428: Half a year later

After giving the two a good lecture, Su Xiaobai returned to the capital.

Then, he shamelessly begged the Empress for forgiveness.

For the first few days, the Empress couldn't be bothered with him.

However, upon hearing that Shui Yanling and Dongfang Qian Yue had also suffered the same treatment, her attitude changed.

People are like this: when only they are suffering, they become depressed, angry, lose their appetite, and can't sleep, wondering why they alone are suffering.

But when a group of people are suffering the same loss, a hint of schadenfreude arises in their hearts, and they even want to drag more people down with them!

Moreover, comparatively, she was the one who suffered the least!

After all, she was strong, and as soon as she felt pain, she immediately gave Su Xiaobai a good beating.

But Shui Yanling and Dongfang Qian Yue had it much worse; they couldn't resist Su Xiaobai and could only grit their teeth and endure.

Especially Shui Yanling, with the lowest cultivation and worst physical condition; if Su Xiaobai had woken up any later, she might have passed away directly.

No wonder she was indignant and wanted her and Dongfang Qian Yue to also experience this pain.

With this comparison, the Empress's anger dissipated by more than half, and she even felt a strange sense of satisfaction.

Ultimately, she still let Su Xiaobai in.

With no other unexpected developments, the two began their Luck cultivation.

...

Time flew by.

In the blink of an eye, half a year passed.

Many things happened during these six months.

First, the Sect Leader of the Xuan Yue Dao Sect was inaugurated; originally, everyone thought the Sect Master would be Immortal Revered Master Immortal Li, Sect Leader Wang Ming's Personal Disciple.

But the result was unexpected: the one who took the position was actually a woman.

Most of the Elders were initially unconvinced; even if the Sect Master position wasn't for Immortal Revered Master Immortal Li, it should still have been chosen from among their esteemed Elders.

How could a young girl with no proper standing, no authority, and shallow qualifications inherit it?!

However, upon learning that the woman was actually Su Xiaobai's Revered Master, their attitudes immediately changed drastically, and they greeted her with smiles, their expressions as fawning as could be.

Are you kidding me! Bing Ling has Su Xiaobai backing her; with this great mountain, their Xuan Yue Dao Sect won't fall!

Comparatively, what does it matter if Bing Ling takes the Sect Master position?

Anyway, what they value is Su Xiaobai behind her, not her as a person.

But this notion was completely shattered three months ago.

Because Bing Ling actually broke through to the Second Realm!

Becoming an existence standing at the Peak of the cultivation world!

Their Xuan Yue Dao Sect had lost all its Second Realm Cultivators, and they never expected it to be replenished; how could they not be delighted?!

Relying on others is not as good as relying on oneself; compared to hoping for Su Xiaobai, they naturally hoped their own Sect Master could stand on her own.

At that time, the entire Xuan Yue Dao Sect was covered in ice and snow, like an ice age, which was truly spectacular.

Some Grand Elders of the Supreme Realm wrapped themselves in thick cotton coats, and even though their noses were running from the cold, they couldn't resist the temptation to get closer and observe.

This was the phenomenon of a First Realm Cultivator breaking through to the Second Realm; merely observing it was enough to benefit them greatly!

At that time, Su Xiaobai personally came to protect Bing Ling.

There were no accidents throughout the process; with Su Xiaobai present, no one dared to provoke, and Bing Ling ultimately broke through to the Second Realm smoothly.

Great Zhou gained another Second Realm powerhouse.

After Bing Ling emerged from seclusion, she caught up with Su Xiaobai for a while, then went back into seclusion to consolidate her Realm.

And not long after Bing Ling's Breakthrough, an extremely powerful aura erupted from within the Ghost Gate Demon Sect.

It was indeed the aura of the Second Realm!

Su Xiaobai had just finished his Luck cultivation with the Empress and was drinking Peerless Grade health-preserving wolfberries to nourish his kidneys.

Upon sensing this aura, his eyes narrowed, and he immediately teleported above the Ghost Gate Demon Sect.

As expected, it was Second Hall Master Li Luo who had broken through.

