After an explanation, Tang Xiu finally knew the whole truth to the matter. He didn"t blame Duanmu Lin for the misinformation since anyone else would also think that he had been stranded and died inside the vestige due to the entire place being closed off.
He kept his expression calm and tranquil, a stark contrast to his heart full of emotions. He was feeling touched as his grandfather, Tang Guosheng, had practically mobilized an army of the Tang Family"s experts and led them himself to rush out. They were even almost annihilated at sea. The feeling was so warm that he felt like the warmness was flowing into every part of his body and into each nook and cranny of his soul, causing him to feel an incomparable mental comfort.
"You should"ve believed in my ability, Grandpa. I dare not boast about anything, but know that only a handful of people on Earth can kill me."
Tang Guosheng looked empty for a moment. His eyes were full of joy, but he still rebuked, "Conceitedness leads to carelessness and stupid mistakes, you hear? I know that you"re an immortal cultivator and quite powerful, but even a tiger still needs to doze off—and who can guard against contingency, brat? This old man traversed a far distance just to rush here, but you"re still complaining to me?"
Tang Xu was flushed red and felt a bit embarra.s.sed but he still smilingly replied, "Uh, how would I dare to blame you, Grandpa? It"s just that paternal aunt told me that you didn"t even tell anyone why you left the whole Tang Family behind to rush here with our men. I"d be very distressed if you were to have any accidents because of me, you see!"
"Nah, no worries! There won"t be a problem even though I left the family without explaining why," Tang Guosheng nodded with satisfaction and said, "Even if I were to encounter an accident, your uncle can be the backbone of our Tang Family. Besides, your Second and Third Grandpa are still there to a.s.sist him, so there won"t be any problems. Besides, I just heard a recent rumor that involved you."
"What rumor?" asked Tang Xiu, surprised.
Tang Guosheng probed with a meaningful expression, "I heard you have a very powerful disciple, so powerful that even Duanmu Lin was suppressed and wasn"t able to lift his head?"
Tang Xiu was stunned and replied quizzically, "I do have a very powerful disciple, but how does it have a thing to do with Duanmu Lin? I don"t get it."
"Umm, Grand Master." To the side, Gu Xiaoxue coughed a bit and smilingly said, "When Master and I were on the way to the Strait of Malacca, we met the China Special Ability Bureau"s people, including that Duanmu Lin you mentioned. Master, well, kinda used a bit of her power to frighten them."
Tang Xiu stared blankly and quickly asked, "She didn"t mention my name, did she?"
"She naturally mentioned you, Grand Master," answered Gu Xiaoxue with a smile. "Else, how would we figure out your situation?"
Tang Xiu could only feel helpless. He didn"t want to expose his relations.h.i.+p with the Everlasting Feast Hall, at least not yet. But Gu Yan"er"s actions had practically revealed what he had been trying to hide. It was likely that all of the bigshots in the country must have learned about his relations.h.i.+p with the Everlasting Feast Hall now.
Sighing inwardly, Tang Xiu asked again, "You said Yan"er used a bit of her power and scared the members of the Special Ability Bureau?"
"You also know how strong Master is, Grand Master." Gu Xiaoxue gently nodded. "Her power is way too powerful in the eyes of outsiders."
Tang Xiu nodded. Since Gu Yan"er had practically shown how tough they were and frightened the members of the Special Ability Bureau, outsiders should have learned that they were not, by any means, a pushover. It didn"t matter if it made those people wary and they now guarded against himself and the Tang Family, as he had no intention to take over the position of the country"s ruler by force.
"If the power exposed by Yan"er was strong to the point that it was enough to make Duanmu Lin feel despair and helplessness, it"s highly likely that this will produce dread and fear in those bigshots" minds towards me. Come to think of it, it"s not necessarily a good thing either, as I"ll still need to have some dealings with people to continue with my future plans. But it"s enough now that we have the safety of the Magnificent Tang Corp., the Everlasting Feast Hall, and the Tang Family as they wouldn"t dare to have any crooked ideas against us now."
As he thought up to that point, a smile appeared on his face. He then looked at Tang Guosheng and asked, "Is this also the kind of rumor you"ve heard, Grandpa?"
"It"s more than that." Tang Guosheng shook his head and smilingly said, "Duanmu Lin is the leader of the Chinese Special Ability Bureau and he personally issued an imperial decree that no one must provoke the Everlasting Feast Hall, the Tang Family, and the Magnificent Tang Corp. The heads of several major families in the capital have received the news by now."
Tang Xiu couldn"t help but let out a strange smile. It seemed that his treasured disciple had completely terrified people out of their wits! To think that a dignified, distinguished bigshot, the leader of the Special Ability Bureau, Duanmu Lin, was forced to issue such an order. The decree meant that he could practically do anything and go anywhere in the country unhindered.
Tang Min, who was sitting to the side, asked, "Xiu"er, news pa.s.sed on from Haiben Island says that all the pa.s.sages to the three-star vestige have been closed and you never came out. You also know that the vestige is located in the depths of the Strait of Malacca. Without boarding a submarine, n.o.body can withstand the pressure of the seawater, yet you were still able to come out. How did you do that?"
