RETURNING FROM THE IMMORTAL WORLD

Chapter 781 - Chapter 790

Chapter 781 - The Power of Prophecy

After the short meeting, Tang Xiu left Guomao Hotel. The compensation Duanmu Lin gave Tang Xiu was not substantial, but he earned a share of the treasures from exploring the vestige. There was still half a month before May 1st, so Tang Xiu was not in a hurry.

He had taken care of most of the issues that were on Jingmen Island except to stay to accompany Gu Yan'er for a couple of days, after which he decided to return to Shanghai.

Amidst the shades of the night, two cars headed toward the Everlasting Feast Hall on the wide road, illuminated by street lights on both sides. Tang Xiu sat in the backseat of the front car, a smile on his handsome face, feeling very satisfied as he recalled the scene of the meeting with Duanmu Lin.

As long as Duanmu Lin and the ability users under his control didn't make trouble with him, the Tang Family would be able to rest easy and he didn't have to worry about doing anything. Tang Xiu was crystal clear about the promise he had been given before going to Mist Source Island, and the green book that was given to him was not taken back.

With that in hand, he could act and execute without prior approval from any authority—his privilege to exterminate others.

His eyes saw through the windows outside. It was already late at night, but some cars were still passing by. He finally felt a trace of weariness as he enjoyed the quietness and serenity inside the car after having been continuously plagued with things he had to deal with for many days.

Ring, ring, ring...

His cell phone rang for an unknown time, waking Tang Xiu up from his sleep. He found that the car had returned to the parking lot of the Everlasting Feast Hall. Mo Awu sat motionless in the driver's seat, while Jin Shi and the rest scattered to the surroundings without disturbing him.

"How long have I slept?" asked Tang Xiu as he took his phone.

Mo Awu turned back and said, "Four hours, Boss. It's 4:30 AM now. I decided not to disturb you since you were fast asleep."

Tang Xiu faintly smiled and glanced at the phone screen. It was a call from Xue Yu. He immediately picked up the call and spoke, "Hello, Xue Yu. You haven't slept yet?"

"There's something I need to talk to you about, Tang Xiu."

"Pray tell!"

"I just ascended in my cultivation last night and I kind of had an impulse to divine your future as well as some people who are related to you. I can't make heads or tails about your future, but I kind of have the foresight for another situation. I don't know whether the person is important to you, but there's someone who is kind of facing peril in the near future. She's now in the south..."

Tang Xiu was startled and quickly asked, "Who is it?"

"I don't know who it is. The specifics escape me, but she's a woman," said Xue Yu with a forced smile. "Also, she should have just escaped in a hairbreadth. Her exact position is in the waters near Jingmen Island. Ah, that's right--there's also a lightning storm; she's inside the lightning storm near Jingmen Island."

"Any other clue?" asked Tang Xiu.

"Yes. She's not Chinese and I don't think she's entirely human," answered Xue Yu. "Pay attention to your safety if you wanna save her."

Tang Xiu was stunned. He racked his brain, trying to recall anyone he knew who could be in danger.

'Not a Chinese... and not a human? But she was very important to me?'

He kept mulling it over. He felt that Xue Yu wouldn't have divined this issue for no reason at all, so he opened the door, looked at Mo Awu and ordered in a deep voice, "Send my order to the others, search the location nearby Jingmen Island that currently has a lightning storm, and do it fast!"

"Affirmative!" Mo Awu and the rest dispersed into the surroundings.

A few minutes later, Mo Awu rushed back and brought an intelligence officer of the Everlasting Feast Hall, reporting to Tang Xiu that 180 nautical miles in the water southeastward of Jingmen Island there was a thunderstorm along with nine meters of waves.

"Call the port to prepare the ship. Tell them we'll be there immediately."

Tang Xiu sat back in the car with a bit of a gloomy expression.

Whoosh...

A figure instantly appeared in front of the car at lightning speed. It was Ji Chimei with her walking stick. She sent out a voice transmission, "This one can follow you if you're in a hurry, Lord."

Staring blankly for a moment, Tang Xiu shook his head in distress. He opened the door and came to Ji Chimei and said in a deep voice, "Take me 180 nautical miles southeast from Jingmen Island, Chimei. Awu, all of you are to stay here."

"Received your order!"

Mo Awu's group knew how terrifyingly powerful Ji Chimei was. They could only watch with envy as Ji Chimei grabbed Tang Xiu's hand and they streaked into the sky.

About flying, they were indeed were able to fly, but not so far as flying for thousands of miles. Currently, they could only maintain flying for half an hour. It also would fully consume their True Essence; even flying via a flying sword would only support them less than an hour.

In a flash, Tang Xiu and Ji Chimei appeared amidst the lightning storm, but the bad weather didn't have the slightest effect on them.

"What are we here for exactly, Lord?" asked Ji Chimei curiously.

"Help me search the area within 100 kilometers with your perception. There's a woman I need to find. She's not a Chinese and... forget it. Just scour the area within 100 kilometers and see if there's anyone around," said Tang Xiu with a deep voice.

Respectfully nodding in response, Ji Chimei released a steady stream of spiritual sense that spread out in all directions. A 100 kilometers area was covered in a flash and she could 'see' everything within the radius no matter if it was a person, a fish, or even a drop of water.

"There's an old fishing boat that was probably overturned by the waves about 14 kilometers southeastward from us. There are also two ships southwest of us, luxury liners with a total of 46 people. One of which is only boarded by a man with scantily dressed women. Northwest is a freighter with 24 non-Chinese people, armed with firearms and cold weapons like swords."

"Huh? Not only that! 14 kilometers southeast, that old fishing boat should've been overturned by such a storm and swallowed by the black sea, right? How could it still drift safely all this time? Lord, there's a woman on that boat. She's not a Chinese. She's blonde and is currently injured."

"Then let's head to the southeast," said Tang Xiu immediately.

"Alright!"

Ji Chimei flashed forward to the said direction without hesitation. Her figure along with Tang Xiu's instantly appeared above the old fishing boat. As the two people came close, peculiar fluctuation energy could be sensed there, immediately making Tang Xiu clear about what Xue Yu said.

She said that this foreign woman was related to him, but didn't say that this woman had a very close relationship with him. Yet, that slight difference in meaning still made Tang Xiu concerned.

It was Viviani!

She used to be a Saintess of the Holy See of the Vatican, possessing a special power, but not much of combat prowess. Her character was very pure and kind, and because of that, she ended up helping others a lot. Yet, she lost her home, loved ones, and nearly everything. He didn't know what happened to her after he met her at the casino in Saipan. Back then, he asked her about her issue and had not been in contact until now.

"Are you going to save her, Lord?"

Ji Chimei and Tang Xiu stood on the deck with their perception covering Viviani who was inside one of the rooms in the cabin. At this moment, her appearance was far from goddess-like when Tang Xiu met her; she pretty much looked like a very broken beggar. No, it was even worse than that by the looks of the bruises all over her body. Of all the parts of tattered clothing on her body, only those that covered her sensitive parts were still intact.

"Let's just wait first."

Tang Xiu recalled what Ji Chimei said a while ago and immediately smiled. He came to a realization that it was not the storm that would threaten Viviani, but those 24 people on the freighter northeast from here. He clearly recalled that Viviani left Saipan for revenge and she now seemed to be hunted because of the old conflict.

"Let's go to another room in the cabin and wait there. We won't bother her for now," ordered Tang Xiu in a low voice.

Ji Chimei nodded and followed Tang Xiu as they quietly went to another cabin room. Upon entering the room, she sat straightly cross-legged with her perception surveilling outside.

"Lord, the freighter northeastward should be catching up to this fishing boat in two hours. But those two liners should be catching up with the boat first," Ji Chimei's transmitted voice reported.

"There are people who have the leisure to sail in this bad weather?" Tang Xiu replied with a peculiar tone, "This is really strange. Chimei, who are the people on those two liners?"

"One of those two liners is boarded with twenty-plus men and they should be martial artists, while the other liner has a young man who looks like a playboy, judging by him having a good time with several women on it."

A playboy having some pleasure?

Tang Xiu was dumbfounded and at a loss whether he should laugh or cry. An old adage indeed said that the world had a plethora of walks of life. Could it be that guy was not afraid of the increasing danger of the storm which could kill him in this vast sea?

"Tell me something, is this guy a cultivator, or does he have some peculiar abilities or something?" Tang Xiu's expression changed and quickly asked with a voice transmission. "Else, we should immediately tell his crew to leave this water and go to Jingmen Island's port for safety."

"He shouldn't be a cultivator and is unlikely to have some special ability either." Ji Chimei shook her head and replied with a voice transmission, "He should be just a martial artist at the martial art grandmaster level, according to the martial artist ranks on Earth.

"A young martial artist grandmaster?"

Tang Xiu squinted and racked his brain to find such person he was familiar with, but found none similar. He immediately decided to ignore it and waited in silence.

Time fleeted by and half an hour quickly passed. As the two liners got closer and closer with the fishing boat, a large, staunch man on one of the liners finally discovered the fishing boat.

"Tell the boss we found a fishing boat here."

The large, staunch man with a raincoat who used his telescope on the liner turned back and ordered the few men behind him.

"Got it!"

One of them answered and quickly entered the cabin.

Chapter 782 - It's a Small World

Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled amidst the heavy rain and winds, setting off large waves. The sea was billowing and the two liners were slowly surfing on its surface. Inside the luxurious cabin of the Seagull liner, a bevy of young girls with exposing clothes and hot figures flocked around Wang Rui.

At this time, his hands were embracing the girls left and right while he received kisses from the belles from time to time. Cups of champagne were emitting a blurred halo under the colored lights, whereas a beautifully carved plate full of fruits was glittering as these people tasted their servings.

Ring, ring, ring...

In the cabin, the intercom suddenly sounded

With brows pressed, Wang Rui waved to a girl in a swimsuit and the latter immediately picked up the intercom to readily connect him.

"What's up?"

A deep voice answered from the communicator, "We found a fishing boat, Boss. It's quite strange."

"Strange? Why did you say it's strange?" asked Wang Rui, surprised.

The voice from the intercom replied, "The fishing boat is rather small and can only accommodate ten-plus people. It's at least three times smaller than ours. Even then, we are still having problems sailing smoothly in this rough sea with the bad weather. Yet this fishing boat looks like it's having it easy. Also, it seems like it's not sailing but is floating on the sea surface."

Wang Rui pushed the girl, stood up and said, "Got it! I'll go out and have a look!"

He got dressed and received a raincoat handed by another girl. Taking a walk and coming out of the cabin, he then went onto the deck. The other liner approached and the staunch man sprinted and leaped up. He flew through the air for several meters before landing at Wang Rui's side.

"Take a look at that fishing boat, Boss," the burly man handed over a binocular and said, "I've been observing it for some time. It seems like there's nobody on it, only some faint lights."

Wang Rui watched through the binoculars for several minutes before he finally nodded and commented, "It's indeed quite strange. Go over there and have a look. Let's hope that we come across something good."

More than six minutes later, the two liners had approached the fishing boats and were only tens of meters away. The four middle-aged men shot two grappling hook guns attached with rope. The roped hooks smoothly caught the boat as they gradually pulled the fishing boat to the liner.

"Bang..."

A gunshot suddenly sounded out. Viviani dashed out from the cabin in her tattered clothes armed with a pistol. She pointed the muzzle to the sky but then directed her killing intent toward Wang Rui and his men on the approaching liner.

Wang Rui's face changed as the burly man instantly dashed in front of him and he took a deep breath. He kept watching Viviani as the lightning flashed in the sky. After more than ten seconds, he gently pushed the burly man in front of him, stood on the deck and shouted, "HEY... WHO ARE YOU? WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THIS STORM? ARE YOU NOT AFRAID YOUR FISHING BOAT WILL BE OVERTURNED?"

At this point, Viviani had been plunged into despair. She was all bruised and scarred and was also exhausted. Even if she did have a little energy left, she was still spent. She had been hunted for half a month and was constantly on the run. Though she had a few chances to recover, she was still consuming more energy than she was recovering.

And yet, she met the storm which forced her to use her ability to control the fishing boat and was barely able to make it drift amidst the waves. But now, it seemed like she was at the end of her struggle.

