Chapter 1250: Time Passed By

Like a flying arrow, time passed by and years slipped away.

Having used the Devour divine ability resulted in the drastic surge in Tang Xiu's cultivation level to the late-stage of Crossing Tribulation. But at the same time, it also brought him latent dangers as well. The drastic surge in power without step-by-step cultivation left him unable to control his own power at will and barred him from being able to unleash the full strength of the sixth minor stage of Stars Heavenly Essence. Further, his body strength was also unable to reach the level of strength that could be attained after going through normal cultivation.

3 years passed by.

Tang Xiu only left the Nine Dragons Island once during this time when he and the still injured Gu Yan'er took the exquisite pagoda to the "Crossroad of the Sea" in the Straits of Malacca to transfer all 35,680 sentient plant beings there to the pocket world in Longquan Mountain.

Afterward, he contacted Duanmu Lin and handed over a lot of high-tech products from the three-star vestige to him. Tang Xiu didn't pay much attention to the secret research base built by the Chinese authorities, and just ordered some Tang Sect disciples who stayed in China to help the state should there be any difficulties.

On Nine Dragons Island.

Inside the exquisite pagoda, Tang Xiu took a sip of fragrant hot tea. In front of him, sitting cross-legged, Teng Nu's body exuded a faint raging, volcano-like aura. Despite having completely stabilized his cultivation at the Crossing Tribulation late stage, he was still secretly surprised by her.

"Master."

At the staircase inside the tower, Gu Yan'er, in her usual white attire, came down wearing a smiling face. Her eyes seemingly shrouded with mist, she gently glanced at Teng Nu sitting cross-legged on the floor before shifting her attention to Tang Xiu.

Tang Xiu's expression shifted when he looked at her and inquired. "Your cultivation has been restored to the Golden Immortal Stage?"

"I've taken a lot of cultivation resources for the past three years and was finally able to concoct the Primordial World Pill. It would have been a waste of resources if I wasn't able to recover to the Golden Immortal Stage."

"Well, you being able to refine the Primordial World Pill is mainly thanks to the Holy Dragon Fruit we obtained a few years ago," Tang Xiu replied with a smile. "Speaking about it, who would have thought that such a rare object, sought after by many powerful existences in the Immortal World, turned out to exist on this small Earth.

"I think our Tang Sect has gathered most of the cultivation resources on Earth in the past three years, Master. Yet our consumption rate is similarly quite fast." Gu Yan'er smilingly said, "The Sect may run out of cultivation resources in less than 2 years at this rate, I think."

"True." Tang Xiu slowly nodded. "The number of cultivation resources consumed by the entire 200,000 children army is indeed very astronomical. Other than that, the resources needed to concoct 4 precious elixirs, including the Primordial World Pill, was quite big and made the consumption rate faster. We also have 560 core disciples in the sect as of now, and all of them have broken through to the Spirit Formation Stage thanks to the pocket world, and that also made the rate of consumption faster. It's a given that we'd face quite a difficult time after the next two years."

"Well, the thing is not them who consume the most resources, but the 35,680 sentient plants who have transformed into humanoid beings. Who would have imagined that Tang Sect would gain 35,680 great monsters comparable to Celestial Immortal Stage powerhouses?"

Tang Xiu glanced at Teng Nu in front of him and nodded. "I know that 80% of the resources in the pocket world are used by them. But it's still worth it. With these experts, we can also grab a territory shortly after we arrive in the Immortal World in the future. Further, we also have you at the Golden Immortal Stage at the command. It's enough to establish a temporary foothold in the Immortal World."

"You have decided on when we are going to ascend to the Immortal World?" Gu Yan'er asked.

Tang Xiu was silent for a while before he slowly shook his head and said, "Now is not yet the time. We'll wait for a while more. We will strive to go back to the Immortal World in at most 2 years. Only there can the Tang Sect rapidly develop. Also, there's also a place that we're very familiar with over yonder, though there's still one thing that concerns me."

"What are you worried about, Master?" Gu Yan'er was bewildered. "Is it about our enemies?"

"It's not that." Tang Xiu shook his head. "What concerns me, is time. Back when I left the Earth for a year, I spent 10 millenniums living in the Immortal World, and I've been living on Earth for 5 years now. If the time I spent here equals to 50,000 years in the Immortal World, what about my enemies there? Are they still alive? Do I still have a chance to get revenge?"

"You're mistaken on this matter, Master," said Gu Yan'er. "I have no idea about why you lived in the Immortal World for 10 millenniums yet only a year passed on Earth. However, I've been diligently researching the time flow of both planes, and I'm sure that a year on Earth is equal to about a century in the Immortal World."

A year here is equal to one century there?

Tang Xiu's eyes lit up and he hurriedly asked, "Are you sure about this?"

"I'm very positive. It must be correct." Gu Yan'er nodded.

Tang Xiu frowned again and muttered, "How could it be? I've been in the Immortal World for 10 millenniums, yet only a year has passed on Earth?"

