The affairs of the world, like vicissitudes, are but fleeting clouds of success and failure. Living in this mortal realm, life and death, survival and extinction, all pass in an instant—what then are gains and losses worth?
In life, eight or nine out of ten things go awry. With a long sigh, Gu Yuechen’s aura of slaughter weakened in an instant.
No, this is the divine ability of intent! His Wheel of Time is a supreme treasure of intent. At this moment, Gu Yuechen wanted to curse himself for being a fool. He, after all, was someone who wielded the divine ability of intent and had once possessed the supreme treasure, the Wheel of Time. Yet now, he had been drawn into another’s divine ability of intent—what a disgrace to his status as a Saint of Creation.
In just a fleeting moment, Gu Yuechen’s giant axe carved a mark, its razor-sharp axe patterns slicing into the void, shattering the mortal realm in that instant. But the axe patterns did not stop; they merged with the will of heaven and earth in this space, carrying the overwhelming aura of slaughter as they surged towards Mo Wuji.
Mo Wuji’s heart jolted. There were those who had broken through his divine ability of the mortal realm’s intent, but never had anyone done so like Gu Yuechen—breaking the intent and counterattacking in the same breath, with a transition of charm so swift it was almost seamless.
If he didn’t retreat now, he would have to face Gu Yuechen’s axe patterns head-on. But if he did retreat, Gu Yuechen would surely break free from the encirclement they had formed.
Mo Wuji had no choice but to retreat, yet as he did, he unleashed another strike—his second finger, Heaven and Earth.
Before Mo Wuji’s second finger could form a slaughtering space, Gu Yuechen’s axe-patterned killing momentum faltered. The terrifying cosmic mill had already ground away all of Gu Yuechen’s principles and domains. His axe patterns might have suppressed Mo Wuji elsewhere, but here, under Lan Xiaobu’s cosmic mill space, they could not.
Sensing the descending aura of the cosmic mill, a trace of despair flashed in Gu Yuechen’s eyes. He knew he was finished. Anywhere else, he wouldn’t fear Lan Xiaobu and Mo Wuji joining forces, but here, in the Great Burial Dao Plain, with the cosmic mill—a supreme treasure—lying in ambush, and the suspended cosmic mill above constantly grinding away his domain, principles, and will…
*Boom!* The second finger struck, and Gu Yuechen’s physical body was blasted into fragments. Before Mo Wuji or Lan Xiaobu could act further, Gu Yuechen’s world collapsed entirely. As a Saint of Creation, he had his pride—he did not beg for mercy. Even in death, he chose to end it himself.
In that moment, the entire Land of Eternal Life dimmed, countless shattered principles raining down through the vast void, accompanied by waves of mournful charm.
Lan Xiaobu and Mo Wuji paused, staring at the shattered principles in the void and the mournful aura, somewhat dumbfounded.
After a long while, Lan Xiaobu said, “This bloke was just a Saint of Creation, yet his fall caused a resonance with heaven and earth? That’s a bit absurd, isn’t it?”
Mo Wuji shook his head. “It’s not absurd. His status as a Saint of Creation was genuine, one of the few in the Land of Eternal Life who attained such a rank. Such beings are limited here. If we weren’t in the Great Burial Dao Plain, and if you hadn’t ambushed him with a treasure like the cosmic mill, killing him here wouldn’t have been easy. He was a hero in his own right, choosing to end himself. If he hadn’t, and instead fought back, both you and I would’ve been injured, and not lightly. Because of this, I didn’t eradicate him completely and let him enter reincarnation.”
There was one thing Mo Wuji didn’t mention: the Saint of Heaven and Earth had been too careless, losing the Wheel of Time. If he still controlled the Wheel of Time, even with the cosmic mill’s ambush, they could’ve at most severely injured him today, not killed him.
“In truth, killing the Saint of Heaven and Earth doesn’t bring us the greatest benefit. What’s more regrettable is that when he fell, his world collapsed entirely, and we gained nothing,” Lan Xiaobu sighed, retracting the cosmic mill.
“How so?” Mo Wuji asked.
Lan Xiaobu said, “I feel that the four Saints of Creation—Eternal Life, Heavenly Secret, Thunder, and Reflection—are at odds with the Saint of Heaven and Earth. We should’ve first taken out one or two of them, like the Saint of Eternal Life.”
Mo Wuji smiled. “Your feeling is correct. The five of them are indeed at odds, or else the Saint of Heaven and Earth wouldn’t have named his Dao City the City of Eternal Life. Now that the City of Eternal Life has no master, we can openly claim it as our own. Having just created our Dao, we need a place to develop our realm and refine our Great Dao. All these years, I’ve been hunted, with no time to properly hone my Dao. Fortunately, you came, and together we’ve given me some breathing room.”
The Land of Eternal Life is vast and boundless, but prime Dao sites are scarce, mostly claimed by various powers. The City of Eternal Life, where the Saint of Heaven and Earth resided, is undoubtedly one of the best Dao sites in the Land. Mo Wuji said this because he knew that for him and Lan Xiaobu to prove their Dao and develop their realm, they needed a stable place to retreat.
Lan Xiaobu grinned slyly. “I’ve got a bold idea.”