"Who are you, people?!"

Viviani's voice sounded somewhat hoarse. She had a wound on the left side of her neck and it affected her normal pronunciation as it seemed to have damaged her vocal cords.

"We are Chinese and these are my men!!" Wang Rui shouted loudly, "We thought the weather was great so we came to the sea to have some fun! But we never expected to run into this stormy weather, so we are preparing to head to Jingmen Island. Who are you, Miss?! Did you meet some troubles?!"

Viviani heaved in a deep breath. She had been hoping to get some help, but she was also aware of the crisis she was currently facing. From what she had experienced for half this month, she was sure that her enemy should be around which would cause a disaster for these people if she took their help.

"Just go away! I don't need your help!"

She steadied herself and stepped to the side of the boat. She fired two shots and accurately hit the two ropes, severing them.

'What great marksmanship!'

"You have such great marksmanship, Miss!" With eyes lit up, Wang Rui applauded, "Amidst weather such as this, the sight of average people would surely be hindered, yet you're still able to have such accurate shots. I really admire you. But it seems like you are injured now, aren't you? I have a medicine box here with all kinds of drugs. I think you'll need them."

Viviani didn't answer. She was indeed in an urgent need of medication, but she was afraid that she would also bring her troubles on these people. She felt helpless and didn't know what to do for a while.

"Shoot the grappling hook gun again!" Wang Rui keenly observed Viviani's hesitation and immediately ordered.

The grappling hook was shot again and flew toward Viviani's position. Seven-plus burly men then pulled hard on the boat and the fishing boat finally stopped next to the liner. Wang Rui raised his hands, indicating that he didn't mean harm, and then jumped on the fishing boat and smilingly said, "We, the Chinese, have a saying that fate is the reason why people can meet each other. Since we meet in the sea in this atrocious weather, it must mean it is fated by heaven. Anyways, may I know your name, Miss?"

Viviani's expression suddenly changed. She instantly backtracked for more than a meter and vigilantly, said, "I know you!"

Wang Rui was surprised for a moment and carefully observed her. Then, he felt that Viviani was indeed somewhat familiar. But he failed to recognize her because of her pale and dirty face, so he asked, "I can't tell if I can recognize you, Miss. My name is Wang Rui, can you introduce yourself?"

"Viviani."

"Huh..."

Wang Rui suddenly recalled the stunning and exotic face of a foreign woman he had once met in Saipan. There, he came across that woman on a gambling table. The woman's name was Viviani and realized that the visage of this woman's face... was... not much different than hers indeed.

"What are you doing here? And how did you..."

With disbelief on his face, Wang Rui watched Viviani and asked. After all, the woman before him currently was like a clump of mud compared to the woman he previously met.

Half a minute passed by in silence without any reply from Viviani. She then slowly spoke, "I ran into my enemies and got into this embarrassing situation. Could you just give me the medicines, Mr. Wang? I'm injured and need medication as soon as possible. Don't worry, though. I won't bring trouble for you as I'll immediately leave after getting the drugs."

"No." Wang Rui shook his head and said, "I told you that it was fate that made us meet each other, Miss Viviani. We met in the sea in this atrocious weather. And I believe that it's not as simple as that you only need some medicines. Come with me to my ship! You can have a comfortable bath and change your clothes to clean ones. You can take some time to recover from your injuries. Besides, I don't think your enemy who has been chasing you can come here. Even if they were able to catch up with you, I assure you that we can help you deal with them."

"No can do. You don't know what kind of people my enemies are, Mr. Wang," Viviani shook her head and said, "I really don't want to implicate you. Just give the medicines, please. Also, give me your contact number, so I can repay you a hundred times if I can get to a safe space alive."

Wang Rui felt a bit vexed and felt that he had been somewhat looked down on. An imposing aura instantly surged out from his body as he spoke in a deep voice, "Miss Viviani, we, the Chinese have an old saying that we never say anything without the power to back it up. I dare tell you that I can guarantee your safety fully. You don't have to worry that you'll trouble us."

Viviani was about to rebuke him but Wang Rui was already moving to be in front of her. While still maintaining a gentlemanly manner, he made a gesture to invite her aboard. For fear that she would again turn him down, he seriously said, "I hope the noble Miss Viviani won't turn down my invitation as this is my sincere wish to help you in a time when you're facing a crisis."

Viviani could only force a wry smile internally. After thinking that her enemies would not necessarily able to catch up with her in a short time, she chose to believe Wang Rui and followed him to board the liner. As she got on it, her keen eyes swept over at the twenty-plus staunch men before she eventually walked into the cabin.

"Eh?"

Little did Viviani expect that she would encounter a very dishonorable scene like the one in front of her now. There were more than ten women inside the cabin, each of which with scant clothing that showed off their figures. These women came flocking around Wang Rui the moment the fellow entered the cabin, showing off a coquettish and praising mannerism toward the man.

As for Wang Rui himself, the fellow only let out an indifferent smile, slapping the buttocks of a blonde girl and smilingly said, "Find me some clean new clothes for Miss Viviani here. Also, escort her so that she can clean her body and her injuries. Prepare the new clothes for her after dealing with her injuries."

"Alright!"

The blonde seemed reluctant but still carried out the order. After she led Viviani to another cabin, the previous big man came to Wang Rui and whispered, "We've checked out the fishing boat, and there's nobody there aside from that woman. There are some traces of fighting there, but there's nothing peculiar that we can find."

"Alright, but keep watching and be alert," Wang Rui nodded and said, "Viviani said she's worried that we will be implicated. That means that the crisis is not yet gone. We might have to face some people who catch up with us and who might bring conflict."

Half an hour later, Viviani had her injuries treated and got a shower. She was now dressed up in a new set of clean clothes. As she came in front of Wang Rui again, her stunning appearance made the fellow stunned and impressed him, despite him being accustomed to seeing a lot of beautiful women. This resulted in him sighing heartfeltly, "You're really gorgeous, Miss Viviani. You're just the same as the beautiful you that impressed me when we met in Saipan. Really, it was fate that made us meet each other! Never did I expect that we would meet again here after our last encounter."

"Thank you, Mr. Wang," Viviani slightly nodded and said, "I will forever remember your kindness. However, I cannot stay here with you much longer, so as long as there's nothing you require of me, I bade you farewell."

Chapter 783 - Ambushed

Viviani was not someone pure and innocent, especially recently, as her hands could be said to have been stained by blood. But she was still shocked by the miserable scenes after the battle as well as the killings she had done that she even had cold sweats in her sleep.

Once, before all of this happened, she used to be a saintess in the minds of countless people. She was even a target of worship by millions of people.

Her whole heart was pure and her nature was on the lawful good side. With virtue after the education like that of the light of God, she did not readily accept facing the kindness from Wang Rui. It was because she didn't want to involve, and eventually harm, innocent people, even if Wang Rui himself was seemingly not someone average.

"My enemies possess power that is far from what you can imagine and I guesstimate that they are around this water too, so I can't involve you in this. But I'm very thankful towards you for these medicines."

Viviani turned around to leave after saying that.

Wang Rui moved to block her path quickly as he spoke with a rather firm and overbearing tone and with a deep voice, "I'd let you leave if you had no injuries. But the current you will definitely die if you came across your enemies. You did say that your enemies are very powerful, but we're not soft and weak people either. Besides, I'd love to have some fun during this very dull time. Of course, we can leave this place immediately if you're still concerned with the situation and I'll take you to Jingmen Island to avoid them."

His words made Viviani excited as it was a hope of hers to come to Jingmen Island to take shelter there, since someone was there that may be able to help her.

"Shall we head to Jingmen Island now?" after mulling it over quickly, she asked with a bit of expectation.

"No problem." Wang Rui nodded and said, "We can go now."

Wang Rui's men then released the roped grappling hooks and released the fishing boat in the open sea. The two liners then braved through the rough wind and waves and sailed toward Jingmen Island. The two liners didn't have much damage despite the growing sea storm.

Wang Rui placed a glass of red wine in front of Viviani and went to the soft couch, sitting back while letting the alluring girls flock around him again. Wang Rui was no longer in high spirits from these flowers, however, as the women around him were in no way a comparison to Viviani whatsoever. Regardless of their looks or demeanors, the difference was like the difference between the clouds and mud.

"This is a red wine from Bordeaux, France—a premium red wine chateau made and preserved for 22 years. No matter its color or taste, it's definitely top-notch. Have a taste of it, please. This red wine has a good effect in beautifying women's appearances if they drink it," said Wang Rui with a smile.

"Thank you."

Yet, Viviani didn't touch the red wine cup, nor did she taste the fruits and desserts on the table. She was still a bit wary in her encounter with Wang Rui at sea. The weather was, after all, kind of atrocious recently, yet Wang Rui actually came here seeking pleasure. It just was not right and was unusual.

On the liner's bow.

A burly man stood straight up with his eyes seriously watching the surrounding waters. The sky was getting brighter and the day was gradually replacing the night, yet he was slightly restless inside since the storm was not weakening but was getting even heavier instead. The flashing lightning and thunder rumbling all indicated that the storm was getting stronger.

"Huh?"

Suddenly, his countenance slightly changed as his solemn eyes focused in one direction and he fixated on the black dot at sea in the distance. He immediately picked up a telescope and looked toward that side.

"Cargo ship?"

The staunch man recalled the dialog between Wang Rui and Viviani before and his alertness increased. He waved over towards a middle-aged man, told the man some words, and then the latter rushed into the cabin. The man and two other guards had yet to return to the other liner ever since Viviani boarded the ship. They were not at ease in the slightest even though Wang Rui himself was very strong.

"We might have some troubles ahead, Boss."

"What troubles?" with brows raised, Wang Rui asked and continued, "Is it because the storm is getting stronger, or are Miss Viviani's enemies catching up with us?"

"A medium-sized cargo ship appeared several miles away from us," said the burly man. "I used a telescope to view it; the cargo ship has some people with guns, or I should say they are heavily armed, since they even have some heavy machine guns. They should have found us at the time I spotted them. Also, it seems like the cargo ship is heading toward our location judging by their direction."

Wang Rui turned to see Viviani and asked, "Can you tell us about the background of your enemy? Please don't misunderstand me. It's not that want to pry into your private issues, but if these people are really your enemy, we might be unable to hide. The Chinese have a saying that, in battle, we must know our enemy and only then can we be victorious. I want to know the kind of people we might be facing so that it will be easier for us to deal with them."

Viviani straightly stood up from the couch. The ruddy nuances on her stunning face were replaced by a despairing look, and she bitterly said, "They are the Savage Mammoth, a force of the underworld."

Wang Rui turned around to see the big man and found the man's face drastically changed. He pressed his brows and immediately asked, "You know the people Miss Viviani just mentioned, don't you?"

"This Savage Mammoth is a powerful entity. They are a very strong organization in Europe with a notorious reputation." The burly man nodded and bitterly said, "I dealt with the people from Savage Mammoth once. They are lunatics and harsh on themselves, more so than being savage to their enemies. Strictly speaking, it can be said that they are not human."

"Elaborate with more specifics," said Wang Rui.

"Savage Mammoth was originally a small force in the past, with arm and drug dealing as their main businesses," explained the burly man. "A few decades ago, however, that organization secretly developed some drugs that were said able to infuse beasts' blood into the human body. It was said to lead to the mutation of the human body. The drugs themselves were said to be very dangerous with only two out of ten who took it survived. But those who survived had some kind of abilities from the beasts..."

"I once encountered two people from Savage Mammoth who had been injected with some ant's genes. There's only one word to describe them: terrifying. Being able to lift a few hundred kilograms is already terrifying for normal people, but those two guys were able to lift a car weighing 2-3 tons!"

"And thus, Savage Mammoth continues to expand very quickly for about a decade or so now. They keep absorbing fresh blood and have become an enormous force. Outsiders are only aware of three major forces in the world: Pyramid, the League of Archcrusaders, and the Stygian Club. Only a few people know about the existence of Savage Mammoth. Of course, Savage Mammoth is indeed weaker than those three major forces, but no forces at the same size dare to provoke them either."

The meaning in his last few words made it very obvious that he wished Wang Rui keep his hands out of this problem. He knew perfectly well that this Savage Mammoth was an entity Wang Rui couldn't afford to touch.

