While Lan Xiaobu thought this way, the Reincarnation Saint certainly didn’t share his perspective. To him, it was perfectly normal for that Eternal Saint back then to use the Great Planetary Technique to annihilate countless realms and stars in a bid to fend off the Eternal Saints ambushing him.
It was akin to how Lan Xiaobu had unified the Great Wilderness Divine Realm and become the Dao Lord of the Great Wilderness Dao Court. If Lan Xiaobu were to achieve eternal sainthood in the future, all the luck and all the beings of the Great Wilderness Divine Realm would naturally become resources he could freely utilize.
Life and death were commonplace for a powerhouse like the Reincarnation Saint. Not only the beings within the cosmos, but even the destruction and rebirth of the vast universe itself were nothing out of the ordinary.
“Reincarnation Dao Friend, what are the Six Paths?” Lan Xiaobu clasped his fists, genuinely seeking guidance.
The Reincarnation Saint replied, “To prove oneself through reincarnation, one must possess the laws of the Six Paths. The Six Paths I’m referring to are a place of cosmic nirvana, imbued with the laws of the Six Paths.”
Lan Xiaobu grew more puzzled. “I’ve heard the Six Paths are Human, Animal, Heaven, Asura, Hungry Ghost, and Hell. Why does it sound like what you’re describing differs from my understanding?”
The Reincarnation Saint smiled faintly. “What you’ve heard is merely the Six Paths as proven by a reincarnation-proven powerhouse in your corner of the universe. When you comprehend the laws of the Six Paths in that place, you can define your own rules of the Six Paths reincarnation according to your own understanding. For instance, some Buddhist powerhouses, when proving the Great Dao of Reincarnation, discarded the Hell Path entirely, believing a world without hell is more beautiful.”
Lan Xiaobu nodded, grasping the meaning. The Six Paths he knew must have been established by someone else, though they were still comprehensive.
“The Six Paths Nirvana Land is a place formed from countless destructions and rebirths of the universe. It’s filled with an endless charm of the Dao, allowing you to gain a complete set of Six Paths laws. You can either directly take them for your own use or forgo them entirely, instead sensing the cycles of destruction and rebirth, the warmth and coldness of humanity, the changes of heaven and earth, the shifting of seasons, and the dichotomy of good and evil, strength and weakness—thereby deriving your own Six Paths laws.”
Lan Xiaobu bowed. “Thank you, Dao Friend, for clearing my doubts. I’ve decided to go to the Six Paths Land and am willing to join forces with you. But before that, I need to make a trip to the Wangshuang Desert Sea.”
Though he didn’t care for the Reincarnation Saint’s opportunistic nature, Lan Xiaobu knew that in the vast cosmos, people like the Reincarnation Saint were the norm. Before the Great Dao, everything else could be compromised at any moment. The Reincarnation Saint had allied with Buzhu when Buzhu was strong, and now allied with him because he was strong. Someone like Lan Xiaobu, with a clear sense of right and wrong, was the oddity in others’ eyes.
That’s why the Reincarnation Saint dismissed the Saint Island incident as trivial for cultivators. Yet, knowing Lan Xiaobu’s character, he’d still helped Longevity Saint Dao City by driving off Kuachen to earn his favor.
The Reincarnation Saint didn’t hesitate. “Of course, no problem. I’m willing to accompany you to the Wangshuang Desert Sea. After we return, we’ll head to the Six Paths Land. I believe once you return from there, you’ll be able to prove yourself through reincarnation. After that, we can seek the Seven Realms Banner together. I trust that once you gather the Seven Realms Banner, you’ll allow me to use the Seven Realms Stone to reach the Land of Eternity with you.”
“You need the Seven Realms Stone to reach the Land of Eternity?” Lan Xiaobu asked, puzzled.
The Reincarnation Saint nodded. “Yes, but it’s likely not the only way.”
…
Wangshuang Desert Sea. Years ago, Lan Xiaobu had come here with Nian. They hadn’t even entered when they encountered Mu Tongzhu, who told him that Yu Wuo and Liu Li hadn’t gone inside.
Back then, Lan Xiaobu hadn’t even reached the Heavenly Divine Realm. Now, returning as a Third-Turn Saint, he was accompanied by the Reincarnation Saint, a veteran powerhouse on the cusp of becoming a Fifth-Turn Saint.
If Lan Xiaobu hadn’t insisted on coming, no amount of treasures in the Wangshuang Desert Sea could have lured a figure like the Reincarnation Saint here.
What attracted the Reincarnation Saint wasn’t divine spirit veins or top-tier divine herbs. Saint Island had drawn him because of the Heart of the Universe.