A smile was outlined on the corners of Tang Xiu"s mouth as he replied, "Well, since you"re asking, I shall take you to a certain place, Auntie. Also, I have good news to tell you too."
"Going somewhere? Where to?" asked Tang Min.
"Come with me," said Tang Xiu.
A few minutes later, Tang Xiu and Gu Xiaoxue took Tang Guosheng and Tang Min to the liner"s deck. Tang Xiu grabbed Tang Guosheng and Tang Min"s hands as Tang Xiu released his Qi to envelope everyone before jumping into the sea.
After descending for dozens of meters, the four people came to the front of the Subaquatic Corvette. Tang Xiu inputted a series of instructions outside the cabin hatch as an energy s.h.i.+eld pushed against the seawater half a meter outside the hatch. Then, Tang Xiu quickly led Tang Guosheng and Tang Min into the interior.
"Heavens! What"s this?"
Tang Min stared with wide eyes that were bigger than a bell, which were glimmering with flashes of shock and surprise. Tang Guosheng was doing slightly better than her, even though he was similarly shocked. The facilities and technology inside the Subaquatic Corvette were far more advanced than today"s tech, causing their hearts to race.
"This is a Subaquatic Corvette I obtained from the three-star vestige—the base established by the remnants of the Starnet Empire. I was able to smoothly leave the three-star vestige without being noticed by anyone because of this item. By the way, Cheng Xuemei. Lemme introduce you to my Grandpa, and this is my Auntie."
At this time, Cheng Xuemei had just walked out of the pilothouse. She was slightly stunned upon seeing Tang Guosheng and Tang Min. After hearing Tang Xiu introduce her to them, she was instantly shocked as she had seen Tang Guosheng and Tang Min on TV numerous times. She knew that the duo was the head of the Tang Family and his daughter.
"Grandpa Tang, Auntie Tang," greeted Cheng Xuemei with a bit of respect, though she was suppressing her shock inside.
Tang Guosheng was actually surprised seeing Cheng Xuemei appear here but didn"t show it on his face. He just smiled in response and nodded. Tang Min, on the other hand, wore a suspicious look and asked, "Your name is Cheng Xuemei? Why do I feel like you"re quite familiar?"
"I have met you with my mother before," answered Cheng Xuemei.
"Your mother? Who"s she?" asked Tang Min quizzically.
Cheng Xuemei didn"t answer. She didn"t want to recall the affairs with her parents and was even more reluctant to mention them with outsiders, though she knew that her mother was Tang Min"s best friend since childhood.
Tang Xiu, however, knew something about Cheng Xuemei"s situation. He realized that she didn"t want to mention her mother, and then immediately interjected, "Auntie, I still have an important issue that I need to tell you about, which is also the main reason why I brought you here."
"What important issue, exactly?" asked Tang Min with a slight frown.
"Before I tell you, you must promise that you will never tell anyone about this but the closest core members of the Tang Family," said Tang Xiu.
Tang Guosheng realized the importance of what Tang Xiu was about to tell them, so he straightforwardly said, "With your words, we know what to say and what we should not."
Tang Xiu nodded and said, "I"ve fully controlled the entirety of the three-star vestige and am now its owner. I can enter it whenever I want to, and naturally can use everything inside it."
"What did you say?" abruptly exclaimed Tang Guosheng full of shock and amazement, yet also with disbelief.
Tang Xiu repeated his statement and finally said, "I"m telling you the truth. The three-star vestige is the remains left behind by the race from the Starnet Empire of the Blackcloud star region in the Podoret Galaxy. Speaking accurately, it"s a fleet from the Starnet Empire that became fugitives and eventually fled to Earth. They rushed to establish an underwater base here, but eventually died because they were unable to adapt."
"Was it due to an abrupt change of the catastrophic climate?" asked Tang Guosheng rapidly.
"It was caused by the movement of the tectonic plates, which led to a volcanic eruption and ma.s.s extinction," said Tang Xiu.
Tang Guosheng fell silent. The Earth itself has experienced countless natural disasters, a subject that scientists are continually researching. Never did he expect that there was also an extraterrestrial race that suffered such a catastrophic blow here on Earth.
"Exactly what things are there inside the three-star vestige that can be of use to us, Xiu"er?" asked Tang Min. That was what she wanted to ask the most.
"For instance, imagine our family wants to seek hegemony all over the world. We can achieve it by relying on this three-star vestige. There are technologies far beyond what the Earth has. Putting it shortly, there"s everything that"s essential for a race to survive."
Tang Guosheng was shaken and was rendered speechless for a very long time, whereas Tang Min deeply frowned as she stared at Tang Xiu and asked, "What about you, Xiu"er? Do you want to dominate and rule Earth?"
"No. I"m not interested." Tang Xiu shook his head and said, "I can achieve such a feat even if there"s no three-star vestige given some time. Only cultivation is most important to me."
"Then how do you plan to solve this three-star vestige issue?" asked Tang Min again.
"I seriously think that we should not announce anything about the three-star vestige to the public for the time being, especially since we don"t even need to use it." Tang Xiu looked at Tang Guosheng and seriously explained, "However, I brought a lot of good things from it, so if the country is willing to exchange some objects for me to have, I can take out some of the crudest techs that I obtained there."