Wang Rui himself frowned, feeling prickly and restless inside.

And yet, he had given his guarantee in front of Viviani that he had the ability to shelter her; he even boasted that he was able to cope with the people who had been hunting her. He would greatly lose face if he took back his words.

After mulling it over for a while, Wang Rui suddenly said, "Savage Mammoth is a very formidable organization, but it's based in Europe, right? This is water belongs to China. It's not like the Savage Mammoth's people dare to wantonly kill people here, right? Hmph... it shouldn't be a problem as long as we are not facing their entire organization for the time being. Tell everyone else, and immediately issue a warning if the enemy is approaching. If they ignore it, get ready for battle!"

The hesitation that Wang Rui had a moment ago was keenly detected by Viviani. The fellow seemed to have made up his mind, but Viviani still had some concerns. After a few seconds of silence, she said, "You have a speedboat on your liner, right?"

"Yeah? Why mention it?" Wang Rui nodded.

"Give me the speedboat and I'll leave alone," said Viviani. "Mr. Wang, Savage Mammoth has sent its experts. A lot of them this time. I spent a lot of effort to shake them off but I was unable to, so I can't involve and implicate you on this one."

Wang Rui raised his hand and was about to speak, but suddenly angry roars came from outside the cabin causing him to swallow back his words.

"YOU'LL FUCKING DIE, ASSHOLES!"

On the ship's bow, two foreign youths drenched with rainwater surrounded one of Wang Rui's men with a dagger in their hands. Another of Wang Rui's men had his throat slit and was convulsing on the floor.

The burly man leaped out of the cabin lightning fast. The moment he appeared on the bow, he instantly pulled out a Mitsubishi army knife on his waist and aggressively plunged forward toward the foreign youths drenched in water. His movement was very fast; coupled with his formidable strength, he was at least at the martial arts grandmaster level. In just two breaths, the Mitsubishi army knife in his hand had stabbed the back of one of those foreign youths.

"Retratto!"

An order to withdraw in Italian was heard from the injured youth. The two men jumped towards the sea without hesitation.

The big man and another middle-aged man stood at the ship's side and watched the two foreign youths in the water with obvious murderous intent. As Wang Rui caught up with them, he immediately checked one of his men who was lying on the floor. He found the man's convulsion weak and saw him gradually lose his breath.

"Savage Mammoth... Fuck!"

Wang Rui stood and clenched his fists. He was sure now that Savage Mammoth's people likely had no good intentions towards them, even without Viviani onboard. They didn't even check whether she was with them on the ship, yet they shamelessly sent their men to ambush them.

Viviani quietly came behind Wang Rui and her eyes glanced at the dead man. She apologetically said, "I'm really sorry. I've involved your people."

"No. They shouldn't have known that you're here with me yet they still ambushed us." Wang Rui shook his head and said, "This Savage Mammoth is indeed very powerful. They silently came here through the seawater, even in the midst of this atrocious weather and large waves, to launch a sneak attack on my men. It seems like there's a fierce battle ahead."

Chapter 784 - The Price of Arrogance and Stubbornness

A few hundred meters in the sky, Ji Chimei released her domain which had a radius of several hundreds of meters. Not even the heavy rains and thunderous lightning were able to pose any threat to her and Tang Xiu.

"They seem to have some troubles."

Ji Chimei kept watching the scene with an indifferent look. Her voice was as cold as a glacier stream. Those below were like existences akin to ants in her eyes; she would not even waste her time here if it was not because her Lordship cared about this matter.

"Well, encountering troubles is pretty much a good thing, you know. There's no way anyone can be reborn without tempering and sail smoothly forever," said Tang Xiu lightly. "You were born in the Immortal World, so you should've heard the story about the Pure Yang Immortal, yes? He was a fellow who grew up under the shelter of eagles' wings and never had encountered any hardships, waves, or storms in his life. He had countless resources to support him, resulting in his cultivation reaching Supremacy in the Record of the Immortal. He even reached the stage of the Perfected Golden Immortal. But what happened to him in the end? He had a hard tussle and was directly killed by a new Immortal who just ascended to the Immortal World. He eventually became the laughingstock of countless immortals in the Immortal World."

"You're right, Lord." Ji Chimei nodded in full agreement and said, "Such flowers in the greenhouse will forever be unable to endure the endless years of hardships. They are not comparable to the weeds which withstand the sweep of wind and are battered by the rains. But may this subject ask you about something, Lord? This lass called Viviani, is she one of our people?"

Tang Xiu shook his head with an indifferent expression. He was also clueless as to why Xue Yu's divination was related to him. He and Viviani were just casually acquainted and they had not formed any friendship at all. Even if she was killed before his eyes, it was not something that related to him, right?

Certainly, this was also the reason why he and Ji Chimei did not immediately appear in front of Viviani after arriving here. He wanted to find out the truth about what exactly Viviani had encountered and how she could be in such a messy and difficult situation.

"By the way, you also know about Brightwing race, don't you Chimei?" Tang Xiu suddenly turned and asked.

"Yes." Ji Chimei nodded and answered, "The Brightwing race is one of the myriads of races in the Immortal World. But this race kind of has a pitiful fate, as countless people are always looking at them with greedy eyes ever since their birth. Especially those females who are born, as each of them is an otherworldly beauty. In the eyes of those countless powerhouses in the Immortal World, they are treated as their plaything. As far as I know, this race only has an incomplete cultivation system and it's also much more difficult than an ordinary immortal cultivation technique. Thus, there has been no strong powerhouses born from the Brightwing race even after tens of thousands of years."

Tang Xiu nodded and said, "I've been having a suspicion that this Viviani has the Brightwing race bloodline. Yet I can't figure out how someone with the Brightwing bloodline can appear on Earth?"

Ji Chime stared blankly before shock appeared on her face and she said, "Now that I recall, there was a rumor back then, Lord. Even though the Brightwing race has never produced a powerful expert, there was a sage born among them called Paramita Vienna. She once produced a hypothesis that, if their race were to descend to a lower plane and their bloodline was to merge into a mortal's body, the offspring will have both human and Brightwing bloodlines. If Viviani really has a Brightwing race bloodline, it's highly likely that she may be an offspring resulting from this hypothesis."

"But isn't it way too ridiculous?" Tang Xiu frowned and said, "Even if some immortals want to descend to an ordinary plane, the space law won't allow them to do so even if the space law of that lower plane is not of a high-grade, no? Hardly anyone will able to come here unless those immortals have broken through to the stage of Perfected Golden Immortal. And yet, those who have broken through the realm of Perfected Golden Immortal are a very formidable existence already. It wouldn't be difficult for them to shelter a weak race should one wish to do so. "

"I'm not clear regarding that issue either, my Lord," Ji Chimei shook her head.

Tang Xiu shook his head and threw his confusion to the back of his mind, concentrating his vision to look below toward the ships instead.

On the liner's bow.

Wang Rui's stubbornness didn't make Viviani feel at ease. It made her worry even more instead. She didn't want to fight hard against the Savage Mammoth's people as she knew that it would be like throwing an egg against a rock in a head-on battle. She wished Wang Rui would take his men and leave whereas she would take the speedboat and quickly escape.

This Wang Rui, however, was too arrogant and stubborn at the same time.

The distance between the liner and the cargo ship kept getting shorter. Wang Rui and Viviani could clearly see fully armed men and women on that ship. On the bow of the cargo ship, they even saw a silver-haired old man standing proudly with hands crossed behind his back.

"This will be troublesome."

The big man who stood beside Wang Rui spoke. His heart thumped wildly after seeing the silver-haired old man and a chill even filled his heart.

"What's troublesome?" asked Wang Rui, frowning.

"This spells big trouble for us, Boss," The staunch man bitterly said, "It's highly likely that old man is a bigshot of the Savage Mammoth. His position should be like a sect's Law Enforcement Hall Master in ancient times of our country. Rumor has it that this man is very terrifying, though nobody has ever seen him in action. This is because, according to the rumors, those who have seen him in action all died. This old codger should probably be the most horrifying power from the mysterious leader of Savage Mammoth."

"Hmph... are you trying to raise the enemy's prestige to undermine our own morale?" Wang Rui snorted coldly and said, "I've reached the martial arts grandmaster level and you're just a step away from a higher stage as well. I believe we can completely annihilate them even if there are only two of us who take action. What's more, don't forget that we also have a non-human that came with us this time."

The burly man subconsciously glanced at another liner's cabin and felt greatly at ease. He naturally knew the 'non-human' individual Wang Rui mentioned. That person was one of the strongest even in Qingcheng Mountain.

Quickly, the distance of the two liners and the cargo ship shortened to less than a hundred meters. As both parties stopped moving, the silver-haired old man on the cargo ship's bow shouted in fluent English, "All of you surrender immediately, no matter who you are. We'll check out your ship. We're chasing our enemy. If you dare to shelter our enemy, we'll see you as an enemy as well!"

The silver-haired old man's loud and clear voice made Wang Rui secretly startled inside, yet he was still able to compose himself and loudly shouted back, "Your Savage Mammoth's people are really arrogant, aren't you? This is China's territory and yet you dare to act arrogantly here? Do you not fear that all of you will die in this sea?"

"Unbridled and extremely arrogant? Hahaha." The silver-haired old man burst into laughter and loudly said, "I've always been despotic and arrogant. You can choose to refuse but I can twist and dig out your heart. Hahaha... Do not fucking make me say it a second time! Surrender immediately and squat down on the bow! I can spare your puny lives if I'm in a good mood."

Wang Rui grimly turned his head and ordered, "Get serious and board that cargo ship! Those who dare threaten me must die. KILL THEM ALL!"

Half a minute later, the two liners were just 20 meters away from the cargo ship, while the twenty-plus men were all ready to board the cargo ship to carry out the one-sided massacre. Four shadows suddenly dashed forward and sprinted the 20 meters.

Four blades made a showy display of their power, fully suffused with killing intent, and hacked down toward Wang Rui. Even their speed was much faster than Wang Rui's ability to avoid them.

"SCRAM!"

The big man instantly flashed out his dagger and hardly blocked one of the long blades. The nearest hazy shadow, however, flashed at the same time with a long heavy spear. After being seized by the burly man in an instant, his momentum kept increasing and the long spear turned into layers of spear shadows. They directly blocked all assaults toward Wang Rui.

"HUMAN LADDER BRIDGE!"

The silver-haired old man on the cargo ship's bow shouted in a deep voice.

Suddenly, 12 people who stood behind the old man wearing black robes and covered with black hoods instantly leaped toward the liner. One of them rushed forward and another followed who instantly stepped on his leg; the moment he was about to fall, the other dashed forward again, followed by the rest who sprinted continuously. They used their bodies as supports for the next ones who kept sprinting.

This 'human ladder bridge' truly had an artistic sense to it. It had a perfect leaping effect, shown by those 12 men in black robes needing only a few breaths to dash and finally board the liner. As those black-robed men scattered around, they pulled out cane blades from their backs and frenziedly dragged Wang Rui's men into a fight.

"ROAR..."

Suddenly, a man with green eyes let out a loud beastly roar. His nails began to quickly grow and a layer of thick hair emerged and covered his body. His strength, which was previously at the level of a martial arts grandmaster, suddenly increased several times. The moment his feet kicked off from the floor, his figure stormed forward toward one of Wang Rui's men as though he was a hungry tiger rushing towards his prey. His sharp nails swept at his opponent's neck, killing him with that one strike.

"Hiss... hiss..."

A layer of thick scales suddenly emerged on the body of another man. His body began to transform as if he was deprived of all of his bones. His entire body turned very soft, swaying and swinging like a willow being blown by the wind, constantly revolving around another one of Wang Rui's men and attacking him.

Sharp fangs rapidly grew in that man's mouth followed by incisive breaths within. This guy's swift and violent strike directly killed another subordinate of Wang Rui.

"Poison mist!"

The silver-haired old man on the cargo ship, however, seemed to be very unsatisfied with the current flow of the battle. He loudly shouted another command after several of Wang Rui's men had been killed.

