“Lost Sea?” Lan Xiaobu was somewhat puzzled.
He had heard from Qiao Aolun and Su Cen that this place was terrifying, practically a forbidden zone. For cultivators, coming here was almost certain death. Su Cen had perished here in her previous life.
But that was only for cultivators of this plane. Now, let alone Lan Xiaobu, even Tai Chuan was a third-stage sacred beast. Lan Xiaobu couldn’t believe that he, a saint nearly surpassing the ninth stage, would fall in a place like this within the Immortal Realm.
“Tai Chuan, I’m going in to find the Six Realms Stone Flag. Why don’t you return to the Longevity Realm?” Lan Xiaobu stowed the Reincarnation Pot.
“Big Brother, can I come along and take a look?” Tai Chuan didn’t want to stay in the Longevity Realm any longer. Its cultivation had stabilised at the third-stage sacred beast level, and it wanted to explore outside.
Lan Xiaobu hesitated briefly before saying, “Alright then, let’s go in together.”
Lan Xiaobu had seen plenty of seas in the void. The Eternal Night Sea was one, vast and expansive. This place was called the Lost Sea, so logically, it should be a void sea too. But when Lan Xiaobu extended his divine sense, he didn’t sense any sea-like aura—only fragmented law shards, swamps, grey mist, and broken mountains. It felt more like a shattered void planet than a sea.
Stepping inside, there was indeed no sea. What met the eye was a pile of white bones. Su Cen’s strength in her past life was modest, and after falling here, she had long since turned to nothingness. Among the bones, Lan Xiaobu sensed no trace of her aura.
“Big Brother, this place dissolves flesh and dao principles,” Tai Chuan blurted out as soon as it stood there.
Lan Xiaobu nodded. “But it shouldn’t affect you. This place dissolves all dao techniques. Immortal Realm cultivators, whose dao hasn’t fully formed, have almost no chance of surviving here. Divine Realm cultivators, if their realm is high enough, might have a shot. Your divine sense isn’t strong yet, so try not to extend it.”
“I know. I just tried, and it got swallowed up,” Tai Chuan admitted. It had extended its divine sense earlier, only for it to be devoured completely.
Lan Xiaobu stared into the depths of the Lost Sea, chuckling. “This is definitely no mere Immortal Realm forbidden zone. It can swallow a third-stage sacred beast’s divine sense. I’m curious to see what this place really is.”
The vanishing divine sense wasn’t disappearing for no reason—it was being used somehow.
Lan Xiaobu took a step forward. As he extended his divine sense, he confirmed the place was consuming it. But his divine sense was too powerful for the swallowing to affect him.
Tai Chuan hurried after him. It had wanted to see something interesting, but this place offered nothing but deathly aura and strange devouring forces—hardly worth exploring.
After walking for just half an incense stick’s time, Lan Xiaobu stopped. Before him was a massive millstone, resembling his Cosmic Mill in shape. This millstone was protecting a youth who looked like an ordinary mortal.
The corrosive dao principles of the Lost Sea bombarded the millstone relentlessly, yet they couldn’t harm the youth.
Lan Xiaobu’s divine sense, however, detected that the youth was no ordinary figure—at least a first-stage proven dao saint. Without the millstone, even a first-stage saint would be corroded to nothing here.
The youth had been using the millstone to resist the corrosive dao principles. When he saw Lan Xiaobu, shock filled his eyes.
Besides himself, someone else could enter the Lost Sea? He’d ended up in this sorry state, unable to move forward or back. Without rescue, he’d be stuck here forever. Yet this man and beast were strolling through as if on a leisurely walk?
Anyone who could wander here wasn’t an immortal. But this was an Immortal Realm plane. He was here because he cultivated the Mortal Dao—not just any Mortal Dao—which allowed him to linger in the Immortal Realm.
“You cultivate the Mortal Dao?” Lan Xiaobu asked, mildly surprised, sensing a familiar Mortal Dao principle.
“You won’t hear me. This place is filled with corrosive dao principles, and the rules of space and time are all broken…” The youth stopped mid-sentence, stunned. His voice was clear—he was sure it had carried.
He’d only meant for Lan Xiaobu to read his lips, not expecting to speak so easily. He tried extending his divine sense and was thrilled to find it could stretch out without being swallowed—but only within the small space he shared with Lan Xiaobu.
