1405 A Mutual Defea

"How is this possible?"

Shade Demon Zhu Wushou sent Tang Xiu flying with a punch, disbelief filling his eyes. Victory was just inches away from him, yet it had turned into such a miserable outcome in the end. Not only had three of the six Supremes he had brought perished, but there was even a chance of him dying in this battle.

"It's all or nothing now!"

A cold glint appeared in Shade Demon Zhu Wushou's eyes. His immortal soul flew out of his body and appeared five hundred kilometers away almost instantaneously. Even the numerous multi-colored lines that spanned across the void couldn't obstruct him from escaping that far.

"Detonate!" Shade Demon Zhu Wushou yelled frantically, and following that, his body exploded with a loud bang. Although the force of the explosion wasn't as deadly as an immortal soul's detonation, it had blown Tang Xiu away momentarily.

Tang Xiu's body flew out towards the distance like a broken kite while blood spewed out from his mouth. In the next instant, Xue Qingcheng's figure appeared behind Tang Xiu and caught him within her embrace, streams of tears flowing down her cheeks as she gazed upon his grievously injured body.

"Master!"

"Your Majesty!"

Apotheon Myriad Notes and the other three Supremes called out in alarm. They couldn't be bothered to battle the three enemy Supremes who had lost their will to battle already and rushed towards Tang Xiu and Xue Qingcheng's side immediately.

Shade Demon Zhu Wushou's immortal soul escaped and so did the other three Supremes. The remaining dozen Perfected Golden Immortals also fled with their bruised bodies.

Xue Qingcheng coughed out a mouthful of blood in the chaotic void and handed Tang Xiu over to Apotheon Myriad Notes very carefully. "Take good care of him."

Saying so, she covered the hole in her chest and flew across into the distance.

"Stop her." Tang Xiu wobbled his head dizzily and ordered Apotheon Myriad Notes when he realized Xue Qingcheng was planning to leave.

Apotheon Myriad Notes hesitated for a moment and smiled bitterly. "Master, although she saved you, she…"

Tang Xiu interrupted his words and said deeply, "She indeed committed a sin once, but how could the pain she felt be any lesser than mine? Myriad Notes, I've thought about it clearly now. Just the fact that she rushed over to save me today and was even willing to detonate her immortal soul and perish eternally so that I can make it out alive is enough for you to call her Madam again. Stop her, or else she absolutely won't live past an hour."

Apotheon Myriad Notes' expression changed, and he left to chase after Xue Qingcheng immediately. In just a short quarter-hour, he had arrived before Xue Qingcheng to block her path. "Madam, Master has told me to not let you go."

"Madam?"

Xue Qingcheng couldn't hold back her tears as she muttered, "Is he… willing to see me?"

Apotheon Myriad Notes said, "Master just told me a few moments ago that the reason you endangered your own life to save him and were willing to even detonate your immortal soul to safeguard him is that you really love him. Furthermore, Master has realized the reason behind your actions back then and believes that you must have suffered much harder than him."

"Did he… cough… really say that? He doesn't hate me?" A faint blush appeared on Xue Qingcheng's face, but these emotions just burned her life even faster. Even her flight had become a bit unstable because of it.

Apotheon Myriad Notes said solemnly, "Madam, Master really doesn't hate you. Please return with me quickly! Master's injuries are pretty grave, so he needs you by his side."

"What?" Xue Qingcheng cried out in alarm and rushed towards Tang Xiu immediately. As she had forcefully increased the speed of her flight, it caused her to cough two mouthfuls of blood again.

"Xiu…"

Xue Qingcheng's trembling voice was filled with concern and her tears flowed faster once she had arrived before Tang Xiu.

Tang Xiu took a deep breath and reached out to hold Xue Qingcheng tightly. "Let the matters of the past drift within the winds! You are still my, Tang Xiu's wife, and forever will be."

Xue Qingcheng's eyes glimmered with happiness. She had dreamt about hearing these words from Tang Xiu ever since she had regained her memories. Now that her dream had come true, she was ready to accept her death gladly at any moment now.

Tang Xiu took another deep breath and clasped Xue Qingcheng's face suddenly. "Since you've experienced a new reincarnation and have a new identity, you're no longer Xue Qingcheng. You're Han Qingwu now. Do you believe me, Qingwu?"

Xue Qingcheng… Han Qingwu nodded solemnly and said, "I believe you, even more so than I believe myself."

Tang Xiu said, "Your injuries are pretty serious. Even though I have a great amount of medicinal immortal pills and treasures, I still can't preserve your life. Therefore, I'll need to send you to a place. Even though I don't know whether you will be able to survive after entering there, there's at least some hope if you doing so."

Han Qingwu said with a nod, "I'll listen to you, and go wherever you want me to go. I won't even hesitate if you want me to die right now."

