Recalling all the things he had gone through, Seaway Monarch replied with murderous intent, "Yeah, he's the one—Shade Demon Zhu Wushou."
Zenith Venerable pondered for a moment and slowly said, "My enemy is not Shade Demon Zhu Wushou, but if our Master is willing to help you get rid of him, then he may also be able to help kill my enemy. I will forever give my loyalty to him if he can help."
"Who exactly is your enemy, though?" Seaway Monarch asked curiously.
"Icesnow Supreme, Han Tiannan." Zenith Venerable gritted his teeth.
"Well, we have too many enemies. It'd be great if our Master can really help get our revenge." Seaway Monarch forced a smile. "But I do think the Great Tang Empire would be developing into a terrifying existence in the future given its current state. Leaving all else aside, just those children who started cultivation from their early, tender age alone are simply killing machines in the making. With such an iron-fist training regime, they will likely become fearsome killers in the future."
Zenith Venerable nodded. "I've been to countless Immortal Domains and seen countless Immortal armies. I even had my own share of training such an army myself. Yet, in terms of military discipline, attitude, and training regime, I've never seen one that could rival the Great Tang Empire's four major legions. But what shocked me the most was those 30,000-plus Monster Immortals. From my observation and understanding, these sentient monsters have survived for more than hundreds of thousands of years and are likely even older. Their accumulation and comprehension have reached a terrifying level. I'm sure you have also noticed that several hundreds of Celestial Immortals among those Monster Immortals have broken through to the Golden Immortal Stage recently, right?"
"Yeah, I did notice it, but there's something else you missed here," Seaway Monarch replied.
"What else have you noticed?" asked Zenith Venerable curiously.
"I accidentally ran into another disciple of our Master—that young man called Chen Zhizhong. He has the Praecantator artifact of ancient times other than being a Praecantator cultivator himself. Although the clan that possessed this sorcery artifact suffered persecution and was cruelly oppressed and vanished, I'm sure you're also clear about this clan's terror, yes?"
Zenith Venerable blurted out in horror, "Then they are…"
Inside the majestic palace.
Apotheosis Bella sat cross-legged on the Nine Dragons Cathedra. Her complexion was pale and her vigor was even weaker, while some bloodstains could also be seen on her chest.
"Apotheosis Immortal…"
After Apotheon Mu came floating and landed on the floor, he saw Apotheosis Bella's appearance and looked worried.
Squeezing out a smile, Apotheosis Bella happily nodded and said, "You didn't let me down, Apotheon Mu. Heavenly Mountain is a trap set by the enemy and a chance to get out from that place is dismal. I'm really thankful that you understand the truth that the chance to get revenge is always there as long as we're still alive."
Apotheon Mu took the Holy Dragon Fruit from his interspatial ring, wrapped it with his Immortal Force, sent the fruit to Apotheosis Bella, and said respectfully, "Venerable, there have been some circumstances and things changed, so I have yet to rush to save my four martial brothers and sister in Heavenly Mountain. I brought this Holy Dragon Fruit for you, please take your time to heal yourself after I leave."
Apotheosis Bella was taken aback and shocked. She held the Holy Dragon Fruit and scrutinized it for a while, then turned to look at Apotheon Mu and muttered, "As one of the main ingredients for concocting the Primordial Chaos Pill, the Holy Dragon Fruit is very scarce and extremely precious. How… did you find this fruit?"
Apotheon Mu faintly smiled in response and said, "That aside, this Junior has an important matter to discuss with you in private, Apotheosis Bella. It's very important. I hope you can grant my wish."
Junior?!
Apotheosis Bella was dazed because she realized that it was the first time Apotheon Mu addressed himself as a junior in front of her. It had been thousands of years and it was the first time.
What exactly is going on?
This person in front was undoubtedly Apotheon Mu. It was just impossible for him to deceive her eyes with some shape-shifting art or the likes. But why did he act out of his usual mannerism?
She remained reticent for a while and then slowly said, "You guys leave first. You're not allowed to enter without my summons."
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two elderlies, one male and one female, appeared in front of Apotheosis Bella out of nowhere. Wariness and vigilance were evident on their faces, and the old woman said in a deep voice, "Venerable, there's something amiss with Apotheon Mu. He brought 2 Perfected Golden Immortals this time, and I've met one of them, Zenith Venerable, whose strength cannot be underestimated."
Apotheon Bella shot a deep glance at Apotheon Mu and replied in a deep voice, "You both don't need to say more. I choose to believe him. After all, he didn't need to bring the Holy Dragon Fruit if he had the intention to harm me. Well, he doesn't need to pull any tricks either on this matter since it's hard for me to even last for another century."
"About this…"
The two elderlies exchanged glances before they finally retreated with a wry smile.
Apotheosis Bella shifted to Apotheon Mu and calmly said, "I already ordered them to leave and we're the only ones left here. I'm all ears!"
