Tang Xiu's eyes completely lit up the moment the Soul Slaying Spike appeared. He didn't care even if the Eight Division Dragon Trap Array was broken, but instead moved lightning fast to chase the flying nail. At the same time, he unleashed a technique that caused his Primal Chaos Force to surge out and wrap the Soul Slaying Spike.

"Retrieve!"

He flashed to the air while his hands formed a seal, wrapping the scrabbling Soul Slaying Spike with his Primal Chaos Force to pull it to him.

"Impossible!"

"What a powerful Qi!"

The complexions of One-eyed Dragon and Dao Master Poison greatly changed as they were fl.u.s.tered. That art was as though fixated on their bodies, causing them to freeze in the air.

Tang Xiu didn't even glance at them. He bit his finger and a drop of his blood instantly merged into the Soul Slaying Spike, absorbing it into his body in nearly the blink of an eye.

"Light, deal with Dao Master Poison. I'm gonna take care of One-eyed Dragon."

Tang Xiu looked a bit excited as his eyes finally fell on One-eyed Dragon and Dao Master Poison. His body flashed like a lightning bolt and appeared in front of them as he instantly unleashed his divine sword. The 100-meter-long sword beam slashed through the sky and chopped down towards the two men.

"Block it!"

One-eyed Dragon roared and rushed to condense his True Essence into the form of saber, which he brandished toward the sword beam's tip. At the same time, he released and controlled his Golden Core. The dazzling Golden Core burst out with a blinding light and, along with the saber formed by his True Essence, clashed head-on with the sword beam strike.

Dao Master Poison roared while pulling out a torn black banner from his sleeve pocket. He frantically infused his True Essence into it, and the palm-sized black banner quickly soared and wrapped him in the blink of an eye. At the same time, his other hand instantly condensed a dark blob of green light in front of him as he threw it toward the sword beam.

BOOM…

Yet, the divine sword's momentum was unstoppable and crushed the True Essence formed saber with irresistible force. It then continued hacking on the Golden Core the size of a ping-pong ball, smas.h.i.+ng the dark green blob before finally striking One-eyed Dragon and Dao Master Poison.

"Puff…"

"Aargh…"

One-eyed Dragon spurted a few mouthfuls of blood while also bleeding from his ears, eyes, and nostrils. His whole body seemed to have been struck by lightning and his spirit quickly wilted. His body flew backwards for nearly a hundred meters, and he barely managed to dash to the front to grab his nearly destroyedblown Golden Core. He could clearly see that his previously dazzling Golden Core now had numerous cracks at this time, almost as if it could completely shatter at any time.

"Get back!"

One-eyed Dragon pulled the dimmed Golden Core back and swallowed it again.

Compared to One-eyed Dragon, Dao Master Poison was in a much more miserable state. The dark green sphere he threw was shattered and had scattered into ashes due to the slash. Even the black banner that wrapped his body had already been shred. The sword beam also left a more than ten-centimeters-long bleeding wound on him. He could even see that several bones had broken and his internal organs were faintly exposed.

"Ancestral Reverse of Myriad Swords!"

Tang Xiu smacked his lips and controlled the divine sword as it miraculously transformed into countless sword images that covered the sky and suppressed One-eyed Dragon. The dozens of sword beams shot directly around the old man, sealing off all possible escape routes One-eyed Dragon could take with torturous momentum.

One-eyed Dragon knew that death was looming over him. Only at this moment did he realize that the longsword was an absolute terrifying divine weapon; no other magical weapon could unleash such enormous momentum. Right now, he regretted the moment when Tang Xiu had taken away his Soul Slaying Spike since he didn't seize the chance to immediately flee.

"Spare me and I'll serve under you for a hundred years!" shouted One-eyed Dragon loudly at the juncture of life and death.

Contempt and disdain flashed in Tang Xiu's eyes as he coldly replied, "I have enough subordinates already. I don't want to receive an old man with a foot already stepping into the gates of h.e.l.l."

While speaking, his fingers moved and formed the Lightning Evoker art as a bolt of lightning the size of an arm struck down from the sky and penetrated the slit of the sword beams and bombarded One-eyed Dragon.

Thunder rumbled and lightning struck, ripping him to shreds.

One-eyed Dragon howled miserably. His flesh turned into scorched, charred meshes of skin. Right as his cracked Golden Core shot to the distance, a sword beam flashed from the divine sword and accurately hit the Golden Core, shattering it into several petals.

The other side of the fight.

The fully clad in white Light was manipulating his flying sword and constantly barraged Dao Master Poison with his strikes. Although his cultivation was a layer lower than Dao Master Poison, merely the early-stage of Golden Core, the latter had been heavily injured and could only use less than 60% of his power; thus, he was on the verge of collapsing under the swift and fierce strikes from Light.

"Puff…"

Although Dao Master Poison already knew that there was another combatant, the merciless Dark, hiding in the darkness, the swift and fierce attack from Light had already made him shake and crumble. He could keenly sense that someone behind him was attacking, but he was unable to dodge or block it since he was too busy fending off Light's attacks, leading to Dark's flying sword piercing his back.

Light had stopped attacking but Dark, who was now exposing herself, still kept a.s.saulting fiercely. Her flying sword had literally lacerated Dao Master Poison's body and tried to s.n.a.t.c.h his Golden Core inside. Just as she was about to grab it, however, two venom bees appeared on both of her sides all of a sudden and shot toward her neck.

"Danger…"

Dark was good at sneak attack and a.s.sa.s.sination, but she realized she couldn't avoid the two venom bees that popped out all of a sudden. She controlled her flying sword to block one that shot at her left neck, but the other one from the right side had come less than half a meter from her.

