Ceku Huisheng looked at Lan Xiaobu in astonishment, “How did you know?”
Clearly, Lan Xiaobu had guessed correctly.
Shi Changxing also regarded Lan Xiaobu with surprise. He could tell that this wasn’t a rehearsed exchange between Ceku Huisheng and Lan Xiaobu; Lan Xiaobu had genuinely deduced that the Primordial Dao Seed came from Gu Yuer.
Lan Xiaobu clasped his fists toward Shi Changxing and said, “Dao Venerable Changxing, is your daughter Shi Wanrong?”
“You know my daughter?” Shi Changxing’s eyes widened, and the aura of a top-tier Saint instantly locked onto Lan Xiaobu.
Though he didn’t attack, Lan Xiaobu felt his breathing grow labored. He was inwardly shocked—how powerful was Shi Changxing to have such strength, at what step of the Great Dao?
Lan Xiaobu, neither servile nor overbearing, replied, “I do know her, and I was the one who saved your daughter.”
“You saved my daughter? What happened to Wanrong?” Shi Changxing, deeply concerned for his daughter, spoke with a trembling voice, revealing how much she meant to him.
Lan Xiaobu explained, “Shi Wanrong was imprisoned by the Great Ice Palace, forced to continuously expel her Great Dao primal energy to nourish an ice altar from which they extracted her Dao principles. They likely aimed to obtain her Great Dao techniques. When I saw her, she was in great distress.”
“They’re courting death…” Upon hearing Lan Xiaobu’s words, Shi Changxing’s killing intent practically solidified around him.
Feeling the assault of this killing intent, even Ceku Huisheng couldn’t help but shudder. Lan Xiaobu, cultivating his own Great Dao, fared better than Ceku Huisheng in resisting it.
Despite his overwhelming killing intent, Shi Changxing remained calm. He didn’t ease the pressure of his domain on Lan Xiaobu due to his words. “The Great Ice Palace is a first-rate Dao sect. You claim you infiltrated it silently and rescued my daughter. With your seventh-step Great Dao cultivation, how could you possibly achieve that? Just because you have a Seven Realms Stone?”
Though his tone was mild, Shi Changxing inwardly admired Lan Xiaobu slightly more. Under the suppression of his Great Dao domain, Lan Xiaobu remained composed, clearly a cultivator of his own Great Dao. To reach the seventh step with one’s own Dao was extraordinary.
A Seven Realms Stone? Ceku Tian Emperor looked at Lan Xiaobu in shock, not expecting that the renowned treasure was in Lan Xiaobu’s possession.
Lan Xiaobu sighed inwardly—high cultivation left no room for privacy. What kind of monster was this Shi Changxing? He hadn’t even sensed Shi Changxing’s divine sense scanning him, yet Shi Changxing knew he had a Seven Realms Stone. That was beyond merely terrifying.
Lan Xiaobu could only say, “I naturally have my methods. Whether you believe me or not, I did save your daughter.”
No matter what, he wouldn’t reveal his Universe Dimension Model.
“If you’re unwilling to explain, don’t blame me for searching your soul,” Shi Changxing said, his tone turning flat but carrying an undeniable authority.
Lan Xiaobu frowned, wondering whether to mention Taichuan, when he suddenly recalled something and exclaimed, “This is bad, your daughter is in danger.”
Shi Changxing, unfazed, continued to stare at Lan Xiaobu coldly.
Lan Xiaobu hurriedly explained, “I saved your daughter incidentally while rescuing my friend. Now I realize that after she left the Great Ice Palace, they’re almost certainly pursuing her. They likely placed a thought imprint on her…”
As if fearing Shi Changxing’s disbelief, Lan Xiaobu tossed him a jade slip. “I couldn’t find my friend at first and located your daughter’s place of imprisonment instead. She helped me by inscribing this positioning jade slip.”
Shi Changxing grabbed the jade slip, scanned it with his divine sense, and his expression changed drastically. Lan Xiaobu wasn’t lying—the jade slip was indeed left by his daughter.
Shi Changxing stored the jade slip and prepared to leave. Lan Xiaobu called out, “Where is Dao Venerable Changxing going?”
“Naturally, to reduce the Great Ice Palace to ashes,” Shi Changxing replied, his tone thick with murderous intent.
Lan Xiaobu quickly said, “Dao Venerable, going to the Great Ice Palace now won’t help you find Sister Wanrong. She escaped using a non-directional teleportation array I set up, and the Great Ice Palace is surely chasing her. Every moment is precious. Going to the Great Ice Palace now, even if you kill everyone there, won’t help. Besides, once the Great Ice Palace knows the matter is exposed, those pursuing your daughter will either flee or kill her and flee.”
“What should I do?” Shi Changxing blurted out instinctively, his concern for his daughter overriding careful thought, not truly expecting Lan Xiaobu to provide a solution.