Apotheon Mu looked around first and contemplated for a moment. Then, he spoke, "Senior Venerable, what I'd like to discuss with you is very important. Not just for me, but also for you. That's why there must be no one else here, else after all the things we're about to speak here were to be known by others, no matter how much you trust them, it will only be harmful to them."
Apotheosis Bella's complexion slightly changed, but she still replied serenely, "Just say it! I guarantee that we're the only ones left in this place."
Apotheon Mu paced a few steps forward and sent a voice transmission, "Senior Venerable, my Master asked me to send his regards to you on his behalf."
"What did you say?"
Apotheosis Bella abruptly lunged forward and appeared in front of Apotheon Mu in an instant. Her trembling hands instantly grabbed Apotheon Mu's front robe and she shouted sharply, "I forbid you to spit out any bullshit about him or anything else related to this matter! Explain! You owe me an explanation!"
Apotheon Mu smiled in response and said, "Venerable, my Master is not dead. He's back."
"He didn't die? He has come back?!"
The short sentence was as though exploding thunderclaps in Apotheosis Bella's heart, shocking her to the core for some time. It took her a while to recover from the shock as tears appeared in her eyes. She asked with extremely fluctuating emotions, "Where's he now? Tell me quickly!"
Her voice turned very sharp when she was finally able to speak.
"Haih, please don't get too worked up and excited. Your injury is very serious, Venerable." Apotheon Mu forced a smile and said, "Master is in my place in the Misty Spring Ocean. He can't come here or even see you due to some particular circumstances."
Apotheosis Bella snapped. "Why? Why can't he see me now? Tell me what bullshit circumstances he's in! I've sacrificed and risked my life countless times for him. Even countless relatives and friends of mine have died in battle. What are those particular circumstances that he doesn't want to come to see me?"
"Venerable, Master didn't die due to his failure in crossing his tribulation but was ambushed by others and died. Fortunately, a wisp of his soul traversed through space and entered a lower plane world and was barely able to survive. Master has been cultivating from the scratch again and his cultivation is at least comparable to Celestial Immortals. But his enemies in the Immortal World, just those Supremes alone, are no less than five. Do you think he can easily reveal his identity? Do you think he can come here so easily without courting the storm to come?"
Apotheosis Bella's pupils shrunk and she staggeringly paced five steps backward before she was able to barely stabilize her footing. Her shocked expression began to recede from her face and she growled with intense killing intent in her voice. "Are Great Emperor Danqing and Zither Demon Jiuyao among those Supremes?"
Apotheon Mu nodded and said, "The two of them are archenemies. You may have no idea that after I left your Immortal Lyceum last time, I ran into Zither Demon's dogs and was besieged. If it wasn't for Master and his people who arrived in time and killed the enemy's 6 Perfected Golden Immortals and gravely injured the other two. I'm afraid I'd have already vanished into oblivion by now."
Finally, Apotheosis Bella understood why Tang Xiu couldn't come to see her.
He was facing difficulties with so many enemies on all sides.
Two lines of tears flowed down Apotheosis Bella's face. She cried joyfully for a long time in front of Apotheon Mu before she finally wiped the tears off her face.
"Apotheon Mu, does he… still dislike me and shut me out just like before?" Apotheosis Bella looked very afraid and asked carefully.
"No." Apotheon Mu shook his head. "Master already knows what you've done for him and feels guilty toward you. But I can see from his emotions that he seems…. to care about you when I mentioned you to him."
He cares about me?
Apotheosis Bella's eyes widened and she quickly savored the meaning of the words. A happy and surprised look gradually appeared in her eyes before she looked ecstatic shortly after.
"He now cherishes and cares about me? Did I finally touch his heart?"
Apotheosis Bella's body slightly shivered and she burst into tears again as she said aloud, "Tell me about his thoughts and plans, Apotheon Mu. He has enemies and we'll kill them all. He has come and there's nothing in this Immortal World he can't achieve. I… I trust him. I believe in him."
"There are four issues he did mention." Apotheon Mu smiled.
Apotheosis Bella's eyes lit up and she immediately said, "Spit them out. I'm all ears!"
"The first one: the news that he's still alive can only be known to you alone. You can never tell another soul about this, no matter how close the others are to you," said Apotheon Mu. "Only both of us know that he's still alive, even Martial Aunt Star Tears who have been following Master has yet to be told about this."
"I promise you on this," Apotheosis Bella said in a deep voice.
"The second one: Master wants you to seize the time and take the Holy Dragon Fruit to recuperate," Apotheon Mu smilingly said. "Try to recover back to your prime condition within a few months. In addition, I also brought you some healing elixirs that can speed up your recovery."
Apotheosis Bella firmly nodded and said, "No problem. After obtaining the Holy Dragon Fruit, I'm sure I can be back to my prime condition in a few months at most."
"The third one: Master needs Immortal Crystals and Crystal Essences. The more, the better. After getting Immortal Crystals and Crystals, I must go back immediately and give them to him."