Immediately after, 16 experts of Savage Mammoth boarded the liner, each holding a porcelain vase. Quickly following, each unplugged their vase's cap at the same time. A surge of light green mist billowed out which was wrapped by the strong wind, spreading in all directions.

Wang Rui's countenance changed and he ragingly shouted, "BE CAREFUL! THAT MIST IS POISONOUS!"

The moment the poisonous mist was released by the enemy, the staunch man took the opportunity to stab his opponent's belly with his spear. However, at the moment he wanted to directly kill the enemy, a spear shaft suddenly flew out and stabbed his chest in an instant.

"Puff..."

Blood wildly spurted out as the staunch man's body violently trembled a few times before slowly slumping down to the floor.

"BASTARD!"

Wang Rui roared and pushed back the enemy in front of him, then appearing in front of the staunch man. Never once did he ever dream that his powerful subordinate, who was much more powerful than the rest of his men, would unexpectedly fall under the enemy's attack at this moment.

Chapter 785 - In Despair

The pale green mist was blown disorderly, spreading to a much larger area that shrouded the two liners and the cargo ship therein. Despite Wang Rui's timely reminder, there were still some combatants who were not able to fully hold their breath and inhaled some of the pale green poisonous mist.

Puff, puff, puff...

The glint and flash of cold blades were accompanied by flesh and blood that flew in all directions.

In just a minute or so, Wang Rui's party of 20 men were heavily struck or killed by the Savage Mammoth's people. Even his powerful right-hand man lost his combat power after being severely injured.

Viviani gritted her teeth with hatred evident inside her sapphire eyes. Her eyes tightly fixated on the two men in black robes. Her ability had only been recovered about 20 percent or so after her brief recovery, yet she had fallen into a perilous situation under the frenzied assault of these two men in black robes.

"Sacred Light, Blood Incarnadine!"

She suddenly retreated. As her back leaned on the cabin wall behind her, absolute resolution suffused in her eyes. She cut her finger with a sharp stiletto and a hazy milky glow diffused from her body, followed by a strand of blood flowing out like a tide and with a milky light that scattered around.

The light incarnadined with blood, seemingly woven into a big net, instantly stirred and trapped the faces of the two men in black robes. Right at the moment, she went all out to wave her arms. In a flash, the faces of the two men in black robes drastically changed. With ghastly paled faces, they attempted to retreat instead of getting entrapped within. But in the next moment, a flame blazed up above the scarlet sacred light and the dreadful heat it brought completely burned the two men in black robes in several breaths.

Up in midair, Ji Chimei's pupils contracted while a flash of surprise gleamed inside them as she slowly said, "My Lord, this lass called Viviani was using the Sacred Light Blood Arts of the Brightwing race. This Sacred Light Blood Art is extremely vicious both to the enemy and the caster as it's essentially burning their blood essence and life force—one of the ultimate forms of this forbidden art. The most important point of using this art is burning one's life force."

"You mean, you've already determined that Viviani's true identity?" Tang Xiu's brows pressed on and said, "Is she a member of Brightwing race from the Immortal World who descends and lives on Earth, or according to that theory on the Earth, did she get reincarnated and yet still retained her core bloodline and consciousness?"

"It's likely so, my Lord." Ji Chimei nodded and continued, "But for a member of Brightwing race of the Immortal World to want to descend on Earth, she or he must have a very formidable strength. At least at the stage of Golden Immortal. But, according to my knowledge, there has been no one among the Brightwing race who has reached the stage of Perfected Golden Immortal, just a few who have reached the Golden Immortal stage."

"It seems like Viviani's ancestor should have reached a Golden Immortal stage!" Tang Xiu said with a smile, "If so, she has a rather good aptitude and also has human blood. If she cultivates properly, there's a high chance she could break through to the Golden Immortal stage in the future. If my estimation is correct, however, it's highly likely that she can regain the memory of her previous incarnation once she ascends to the Immortal World. She could also probably reach the Perfected Golden Immortal based on her previous life's experience in cultivation."

"Do you want to recruit her as one of your subjects, my Lord?" asked Ji Chimei with a strange expression.

"I do have that idea." Tang Xiu nodded.

"If that is so, my Lord must be mentally prepared. You may have to take the entire Brightwing race under your protection when we come back to the Immortal World," said Ji Chimei.

Tang Xiu laughed casually and confirmed it, "Why would it be a problem for me taking the Brightwing race under my protection? It's just a trivial issue."

"Taking the Brightwing race under your protection is naturally an easy matter given your ability, my Lord." Ji Chimei smilingly replied, "If so, shall this subject act now to rescue her?"

Tang Xiu watched the groups in the battle below with deep observation before shaking his head and saying, "No. People will only feel the most grateful when they are rescued after drowning, during their most desperate moments. For instance, you can see that Wang Rui fellow. Viviani was fleeing from a disaster, hence the helping hands from him just resulted in a bit of gratitude from her. It's incomparable to if she received a helping hand that gives her the only glimmer of hope in despair."

"Right you are, my Lord." Ji Chimei sighed heartfeltly.

On the liner in the sea.

After using the Sacred Light Blood Art, Viviani had practically spent all the energy she had gained from her brief recovery. She had even burned her blood essence—an ability that consumed her life force, resulting in her completely losing the ability to continue to fight.

"It's a dead end."

Her slender body trembled a few times—so much so that she would have probably fallen onto the floor had she not reached out to support herself on the cabin's wall. She only felt regret at this moment; regret that she had boarded Wang Rui's ship. Had she not come aboard and just continued to drift away in the sea, the Savage Mammoth's people wouldn't have found her. Even if she would have been more distressed, she could at least be able to live much longer. And, most importantly, she wouldn't have involved and implicated Wang Rui and his men.

"DIE..."

A low, hoarse, and deep voice exploded in the ears of everyone on the liner.

A sudden surge of aura followed the noise as a longsword swept across the sky. It slashed the necks of two men in black robes, killing them directly and leaving columns of splashing blood. The sword swept again as a figure flashed. A series of shadows kept moving toward the men in black robes who boarded the liner, sending them to their deaths one after another.

Wang Rui, who was resisting the onslaught of the enemy could feel the pressure turn lighter all of a sudden. Yet he didn't feel happy in the slightest when he watched several of his enemies being killed directly. He knew perfectly well that the loss was too heavy even if they completely annihilated the Savage Mammoth's people. All the men he brought here were ordinarily top-notch experts. Several of them had been killed just a step away from reaching the grandmaster level.

"Interesting."

An erratic voice drifted from an old man on the bow of the liner. A hazy figure flashed as the silver-haired old man suddenly appeared in front of the old man expert who had slaughtered the men in black robes. Sharp scales that were more than 10 centimeters long protruded from his spine and two black sharp horns drilled out of his head as he pierced the back of his clothes. His aura kept surging out as he pressed forward toward the old man in front of him.

"Where did this freaking monster come from?"

A cold gleam flashed in the eyes of the Qingcheng Mountain's old man. His longsword moved, creating layers of undulating and overlapping sword images, instantly shrouding the entirety of the silver-haired old man's body.

The silver-haired old man maniacally laughed. He raised his arms and hacked down against the longsword's strikes with his arms that were entirely covered with scales. At this moment, however, the silver-haired old man's laughter suddenly came to an end as the scales on his arms were torn apart, revealing bones under two deep cuts that splashed with his blood.

"SCRAM!!!"

Right as his arms were wounded, the silver-haired old man's eyes were filled with a vicious, fiendish, and yet bewitching charm. He blasted forward to deliver another heavy blow toward the Qingcheng Mountain's old man. The enormous impact force was too sudden for the latter to avoid it as the blow hit his body, sending him flying and spurting out a mouthful of blood. The face of Qingcheng Mountain's old man drastically changed and he kept onto his sword while stabilizing his figure, pushing back the silver-haired old man and then flashed to appear in front of Wang Rui.

"You're screwed, brat. When and where did you provoke these monsters?"

Wang Rui watched the battle between these two old men from afar a moment ago. His heart violently shook after finding out that his family elder had been injured. He was perfectly aware of how powerful his elder was as the old man had broken through the grandmaster stage and reached a higher level.

"They have injected themselves with the genes of beasts and thus become mutated humans with the respective beasts' abilities."

Qingcheng Mountain's old man sharply exhaled. He grabbed Wang Rui and dragged him as he dashed into the cabin in a flash. After throwing Wang Rui inside, he proudly stood in the entrance into the cabin and fiercely shouted, "Hey, old codger over there. Let's have a talk!"

"You wanna negotiate with me?" Contempt flickered inside the silver-haired man's eyes along with hostility as he smiled densely, "What qualifications do you have to negotiate with me, huh?"

"Hmph." The Qingcheng Mountain's old man coldly snorted and said, "You're very formidable and are slightly stronger than my current cultivation level. That I admit. But you should also be aware of the fact that you also won't survive today if I decided to go all out and perish together with you. I don't know what hostility we have against each other, but I think we both should stop right here and now. Let's get it straight to clear any misunderstanding between us."

The silver-haired old man fell into silence. He was also aware of the terrifying strength his opponent possessed. Most importantly, he only had limited time to maintain his mutated body, only for at most 10 minutes and he would be suppressed if he couldn't figure out the means to kill the enemy within this span of time.

"I want her dead!" The silver-haired man suddenly turned around and pointed to Viviani.

The Qingcheng Mountain's old man glanced at Viviani and immediately furrowed his brows before turning to Wang Rui and shouting, "Tell me, does this foreign woman have something to do with you?"

"She's a friend!" Wang Rui's heart kept sinking inside the cabin. Never would he have imagined that even though his family elder had acted, he had no means to completely annihilate Savage Mammoths' people. He had so little choice and had to rely on his last hope of negotiating with the enemy.

He realized he probably had no means to protect Viviani as he promised.

The Qingcheng Mountain's old man coldly snorted. He immediately took a fast glance at Viviani and said, "This person is not our people, kill her as you like. But I have one condition. You can't kill her on our ship!"

"No problem." The silver-haired old man nodded.

With that said, he waved to the two men in black robes. The two men sprinted to Viviani's front and stabbed her shoulders with sharp nails, then quickly dragged her onto the fishing boat.

The silver-haired old man then nodded toward the Qingcheng Mountain's old man and smiled densely, "You're very formidable Monseigneur. I hope we'll have another opportunity to fight again. China, however, is a territory forbidden to us, so I very much hope that you can visit and sightsee in Europe."

"I'll surely visit Europe should there be an opportunity. No worries there" sneered the Qingcheng Mountain's old man.

The silver-haired man strangely chuckled a couple of times and then blasted onto the fishing boat like a cannon shell. In a heavy tone, he ordered out without glancing at the captured Viviani, "Go back!"

At this time, Viviani's heart died and all her hopes dissipated. She had been completely abandoned, yet she had neither resentment nor complaint. She realized that neither Wang Rui nor the Qingcheng Mountain's old man was able to protect and keep her.

'Perhaps this is the best ending! Though it's a pity that I can never see him again. I can't tell him myself that I've killed several of my enemies...'

Chapter 786 - Holding onto a Straw of Hope

Despair filled Viviani's heart and she had no energy left. The Sacred Light Blood Art was a forbidden art that caused harm to her body. Let alone do anything now, she wasn't able to use any power for the next three days. There was so little energy that she was currently physically weak. At this moment, even an ordinary person was enough to ender life, let alone one of the experts of Savage Mammoth.

A look of hatred covered Wang Rui's face as he saw the ghastly pale Viviani thrown onto the deck of the cargo ship. He stood beside Qingcheng Mountain's old man for a long time in silence. At the same time, there was a smile blooming on Viviani's face, followed by the shape of her mouth that spoke 'thank you'.

"Damn bastard!"

Wang Rui clenched his fist as this was the second time he felt powerless, aside from the first time when he got defeated by Tang Xiu's subordinate in Saipan.

A chilling expression hung on the face of Qingcheng Mountain's old man. He shot an indifferent glance at Wang Rui and said, "This is my first time going out to spend leisure time with you, yet what I saw was you being immature and impulsive. I'll definitely report this to your grandfather when I get back; it will be up to him as to what kind of punishment you'll get."

Suddenly, Wang Rui turned around with a look of indignance on his face as he asked in a heavy voice, "You definitely have the ability to rescue her; why did you give up? I told you that she's my friend!"