Lan Xiaobu said, “The best approach is for Ceku Tian Emperor to go to the Great Ice Palace and wait. If they capture Sister Wanrong, they’ll bring her back there. Huisheng can seize everyone entering the Great Ice Palace to determine if they’ve caught her. Meanwhile, you and I, Dao Venerable, can search for Sister Wanrong, aiming to find her before the Great Ice Palace does.”
“I’m worried they’ll silence her,” Ceku Tian Emperor sighed. He knew that if Shi Wanrong was killed, he, as a Tian Emperor, might not fare well and could even perish alongside her. Lan Xiaobu, having saved Shi Wanrong, might still survive.
Shi Changxing smiled faintly, “They wouldn’t dare kill Sister Wanrong inside the Great Ice Palace. If they do, it’ll be after bringing her back.”
Ceku Tian Emperor quickly understood. He bowed to Shi Changxing and said, “If Dao Venerable trusts me, I’ll head to the Great Ice Palace now.” He grasped Lan Xiaobu’s meaning: no matter how bold the Great Ice Palace was, they wouldn’t dare kill Shi Changxing’s daughter inside their sect. As Shi Changxing’s daughter, if Shi Wanrong perished, her Dao principles would likely leak, allowing Shi Changxing to detect traces. Even if they destroyed the space, Shi Changxing could still retrace time. Thus, to kill Shi Wanrong, they’d have to bring her back to the Great Ice Palace.
“Good, let’s do it this way. But the Central World is vast—how will you determine Wanrong’s location?” Shi Changxing stared at Lan Xiaobu. Even he couldn’t pinpoint Shi Wanrong’s position, so how could Lan Xiaobu?
Lan Xiaobu clasped his fists and said, “I gave Sister Wanrong a ring. Though I didn’t place a thought imprint on it, I crafted the ring myself, so I can trace its location through Dao principles.”
He didn’t mention that since Shi Wanrong escaped the Great Ice Palace via his non-directional teleportation array, he could roughly determine the teleportation’s destination, even if he didn’t know the exact location.
“Please, Daoyou, set up the Dao principle tracing array now,” Shi Changxing said, his attitude toward Lan Xiaobu noticeably warmer.
Ceku Tian Emperor also hurriedly bid farewell to Lan Xiaobu, preparing to head to the Great Ice Palace. He was genuinely grateful to Lan Xiaobu. Without him, facing a powerhouse like Shi Changxing, he’d have been crushed without making a ripple.
“Do your best at the Great Ice Palace. If you handle this well, I’ll let bygones be bygones,” Shi Changxing said, staring at Ceku Tian Emperor.
“Yes, I’ll ensure it’s done perfectly,” Ceku Tian Emperor replied. Though a Tian Emperor, he knew his status meant nothing before Shi Changxing.
“May I ask Daoyou’s name?” Before leaving, Ceku Tian Emperor bowed to Lan Xiaobu, grateful for his loyalty.
“My name is Lan Xiaobu. Shang Wei was my alias,” Lan Xiaobu said after a moment’s thought, opting for honesty. He felt Ceku Tian Emperor was someone worth befriending.
“Lan Xiaobu?” Ceku Tian Emperor found the name oddly familiar, as if he’d heard it before. Then he recalled—among those who disappeared with Gu Qiang, there was someone named Lan Xiaobu.
In that moment, Ceku Tian Emperor realized Gu Qiang’s fall was likely connected to Lan Xiaobu, and even the Tingdao alias might be tied to Shi Changxing.
Taking a deep breath, Ceku Tian Emperor knew that, whether his guess was right or wrong, Lan Xiaobu was no ordinary figure. If Tingdao was indeed destroyed by Lan Xiaobu, he was an exceptionally cautious person. Why, then, would such a cautious individual go to the Great Ice Palace? And how had Lan Xiaobu infiltrated it so silently?
After walking for half an incense stick’s time, Ceku Tian Emperor shuddered and stopped instinctively. He recalled the fall of the Holy Sword Palace.
The Holy Sword Palace fell because it had a Chaos Dao Body cultivator. The Great Ice Palace and Holy Sword Palace shared a commonality: the Chaos Unicorn obtained by the Great Ice Palace and the Chaos Dao Body of the Holy Sword Palace were both rumored to come from Guan Chong’s granddaughter, Guan Yuxue, of the True Derivation Holy Dao…
The more Ceku Tian Emperor thought, the more plausible it seemed, until he couldn’t help but wonder if Lan Xiaobu was behind it. Lan Xiaobu claimed he went to rescue someone—not someone else, but likely the Chaos Unicorn.
He couldn’t help but marvel inwardly—such audacity existed in the Great Universe. His only doubt was that he hadn’t heard of the Great Ice Palace reporting the loss of the Chaos Unicorn.
