have no complaints either.”

“Alright.” Tang Xiu nodded and ordered, “Then off you go to Chang City! Tell Song Donglai and Ao Wei to burn down the Green Lake Agricola and erase their traces completely. Then, take them to Jingmen Island and directly head to the Everlasting Feast Hall’s headquarters there.”

“What do I do thereafter?” asked Han Sen.

“Some people will naturally settle you down when you arrive there,” said Tang Xiu. “Also, someone will teach you an Immortal cultivation technique and help you embark on the cultivation path. But keep in mind, you are an outer member of the Everlasting Feast Hall starting today.”

“I know about the Everlasting Feast Hall,” said Han Sen. “I once tried to break through the array there. Too bad that I was only able to break two layers before I had to retreat.”

Tang Xiu let out a thin smile at his statement and said, “What you know about the Everlasting Feast Hall isn’t all they are. Just go ahead. You’ll know what kind of existence the Everlasting Feast Hall is when you get there.”

“Understood!” Han Sen nodded and left after cupping his fists.

Tang Xiu looked at his back with a smile outlined on the corner of his lips. He found that Han Sen had the suitable making and aptitude to be an assassin. He was cold in nature and always did his best to stop at nothing to achieve what he must do. He could do everything he could as long as he approved of the endeavor. But in the future, he needed to obey his orders. Tang Xiu had been considering taking him together to the Immortal World and throwing him into the wild. There, he’d definitely transform into a terrifying Grim Reaper, a Killing God in the Immortal World.

Shortly after, Tang Xiu summoned Mo Awu and his group. He gave them his orders and watched them leave. He then walked alone to the outside of another villa not far away.

“You got up so early, Brother Tang?”

Miao Wentang, who was practicing Tai Chi in the villa courtyard, immediately halted and greeted him with a smile after he saw Tang Xiu.