1249 Entering Seclusion

18 days had passed since the battle that sent the lives of thousands of people from Celestial Wizard Clan into oblivion. However, everyone had also been trapped on the fifth island for 18 days as well. Fortunately, there were a lot of grain patches on the island. Otherwise, they would have ended up starving and half dead regardless of their powerful cultivation.

The fire had burned down the forested hill. Atop a slope, Tang Guang was frowning and kept watching a certain area covered by enormous energy in the distance. It was the spot where Tang Xiu was.

"What do you think about the Grand Master's situation now, Chi Nan? Why did such a situation happen all of sudden?" asked Tang Guang slowly.

Chi Nan rolled her eyes at him and snappily replied, "Who can I ask even if you ask me, silly? Besides, the Sovereign has tons of secrets. I don't know all his secrets even if I follow him every day!"

Tang Guang took a deep breath and suppressed his anxiety. Then, he lightly smiled and said, "Yeah, I already know that it's impossible for you to be Grand Master's aide who can be with him every day. It's just as impossible for you to become my woman, I think."

"Shit, you're asking for a beating, aren't you?!"

Chi Nan raised her hand and furiously growled. "Your filthy mouth really knows no bounds, bastard! I really wonder why Tang An could have such a shitty brother like you!"

"Well, I wonder about it too, you know."

The air in the surrounding fluctuated and a light voice passed into Tang Guang's and Chi Nan's ears. The scene even made several disciples of Tang Sect uproariously laugh.

Tang Guang's face instantly turned red and blue and he angrily shouted, "Hey, why did you add more insult to the injury, An? I'm still your brother no matter what I say."

"I wonder. Do you think so too, Chi Nan?"

Tang An's voice came out again and the laughter in the surroundings became louder.

Chi Nan just smiled in response and firmly shook her head. "It's not that I'm not sure about it. It's obvious, you know! Hahaha…"

The mocking and teasing made everyone's mind relax a lot. The tension after the battle was still high in everyone's mind, more so that they feared that Tang Xiu was facing a problem. The scene and the ambiance calmed their state of mind. Especially the smart Tang An, who rarely spoke but used the chance to intentionally speak a bit more and made everyone's mood return to normal.

"Huh?"

Tang An's expression suddenly shifted and she uttered a noise.

In the instant moment, all nearby Tang Sect disciples, as well as Singluen, who sat cross-legged not far away, turned their attention to the direction of the oppressive aura. All of them were powerful experts and had an extremely keen sense of the changes in the flow of energy in the surroundings. They could sense the enormous aura that came in a flash and was now slightly weakening.

Singluen floated up and quickly came to Tang Guang and the group. His eyes fixedly focused at Tang Xiu's direction and slowly said, "The aura is weakening, but with such a declining speed, it will completely disappear in at most 10 minutes. Is Boss really okay?"

"Possibly."

Tang Guang nodded. He had always been indifferent towards others aside from Tang Sect's people. But Singluen was an exception since he was well aware that Singluen was truly one of them.

Suddenly, the tide-like surging aura instantly disappeared completely. Immediately after, an aura that was tens of times larger than the moment before blasted out again. The tens of experts from Tang Sect, as well as Singluen and his five Guardian Elders, were sent flying. Their complexions drastically changed as they were blown away and smashed the rocky hill.

Puah…

Cough, cough…

Over 20 people spurted out a mouthful of blood and suffered heavy internal injuries.

Tang An emerged from the void barrier and knelt on one knee with one hand supporting herself on the ground. After coughing up a mouthful of blood, she murmured with a panicked and horrified look, "What exactly is going on? Did Grand Master just have an accident?"

Just as her voice faded away, Tang Xiu suddenly appeared out of thin air. But when he saw the scene in front, he immediately lifted his right arm and an awkward look appeared on his handsome face as wryly smiled. "Are you all right? I just broke through and can't easily control the sudden surging aura. Cough, cough… well, take this pill first!"

Having said that, four jade bottles appeared in his hand out of the blue. As the bottles' corks opened at the same time, more than 20 Holy Healing pills flew to the 20-plus people crawling up from the ground.

The 20-plus people exchanged dismayed glances with strange expressions on their faces.

It was just a breakthrough, how come he couldn't control the aura? Just being unable to fully control the aura was enough to release such a fearsome blast?

Tang An gulped down. She quickly flew to Tang Xiu and curiously asked, "Grand Master, you just said that you just had a breakthrough. So now your cultivation is…"

Tang Xiu gently raised his arm. Suddenly, he realized what had just happened and hurriedly lowered his hand again. His speed of lowering his hand was not fast, but such a slow movement caused the ground under his feet to be blasted and created a deep pit half a meter wide.

"Haih… I…"

The awkward look on Tang Xiu's face became stronger and he helplessly said, "I'm now at the late-stage of Crossing Tribulation. I was just a hair away from inadvertently breaking through the late-stage and went further. If it wasn't for the secret art I used to control my power, the Heavenly Tribulation would have descended by now. It was just… really an inadvertent incident. My power surged up too fast and I have yet to adapt to such a strong force. No… my body hasn't adapted to my power yet."

