The Decree of Death Warriors was a kind of special, extraordinary command. Once issued by the Tang Family's patriarch, it would allow all members of the 1st and 2nd Guardian squads to resign. But those who chose to follow were required to live and die together with the patriarch while facing the grave crisis with almost no chance to survive.

At this moment in time, all the core members of the Tang Family shuddered. They realized that the Tang Family was now facing a major issue, the fourth life, and the largest crisis since the family had been established.

Half a day pa.s.sed by, and all the major forces and important people had received the news of the abnormal movements of the Tang Family. All the leaders of various forces were continuously dispatching intelligence personnel, trying to find out what happened to the Tang Family and why Tang Guosheng a.s.sembled a large amount of manpower with great fanfare and left the Tang Family's residence to depart from Beijing.

The vast ocean.

A pa.s.senger s.h.i.+p was sailing through the wind and waves towards the Strait of Malacca. Inside a beautifully decorated cabin room, Duanmu Lin frowned deeply. He just received the news from Beijing that Tang Guosheng had a.s.sembled a large number of men and rushed outside the capital.

"Chief, there's a fis.h.i.+ng boat in front. The signals coming from them indicate that they are one of us." A particularly short middle-aged man dressed in wushu suit quickly appeared in the room.

Duanmu Lin's expression s.h.i.+fted, and he strode out of the room. When he came to the bow deck, he saw the fis.h.i.+ng boat approaching closer with Zhu Long's team of four standing on it. At this time, however, Duanmu Lin's mood was very complicated. China could be said to have won an enormous victory and had obtained the most benefits—that was the reason that left him the most surprised and excited. However, Tang Xiu didn't come out alive from the three-star vestige, leaving him somewhat sad and helpless.

"Chief!."

As the pa.s.senger s.h.i.+p and the fis.h.i.+ng boat got closer, Zhu Long, Firedevil, Electrolady, and Aquababe jumped onto the liner and respectfully greeted Duanmu Lin as they came in front of him.

"You've done a good job; the results couldn't be any better." Duanmu Lin nodded and said, "But this is not the time to find out about the booty. Just tell me, how is the situation with Tang Xiu?"

"Can we speak about some pleasant things first, Chief?" asked Zhu Long with a bitter smile.

"Do you think I don't want to say some pleasant things to you?" asked Duanmu Lin back with a helpless expression. "The Tang Family is now restless and ready to move. Tang Guosheng is personally coming here with a lot of manpower to catch up with me. Not to mention there's someone else, the unfathomable Everlasting Feast Hall. All of these combined will spell some big troubles. I cannot weather the storm if this issue is not handled well."

"The Tang Family?" Zhu Long frowned and said, "What does this have to do with them?"

"Tang Xiu is Tang Guosheng's biological grandson. Now tell me if this has no relation?" rebuked Duanmu Lin.

Zhu Long's expression slightly changed. Even Firedevil, Electrolady, and Aquababe couldn't help but have a change in expression. They couldn't care less about the Tang Family had it been in the past. After all, for Elementalists who possessed magical powers like them, no matter how powerful a regular clan was, they were not a threat they needed to be concerned with.

That was, however, before the Tang Family eliminated Amur Tiger—Dongbei Hu. They also rooted out the Yao Family. Therefore, they couldn't underestimate the Tang Family despite them being ability users. After all, the Amur Tiger was a well-known Daoist cultivator, while the Yao Family housed a lot of experts. From only those instances, it could be seen that the Tang Family definitely had unfathomable accomplishments.

"What power does this Everlasting Feast Hall have, Chief?? Why haven't I heard of it before?" asked Zhu Long after he collected his mind and took a deep breath.

"This Everlasting Feast Hall is headquartered in Jingmen Island. It's just a restaurant with several branches on the surface, but it possesses dreadful forces under the radar," explained Duanmu Lin. "Even from my observations only, this Everlasting Feast Hal has a lot of martial artists, many of whom have strength comparable to at least a martial arts grandmaster. Not to mention its mysterious founder; even I can't figure out who he is. But…"

"But what?" asked Zhu Long quickly with a changed expression.

"The founder of this Everlasting Feast Hall turns out to be Tang Xiu's disciple," said Duanmu Lin helplessly.

Hiss (Hiss)…

Zhu Long and the rest gasped at the same time.

After a long while, Zhu Long said in a hurry, "If so, this Everlasting Feast Hall is actually the extension of the Tang Family's power?"

"That's exactly what makes me a little uneasy." Duanmu Lin shook his head. "The Everlasting Feast Hall is not the extension of the Tang Family's power at all. I've been dispatching people to investigate it for a long time, yet they didn't find any link that they were related in any way. If there's any link, it's Tang Xiu himself who has this connection."

Suddenly, a surge of aura blotted out the sky, covering up the earth and pressing down. The dozens of ability users on the pa.s.senger s.h.i.+p, including Duanmu Lin and Zhu Long's team of four, had their complexions considerably change. They felt like a great mountain was pressing down above their heads. They couldn't even last for a half second before they knelt on the floor and used their arms to support themselves.

As though a celestial maiden descending from the Ninth Heaven to Earth, Gu Yan'er appeared in her usual white dress from head to toe. Yet, she still looking indistinctly mature in temperament. The moment she appeared on the liner deck with Gu Xiaoxue, not even Duanmu Lin, who was a very powerful ability user, could lift his head due to the suppressing aura.