The first time Lan Xiaobu visited, there was a bustling Wangshuang Town nearby. The town thrived because Wangshuang Desert Crystals could be found in the desert sea, drawing countless cultivators despite the high risk of death.
This time, Lan Xiaobu found Wangshuang Town in ruins, not a single cultivator in sight. Overgrown with weeds, it looked like a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
The Reincarnation Saint sighed. “Long ago, I passed through here once. It was packed with people. Back then, places with heaven-and-earth vitality in the Great Wilderness Divine Realm were scarce, but Wangshuang Town had a faint trace of it, thanks to the Wangshuang Desert Crystals. Now, with opportunities and dense divine spirit energy and cosmic luck everywhere in the Great Wilderness Divine Realm, no one comes here anymore. All said and done, Dao Lord Lan, your merits are boundless. Without you establishing the Great Wilderness Dao Court, this place would still be a death trap where countless fought over meager cultivation resources.”
Lan Xiaobu ignored the Reincarnation Saint’s flattery. He knew the man didn’t genuinely mean it. To someone like him, benefits for ordinary cultivators were truly insignificant.
Still, Lan Xiaobu didn’t doubt his words. As a Fourth-Turn Saint, the Reincarnation Saint could travel between the Great Wilderness Divine Realm and the Longevity Realm with ease.
“Reincarnation Dao Friend, let’s go in and take a look. I have three friends who entered here,” Lan Xiaobu said.
“Alright,” the Reincarnation Saint agreed without hesitation, taking the lead into the Wangshuang Desert Sea.
Unlike typical deserts associated with scorching heat, the Wangshuang Desert Sea was defined by frigid cold.
For ordinary cultivators, surviving here was a coin toss at best. The desert sea was riddled with ice pits.
One moment you might be walking fine, the next you’d step into an area of extreme cold where everything turned to nothingness. Life and death hung in a single instant.
Most stuck to explored paths in the Wangshuang Desert Sea. Venturing into uncharted territory meant a nine-out-of-ten chance of death.
But Lan Xiaobu and the Reincarnation Saint were proven saints. No matter how fearsome the desert sea’s cold, it barely affected them. Nor could it block their divine sense.
Thus, the two moved swiftly, reaching the depths of the Wangshuang Desert Sea in just half a day.
Kong Fusheng and Hu Qingjia were both Quasi-Saints, with Hu Qingjia likely on the verge of becoming a First-Turn Saint, so Lan Xiaobu wasn’t worried they’d perish here. Qin Ku, however, with cultivation around the peak of the Harmony Divine Realm and not yet a Quasi-Saint, faced greater danger.
For the first half-day, Lan Xiaobu and the Reincarnation Saint searched together. Afterward, they split up, their divine senses sweeping the area like a tidal wave, leaving no secrets in the Wangshuang Desert Sea.
Three days later, Lan Xiaobu suddenly received a distress signal from the Reincarnation Saint.
This stunned him. The Wangshuang Desert Sea was just that—how could the Reincarnation Saint need help? Regardless, Lan Xiaobu used his teleportation divine ability, arriving near the Reincarnation Saint in less than an hour.
“Reincarnation Dao Friend, you don’t seem to be in any trouble?” Lan Xiaobu asked, eyeing him疑惑ly. But before finishing, he sensed something off.
The Reincarnation Saint was bound by four ice chains invisible to the naked eye—chains made of attribute laws. They didn’t just lock the spatial laws of his surroundings; they directly shackled his Great Dao of Reincarnation laws.
Lan Xiaobu instinctively stepped back several paces. He was the Dao Lord of the Great Wilderness Divine Realm, founder of the Great Wilderness Dao Court, yet he had no idea such a terrifying entity existed within his realm.
Though he couldn’t see who or what had bound the Reincarnation Saint, the four law chains alone hinted at a strength far surpassing the Reincarnation Saint—and even Buzhu at his peak.
“Dao Friend Lan, I’ve been ambushed. This being is extraordinary, but he must be gravely injured and healing here. His wounds seem severe—otherwise, I wouldn’t have even been able to send a distress signal,” the Reincarnation Saint said with difficulty, frantically expanding his reincarnation domain.
Lan Xiaobu had already sensed the chains’ complexity, and hearing this, his mind jumped to an Eternal Saint.
To be this fearsome even while injured—how heaven-defying would they be at full strength?
The Reincarnation Saint wasn’t an ordinary saint. Though only a Fourth-Turn, even typical Sixth or Seventh-Turn Saints might not best him. Yet here he was, locked by four law chains by someone wounded. How could this being be simple?
If not a Ninth-Turn, then an Eternal Saint. A typical Ninth-Turn Saint, heavily injured, couldn’t restrain the Reincarnation Saint like this. That left one possibility: a hidden Eternal powerhouse.
