Returning from the Immortal World

The tens of thousands of kilometers sea area looked calm and peaceful—no shadow nor ghosts could be seen. However, Tang Xiu and Star Tears still kept their vigilance and were very cautious. They didn’t rush out from the edge of the forested mountain but kept their auras restrained and conversed in whispers while gazing at the sea.

Quickly after, four figures appeared on the coastline, and one of them was a rickety old man with a cane that radiated a thick death qi—a sign that he was at the end of his lifespan. The three others beside him, aside from a silver-haired old lady, were two young men.

“Dala?”

Tang Xiu and Star Tears exchanged glances and looked surprised. They both knew who the old man was. Dala was a Supreme Elder of the Mandala Sect and he was 16,000 years old—much older than Star Tears.

About 8,000+ years ago, the old man had broken through to the Perfected Golden Immortal Stage, yet he had not been able to advance to the Supremacy Stage 8 millenniums later.

Star Tears whispered, “Dala is close to his limit, and the opening of the Secret Palace with Drunken Immortal Supreme’s inheritance is very likely his last chance. If he can obtain such a chance that will help him breakthrough here, his lifespan will double. But if he fails, I’m afraid it won’t take many years before he dies and enters the six paths of reincarnation to start a new journey in life.”

“He’s already a dying lamp, but he can say farewell to his former identity and memory once he enters Samsara.” Tang Xiu nodded and said, “Unless a Supreme is willing to damage his millennium of cultivation to help him enter the six paths of reincarnation in a lower plane, only then will he be able to retain some bits of his memory.”

“Sigh, there are only a few Supremes in the Immortal World now, with each and every one of them maintaining their life force and energy in the hopes to cross the tribulation and ascend to Godhood.” Star Tears sighed. “Who would be willing to lose millenniums of cultivation to help him for free?”

Star Tears and Tang Xiu helplessly watched the Dala’s group of four as they flew above the sea and then disappeared from their sight.

Tang Xiu’s eyes gleamed aa he stared at the sea for 15 minutes before he spoke all of a sudden, “I may have already learned a lot about this Secret Palace, but this is my first time here, so I have yet to comprehend the situation carefully. It seems that I’ll find a new formation array if I enter the sea. Let’s set off and dive in. We may be able to see another scene after we enter.”

“Got it!” Star Tears nodded slowly.

As the duo appeared on the coastline, Tang Xiu used his spiritual sense to spread toward the front. In nearly the blink of an eye, he grabbed Star Tears’ hand and quickly passed through an energy shield. Afterward, another world presented itself before them appeared out of nowhere.

It was still a calm sea, yet countless lightning bolts struck down from the sky from time to time, with each bolt causing ripples on the sea surface.

There were nine long bridges above the sea surface, however. Each was 100 meters wide and extended toward the bottom of the deep sea. The long ladder-shaped bridge extended upward. Even with their eyesight, Tang Xiu and Star Tears were unable to see the end of these long bridges. It seemed like these long nine bridges had extended to the distant horizon that reached the heavens.

Thousands of Golden Immortals and Perfected Golden Immortals had come and stood still at the end of the bridgehead. They also saw the backs of roughly 900 Golden Immortals and Perfected Golden Immortals on the long bridge as they advanced forward step by step.

“It’s a Domain Bridge.”

Tang Xiu sighed as he saw such a scene. From the content of the entire formation array that made this space, he was fully aware of the whole situation. He knew that this was a test, precisely the second test one had to pass to obtain the inheritance. If one could cross this Domain Bridge, that person would then have the opportunity to enter the floating island and enter the Drunken Immortal Palace.

“Let’s head there!”

Tang Xiu touched Star Tears’ arm and then silently came to a spot near Dala. Although he realized that three people around the old man were showing their vigilance towards him, he directly ignored them and intentionally put on a curious look, asking with a smile, “Elderly Senior, may I ask about the situation here? We’re kind of bewildered after entering. Why is everyone gathered here? Also, how come some people are walking slowly on the bridge and not just flying directly?”

Dala turned to look at Tang Xiu with a surprised look. However, the gentle old man didn’t scold Tang Xiu for asking and explained with a smiling face instead, “This is a space to test one’s potential. There are a total of 90,000 tokens in the whole Secret Palace and anyone who gets it can find it. At the end of this bridge is the place where the Drunken Immortal Palace is located. Only by passing this space of potential test will one be able to reach the Drunken Immortal Palace and obtain Drunken Immortal Supreme’s inheritance.

Tang Xiu intentionally looked surprised. “The inheritance of Drunken Immortal Supreme is here? Then, those other places…”

“Those other places are naturally the first test left by Drunken Immortal Supreme,” said Dala with a smile. “Only after you survive in other places can you find the token and then come here. However, this young friend is really good. You unexpectedly reached this place accidentally without the token’s direction. Maybe Young Friend can obtain a big fortuitous encounter here!”

“Surely you jest, Elderly Senior,” said Tang Xiu modestly. “I just came in to join the fun. Besides, I’m only here for treasure hunting and making a little fortune. I don’t look forward to getting the legacy of Drunken Immortal Supreme.”