“Tell me,” Mo Wuji said at once.
Lan Xiaobu said, “The Land of Eternal Life would make a fine Dao site for us, but before that, I suggest we take out one or two more Saints of Creation. Otherwise, I reckon we won’t have much peace.”
Mo Wuji laughed heartily. “That’s exactly what I was thinking. If we get the chance, it’d be best to take out all four. Otherwise, forget peace—they won’t even give us time to sip tea. Of course, with our current strength, taking out all four Saints of Eternal Life at once isn’t realistic. We’ll have to pick them off one by one. Who’s your first choice?”
“I’d choose the Saint of Reflection. That bloke’s all sly and shifty—I can’t stand the sight of him,” Lan Xiaobu said.
Mo Wuji shook his head. “No, going for the Saint of Reflection would lead to our defeat. He’s deeply hidden, and we’d best not touch him for now. I suggest the Saint of Heavenly Secret.”
“Why?” Lan Xiaobu looked at Mo Wuji, puzzled.
Mo Wuji explained, “When we escaped, the Saints of Eternal Life, Heavenly Secret, Reflection, and Thunder gathered together. If I’m not mistaken, the next step is for the Saint of Heavenly Secret to deduce the whereabouts of one of us. Once he finds us, he’ll come to surround and kill us. I’ve been in the Land of Eternal Life longer than you, so I know these blokes’ natures well.”
“Then why didn’t they deduce us before?” Lan Xiaobu broke out in a cold sweat, his mind filled with doubts. The Saint of Heavenly Secret knew he had a heaven-opening treasure, so why not deduce and ambush him?
Mo Wuji explained, “Because for the Saint of Heavenly Secret to deduce our whereabouts, he must damage his Dao foundation as the cost. Our Great Dao is self-contained, with rules outside the heaven-and-earth rules of the Land of Eternal Life. Without paying a steep price, he can’t deduce our existence. But even if he pays that price and finds us, he can’t surround us alone—he’d need help. That’s when we can turn the tables on him, especially since he’d be injured. Also, in the Great Burial Dao Plain, it’s even harder for him to deduce.”
Lan Xiaobu immediately understood. He had been in the Great Burial Dao Plain all this time, which explained why the Saint of Heavenly Secret, despite knowing about his heaven-opening treasure, had remained patient.
As for damaging his Dao foundation to deduce his existence and then inviting other Saints of Creation to ambush him, the Saint of Heavenly Secret would never do such a thankless task. Once his treasure was exposed, the Saint of Heavenly Secret would likely get nothing. With a damaged Dao foundation and weakened strength, even if he contributed, the heaven-opening treasure wouldn’t be shared with him.
“The Saint of Heavenly Secret is deducing us now because he’s almost out of options, so he’ll surely pay the price to find us and negotiate with the other Saints of Creation,” Mo Wuji said.
He knew how much the Saint of Heavenly Secret valued the Heavenly Secret Bone. Now that Lan Xiaobu had taken the bone and he had stolen the Heavenly Secret Disk, the Saint of Heavenly Secret had no choice but to seek help from the other Saints of Creation.
“Does that mean he knows where we are now?” Lan Xiaobu asked.
Mo Wuji shook his head. “Not so fast. I’ve taken his Heavenly Secret Disk. Without it, his deduction is much slower. If I refine the Heavenly Secret Disk here first and use it to shield our whereabouts, he won’t be able to deduce us at all. When he fails and damages his Dao foundation in the process, that’s when we can go trouble him.”
“Brilliant, let’s do it!” Lan Xiaobu said at once. The plan was flawless. It was only because Mo Wuji had spent so long in the Land of Eternal Life and understood the natures of these Saints of Creation that they could pull this off. Otherwise, Lan Xiaobu reckoned he’d have already been deduced by the Saint of Heavenly Secret.
In fact, Lan Xiaobu’s guess wasn’t wrong. If he hadn’t been with Mo Wuji, the Saint of Heavenly Secret would’ve had a hundred percent chance of deducing him. Even if he escaped the ambush of the four Saints of Creation, it would’ve been a near-death ordeal. And with four Saints of Creation surrounding him, they’d never give him a chance to escape.
The Saint of Heavenly Secret was also tragic. He hadn’t expected Mo Wuji to be with Lan Xiaobu. If he had known these two were together, he would’ve chosen a different approach. Mo Wuji had been in the Land of Eternal Life for so many years, and the Saints of Creation couldn’t do anything to him—how could he be so easily deduced?
While Mo Wuji and Lan Xiaobu were refining the Heavenly Secret Disk and saving people in the Great Burial Dao Plain, the entire Land of Eternal Life was shaken.
In that moment, countless fragments of shattered principles fell across the vast Land of Eternal Life, accompanied by a mournful aura of a Saint of Creation’s fall.
“A Saint of Creation has truly fallen?” Countless cultivators stared blankly at the shattered principle fragments in the vast void, feeling the sorrowful aura.
Countless cultivators fell into confusion. Why had they come to the Land of Eternal Life? For eternal life, of course. They could accept the deaths of Creation Saints or Realm-Developing Saints, as they were killed. But the fall of a Saint of Creation? That was something they couldn’t accept.
If even a Saint of Creation could fall, where was eternal life?
