Tang Xiu's accumulated experience was so rich that it had long made him realize that there were too many powerful hidden dragons and crouching tigers to count in the Immortal World. Only by keeping a low profile could they keep their lives longer. On the contrary, they could also act just like that robed old man should they want to die quickly. The impulse and anger of a moment were enough to eventually lead to his own cruel death.
Now, this is interesting.
A smile appeared on the corner of Tang Xiu's mouth and climbed up to his face. He noticed that the gamblers around him had already moved far away, leaving him and Gu Yan'er still near the middle-aged fatty's group of three.
The middle-aged fatty also realized that Tang Xiu and Gu Yan'er were the only ones who hadn't left. He only took a glance at them a few times before and knew how this pair of man and woman didn't show any reaction nor harbored hostility toward him. Hence, he observed the couple again and saw their unfazed and serene expressions, as though they did not see anything disturbing—a finding that surprised the middle-aged fatty a bit.
A remarkable bunch, huh? Be it their stature or bearing, they are absolutely superb. I can even tell her appearance is definitely top-notch.
The middle-aged fatty's sharp eyes glanced at Gu Yan'er's hand that coiled around Tang Xiu's arm. Immediately after, he laughed aloud and said, "I admire your extraordinariness, Lil Bro. Care to sit with me?"
Tang Xiu slightly creased his brows and indifferently smiled. "Nah, my legs just went a bit limp after getting scared by that number 1 expert of Hessen Castle. I stroll around to forget it so as not to make myself a spectacle here. But you can come over yourself if you wanna have some fun, though!"
A gleam flashed in the eyes of the middle-aged fatty. He then patted the shoulders of the two voluptuous women and floated to Tang Xiu and Gu Yan'er. After taking a seat next to Tang Xiu, he lightly chuckled and said, "Well, did you just bump into that Empyrean Pole Lady, Lil Bro? Right, that pitiful lady always comes to the Stargazing Pavilion every millennium, hoping to see the return of that Celestial Pole oldster. It's no secret here."
A surprised look gleamed in Tang Xiu's eyes and he replied with a smile, "It was nothing but a flash meet, though. Still, I gotta maintain a fearful appearance in front of such a powerhouse. But you're quite an interesting person yourself, Mister. Are you familiar with them as Master and disciple?"
The middle-aged fatty burst into laughter and replied, "Me familiar with 'em? More than familiar! HAHAHA… you're so damn interesting, buddy. You truly are. It's been like eons ago since I last saw a youngster as interesting as you. Care to share with me where you come from?"
"Just a trivial loose cultivator who's drifting from place to place and seeing the world as his home, nothing more," Tang Xiu calmly said. "Do you think I'm too tender or something?"
The middle-aged fatty couldn't help but laugh. "Hahaha, you look like a youngling to me, indeed."
Youngling?
Tang Xiu and Gu Yan'er exchanged glances and both smiled a bit. As Tang Xiu shifted back, he nodded and smilingly said, "I'm indeed a youngling—so young that it's kinda inevitable to act brazenly and frivolously. Well, you can call me Great Tang Heavenly Emperor, or just Great Tang. What about you, Mister?"
"Ugh… Great Tang Heavenly Emperor?" The middle-aged fatty couldn't help but burst into laughter and then shook his head with a smile. "You really don't know what humility and modesty are, do you, little guy? Not even I… dare to call myself the Great Emperor or Heavenly Emperor! Anyhow, I feel you're a very interesting person, Great Tang Lil Bro, so let's play a game. I'll tell you mine if you win, but you gotta let me see the appearance of the belle next to you if I win. Deal?"
The smile on Tang Xiu's face slightly receded and he calmly stated, "You know, that Celestial Pole oldster told me personally that curiosity will kill the cat, so let's not mention such a matter anymore if you wanna make friends. But if you do harbor malice, we'll keep you in the game happily."
The middle-aged fatty stared blankly and froze for a moment before slightly frowning. To the best of his knowledge, Celestial Pole oldster had been missing for thousands of years, yet the young man in front of him actually said that the guy told him that in person?
Is there something wrong? Could it be that this young man has just met that Celestial Pole oldster recently?
The middle-aged fatty ruminated for a while and was about to speak when his expression slightly shifted. He suddenly recalled Tang Xiu asking him if he felt that the guy was young.
Could it be… is he… a reincarnation of a super-powerful supreme cultivator or something?
That's right. These two didn't even faze when my woman killed that robed old Profound Immortal.
What was more, no matter how he placed himself as someone from a higher stature, the young man was neither humble, servile, nor overreacting. He just maintained his extraordinary bearing, which no youngster was capable of pulling off before him.
The middle-aged fatty shot a deep look at Tang Xiu and said, "I'll pass the request I made just now, but you just need to answer me another question."
"Damn, sure enough. You really got curiosity-overwhelmed, didn't you?" Tang Xiu lightly chuckled and said, "Alright, I'm all ears. Ask your question."
"What's the relationship between you two?" asked the middle-aged fatty.
"She's my disciple," Tang Xiu answered.
"And also his woman," Gu Yan'er added while holding Tang Xiu's hand tightly and expelled out her Golden Immortal aura in a flash moment.
The middle-aged fatty took a deep breath and immediately realized how on the mark his guess was. The young man in front of him may very likely be the reincarnation of a super-powerful supreme cultivator. Otherwise, how would he have a Golden Immortal disciple when he just obviously advanced to the Immortal Stage? More so that his Golden Immortal disciple was just a hair away from breaking through to the Perfected Golden Immortal Stage.
