Amid the roaring waves in the vast sea.
Gu Yan"er suppressed her cultivation to a very low level. Despite her ma.s.sive strength, the strength she exposed in front of Duanmu Lin and his people was but only 1% of her aura, yet she now faintly detected a fluctuation of Heavenly Dao and the threat it brought to her.
Flying high in the air, she kept spreading her spiritual sense. Even under the pressure of the Heavenly Dao, her spiritual sense could still cover a range of a thousand nautical miles.
"Did Grand Master really meet some dangers, Master?"
There was a concern in Gu Xiaoxue"s eyes, a reflection of the restlessness in her heart. She herself didn"t realize that her anxiousness about Tang Xiu"s situation had caused a problem in her heart which had been hardened over the years—she indeed was utterly upset.
"I believe in him. He will always have a way to live even if the whole Earth is destroyed because he"s my Master," answered Gu Yan"er coldly.
The answer slightly calmed Gu Xiaoxue down. "So, are we heading straight to the three-star vestige? Are you able to reopen it?"
"I know some technological civilizations in the universe that have developed their powers to the apex. I also know that they boast about very powerful armed forces. This three-star civilization is nothing but a weak existence in the universe; even I would have been able to destroy this three-star civilization with a flick of my finger during my prime," said Gu Yan"er calmly.
Gu Xiaoxue shuddered and asked about the last thing she was worried about, "But what about your body, can you shoulder it?"
"I"ll be fine in a short time. Don"t worry!" Gu Yan"er calmly nodded.
Suddenly, her expression moved and she grabbed Gu Xiaoxue to pick up their speed, flying towards the southeast for a thousand miles and then appearing on a desolate island in just a few breaths.
On the island at this moment.
Tang Xiu kept fending off Cheng Xuemei"s attack without much effort. Although Cheng Xuemei"s strength had progressed rapidly, she couldn"t pose a threat to Tang Xiu at all. Cheng Xuemei was already sweating at this moment, gnas.h.i.+ng her teeth and attacking with all the strength she had. If she kept attacking to such a degree, she would end up exhausting herself and at least fall down in a few minutes.
"Stop."
Tang Xiu instantly dodged Cheng Xuemei"s attack and appeared to her side. His right hand heavily pressed her shoulder, as his eyes looked toward Gu Yan"er and Gu Xiaoxue who appeared nearby.
"How did you come here?"
A delighted look appeared on Gu Xiaoxue"s stunningly beautiful face when she saw Tang Xiu. She rushed over like an arrow and called out, "You"re fine, Grand Master! That"s great. That"s really great!"
Tang Xiu was baffled and his gaze s.h.i.+fted from Gu Xiaoxue to Gu Yan"er. Releasing Cheng Xuemei"s shoulder, he inquired, "What exactly happened?"
Gu Yan"er paced a step and stood in front of Tang Xiu with a smile on her beautiful face. She swiftly coiled her hand around Tang Xiu"s and explained, "It"s because of the d.a.m.n nonsense from your country"s Ability Users Bureau, that old fogey Duanmu Lin. He said that you died sacrificing yourself in the three-star vestige. Hence, we prepared and rushed here. But it never occurred to me that you would actually be flirting with this beauty here."
Tang Xiu could sniff Gu Yan"er"s unique scent and let her hold his arm and smilingly said, "Duanmu Lin spat out some gibberish, but why did you follow his rubbish? By the way, let me introduce you. This is Cheng Xuemei, a friend I got acquainted with back when I regained my consciousness. She took part in three-star vestige exploration on behalf of j.a.pan due to some special reasons. She had some adventures which ended up being a fortuitous encounter—a situation where she inherited the memory and power of some sentient plants. Unfortunately, she couldn"t control the sudden surge in power, so earlier I took some time to train her and help her control her power."
Gu Yan"er caught the gist instantly and then nodded to Cheng Xuemei with a smile. "Would you like me to help you train her, Master?"
Tang Xiu didn"t answer but asked back, "You came out all this way, what about your injury?"
"Well, it won"t be a big problem going out for a short time, just a loss in some recovery time, no more," lightly smiled Gu Yan"er. "But I"d only be relieved as long as you"re fine."
Tang Xiu pondered for a moment and slowly shook his head and said, "No. The sooner you get healed, the earlier I can get peace of mind. You don"t need to worry; there"ll be no problem for me here! Just listen to me. Return to Jingmen Island immediately and recuperate well. I"ll go to visit you in Jingmen Island after helping Cheng Xuemei control her power."
Gu Yan"er gave it a thought and suddenly said, "I"m going back, but let Xiaoxue stay to help you, then! She has been improving very quickly recently—just a step away from breaking through to the Golden Core stage. Maybe following you will speed up her breakthrough as well."
Tang Xiu turned to look at Gu Xiaoxue who had a look of antic.i.p.ation on her face, before he nodded and answered, "Might as well. Let"s let Xiaoxue stay, then."
Though she said she was leaving, Gu Yan"er didn"t look like she wanted to leave at all. What was in her eyes when she looked at Tang Xiu"s handsome appearance was that there was nothing in the world but Tang Xiu.
Looking at her expression, however, Tang Xiu felt somewhat helpless inside. She rushed out to catch up with him because she was worried, thus sending her back immediately didn"t feel right. Tang Xiu could only choose to look at Gu Xiaoxue, and he spoke, "Since you"ve come, help spar with Cheng Xuemei until she"s too exhausted to get up. Also, let her rest for two hours before starting the running session. She knows how to tenacious."
"All right." Gu Xiaoxue gently nodded.
