Returning from the Immortal World

Besides Gu Yan’er, all the other Supremacy Stage cultivators were shocked and in complete disbelief. They all knew who Apotheon Myriad Notes, Apotheon Mu, and the others were. They previously thought that these were only powerful people from the Vermillion Bird Holy Sect, who Tang Xiu had accepted into the Empire. It was unbelievable that they would call Tang Xiu “Master.”

The master of these five people was the one once widely feared in the Immortal World, the Star Cultivation Great Emperor! However, the Star Cultivation Great Emperor had failed to pass the Divinity Tribulation, which led to the breaking and disintegrating of his spirit.

Tang Xiu slowly stood up, signaled for the other five to stand as well, then said, “Your eyes are not mistaken. Your ears are not mistaken, either. I’m the master of these five people. Yes, I was once the supreme prodigy in the Vermillion Bird Holy Sect, who was feared throughout the Immortal World as a powerhouse in the Supremacy Stage. Yes. I’m the Star Cultivation Great Emperor.”

Star Cultivation Great Emperor?

Obsideum Immortal Father and the rest of the Supremacy Stage cultivators all had an expression of absolute shock and awe. They had wondered and suspected countless times of Tang Xiu’s identity. However, they did not expect that he would be the Star Cultivation Great Emperor himself.

A great chill and piercing light shot from Tang Xiu’s eyes as he spoke. He said, “You have all heard of my history. Furthermore, you should all know that I once had two friends who I was extremely close to. One is the Great Emperor Danqing of the Inner Pill Sect, and the other is Zither Demon Jiuyao of the Everlasting Palace. It was these two close friends of mine who struck me fatally while I was at my weakest state after passing the Divinity Tribulation. If it wasn’t for a fragment of my soul that traveled to another world and revived me, my soul would definitely have been broken into fragments and disintegrated. I have decided to tell you this because the day of retribution is nearly upon us. I have not recovered back to the peak of my strength as of now. However, I’m still able to contend with middle-stage Supremacy Stage cultivators. After another sixty years, though, I’m confident that I will be able to easily kill these same middle-stage Supremacy Stage cultivators.”

After a long time, Obsideum Immortal Father finally spoke after letting the news that the Great Tang Emperor was also the Star Cultivation Great Emperor sink in. He said, “No wonder the most affectionate woman in the Immortal World, Apotheon Immortal Bella, became your woman, my lord. No wonder Apotheon Mu and the rest are so loyal to you to the point where they would give their lives for you. No wonder the Vermillion Bird Holy Sect is in imminent danger right now. No wonder your power has grown in leaps and bounds! No wonder you constantly sent people and resources to the Vermillion Bird Holy Sect for them to train and cultivate!”

Nethersea Whale King, who was now a Supremacy Stage cultivator, also breathed a deep sigh and said, “All the powerhouses in the Immortal World know that you were once great friends with the Great Emperor Danqing and Zither Demon Jiuyao. However, during the time that you… disappeared, they attacked the Vermillion Bird Holy Sect relentlessly. These two shameless brats. We will follow you and beat these scums to the ground and let them regret their births!”

Tang Xiu, fully satisfied now, nodded and said, “Everyone. I have now told you my greatest secret. I hope that you can keep this to yourselves.”

“Without a doubt.”

Everyone present while Tang Xiu revealed his true identity immediately swore an Immortal Oath.

The days following after.

Besides Gu Yan’er, the other sixteen Supremacy Stage powerhouses were split into six forces. Each force was armed with two or three Supremacy Stage powerhouses. Each of these forces was used to attack the surrounding six immortal domains. Four of these six domains did not have Supremacy Stage cultivators, so within a couple of years, these four domains were conquered. The other two immortal domains had Supremacy Stage cultivators to protect them. However, under the fierce and powerful hand of the Great Tang Emperor, they were all killed.

Two years later.

Now the Great Tang Empire had ten immortal domains under its rule.

Twenty years later.

The Great Tang Empire had fortified all ten of their conquered territories heavily, making them virtually impenetrable.

Fifty years later.

There was an addition to the ranks of Perfected Golden Immortal Stage cultivators. Besides Apotheon Immortal Bella and Tang Xiu himself, there were now eighteen Supremacy Stage powerhouses in the Great Tang Empire. There were also now twenty military forces, with five million Immortals in each force. With this, there were a total of exactly one hundred million Immortals in the Great Tang Empire’s fighting forces.

One hundred million.

These were only the soldiers specializing in fighting alone. Each of them had countless experiences in battles under their belts, as well as the harsh trials and tests that they had to go through in training. There were also other types of soldiers, such as the soldiers specialized in healing, logistics, and other fields, including weaponry and armory. All of these soldiers would add up to a number that exceeded thirty million Immortals.

During these fifty years.

Besides training every day, Tang Xiu had constantly been refining Divinity Attainment Pills. For the sake of refining these pills, the Great Tang Empire’s resources had been cleared and sucked dry. Fortunately, they had conquered the six Immortal Domains, which gave them an abundance of treasures and wealth. This was how they managed to keep the Empire afloat despite the draining of their own resources.

In these fifty years, the few Supremacy Stage powerhouses in the Immortal World came and visited Tang Xiu. They had two goals. Firstly, they were there to scout and gather information about the Great Tang Empire’s situation. Secondly, they also hoped to build a favorable relationship with Tang Xiu and the Empire.

“The forty-sixth pill!”