The Crossing Tribulation Stage and it just accidentally broke through?

The 20-plus people were petrified at the same time. The way they looked at Tang Xiu was like seeing an alien from outer space.

Does your Lordship know how shocking it is to us even though you only spoke a few words? The Crossing Tribulation Stage? And for god's sake, it's the Crossing Tribulation Stage, no less?! You would be ascending the Immortal World and becoming a true Immortal if you passed the Heavenly Tribulation!

After they came back to their senses, wry, forced, and bitter expressions filled their faces. Tang An finally forced a wry smile and said, "The matter of you breaking through to the Crossing Tribulation Stage is an event worth celebrating, Grand Master. I believe it won't take you long to fully grasp your power given your abilities."

"No." Tang Xiu shook his head and sighed. "Breaking through to the late-stage of Crossing Tribulation this fast is definitely not good! The sudden and enormous increase in power, yet being unable to control it, will make me blast out the power even for every slight action. I think I must enter seclusion and cultivate for a long time now."

"You've been working for all sorts of tedious things all this time, I think it would really be a great time for you to enter seclusion and cultivate, Grand Master," Tang An hurriedly replied. "With you solidifying your cultivation level and controlling your power better, you can lead us to become stronger and stronger later. But well, the most urgent thing for us is to break the array on this island first, though. We've been waiting for you for 18 days. It's not a problem for us to stay longer like this here, but the former members of Sacred Flame and some Dark Shaman clansmen may be starving to death."

18 days?

Tang Xiu didn't expect that 18 days had passed since the battle against the elites of Celestial Wizard Clan. Suddenly, he seemed to recall something and hurriedly asked, "Where's Vulcan?"

Tang An and Tang Guang exchanged looks and replied respectfully, "We killed him."

"You killed him?" Tang Xiu frowned.

"Yeah, the Sacred Flame suffered heavy losses this time. During the battle with the Celestial Wizard Clan, none of us helped them, so they suffered heavy losses and were left with less than 2,000 people. Vulcan was furious and demanded an explanation from you. I've observed him all the time and he seemed to have a killing intent towards you, and also harbored deep hostility towards the rest of us and Tang Sect. Therefore, we took the initiative to strike him first and directly killed him so as to prevent future problems."

Tang Xiu looked pensive and then nodded. "You've killed him and that's it. Besides, even if you didn't kill him, I would have killed him myself. The Sacred Flame needs not to exist anymore. Removing such an organization that only cares about money and disregard human lives is already a good deed. By the way, how did you deal with the rest of their members?"

Kuwako came forward and smilingly said, "They all chose to pledge allegiance to us, Sect Master. They are willing to become Tang Sect's peripheral members."

Tang Xiu frowned and said, "Is taking them as peripheral members of the Sect quite urgent for us?"

"I have their lives under control, Master. All of them will die as long as I will it," replied Kuwako.

Tang Xiu said, "You are taking them in…"

He abruptly halted his words and his eyes flickered before a satisfied smile appeared on his handsome face. Then, Tang Xiu nodded and praised. "You've done a good job, Kuwako. Anyway, since you've their lives in your hands, then they will obey your orders without fail. Let them stay dormant for some time and wait until I have completely stabilized my cultivation level. I'll devise some plans for them after I can fully control and unleash my Crossing Tribulation late-stage power."

"May I ask what shall we do next, Sect Master? Are we leaving this place?" asked Kuwako.

Tang Xiu thought about it and then said, "I can't leave for the time being since I will only bring damage and harm everyone else on the ship. You all go back first, I'll be staying here for a while. I'll leave this place after I can control my own power."

Kuwako's eyes lit up before she hurriedly asked, "Would you like me to stay here with you, Sect Master?"

"No need." Tang Xiu shook his head and said, "You have to settle those former members of Sacred Flame. You don't need to worry about me.

Having said that, Tang Xiu told Tang An the method to dismantle the array. He watched her break the array that covered the entire fifth island and sent them away, before sitting cross-legged on the coast.

Half a month later.

Tang Xiu was barely able to control his own power now. He then boarded a passenger ship left behind and hurried to the Nine Dragons Island.

After spending half a month in cultivation, he noticed that he would need at least several years to fully control the power of Crossing Tribulation late-stage. Once he could fully control it, he could choose to cross the tribulation and then become a true Crossing Tribulation Stage expert. He even had a faint feeling that he might be more powerful than ordinary Immortals once he succeeded in passing the tribulation. Further, it was likely that he would also be able to contend with Earth Immortal Stage experts.

"Entering Seclusion, it is."

As Tang Xiu returned to Nine Dragons Island, he arranged everything that needed to be done. Afterward, he directly chose to stay in the exquisite pagoda where Gu Yan'er had stayed to begin his long seclusion.