The middle-aged fatty's mouth arched and he lightly smiled. "No matter what your past identity was, you're now just a common small Immortal in my eyes. The name is Nine Nether Swordmeister, Great Tang Lil Bro. You can just call me Nine Nether Big Bro."
Nine Nether Swordmeister?!
Beside Tang Xiu, a cold gleam flashed in Gu Yan'er's eyes. She knew who this Nine Nether Swordmeister was—a man who was almost as famous as her as well as a similarly fearsome lunatic Perfected Golden Immortal expert. Both of them had long been regarded as fearsome and scary devils by countless people.
"Nine Nether Swordmeister of the Burial Tomb Sect?"
A complicated look flashed in Tang Xiu's eyes before he nodded and said, "Our friendship can be witnessed in the future, but I'm now too poor that I can't even take out some Immortal Crystals to buy a few Golden Immortal gladiators. So, for the first meeting gift, I shall meet 3 requests of yours in the future. I'll never refuse your request so long as it is within my capability."
3 requests?
Light gleamed in Nine Nether Swordmeister's eyes. Looking at Tang Xiu meaningfully, he then nodded and said, "Fulfilling 3 requests for the first meeting gift is something heavy, Tang Lil Bro. We're friends, and the first meeting gift is something reciprocal. How many Golden Immortal gladiators do you need, exactly, Lil Bro? Let me pay for them!"
"Hahaha…"
Tang Xiu laughed aloud and raised his thumb up, praising. "So rich and lavish, Nine Nether Big Bro! You know, 20 Golden Immortal gladiators cost 150 Immortal Crystals, so your gift is more than the 1 million Crystal Essences gifted by Madame Empyrean Pole as well as those lavish dishes worth millions of Immortal Crystals provided by the Stargazing Pavilion before. But I'll accept since we're friends!"
"Huh?" Nine Nether Swordmeister was surprised and asked in amazement, "Since when did the Empyrean Pole Lady become so generous?"
"No idea. Not familiar with her at all," said Tang Xiu with a smile.
Nine Nether Swordmeister burst into laughter yet again and shot an admiring look at Tang Xiu. "You know, you really are interesting, Tang Lil Bro. Many people are eager to climb relationships with such a secretive Empyrean Lady powerhouse, yet you just blatantly tell me that you're not familiar with her, huh? That's so damn interesting!"
"Heh, I've always been honest with my friends, you know." Tang Xiu chuckled.
"Bwahaha…" Nine Nether laughed aloud. "Honesty between friends, huh? I fucking love that. Anyway, Tang Lil Bro, you gave me 3 requests, so I'm cashing one of them now. I'm gonna gamble big in about 8 months, so I wanna ask your help to win that game. What do you think?"
"An enemy of yours?" Tang Xiu asked.
"Yep!" Nine Nether Swordmeister nodded and said, "We got a feud, and the Empyrean Pole Lady mediated us to resolve the grudges. Hence, the big gamble was finally settled and the feud will end no matter who wins. But I can get quite the enormous benefit if I win, and my lifeforce will be greatly damaged if I lose."
"Alright, but I don't dare to give you a 100% guarantee, mind you. I can only do my best on that.," Tang Xiu nodded.
"No worries!" Nine Nether Swordmeister said, "I won't pin all my hopes on you alone. Just keep me accompany to provide me some advice and suggestions. It's not like I can lay the blame on you even if I lose."
At the moment, several Convict Arena guards came to the group of people and the Director narrowed his eyes and stared at Nine Nether Swordmeister. "Please pay a fine of 1 million Immortal Crystals if you know the custom of our Convict Arena, Sir. Someone from our side will explain it to you if you are unaware."
Nine Nether Swordmeister flicked his finger and an interspatial ring appeared in the hand of the Convict Arena Director.
As the other party checked it with his Immortal sense, he nodded and stated, "Everyone in our Convict Arena is our distinguished guest, so I hope you don't go too far. Just gamble with your enemies and defeat them all if you don't feel happy. It's far more interesting than killing them. You won't need to pay a million Immortal Crystals even if you kill them. You just need to go to the lobby and apply for a death fight contract and you can definitely reap the life of your enemy."
Nine Nether Swordmeister waved and said, "I already knew that. Just scram!"
The old Golden Immortal indifferently smiled in response, but he shot a friendly smile to Tang Xiu before leading the guards away.
"Anyway, you know that guy, Tang Lil Bro?" Nine Nether Swordmeister asked.
"We got casually acquainted since I talked about buying 20 Golden Immortal gladiators before," replied Tang Xiu with a smile.
"What are you buying that many Golden Immortal gladiators for, though?" Nine Nether Swordmeister asked, "Do you want them to be your protectors or something?"
"Nine Nether Big Bro, don't you think I can be spared of some troublesome things in the future if I have a bunch of henchmen at my side?" Tang Xiu replied with a smile, "Pity that I'm too poor now, else I would have bought tens or even hundreds of millions of Golden Immortal death warriors to eventually form the Golden Immortal Army. In the future, I only need to wave my hand or point my finger whenever I'm unhappy and my Golden Immortal men will straightly crush and flatten my enemies, no?"
"Cough, cough…"
Nine Nether Swordmeister couldn't heave even one breath and nearly choked upon hearing it. The suffocating feeling turned his face red and his expression was bizarre. After a while, he gave a thumbs-up to Tang Xiu and exclaimed, "Damn, Tang Lil Bro…. you're really a damn wonderful… marvel! You can even think about such a grand idea…. This Bro of yours truly admires you!"