Mo Wuji coughed up a jet of blood, his face ashen as he said, “This is the sound of the Vast Bell. We’ve got to scarper now, or after three chimes, the Vast Bell will pin us down completely, leaving us to watch helplessly as they refine us.”
Lan Xiaobu, unable to detect the chime’s Dao laws with his divine sense, realised the situation had gone south. He immediately started using the Cosmic Dimensional Model to build the dimensional structure of the chime’s Dao laws. Hearing Mo Wuji’s words, he wiped blood from his mouth and said, “It’s no good. The chime’s Dao laws have sealed the City of Eternal Life, and there are three Creation Saints outside…”
Lan Xiaobu trailed off, and Mo Wuji sighed, “You’ve cottoned on too, haven’t you? It’s probably four Creation Saints teaming up to lock down the whole city. We’ve been caught napping by not spotting it sooner.”
Clearly, both had figured out that the Creation Saint who recently ascended was now here, in cahoots with the Eternal Life Saint and others.
“A heaven-opening treasure might fend them off for a bit, but we need to put our heads together fast,” Mo Wuji said, readying to call forth the Heavenly Mechanism Disk.
“The Heavenly Mechanism Disk is useless. This is the heaven-opening Dao law of the Vast Bell. First, grasp the Vast Bell’s heaven-opening Dao laws quick as a wink while I use the Cosmic Dimensional Model to protect the City of Eternal Life,” Lan Xiaobu said urgently, passing Mo Wuji a jade slip.
The Cosmic Dimensional Model had already constructed the Vast Bell’s heaven-opening Dao laws. By first understanding these chime laws, they could just about keep themselves afloat. Fortunately, Lan Xiaobu had verified that the Cosmic Dimensional Model could block the Vast Bell’s sound. As long as the sound was blocked, they could bide their time to strike.
With his Enlightenment Network, Mo Wuji instantly comprehended the Vast Bell’s chime laws upon receiving the jade slip. His aura surged, and his Mortal Domain merged with new Mortal Dao laws, making the ongoing fluctuations of the chime’s Dao laws disappear.
At the same time, Lan Xiaobu used these laws to shield himself and summoned the Cosmic Dimensional Model.
The Cosmic Dimensional Model expanded swiftly as Lan Xiaobu attempted to envelop the entire City of Eternal Life.
But when it had only spread halfway, a fearsome aura bore down, stopping its expansion.
Lan Xiaobu bellowed, “Everyone in the City of Eternal Life, get to my side now, or you’re goners!”
Since the Cosmic Dimensional Model couldn’t cover the whole city, those outside its protection would be defenceless.
Hearing Lan Xiaobu’s call, the frantic cultivators charged like their lives were on the line toward his and Mo Wuji’s cave abodes. Those aware of the Vast Bell’s origin exhausted their lifespan and essence blood to reach them, knowing each chime was more powerful than the last.
But the city was teeming with cultivators. When roughly seventy percent had just made it under the Cosmic Dimensional Model’s protection—
Dong! The second chime erupted. Those still outside the model’s reach either had their bodies shatter, their Great Paths collapse, or their souls vanish entirely.
Fury blazed in Lan Xiaobu’s heart. He knew this was only because he and Mo Wuji were in the city’s heart, where more people were gathered; otherwise, surviving even half would’ve been a tall order. To these vile scoundrels, wiping out an entire city’s cultivators was nothing in their quest to kill him and Mo Wuji.
Indeed, these were the sort who would nonchalantly destroy entire planes, never mind a single city.
Before the third chime could ring, the terrifying aura in the void reached its peak, transforming into a colossal hammer weighing billions of tons, crashing down.
With Lan Xiaobu’s limited strength, the Cosmic Dimensional Model shrank further under the hammer’s force.
“It’s the Indestructible Hammer. I reckon they’ve tracked down the Indestructible Saint and brought the hammer,” Mo Wuji said darkly.
Lan Xiaobu’s face grew grim. If the Indestructible Hammer kept pounding, his Cosmic Dimensional Model would eventually be beaten back. It wasn’t that his model was inferior, but his strength was no match for his foes.
Or rather, it wasn’t just about strength. With four Creation Saints—three pinning him and Mo Wuji, and one wielding the hammer—they were outmatched.
He had the Cosmic Mill but couldn’t use it to counter the Indestructible Hammer now. If he summoned the mill, it might be snatched by the four Creation Saints before breaking their seal, never mind tackling the hammer.
