Lan Xiaobu inwardly sighed with relief—how close he’d come to running straight into that figure. He’d known the black sand space was tied to a colossal existence, and the poison of the Yin-Yang Divine Grass was linked to this being. But he hadn’t expected such overwhelming power—a First-Turn Saint.
Thankfully, he hadn’t met the figure face-to-face. If they’d clashed head-on, could he have escaped with his life? That was hard to say. Inside the illusion array that dissolved into black sand, his chances of fleeing would’ve been slim—the opponent wouldn’t have given him time to use the Great Severing Technique. Outside the black sand space, though, he might’ve had a shot at getting away.
No, he’d offended too many people, each stronger than the last. He had to boost his strength fast.
He wasn’t sure why that powerhouse hadn’t dealt with him when he’d arrived, but regardless, he needed to leave immediately.
The next scenes from his Time-Reversal Technique left Lan Xiaobu stunned. The black figure who’d rushed off returned—not only returned but began casting hand seals all around.
Was he setting up array patterns? Lan Xiaobu quickly confirmed it. The figure was indeed laying down trigger array patterns, along with teleportation ones.
That meant the departing powerhouse could return here in an instant, sending a chill down Lan Xiaobu’s spine.
His first instinct wasn’t to tear into the illusion array but to flee.
Yet he soon dismissed that thought. The figure hadn’t detected him. If they had, they wouldn’t be setting triggers—they’d have subdued him outright.
The reason? He was inside the area where the triggers were being placed, not outside. He’d arrived first, and only then did the figure start setting up the perimeter. Fortunately, he’d pre-arranged a teleportation array here and used it to return from the Divine Essence Pill Sea in less than half an hour.
He couldn’t stay. Touching those trigger patterns was out of the question—the figure could teleport back anytime.
After erasing all traces around him, Lan Xiaobu unleashed his Great Severing Technique.
The divine ability effortlessly sliced through the illusion array, and he stepped onto the black sand once more.
Standing there, Lan Xiaobu instantly understood why the figure had set up monitoring and teleportation arrays.
His No-Thought Gold had been tampered with. Lan Xiaobu cultivated the Eternal Life Great Dao, a path he’d forged himself out of a desire for longevity. It was his own creation, so he had an innate sense—his sixth sense—whenever someone touched an object he’d marked, like the No-Thought Gold. Though it hadn’t moved, he knew the figure was fishing, waiting for him to return and trigger the outer arrays, allowing an instant teleport to catch him.
Relief washed over him. When he’d first arrived, the figure clearly hadn’t noticed. If they hadn’t detected him then, the illusion array here might not even be their work. Plus, the figure was likely in deep seclusion at the time. Had the spatial collapse and rule shifts not occurred, they might still be secluded.
Since the figure sensed the collapse near the Divine Essence Pill Sea, they were likely tied to it. The arrays there were crafted by someone far beyond Lan Xiaobu’s understanding. Without his Cosmic Dimensional Model, he wouldn’t have even entered, let alone taken the pills. A simple connection to the Pill Sea? Hardly.
Lan Xiaobu left the No-Thought Gold untouched and began ascending from where he’d landed before. He’d considered planting a monitoring array, but the figure’s overwhelming strength made him reconsider. He didn’t want to risk alerting them—slipping away quietly was best.
Divine sense was suppressed here, the rules akin to those in the void canyon outside the Pill Sea. Had he not tempered his divine sense there, ascending would’ve been impossible. Even so, his pace was much slower than when he’d entered.
Three days later, his divine sense brushed against the stone wall that devoured it. Before encountering the black figure, he might’ve explored inside—unfazed by the Yin-Yang Divine Grass poison. Now, he had no such inclination and sped up instead.
After more than ten days, Lan Xiaobu burst through the rift and landed in the Leafless Forest. Despite the surrounding mist of Yin-Yang poison, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Gazing at the poison mist spanning tens of thousands of miles, he didn’t leave immediately. Instead, he began setting up a sealing divine array. As an eighth-rank Divine Array Master, sealing this spot was within his reach.
