Tang Xiu could only sigh inwardly. If it wasn't for Xue Yu who moved faster than his speed in preventing her, such a problem like exposing his ident.i.ty wouldn't have occurred. But fortunately, the Pristine Immortal Confucian Sect was famous for being an outstanding and upright sect. All the disciples of the sect were a group of Immortal Confucianist scholars.

Additionally, Tang Xiu had already done research about this Confucianist scholars sect, and the patriarchal positions such as the sect's elders were extremely demanding in terms of mentality for those who took the office. It was required of them to uphold and advocate the Rule of Etiquette, Rule of Virtue, and lastly, emphasizing the Rule of Man as a whole. Of those three, the etiquette and morality of human affairs were of the most importance.

Hence, so long as he could make this Dao Master Guai make a promise today, the crisis caused by exposing his ident.i.ty would be reduced to a minimum—unless, of course, this man wanted his state of mind to be encroached by hidden dangers, causing him to be unable to have any breakthroughs in the future.

After keeping silent for a long while as he looked at Dao Master Guai who was kowtowing to him, Tang Xiu then said indifferently, "The Pristine Confucianist Immortal Sect is just a third-rate sect in the Immortal World. Your sect may occupy a plot of land there, but I only need to speak if I want to root you out. It's just that I have no malice towards your sect and have only paid attention to it once. However, today, I want you to promise me something—that way, I won't send anyone to seek out your sect. Certainly, if you help me do a certain thing, not only will I present you with lavish gifts in the future, but I'll also give your sect a karmic bond with me."

"Please do tell, Supreme Lord," replied Dao Master Guai hurriedly.

"One thing I want you to do is that you must conceal the appearance of my avatar here on Earth," said Tang Xiu. "Xue Yu is my woman on this planet. And since she has already taken you as her Master, then we're already tied with karma. I hope you can shelter her by the time she has ascended to the Immortal World."

Dao Master Guai's pupils contracted. He looked up to look at Xue Yu deeply and immediately said, "I, Dao Master Guai, vow to my very soul that I'll never reveal to anyone about your appearance on Earth. Whereas…. About your wife… so long as Xue Yu ascends to the Immortal World, I'll do everything I can to shelter her."

Tang Xiu was satisfied and nodded, "There's something I'm quite curious about, though. How can you leave your inheritance behind on Earth? Could it be that you're an Earthling and then ascended to the Immortal World?"

"That's right. I was born in the era of the Tang Dynasty." Dao Master Guai respectfully replied, "At that time, Confucianism had declined whereas Buddhism was more prevalent. I originally lost hope and then left my legacy here, though I never expected that someone would be able to crack open the Six Starlight Array I arranged here and obtain my inheritance."

"I see." Tang Xiu nodded and said, "It seems like there's indeed an enormous difference between the flow of time on Earth and in the Immortal World. Alright, get up."

Dao Master Guai cautiously stood up. He shot a look at Xue Yu before s.h.i.+fting his eyes to Tang Xiu. His expression suddenly changed and he asked, "Venerable Supreme Lord, how can you…"

"You wanna ask why and how I can be here on Earth, right?" asked Tang Xiu with a smile. "Well, what are the rumors flying around there, exactly?"

"There really are some rumours about you in the Immortal World. It was said that when you were ascending to the G.o.ds' Realm, your body shattered and your soul dissipated. Many of your former disciples, as well as your subordinates, even rushed over to your abode where you lived in seclusion before. They held a huge memorial service for you there."

"My soul and body disappeared, huh?" Tang Xiu faintly hummed. "What a joke! My ascension to the G.o.ds' Realm was unusually easy. Anyway, just forget it. I have nothing to do with anything going on in the Immortal World for some time. Just wait for me to go back there in the future. I'm going to see those old friends of mine again!"

Dao Master Guai scrutinized Tang Xiu in front and hesitatingly asked, "Supreme Lord… your appearance and… your cultivation… how can…"

Buzz…

A rus.h.i.+ng burst of aura came into the subterranean s.p.a.ce instantly, followed by Gu Yan'er in her usual white dress appearing out of thin air. She looked like a celestial maiden who descended into the mortal world. When her eyes fell on the soul avatar of Dao Master Guai, she immediately flicked her finger with thick killing intent gleaming in her eyes.

"You are…"

Dao Master Guai was extremely shocked and was about to shout out loud. But after seeing her face, he desperately swallowed what he was about to exclaim. With deep fear evident on his face, he called out and bent down on his knees, "The 326th generation disciple of the Pristine Immortal Confucianist Sect, Dao Master Guai, pays respect to Immortal Rakshasi Monarch."

Xue Yu, whose face greatly changed, instantly blitzed in front of Tang Xiu to keep her off. She was a Soul Formation expert now, yet she still felt hugely threatened by Gu Yan'er. The suffocating beauty before her was as though a huge mountain she needed to look up to. Even she could tell that slaying herself would be absolutely trivial for this woman.

"Master!"

Gu Yan'er's brows gently creased and she just shot an indifferent glance at Xue Yu before gracefully greeting Tang Xiu.

Master?!

Xue Yu was stunned. She turned her head and saw Tang Xiu smiling. She then looked at the stunning beauty Gu Yan'er again, while a stream of strange emotions filled her heart.

It was very fortunate that Dao Master Guai only had his soul avatar present at this moment. If his true body were here, he would absolutely be shocked by a "Master" address from Gu Yan'er. Who doesn't know this female devil? She's a notoriously famous and horrifying female Ashura of the Immortal World!

