“Everyone, Lan Xiaobu is not only cunning but also greedy. The Cosmic Tree could’ve been shared, yet he sneaked off with it, clearly wanting it all. We should unite, take him down, and redistribute his possessions, including the Cosmic Tree,” Huan declared, his tone seething with anger.
Yang Tian opened his mouth but hesitated, aware that Lan Xiaobu likely had allies here. Speaking carelessly could backfire. He had only taken Lan Xiaobu’s cosmic Dao fruit, which he later returned, yet Lan Xiaobu never forgot it. If his words reached Lan Xiaobu’s ears, it would spell trouble.
Tuliao took a deep breath and said, “I support the Great Cosmos Dao Ancestor. If we had united earlier, we could’ve bound the Cosmic Tree. But Lan Xiaobu claimed it was impossible, attacked it first, and caused it to flee, costing us greatly. And I’ll tell you something else—not only does he have the Cosmic Tree, but the Cosmic Tree Spirit is also in his hands.”
The Cosmic Tree Spirit with Lan Xiaobu? Tuliao’s revelation hit like a small bomb. How many treasures did this man have? If they could capture him…
But the thought faded quickly. Taking Lan Xiaobu’s treasures was no simple task. If it were, he wouldn’t have snatched Huan’s star-core planet in his face or claimed Huizhi’s Wuxu Bow.
They recalled Kui Xishan, who merely disliked Lan Xiaobu. Where was he now? They asked themselves—how much stronger were they than Kui Xishan?
Huizhi sneered inwardly. Before, he might’ve shared Huan’s mindset, but not now. Even if they could surround Lan Xiaobu and take his treasures, they’d likely end up in Huan’s hands.
He knew Huan better than anyone.
“Indeed,” Huan nodded to Tuliao, then turned to Huizhi. “Brother Hui, what’s your stance?”
Huizhi laughed and clasped his fists. “I’m willing to help. I don’t ask for much—just what was originally mine.”
Though he had no intention of joining the attack on Lan Xiaobu, he wouldn’t say so. If Huan and the others somehow caught Lan Xiaobu, he could reclaim his own. Huan could take others’ things, but Huizhi’s weren’t so easily claimed.
Changyi laughed heartily. “See you all later. The Great Cosmos’s rules are collapsing, so I’ll take my leave.”
Changyi left, followed closely by Lü Qiqian and seven or eight others. They had seen Lan Xiaobu’s actions. Despite talks of ganging up, he had killed Kui Xishan and taken Huan’s star-core planet. Now that he was gone, they were supposed to chase him? Did they think their intelligence was lacking?
Even if they succeeded, what then? Not only was dividing the spoils uncertain, but if they failed to kill Lan Xiaobu, he’d come for them. Huan might not care, but what about the rest?
Ling Zhuzhen didn’t hesitate, fleeing immediately. When Lan Xiaobu was here, Huan was helpless. Now that he was gone, Huan wanted to pursue him? Did he think Ling Zhuzhen was a child? The Zhou Heart Shield was taken, and he’d reclaim it, but Lan Xiaobu was no ordinary foe.
With only three or four remaining, Huan’s face darkened. When had the Great Cosmos Dao Ancestor’s influence fallen so low?
Lan Xiaobu’s divine sense couldn’t penetrate outward. When he began refining the Cosmic Tree, he realised how naive he’d been.
His divine sense couldn’t even pierce the tree’s interior, let alone beyond it. A powerful force pushed against him, threatening to eject him at any moment. Fortunately, he was within his cosmic dimension model, or he’d have been expelled already.
His heart sank. His plan was sound, but his current cultivation couldn’t even start the refinement.
Having entered the void with the Cosmic Tree, Lan Xiaobu wasn’t about to give up. Unable to devise a refining method quickly, he seized the Cosmic Tree Spirit.
“This is the Cosmic Tree…” the spirit’s voice trembled. It hadn’t expected Lan Xiaobu to not only find the tree but stay within it.
Lan Xiaobu sneered. “Here’s your chance to live. Control the Cosmic Tree and let me refine it.”
He began to doubt the spirit’s connection to the tree. Logically, a tree spirit should be the tree’s soul, essential to its existence. Yet, he sensed the Cosmic Tree had its own instincts and methods, beyond the spirit’s control.
The spirit knew Lan Xiaobu wasn’t joking—killing it would be as easy as slaughtering a chicken. Without argument or bargaining, it immediately tried to communicate with the Cosmic Tree.
It thought that sacrificing the tree for its life was worth it, especially since it wasn’t the tree’s original spirit but an outsider.
But it soon trembled, realising the Cosmic Tree ignored it. No matter how it tried, it was like a passerby to the tree.
Even the dimmest spirit understood—it had been the Cosmic Tree’s tool. The tree avoided certain actions itself, using the spirit as a proxy.
For instance, distributing cosmic Dao fruits during the Eternal Life Conference, altering the Great Cosmos’s rules, or failing to sense chaos treasures despite being the tree’s spirit…
“Lord Bu, I can’t make it listen anymore. Before, I could communicate and achieve my wishes instantly, but now it’s like I can’t reach it…” the spirit began, only to let out a piercing scream as its green hat turned ashen.
“Lord Bu, my mind was forcibly severed by the Cosmic Tree. It’s so cunning…” the spirit wailed.
Lan Xiaobu tossed it back into the cosmic dimension model. He now knew the spirit was just a puppet. The Cosmic Tree could do many things itself but used the spirit as a front.
Why? Lan Xiaobu wasn’t entirely sure, but he had guesses. As a realm’s tree, the Cosmic Tree should uphold fairness, never bending rules to favour a race.
Yet it wanted to do just that, using the spirit to avoid tainting its merit. As a cosmic entity born at the universe’s opening, it likely proved its Dao through merit or something similar. Damaging its merit could bar it from higher realms.
A realm’s tree with such selfish motives.
Lan Xiaobu abandoned refining attempts, unleashing a rift-rule wheel pattern.
Under it, the cosmic rules before him clarified. Though it was the Cosmic Tree, his rift-rule divine ability revealed boundless blood and grudge auras, as if left by billions of fallen soldiers.
As a seventh-step Great Dao cultivator of his own Dao, Lan Xiaobu had seen all manner of schemes—demonic transformations under the Great Dream Dao, destruction under the Great Cosmos Dao…
Now he understood the Cosmic Tree’s nature. It thrived on the Great Cosmos’s chaos, craving constant battles and fallen cultivators to absorb their killing and blood auras.
Why did the Great Dream and Great Cosmos Dao Ancestors thrive? Their blood-soaked, slaughter-driven Daos fed the Cosmic Tree. Huan destroyed planets per cultivation session, while Huizhi turned beings into demons, their blood and grudge auras absorbed by the tree.
So, it was a tree aiming for supreme Dao through such means. Lan Xiaobu snorted, unleashing his Seven Slaughter Dao rules, bombarding the tree relentlessly.
Tearing sounds of Dao rules echoed, but Lan Xiaobu sensed that with his current cultivation, ripping the tree apart would take centuries.
In reality, it wouldn’t take centuries—within months, the Cosmic Tree could eject him.
Though still attacking, Lan Xiaobu sought other methods.
He summoned his Dao fire, modest in grade. Fire didn’t counter wood, but wood fueled fire. If he could ignite the Cosmic Tree, it would be a strong start.