"I'm Gu Yan'er. Tang Xiu's disciple and his most loved apprentice. The Everlasting Feast Hall is just a small business that I casually built."

Tempestuous waves raged inside Duanmu Lin's heart, along with deep, intense fear. He was very powerful; even the murdered Amur Tiger was not necessarily his opponent if he had to fight him. Yet, the strength of this person who just arrived was beyond his imagination.

He wanted to look up, but discovered that the pressing aura had imprisoned him. Regardless of how much power he tried to exert out, he couldn't even lift his head in the slightest. He wanted to speak, but found that he could make no sound come out of his throat—his throat wasn't even able to twitch.

He felt like he was nothing but an ant, whereas this newly arrived person was the embodiment of a vast, great mountain.

A bit of anger, somehow with a hint of a menacing intent, filled Gu Yan'er eyes. After restraining her erupting aura, she gently reached out as a stream of qi suddenly grabbed Duanmu Lin's neck, lifting him up to hang in front of her, as she grimly spoke, "Tell me everything about how and why my Master entered the three-star vestige. Any lies and I'll kill all of you!"

Duanmu Lin struggled hard a few times but found that he couldn't break free. In desperation, he could only grab the stream of qi and difficultly spoke, "It was I indeed who asked Tang Xiu to join the three-star vestige exploration. But I never expected him to be in danger. The other four who explored the three-star vestige are my subordinates, and they probably can explain in more detail than I can."

With a flick of her finger, Gu Yan'er threw Duanmu Lin on the deck and then looked at Zhu Long's team of four and asked with a cold and detached voice, "Is that you?"

The four people climbed up from the deck, s.h.i.+vering in fear. Although they were shocked by Gu Yan'er's otherworldly beauty, they didn't dare to have any profane thoughts. Zhu Long respectfully bowed and saluted before he spoke with a ghastly pale expression, "Senior, we did join in the exploration of three-star vestige with Tang Xiu. What happened is like this…"

After the narration from Zhu Long, only then did Gu Yan'er figure out the whole matter clearly. Afterward, she coldly glanced at Duanmu Lin and chillingly said, "You're all just a bunch of gifted people favored by the heavens, trivial n.o.bodies who happen to possess minor abilities but are unaware of the immensity of Heaven and Earth. For my Master to be willing to explore that three-star vestige with you is some good luck. Carve my words in your mind, do NOT investigate our Everlasting Feast Hall ever again in the future; do not bother with our existence. We don't care about politics, nor do we want to get involved with any countries. In my eyes, the most important thing of all is my Master, and for anyone who dares to disturb him and trouble us, I don't mind to destroy them all."

Having said that, she took Gu Xiaoxue and instantly disappeared from the liner deck.

The shock Duanmu Lin had inside refused to dissipate for a very long time. He stared at the spot where Gu Yan'er just stood. He wanted to say something, but no words could represent what he wanted to say.

Finally, Zhu Long spoke with a complicated look, "Chief, do you believe that there are celestial immortals in this world?"

Slowly turning his head, Duanmu Lin still stayed silent for a while before replying with a bitter expression, "I refused to believe that such an existence existed previously. But now… I have to believe it!"

"But Chief, this Gu Yan'er claimed that she's Tang Xiu's disciple, but we have witnessed Tang Xiu's strength ourselves. He's indeed powerful, but compared to this Gu Yan'er, the gap is like a great abyss. It's just, how does he line up, exactly?" said Zhu Long. "Also, I kind of guess that this Gu Yan'er should be a Daoist cultivator and one with an extremely horrifying cultivation level, so then… is Tang Xiu also a Daoist cultivator?"

"You guessed it right; Tang Xiu is indeed a Daoist cultivator." Duanmu Lin nodded and said, "This is also the chief reason why I invited him to join the exploration of the three-star vestige. Legends have it that cultivators who have reached the apotheosis of their cultivations must face a Heavenly Tribulation. If they successfully cross that tribulation, they can break the shackles and tear the voids to ascend to a higher plane that is the Immortal World. I used to think that this legend is nothing but a myth, a fairy tale no less. Now it seems that it is highly likely to be true."

Hiss…

Zhu Long and the three others gasped the cold air at the same time. They thought that if Duanmu Lin's speculations were proven to be accurate, the Everlasting Feast Hall was absolutely a terrifying existence. Even if they wanted to dominate the whole Earth, wouldn't it be just a piece of cake for them?

No! If Tang Xiu wanted to rule the whole Earth now, wouldn't it be very easy for him?

They recalled Gu Yan'er's dreadful power and remembered Tang Xiu's position as claimed by Gu Yan'er herself. The already intense dread they felt deep down grew to the extreme. If Tang Xiu truly had such a thought, then they…

Likewise, Duanmu Lin had the same concern inside. But what made him feel better was the explicit statement from Gu Yan'er a while ago that she couldn't care less about politics, nor did she want to get involved with the country.

And Tang Xiu himself seemed like he was not one who housed such an ambition either, else he might really become the Lord of China if he so wished to, wouldn't he?

Countless thoughts swirled inside Duanmu Lin's mind. After a long time pa.s.sed and with calmness in his eyes, he looked at the dozens of fearful ability users, his subordinates, and then said, "Convey my commands: anyone from any department must not provoke Tang Xiu, the Everlasting Feast Hall, the Magnificent Tang Corporation, and lastly, the Tang Family of Beijing!"