Lan Xiaobu restrained Chong Yi but didn’t immediately tear open his world. Instead, he turned to the man and woman nearby, “Are you with Chong Yi?”
The handsome man, having calmed from his shock, clasped his fists toward Lan Xiaobu, “Zhuo Ting from Jiubian Sea City greets Friend Zong. My junior sister Fu Juan and I are merely hitching a ride on the Tingdao Ship back to Jiubian Sea City. We’re not part of the ship’s crew.”
Lan Xiaobu said calmly, “In that case, you’re free to go. Don’t interfere with me settling old scores.”
Hearing Lan Xiaobu’s words, the woman named Fu Juan couldn’t help but say, “Enforcer Zong, you can’t kill Lord Chong Yi. If you do, your Fourth Saint Court will face endless trouble, possibly even destruction. My senior brother and I can mediate to resolve this grudge. If Lord Chong has done anything wrong, I believe he’d be willing to apologize and make amends.”
Lan Xiaobu’s tone turned cold, “What, you think you can dictate my actions? If you won’t leave, then stay.”
Feeling Lan Xiaobu’s killing aura surge, Zhuo Ting quickly said, “My junior sister spoke out of turn. We’ll leave now and won’t interfere in your grudge.”
With that, he pulled Fu Juan out of Chong Yi’s cave mansion’s guest room and through the cave’s restrictions. From Lan Xiaobu’s aura, he felt a soul-shaking dread. Even if Lan Xiaobu wasn’t Fourth Step, killing them would likely be no issue.
“Senior Brother Ting…” Fu Juan started to speak as they exited Chong Yi’s cave.
Zhuo Ting immediately cut in, “Junior Sister Juan, this man reeks of killing intent and clearly doesn’t care for reason. He didn’t act against us, perhaps because he’s slightly wary of us and doesn’t want to make an enemy of Jiubian Sea City. More importantly, his main target is Chong Yi. Provoking him now would be asking for trouble.”
“Why should we fear him? I’m certain he’s not a Fifth Step powerhouse. Lord Chong Yi was just caught off guard due to his caution. Besides, our Jiubian Sea City isn’t something anyone can bully,” Fu Juan said, still unconvinced.
Zhuo Ting sighed, “Junior Sister Juan, don’t you see? What do we gain by fighting him to the death? Saving Chong Yi? He’s already gravely injured and may not recover, so he won’t thank us unless we acted from the start. Upholding Moru World’s rules? That’s the Heavenly Court’s job. Besides, this Zong Quan has a background. Where can he run? Whether he kills Chong Yi or not, he’s a wanted man, unable to survive in Moru World. Why risk our lives against a desperate fugitive?”
Zhuo Ting paused, then froze.
“What’s wrong, Senior Brother?” Fu Juan asked.
After a few breaths, Zhuo Ting slapped his forehead, “I’m such a fool. If he’s really Zong Quan, he wouldn’t be dumb enough to use his real identity to confront Chong Yi here, unless he wants to bring hatred upon the Fourth Saint Court, causing it heavy damage or even destruction.”
“Senior Brother, you mean this Zong Quan is…” Fu Juan caught his meaning.
Zhuo Ting nodded, “If I’m not mistaken, this Zong Quan is a fake. Someone’s using his name to kill Chong Yi and stir trouble. Junior Sister, we must leave now, or he might kill everyone here.”
Fu Juan shivered. She knew her senior brother wasn’t scaring her. If it were her, she’d also kill everyone on the Tingdao Ship to cover her tracks.
…
Lan Xiaobu didn’t care what Zhuo Ting and Fu Juan were up to or whether they left the Tingdao Ship. He certainly hadn’t considered killing everyone aboard.
After they left, Lan Xiaobu’s hands moved with Dao principles, preparing to tear open Chong Yi’s world.
“You’re not Zong Quan,” Chong Yi realized, certain the man before him wasn’t Zong Quan.
“Whether I am or not doesn’t matter. What matters is you took my Dao crystals, and now you’ll pay them back,” Lan Xiaobu said, his hands unrelenting. Streams of Dao principles blasted down, tearing through Chong Yi’s world rules one by one.
As if experiencing a final burst of clarity, Chong Yi stared at Lan Xiaobu, “I know who you are. You’re Lan Xiaobu, from room 3071, brought by Hu Youqing.”