Gu Yan'er thoughtfully said, "There are several possibilities, Master. But I think the biggest possibility is that you encountered a time bubble when you entered the Immortal World."

The term was unknown to Tang Xiu. He looked at Gu Yan'er's serious expression and immediately asked, "What's a time bubble?"

"Time bubble is a phenomenon when time and space collide and eventually form a bubble, like a water bubble," Gu Yan'er explained. "Sometimes some bubbles make time flow backward, whereas some others make time accelerates forward. Back when a wisp of your soul entered the Immortal World and was attached to someone else's, you may have encountered such a time bubble in the process, and that time bubble was one that made time flow backward."

Tang Xiu pondered about it for a long time before nodding silently. Then, he said, "If your inference is correct, a year on Earth is equal to a century in the Immortal World, and the wisp of my soul encountered a time bubble that caused time to flow backward. And while I've been here for 5 years, only 500 years have passed in the Immortal World. Then, even if we leave for the Immortal World 2 years later, only 700 years will have passed over there. All in all, my concern about it should be groundless, is that right?"

"Yeah. What do you think, then, Master?" Gu Yan'er chuckled. "Speaking of which, where are you going to choose to be our entrance station after we have arrived in the Immortal World?"

"Hoary Head Galaxy." With a complicated look in his eyes, Tang Xiu slowly answered.

Gu Yan'er was surprised for a moment and then said, "That place is in the sphere of Immortal Lyceum... Master, you..."

"I know that place is in the Immortal Lyceum's sphere of influence, but it's still on the edge of its territory and very far from the Immortal Lyceum's Central Immortal Palace." Tang Xiu slowly said, "I've been to a certain place over there, the Misty Spring Ocean. The whole Misty Spring Ocean covers thousands of miles of area with countless islands, and the one who controls it is Apotheosis Immortal Mu."

"Apotheon Mu—as in Senior Brother Mu?" Gu Yan'er exclaimed, "Didn't he... die in the hands of the Rakshasha Clan? How..."

"No. He didn't die." Tang Xiu shook his head. "I couldn't see him die back then, so I eventually rescued him. But his wife, children, and his people tragically died, unfortunately. I helped him kill all his enemies, but he got depressed and disappeared from the eyes of countless experts in the Immortal World afterward. The Misty Source Ocean is exactly the place where he lives in seclusion. Aside from me, there are only 3 people who know about this."

"Who else knows about this other than you, Master?" asked Gu Yan'er hurriedly.

"Xue Qingcheng and Apotheosis Immortal Bella Fern Regalia," Tang Xiu said two names.

Gu Yan'er thought about it for a while and then slowly said, "But you're gambling on this one, Master. Although I think I know Senior Brother Mu, but..."

Tang Xiu raised his hand to interrupt her and said, "I wouldn't have decided to choose that place if our Tang Sect had only a few people, say, like a few hundreds of people. But we have too many people now. With almost 300,000 people collectively arriving in the Immortal World, we can expect to be exposed quickly. You also know the situation we're going to face there, Yan'er. At present, even if we're gambling with the enemies in mind, it's much better than being found directly and facing powerful enemies right after we arrive."

"I see," Gu Yan'er said. "Then I'll listen to you, Master."

Tang Xiu no longer spoke and fell into silence for a long time. When he saw Teng Nu open her eyes, he immediately asked, "What's wrong?"

Teng Nu got up and smilingly said, "I broke through to the Celestial Immortal late stage, Sovereign. Although I don't know how strong a Profound Immortal expert is, I'm confident that I can contend with one."

Tang Xiu nodded happily and said, "Your group has 30,000 big monsters in its ranks with deep foundation. After we get to the Immortal World and you all cultivate there for some time, I'm sure that many of you will advance to the Profound Immortal Stage. Teng Nu, I have powerful enemies in the Immortal. Even if more than 30,000 of you are to fight each and every one of them, your group will very likely be wiped out easily. Therefore, you must keep a low profile and be patient, and never expose your true identity."

A scarlet light flashed across Teng Nu's eyes as she said, "Your enemies are also our enemies, Sovereign. You gave us a new life and strength. Whether on his planet or on the Immortal World, you will forever be our Sovereign."

Tang Xiu smilingly nodded and said, "Alright. I'll end my seclusion from today onward. You are to stay inside this exquisite pagoda. You'll come outside when we arrive in the Immortal World."

"Understood!" Teng Nu respectfully replied.

Tang Xiu and Gu Yan'er then left the exquisite pagoda and went to the Nine Dragons Island. Just as the pair landed on the shore, tens of Tang Sect experts discovered them.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Gu Xiaoxue, Tang Guang, and Tang An appeared quickly in front of Tang Xiu and Gu Yan'er and saluted them one after another.

"Where are my parents?" Tang Xiu asked.

"They are cultivating in the palace," Gu Xiaoxue answered.

Tang Xiu's brows knitted and asked, "Brief me about their cultivation as well as the rest of the Tang Family members. Also, tell me the current situation of the sect since you've been managing it for three years."