In an instant, Lan Xiaobu made his decision: strike now. The reason was simple—Ji Yige was about to summon too many people. There were already five here, and with another seven or eight Ninth-Turn powerhouses, that’d make twelve or thirteen. Even if it were just twelve, with Ji Yige among them, their combined strength would likely reach a whole new level.
This wasn’t a simple case of one plus one equals two. If Ji Yige could hold him off for just a few breaths, the others would have a chance to deal him a crippling blow. Once injured, escaping Da Mo Void Star would be genuinely difficult. As for Xuanyuan Dao Sect, it might be a top-tier sect in the Great Desolation Divine Realm, but here, it was insignificant and couldn’t offer him any help.
At that moment, Lan Xiaobu’s mind stirred slightly. Zhuo Xuantian was sending him a message through the puppet he’d left at Xuanyuan Dao Sect.
Before leaving, he’d instructed Zhuo Xuantian not to contact him unless it was something extraordinary. For Zhuo Xuantian to reach out despite that meant something was up. Sure enough, the next moment, he heard Zhuo Xuantian’s voice: “Dao Lord Lan, the sect leaders of Purple Cloud Valley and Hundred Dao River, Ninth-Turn Saints Bai Shengxun and Pi Zuling, have come to visit you. I told them you’re in seclusion and asked them to wait at the sect.”
Lan Xiaobu paused, then quickly grasped the situation.
Lu Qi had invited the Ninth-Turn Saints from all four star-level sects to deal with him, but Bai Shengxun and Pi Zuling, having heard of his rampage in Jiu Suo Void City where he killed nine Ninth-Turn powerhouses, got cold feet and refused to join Lu Qi’s group. Yet, these two were shrewd. If they didn’t side with Lu Qi, they’d have to side with him.
People always have to pick a team. If Lu Qi succeeded in eliminating Lan Xiaobu, Purple Cloud Valley and Hundred Dao River would be finished—erased from Da Mo Void Star for sure.
Since two Ninth-Turn powerhouses were aligning with him, things just got easier. He didn’t need to kill Ji Yige right now—he could take them all down in one fell swoop later. No matter where Ji Yige went, Lan Xiaobu could track his movements in the short term. When the time came, teaming up with Bai Shengxun and Pi Zuling would make short work of Ji Yige.
As Ji Yige left, the other four escorted him out. Lan Xiaobu didn’t move—he was certain they’d return. He simply kept refining his trap-kill array and sent a message to Zhuo Xuantian, instructing him to reassure Bai Shengxun and Pi Zuling that they needn’t worry and should just wait for him to emerge from seclusion at Xuanyuan Dao Sect.
Sure enough, it wasn’t long before Lu Qi and the other three re-entered the guest hall and sat down.
The moment they did, Guang Ning spoke up, “City Lord Ji is very strong. If nothing goes wrong, taking down that Lan fellow shouldn’t be an issue. But…”
Guang Ning trailed off, and Fang Sha, the sect leader of Qian Xu Saint Dao, sighed, “City Lord Ji’s appetite is pretty big, isn’t it? He wants the Cosmic Mill.”
Though Ji Yige hadn’t mentioned the Cosmic Mill once, that very silence made it clear he coveted it. If he didn’t want it, he’d have said so outright. Yet, despite their repeated mentions of it, Ji Yige never commented—proof he was dead set on claiming it.
“The Cosmic Mill belongs to Da Mo Void Star. We can’t let an outsider take it,” Lu Qi declared.
“But so what? Ji Yige is powerful, and he’s bringing in far more powerhouses than us. It’ll be hard to keep the Cosmic Mill,” Fang Sha said, his tone heavy.
Ding Wushu, the sect leader of Qian Xu Saint Dao who’d been silent until now, suddenly spoke, “Forget the Cosmic Mill for now—I have a way to get it back. But Ji Yige’s plan won’t kill that Lan fellow for certain. I’ve got a method that’s nine-tenths guaranteed to take him out.”
“What method?” The other three asked almost in unison.
Ding Wushu said slowly, “I’ll explain the method later, because predictable matters are trivial. There’s something more important I need to address—it’s unpredictable, and that’s what makes it terrifying.”
“Go ahead, Sect Leader Ding,” Lu Qi said with a clasped fist, showing Ding Wushu great courtesy.
Ding Wushu’s voice grew grave, “Ever since City Lord Ji entered our sect, I’ve felt something off. I’ve been carefully searching with my sensory dao rules, but I couldn’t pinpoint the issue…”
Hearing this, Lu Qi and the others shot to their feet in shock. They knew Ding Wushu’s ability well—he’d proven a sensory dao rule that let him detect any crisis around him and locate it with ease. Thanks to this, he’d escaped danger countless times.
Now, Ding Wushu sensed something wrong but couldn’t identify it—that was truly dangerous.
