Returning from the Immortal World

The Zither Melody of Heavenly Demon was a dreadful art to confuse the mind and create illusions. During the fight, Tang Xiu realized that even though this demonic beast had a powerful mental power, it was still suppressed by the rules of this plane and became very weak. With such a condition, it was better to use Han Qinwu’s Zither Melody of Heavenly Demon to influence it.

As expected, the movements of Bloodfiend Monarch were considerably slowed down. It must be noted that a slight carelessness in a battle between powerhouses was enough to make one meet their demise. Bloodfiend Monarch’s speed was slowed down and its strength was weakened, even though it desperately struggled to shake its head to shake off the zither melody that invaded its mind.

BOOM…

The Fire Qilin opened its mouth. A red bullet that was as though a scorching sun was shot out and exploded as it hit the Bloodfiend Monarch. As the demonic beast wailed, Xue Yu brandished her immortal sword and tore a bloody wound on its back. The wound was very serious and made Bloodfiend Monarch almost fall to the ground.

“Ancestral Reverse of Myriad Swords!”

Controlling the divine sword, Tang Xiu unleashed thousands of sword shadows and shot all of them toward Bloodfiend Monarch’s body. As the Fire Qilin looked shocked, he pierced Bloodfiend Monarch’s body and left hundreds of bleeding wounds.

ROAARRR…

Bloodfiend Monarch looked desperate, for it never dreamed that someone could pierce its body only by relying on a sword. One must know that it had formed a layer of defensive shield inside its body that even top-grade immortal swords without strong power to manipulate it wouldn’t be able to pierce its body.

‘That sword…’

Bloodfiend Monarch though in the midst of its wails. Then, it instantly turned around and bolted toward the depths of the Himalayas. But after it ran away for more than 10km, its aura suddenly dissipated and its body fell to the ground.

‘Huh? That guy died just like that?’

The Fire Qilin just stared dumbly at the body of Bloodfiend Monarch that fell on the ground. Its figure flickered a few times and appeared next to the corpse.

Tang Xiu was grinning. He had appeared in front of Bloodfiend Monarch’s corpse a step ahead. He kept slashing his divine sword and cut Bloodfiend Monarch’s corpse into eight parts, all of which were then stuffed into his interspatial ring.

The Fire Qiling angrily glared at Tang Xiu and growled. “Give me the Demon Core of this demonic beast!”

“Nope. You’re using Demon Cores to patch the array, yes?” Tang Xiu shook his head and said, “I can help you with that. But Demon Cores are very important to me, so I can’t give you this one either. If anything, your only purpose is to repair the Spatial Teleportation Array and return to the Immortal World. Am I right?”

” Hmph . That’s right. I want to go back to the Immortal World.” The Fire Qilin snorted. “I’ve been trapped on Earth for tens of millenniums already. I’m going crazy here!”

“I give you my word that you can leave freely if you can patch that Spatial Teleportation Array.” Tang Xiu said, “But I still have another means to take you back to the Immortal World even if your attempt fails. However, I still need a longer time. Could be a decade or two.”

“You have a way to go to the Immortal World?” the Fire Qiling was surprised and asked, “How do you do it, exactly?”

“I can ascend to the Immortal World if I succeed in crossing my tribulation,” said Tang Xiu. “By then, I naturally have the means to bring many people to the Immortal World.”

The Fire Qilin gave Tang Xiu a deep stare. Then, it nodded and said, “I’ll take your word this time. But I hope you don’t let me down. I’ve waited for tens of millenniums, I couldn’t care less to wait for more for a decade or two. If you really can bring me back to the Immortal World, then I won’t bother with those Demon Cores.”

“Deal!” answered Tang Xiu immediately. Demon Cores were too important for him since he would need more resources the more he advanced in cultivation. If he could get himself nearly 100,000 Demon Cores, he was sure that he could have continuous breakthroughs smoothly and finally reach a cultivation level that was on par with experts at the Immortal Stage.

“Please lend your hand to help the human cultivators kill the rest of these demonic beasts then, Fire Qilin! We still got tons of them here, so let’s kill more of them, lest the other human cultivators die,” Tang Xiu said as he turned to look at the direction of Ugley town.

“Fine!”

The Fire Qilin itself was actually indifferent. However, it was thanks to Tang Xiu and the others that it could kill that particular demonic beast.

With the Fire Qilin, Tang Xiu, Han Qingwu, and Xue Yu lending a hand, the tide of the battle where the human side was originally suppressed instantly changed. Han Qingwu used her zither melody to attack, whereas Tang Xiu and Xue Yu were just literally everywhere in the battlefield, unceasingly reaping the lives of those demonic beasts. Fire Qilin was even more brutal. It was simply like a tiger preying on a flock of sheep, leaving nowhere else for the demonic beasts to escape but to be killed by it.

After a whole day, the battle in the Himalayas barely came to an end. Nearly 50,000 of the originally 100,000 demonic beasts’ horde died, leaving only 5,000 survivors. The surviving ones ran away and hid in the depths of the Himalayas without a trace. Likewise, the human side also suffered huge casualties. The number of cultivators surviving was only 800 from the previous several thousand, 100 of whom were now disabled and 200 more were gravely injured.

At the temporary encampment.

Duanmu Lin called all the leaders of the various forces. Although he was very sad and similarly seriously injured, he just ignored his own condition.