"Puff…"

A dazzling beam suddenly flashed through and pierced the venom bee that was about to bite the right side of Dark's neck. The suddenly appearing beam turned out to be a silver needle that pierced its body and took it down, cancelling the peril that was nearly upon her neck.

With lingering fear on her face, Dark looked at Tang Xiu before she grabbed the Golden Core. Her body then flickered and appeared in front of Tang Xiu as she gratefully said, "Thanks for the help, Grand Master."

"You see, Dao Master Poison is an expert at the mid-stage of Golden Core." Tang Xiu shook his head and said, "It's not surprising that he has some lethal and terrifying things in his possession. Just be more careful in the future; even insignificant people in our eyes may be able to unleash an unexpected and terrifying strike that can make us end up miserable or dead. The path of cultivators is rough and full of ups and downs. Only by blazing through all difficulties and keeping your vigilance will you be able to walk further and stay alive—and become much stronger."

"We'll keep Grand Master's teaching in mind with earnest," said Light and Dark in unison.

Tang Xiu fell into silence for a while and then suddenly spoke, "From today onward, I'll bestow upon you the name of my family, Tang. Are you willing to accept it?"

Bestowing his family name?

Light and Dark exchanged glances before the siblings nodded without a word. They knelt in the air before Tang Xiu and kowtowed thrice to convey their grat.i.tude.

"Now that you've accepted it, let's untie the troublesome thread that has been troubling you all the time!" said Tang Xiu. "Whether you choose to accept your lineage or sever your blood ties, it's yours to take."

"Understood!"

Yet, a look of hesitation was evident on the siblings' faces.

Tang Xiu shot them a deep look before he suddenly turned around and spoke, "Do you want to hear a story?"

Light and Dark, who had just been bestowed a surname and were now called Tang Guang and Tang An, nodded and replied, "Please do tell, Grand Master."

"I once encountered such a person in the past—one who sprung from a prestigious house of a big sect. It can be said that he was an existence that countless people envied and must have looked up to," narrated Tang Xiu. "One day, however, he seemed to have changed in nature, transforming into a very diligent and hard-working man instead of feeding himself with the golden spoon he had always had since birth. And yet, he still felt very lonely inside, even though he had his parents, relatives, and friends. That loneliness was even very painful to him sometimes because he had always been missing someone—his real loved one, a family member that was his mother, who had born bitter hards.h.i.+ps to bring him up, but lived in the blue planet in the distant starry sky."

Tang Guang and Tang An looked at each other. They had listened to some small part of the story and immediately realized who the said person in Tang Xiu's story was. It was because the main character in the story was in line with the story of their Grand Master.

"After he returned to Earth, he was no longer at the supremacy—no longer the Supreme of the Immortal World who stood on the aloof pedestal." Tang Xiu continued the story, "Yet still, he was very happy and satisfied. He didn't have his former power and strength, but he was willing to start over from scratch. He didn't have prominent stature, but he could strive to achieve. But even more so, the unforgettable family love and bond that had been carved deep inside his bones and heart had been regained and was worth cheris.h.i.+ng."

"You two, brother and sister, should be aware of who I am talking about."

Tang Guang and Tang An nodded at his words.

"The story of the lesson I just told you is nothing but a beginning," said Tang Xiu. "After I returned to Earth, I also solved some of the riddles that had plagued my mind, such as what happened to my father and the relatives of his family line—which was… the Tang Family of Beijing."

Tang Guang and Tang An trembled at the same time. They already had learned some facts about their Grand Master, Tang Xiu, to begin with, so they understood what their Grand Master wanted to tell them. They realized that their parents probably gave them to their current Master not only to obtain cultivation techniques, but also probably due to the hope inside their hearts for them—a hope that they could follow their Master and became an immortal existence like her…

After a long time pa.s.sed by, Tang An took off her mask, revealing her stunning face that could topple a kingdom. The complex expression that was covering her face was gradually replaced by a firm and resolute look as she said, "Grand Master, we, brother and sister, are surnamed Tang, while our mother is surnamed Gu. We're very grateful to those who gave birth to us, and we're also very thankful to those who abandoned us as well. Dark (An) already understands that it's great to have more family members and kins.h.i.+p, and one should appreciate what they currently have before it's gone. Grand Master, I understand what I must do."

"We'd like to see them, Grand Master," interjected Tang Guang in a heavy voice.

"Off you go, then." Tang Xiu nodded and said, "Regardless of one being a Daoist cultivator or Immortal, one still has seven emotions and six desires. Only when one refines the heart amid the tumultuous matter of the world can their state of mind be so strong and impregnable that not even countless demons could invade it."

"We understand."

Tang Guang and Tang An looked at each other before the duo flew in the direction of Qinglin County in a flash.

As Tang Xiu landed back on the ground, he saw w.a.n.g Rui stab and mutilate the body of Dao Master Poison with a dagger in hand. He already had done it dozens of times, yet didn't stop at all. He was seemingly releasing all the hatred he had in his heart while cutting.

Tang Xiu shook his head secretly. Then he looked at Electrolady and Aquababe and said, "Your mission has been accomplished, so you can go back! Also, give my regards to Duanmu Lin when you see him."

"Got it!" replied Aquababe while cupping her fists.

Electrolady, however, looked somewhat s.p.a.ced out and only cupped her fists perfunctorily. Her eyes glanced at the direction where Light had just vanished from, and asked with a hesitant look, "Tang Xiu, can you tell me whether I can see Light again in the future?"

"Ehh?" Tang Xiu was surprised, "Did you really fall in love with Light?"