Chapter 553 - Zhao Hongxiu

Clang!

Gao Fang immediately knelt and smashed his head on the ground. He shouted loudly, “Greetings, Master.”

Meng Chuan nodded slightly. “Very good.”

Following that, the illusory world collapsed.

Gao Fang was in a daze. He was still kneeling on the Grand Yin Star with his six companions.

“Gao Fang, follow me.” Meng Chuan waved his hand; Gao Fang didn’t resist at all. He was sent into a grotto-heaven.

Swoosh.

Following that, Meng Chuan took a step and vanished.

The six remaining cultivators exchanged looks.

“That Eminence actually took Brother Gao Fang away.”

“Unfortunately, he didn’t fancy us.”

The six Supremacies were filled with mixed emotions. It was already a great blessing for an Eminence to save them from the dire situation. They didn’t dare hope for the mighty figure to take them away. However, with one taken away, the remaining six naturally felt discomfort.

Envy and jealousy surged in their hearts.

“That Eminence might have taken away the cave abode, but he may have also left something behind. Let’s search carefully,” said the horned man.

“Search carefully again.”

The six Supremacies continued their search on the Grand Yin Star. In the next month, they did indeed find something. After all, the cave abode owner had lived here in seclusion for a long time. The Grand Yin Star was very vast. Many places had been the Eminence’s experimentation grounds for his techniques. Many other residences were also scattered around the star.

…

Meng Chuan entered the River of Spacetime again and arrived at Pang Ming Realm.

Whoosh.

Returning to the ordinary outer realm void, Meng Chuan looked at the inhabited world in front of him. Pang Ming Realm was about 15,000 kilometers in diameter. With the spacetime laws’ restrictions, Meng Chuan couldn’t enter it.

Swoosh.

Meng Chuan waved his hand, and Gao Fang appeared beside him.

“Master.” Gao Fang was somewhat puzzled. After being stored in the grotto-heaven for a moment, he had been talking with Supremacy Qing Gu. He was halfway through his conversation with Supremacy Qing Gu when he suddenly was thrown out.

“This is Pang Ming Realm, right?” Meng Chuan pointed at the inhabited world in front of him.

“That is Pang Ming Realm, my homeworld,” replied Gao Fang respectfully. He glanced at Pang Ming Realm and was secretly astonished.

His master was too fast. He knew that it would take him over 30 years to return to his homeworld from the Grand Yin Star through the River of Spacetime.

As for his master? He arrived in the time it took to exchange a few words.

“There should be another Supremacy in your Pang Ming Realm,” said Meng Chuan.

Gao Fang looked at Meng Chuan in shock and nodded. “Master is wise. There is indeed another Supremacy in Pang Ming Realm.”

“Tell me about that Supremacy,” instructed Meng Chuan.

“Yes.” Gao Fang felt mixed emotions.

There were two Supremacies in Pang Ming Realm. He had had some conflict with that person. They weren’t enemies, but they weren’t friends either.

“She’s a female Supremacy,” said Gao Fang respectfully. “Her name is Zhao Hongxiu. She’s the strongest assassin in Pang Ming Realm. She’s good at archery.”

“Archery?” Meng Chuan raised his eyebrows. He couldn’t help but feel an affinity towards her.

His wife, Liu Qiyue, was also skilled in archery. Very few outer realm cultivators used bows and arrows.

“Zhao Hongxiu’s personality is rather special.” Gao Fang hesitated for a moment and said, “In the early days, she was a member of an assassin organization. Later, she betrayed the assassin organization, which then pursued her… In the end, the entire assassin organization was destroyed because of this. She did everything according to her wishes. She hated corrupt officials the most. She even infiltrated the capital and killed the ministers under me.

“I’ve been cultivating for longer than her—800 years,” explained Gao Fang. “After I became a Supremacy, I unified the world and established the Great Xuan Dynasty. The Great Xuan Dynasty has been in existence for more than 600 years. Zhao Hongxiu has only cultivated for 300 years. When she grew in strength, the Great Xuan Dynasty was also helmed by my descendant as emperor. She ignored the Imperial Court and did whatever she wanted, causing me to fight her.

“She grew in strength extremely quickly. With the Zhao family’s archery technique as her foundation, she improved an ordinary archery technique to the perfected Grotto-Heaven realm. I fought her three times. In the beginning, I didn’t want her talent to go to waste. Furthermore, she and I were the only two Supremacies in the world. Therefore, I let her off for the first time and never pursued her.

“The second time, she managed to escape from me. The third time, I returned from the outer realm. When I saw her again, her strength was in no way inferior to mine,” said Gao Fang.

Meng Chuan was somewhat surprised.

He could tell at a glance that this disciple of his, Gao Fang, had an extremely powerful body. From his performance in the cave abode, he had at least cultivated three spear arts to the perfected Grotto-Heaven realm. He was considered extremely powerful among the outer realm Supremacies.