A sense of being stifled churned in Lan Xiaobu’s chest. He knew his enemies’ tactics and had the means to counter them, but his lack of strength left him trapped like a rat in a cage.
Boom! The Indestructible Hammer struck again from the void, shattering all Dao laws above the City of Eternal Life. To the surviving cultivators’ horror, the Cosmic Dimensional Model’s protective barrier shrank once more.
“If this keeps up, we can hold out for three days at most. If we don’t find a way out by then, we’ll be stuck here forever,” Mo Wuji said, his heart seething with murderous intent. These people casually obliterated planes, dooming countless lives to catastrophe.
The City of Eternal Life had millions of residents, yet these enemies were ready to butcher the entire city to eliminate him and Lan Xiaobu.
“Wuji, can we fight back with the Cosmic Mill?” Lan Xiaobu asked, his face pale as he struggled to maintain the Cosmic Dimensional Model.
Mo Wuji shook his head. “No, we can’t break through the four Creation Saints’ blockade… But killing us won’t be easy without a strong bite. Keep them at bay a bit longer while I examine the Wheel of Time. Don’t fret about the third chime yet. I suspect the Vast Bell is controlled by the Eternal Life Saint. Even with his strength, two chimes in such a short span must have worn him out. He’d need at least half a day to muster a third chime strong enough to crush us.”
Mo Wuji had a vague plan—to use the Wheel of Time to take out one of the saints first. The trick was working out how.
…
In the Chaos Space of the Land of Eternal Life, Qi Muwei, now a Creation Saint, stood atop a massive rock. Her presence was radiant, like a lotus rising from clear waters, as if transcending this plane, unadorned yet matchless.
Taking a deep breath, she glanced back at the blessed land her father had left her, knowing it was time to depart. Without Lan Xiaobu, she might have stayed in seclusion here. But Lan Xiaobu had promised that once she achieved the Creation Saint Realm, she could seek him out.
Perhaps envisioning a life with Lan Xiaobu as his Dao companion, Qi Muwei stood rooted, lost in thought. She knew she didn’t love cultivation, but after her parents’ murder, she had to avenge them, pushing her to reach the Yan Realm.
Now, having attained the Creation Saint Realm, if she could be with Lan Xiaobu in a tranquil place, living slowly together, wouldn’t that be the greatest joy?
Sensing a faint spatial ripple, Qi Muwei, immersed in her daydreams, paid it no heed, nor did she intend to.
“Heh, dear niece, what’s got you so lost in thought? Your face is all flushed! It’s been ages, and you’ve grown even lovelier,” an abrupt voice shattered her reverie.
Qi Muwei snapped awake and saw a man in grey robes with an ordinary appearance approaching.
“It’s you? Ji Congkong?” The moment she saw Ji Congkong, the tenderness in her heart vanished. Before meeting Lan Xiaobu, her sole purpose was to kill Ji Congkong to avenge her parents. Today, she finally faced her greatest foe.
Something was amiss. Qi Muwei quickly realised this was her father’s domain, accessible only to blood relatives. How had Ji Congkong entered?
“How did you get in?” Her voice was cold as ice.
Ji Congkong chuckled, “No need to worry about how I got in. Finding you here is perfect. You’ve got the Chaos Dao Body, haven’t you? Just what I need to reach the Creation Saint Realm. Don’t worry, stick with me, and I won’t let you down…”
Qi Muwei steadied herself, her tone equally composed. “I see. After killing my father, you kept his blood and used it to enter here.”
“Sharp girl,” Ji Congkong sneered. “But it’s no matter. In the path of cultivation, life and death are par for the course. Perhaps because of me, your father found a better path in reincarnation.”
“If that’s so, you won’t need reincarnation,” Qi Muwei said, stepping forward and reaching for Ji Congkong.
Ji Congkong laughed, “Dear niece, do you think you’re untouchable in the Yan Realm—”
His words stopped short, as if a squawking duck had its throat seized. When Qi Muwei’s Dao energy handprint gripped his neck, Ji Congkong stared at her in sheer terror. “You… you’re already a Creation Saint? How is that possible?”
“Father, Mother, rest in peace,” Qi Muwei said, her handprint tightening around Ji Congkong’s neck, tears streaming down her face.
Perhaps she was the first Creation Saint to shed tears.