"Nobody has absolute friends in this world. Ever," sneered Qingcheng Mountain's old man. "Between protecting oneself and protecting others, the former comes first. I may be able to kill that old codger if I use my trump card, but then I'll lose that last resort for good. There's neither any gain nor obligation for me to help your... insignificant friend. It's enough as long as you don't die, no more."

'Is that really enough?'

Wang Rui could feel his face burning. He clearly remembered all the boastful words he had said before. He recalled why he stopped Viviani from leaving and let her rest on his ship. But regarding it bluntly, it was he who harmed her as she would have left directly otherwise, then she wouldn't have encountered Savage Mammoth's people and got captured.

"I can never accept this," said Wang Rui bitterly.

"Then throw away all those thoughts of indulging yourself in pleasure if you can't accept it. Go into seclusion to practice well in the mountain," sneered the Qingcheng Mountain's old man. "You may be praised as the best genius of Qingcheng Mountain in the past hundred years, but if you keep loitering around all the time like this, you can expect other youths to surpass you and trample your head. One of them might even become the future heir of Qingcheng Mountain!"

There was no chance that Wang Rui would give attention to this old man's words if he said that in the past. He thought he had done his very best already since after all, he had reached the grandmaster level at less than 30 years old. Another 8 to 10 years later, he believed that he could break through the limit of the grandmaster level and ascend to a higher level.

Now, however, all the pride and arrogance he had were practically smashed and disappeared. The harsh reality brutally forced him to see that even if he was able to reach a higher level, he would never become an invincible existence that he thought he would be as there still were many strong people in this world.

"Huh? What's that?"

The face of Qincheng Mountain's old man suddenly changed. He looked up toward the cargo ship that was gradually disappearing. He vaguely saw a pool of lightning looming several hundred meters above the cargo ship, along with an aqua-blue screen of light that rippled layer upon layer.

Wang Rui followed his gaze and was immediately stunned, a look of shock moving on his face. The lightning flashes became more distinct and the aqua-blue screen, which was as though descending from the firmament, continuously enlarged before his eyes.

Likewise, the silver-haired old man on the cargo ship had also perceived the peculiar situation up in the sky. His complexion turned incomparably solemn; the scales on his body that had not yet receded erected again as he readied himself for battle.

BOOM...

Lightning bolts the size of an arm and comprising of thousand branches gradually formed. The lightning arms flashed through the aqua-blue sphere, merging and dispersing from time to time, while the deafening rumble of thunders in the sky kept getting louder. It was as though an apocalypse was about to descend in this region, bringing a horrifying terror.

Crack... KABOOM!

A bolt of lightning suddenly flashed and broke free from the aqua-blue sphere. It flashed from 100-200 meters above to directly strike down the men in black robes on the cargo ship.

"BE CAREFUL! QUICKLY AVOID IT!"

Panic and horror filled the silver-haired old man whole being as he exclaimed loudly. Yet, he knew very well that however loud his warning was, the mighty power of lightning was so strong and fast that he wouldn't be able to avoid it, much less his men.

Crack... KABOOM...

Crack... KABOOM...

"..."

Lightning bolts kept flashing and broke free from the aqua-blue sphere. The bolts were as though possessing eyes, as each strike accurately blitzed down to blast a Savage Mammoth member. More than 30 experts of Savage Mammoth were struck with lightning bolts and died a tragic death.

"How could this happen?"

Fear and horror engulfed the silver-haired old man more and more. He would have jumped into the sea to escape the predicament had it not been for this atrocious water. The lightning bolts were just too evilly frightening in that they didn't split and disperse anywhere else but instead struck down his men. It was no less than the very epitome of perfect accuracy.

However, no one could figure out a solution for such a situation, shown by only ten-plus of his men still alive out of the previous dozens. Most importantly, the remaining several people had taken shelter in the cabin and only the weakened Viviani remained on the deck beside him.

A thousand meters away from here, the old man from Qingcheng Mountain, Wang Rui, and several of his men were watching dumbfoundedly at the tragic situation brought by the peculiar phenomenon that was currently unfolding on the cargo ship.

"Is it because of the Heaven's anger, that it sent down its wrath toward the Savage Mammoth's people for what they've done?" Wang Rui's lips squirmed as he murmured to himself.

The Qingcheng Mountain's old man frowned and took a deep breath before shaking his head and said, "That's not it. This is not the wrath of Heavens. It's likely because of a god-like being who's targeting those mutants."

"Is it possible..."

Wang Rui couldn't finish his words as his voice was suddenly as though blocked by a sponge. At this time, he could clearly see two figures descending from the sky and directly land on the cargo ship.

It's him?

Wang Rui's eyes tightly fixated on the familiar voice, yet disbelief could be seen filling his eyes.

There was a smile on Tang Xiu's face the moment his feet landed on the deck and then he circled around the silver-haired old man twice. He watched the old man's round and staring eyes, whose fear was evident on his face. Tang Xiu raised his hand to touch his chin and spoke, "What an interesting mutated man; transforming one's body using an engineered beast's gene so that they possess the ability of beasts for a short time to enhance their strength. Unfortunately, the latent potential of the body has been overly stimulated, and ultimately lost the most important foundation to progress further."

The silver-haired old man wanted to move, but the terrifying force that directly imprisoned him was as though a mountain. However hard he exerted his power to break free, not only was he unable to move, he didn't have the strength to even lift his finger. He very much tried to speak but his mouth was as though it had been sewn, leaving the words he wanted to speak stuck in his throat; not even the faintest sound could come out.

Fear. It was as though a venomous snake was eyeing his heart, sending his whole being in a state like having fallen into an icy hole.

Tang Xiu shook his head as he turned around and walked toward Viviani who was struggling to get up. He reached out to her and propped her up as he squatted on the deck and let her lean on him. He smiled at her and said, "I'm really curious about something here. What on earth have you done? To think that these people spare no effort just to hunt and kill you?"

A trace of life finally appeared in the previously dead, hopeless-filled eyes of Viviani. She felt like she just had a dream. She could feel Tang Xiu propping her up as she watched the face that had been appearing in her mind countless times recently. She thought that she would never see him again in this life, resulting in a deep regret inside her.

But now, he unexpectedly appeared before her. He must even be related to that terrifying phenomenon that just happened.

"You..." Viviani's spoke in a hoarse voice, yet she didn't know what to say all of a sudden.

"What?" Tang Xiu chuckled and said, "You never thought that I would appear here all of sudden giving you hope to survive, right?"

"Yes!"

Viviani did see such hope since Tang Xiu was someone deep and mysterious in her eyes. Back when she met him in Saipan, his strength was not that strong, but seeing him again at the present, she could feel a kind of unfathomable sensation coming out from him.

"Then go live well since you have seen the hope to go on living!" Tang Xiu chuckled and said, "The only real thing in life is being alive itself."

Viviani took a deep breath and tried to suppress the stirring emotions she had inside before she asked earnestly, "How come you appear here? Also, did you... just create that lightning?"

"What? Did you think that I have such an ability?" answered Tang Xiu with a pale smile.

"I don't know." Viviani shook her head.

"Then don't ask since you don't know, okay?" replied Tang Xiu with a smile. "It just happened that I saw you being hunted and came to help since I thought you're an old acquaintance. Anyways, you haven't answered my question yet. What on earth have you done, exactly? How come these people spared no effort and hunted you down?"

A smile suddenly appeared on Viviani's face and the will to live in her eyes kept getting stronger with the smile on her face getting brighter. She was thinking something that was worth celebrating and spoke with a bit of a cheerful tone, "I've killed my mortal enemies and some others. It was they who machinated all kinds of traps and engineered all the schemes behind my back that had killed my family members one after another."

"That's great." Tang Xiu raised his thumbs up.

Some redness appeared on Viviani's fair face. She looked a bit embarrassed and said, "But the last one, the Savage Mammoth's people, found me and began to hunt me down. I've been on the run for half a month before they caught up to me here. At first, Savage Mammoth only sent weak people to hunt me down. I killed a lot of them; I can't remember exactly how many. But it should more than 100 people, no less. But later on, the people who hunted me kept getting more powerful, up until you came to save me just in time, fortunately. They would've killed me otherwise."

Chapter 787 - Methods of Immortal Experts

The more Tang Xiu listened to the hardships Viviani had gone through, the more he secretly and gradually admired her ability. The Savage Mammoth's people did indeed possess formidable power and some of them were comparable to the early stage of Foundation Establishment experts, like that silver-haired old man.

Viviani was quite formidable herself since the strength she could fully showcase should have surpassed those at the early stage of Foundation Establishment. It was just that the number of enemies that hunted her down was too many while more and more experts emerged among them. Even if she went all out to kill them, there were times that she was too lenient, and her ability to escape if she tried was also inadequate among these Savage Mammoth members.

Tang Xiu let out a smile and gestured to Ji Chimei. The latter immediately snorted coldly as those several experts of Savage Mammoth suddenly felt like their necks were grabbed by an invisible hand. Their feet kept convulsing chaotically in the air as they were lifted out of the cabin.

The strange scene made it so that Viviani's jaw fell and disbelief filled her face.

Tang Xiu took out a dagger and put it in Viviani's hand, smilingly saying, "They are your enemy, it's up to you what do you wanna do with their lives."

Shocked as she was, Viviani looked down at the dagger in her hand. Her countenance turned redder the longer she watched the faces of those Savage Mammoth's members who looked like they were being hung in the air. She struggled in hesitation for a short while before she gradually moved toward those people.

Puff...

The dagger stabbed the heart of one of them and she quickly pulled it out. Then, the several remaining members of Savage Mammoth were struck and killed by her in a half minute. She walked step by step to the front of the silver-haired old man as she turned to look at Tang Xiu and asked, "Can I kill him too?"

Tang Xiu gave an allowing gesture and smilingly said, "These people are mutants or hybrids, I don't know. You can do what you will to these beings neither human nor beasts."

Viviani nodded heavily and shot a grateful look at Tang Xiu. She then stabbed the silver-haired old man's heat mercilessly with the dagger. She looked as though she had yet to vent her vexed feelings inside as she fiercely stabbed the silver-haired old man's throat afterward. Though she was rather weak right now, she was still able to stab him several centimeters deep.

Huff...

As she pulled the dagger out, Viviani staggered backward for a few steps. She could have fallen again had Tang Xiu not quickly came to catch and prop her up.

"So, what do you feel now?" asked Tang Xiu with a smile.

"I feel rather complicated, but I'm mainly dying to become more formidable," answered Viviani full of seriousness.

A smile outlined on Tang Xiu's mouth. Little did he expect that Viviani would actually be keen and tactful and raise this topic even before he spoke his true intention. He then smiled and said, "Having formidable strength is naturally the dream of countless people indeed. But a dream is nothing but a dream for many, as those who can obtain the opportunity to increase their strength are very rare—a selected few. If anything, what will you do if such an opportunity were given to you but you must pay the price for it?"

"Exactly what price must I pay for it?" asked Viviani.

"For instance, freedom," said Tang Xiu.

The answer made Viviani fall into silence for a long time before she heavily nodded and answered, "I'm willing to pay for it."

"Then follow since you're willing!" Tang Xiu smilingly said, "You also saw the terrifying phenomenon a while ago, right? Let alone annihilate these mutants who just hunted you down, you even will be able to eradicate the entire Savage Mammoth and those enemies who had been hunting you down if you follow me."

"Can you really give me such an opportunity?" Viviani was amazed.

"Of course I can do that, why else did I tell you about it?" said Tang Xiu. "Alright, let's greet that Samaritan fellow. It's time to go back."

Viviani turned around to see the two liners in the distance and saw Wang Rui who stood on one of the ships as she inquired, "You mean... Mr. Wang?"

"You know, I know this Mr. Wang too." Tang Xiu chuckled and said, "In any case, he has seen something he shouldn't see today, so I have to deal with it."

Having said that, Tang Xiu directly grabbed Viviani's arms and floated as he walked in the air toward the liner a kilometer away. As he came above the ship, he looked down toward the shocked Qingcheng Mountain's old man, Wang Rui, and his men before speaking to them with an indifferent smile, "How does it feel to watch such a show, Wang Rui?"

