In the dark, a particular aura converged atop the head of Venerable East Wu. In just 15 minutes, transparent energy poured down from the sky into East Wu’s head and merged into his body. Under the injection of this energy, seven days later, East Wu’s aura continued to grow stronger and increased several times.

 Huff…

 A turbid breath burst out of Venerable Wu’s mouth. After opening his eyes, he looked at Tang Xiu with deep gratitude and bowed with cupped fists. “I deeply thank you for your kind instructions, Heavenly Emperor.”

 “That is your good fortune,” said Tang Xiu with a light smile. “If anything, I didn’t think that you could even grasp my words and breakthrough to the mid-stage Perfected Golden Immortal Stage.”

 “Sigh, I’ve been stranded at the early-stage Perfected Golden Immortal for 2,400 years. No matter how much I accumulate anything and keep cultivating for such a long period of time, it was always difficult for me to advance to the next step. Now I know that my insight into the Heavenly Dao was not enough. Heavenly Emperor, I never thought that after hearing your words, all the contradictions and things that clouded my hearts were all cleared and directly made me breakthrough to the mid-stage Perfected Golden Immortal.”

 1“Well then, you’re no longer suitable to live an easy and comfy life anymore since you have broken through, though,” Tang Xiu smilingly said. “You need to familiarize yourself with the strength of mid-stage Perfected Golden Immortal and are in need to find matching opponents and fight them. So, come with me! I’ll give you the opponents and battlefields you need!”

 “About this…”

 Venerable East Wu hesitated and said, “But I have a duty to protect Renault City, Heavenly Emperor. I won’t be able to face Venerable Bella if I leave with you.”

 “The Immortal Lyceum will soon change, you’re just leaving one step in advance,” said Tang Xiu with a smile. “No worries! I’ll send another Perfected Golden Immortal to take over the guardianship of the city from you. Well, just follow me to see Apotheosis Bella, then! She’ll definitely let you leave with me.”

 Venerable East Wu looked bewildered. He really couldn’t figure out what kind of relationship Great Tang Heavenly Emperor shared with Apotheosis Bella. It was safe to say that apart from their meeting in the Heavenly Mountain, he had never seen Great Tang Heavenly Emperor before, nor had he heard anything about him from Apotheosis Bella. This Great Tang Heavenly Emperor seemed to appear out of nowhere, yet Apotheosis Bella trusted him so much that she didn’t hesitate to pull off a crazy stunt such as teaming up with him to kill another Supreme.

 “Alright, I’ll go with you to see Venerable Bella.”

 East Wu felt that it was necessary to know the identity of this Great Tang Heavenly Emperor from Apotheosis Bella if she really gave her consent for him to leave with him.

 “Hold on…”

 Suddenly, his complexion changed when he realized something all of a sudden. Great Emperor Heavenly Emperor just mentioned that the Immortal Lyceum would soon change and that he would send another Perfected Golden Immortal to take over the guardianship duty of Renault City.

 This statement… what does it mean?

 Renault City is a big city in the Immortal Lyceum territory and one that has always been under the control of Apotheosis Bella. Does this mean Great Tang Heavenly Emperor wants to occupy the territory after getting the maiden and take over all the territories under Apotheosis Bella? If that’s the case… Apotheosis Bella will just brush it off, won’t she?

 No way! Who exactly is this person?

 He led a great number of Perfected Golden Immortals before and ventured deep into the Heavenly Mountain to rescue the powerhouses of Vermillion Bird Holy Sect. Could he be someone from that sect?

 Tang Xiu ignored all the wild thoughts that kept churning inside Venerable East Wu’s mind and directly ordered Star Tears and Sablefiend Scorpio to return to the Heavenly Abode artifact. Then, he turned to East Wu and said, “I give you an hour to arrange everything before we leave to see Apotheosis Bella.”

“Understood!”

 Venerable East Wu replied and quickly sent a few messengers. Then, he said respectfully, “I’ve sent messages to the commanding officer of the Immortal soldiers in the city. We can leave now.”

 “Let’s hit the road, then!” Tang Xiu nodded.

 ****

 Half a month later, Tang Xiu and Venerable East Wu came to the palace of Immortal Lyceum where Apotheosis Bella resided. All the guards already knew Venerable East Wu, so they didn’t block Tang Xiu, so he directly entered the vortex portal and appeared on the square outside the palace. The Immortal on guarding duty was about to cross-check Tang Xiu’s identity when his expression slightly changed and he didn’t how he should be respectful toward this person. “Venerable Bella has just ordered me to make you wait a bit here, Venerable East Wu. She wants to see Great Tang Heavenly Emperor first.”

 Venerable East Wu froze for a moment and cast a suspicious look at Tang Xiu before he slightly nodded and said, “Well then, I’ll be waiting here. Please proceed inside, Great Tang Heavenly Emperor.”

 Tang Xiu slightly nodded in response. The moment he flew into the palace, he realized that the palace portal was closed directly as a fiery red figure atop the Nine Dragons Cathedra suddenly flew and lunged into his embrace nearly in a flash.

 The scent was so familiar that Tang Xiu secretly forced a smile inwardly. He knew that Apotheosis Bella had always been warm and enthusiastic. But to think that she would take the initiative to throw herself into his embrace was something he never expected. However, he did accept her in his heart, so he didn’t avoid nor push her away. He gently hugged her tender figure and patted her delicate back.

