True Lord Erlang's third eye hung over Wu Yu like an apparition in his mind's eye. It was a reminder that if he was to exact vengeance for the eternal demon emperors and their legacy ancestors, he had to at least reach True Lord Erlang's level.
Still, slow and steady would win the race. Wu Yu had just devoured Lifeless Eternal Demon Emperor and Violet-Eyed Emperor's corpses, and reached 9-heavens immortal king with that. It would not be that easy to keep this rate up.
Therefore for now, Wu Yu did not study the other epochal immortal designs, nor did he attempt to devour any more eternal demon emperor corpses.
He decided to firm up his cultivation for now, and also Impart more revelations to Full Moon of Nanshan and the others.
All that the Lifeless Eternal Demon Emperor had accomplished, and his understandings of dao, were immensely beneficial to Full Moon of Nanshan, Ye Xixi, Luo Pin, and Jiu Ying. Wu Yu supported them fully, Imparting all that they needed.
This allowed them to improve at dazzling speed, and they shot through the cultivation realms!
Because their cultivation realm was not that high, the insights imparted from the eternal demon emperor helped them greatly.
This Imparting continued on for 10,000 years, until finally there was nothing left to glean from the two immortal emperors. By this time, they had all outdone themselves.
Just Full Moon of Nanshan, Ye Xixi, and Luo Pin alone could take on an eternal immortal emperor.
Jiu Ying was a little weaker - after all he had ascended later, and would not catch up so quickly. However, these 10,000 years had been helpful to him as well
"Do we continue cultivating here?"
As they finished processing all they could, Full Moon of Nanshan asked.
Wu Yu nodded. "The immortal essence qi here is not as dense as the sky palaces, but it is a safe place, where True Lord Erlang and the like will not appear. After we beat True Lord Erlang back the last time, I fear that he already holds a grudge against us. After all, we have offended him, and he might well be waiting for us in the sky palaces. More importantly, we have no powerful backer, and yet we could beat back an epochal immortal treasure. His interest will definitely be perked."
Once they returned to the sky palaces, they would need to face the third eye of True Lord Erlang. That was not something they could deal with.
And once they were caught, they were dead. And they guessed that if they landed themselves in another precarious situation, the three epochal immortal treasures might not be able to save them a second time.
"Let's continue cultivating here then."
Ye Xixi was in good cheer. Together with Full Moon of Nanshan and Luo Pin, their combined strength was catching up to Wu Yu's now.
And with the Supreme Gold Harrow and Demon Subduing True Scepter, they had continued to develop in new ways, and together Wu Yu found himself pressed hard.
This gave Ye Xixi a feeling of empowerment, that she could be of help to Wu Yu from now on, and not always be a burden that needed to be protected.
If they continued to cultivate, they would definitely continue to get stronger. Perhaps when they finally left this place, they would not need to fear True Lord Erlang. After all, there were still many eternal demon emperor corpses remaining in the Eternal Emperor Tomb.
Even if all the corpses could not bring all of them into the eternal immortal emperor realm, it could at least make them 9-heavens immortal kings.
With that, all of them would be basically able to fight an eternal immortal emperor.
Just as they were preparing to continue cultivation, Wu Yu received news from outside the Eternal Emperor Tomb. It was from Wu Jun.
"Uncle Wu Jun?"
Wu Yu showed only usual interest. He thought it would be just some kind words of concern.
Instead, as he opened the immortal message talisman, he found a very important message within.
"There is an eminent immortal who has come to Immortal Dragon Imperial Realm. He says he is here to see Wu Yu, and wants to take you in as disciple!"
Monumental news!
Wu Yu was taken aback by this. He continued to peruse the immortal message talisman. The eminent immortal was an ancient and enigmatic immortal with an incredible reputation in the sky palaces. Yet he was more or less hidden from the world.
This eminent immortal very seldom appeared anywhere in the sky palaces, and now he had come personally to Immortal Dragon Imperial Realm. The 9 Great Dragon Emperors had been thoroughly amazed by this.
This immortal was even more important than True Lord Erlang, and perhaps even stronger than he was. Even immortals like the Eastern Sublime Gracious Divine Emperor were very respectful towards him.
"This eminent immortal is called Patriarch Bodhi!"
Wu Yu was stunned at such an important message.
The Patriarch Bodhi was an elite immortal of the sky palaces, and had been around since as long as anyone knew. However, little was known about him given how seldom he appeared publicly.
But in the sky palaces, there was no immortal that dared to cross the Patriarch Bodhi, so high was his reputation.