After saying this, Chong Yi was certain he was right. This was definitely Lan Xiaobu. When the Tingdao Ship passed through the ruleless spatial rift, only one person remained unaffected. Someone immune to the suppression of chaotic residual Dao principles could survive in a chaotic zone. On that trip, he had his steward keep an eye on Lan Xiaobu, even delaying the ship for half a year, but Lan Xiaobu never emerged.
For Lan Xiaobu to come here claiming the Tingdao Ship scammed his Dao crystals, who else could it be? If a Yin Bu enforcer from the Fourth Saint Court of Waizeng Heaven had this strength, Waizeng Heaven would rival the Moru Dao Court.
Lan Xiaobu sighed inwardly. These guys were sharp, figuring out his identity. For a moment, he considered killing everyone on the Tingdao Ship to silence them, but the thought quickly faded.
So what if they recognized him? Back in the Land of Eternal Life, before he reached the Creation Realm, he was targeted by Creation Saints, yet he survived just fine. He didn’t believe a Sixth Step powerhouse would come after him. Now at the Fourth Step, even a Fifth Step master wouldn’t find it easy to kill him.
Ignoring Chong Yi’s words, Lan Xiaobu’s final spatial Dao principles completely tore open Chong Yi’s world.
Chong Yi’s broken primordial spirit said unwillingly, “I’m just a rift-breaking ship lord. The Rift-Breaking Saint Dao has countless lords like me, and they’ll surely find out who killed me. If you spare me, I swear…”
Before he could finish, Lan Xiaobu’s Dao fire swept over, annihilating Chong Yi’s primordial spirit. Using a transfer technique, Lan Xiaobu took everything from his world.
Lan Xiaobu was stunned by Chong Yi’s wealth. Qu Wan was rich, but compared to Chong Yi, he was nothing.
What thrilled Lan Xiaobu most was a nearly 20,000-zhang black Dao vein in Chong Yi’s world, radiating clear, potent Dao principles and dense, solidified vital energy. It was clearly a top-grade Dao vein, superior to the one he previously obtained.
There were also nearly 10,000 high-grade Dao veins, plus tens of thousands of mid- and low-grade ones.
The most abundant were Dao crystals. In Chong Yi’s world, there were at least ten billion high-grade Dao crystals, piled up like endless mountains.
But Lan Xiaobu was certain the Tingdao Ship’s earnings far exceeded ten billion. The rest must have been handed over by Chong Yi or gone to the Rift-Breaking Saint Dao. Whatever this Rift-Breaking Saint Dao was, it was undoubtedly filthy rich. Lan Xiaobu recalled his and Mo Wuji’s heist at Mengmu Dayan, feeling a spark of anticipation. Once he reunited with Wuji, they could plan to hit the Rift-Breaking Saint Dao’s treasury. With that, cultivation resources would be the least of their worries.
Though Lan Xiaobu knew killing the Tingdao Ship’s lord and taking a fortune might eventually trace back to him, he still chose not to silence everyone.
As he prepared to leave, he realized the Tingdao Ship itself, crafted from unknown materials and inscribed with special arrays to break spatial rifts, might be the real treasure.
Whether it was valuable or not, Lan Xiaobu decided to take it. He tore through the ship’s soundproof restrictions and announced loudly, “The Tingdao Ship has been robbed by me, and I’ve killed its lord. Everyone on board has ten breaths to leave, or you won’t leave at all.”
Many had already sensed Lan Xiaobu’s robbery, but the ship’s reputation kept them from investigating.
The cultivators riding the Tingdao Ship to Jiubian Sea City were wealthy, but even they struggled with its exorbitant fees. Many were now focused on survival, as the next fee could drain them, leading to their worlds being torn open or their souls taken.
Hearing someone had robbed the Tingdao Ship without killing everyone and was allowing them to leave, only a fool would stay.
After Lan Xiaobu opened the restrictions, nearly everyone rushed out. At that moment, there were no passengers or enforcers—only survival mattered. In less than three breaths, the entire Tingdao Ship was empty except for Lan Xiaobu.
He sent the ship into his cosmic dimensional model, then activated the Heaven and Earth Buckle, vanishing instantly.