“Everyone, we have wiped out the horde of those demonic beasts and there are only a few thousands of them left in hiding. We can’t find them now, and neither do we have the means to kill them for the time being. Hence, I want to ask everyone’s opinion. Should we stay here, going deep into the Himalayas, or continue chasing the surviving demonic beasts?”

“The horde of demonic beasts has been wiped out. The remaining few thousands of them have also hidden, and it won’t be easy to track them in the depths of the Himalayas. Further, I still have tons of things to tend to, so the Tang Sect disciples won’t be staying here.” Tang Xiu shook his head and said, “If anything, I think tracking those demonic beasts and killing them would be quite easy for the cultivation world’s friends given their abilities.”

Duanmu Lin slightly furrowed his brows and forced a wry smile inwardly. Of everyone here, the people he hoped the most to stay and help him kill demonic beasts were Tang Xiu and the Tang Sect’s disciples. Yet, he also knew Tang Xiu’s character. It was nearly impossible for him to change his mind once he made it up. Therefore, he could only helplessly say, “Well, you can go then! The rest of those demonic beasts shouldn’t pose too much of a threat to us as long as they don’t mount a large-scale attack.”

“Alright. Just inform me at once if such a situation arises,” said Tang Xiu.

Duanmu Lin wordlessly nodded. Then, he asked the rest of the other forces’ leaders. After his pleading, most of the cultivation forces were willing to stay to help kill the remaining demonic beasts. Even the Nascent Soul Stage Ancestress of the Whole Unitary Sect expressed her willingness to stay. She would stay here until all the demonic beasts had been completely eliminated.

In the dim night, Tang Xiu led 192 disciples of the Tang Sect out of Ugley Town. Tang Xiu didn’t accept any rewards although the Tang Sect disciples had made great contributions this time. He had to go back to Nine Dragons Island and spend some time into seclusive cultivation.

A minute after they left, four or five figures silently appeared. They looked at the direction the group was leaving with a look of respect on their faces.

“Director Duanmu, I think it would’ve been extremely difficult for us to win this war had it not been for Tang Xiu.” The middle-aged Taoist nun heavily sighed.

“What you said is true enough. Tang Xiu did make a great contribution.” Duanmu Lin nodded and continued, “Unfortunately, he also has a high status and a prominent background. Plus, he doesn’t like to be famous. He said that it instead just… brings him great inconvenience rather than being helpful.”

The amiable-looking old man slowly said, “Being indifferent to fame and fortune and only seeking the path to immortality. Daoist Tang is still very young, yet he already has such formidable strength. It’s really shocking. I’m really curious about this Tang Sect now, though. How can a cultivator sect train so many peerless geniuses?”

“I advise you to avoid any thoughts of investigating the Tang Sect, Elder.” Duanmu Lin shook his head and said, “Tang Xiu will be hostile to you otherwise once he finds out about it.”

The amiable-looking old man shook his head and smilingly said, “No worries! I won’t send people to investigate the Tang Sect, though I’m very curious about it. Besides, that sect has two Spirit Formation Stage experts. Such a force is already surpassing the other cultivator forces, to begin with. I may be old, but I still have a good brain. Having a conflict with Tang Xiu is the last thing I want.”

****

Noon of the next day, Tang Xiu and the Tang Sect’s disciples arrived on Jingmen Island. Since he didn’t want to expose Nine Dragons Island, he temporarily stationed everyone on the headquarters, the manor of Everlasting Feast Hall after returning.

“Grand Master.” Tang An silently appeared at Tang Xiu’s side and respectfully reported. “We’ve done our investigation. We have six groups of people on our tail. Except for the origins of two groups we have no knowledge about, we’ve already found out the four others. All of them come from some cultivator clans. But they seem to have no malicious intent towards us.”

“Those superior are prone to blasphemy and destruction.” Tang Xiu sneered. “Our Tang Sect disciples have performed so well in this crisis, so naturally they will garner the attention of other cultivation forces. It’s just human nature for them to send their people to tail us. Yet, that’s why we must stay low-key.”

“Should we kill those tracking us, then?” asked Tang An after hesitating.

“No. Just let them be!” Tang Xiu shook his head and said, “Those surviving cultivators are heroes of mankind, to begin with. We’ll ignore them as long as Nine Dragons Island is not exposed. Tang An, tell Tang Guang to drive them away.”

“As you will it, Grand Master!” Tang An complied and disappeared in a flash.

Suddenly, a wind gently pushed the door of Tang Xiu’s residence. A smile on her face, Xue Yu appeared in front of Tang Xiu. She had been in seclusion and felt like it was like a century for her. Although her strength improved day by day, she had always missed Tang Xiu’s hug every time she faced a crisis.

Even though she finally met Tang Xiu, there was no time to be with him due to the demonic beasts’ issue. She had been barely able to endure it.

“I miss you, you know that?” Xue Yu opened her arms and hugged Tang Xiu’s waist.

Tang Xiu could feel her true feelings and was slightly feeling touched. He smiled and hugged her. “Anyways, did Yan’er bully you? I never thought she’d make you experience that array.”

“Ah, no, no,” replied Xue Yu hurriedly. “She’s been very good to me. I wouldn’t have been able to help you in this demonic beast issue otherwise.”