Only after a long while did Apotheosis Bella reluctantly release Tang Xiu and murmur, “I really want to hug you forever until the end of time, you know.”

 “Well, we both will become fossils if we really go hugging each other until the end of time, silly.” Tang Xiu couldn’t help laughing at her statement.

 Apotheosis Bella grabbed Tang Xiu’s hands and happily smiled. She took him to the Nine Dragons Cathedra and softly said, “I’ll still be happy even if we become fossils. It may not be long from the last time we met, but a day pass felt like a year to me, you know. I’ve been praying that you can come earlier so I can see you earlier. It’s always a happy thing to see you.”

 Tang Xiu gently hugged her shoulders and softly said, “Just be patient. Wait until we all become stronger and remove all the enemies. I won’t be bored even if you keep staying by my side every day.”

 “I know that such a day won’t be far away.” Apotheosis Bella firmly nodded.

 Tang Xiu then extended out his left hand and an interspatial ring appeared on his palm. “I heard from Mu that you gave me all the Immortal Crystals and Crystal Essences you, so the Immortal Lyceum is seriously short of them. That’s why I brought you 20 million Crystal Essences now to solve the urgent problem here!”

 Apotheosis Bella hurriedly said, “Will it greatly affect the Great Tang Empire if you take out so many Crystal Essences now? Besides, I don’t need them for the time being…”

 Tang Xiu raised his hand to interrupt her and said softly, “When we slew Myriad Thunder Supreme, 6 Perfected Golden Immortals, and those tens of Golden Immortals, we harvested 200 million Immortal Crystals and quite a lot of Crystal Essences from them. I’ve given all of them to the Great Tang Empire. I looted their immortal treasures and got these 20 million Crystal Essences after selling some of them in the Eventide Market. The Great Tang Empire is currently not in a shortage of Immortal Crystals and Crystal Essences. Further, I’m planning to leave for some time. The fastest time I return should be in 3 years, or 10 years at the latest.”

“Where exactly are you going?” asked Apotheosis Bella hastily.

 “The Secret Palace of Drunken Immortal Supreme in the Immortal Abode region is about to open, so I’m going there,” said Tang Xiu with a smile, “Although I don’t care about the inheritance of Drunken Immortal Supreme, he was one of the richest Immortals in the Immortal World. If we can get a lot of wealth from his Secret Palace, we can ensure the smooth development of the Great Tang Empire in the future.”

 Without hesitation, Apotheosis Bella replied, “I’ve heard of the news about Drunken Immortal Supreme’s Secret Palace that is about to open as well. It’s very likely that countless Perfected Golden Immortals are heading there at the time. That’s why I must go with you. Waiting for you to come was so hard for me, and it was also difficult for me to be accepted by you. I can never lose you again.”

 “Uh, who can recognize me in my current appearance?” Tang Xiu forced a wry smile. “Besides, I don’t think any Supreme will try to kill me should they appear there as long as I don’t provoke them, no?”

 Apotheosis Bella shook her head vigorously and replied with all seriousness, “No matter what, I must go with you. I can’t let you face any danger no matter how small it is. You’re still too weak now. I’m not worried about you facing any Perfected Golden Immortal, but you still have to be extra careful against Supreme powerhouses.”

Tang Xiu pondered for a moment and then said, “You going with me is not impossible, but you gotta promise me that you must not easily go into action if you don’t have my permission. Besides, I still must go through brutal fighting and battles if I want to restore my previous strength. Even if I have you to protect me, it’s likely that it will take me quite a long time before I can return to my heyday.”

 Apotheosis Bella thought for a while and said, “I understand. I won’t move as long as you don’t run into a Supreme outside the Secret Palace. Is that OK with you? I can’t enter the Secret Palace with you, though. I heard Drunken Immortal Supreme bars Supremacy Stage powerhouses from entering his Secret Palace, and those who enter will be attacked. There’s a chance that even a Supreme can die inside.”

 Tang Xiu nodded. “If it was a Secret Palace left behind by other Supremes, those Supremacy Stage powerhouses would definitely turn a blind eye to that warning. But I believe the strength of Drunken Immortal Supreme’s was much more powerful than mine back in my heyday, so I don’t think any Supreme will dare to break into this Secret Palace unless they are seeking their own death.”

 Apotheosis Bella nodded and sighed. “Yeah, my thoughts exactly. But the most important thing is that this place was created and arranged by Drunken Immortal Supreme before he ascended to the Gods Realm. His power definitely skyrocketed after he became a deity. Such fearsome power is not something some Supremes can compare to.”

“Alright, let’s put off this topic first,” said Tang Xiu. “There are a few things you need to pay attention to if you want to go with me. The first thing is to arrange another Perfected Golden Immortal under your command and put them into the Great Tang Empire. Also, assign someone to secretly manage the unification plan I sent you before.”

 “Alright, I’ll get it done immediately.”

 Apotheosis Bella acted and worked on it vigorously. She immediately summoned all the Perfected Golden Immortals under her to arrange some issues. Although her Perfected Golden Immortal subordinates were full of questions and doubts, she still ordered them to get all the things done.