“What kind of threat could escape Sect Leader Ding’s notice?” Guang Ning felt a chill on his scalp. A danger even Ding Wushu couldn’t detect was real trouble.
At that moment, no one cared about the Cosmic Mill anymore. Lu Qi headed straight for the guest hall’s exit, “Let’s talk outside.”
He hadn’t noticed anything before, but Ding Wushu’s words made him uneasy, and he instinctively didn’t want to stay in the hall.
“As long as there’s a fluctuation in rules, I shouldn’t miss it—unless there are no rules…” Ding Wushu muttered to himself, then froze. He looked up sharply at the calligraphy on the wall, his eyes twitching as the painting silently vanished.
The next moment, a crushing aura of death bore down. Ding Wushu roared, “Someone’s ambushing us…”
But he only got those four words out before the hall’s killing aura crashed down. In such a confined space, the trap-kill array built from 108 ruleless array flags could instantly slay a Ninth-Turn Saint—especially since Lan Xiaobu had targeted Ding Wushu.
*Autumn winds rise, white clouds soar; grasses wither, geese fly south!*
As the deadly intent locked onto Ding Wushu, he felt himself whisked into a late autumn day.
In that autumn, he felt the wind brush his skin, saw the grasses yellow and fade, and sensed the geese migrating south. A bleak aura filled his entire being.
In this mournful season, a death wish sprouted within him. Scenes of his past flashed before his eyes—moments of joy and sorrow, partings and reunions, things he thought he’d let go of but were now vividly recalled.
Life and death were just that—what was the point of clinging? With that thought, Ding Wushu’s world turned grey, an endless, desolate silence enveloping him, everything fading into a haze.
His vitality was swept away, his world growing ever bleaker.
“Sect Leader Ding!” Lu Qi’s furious shout jolted him. Ding Wushu shuddered, then saw a fist carrying all his life force hurtling toward his brow.
It wasn’t a lifeless autumn wind brushing his face—it was the deathly aura of that fist. Ding Wushu even saw his vitality dissipating, turning to nothing alongside the withered grasses…
*Fist stirs autumn wind; when autumn ends, life fades, grasses turn to frost!*
“What a fist…” Ding Wushu sighed, despair flooding the space as his skull shattered into a mist of blood under the blow.
But it wasn’t over. He saw his world pried open, his primordial spirit half-escaping before being torn apart.
“Why kill me first…” were the last words of Ding Wushu’s fractured spirit, desperate for an answer. After speaking, he regretted it—why hadn’t he said it earlier, when Ji Yige was still here?
Lan Xiaobu didn’t disappoint him, “Because it’s the first time I overlooked the greatest threat to me. If I didn’t kill you, it’d be you killing me.”
*Boom!* As Lan Xiaobu finished, Ding Wushu’s body crumbled into fragments.
Lan Xiaobu exhaled in relief. He genuinely hadn’t paid Ding Wushu much mind. The man was quiet, his divine sense restrained. Yet this very guy had nearly found him out and almost turned the tables.
Ji Yige was strong, sure, but Lan Xiaobu hadn’t taken his schemes seriously. Even if he hadn’t come here, Ji Yige’s plan would’ve at most injured him and forced him to flee—killing him was impossible. Now he realised Ding Wushu must’ve had a better plan but held back because he kept sensing danger around them.
If Lan Xiaobu hadn’t come, and Ding Wushu had perfected their strategy, wouldn’t he have been in greater peril? Killing Ding Wushu today might’ve owed more to his own luck outmatching the other’s—after all, he’d proven his dao through fortune and wielded the vast luck of a realm.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!* Lu Qi, Fang Sha, and Guang Ning’s attacks were all disrupted by Lan Xiaobu’s trap-kill array, forcing them into self-defence.
“It’s you?” Fang Sha stared at Lan Xiaobu, realising who he was. The irony was bitter—they’d been plotting against him in this very hall while he hid here, listening and setting up a top-tier trap-kill array. Except for Ding Wushu’s vague unease, none of them had noticed.
Perhaps Ji Yige had sensed something too, but so what? He hadn’t found Lan Xiaobu either.
Lan Xiaobu said calmly, “That’s right, it’s me. Allow me to introduce myself—I’m Lan Xiaobu. Originally, I was just passing through, planning to give you a little scare, not to fight. But since you thought I’d be an easy target, I had to come let you have a go.”
Feeling the hall’s terrifying killing aura and recalling the deathly intent of Lan Xiaobu’s fist that killed Ding Wushu, Lu Qi and the other two didn’t dare move. Lan Xiaobu had taken out nine Ninth-Turn powerhouses alone in Jiu Suo Void City. Now, with just three of them plus this trap-kill array, they stood no chance.
“Friend Lan, this was our mistake. Tell us how we can make amends—I’ll even swear to join you against Ji Yige,” Lu Qi said earnestly, as if genuinely admitting fault and seeking forgiveness.
