Chapter 1388: A Departed Old Friend
Chapter 1388: A Departed Old Friend
Eagle always had a grim expression on his face, and he acted decisively too, all to achieve his objective. However, when he stood before the Demon Soul Palace, his expressionless face revealed some hesitation, preventing him from stepping even a foot inside. At this moment, he turned back to look at Tang Xiu and Seaway Monarch.
"Lend me 10 million Crystal Essences in exchange for a favor." After staying silent for a whole quarter-hour, he sent a voice transmission to Tang Xiu in a calm manner.
Tang Xiu took out 10 million Crystal Essences from his interspatial ring and stored them inside an unbound interspatial ring before tossing it towards him.
Eagle received the ring and inquired through voice communication. "May I know your name, lord?"
"Great Tang Heavenly Emperor."
"I shall remember it." Eagle took a deep breath before stepping inside Demon Soul Palace and rushing towards the sales counter. He looked at the sleepy old man sitting behind the desk and said in a deep voice, "I wish to purchase a Soul Consolidation Secret Art."
The sleepy old man opened his eyes reluctantly and stretched languidly before replying calmly, "Exchange it with an 8th grade immortal artifact."
Eagle furrowed his brows and said, "I'll buy it with Crystal Essences."
The old man shook his head and said, "You can't buy a Soul Consolidation Art with money. You can only barter for it."
"Barter with an 8th grade immortal artifact?"
Eagle wasn't aware of the rules of this Demon Soul Palace, and he didn't have an 8th-grade immortal artifact on him too. The only immortal artifact he possessed right now was a 3rd-grade immortal artifact as he had already sold his higher-grade treasures to purchase the Soul Consolidation Ambrosia.
After contemplating for a long time, Eagle turned to look towards Tang Xiu, who had walked in after him and wore a bitter smile as he sent another voice transmission. "Lend me an 8th-grade immortal artifact. I'll owe you two favors."
"Follow me!"
Tang Xiu sighed internally as he had already figured out Eagle's objective fully by now. He turned out to leave, and after reaching a nearby empty spot in the forest, he looked towards Eagle who had followed him and said calmly, "The reason you purchased the Soul Consolidation Ambrosia and tried to purchase a Soul Consolidation Art should be to consolidate someone's injured soul, right?"
"That's right," Eagle answered.
Tang Xiu took out a blank jade slip and engraved a Soul Consolidation Art on it shortly. He then tossed it towards Eagle and said, "There's no need for you to use an 8th-grade immortal artifact to exchange for a Soul Consolidation Art. As for the Soul Consolidation Ambrosia, if you had asked me about it earlier, I could have refined it for you, and the price wouldn't have even been a tenth of what you expended for it."
Eagle quickly read the Soul Consolidation Art on the jade slip, and a grateful expression appeared on his face once he had finished going through it and had engraved it deeply into his memory. He gave Tang Xiu a profound look and asked, "Are you very formidable?"
"Much more formidable than you can imagine." Tang Xiu smiled faintly.
Eagle took a deep breath and asked another question, "If you used the Soul Consolidation Ambrosia along with the Soul Consolidation Art, what are the chances of successfully consolidating someone's soul?"
"100%," Tang Xiu replied calmly.
Eagle's heart thumped crazily, and a glimmer of disbelief flashed through his eyes. He understood the circumstances of such a case very well. Even a Supreme expert had an 80% chance of successfully consolidating the soul with the help of a Soul Consolidation Ambrosia and a Soul Consolidation Art. Hence, he really found it hard to believe that the person before him was 100 percent% certain about it, as that would mean there were no risks of failing at all.
Tang Xiu noticed the change in his expression and said faintly, "I have consolidated souls close to a hundred times till now, and except for failing thrice in the first ten times, I've succeeded in all the rest."
Eagle stared at Tang Xiu firmly and said, "It's quite dangerous to follow you."
"Only after wading through seas of blood and stepping over mountains of corpses and hovering on the boundary of life and death countless times can an expert sharpen themselves into a sharp blade." Tang Xiu continued speaking, "Only then can they cut through all the adversaries they face to obtain a valiant disposition and attain the qualifications to aim for the Supremacy Stage and Godhood."
Eagle took out the Soul Consolidation Ambrosia and presented it to Tang Xiu. "Help me consolidate a soul, and I'll be at your beck and call in the future."
Tang Xiu didn't accept it and instead asked calmly, "You already obtained the Soul Consolidation Ambrosia and a Soul Consolidation Art, so why don't you do it yourself? You ought to know that if I help you consolidate the person's soul, a trace of my aura will infect them, and if I were to die in the future, they would also suffer a backlash."
"However, if you can successfully ascend to Godhood in the future, she would at least be able to break through to the Perfected Golden Immortal Stage." Eagle continued after a pause, "Moreover, I don't even have the confidence to reach a 60% success rate, let alone 100%. In addition to that, since she'll be infected by your aura, that karma linking you with her will ensure my loyalty and devotion to you."
"Tell me, who is she?" Tang Xiu asked in a deep voice.
"Fairy Ignis, my wife," Eagle replied.
Tang Xiu withdrew a long sword from his interspatial ring. This divine weapon was a magic artifact of the Diablo Praecantator Clan. In terms of grade, it was definitely on par with an 8th grade immortal artifact. He handed it over to Eagle and said solemnly, "You shall act as my blade henceforth and will have to charge wherever I point towards. Are you willing to do that?"
Eagle's heart shook fiercely, and he immediately took an Immortal Oath.
