Inside the illuminated cave that seemed like it was covered in daylight, the ground under Tang Xiu and Xue Yu"s feet suddenly rotated as an enormous sucking force suddenly swallowed them, causing the duo to instantly vanish from their spot.
"What"s this place?"
In only a flash, the couple appeared in an empty and s.p.a.cious subterranean s.p.a.ce, where a converged river made of magma flowed before them as it poured into the seemingly endless cave. Suspended above the river of magma was a head-sized bulb of light that emitted out a strong life force, giving off a soothing effect to all the opened pores of their body.
"Look over there, quickly!" said Xue Yu as she pointed to the rock wall opposite the magma river.
Tang Xiu followed the direction of her finger. His expression immediately changed as he saw something resembling a statue on the gigantic bluestone in the center of the shallow pool that surrounded it. Some inscriptions could be seen carved on its surface.
"Let"s go there and take a look."
Tang Xiu embraced Xue Yu and floated up as they streaked forward to the front of the statue in just a few seconds. He looked around the shallow pool surrounding it before his eyes slowly moved and eventually landed on the writing on the bluestone wall:
"I am Dao Master Guai, the only t.i.tle I"ve truly been using among the countless existences of my endless reincarnation. This is the place I"ve been cultivating, which will belong to someone that has been predestined with me. Those who wish to wors.h.i.+p me as a Master, kowtow to me and you will accept my legacy."
Tang Xiu and Xue Yu exchanged dismayed glances. There was no Immortal Trove, even though they had been looking for it for a long time, and they instead became eligible to accept an inheritance of some Daoist cultivator. Tang Xiu himself was downright disappointed as this was a letdown to the extreme. Why would he need to inherit someone"s legacy with his former power and ident.i.ty in the first place?
"Well, it turns out that this Immortal Trove is kind of an inheritance place of Dao Master Guai," softly said Xue Yu.
"I wouldn"t have tried to open this Immortal Trove had I known about this," replied Tang Xiu with a forced smile. "This is such a waste of time!"
"Eh?" Xue Yu looked puzzled and asked, "Isn"t it a good thing that we can get his inheritance though?"
"Not really." Tang Xiu shook his head and said, "This type of inheritance is of no use to me unless this person is someone who has reached G.o.dhood and became a deity of the G.o.ds Realm. Anyways, let"s forget it. Since you"ve tried your best to open this Immortal trove and also have already come in here, you can try it! I"m not interested in any of Dao Master Guai"s inheritance whatsoever."
For a moment, Xue Yu hesitated before she walked over to the cus.h.i.+on outside the shallow pool under Tang Xiu"s instruction and kowtowed there. Just as she finished with her kowtow and raised her head, the statue emitted out an enormous aura while the dark green liquid in the shallow pool turned into an aquatic dragon that instantly enveloped her within. The head-sized green sphere that was floating above the magma river suddenly shrunk a hundred times its original size, turning into a thumb-sized light sphere before drilling into Xue Yu"s forehead.
Buzz…
A magical aura was formed in the entire subterranean s.p.a.ce. Tang Xiu instantly took a look around and found that there were green energy streams coming out from the nine green beads that were embedded in the wall as they began to interconnect together with Xue Yu, whereas a green mist filled every small corner of the s.p.a.ce in just a few seconds.
"This is…"
Tang Xiu took a heavy breath and looked surprised as he could clearly feel that the green aura that was flooding around him was strongly rejected by his body. It seemed like there were two kinds of magnetic poles, positive and negative, that wanted to force him out of this s.p.a.ce.
"Hmph…"
Tang Xiu quickly grabbed some array disks and arranged them into the Four Division Array position lightning fast while releasing his Primal Chaos power. After the green aura was dispelled for a few meters, he immediately activated the array, driving away all the traces of the suppressing aura in his chest instantly.
After that, Tang Xiu raised his hand to touch his chin while a ruminative look flashed in his eyes. He could tell that this inheritance was not likely to be from just some ordinary Daoist cultivator, unless the person had reached an Immortal realm. It would be close to impossible for one to achieve such a feat unless that person used an array to do so.
"I had never heard of someone named Dao Master Guai back when I was in the Immortal World, though. I presume that he"s not someone powerful? But now, the inheritance ceremony is about to unfold, so I"ll wait!"
Tang Xiu then sat cross-legged and prepared to absorb the energy of the stars and began cultivating. However, he was immediately stunned when finding that the green energy floating outside the Four Division Array unexpectedly isolated and separated this s.p.a.ce from the outside world completely; now, even if he forcefully cultivated here, he was unable to absorb any bits of the stars" energy from the outside world.
"So weird!"
Tang Xiu sighed and gave up his idea of cultivating here. He took a book from his interspatial ring and then took a seat on the ground to watch the scene quietly.
Time fleeted by and twelve hours pa.s.sed. Tang Xiu had just finished the fourth book and digested all the contents in all of them as his expression slightly changed. He s.h.i.+fted his sight at Xue Yu, who was still being enveloped inside the green light.
"I understand."
Xue Yu"s red lips slightly opened as she looked at the statue in front of her, but there was no emotional fluctuation coming from her voice. As her voice faded away, she gently waved her hand and all the green lights in the underground s.p.a.ce suddenly swarmed into her body. Then, the whole s.p.a.ce returned to its original state in just a few breaths.
"What a strong aura."
Tang Xiu was quite shocked as he looked at Xue Yu. He could sense that her body was now full of power; even the mere aura she emitted out made him feel suffocated. He couldn"t even figure out whether this powerful aura came from her or from Dao Master Guai who pa.s.sed this inheritance to her.