"T-Tang... Tang Xiu, are you a cultivator?" asked Wang Rui suddenly. HIs throat had somewhat gone dry and his lips squirmed a few times.

"I am," answered Tang Xiu.

A bitter expression could be seen on Wang Rui's face as he slowly said, "I finally understand why you didn't want to fight me. I was really too proud and arrogant, it seems."

"For you being able to realize your own shortcomings, that means you have the capability to remold yourself in the future if you could," Tang Xiu said with a pale smile, "Anyways, is this the elder of Qingcheng Mountain? Not bad, you can actually break the limitation of grandmaster level and reach a higher level."

The Qingcheng Mountain's old man wore a respectful look as he cupped his fists and said, "Wang Luzhong greets senior Immortal."

"Dispense with the ceremony." Tang Xiu waved and said, "It just so happened that we meet by coincidence, no less. You are rather talented in cultivation, yet lacking in some aspects of the character. I very much hope that you can change such a bad habit in the future. If anything, I think Wang Rui is worth learning from in this regard."

The Qingcheng Mountain's old man looked embarrassed for he knew what Tang Xiu was referring to. After all, he just abandoned Viviani, letting the Savage Mammoth's people capture her. Despite Tang Xiu's reprimand, however, he didn't dare to have the slightest complaint and kept his respectful manner and reverently replied, "I'll definitely correct myself."

Tang Xiu just let out a pale smile in response before he turned toward Wang Rui and said, "You've helped Viviani today so she owes you this favor. Call me if there's a time you need her to pay this favor. But there's no need for the rest to remember anything about what has happened today."

The next moment, Ji Chimei unleashed her magical power and a streak of light thrust into the heads of Qingcheng Mountain's old man and the rest, causing Wang Rui's face to suddenly change dramatically.

"Tang Xiu, you..."

Tang Xiu raised his hand to interrupt him. After half a minute of silence, the Qingcheng Mountain's old man opened his eyes, looking dazed as he shook head and got up from the floor.

"What's wrong with me? Who are these people?"

Wang Rui's eyes contracted as a tempestuous wave quaked in his heart. He realized what method it was—a terrifying means to tamper and erase people's memories!

Who exactly is she? How could this elderly lady have such a terrifying ability?

Tang Xiu held Viviani's arm and didn't put her on the floor so that he could sniff a pleasant fragrance coming out from her. Tang Xiu gently patted her arm and smiled lightly, "I think you know what to do after what happened today, Wang Rui. Viviani is injured and I need to take her with me. We bade you farewell now. We shall meet again someday."

"We shall meet again someday?"

Wang Rui only felt like he saw a halo in front of him as the figures of Tang Xiu, Viviani, and the terrifying elderly lady vanished out of the blue. A deep sense of loss emerged inside him at this very moment for he knew that he would never surpass Tang Xiu in regards to cultivation, let alone defeat him. He and those people were not of the same world at all.

The Qingcheng Mountain's old man took a quick glance around as he exclaimed in alarm, "What's that ability? Such a speed is..."

Wang Rui shot a deep look towards the spot where Tang Xiu just vanished and slowly said, "I can't tell you who they are, but I hope you can forget the scene you just saw. Only then will there be no harm and only benefits to you and our Qingcheng Mountain."

Jingmen Island, the Everlasting Feast Hall.

Viviani only felt a flower halo blooming in front of her eyes. The heavenly thunder and the severe weather had disappeared. Although she was still being held by Tang Xiu, she was filled with amazement as she found that Tang Xiu had landed and stood on the ground, the trees and buildings in the surroundings showing that they had just arrived on solid land.

"What's this place?" suppressing her shock inside, Viviani asked in puzzlement.

"I'd like to ask you one last question, Viviani," said Tang Xiu with a smile. "Do you have any concerns about yourself? Or something that you have yet to finish?"

Viviani thought over it for a short while before nodding, and said, "Yes. I want to eradicate the Savage Mammoth. I have some dealings with the people from this organization and these people are simply evil, the very devil themselves."

"Only this one, no less?" asked Tang Xiu again.

"I... probably only this one," said Viviani. "I don't have a family anymore; neither do I have a relationship with the Vatican anymore. I have nothing left to be concerned about."

"If so, then stay and live here as a member of Everlasting Feast Hall and became a ghost here after you die." Tang Xiu nodded and said, "This place is Jingmen Island, the headquarter of Everlasting Feast Hall. You can stay here for the time being! I'll send someone to arrange the daily necessities for your life and to guide you to familiarize yourself with this place."

"Alright." Viviani replied and inquired again, "When can I get that opportunity exactly?"

Ji Chimei, who stood at the side, interjected indifferently, "For you to be brought here is already an opportunity in and of itself, lass!"

"That's right. Someone will naturally come to you to impart a cultivation technique when you've familiarized yourself here so that you can keep getting stronger."

During their conversation, Gu Xiaoxue's figure flashed from the distance and arrived in front of Tang Xiu in just several breaths. She curiously sized up Viviani before speaking, "Grand Master, Lulu just called me. She's looking for you, saying that it's very urgent."

"Ouyang Lulu?"

He was filled with a bit of curiosity. Tang Xiu took out his mobile phone and dialed Ouyang Lulu's number. A short while after he dialed it, his call was picked up as Ouyang Lulu's hurried voice came out, "Tang Xiu? Is it you?"

"It is!" said Tang Xiu. "What happened?"

"Where are you now?" asked Ouyang Lulu rapidly. "Can you hurry back to Shanghai? Han Qingwu just got an accident!"

Tang Xiu's countenance changed and he asked in a heavy voice, "What happened to her?"

Chapter 788 - Mental Demon Possession

Tang Xiu hung up with an expression that was like the frost of the December solstice, yet he held deep concern in his eyes. Numerous times had he had convinced himself that he and Han Qingwu... or rather, Xue Qingcheng no longer had any relationship. If any, the link between them was just hatred between enemies.

However, never did he realize that regardless of the Xue Qingcheng in the Immortal World, or the now Han Qingwu on Earth, both of them had been affecting him all this time.

"I'll buy a ticket on the next flight back to Shanghai."

At first, Tang Xiu planned to take Ji Chimei to send him back to Shanghai, but after thinking about it for a while, he thought that it was inappropriate. He dared to order Ji Chimei to take him to the sea area of Jingmen Island because the atrocious weather greatly obstructed the satellite monitoring over the region. But if he were to go to the mainland with Ji Chime flying in the sky, the satellite would definitely catch them.

Shanghai.

In the deepest part of Paradise Manor, the ghastly pale Han Qingwu sat cross-legged on the bed inside the room of a western-style building. Her eyes were filled with fierceness and her hair was disheveled; discomfiture was the reflection of her whole being. Four steel chains tightly shackled her four bare limbs, each fixed at the four corners of the room.

It was a mental demon that led to qi deviation—a problem that a cultivator was prone to encounter.

For every cultivator who encountered such a mental demon, the symptoms ranged from a mental disorder to serious internal injuries. The backlash of blood and qi all over the body could even lead to an explosion of their body and result in their death.

Outside the room, a deep concern plastered itself on Ouyang Lulu's stunning face. She may not like Han Qingwu and even saw her as a love rival, yet she didn't feel at ease and even felt restless upon seeing her appearance right now. It was more so that she had just started her path into cultivation that made her realize that she might also face a situation such as this mental demon, causing her to pay more caution toward this aspect of cultivation.

"How? When will Tang Xiu come back?" Han Jintong looked at Ouyang Lulu after she hung up, a worried look his aged face.

"He said that he'll immediately come back from Jingmen Island," answered Ouyang lulu. "If nothing happens, he should be returning back to Shanghai before 2 PM."

"Did he say whether my granddaughter will face any danger?" asked Han Jintong rapidly. "I'm really worried at just the way she looks currently."

"He didn't elaborate on anything." Ouyang Lulu shook her head.

Han Jintong quickly picked up the mobile phone and searched for Tang Xiu's cell number. Right as he wanted to dial it, he hesitated and was worried that Tang Xiu would be angry. After hesitating for a short while, his fingers eventually didn't press the dial key.

At present, Han Jintong and Ouyang Lulu didn't realize that Han Qingwu, who was being chained, was falling into her memories during the battle she had in the Immortal Worlds. Countless fragments of memory kept flashing inside her mind one after another. A series of those particular scenes felt like a movie being played, as it continuously went from her last 20 years of experience to her current life.

"Immortal World..."

"Celestial beings..."

"Sect..."

"Lover..."

"Betrayal..."

For a long while, Han Qingwu was as though living in the center of this paradise and then fell into hell. Such emotional turmoil nearly drove her into insanity. Her consciousness was completely immersed in the sea of memory fragments. They were interwoven intricately, so much so that her consciousness of the current reality and the one in the dream-like state had combined and she didn't know that she had been chained up. In the eyes of Han Jintong and Ouyang Lulu, she was just of the brink of plunging into insanity.

Jingmen Island Airport.

Although Ouyang Lulu's voice when she called was very urgent and anxious, Tang Xiu was slightly relieved since Lulu told him that it was qi deviation caused by a mental demon and she lost her mind near the brink of insanity, yet not directly leading to her body exploding

In order to prevent the unwanted eventuality, however, he still hurried to return back and boarded the flight to Shanghai after some efforts, accompanied by Mo Awu and Jin Shi as usual.

"Boss, will we also face such a mental demon that leads to a qi deviation in the future?"

As the airliner flew in the blue sky, Mo Awu, who sat next to Tang Xiu asked, a worried expression flashing in his eyes.

"There's a chance indeed since every cultivator might have to face such a mental demon crisis that leads to qi deviation." Tang Xiu nodded and said, "As the term implies, such a mental demon manifests in two aspects; firstly, there's the situation where one's cultivation strays from the correct path due to some mistakes. It could also be triggered by the shortcomings of his cultivation technique, leading to the possibility where they encounter intractable problems in their cultivation. The second being the shortcomings in their state of minds. Figuratively speaking, obsession such as a mental demon situation belongs to this second type in around 95 out of 100 cultivators. It's triggered by the shortcomings of their state of minds, causing the breeding of a mental demon in their hearts."

"I see." Mo Awu nodded and asked again, "Is there any means to work around this situation, Boss?"

"Definitely," answered Tang Xiu. "The best method to deal with it is for a cultivator to cultivate a firm and resolute state of mind so that not even a strong mental demon would affect him. Also, there are some magical artifacts which can be used to calm the heart and focus the mind, avoiding the breeding of this mental demon."

Mo Awu's expression changed and he asked with some anticipation, "How do you get those mysterious artifacts, Boss? Are you able to manufacture them?"

"I can refine them, naturally," answered Tang Xiu. "But the materials needed to refine them are very precious. Even those cultivators who have been cultivating for thousands of years may not necessarily be able to obtain these materials."

A disappointed look flashed in Mo Awu's eyes. Even though he had become a cultivator himself, he was still in awe toward those who had cultivated for thousands of years. An adage said that if someone gets old and yet death can't overcome him then there's something weird with him. For ordinary people who could live past 100 years old, they were called to have a long life. Yet those who could live past 200 years were called old freaks, monsters. Those who could live millennia and yet still lived to see the day, wasn't it much more proper to call them ghosts or spirits?

"Then, what exactly is this state of mind?"

"Mood or state of the mind is an issue that can be understood but not described, for it is subtle and mysterious," explained Tang Xiu. "If we have to explain in an easier way, though it is perhaps inaccurate, it can also be interpreted as the state of mental perseverance or toughness. The more experiences one obtains in life, the stronger their heart and mind get tempered, while the more perceptive they are, the higher their state of minds are. You should've heard about the term 'epiphany or sudden enlightenment', yes? Cultivators need perception and comprehension to come to some realizations, and thus, the more insights they have, the higher their state of minds and mental state are."

Mo Awu nodded, though he only had a hazy notion about it. This issue was something that could be felt and understood, but couldn't be described in words for he had yet to encounter such a state as of now. Only after he reached a much higher realm in cultivation would he be able to comprehend what a mental state and state of mind were.

The airliner landed at Shanghai Airport at 12:30. Tang Xiu, Mo Awu, and the rest just went out the exit of the airport when they saw Ouyang Lulu anxiously waiting for them outside.

