Chapter 1266: Culling Out Future Troubles
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Facing unknown enemies would make anyone be on guard. The black-masked big man shot a fierce look and raised the tip of his saber slightly. Then, he asked again in a fierce tone, “One last time, who are you and what have you secretly been researching in this desert?”
Tang Xiu didn’t bother to waste time talking. He calmly glanced at Zhu Long before vanishing. The moment after, heads flew and blood pillars streaked into the air. In nearly the blink of an eye, tens of Pyramid experts who chased down the fleeing Zhu Long’s team had been completely massacred by Tang Xiu.
This...
Zhu Long and the two Special Abilities Bureau’s experts stared dumbly and tongue-tied at the scene in front of them. They were unphased by the bloody scene but the thing that made them unable to believe their eyes was Tang Xiu’s unfathomable might. It only took him a flash to kill all the tens of experts. How did he become so terrifying?
“Am I dreaming?”
One of the Special Ability Bureau’s experts mumbled to himself. But he immediately found that Zhu Long and his other companion were also looking at him with complicated eyes.
Inside the underground base.
Duanmu Lin stood still with hands crossed behind his back inside the surveillance room in the base. The huge monitoring room was as big as a basketball court, and the big screen in front of him showed the situation in the desert above.
“All of them... were killed... so easily?”
Duanmu Lin’s current strength was not as before. He was able to judge the strength of the tens of Pyramid experts that chased Zhu Long’s team. He could tell that the mysterious hulking man who led them was very likely to be even stronger than him. And yet, they were so easily killed by Tang Xiu alone?
The current Tang Xiu... what realm had he reached?
Regret filled Duanmu Lin’s eyes. He knew that he had been a frog viewing the sky from the bottom of a well. Even if he knew how vast the outside stage was, he was still standing still, conceited and complacent with no desires to explore further. What he regretted the most was that he had also thrown away a huge chance that had been presented before his eyes due to his stubbornness and the feeling of glory brought to him by this base, all of which made his attitude towards Tang Xiu change.
It was due to his changed attitude...
It was only when he stated such improper remarks that he finally realized that he had made the wrong choice.
Immortal World! Immortals and the myriad of races!
Recalling how wonderful that incomparable world was, regrets filled Duanmu Lin’s whole being. Countless impulses drove him mad and made him want to chase Tang Xiu and apologize to him, yet he halted every time in the last moment, thinking that he must reserve the dignity he still had left.
“I can still do well without relying on him in the future, can’t I?”
Duanmu Lin fell into silence for a long while before he finally let out a deep sigh, closing his eyes and suppressing his regrets and unwillingness.
****
Amid the dreadful heat waves that made the desert like a steamer, Tang Xiu easily traversed it and the expression on his handsome face was very calm. Prior to this, he taught a set of cultivation techniques to Duanmu Lin, in the hope that he would pledge loyalty and work for him in the future. However, it was obvious that the increase in strength and the long years on the top position had swayed this man’s heart.
Tang Xiu himself had encountered such people countless times. Back when he was in the Immortal World and had countless men under him, such a case happened frequently. Some of them were subordinates he rescued from their enemies. But after they faced great opportunities and their strength skyrocketed, their attitude towards him then changed. Even some of them went so far as to tear all decorum with him and turned their faces away.
One’s character was indeed the factor that would decide one’s future.
Although he felt slightly regretful, it only brought a minuscule regret to Tang Xiu. Even though he had already taught the man a cultivation technique, regardless of whether this man would still remember his grace or no matter how far he could go in the future, that would be his own business and had nothing to do with him anymore.
He even didn’t bother about anything else. After he left, he would still hand over the intel network of the Great Tang Empire and its ordinary personnel to the Chinese authority and this man. It was his hope that China would become more and more powerful in the future in order to be able to lead mankind smoothly to set foot on the Milky Way and start the era of interstellar voyage, while at the same time having the ability to protect themselves.
“You seem to have some concerns in mind, Master.”
Tang Ahlang, who kept following at Tang Xiu’s side, wore a thoughtful look on his delicate face.
“I do have some concerns in mind, indeed.” Tang Xiu nodded.
“Is it about Duanmu Lin?” asked Tang Ahlang.
“You got a good insight, Boy.” Tang Xiu smiled. “That makes me feel more optimistic about you.”
Tang Ahlang said, “I’ve read hundreds of books and gleaned much of their essence. No matter how stupid I am, I can still see how people behave and grasp the psychological aspect of people’s conduct. In fact, I’m sure Duanmu Lin is filled with regrets now. But you didn’t give him another chance.”
“Regardless of whether I choose to regress this time or not, he will still show his current attitude if he makes significant achievements in a certain aspect in the future,” Tang Xiu calmly explained. “One’s character is something deeply ingrained in their bones. Such people are bound to have changes in attitude no matter whether they are mortals or immortals. But some may change for the better and improve, whereas some others will just get worse.”