Tang Xiu immediately absorbed the recently refined Divinity Attainment Pill into his interspatial ring. While doing so, his face was lit up in delight.

When he walked out of the alchemy chamber, he saw Gu Yan’er, who had been waiting for a while.

“Master, there’s a guest. He’s already been waiting for nine days,” Gu Yan’er said.

Tang Xiu looked around, then asked, “Which Supreme is it?”

Gu Yan’er replied, “He called himself Supreme Purgatory. He didn’t say where he was from, though. That aside, he’s quite strong. At the very least, he’s a lot stronger than me.”

Tang Xiu squinted his eyes, then nodded and said, “Take me to him.”

Once upon a time.

Tang Xiu hadn’t heard of this Supreme Purgatory before. This was something that he found interesting and was curious about. If this Supreme was someone who had broken into the Supremacy Stage in the last millennium, then it would be impossible for him to be stronger than Gu Yan’er. Therefore, this Supremacy Stage cultivator was hiding from the public eye. Tang Xiu wanted to meet this person and understand where he came from.

Inside the palace.

When Tang Xiu saw Supreme Purgatory, he immediately sized him up. Then, he calmly laughed and said, “You must be Supreme Purgatory.”

Supreme Purgatory smiled and replied, “You must be the Great Tang Emperor.”

Tang Xiu nodded and replied, “That’s right. I am. Since you have arrived in our Great Tang Empire, you should introduce yourself and say where you are from, should you not?”

Supreme Purgatory continued smiling and replied, “Convict Arena. Supreme Purgatory.”

Tang Xiu was shocked when he heard this. He knew a lot about the Convict Arena, but he didn’t know much about the powerful figures behind the Convict Arena. Since this Supreme Purgatory in front of him claimed to be from the Convict Arena, Tang Xiu could not neglect him.

“I have never heard of a Supreme Purgatory. Looks like you have hidden quite well. If I’m correct in my guess, you should be the real power controlling the Convict Arena in this era. Am I correct?” Tang Xiu asked.

Supreme Purgatory smiled and replied, “That’s right. I’m the one who controls the Convict Arena in this era.”

Tang Xiu nodded, then asked, “Why did Supreme Purgatory visit us?”

Supreme Purgatory calmly replied, “I only wanted to confirm something. That’s why I came. I also hope that the Great Tang Emperor can explain.”

“Go ahead.”

Tang Xiu signaled for Supreme Purgatory to sit.

Supreme Purgatory said, “The Great Tang Empire has only been established in the Immortal World for around a thousand years. However, in such a short time, you have already conquered ten immortal domains. What a powerful army. I wanted to ask if the Great Tang Emperor is aiming to conquer the whole of the Immortal World?”

Tang Xiu shook his head and said, “My Great Tang Empire will not invade recklessly anymore. However, we will reclaim our old territories! Furthermore, there are also enemies of our Empire, so we will eliminate them. Therefore, once we do that, their territories will become one of the Great Tang Empire’s.”

Supreme Purgatory paused, smiled, then replied, “Since the Great Tang Emperor does not plan to completely conquer the Immortal World, then you must not have the ambition to become the only Emperor in this world, then. I’m relieved. My Convict Arena has dwelled in the Immortal World for countless years and is extremely powerful. However, we don’t have the ambition to conquer the Immortal World either. Therefore, as long as the Great Tang Empire does not make things difficult for us, then we will not fight the Great Tang Empire either. Who knows! Maybe we will be able to work together for many things in the future! Perhaps we will be able to help each other.”

Tang Xiu nodded his head and replied, “If Supreme Purgatory thinks like this, then we don’t need to wait until the future to work together! We can already work together now.”

Supreme Purgatory was surprised. He asked, “How does the Great Tang Emperor plan to work together with us?”

Tang Xiu calmly replied, “According to what I know, there are many deathmatch gladiators in the Convict Arena. The Great Tang Empire requires a lot more soldiers, so we have been recruiting and hiring. If the Convict Arena can send a group of deathmatch gladiators, then please allow us to owe you that money for a short while. When the time comes, then I will give you one percent more as interest. What do you think? Is this to your liking?”

The smile was beginning to disappear from Supreme’s Purgatory face. He said, “Is the Great Tang Emperor trying to gain valuable assets with worthless things?”

Tang Xiu continued to smile and replied, “That’s not what I’m trying to do. In a small world where I was once in, there are places called banks. This is similar to the money shops that they have in the normal citizens of the Immortal World. However, I have taken a great liking to this form of borrowing money. As for the deathmatch gladiators in the Convict Arena, besides dying, they would only win the bets of the gamblers. However, if you have too many deathmatch gladiators, then you might as well sell us a group of them. I…”

Supreme Purgatory raised his hand, smiled, and replied, “Great Tang Emperor, I understand. If it wasn’t for an event that occurred a few hundred years ago, I would be able to help you out here. Unfortunately, not only do we not have excess deathmatch gladiators, but we are severely lacking in them. Therefore, I also have something to discuss with the Great Tang Emperor. In the future, if the Great Tang Empire is fighting strong enemies, you can sell the captured people to the Convict Arena. We will definitely pay a high price for them.”

Tang Xiu looked at him with a puzzled look and replied, “What happened a few hundred years ago? What happened to the Convict Arena? I remember that the Convict Arena from before did not lack deathmatch gladiators at all. Furthermore, I have even bought a few deathmatch gladiators from you to bolster my forces previously.”