"Tang Xiu."
Xue Yu called out after she floated to the Four Division Array after giving a kowtow to the statue.
Tang Xiu removed the array and circled around her while observing her whole being for a long while. Then, he asked, "What"s your current cultivation now?"
Xue Yu seemed to think for a short moment before a smile suddenly sported on her face. With the wave of her white long dress"s sleeve, a miniature version of herself that was enveloped in green light then emerged out of thin air. This mini-version of Xue Yu even winked at Tang Xiu while covering her mouth and chuckled.
"Nascent Soul?"
Tang Xiu"s heart quivered a few times. He was quite shocked after looking at the naked and mischievous mini-version of Xue Yu in the green sphere of light. Even in his dreams, he never expected that Xue Yu would directly break through to the Nascent Soul Stage from the Qi Refining Stage by just merely obtaining someone"s inheritance.
"Well, I don"t think I"m at Nascent Soul Stage, though." Xue Yu chuckled and continued, "I should be at… Soul Formation Stage."
"No s.h.i.+t!"
Tang Xiu was so shocked that he was rendered speechless and could only stare blankly at Xue Yu"s Nascent Soul.
All of a sudden, a blush covered Xue Yu"s pretty face and she waved her long sleeves to immediately take her Nascent Soul back into her body. She didn"t feel that it was inappropriate when she first unleashed her Nascent Soul out naked, but Tang Xiu"s staring at it afterward was somewhat unbearable.
Tang Xiu looked up in astonishment and found the shy and blus.h.i.+ng face of Xue Yu. He immediately realized what caused it and loudly laughed, "Hahaha, we"re wife and husband already. There"s no need for you to be shy about. If anything, there"s also some good stuff. We can do wife and husband things in double cultivation all day and night sooner or later. Ah, that"s not right. I"ve already changed my cultivation technique, making it practically unable to form any Nascent Soul at all."
"You can"t cultivate a Nascent Soul?" asked Xue Yu, confused. "Why?"
Tang Xiu took a deep breath, and with a bit of regret in his voice, he spoke, "What I once cultivated was a peerless Immortal technique, so I was able to cultivate a Nascent Soul all through the Nascent Immortal. But later on, due to special circ.u.mstances, I turned into an ordinary person, so I began cultivating a whole different, yet more profound, cultivation technique that emphasizes on physique tempering and refining. It"s a kind that is practically impossible to cultivate Nascent Soul with."
Xue Yu gently nodded in response. She may have had her cultivation greatly increased by acquiring an inheritance, thus obtaining a lot of useful knowledge, yet she couldn"t understand much about Tang Xiu"s situation.
No longer wanted to prolong the discussion about his own issues, Tang Xiu looked at Xue Yu and asked, "Anyway, let"s talk about your inheritance from this Dao Master Guai. Who exactly is he and what did he impart upon you?"
Xue Yu spread her palm, causing a green sphere of light to suddenly appear on it. Then she spoke, "This is a medium sphere of my Master. His soul avatar will appear here."
With that said, she instantly activated the green sphere of light.
However, Tang Xiu was stunned and his complexion suddenly changed and urgently shouted, "Don"t activate it, I…"
Buzz…
A terrifying aura emerged out of the green light sphere and, in almost an instant, the green sphere blasted open, forming a green-colored figure before Tang Xiu and Xue Yu. The figure was thin, yet exuded a sage-like aura of an immortal.
"Xue Yu? I truly never thought my Pristine Immortal Confucianist Sect would have a female disciple again. This would spell trouble." Dao Master Guai shook his head and helplessly continued, "Haih, whatever will be, will be. Give me a wisp of your soul. You"re now henceforth a disciple of my Pristine Immortal Confucianist Sect. However… you must not directly look for me after you"ve ascended to the Immortal World. I"m going to leave a mark in your soul sea, so you can go to that place to find me once you"re there."
Xue Yu hurriedly knelt and respectfully kowtowed to him thrice. Then she asked while kneeling, "Why can"t I go directly to the Pristine Immortal Confucianist Sect to find you, Master? Aren"t you one of the elders there? You mentioned it in your inheritance!"
"I"ll answer that question of yours instead of him! His Pristine Immortal Confucianist Sect only receives males as disciples and doesn"t accept females." Tang Xiu sighed and reached out to pull Xue Yu up and calmly said, "It was once bitten by a snake, and has gone forever meek for thousands of years already."
Dao Master Guai zoned out, as only at this moment did he find out that there was still a young man with his disciple who had accepted his legacy. There was a bit of shock on his face as he asked, "Who are you? This place should be Earth, right? How do you know about my sect"s situation in the Immortal World?"
A smile was sketched on the corner of Tang Xiu"s mouth, "I may not know how much time in the Immortal World has pa.s.sed, but there"s one thing I know of. The Ancestor of your Pristine Immortal Confucianist Sect was killed by my follower. It was also because of my subordinate that your sect vowed to never accept female disciples again. Although I"ve never heard of the name Dao Master Guai, I"m familiar with that Pristine Stream guy from your sect."
"What?" exclaimed Dao Master Guai in alarm. He instantly stepped back a few steps, starting at Tang Xiu"s faintly smiling face for a long while. Then, he suddenly knelt in front of Tang Xiu with a bit of fear and respect in his voice, "Dao Master Guai, the 326th generation Pristine Immortal Confucianist Sect"s disciple, pays respect to the Venerable Supreme. Please forgive this junior who has been ignorant and acted in discourtesy before your presence."