"The Patriarch Bodhi has taken in many disciples, and all of them are eternal immortal emperors. Therefore, he is highly esteemed. If one becomes his disciple, one will definitely be protected by him. At that time, there will be no need to fear Mighty Miracle God, Dhrtarastra, or even True Lord Erlang."
Wu Jun wrote in his immortal message talisman.
"The Patriarch Bodhi is actually coming to Immortal Dragon Imperial Realm personally to take me as disciple?"
Wu Yu could not understand why. Could it be that the esteemed immortal had recognized his talent? Or perhaps he was related to the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal in some way?
Wu Yu knew nothing about the Patriarch Bodhi besides what information Wu Jun's immortal message talisman held for him.
Before this, Wu Yu had never even heard of the Patriarch Bodhi.
For such a powerful immortal to be so rarely heard of only furthered the aura of secrecy and mysticality.
Wu Yu knew that there must be a reason, even if he did not know what it was.
"This means that as long as I can become the Patriarch Bodhi's disciple, I can roam the sky palaces freely. Sounds very tempting. But I don't know anything about the Patriarch Bodhi. It sounds very uncertain." Wu Yu was undecided.
After receiving this immortal message talisman from Wu Jun, Wu Yu gathered the others to discuss this.
This deserved their full attention, either way. If they ignored it, then perhaps they would have angered the Patriarch Bodhi as well, and the return to the sky palaces would be even more dangerous than before.
"I feel like we can give it a try. If this Patriarch Bodhi is really so powerful, then we would have nothing to fear under his protection. We wouldn't need to cower around, right?" Full Moon of Nanshan said boldly.
He was the most incautious of them all, always eagerly grabbing advantages whenever they presented themselves. Once he heard that the Patriarch Bodhi wanted to take Wu Yu as disciple, he urged full commitment.
"Think carefully."
Luo Pin said, frowning thoughtfully. "I came across the Patriarch Bodhi once before in the histories of the mystical dragon tribe. It's said that he is far more ancient than the 9 Great Dragon Emperors, and perhaps no one in all of the sky palaces have been around longer than he has. He is definitely of eminent status. But we need to ask: Does he mean us ill?"
"So if he doesn't, we should go?"
Wu Yu asked Luo Pin.
She nodded. "Yes. There's nothing to be lost by it. Given the power of the Patriarch Bodhi, if he really wanted to hurt us, he would not need to resort to this charade. Even if True Lord Erlang wanted to lure us out, he could not possibly use the name of the Patriarch Bodhi himself. I think it is worth checking out."
Ye Xixi was the most worried. After all, at least they were safe here in the Eternal Emperor Tomb.
Nothing was for certain once they left.
Since young, she had grown up in the Jambu Realm, and so was more used to growing up in a confined environment.
But Wu Yu read that Luo Pin and Full Moon of Nanshan seemed to want to go for it.
"The Eternal Emperor Tomb is too secluded, and we will not reach the realm of eternal life by closeting ourselves here."
Wu Yu thought: "Besides, even if I devour all of the eternal demon emperor corpses here, does it guarantee that I can become as strong as True Lord Erlang? If I can't, then there is no meaning to hiding out here. And even if I can reach True Lord Erlang's level, it doesn't mean that I can take on the entire Heaven alone......"
"Now that there is a chance, I must make use of it!"
Although he had eternal demon emperor corpses to devour here in Eternal Emperor Tomb, but the sparse immortal essence qi meant that his cultivation speed was limited.
Back in the sky palaces, if he could truly become Patriarch Bodhi's disciple as Wu Jun had said, then things would be a lot more straightforward. At least, True Lord Erlang would not dare to touch them, and they could cultivate in peace back in the sky palaces, which was much better than here at the Eternal Emperor Tomb.
It was safe here, but would only kill their chances of getting ahead.
Luo Pin was also the dragon ancestor's heir, and could not stay away from them forever. Wu Yu decided to test their luck.
Most importantly, he had to get to the bottom of the destruction of the Demon Immortal Realm, and the murder of the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal.
"To become the Patriarch Bodhi's disciple, his test must be passed. Go to the 7200th level of Heaven, Mettle Sky, and there find the Cave of the Slanting Moon and Three Stars." Finally, Wu Jun wrote his own encouragement for them to take it up, and gave concrete instructions.
"Even if we cannot become disciples, if we leave quickly we can always return to the Eternal Emperor Tomb. I don't see much of a problem."
Wu Yu made the final decision.
Wu Yu felt a surge of excitement from the Ruyi Jingu Bang when he announced this, as though it had been waiting for this exact decision from Wu Yu.
This made Wu Yu guess that the Patriarch Bodhi might well be connected to the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal's legacy!
In any case, the answers lay in the 7200th level of Heaven.