Hearing Lan Xiaobu’s words, the green-clad woman’s expression grew serious. She studied him for a while before saying, “How do you plan to save me?”
Lan Xiaobu pointed at the Great Destiny Technique scroll, “I intend to save you through the Great Destiny Technique.”
“You want my Great Destiny Technique scroll?” Her tone turned cold. She knew full well that everyone who came here was after it. Since someone had escaped the mountain before, the scroll’s location was no secret.
Lan Xiaobu understood her thinking. If their positions were reversed, he’d assume the same. And she wasn’t wrong—he’d come for the Great Destiny Technique.
“I do want it, but not how you think. I just want to borrow it and comprehend my own destiny laws. Once I’ve grasped them, I can use my destiny laws to unravel the ones binding you,” he said sincerely.
She understood his meaning. She was locked by someone else’s destiny laws, and to break free, her understanding of the Destiny Great Dao had to surpass that of her captor—her destiny laws needed to outrank the ones holding her.
But bound as she was, she couldn’t even stow the scroll, let alone advance her dao. She kept it on the stone table to resist the binding laws and seek a way out, however faint that hope was.
Lan Xiaobu’s idea was feasible, but it hinged on two things: first, he had to comprehend the Destiny Great Dao; second, his version had to outstrip the one binding her.
It sounded convoluted, but it was simple—someone locked her, and he’d need a stronger key than the lock’s maker.
Realizing this, she didn’t bother responding.
She’d proven her dao through destiny and reached the Creation Dao realm, her grasp of it nearly peerless in the vast cosmos. Yet even she was bound by another’s destiny laws. This young man casually claiming he’d comprehend it on the spot and free her—what could be more absurd?
Lan Xiaobu knew she wouldn’t agree and didn’t waste time persuading her. After speaking, he stepped into the courtyard. A wave of corrosive charm hit him, and he paused.
“Without my permission, you can’t take the scroll. You’ll just get swept out of the mountain,” she said calmly, watching him enter.
Though bound by another’s destiny laws, the scroll was hers. She was using it to slowly chip away at her restraints—maybe she’d never succeed, but it was her only shot. She really didn’t want constant interruptions.
Lan Xiaobu replied coolly, “I need to prove my dao through destiny, so I have to see the scroll. Don’t worry, I won’t take it away. As compensation, once I’ve mastered destiny, I’ll come back and free you.”
She closed her eyes, speechless. Bound or not, even an ordinary Creation Dao sage might not snag her scroll. This guy, not even a Nine-Turn sage, thinking he could take it from her? Delusional.
Lan Xiaobu moved slowly. With each small step, he broke through the corrosive and repulsive laws. No matter how gradual, he never stopped.
In just half an incense stick’s time, he stood by the stone table, close enough to grab her, let alone the scroll.
“Huh?” She let out a surprised sound, opening her eyes. She didn’t believe he could take it, but reaching the table wasn’t simple either.
Lan Xiaobu reached out slowly, grasping for the scroll.
The moment his hand touched it, a vast destiny law beyond comprehension surged over him. He felt his life force and luck being stripped away—his dao laws, body, soul—all melting under this immense destiny force.
He knew self-preservation meant burning essence blood and lifespan, severing all mental ties to the scroll, and fleeing.
But that’d leave him like Xiang Jiongtian—a skeletal husk.
He’d come for the Great Destiny Technique—why would he cut ties now? He built a Longevity space around himself, sketching out its rules.
As he replaced the space’s rules with his Longevity laws, time slowed, the destiny drain stretched out, weakened, and finally vanished.
The woman stared, stunned, as he effortlessly lifted the scroll from the table. It was hers, yet she couldn’t reclaim it.
“You…” Even her usual calm faltered, her face shifting slightly.
She knew losing the scroll meant no more chance of escape—no hope left.
Lan Xiaobu tucked it away, looking at her, “I’m just borrowing it. Wait a while—I reckon no more than fifty years. I’ll return it and free you.”
With that, he turned and left. She didn’t trust him, and he saw no point in wasting words.
Proving destiny here wouldn’t work anyway—it was her mountain, her treasure. He couldn’t do it on her turf.
As he exited the courtyard and vanished from the mountain’s edge, she sighed, her calm returning. What’s gained is fortune, what’s lost is fate. If the scroll no longer belonged to her, Zhen Changyuan, why force it?
She closed her eyes again, not even bothering to resist the binding laws. Without the scroll, her mountain would soon be refined by someone outside.
…
Xiang Jiongtian suddenly looked up, halting his healing cycle. His injuries weren’t fully mended—only seventy or eighty percent recovered—but he stopped because he saw someone burst out of the mountain.
“You are?” He shot to his feet, staring at Lan Xiaobu before him.
Lan Xiaobu smiled, “That’s right, it’s me. We meet again.”
He’d thought the guy had left, but here he was, still trying to refine the woman’s mountain treasure. Lan Xiaobu couldn’t help but admire her composure—she knew her mountain was being tampered with, yet showed no flicker of emotion. Even when he took the scroll, she’d only flinched briefly before settling back. A woman of true wisdom, beyond life and death.
“Good, good! To thank you for saving me, I’ll refine your dao…” Xiang Jiongtian laughed, reaching for Lan Xiaobu.
To him, Lan Xiaobu wasn’t even a Three-Turn sage, let alone Nine-Turn. With seventy or eighty percent strength, crushing him would be a breeze.
Lan Xiaobu sighed, his Longevity domain surging out, “People, huh? You can’t just save any trash. Sometimes you can save a dog, but not garbage worse than a dog.”
Xiang Jiongtian’s expression froze. His space was locked down, all cosmic rules severed from him. He felt like a newborn, dropped into an alien world.
Dao rule suppression? His face paled. He sensed Lan Xiaobu’s strength was below his, so why was his space dominated by this domain?
Seeing Lan Xiaobu’s hand form a seal, Xiang Jiongtian shouted, “Spare me, fellow daoist! My mistake—I like harmless jokes. I thought you were a junior, so I figured I’d tease you, then offer something to repay your rescue.”
Lan Xiaobu said flatly, “I once saw fragments of a life-bearing planet. You destroyed it, didn’t you? Letting scum like you slip once was my error. If I let garbage worse than scum go twice, I don’t deserve to stand here. I like jokes too, but you only get one. Survive this, and let me joke twice, I’ll respect your guts.”
As his words fell, the seal landed. Xiang Jiongtian’s body burst apart, death flooding his mind. He saw his primordial spirit bound, his world pried open, a void vortex forming. All his soul traces outside were swept in, shredded in screams.
It’s over…
His final thought. From today, Xiang Jiongtian was erased from the cosmos. He wanted regret, but even that chance was gone.
As Lan Xiaobu killed him, deep in the mountain, Zhen Changyuan looked his way, puzzled. The aura refining her mountain had vanished.