Millenniums ago, he once followed his sect elder and happened to see this Rakshasa Queen. He still can vividly remember the scenes when this woman's palm only moved plainly, yet she killed countless mortals and immortals in a certain ancient country. At that time, the Immortal World's sky there was dyed red with blood, which was the very scene that was deeply implanted in his heart and could never be forgotten even after thousands of years.

But…

… But how come such a ruthless, lunatic female devil… how come she became this Venerable Supreme's disciple? He knew that even though this Venerable Supreme also used to slaughter countless Immortals and Buddhas alike, he never once killed innocent people, ever!

Of course, Tang Xiu himself didn't know what thoughts were swirling inside Dao Master Guai's head. He just smiled and asked, "Yan'er! Why did you come here?"

Gu Yan'er waved her hand and constrained Xue Yu before she pushed her a few meters away. After that, she sported a sweet smile and said, "I sensed an enormous immortal aura in this pocket dimension, so I came to investigate it, Master. I truly never expected that someone from the Immortal World would be here."

"Well, set them free first!" said Tang Xiu with a smile.

Gu Yan'er slightly smiled in response. As she swiftly embraced Tang Xiu's arm, she immediately took back the spell that imprisoned Dao Master Guai and Xue Yu.

Xue Yu ran to the other of Tang Xiu and vigilantly stared at Gu Yan'er, "Is she your disciple, Tang Xiu? And… you really were a Supremacy back in the Immortal World?"

In response, Tang Xiu just lightly smiled. Instead of explaining it to her, he spoke to Dao Master Guai, "Do remember what you've just vowed; I really hope you never break your promise. Also, this soul avatar of yours is probably unable to go back, right? Then just give its immortal spiritual force to Xue Yu since she's your disciple, after all."

"Understood!" replied Dao Master Guai respectfully.

Tang Xiu then took a deep breath and continued, "On my part, I'll also remember my promise to you. I'll naturally help you to embark to a higher realm in the future as long as you can keep your word. I'll even give your Pristine Immortal Confucianist Sect a huge chance."

"Thank you, Supreme Lord."

Dao Master Guai respectfully responded. But he cautiously stole a glance at Gu Yan'er before his avatar turned into Immortal spiritual force and fused into Xue Yu's body.

"Xue Yu, absorb this Immortal spiritual force as it will give you great benefits," said Tang Xiu. "I know you have your doubts inside, but I'll explain everything to you after you absorb it."

"Alright." Xue Yu complied and then walked to the side and sat cross-legged.

Gu Yan'er, on the other hand, shot a deep look at her before she immediately spoke afterward, "Why didn't you just let me kill that Dao Master Guai, Master? He's someone from the Immortal World. Should he reveal anything about you, I'm afraid it would be very bad for you."

While looking at Xue Yu, Tang Xiu softly replied, "Now tell me, did you yourself have any way to exterminate his avatar and follow his divine sense to enter the Immortal World and erase his soul there?"

Gu Yan'er looked stiff. She shook her head and said, "I have yet to recover my power; I'm not even able to recover to a Golden Immortal realm. It's impossible to destroy his Immortal soul."

"That's the reason." Tang Xiu nodded and explained, "If you could track his soul into the Immortal World and straightly erase his Immortal soul, I would have let you exterminate him in the first place to prevent any contingencies. But since you aren't able to do it, I made a gamble that he'll stick to his vow to conceal the news about me there. Well, there's no need to worry about it too much, Yan'er. I know a couple of things about his Pristine Immortal Confucianist Sect. The disciples of this sect will never easily break their vows as the price they must pay would be very great. He won't easily reveal our traces unless he really has to."

For a short while, Gu Yan'er fell into silence. She then shook her head and said, "No, this can't do. I'm still feeling somewhat uneasy, Master. How about asking Ji Chimei to leave Earth to return first to the Immortal World to erase him?"

"It can't be done. Besides, I don't think it's that easy for Ji Chimei to return there." Tang Xiu shook his head and said, "Also, although she has recovered from her injuries, it also won't be easy to return back to her peak cultivation realm. One other thing is that even though the Pristine Immortal Confucianist Sect is just a third-rate sect in the Immortal World, that sect still has some Perfected Golden Immortal at the helm. Should the a.s.sa.s.sination fail, it would instead expose us more quickly."

"Then… what should we do?" asked Gu Yan'er helplessly.

Coldness flashed in Tang Xiu's eyes as he responded in a heavy voice, "There's nothing we can do except race against time from today. We must strive to return back to the Immortal World as fast as possible. As soon as we return back, I can directly take you to a certain special place. Even though those who have harmed us know that I'm still alive, they won't be able to do anything to us."

Gu Yan'er repeatedly nodded and then asked, "What do you want me to do now, Master?"

"Your most important task is to heal yourself and recover," answered Tang Xiu. "You can begin to restore your strength once your injuries heal, whereas for me… I'm going to pick up the pace of my cultivation. Once I can break all the shackles of this plane and successfully ascend to the Immortal World, I'll have the means to bring a large number of people there by then, for the Immortal World is bound to be our battlefield one day in the future."

"I'll make sure to seize the time to heal myself and recover my previous strength, Master," responded Gu Yan'er. "Also, you can rest a.s.sured that I'll spare the time to train a lot of elites as well."

"Let's do it as quickly as possible!" Tang Xiu nodded and said, "Also, I always feel that Earth is somehow very special. For example, there's a problem of time discrepancy between Earth and the Immortal World. It seems like a year on Earth is equal to ten millenniums in the Immortal World, so our enemies are bound to be stronger. We must face much more dangerous situations in the future."