Tang Xiu took a deep breath and raised his head slowly. He utilized the fourth stage of the Heavenly Art of Cosmic Genesis to its fullest with all his strength and then used his divine power after assimilating his spiritual sense with the cosmos inside his Dantian. After that, a strand of Primal Chaos Force circled around Han Qingwu and pulled her inside the black vortex that had appeared on his chest suddenly.

This… was his first attempt to bring a human from the outside world to the cosmos inside his Dantian. The other entity that he had absorbed inside was the Heavenly Path Universe Tree, but he was attempting to bring an actual human inside this time. So, he needed to use the huge vitality of the Heavenly Path Universe Tree to protect Han Qingwu's soul and reignite her vital force again.

A few moments later, Han Qingwu felt her head spin in confusion as she found herself in a brand-new world. This expansive world had a series of planets in all directions, and she simply found it hard to believe her senses as she could feel a breath of life from all these planets.

"That tree…"

Han Qingwu trembled. She had a faint feeling that the beautiful and vivid multicolored tree was brimming with vitality. She could even see a light green energy flow towards her from the tree and enter her body as she absorbed the spiritual energy of the world. In the next moment, she could clearly sense that the strand of light green energy was raising her dwindling vitality.

"I never imagined it's really possible to hold life within this cosmos. Qingwu, how do you feel now?" An indistinct figure appeared before Han Qingwu suddenly.

Han Qingwu looked at Tang Xiu, who appeared a bit illusionary and unreal, and revealed an excited expression on her face. "The energy emitted by that tree is complementing my vitality. I should be able to survive if I remain here. Xiu, where is this place?"

Tang Xiu answered, "Inside my Dantian. It's a cosmos that I've established inside my Dantian."

Han Qingwu found this hard to believe. "You're actually able to establish this kind of world inside your Dantian? This is just… unbelievable."

Tang Xiu smiled faintly and said, "Since this place can preserve your life, go up that Heavenly Path Universe Tree to recuperate now! You can contact me using your spiritual sense if you need me. I'll be able to sense it."

"Mhm!"

Han Qingwu knew that her injuries were too serious, so she agreed to it and flew towards Heavenly Path Universe Tree.

Tang Xiu regained his divine sense and coughed out another mouthful of blood. His injuries were actually pretty grave. He surveyed his surroundings with his ice-cold gaze after he helped Han Qingwu settle and enveloped the surrounding ten thousand kilometers with a tremendous amount of Primal Chaos Force in just a few seconds.

"Souls, Gather, and Assemble."

Tang Xiu enunciated the words with his ice-cold voice, and in the next instant, rainbow-colored specks of starlight appeared within this range of hundred thousand kilometers. As Tang Xiu couldn't figure out which specks of soul force belonged to Eagle and Old Sycamore, he gathered all five types of specks and absorbed them into his body after segregating them into five rainbow-colored light spheres, sealing them inside his left hand.

He believed that he would be able to find a method to revive Eagle and Old Sycamore.

"Let's go!"

Tang Xiu took a deep breath and consumed a Purple Scent Pill, as well as two drops of god blood to heal on his way back to the army of the Great Tang Empire. He finally saw Apotheon Mu and the others who were rushing over half a day later.

"Master!"

"Your Majesty!"

Apotheon Mu and the others revealed shocked expressions and rushed before Tang Xiu, wearing worried looks on their faces when they saw their dire states of Tang Xiu and the others.

Tang Xiu took a deep breath and said deeply, "We encountered Shade Demon Zhu Wushou and almost died in their hands. However, now isn't the time to talk about this. We need to rush to the Vermillion Bird Holy Sect at once and help settle their crisis first. After that, we'll immediately engage in war with the Inner Pill Sect and Everlasting Palace."

"Understood!"

A few days later.

Tang Xiu recuperated while sitting cross-legged on an immortal flying artifact, and his expression changed suddenly as he sensed Han Qingwu call out to him from the cosmic space inside his Dantian. He immediately transmuted his divine sense into an avatar and appeared before Han Qingwu.

"What is it? Have your injuries healed?"

Han Qingwu answered, "The dwindling of vitality has already stopped, so the energy from the Heavenly Path Universe Tree is nourishing my immortal soul and body now. However, it would at least take a few years for me to recover completely."

Tang Xiu nodded slowly. "Recuperate here. I'll let you go outside once you have recovered fully. By the way, why did you call me?"

Han Qingwu asked, "You must be planning to attack the Inner Pill Sect and Everlasting Palace, right?"

Tang Xiu said with a nod, "That's right. The Great Tang Empire has a well-trained and powerful army now, and plenty of powerhouses. Even if all the powerhouses of Inner Pill Sect and Everlasting Palace band up together, they still aren't our match."

Han Qingwu nodded and said, "I know that the Great Tang Empire already has over a dozen Supremes currently. However, to ensure a certain victory, send someone from your faction to contact Missing Star Empire's Murong Tianbo, our former housekeeper. He will lead the Missing Star Empire's army to aid you."