Zhao Hongxiu, who was just a sharpshooter, wasn’t inferior to him? Sharpshooters were extremely powerful when it came to offense, but they were typically weaker in other aspects. Meng Chuan was rather happy about Zhao Hongxiu’s talent—which allowed her to match Gao Fang despite cultivating for over 300 years only.

The higher one’s talent was, the higher their chances of becoming an Imperial Lord.

Meng Chuan smiled and nodded. “Gao Fang, make a trip to Pang Ming Realm and bring her out.”

“Master, you wish to accept her as your disciple?” asked Gao Fang.

Meng Chuan nodded.

“Zhao Hongxiu’s personality is different from mine,” said Gao Fang carefully. “After she reached the perfected Supremacy realm, she once went to the outer realm for decades. Later, she was disappointed with the outer realm. She returned to our homeworld and lived in seclusion for a long time. She is willing to live a peaceful life. I am not confident in successfully persuading her.”

“Go and give it a try,” instructed Meng Chuan. “Just do your best.”

“Yes.” Gao Fang’s heart trembled.

His master was clearly warning him not to play any tricks when he told him to ‘do his best.’

For example, he could enter Pang Ming Realm and not meet Zhao Hongxiu before coming back out to tell him that Zhao Hongxiu was disagreeable.

Master is willing to accept me as his disciple. I should be more careful, Gao Fang thought to himself. I shouldn’t anger Master. He can kill me with a flip of his hand; offending him won’t be worth it. Forget it. We are ultimately cultivators from Pang Ming Realm. I’ll give Zhao Hongxiu this great opportunity.

…

Gao Fang entered Pang Ming Realm, his homeworld.

Swoosh.

He flew at a high altitude before arriving above a mansion in a bustling city—Zhao Manor.

This mansion spanned more than five kilometers. It could be said to be a city in a city. The Zhao family had once been a large family clan in Pang Ming Realm, but it gradually declined. Zhao Hongxiu had found herself entering an assassin organization when she was young. However, she mainly cultivated the Zhao family’s archery technique after she rose to prominence. Furthermore, she improved the archery technique to an astonishingly high level.

Zhao Hongxiu reconstructed Zhao Manor and restored it to its golden era in history. In fact, during the most prosperous period in history, the Zhao family was still a step away from reaching the Supremacy realm. Now, the Zhao family was enjoying its most glorious period.

However, the Zhao family had very few direct descendants. In particular, there were very few people in this ancestral mansion. The clansmen of the branch families lived elsewhere.

“Oh?” Zhao Hongxiu sat cross-legged under a plum blossom tree. Snowflakes fluttered, and the fragrance of the plum blossoms filled the air. Zhao Hongxiu enjoyed peace and quiet. There were only about ten direct descendants in this manor, which spanned more than five kilometers. There were only about 100 servants. There was no one else within half a kilometer of Zhao Hongxiu. There were only some cats and dogs.

Zhao Hongxiu looked up.

A tall and muscular Gao Fang appeared in the sky. In a flash, he appeared on the snow. He looked at Zhao Hongxiu.

Zhao Hongxiu was still sitting cross-legged. She was dressed in a white outer robe and a red inner robe. Her eyes were long and narrow as she looked at Gao Fang. “How rare of you to drop by. You actually came back from the outer realm?”

They were two extremes.

Gao Fang was very well-rounded. Including the ultimate techniques that aided his physical cultivation, he had cultivated five ultimate techniques to the perfected Grotto-Heaven realm. He wanted to accumulate more insights so that he could reach the Heaven Earth realm.

Zhao Hongxiu’s focus was on archery. Strictly speaking, the Zhao family’s archery technique was something she had created. Ignoring the most important Supremacy-level portions, she had also modified the basic parts from before. She had created a perfected Grotto-Heaven realm archery technique. She naturally had extremely high combat strength.

“Zhao Hongxiu.” Gao Fang stood there and said coldly, “I met a Tribulation Eminence in the outer realm. This Tribulation Eminence has ties with Ancestral Master Pang Ming, so he’s willing to accept me as his disciple. He also knows that Pang Ming Realm has another Supremacy… and he’s willing to accept you as his disciple as well.”

“A Tribulation Eminence is willing to accept me as his disciple?” Zhao Hongxiu revealed a look of surprise.

“Yes.” Gao Fang said indifferently, “You can reject it; no one will force you. By the way, once you become an Eminence’s disciple, you will have to follow the mighty figure to a distant river zone. I’m afraid you won’t be able to return for a long time. Zhao Hongxiu, do you agree or not?”

Zhao Hongxiu smiled brightly. Her smile was even more beautiful than the winter’s plum blossoms beside her. “Of course I’m willing. Such an opportunity is most welcome!”

…

In the outer realm, Meng Chuan looked at Pang Ming Realm, which was in front of him.

After I recruit my disciples, I should return to Three Bay River System. Meng Chuan’s mind was already on his distant homeworld. That was the place he wanted to set up his base.