"You're back, Tang Xiu. Let's rush to the Paradise Manor!" immediately said Ouyang Lulu after approaching them.

Tang Xiu nodded while walking and then asked, "How is Han Qingwu's situation now?"

"She has gone crazy." Ouyang Lulu forced a smile and said, "She's been staying in the Paradise Manor for a few days, and I've arranged her to stay in the multiple-storied western-style building where Han Jintong has been staying. She suddenly went crazy in the middle of the night yesterday and even collapsed the whole building. Fortunately, only Han Jintong lived inside, else ordinary people staying inside would've been crushed to death."

Ouyang Lulu suddenly realized that she went off topic and quickly changed the subject. "Han Qingwu's present condition is very bad. She looks like she has gone insane. Had it been not for Han Jintong and Shanjenna working together to chain and lock her up to put her under control, I'm afraid she would have made a big mess already."

Tang Xiu nodded after hearing it. Going crazy was indeed a type of insanity. Even if she got injured, there was still a way to deal with her injuries as long as he could arrive there in time.

Only, such a mental disorder or insanity was very troublesome to deal with. If he were still the Supremacy back like in the Immortal World, it would only need a flick of a finger to solve this issue. His present strength now, however, was very weak and he was probably not a match for a Golden Core cultivator if he encountered one, let alone powerful enough to solve a mental disorder, the most mysterious of the brain's problems.

At 2 PM.

Tang Xiu appeared in the room where Han Qingwu was locked inside. He watched her desperately struggling crazy-like appearance along with her disheveled hair. He could only sigh inside and faintly guessed that it should be related to the memories of her previous life, though he was still not sure about it.

"Lulu, wait outside. No one can enter this room without my permission," Tang Xiu ordered and then closed the room from the inside.

Shortly afterward, Tang Xiu came to the table in the corner, taking out cinnabar ink, yellow paper, and a weasel-hair writing brush from his interspatial ring, and then began to draw magical charms.

Soul Tranquilizer Charm, and Heart-fire Purifying Charm.

Both charms had a wonderful magical effect to alleviate such mental disorder. If Han Qingwu's situation was not too bad, she should be calming down in a short time.

However, when Tang Xiu finishing drawing the two charms and used them on Han Qingwu, not only did they have an effect on her, Han Qingwu even went crazier and treated him as an attack target. Although she was quite strong, her strength broke out to a level higher from her insanity.

"It seems like I can only use that particular art."

Tang Xiu sighed inside. The art was very powerful and at least would be able to solve Han Qingwu's insanity problem right now, yet casting that art would bring about some effects on his body.

He bit his finger, forcing several drops of his blood out and he began to inscribe ancient runes full of vicissitudes in the air. The golden runes seemed to contain an infinite profoundness as it gradually merged into the blood. The red blood immediately turned gold-colored, covered by a sphere of light around it.

"Bloodsoul Hex, Demon Suppression."

Tang Xiu's body quaked and he slapped the golden blood into Han Qingwu's glabella. Suddenly, Han Qingwu's body was as though being struck by lightning as she twitched a few times and slowly fell onto the floor.

Tang Xiu pinched the steel chain, breaking the shackles on her, and he picked up her delicate body and placed her on the bed. He then stretched the blanket over her body and stood quietly at the bedside for a long time without a word. He could clearly see the painful expression on Han Qingwu's eyebrows, indicating the volatility and violent fluctuations in her consciousness.

"Was is the memory of her past life that affected her? Would she remember the days when she was in the Immortal World?"

After a long time, Tang Xiu took a deep sigh and turned around to the door, opened it and went out.

"How is my granddaughter, Tang Xiu?"

Restlessness completely covered his face. Han Jintong, who waited outside, sprinted to the front of Tang Xiu and asked.

Chapter 789 - Abnormal Behavior

For a short while, Tang Xiu fell into silence and slowly replied, "She's not in danger, but whether the price she has to pay is big or small after having this mental demon possession will have to rely on herself. If she wakes up in time and adjusts herself to this problem, she will be able to recover to like before after some time. But if she doesn't, I'm afraid she won't be able to continue cultivating in the future."

Han Jintong's heart thumped as a chill inside his heart madly emerged. He clearly realized what it meant for a cultivator not being able to cultivate. It was like losing the hope of having the ability to become stronger.

For cultivators who had been going through the bustle and hustle of their lives, going through such a mediocre life without any means to cultivate further was a fate worse than death. He didn't know whether his granddaughter would be able to endure such an ending.

"Is there any other way to work around it?" asked Han Jintong quickly.

"It's not like there's no other way, actually," Tang Xiu said lightly. "It's just to manufacture the artifacts to alleviate a mental demon in a short time will need some heavenly materials and treasures. However, I don't have these heavenly materials, at least not on Earth as they are nearly impossible to find here. I've done what I can. There's nothing we can do but see whether she can pull herself out on her own now."

In fact, there was another method that Tang Xiu didn't mention as it was a situation with a one-in-a-million chance of success. That was to say, it was a situation where those possessed by their mental demon were able to sober up and even have an epiphany. The insights they obtained from the epiphany would fully remedy the price of the mental demon possession and they would even get some benefits from it.

That was, they must be able to overcome their mental demon, control it, and then destroy it.

Those who were able to overcome such a situation not only would be able to traverse further on their cultivation path but would also become more formidable.

"Awu, you are to stay here and not let anyone approach this place. Do notify me at once when Han Qingwu wakes up," ordered Tang Xiu clearly before taking Ouyang Lulu to leave.

As they came to Ouyang Lulu's residence, Tang Xiu straightly sat on the sofa with a headache. An unexpected situation happened to Han Qingwu and caught him by surprise. He originally thought that if Han Qingwu kept cultivating, she might be able to ascend and become an immortal. Even if she couldn't fully recover the memory of her past life on Earth, she would definitely be able to restore it once she ascended to the Immortal World. At that time, he would be able to settle the account between them in the Immortal World.

However, if she were to forever halt at this stage, should he wait for her to enter Samsara and be reincarnated to step onto the cultivation path once again? Even if she did have the opportunity to break free from the bitter Sea of Samsara and be reincarnated as a human again, the chances of her restoring her past life's memory was very minute.

Realizing that Tang Xiu was in a bad mood, Ouyang Lulu quietly sat down next to him. She even immediately changed the topic in an attempt to adjust his bad mood. "What did you do some time ago, Tang Xiu? You didn't even attend such an important event like the tender that your Magnificent Tang Corp held a while ago? I really can't figure out what Kang Xia had in mind either. Why would she hand over such a large project to a company that didn't even complete the architectural blueprint design?"

The Senyuan Group?

Tang Xiu's expression changed. He secretly admired the means and resourcefulness of Chen Zixue, even though he did tell Kang Xia previously to give the Senyuan Group the chance to participate in the tender if there were none more suitable than them. She was still the decision maker to give the final green light for the tender. She knew how to handle it much better than himself as she would never easily comply in favor of Chen Zixue because of his opinion.

"I had been busy to deal with some urgent and important issues recently, so didn't have much time to pay attention to the company's business. Kang Xia is very capable and she must have her reasons for choosing Senyuan Group. If anything, I also have met Chen Zixue, the Senyuan Group's owner, and saw the unfinished design myself before I left. It was quite good."

"I recently learned something about Chen Zixue and his Senyuan Group. This guy is indeed quite capable... though, he was quite ruthless sometimes," said Ouyang Lulu. "He even dares to resort to many taboo means that are avoided by the business community to get what he wants."

"Not really. It's just a natural selection—a survival of the fittest," Tang Xiu shook his head and said, "Some people say that the market itself is but a battlefield; the field of contest where either we or our enemies die. The means are never important, only the ending and its outcome. In order to become the winner and survive to see another day, why should people fear schemes and intrigues? Why fear being seen as shameless and cruel? As long as you have enough strength and keep getting stronger, all problems are no longer an issue."

"Your argument is just lame and logically warped, you know," rebuked Ouyang Lulu discontentedly.

"Hahaha." Tang Xiu couldn't help but laugh and said, "How come this argument is logically warped? Take the analogy for the struggle for imperial authority for instance. The final winners who sit on the throne, which one of them have hands not stained by blood and who have not trampled on heaps of countless people and bones to sit there? There are a lot of other examples; the outcome is what matters rather than the process. Now I ask you, how does Senyuan Group compare to its previous state 10 years ago?"

"It's numerous times stronger," answered Ouyang Lulu.

"Isn't it just natural?" Tang Xiu nodded and continued, "Every successful person will have many enemies, yet you can see for yourself that Senyuan Group is still getting stronger and Chen Zixue is getting wealthier as well, right?"

Ouyang Lulu had nothing to retort. She could tell that Tang Xiu's argument was justifiable, yet it was still difficult for her to accept it. She was not some pure, innocent individual herself for she also opened a casino in Jingmen Island, indicating that she also had some crazy side in her. However, opening a casino was just going in the same direction to some shady, illegal dealings—a pure underworld business, so to say. But Senyuan Group was a proper business on the surface, yet the operator actually resorted to many foul means, much to her disgust.

Arguing with Tang Xiu made Ouyang Lulu disinclined to continue the topic. She got up to make some tea and served a pot of it in front of Tang Xiu, then said, "Anyways, that old Mo Yi has been kinda acting weird recently. Are you going to see him? As it seems like Shanjenna is nearly unable to stand it."

Tang Xiu looked dull for a moment and immediately remembered the research topic being studied by Mo Yi. He then immediately asked, "What exactly happened? Did the research run into a bottleneck or something?"

"Yup. It's a very serious bottleneck, no less." Ouyang Lulu laughed and said, "I heard Shanjenna complaining, you know. If she didn't anticipate the medicinal pill reward from you, she would've probably resigned and wouldn't give her blood again."

"Pfft..."

Ouyang Lulu's last sentence instantly shattered the depressive mood Tang Xiu had. He couldn't help but laugh after hearing it. He took and drank his cup of tea, got up and then said, "Alright, let's go see Profession Mo and Shanjenna then!"

10 minutes later, Tang Xiu met Mo Yi. The old man wore a white lab coat with his myopia glasses and was currently busying himself with tons of research instruments around him. Shanjenna, however, was sitting listlessly on a sofa near the door, drowning in drowsiness.

"Gimme a half-tube of your fresh blood again, Shanjenna. I'm probably heading in the right direction..." Mo Yi suddenly spoke without looking up.

Shanjenna's face changed. She immediately jumped up from the sofa and angrily roared, "YOU WHAT? You're a fucking asshole, Mo Yi! I heard those fucking words 20 times already. But what's the result? Do tell me what result you get, huh? The blood of my Bloodkin is very precious and we'll need a long time to recover every drop of blood we drop! But you... you, you... you've taken more than 20 half-tubes of my blood recently, bastard!"

Mo Yi frowned and turned around. Only as his eyes fell on Shanjenna did he realize that some people were calmly standing behind her smiling. It was Tang Xiu and Ouyang Lulu standing there without a word.

"Ah, you came, Tang Xiu!" Mo Yi was pleasantly surprised and put down his things before coming over.

Hearing that, Shanjenna similarly turned around to look towards the back. She immediately sprinted to the front of Tang Xiu when she saw him, wearing a wronged expression as she complained, "Please save me, Mr. Tang! This old thing has been treating me so badly! He has no skills whatsoever, not even producing an ounce of any drugs from his research, yet he forces me to pump out my blood every day. I will turn into a human if this keeps going."

Tang Xiu couldn't help but laugh and he gently patted her shoulder. He then took out a porcelain vase from his interspatial ring and spoke to Shanjenna while handing it over, "Alright, this is a medicinal pill I just concocted recently. Take it and you should benefit from it. Don't rush to take it now, though. Wait until the evening break."

"Great!"

Shanjenna was full of joy and excitedly fiddled with the porcelain vase. She couldn't wait to immediately unplug the cork and pour the medicinal pills inside into her mouth.

Tang Xu then turned to look at Mo Yi and smilingly said, "Are you encountering some problems, Professor Mo?"

"Um, yeah!" Mo Yi forced a smile and replied, "The Bloodkin's blood is kinda too active. I still can't figure out a suitable substitute substance compatible with it!"