Tang Xiu nodded with satisfaction and said faintly, "Nefas Abyss isn't a good place to consolidate a soul. I also need to deal with some affairs first, so I'll help you consolidate Fairy Ignis' soul when we leave Nefas Abyss."
"Alright!"
Although Eagle was anxious to see his wife again, he knew that consolidating a soul was no easy feat to accomplish, and the Nefas Abyss really wasn't a proper place to do it. If they were to run into some trouble or danger during the process, everything would be in vain, and his wife's immortal soul would dissipate instead of consolidating.
Seaway Monarch was alongside Tang Xiu from the very beginning, and he had never expected that Tang Xiu would actually recruit the renowned Eagle into his side successfully, and that too with so much ease.
Blessed by Fate!
Seaway Monarch could only explain it to himself using such words, or else he found it too difficult to explain everything that happened around the Great Tang Heavenly Emperor.
"Master, someone's following us," Seaway Monarch suppressed his heartfelt admiration to the depths of his heart and spoke out in a low voice after Tang Xiu and Eagle had finished having a proper talk.
Tang Xiu said with a nod, "I have already discovered them. Two groups should have been following us for quite some time now."
Seaway Monarch asked, "What shall we do, then? Shall we dispatch them?"
Tang Xiu shook his head and smiled faintly. "There's no need to be that anxious. Although it's been a long time since I visited the Lost Nefas Forest, I still remember the rules of this place. No one is allowed to fight here regardless of their race or cultivation, or else, they will be besieged by the other cultivators and chased to their deaths. This Lost Nefas Forest is a place with many concealed talents, no one can guarantee that a supreme expert is hiding in seclusion here. I don't want to die so soon, so let's deal with those tailing us once we leave this place."
"Understood!" Seaway Monarch nodded respectfully.
Eagle also stated his view. "I know the history of one of the groups following us. They are a group of four Asura experts, and each one of their strengths can match a Perfected Golden Immortal of the Immortal World. I have once seen them attack two Demon experts, and it only took them half an incense time to kill the two Demon experts."
Tang Xiu smiled faintly. "We have no need to fear anything as even if there are dozens of them as long as they have no Supreme among them! Let's go, then. I haven't tasted the Myriad Spirit Immortal Wine of Lost Nefas Forest in a long time. I wonder if Supreme Lord Wedra is still present here."
"Supreme Lord Wedra has passed away. He left Lost Nefas Abyss 700 years ago and was killed before he could even leave Nefas Abyss." Eagle commented.
The smile on Tang Xiu's face froze, and he turned his head rigidly to stare into Eagle's eyes before asking, "Who killed him? If I remember it correctly, he once took a heavy oath that he would never take a step outside Lost Nefas Forest."
Eagle could sense the killing intent brimming within Tang Xiu's gaze, so replied respectfully, "It's rumored that Supreme Lord Wedra had a deep friendship with Star Cultivation Great Emperor, so when he learned that Star Cultivation Great Emperor failed his tribulation and perished in soul and body and that his clansmen were under attack by the Inner Pill Sect and Everlasting Palace, Supreme Lord Wedra decided to go against his oath to safeguard the Vermillion Bird Holy Sect. However, countless experts of the Nefas Abyss eyed the wealth he had amassed during his long stay of nearly ten thousand years in the Lost Nefas Forest and from selling the unparalleled Myriad Spirit Immortal Wine. Those experts who coveted his wealth couldn't act against Supreme Lord Wedra since he never left the Lost Nefas Forest, but..."
"Who did it?" Tang Xiu interrupted his words and asked in a cold tone.
"Supreme Heavenly Ghost," Eagle answered.
The corners of Tang Xiu's mouth twitched a few times fiercely before he laughed viciously. "What a good thing, it's another old acquaintance. This is really too interesting. A piece of trash who begged me to spare his life once actually dared to kill my close friend. Answer me, Eagle. Since Supreme Lord Wedra has passed away, who is selling the Myriad Spirit Immortal Wine now?"
"Supreme Lord Wedra's four sons," Eagle answered.
Tang Xiu said no more, and the three of them hastened with their journey. Although he hadn't come here in thousands of years, he still remembered the entire route to Supreme Lord Wedra's store clearly. Half a day later, he arrived before a palace that was pitch-black in color, just like ink, and looked at the store sign that had a dancing dragon and phoenix drawn around the words "Myriad Spirit Palace." He took a deep breath and then stepped inside the store.
"Welcome, patrons." A tall, muscular man with a beard across his entire face greeted them. A glimmer flashed past his eyes as he surveyed Tang Xiu's group and asked with a smile on his face, "Are you here to purchase Myriad Spirit Immortal Wine? If so, I may have to disappoint you, patrons, since the Myriad Spirit Immortal Wine is already sold out. If you are determined to buy it, you may have to wait for a few months."
"Which one are you?" Tang Xiu inquired in a deep voice.
"What?" The tall and muscular man was taken aback for a moment. Then, he revealed a bewildered expression.
Tang Xiu asked again, "Which son of Supreme Lord Wedra are you? If I haven't remembered it wrong, he had a total of six sons. I have seen the eldest, second eldest, and the third eldest son before, but not you."
The muscular man checked Tang Xiu out for a moment and answered soon after, "I'm Wedra Darkshine, the fourth eldest son. May I ask who you are, lord?"
Tang Xiu said, "I'm the emperor of the Great Tang Empire, the Great Tang Heavenly Emperor. Wedra Darkshine, I can't tell you some things right now. But, I hope you can summon your brothers at once and ask them to come over to see me right away because the matter I will be speaking about is greatly related to you all."