Dala looked a bit surprised. He had been passing the years for far too long and he was able to distinguish whether someone was telling the truth or not. However, the young man before him was absolutely indifferent to this matter, and it did come from his heart. It was something he never expected, so he carefully observed Tang Xiu and asked, “What’s your name, Young Friend?”

“Great Tang Heavenly Emperor,” said Tang Xiu with a smile.

“…”

Dala stared at Tang Xiu with an expression between laughter and tears. He had a good impression of this little fella—so young yet dared to bestow himself the title of Heavenly Emperor at such a young age. He couldn’t determine Tang Xiu’s cultivation level, but if he were to make a guess, this kid should be a Golden Immortal at most.

However, the purpose of his coming to this place was to get a fortuitous encounter from whatever was left behind by Drunken Immortal Supreme. So, despite his curiosity about Tang Xiu, he shifted his attention to the long bridge again towards those 900 people trying hard to climb the bridge.

“Master, the Greenfinch Sect seems to have some amazing peerless geniuses!” the stout middle-aged man next to Dala suddenly exclaimed, “Among those 900 Golden Immortals and Perfected Golden Immortals, he’s able to firmly occupy the first place. That one on the second place is also just 100 meters away. They should be able to snatch the top three spots from this third batch of people, right?”

“Indeed.” Dala nodded and said, “Given his aptitude, it would be easy for him to advance to the Perfected Golden Immortal Stage if he doesn’t die for some period of time, though it’s hard to say whether he can break through to the Supremacy Stage. However, Celestial Fleabane True Monarch in 2nd place is also good enough. Although he’s not as dazzling as that Greenfinch Sect’s peerless genius, he’s still a very powerful Perfected Golden Immortal. As far as I know, he should have just broken through to the Perfected Golden Immortal Stage in the last millennium, yes?”

“Well, it’s about 8 centuries ago, to be precise.” The burly man nodded. “Among those 900 Golden Immortals and Perfected Golden Immortals, the number of Perfected Golden Immortals is 120, but Celestial Fleabane True Monarch definitely has the strongest aptitude. However, he never pledged his allegiance to any sect and keeps cultivating by relying on his own constant exploration and hard work, something very difficult to do on the path of immortal cultivation.”

Dala smiled bitterly in response. “Had I not had my background then and kept relying on my hard work to cultivate in its entirety, I would perhaps have broken through the Supremacy Stage by now, wouldn’t I?

As Tang Xiu stood beside them and listened to their conversation, he couldn’t help but feel a bit of admiration toward this Dala old man. He was clear about the correctness of the statement Dala just said. Immortals who had a smooth ride on their cultivation path were bound to fail to achieve greatness but instead would end up harming themselves. The immortal cultivation path was not only hard and arduous, but one must also go through hardships and tribulations while comprehending the Heavenly Dao and blazing through a bloody path. Only then one would be able to reach the apex to the Supremacy Stage.

For instance, the possessor of his identity in the past. As the Young Lord of the Vermillion Bird Holy Sect, he was definitely the very term of the darling of many people. He never knew how high and deep the sky and earth were. In the end, he failed to achieve enlightenment and died right after he ran into a trivial danger, thus his body was then occupied by his soul. Later on, he refused to stay in the shelter that was the Vermillion Bird Holy Sect and kept striving, fighting, and struggling time and again, making his way out of countless desperate situations, and then eventually becoming a Supremacy Stage powerhouse.

Tang Xiu secretly took a deep breath and quickly took out a jade slip, engraved a certain pill recipe on it, and then secretly sent it to Dala without any trace.

“Huh?” Dala slightly turned his head and looked at Tang Xiu. There was a slight surprise on his aged face, but then, he found that Tang Xiu didn’t even look at him but kept focusing on the 900 Immortals being tested on the bridge. Immediately after, he sent a wisp of his consciousness into the jade slip.

This is…

Shocked, his eyes gleamed. He quickly stuffed the jade slip into his interspatial ring and sent a voice transmission to Tang Xiu, “Thank you, Immortal Friend.”

“It was fate that made us meet here, there’s no need for thanks,” Tang Xiu replied with a voice transmission.

Dala shot a deep look at Tang Xiu before he shifted back to the Immortals on the long bridge. However, shock still quaked his heart, and he couldn’t calm himself down.

This is a Supreme Pill recipe that will increase the chance of breaking through to the Supremacy Stage by 30% if a late-stage Perfected Golden Immortal takes it. Everyone knows what kind of mishap can be avoided with such a 30% increase in chance.

Originally, I had only 30% of assurance, the exact odds that I can see. I’m aware that it’s still far and not enough for me to step on the path of becoming a Supreme. But with the Supreme Pill recipe, my chance to advance to the Supremacy Stage is increased by up to 60%. 60% is just my limit, but it’s enough for me to breakthrough. Even if I can’t get the inheritance of Drunken Immortal Supreme in this Secret Palace, I can be said to have obtained an enormous chance myself.

Then again, this grace is so enormous, a very heavy one.

Who exactly is he?

Dala wanted to ask the young man’s identity, but he could tell that the young man had no intention of telling him. He could only helplessly engrave this grace into his heart, waiting until that young man had a need of his assistance in the future to repay this friendship token…

“Is there something wrong, Master?” the burly man noticed Dala’s unusual expression and asked immediately.

“No. It’s nothing,” Dala shook his head.