The youth realised this man and beast were no ordinary cultivators. He clasped his fists and said, “I’m Bai Yue, and I do cultivate the Mortal Dao. May I ask your name?”
“I’m Lan Xiaobu. How did you end up here?” Lan Xiaobu replied casually.
Bai Yue sighed. “I came because I cultivate the Mortal Dao. I heard there were indestructible dao principles here, so I wanted to see them. I didn’t expect to get trapped. If not for my cultivation and a defensive treasure, I’d probably be a pile of bones by now. Brother Lan, your cultivation is much stronger, but I suggest you don’t go deeper.
“There’s nothing here but indestructible dao principles. If you’re not interested in them, you should leave now. When I came in, it was easy enough, but after being eroded by the indestructible dao principles, I ended up like this. They strip away all vitality.”
“You don’t want me to save you?” Lan Xiaobu looked at Bai Yue, surprised. Usually, trapped people begged for rescue the moment they saw someone. He’d seen it plenty of times.
Bai Yue gave a bitter smile. “I don’t need saving because you can’t. I’m holding off the indestructible dao principles for now, but getting out is impossible. You haven’t encountered them yet, so leave while you can. Once you do, you’ll end up like me. If you make it out and have time, maybe visit my sect and tell my senior brother about my situation…”
Lan Xiaobu cut him off. “No need. I can save you right now.”
With that, Lan Xiaobu’s hands swirled with dao rhythm, grabbing Bai Yue and his millstone. With a surge of vital energy, he sent both out of the Lost Sea.
Bai Yue landed in the void, staring blankly at the barrier array and the four characters “Lost Sea” above it. For a long while, he couldn’t react. He was out? This was clearly outside the Lost Sea.
After a dozen breaths, he murmured, “An Immortal Realm plane has such a powerful being? This is just… just…”
He trailed off, unable to articulate. Lan Xiaobu’s strength far exceeded his comprehension—calling it earth-shattering wasn’t an exaggeration. He knew how terrifying the Lost Sea was, yet to the man who saved him, it seemed like nothing special.
But Bai Yue soon snapped out of it. He’d been trapped too long and needed to return to Mortal Star quickly. After all these years, who knew what had happened there? For a time, he’d felt constant unease—a bad omen, likely.
“Big Brother, I think I sense indestructible dao principles,” Tai Chuan suddenly said, looking toward a distant area.
It was a shattered swamp, broken not just on the surface but in its rules as well. Deep in the Lost Sea, it didn’t stand out.
Lan Xiaobu smiled. “Not just indestructible dao principles—the scroll of the Indestructible Great Dao is here too. Sadly, it’s blank. And what we’re looking for is in this swamp.”
As he spoke, Lan Xiaobu stepped to the swamp’s edge, waved his hand, and a blank dao scroll appeared in his palm.
From the lingering dao rhythm, Lan Xiaobu knew this was the Indestructible Great Dao scroll Su Cen had sought. But after his Cosmic Dimension Model reconstructed the original, this one had become blank.
“There’s actually water in this swamp,” Tai Chuan exclaimed, as if discovering a new world.
A swamp in the void with water felt like an ordinary landmass, not something in the void.
“Not just water—there’s someone here. Well, not exactly someone, just a shattered body,” Lan Xiaobu chuckled, tossing out array flags in succession.
In moments, the swamp was locked down by his flags, and a sudden cave dwelling appeared before Lan Xiaobu and Tai Chuan. It was less a cave and more a wooden shack with a few logs, topped with brown grass—whether corroded or naturally so was unclear.
The shack was full of holes, making it easy to see inside. A man with a ruined body and tangled hair hovered in the centre. Dao principles swirled around him, each cycle seeming to strengthen his aura slightly. Though his body was broken, he wore a tattered black robe.
“Someone’s here, so you can stop cultivating, black-robe guy,” Lan Xiaobu called out.
The man trembled slightly, slowly turning his head. He had only one eye, half his face flesh, the other half bone. A gaping hole in his right chest still carried traces of corrosive aura.
“You…” Clearly, he’d only just noticed Lan Xiaobu because of the call. Not only was someone here, but they could easily see through the illusions of this place.