However, his Breakthrough's commotion was much smaller compared to Bing Ling's; aside from the Second Realm's pressure, there were no other distinguishing features, unlike Bing Ling's Breakthrough which brought snow flying everywhere and froze a thousand li.

Su Xiaobai had given him most of the source crystals he had plundered and searched for in the World Beyond Heaven previously.

Although these source crystals could only achieve an ordinary Second Realm, Li Luo accepted them resolutely.

Now, he did not disappoint everyone and truly achieved the Second Realm.

Su Xiaobai congratulated him immediately.

At the same time, all the other Hall Revered Masters of the Ghost Gate Demon Sect, except for First Hall Revered Master Lin Tiantian who was still on the front lines, also rushed back to congratulate him and ask him to treat them to a meal.

Like Bing Ling, Li Luo did not stay long in the outside world; after exchanging pleasantries with everyone for a moment, he immediately returned to seclusion to consolidate his Realm.

The addition of two new Second Realm powerhouses boosted everyone's morale significantly.

At the same time, Su Xiaobai also observed that in Tianji Pavilion, Senior Sister had already broken through to the First Realm.

But she showed no intention of coming out of seclusion, clearly wanting to continue pushing for a higher level.

Even Su Xiaobai couldn't help but feel jealous of such a Prodigy-like promotion speed.

As expected of the Dao Seed left by the Heavenly Dao, there were no Bottlenecks at all; if he hadn't been cheating all this time, he would have been left so far behind by Senior Sister that he wouldn't even see her taillights.

Su Xiaobai didn't disturb her either.

Additionally, there was an even more gratifying matter.

The Empress finally broke through to the Middle Stage of the Second Realm, reaching the Late Stage of the Second Realm!

It must be known that the Empress was not an ordinary Second Realm Cultivator.

She not only carried the nation's Luck but also used Heaven-Grade Source Crystal for her Breakthrough, making her the most top-tier Second Realm powerhouse among those of the same Realm, besides Su Xiaobai.

The Empress in the Late Stage of the Second Realm could stand undefeated even against the Peerless Great Peng, who was at the Peak of the Second Realm back then!

And with the Empress's Breakthrough to the Late Stage of the Second Realm, the weakness of Great Zhou's insufficient top-tier combat power was temporarily compensated.

But Su Xiaobai's face showed worry.

Because he discovered a drawback of Luck merging cultivation: it was too slow!

The Empress herself had already reached the Peak of the Middle Stage of the Second Realm, just a step away from entering the Late Stage of the Second Realm.

Yet, even so, it still took a full four months for her to barely break through.

And ever since he broke through to the Middle Stage of the Second Realm, his Realm growth had also become extremely slow.

He recalled that in the Heavenly Dao's study, the demoness had once told him: I recommend you use the method of mutual devouring, swallowing her; this way, you can quickly increase your Realm in a short period.

In contrast, while mutual integration benefits both parties, the increase in strength is too slow.

Su Xiaobai frowned; if it were a time of peace and prosperity, mutual integration would undoubtedly be the best method, but the current situation...

But very quickly, he shook his head, abandoning this thought; what use was power gained by sacrificing the life of a loved one?!

As things stood, the Demon Emperor's emergence from seclusion was unknown, and he could only take one step at a time, trying to increase the daily time he spent cultivating Luck with the Empress.

Furthermore, there was one thing he concealed from everyone: the Seal left by the Nine Nether Great Emperor in his body was getting weaker and weaker, and he had a premonition that in another half a year, Purple Demise would break free.

This timeframe was undoubtedly despairing for him.

The demoness had told him that as long as he broke through to the Third Realm, she would have a way to elevate him to the Immortal King Realm.

But from the current situation, the Third Realm was still a long way off.

His true lifespan only had half a year left...

He had not told the Empress and the others about this, because he knew that for an existence like Devil Emperor Purple Demise, they would be powerless and would only worry more.

Since that was the case, it was better to spend the remaining half year happily with them.

And when Purple Demise truly was about to break free, he already had a plan in his heart...