As Supreme Star Radiance assessed Star Tears, his aged face lit up in excitement and prompted him to say, "Tears, you have done well to come back. Well, indeed. And you have actually broken through to the Supremacy Stage too. It seems like our Vermillion Bird Holy Sect's forces to withstand the enemies have increased by yet another margin now."
Star Tears was just about to speak when she discovered several figures taking to the skies and flying over towards them in a blitz. She continued saying in an excited tone, "Ancestor, I've indeed broken through to the Supremacy Stage, but I have something more important to tell you and elder brother."
"Auntie Star Tears!"
"Martial Aunt Star Tears!"
"Star…"
Hundreds had blitzed over towards Star Tears with quick movements, all of them revealing surprised and jubilant expressions when they sensed Star Tears' aura.
Star Tears' sight wandered across all of them and sent an interspatial ring towards them. Then, she told them joyously, "I've returned."
"What?"
The upper echelon of the Vermillion Bird Holy Sect, these hundreds of members, all scoured the interspatial ring with their spiritual sense and immediately revealed ecstatic expressions.
"Heavens! There are so many Immortal Crystals and medicinal pills in here!"
"My Vermillion Bird Holy Sect has hope now with all these Immortal Crystals, Crystal Essences, and large amounts of medicinal herbs and pills…"
"Auntie Star Tears has brought back so many good things."
"The Heavens have eyes! I can finally see the hope now…"
"…"
The eyes of the upper echelon of the Vermillion Bird Holy Sect turned moist, and their bodies trembled with excitement. Some of them even screamed towards the skies.
Supreme Star Radiance and Supreme Star Soul glanced at each other, their expressions changing greatly. The things that Vermillion Bird Holy Sect lacked the most right now were Immortal Crystals and Crystal Essences as the amount of Immortal Crystals and Crystal Essences in the sect's treasure vault were already running pretty low. It was so bad that even the disciples of the sect were rarely provided with Immortal Crystals and Crystal Essences for cultivating.
"Star Tears, follow me."
Supreme Star Soul took a deep breath and suppressed the excitement in his heart from appearing on his face. After telling her this, he flew towards the meeting hall of the Vermillion Bird Holy Sect. Supreme Star Radiance and Apotheon Carmen Mist showed no hesitation in following behind him.
Star Tears felt warmth bubble up in her heart as she looked at her close ones. She then seemed to recall something all of a sudden and immediately brought out Star Luminous and Star Peng from within the Heavenly Abode artifact.
"Elders, I, Star Luminous, have broken through to the Perfected Golden Immortal Stage."
"Elders, I, Star Peng, have broken through to the Perfected Golden Immortal Stage."
The two of them roared loudly, tears running down their cheeks as they once again saw those dear and familial faces.
Supreme Star Soul, Supreme Star Radiance, and Apotheon Carmen Mist all felt grateful that Star Tears had brought Star Luminous and Star Peng back, yet this only made them fly towards the meeting hall faster.
After a short while, Star Tears entered the meeting hall and greeted Supreme Star Soul, who was seated on the sect master's seat, deferentially. "Sect Master, Star Tears has returned."
Supreme Star Soul took a deep breath and asked in a deep voice, "Tell me, where were you these past few hundred years? Although a lot of our Vermillion Bird Holy Sect's allies have come to this place over the past few hundred years, none of them had any information about your whereabouts."
Star Tears could feel the concern her elder brother had for her, so she said, "Sect Master, now isn't the time to discuss this. I've returned with a large number of things this time. I'll give them to you so you can distribute them to the sect's members."
Supreme Star Soul furrowed his brows and said faintly, "Star Tears, you being able to return was a good thing in itself, and though our Vermillion Bird Holy Sect needs the things you have brought, it's not too late to distribute them later on."
Star Tears took out six interspatial rings and sent them to the front of Supreme Star Soul before saying, "Sect Master, take a look at these things first. You can decide after that."
Supreme Star Soul turned silent for a moment. After his spiritual sense checked the contents of the six interspatial rings, his tall and sturdy body stood up at once, and a shocked expression floated upon his face. He raised his head to look at Star Tears and asked with much difficulty, "These… are all the things you have obtained outside over the past few hundred years?"
Star Tears nodded and said, "They were all given to me by him to bring it back to you."
"Who is he?"
Supreme Star Soul asked anxiously.
Star Tears shook her head and said, "Sect Master, distribute these resources first. We can talk about other matters in a little while."
Supreme Star Soul took a deep breath and began laughing cheerfully as a smile climbed upon his face. "Our Vermillion Bird Holy Sect truly has hope now. The resources Star Tears has brought back are enough to sustain our sect for another thousand years. Grand Elder, I'll give all these things to you. Distribute some of these and store the rest in the sect's treasure vault."
Apotheon Star River received the six interspatial rings with an excited expression. After checking the contents, he too began laughing out loud cheerfully.
After a while, besides Supreme Star Soul, Supreme Star Radiance, and Apotheon Carmen Mist, only Star Tears remained inside the meeting hall. Star Tears then used an immortal art to cover the entire hall under a formation. When she saw the puzzlement on the trio's faces, she explained, "I have two things I have to inform you all with my return this time, and both are related to the life and death of our Vermillion Bird Holy Sect. The final matter is also a very important one that's a piece of delightful news, but…"
Supreme Star Soul said, "Star Tears, if you have something to say, just say it. Don't keep us hanging now."