Tang Ahlang nodded in response and said, “Each and every person does have their own respective path in front of them. But they can only resort to schemes when the path they choose is heading to nowhere.”
Tang Xiu faintly smiled in response. He stretched his hand to grab Ah Lang’s shoulder. His figure suddenly streaked up into the sky while wrapping Ah Lang with his power. In just a short moment, both of them had already arrived at the road they took two days to traverse previously. It then took another ten minutes or so before they appeared in a city several hundreds of kilometers away.
Swish, swish, swish...
Sword beams flashed and a number of heads fell to the ground.
In an ordinary courtyard in a remote residential area, tens of foreign practitioners were slain by Tang Xiu instantly. All of them were members of the Stygian Club. Tang Xiu easily detected them with his perception after he entered the city.
“Who are you?!”
A furious roar came from the house as a red-robed old man dashed over with two young men in front of Tang Xiu and Ah Lang.
“Ah Lang, those two boys are quite formidable. Go deal with them as practice,” Tang Xiu calmly said.
Tang Ahlang hesitated and then forced a smile. “Master, I may have broken through to the Nascent Soul Stage, but I only fought with fierce beasts in the pocket world at most. I’ve never tried fighting with other people! In case...”
Tang Xiu raised his hand to interrupt him and said indifferently, “Everyone has their first time in everything. Although they are not as good as you in terms of strength, they have a strong smell of blood and rich killing aura; they’ve obviously killed many people and have rich combat experience, so they’re good enough to serve as a whetstone to sharpen yourself.”
Tang Ahlang took a deep breath and a firmer expression flashed in his eyes. He dashed several steps forward to the three men, cupped his fists and said, “I’ve fought countless times in my childhood, but I’ve never fought with any practitioners. The two of you, give me everything you got. Because it will be either you both or me to die in the next fight.”
The old man’s pupils shrank. He just sensed a powerful presence that made his scalp tingle and a chill to run down his spine. He wished that he could run away instantly at the time, so he took his two disciples rushing outside when he smelled blood.
However, the scene in front of him sent a shiver all over his body and made him shudder.
There was neither a scream nor any type of resistance!
The present scene obviously showed that his men were all killed in an instant, giving them no time to fight back or cry out for help.
Nascent Soul Stage!
This young man just said a cultivation level of Chinese cultivators. Many people in the Stygian Club may not know about this cultivation level term, but he was perfectly clear about its significance.
If the disciple had reached the Nascent Soul Stage, then what about his master? Wouldn’t that make this seemingly young man the likes of those ancient monsters who had been living for centuries?
“Who the hell are you people?” the old man asked in a deep voice.
“I don’t think you’re qualified to know who we are,” Tang Xiu replied lightly. “You just need to know that your death is due today.”
The old man coldly hummed but didn’t go straight at Tang Xiu. The tragic death of tens of his men before his eyes reminded him of the creepy feeling he felt previously. After hesitating for a moment, and when he was about to bring his two disciples back to the house to escape through the rear window, he suddenly sensed a burst of fearsome force that directly restrained his body, giving him no chance to break free no matter how hard he struggled.
“Stay still!”
After conjuring the restraining technique that instantly restrained the old man, Tang Xiu retracted back his Primal Chaos energy. He then chuckled and said, “What are you waiting for, Ah Lang? Just slay them directly if they want to escape. I’ll let them go if they fight openly and you lose.”
One of the two similar-looking youths immediately asked the old man, “Can we kill him, Master?”
The old man blinked and bitterly said, “Fight together to defeat him, but don’t kill him. If you two can defeat him, I’ll bestow you with two daggers, and I’ll refine them myself.”
“For real?” Surprised, they looked happy and exclaimed.
“For real.”
The old man wanted to nod, but he couldn’t even move his neck at this moment. In desperation, he could only look at Tang Xiu with pleading eyes, asking for mercy.
A mocking look flashed in Tang Xiu’s eyes as his palm slapped forward. The old man’s head instantly flew up and he directly died as the blood sprayed from his neck.
“Master!”
“Master!”
The faces of the two young men drastically changed and disbelief filled their eyes. In their eyes, their Master was simply an invincible existence. He was even able to slay tens of terrifyingly powerful practitioners by himself in the past. He even took them to some mysterious places and killed some fearsome fierce beasts.
And yet... such invincible existence was so easily killed by a wave of this young man’s palm?
How could this be possible?
“You two, listen to me,” Tang Xiu said. “I just gave you the opportunity to keep your lives. I’ll spare your lives if you can kill my disciple. If you can’t, however, you will only go to hell to accompany your Master.”
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