Tang Xiu then took Gu Xiaoxue to the Subaquatic Corvette and took out some stored fruits from his interspatial ring. He then said with a faint smile, "Have some of these fruits and let"s have a chat for a while, shall we?"
"Alrighty."
Gu Yan"er took the fruit without hesitation, condensing a bulb of water in front of her to directly wash the fruit. She then waved to disperse the floating water, and smilingly said, "You have to have some bites of this apple too, Master."
On the barren island.
Cheng Xuemei"s expression was complicated as she looked at the backs of Tang Xiu and Gu Yan"er leaving. She tried to call Tang Xiu out a few times but couldn"t get herself to do so every time. The more she got to know Tang Xiu, the more he became incomprehensible, mysterious, and unfathomable.
"Let"s start now!" Gu Xiaoxue smiled and calmly watched Cheng Xuemei.
Cheng Xuemei nodded without a word. Two Earth dragons instantly rushed out and wrapped Gu Xiaoxue"s bare feet. The Earth element energy gathered from all directions and then formed a series of Earth spikes that shot out at Gu Xiaoxue. At the same time, Cheng Xuemei dashed like an arrow towards her, and she complimented the move with a barrage of seemingly light flying punches which actually contained enormous power.
Unfortunately, Cheng Xuemei, who thought that she could easily knock down the girl in front of her after resting and recovering for a few minutes, had to face a result that made her expression greatly change.
Gu Xiaoxue shook her legs and burst out with them instantly. In nearly a flash, the two soil dragons were shattered and lost their binding effect, whereas the Earth spikes from all directions were also blasted away by Gu Xiaoxue"s waves.
"Pop…"
Cheng Xuemei"s punch was easily caught by Gu Xiaoxue"s hand. The latter lightly pushed it, yet that was still able to send Cheng Xuemei staggering backward a few meters before she finally stabilized her body.
"So powerful."
It was all a shock to Cheng Xuemei, for she never imagined that the much younger Gu Xiaoxue actually had such imposing power. Although her attack power was only at 60 to 70 percent of her peak power, it was equal to child"s play in front of her opponent.
"Continue!" lightly smiled Gu Xiaoxue.
Cheng Xuemei gritted her teeth and began attacking again.
A few minutes later, Cheng Xuemei weakly slumped to the ground. She then watched Gu Xiaoxue, who stayed spotless, not even have dirt on her. The soil dragons didn"t even leave any stains on her white dress, meaning that she had completely lost. Xuemei then inquired, "Are all Immortal cultivators so powerful like you? I just can"t help but think. My power has rapidly increased by dozens of times, but I can"t even hit Tang Xiu at all, and I even feel much worse after sparring with you."
"Your strength is not that weak actually," replied Gu Xiaoxue with a smile. "But you seem to be unable to fully utilize your power. Grand Master said that you have figure out a way to control and utilize your power, so I"ll be your instructor and sparring partner for the next few days."
"Thank you," replied Cheng Xuemei gratefully.
"You don"t need to thank me. I"m just doing what Grand Master has ordered me to do," said Gu Xiaoxue with a smile. "He"s the one you should be thankful to. Alright, then, what drill should I train you with next?"
"Haha." Cheng Xuemei couldn"t help but chuckle and said, "Please let me rest for now. I"m too exhausted."
Gu Xiaoxue hesitated but then nodded and said, "Alright. Then have some rest first!"
Cheng Xuemei slowly sat cross-legged and took out the human body meridian chart from her pocket, then she began to seriously memorize each meridian and acupoint.
"That thing you have…" interjected Gu Xiaoxue, surprised.
Cheng Xuemei looked up and replied, "Tang Xiu said he"ll impart me a set of immortal cultivation techniques if I can memorize all the meridians and acupoints on this human body chart.
Gu Xiaoxue suddenly understood and smilingly said, "If that"s the case, then I congratulate and welcome you for joining us."
"Joining you? What do you mean?" asked Cheng Xuemei curiously.
"Don"t tell me that Grand Master didn"t tell you that once you learn an immortal cultivation technique from him then you"ll become a member of Everlasting Feat Hall?" asked Gu Xiaoxue in surprise.
"Nope. He didn"t say anything." Cheng Xuemei shook her head.
"It"s fine if he didn"t say it," said Gu Xiaoxue smilingly. "But to put it shortly, you must remember that your background and foundation is that of our Everlasting Feast Hall. We forbid any forms of betrayal, and you must obey the commands from the high-stature members of the Everlasting Feast Hall. Of course, the most distinguished person in our Everlasting Feast Hall is Grand Master himself."
Cheng Xuemei fell silent for a while before she answered slowly, "I was once a policewoman, and now a member of the Ability Users Bureau. I haven"t thought about joining the Everlasting Feast Hall, and the leaders of my Ability Users Bureau won"t agree to it."
A trace of disdain appeared on Gu Xiaoxue"s face as she said indifferently, "Will the Ability Users Bureau"s people even have the guts to disagree? You know, we ran into those of the Ability Users Bureau. I don"t know what status that old fogey surnamed Duanmu has in the Ability Users Bureau. But he"ll absolutely not dare to be an enemy of the Everlasting Feast Hall in his entire life."
"What do you mean?" asked Cheng Xuemei, puzzled.
"If Master wishes to, she could destroy the entire Ability Users Bureau with a flick of her finger," said Gu Xiaoxue with a pale smile, "Grand Master only needs to nod and we"ll wipe off all the Elementalists of the Ability Users Bureau in the blink of an eye. Just a while ago, those dozens of ability users were only able to kneel before my Master; they weren"t even able to lift their heads."