Star Tears said, "Elder Brother, you absolutely cannot let anyone else know what I'm about to tell you. Even in our Vermillion Bird Holy Sect, only the four of us must know it, no one else."
Supreme Star Soul remained silent for a moment and then nodded firmly. "Speak! We promise not to tell anyone else."
Star Tears smiled. "Although you're trapped in the Aurora Immortal Domain, you're still able to get some news from the outside world, right? Especially the events that have occurred in the recent hundred years."
Supreme Star Soul nodded and said, "Indeed. Some of our sect's members stranded outside were actually able to break through the enemy blockade and return to the sect. They also brought back a lot of news about the events that occurred in the outside world. Tell me, just what have you gone through these past few hundred years?"
Star Tears said, "A few hundred years ago, I was gravely injured by Shade Demon Zhu Wushou's disciple, Old Vicious, but he didn't kill me and instead sold me to a Convict Arena to make me a deathmatch fighter. I was trapped inside the arena for several hundred years and had to keep facing other deathmatch fighters in battles. However, someone bought me from the Convict Arena ninety years ago."
"Who was it?"
Supreme Star Soul's expression changed. But, although he realized that his little sister had suffered a lot over the past few hundred years, he didn't forget to inquire about the identity of the benefactor who bought her.
Star Tears said, "He's called the Great Tang Heavenly Emperor."
Supreme Star Soul, Supreme Star Radiance, and Apotheon Carmen Mist all looked at each other with excitement. They had heard about the legend of this Great Tang Heavenly Emperor over the past hundred years. He was a peerless genius that had awed the entire Immortal World and the founder of the Great Tang Empire.
Supreme Star Soul asked, "Since he bought you, why did he let you return so easily?"
Star Tears said, "He really returned my Soul Plate to me, and even accompanied me to the Secret Palace of the Drunken Immortal to obtain the immortal fate in there. In the end, I was able to receive Supreme Drunken Immortal's inheritance with his help and was also able to get the Secret Palace left behind by Supreme Drunken Immortal."
"What?"
Looks of disbelief flashed across the trio's faces. Although they weren't in the outside world, they had made several guesses about who could have obtained Supreme Drunken Immortal's inheritance. Still, they had never imagined that this person would actually be Star Tears.
Apotheon Carmen Mist was the quickest to react and recovered from the shock shortly. She said excitedly, "No wonder you broke through to the Supremacy Stage so quickly, Little Sister Star Tears. So, you have actually obtained Supreme Drunken Immortal's inheritance. This is already the most joyous news for our Vermillion Bird Holy Sect."
Star Tears shook her head. "Sister-in-law, although me obtaining Supreme Drunken Immortal's inheritance is something to feel happy about, it's not the most joyous news. Also, I was only able to obtain Supreme Drunken Immortal's inheritance because of the Great Tang Heavenly Emperor's assistance. If it weren't for him, it would have been difficult for me to even survive in the Secret Palace, let alone obtain the inheritance."
Supreme Star Soul asked, "I don't understand it. That Great Tang Heavenly Emperor should be a Perfected Golden Immortal, right? Why didn't he take Supreme Drunken Immortal's inheritance then and instead helped you obtain it?"
Star Tears said, "He doesn't need it. And after communicating with Supreme Drunken Immortal, even he didn't wish for the Great Tang Heavenly Emperor to take it."
Supreme Star Soul couldn't believe this. "He's actually capable of communicating with Supreme Drunken Immortal whose body is present in the God Realm? How is that even possible?"
Star Tears said, "Elder Brother, it's because he has crossed his divine tribulation once."
Countless thoughts flashed through Supreme Star Soul's mind momentarily. He then asked in a deep voice, "Just who is this Great Tang Heavenly Emperor? If he has crossed his divine tribulation, why didn't he ascend to the God Realm and stay behind in the Immortal World as a Perfected Golden Immortal?"
Star Tears explained slowly, "There's a reason for that. At his weakest moment, that is, when he was about to cross his divine tribulation, his two best friends mounted a sneak attack on him and finally killed him. If it weren't for a wisp of his divine soul that somehow managed to enter another world, he would have long perished in soul and body."
Supreme Star Soul sighed and said, "The moment Supremes cross their divine tribulation is indeed their weakest moment. If you don't have a trusted person protecting you, it's quite easy to get attacked by others. Without obtaining the baptism of the divine radiance, it's impossible to ascend to the God Realm and become a God."
Star Tears nodded and said, "It's indeed as you say."
Star Radiance suddenly asked, "Tears, you have spoken so much, but you have yet to tell us who this Great Tang Heavenly Emperor is. I've once gone through records of all the Supremes that have appeared in the Immortal World over the past hundred thousand years, but there was no mention of this Great Tang Heavenly Emperor. Is he an expert from an even older era?"
Star Tears shook her head and said, "No, he isn't."
And then, her gaze fell on Apotheon Carmen Mist's body. Seeing the inquisitive look on her face, she slowly said, "He isn't an expert from an even older era, but rather an expert from the same era as us. He's my nephew, Elder Brother's and Sister-in-law's son, and Ancestor's bloodline descendant—Star Cultivation Great Emperor."