Tang Xiu thought it over and said, "Do you think it can be substituted by some herbs?"

Mo Yi looked dull for a moment before shaking his head. "I dunno. Even if there are any, I know nothing about medicinal herbs!"

Mulling it over for a while, Tang Xiu suddenly took out his mobile and dialed a cell number. After his call rang seven times, his call was picked up and an old, hoarse voice spoke, "Is there something you want, Tang Xiu?"

"Senior, I have something that I don't know whether you're interested in," said Tang Xiu with a smile. "I'm kind of researching some medicine which I think will bring about a huge contribution to human life once it's successful."

"Not interested," said Gui Jianchou. "Even if I do, I don't have the time for it. Besides, I found interesting stuff myself and need some time to study it."

"What interesting stuff, exactly?" asked Tang Xiu quickly.

Gui Jianchou was silent for a moment before he slowly replied, "Do you know that there are some other living beings other than humans and animals in this world?"

"I know some," replied Tang Xiu.

"Do you really know some?" asked Gui Jianchou, surprised.

"I do know some," answered Tang Xiu.

Gui Jianchou spoke again, "Alright, then I'll tell you since you know some. I recently found some arm remains in Mist Source Island. That arm remains is kind of similar to human's, but it's covered with golden hair. After I did some analysis and diagnostics to measure the degree of its hardness and blood coagulation, I found something very unusual with this thing."

"I think I know the arm remains you just obtained. It should be an arm from a half-beastman, a Demihuman. I think you should give up researching it and join my research, though," said Tang Xiu. "It's just that the subject of my research is kind of related to some strange breed of a race so to say."

"Care to elaborate?" Gui Jianchou's interest piqued and he inquired more. "I'll agree to join you if it interests me."

"Well, I have a friend here." Tang Xiu glanced at Shanjenna and said with a pale smile, "She's a member of Bloodkin, well known as vampires by ordinary people. My researchers here are currently researching medicine using her blood."

"A VAMPIRE?" Gui Jianchou's scream was heard from the cell phone.

Chapter 790 - My Life is Only for You

Tang Xiu was very confident since he believed that a living vampire was much more attractive to Gui Jianchou than the Demihuman's arm remains.

As he expected, Gui Jianchou's tone turned a bit heavier and he nearly replied without hesitation, "Tell me the place and I'll immediately rush over. I'll join your research if you're telling the truth."

"Shanghai's Paradise Manor. I'll be waiting for you here,' said Tang Xiu with a smile.

Just as he hung up, a look of fear lingered on Shanjenna's beautiful face as she said with a long face, "Did you just invite someone else, Mr. Tang? Why? He... he won't do the same thing as this black-hearted old Mo and take my blood every day, right?"

"Well, he probably will," said Tang Xiu with a smile.

Hearing it, Shanjenna's voice immediately increased several octaves, "I REFUSE! I don't wanna be the first vampire of Bloodkin in history who died after having my blood taken too much!"

The Bloodkin sucked others' blood to live, not the other way around.

If she were to become the first vampire in history who died due to having her blood taken by others, a huge tempest would surely quake the entire Bloodkin clan. It would be recorded as a shameful event in the annals of history of the vampires. Her name would definitely be there and such a 'title' was not something to be proud of.

"It won't be that bad, you can rest your worries about that!" Tang Xiu waved and said, "Anyways, would you like to go back and have some rest, even though it's not that late now? You can take medicinal pills I just gave and see its effect, right?"

Shanjenna stared blankly before she immediately nodded, "That's right. Right, I'll have some first, you go tend to your business."

Having said that, she dashed out in a flash and her figure instantly vanished from the room.

Mo Yi came over and asked with a worried look, "Will your medicinal pills give a good effect to Shanjenna, Tang Xiu? I mean, it will be quite troublesome if she's unsatisfied with it and then quit. That will make all the previous efforts go down the drain."

"Relax! I guarantee that she won't quit," said Tang Xiu with a confident smile.

Mo Yi nodded and looked relieved, yet still hesitated since he curiously asked, "Can you tell me in advance about the origin of this Chinese medical practitioner you just invited? Can he cooperate with me to do the experiment?"

"He's Divine Doctor Gui Jianchou," answered Tang Xiu slowly.

Mo Yi looked vacant with a sudden shocked yet excited change in expression, as he then spoke with a shivering voice, "Y-you... you are able to invite Divine Doctor Gui Jianchou? Damn! He's a miracle-working doctor who's like a divine dragon whose tail and head are nearly impossible to catch! I've heard about his very resounding name and reputation for a long time!"

"Well, keep your excitement at reasonable levels, though." Tang Xiu said, "Divine Doctor or not, he's still a human. I hope his arrival will be helpful to you and that you can research what I need sooner."

"Don't worry! As long as there are any medicinal herbs that can substitute the substance I need, I'm certain I can research the stuff you want in the shortest time," stressed Mo Yi with a heavy nod.

"Alright, then!" Tang Xiu nodded.

****

Time fleeted by and seven days passed in the blink of an eye.

In a western-style building in the depths of Paradise Manor, Han Qingwu lied on the bed inside a spacious bedroom. Her eyelashes contracted a few times as her eyes slowly opened. As her sight recovered, two tears slowly slid down from her eyes. The glittering tears were unable to conceal the interweaving emotions of pain and remorse. Vaguely, the love that had been imprinted deep down in her bones and inscribed in her heart roamed inside as her innermost feelings.

'Soul Returning Grass.'

Han Qingwu slowly sat up. Her vision was still obstructed with the vague tears as the name of the herb came to her mind. She once believed in the past and even firmly believed that it was absolutely necessary to take that Soul Returning Grass. Yet now, she began to hate this herb and she would never think about taking it again if possible.

It was a debt she had in her previous life—a debt she still had to pay in this current life.

The pain she felt inside was way too deep and painful, so much so that she was afraid that she would never be able to pay it off.

She got dressed and quietly walked to the door, coming out to watch the bright sunshine outside. Yet, she sighed deep inside before she continued walking outside to the woods and sat cross-legged quietly.

She still had internal injuries, but it wouldn't be a problem for her now. She had just recovered the memory of her past life which brought about all kinds of mental states that allowed her to realize that her state of mind was no longer the same as her former self. She could recover from her injuries in several days as long as she willed it.

Yet, she opted not to as she was afraid Tang Xiu would be able to sense her true self now. She was afraid that he would find out that she had recovered her memory, and thus opted to keep her identity as only Han Qingwu, Tang Xiu's class teacher.

"Hey? You have woken up?"

Not knowing how long she had spent, Ouyang Lulu appeared on the path to the woods. She was surprised to see Han Qingwu sitting cross-legged on a large bluestone and quickly approached her.

Han Qingwu opened her eyes. It was like she was reacquainted with Ouyang Lulu since she took some time to carefully observe her and then slowly said, "I'm really sorry. I have troubled you."

Ouyang Lulu was one who was always fearless and was rather invulnerable to other's pressuring aura, yet Han Qingwu, who observed her for a short while, gave her an uncomfortable, creepy feeling. She felt that the current Han Qingwu was as though replaced by someone else after she woke up—especially her eyes that felt like they were able to see through her.

"You... what happened to you?" Suppressing the urge to turn around and run away, Ouyang Lulu braced herself to ask.

Han Qingwu looked dull for a moment before her expression slightly changed. Using her left hand to lift the long hair in front of her forehead, her eyes that seemed to be able to see through everything gradually faded away while that particular aura also stopped releasing from her body. She seemed to have returned to the former Han Qingwu, as she shook her head and said, "I'm... fine, but I'm kind of having some internal injuries and feel unwell. Anyways, Lulu, did you save me after I got possessed by a mental demon?"

Ouyang Lulu's heart lightened. She noticed Han Qingwu's eyes, which previously seemed as if able to see through everything, seemed to have vanished. She immediately thought the sensation she felt a while ago was just an illusion, yet she still held on to that suspicion and observed Han Qingwu before she replied, "I don't have such a great ability, you know. It was Tang Xiu. He hurried back from Jingmen Island; I don't know what method he used to save you either. Anyways, are you hungry? You've been in a stupor for over seven days, so do you want me to tell someone to prepare some meals for you?"

Han Qingwu touched her belly and then nodded and said, "Now that you mention it, I'm really starving. Sorry for troubling you though."

Ouyang Lulu rolled her eyes. "If you don't feel hungry then something would be wrong with you! There's no way normal people can go without eating and drinking for a week, can they? Alrighty, you still have internal injuries so just go back to your room and have some rest! I'll tell someone to prepare the meal and send them to you."

"Thank you," said Han Qingwu gratefully.

A few minutes later, Tang Xiu received a call from Ouyang Lulu and hurried to the woods. When he saw Han Qingwu sitting cross-legged on a large bluestone, he suddenly frowned and came striding in front of her, carefully examining her face a few times, and then spoke, "You have woken up?"

"Mmm, and thank you. I heard from Lulu it was because of you." Han Qingwu chuckled.

"No need to thank me, I just don't want you to die young," Tang Xiu waved and said, "By the way, you... can you tell me what happened to you that caused the emergence of your mental demon? Also, do you remember anything else after waking up from your stupor?"

"Um? What do you mean?" Han Qingwu replied quizzically.

"You don't remember anything?" Tang Xiu frowned and said, "Like the scene fragments that appeared in your mind previously?"

"No?" Han Qingwu shook her head and said, "I just feel that I have some internal injuries and they are quite serious. It's impossible for me to recover in a short time. Anyways, Tang Xiu, did something go wrong with my cultivation? How come my True Essence went out of control when I cultivated? It was like it went astray outside the cultivation circulation route outside my meridians?"

Tang Xiu took a deep look at her before he shook his head and said, "I'm not clear about it either. Anyways, now that you're awake, there's nothing I need to do here so help yourself. I still need to tend to my things."

Han Qingwu quietly watched Tang Xiu's back as he left. The deep love she had toward this man was now even stronger than the bright sunshine. She previously thought that she could never meet Tang Xiu again, even in all the lives that she reincarnated into. Never did she expect that she would be reborn, though under a strange combination of circumstances, and meet Tang Xiu who was still alive.

'Please set your mind at ease for I will only live my life for you for eternity.'

Lips squirming a few times, Han Qingwu whispered with a voice that only she could hear.

****

Tang Xiu indeed had something to do and was about to leave Paradise Manor before Ouyang Lulu called him. He felt rather disappointed that he couldn't get the answer he wanted, but he still put his concerns to the back of his mind and prepared himself to face the following issue.

The date to explore the three-star vestige in Strait of Malacca was getting closer and closer, whereas the assigned ability users by the country had also arrived in Shanghai. After Tang Xiu learned about it, the China authority had assigned a total of five people to represent the country in exploring this three-star vestige. Aside from the team captain, the three others had also arrived.

Adjacent to an old alley located in Jingning District of Shanghai, a relatively remote residential complex existed. The old street itself was quite well-known due to one wine shop and its pot of old wine.

As the common saying goes, fragrant wine fears no dark alley.

Feng Wineshop was established decades ago. Its owner had changed once and, despite the changing era and improved living standards, it still existed and was still a good, reputable wine shop in the eyes of many people.

"Welcome."

A youth approached and greeted at the tavern's entrance.

Tang Xiu nodded and instantly released his perception after entering this Feng Wineshop. Shortly after, he found the person he needed to meet in the corner next to the window. That person was... a middle-aged man whose face had a beard full of messy hair not much better than a chicken nest. The man was now enjoying his wine and was savoring his serving of meat and vegetable dishes.

"Zhu Long?" asked Tang Xiu. He could vaguely sense something extraordinary from the middle-aged man.

Zhu Long looked up and casually squinted at Tang Xiu and lightly replied, "Now that we're here, let's have some drinks first. The rest will arrive shortly and I'll act as the team captain this time. I hope you will strictly follow my order later."

"I've got no problem with that."

Despite knowing nothing about the arrangement set up by those people above, Tang Xiu was fine with it and decided to keep quiet since Zhu Long was going to lead the team. Moreover, he had prepared himself and, if there was not much danger in the three-star vestige, he planned to leave the team to conduct an in-depth exploration to find some treasures by himself.