Using several top-grade and ten high-grade spirit veins, he forcibly sealed the hundreds-of-miles-long rift in the Leafless Forest. In his mind, that figure mustn’t reach the Rootless Divine Realm anytime soon.
He sealed only a thousand-mile radius around the rift, leaving the outer ten thousand miles of poison mist untouched. That deterred outsiders—if he cleared it, people might frequent the area.
Within the sealed thousand miles, he used arrays to break down the Yin-Yang Divine Grass poison, funneling the resulting liquid into a spatial gourd he’d crafted. He’d done this once in the Great Desolate Divine Horn; this time, it was even smoother.
No matter how much poison that figure released below or what their goal was, from today, the Yin-Yang mist wouldn’t grow. Any new poison would become liquid in his gourd.
…
A month later, Lan Xiaobu’s Reincarnation Pot entered the Bu Zhi Domain.
He’d once found chaos qi here and killed Qu Peng. That discovery had made the domain famous, drawing crowds. Now, returning, he found it sparsely populated, with only a few lingering at the edges. The open-air market at the outskirts lingered on, but its decline was inevitable.
No surprise there. With the realm’s perfection, the Rootless Divine Realm had benefited too. For countless rogue cultivators, better cultivation spots abounded. The Bu Zhi Domain no longer stood out.
The Reincarnation Pot plunged into the domain’s depths, stopping half a day later between towering peaks. Though deep in the domain, with the Rootless Divine Realm’s rules improving, the divine spiritual qi here remained scarce.
Lan Xiaobu selected two matching peaks, carved out two caves, and set up defensive arrays to enclose them before calling Bei Suting out.
“We’re out of the Forsaken God Abyss?” Bei Suting exclaimed, thrilled. She gazed at the red sun hanging in the sky, her eyes misting over.
Since arriving in the divine realm, she’d never seen the sun. The abyss was perpetually gloomy and gray. Without the daily hope of Divine Essence Pills, it was no place for anyone.
She didn’t need Lan Xiaobu’s answer—her surroundings confirmed it. Closing her eyes, she took several deep breaths.
After half a month of healing, she’d recovered eighty percent. Though still thin, color had returned to her face, and her skin was regaining plumpness.
Lan Xiaobu handed her a few array flags. “Friend Suting, I’ve set up two caves here. Enter this one to cultivate and stabilize your realm. I’ll be in the cave on the opposite peak. If you decide to leave someday, go ahead—no need to tell me. I might seclude myself for a long time. Unless something extraordinary happens, I won’t step out.”
The ring he’d given her last time held ample Divine Essence Pills, plus several top-grade and high-grade spirit veins—enough to carry her to Quasi-Saint perfection.
Lan Xiaobu was a grateful man. Though he’d often saved Bei Suting, he deeply appreciated her leading him to the Pill Sea. Without that, how could he seclude himself to aim for Quasi-Saint?
“Thank you, Big Brother Lan. I’ll seclude myself for a while too,” Bei Suting said with a bow. She knew not only had Lan Xiaobu saved her, but her return to a normal realm was his doing too.
Lan Xiaobu waved it off. “Go cultivate. I’ve planted spirit veins here, and with the pills, the divine spiritual qi beats what you had near the Pill Sea.”
Beyond better qi, it was safe—no sudden ambushes or collapsing spaces to fear.
Once Bei Suting entered her cave, Lan Xiaobu returned to his.
He’d planted several top-grade spirit veins here and arranged his Chaos Divine Essence Pills into a pill lake. Sitting at its center, he began cultivating.
He wouldn’t leave until he reached Quasi-Saint.
With the heavens shifting, strength was everything. Without it, anywhere he went, he’d be less than an ant. If he were a First-Turn Saint now, would Kun Wei dare prattle on? He’d storm Taihan Sacred Mountain with his Eternal Life Halberd. As for Buzhou Mountain—circle the base and leave? Hah, no way. He’d climb it to seek the Pangu Axe.
Even late Quasi-Saint would spare him from skulking about.
