After Gu Dao left, Fate Saint Zhen Changyuan and Blood River Saint Chun Yingsheng soon arrived as well. Along with Lan Xiaobu and the holy beast Tai Chuan, the group consisted of only four.
“Brother Lan,” Blood River Saint greeted with clasped fists upon arrival, genuinely admiring Lan Xiaobu. He had only explored part of the Great Desolate Divine Realm, yet the gains were significant for him. The realm was rich in cosmic fortune and clear in its rules, allowing him to deepen his understanding of the Dao and solidify his Dao foundation.
What impressed Blood River Saint most was that in the Great Desolate Divine Realm, anyone he asked spoke of Lan Xiaobu with heartfelt respect. He had never seen a divine realm lord achieve what Lan Xiaobu had.
Zhen Changyuan also arrived, and truthfully, after touring the Great Desolate Divine Realm, she had grown fond of this divine realm. In all her years of cultivation, she had never seen anyone govern a divine realm so harmoniously. If she didn’t know she had to go to the Land of Eternal Life, she would have wanted to settle here permanently.
In fact, for a saint, governing a divine realm well wasn’t particularly difficult. But few would, like Lan Xiaobu, expend effort to establish order in a divine realm. Even if the time required was negligible, most cultivators deemed it unnecessary.
Having gained control of a divine realm and become its lord, a cultivator had already laid the fortune foundation for the path to eternal life. Why waste time managing other matters?
“Hasn’t Green Wood Saint recovered yet?” Blood River Saint asked casually, noticing Green Wood Saint’s absence.
Lan Xiaobu explained, “Green Wood Saint will stay in the Great Desolate Divine Realm to heal for now. Since everyone is here today, I plan to discuss the matter of the Seven Realms Stone.”
At the mention of the Seven Realms Stone, Blood River Saint immediately perked up. He knew Lan Xiaobu was searching for it but was unsure of his progress.
Lan Xiaobu pointed to Zhan’ai Holy Dao City, “The Seven Realms Stone is inside this Zhan’ai Holy Dao City…”
Hearing Lan Xiaobu’s words, both Blood River Saint and Fate Saint gasped. To find the Seven Realms Stone, one must locate its seven realm flags. Did they think finding these seven flags was the hardest part?
Wrong, the true difficulty lay in locating the Seven Realms Stone itself.
The hardest flags to find were the first and second, but once those were found, it was said the remaining flags could be located through the guidance of the earlier ones.
Yet finding all seven flags didn’t mean you’d obtain the Seven Realms Stone, you still had to take the flags to its location to claim it.
Whether or not Lan Xiaobu had found all seven flags, he had completed the most challenging step, locating the Seven Realms Stone, which was more than half the battle.
From what Blood River and Fate Saints knew, Lan Xiaobu had likely found several of the flags already.
“Junior Brother Xiaobu, how many Seven Realms Stone flags have you found?” Fate Saint couldn’t help but ask.
Lan Xiaobu sighed, “I’ve only found six Seven Realms Stone flags…”
Hearing that Lan Xiaobu had found six flags, Blood River Saint almost pinched himself to check if he was dreaming. With six flags found, wouldn’t the seventh be easy to obtain? And with the Seven Realms Stone right here, plus the seven flags, it meant he, Chun Yingsheng, could enter the Land of Eternal Life to pursue the Dao of Eternal Life.
Zhen Changyuan looked at Lan Xiaobu with excitement. She didn’t need the Seven Realms Stone to enter the Land of Eternal Life, but she knew what obtaining it would mean for Lan Xiaobu.
Lan Xiaobu sighed, “But the seventh flag isn’t guided, so I’d like to consult you both on how to obtain it.”
Lan Xiaobu’s words were like a bucket of cold water poured over Blood River Saint’s head. Just one step away, could it be that he, Chun Yingsheng, would miss the Land of Eternal Life over this one step?
“Xiaobu, I’m not very clear on this either. It’s a pity we didn’t ask Meng Qi back then,” Zhen Changyuan sighed. When it came to the Seven Realms Stone, Meng Qi was the most knowledgeable.
Lan Xiaobu shook his head, “I suspect Meng Qi doesn’t know either, and even if he did, he probably wouldn’t tell.”
Meng Qi had appeared using the bodies of Green Wood Saint and Meng Buchen, so soul-searching wasn’t possible. And with Meng Qi’s strength, Lan Xiaobu couldn’t search his soul.
If he asked Meng Qi this question, it would be tantamount to revealing that he was close to obtaining the Seven Realms Stone. Meng Qi had too many soul fragments and wasn’t easily killed. Telling him about the Seven Realms Stone would be like broadcasting it across the entire Land of Eternal Life.
“Why don’t we go take a look first,” Blood River Saint couldn’t help but say, eager to see the Seven Realms Stone. Though he had heard of its fame, he had never seen it, as it hadn’t appeared in his plane.
Lan Xiaobu nodded. He had come here today to show Fate Saint and Blood River Saint the Seven Realms Stone. They were well-travelled and likely knew more than he did.
The group entered Zhan’ai Holy Dao City, which was already protected by Lan Xiaobu’s grand array. Passing through the array, they easily reached the outside of the Seven Realms Stone.
When Lan Xiaobu opened the concealment array, a massive half-grey, half-white stone appeared before them. Their divine senses were blocked, but the vast, boundless aura and the flow of cosmic creation rules confirmed to Blood River Saint that this was indeed the Seven Realms Stone. Only it could exude such intricate and vast spatial rule aura.
“It really is the Seven Realms Stone,” Zhen Changyuan said excitedly, recognizing it instantly.
“Yes, but there are seven flag positions around the Seven Realms Stone’s edge, and I’ve only obtained six,” Lan Xiaobu sighed, originally hoping to refine the stone today.
“Xiaobu, take out the six flags and place them in six of the positions to see what happens,” Zhen Changyuan suddenly suggested.
Even without her suggestion, Lan Xiaobu had planned to do so. As he prepared to take out the six flags, Zhen Changyuan spoke again, “Wait, Xiaobu, have you refined these six flags?”
Lan Xiaobu paused, then said, “No, I only left a trace of my divine sense on them.”
“You’d better refine them,” Zhen Changyuan said immediately. She knew that treasures like the Seven Realms Stone were incredibly difficult to obtain. Unless they willingly acknowledged a master, they could flee into the cosmic void.
And among treasures of the same level, the Seven Realms Stone was the hardest to claim. Other treasures might not necessarily escape, but the Seven Realms Stone could perform planar teleportation, making it nearly impossible to retrieve if it fled.
Lan Xiaobu nodded, “Alright, wait here for me.”
Originally, he thought refining the Seven Realms Stone itself would suffice, and a divine sense mark on the flags would be enough. But after hearing Zhen Changyuan, he realized he’d been careless. For something like the Seven Realms Stone or its flags, refining them was the safest approach, otherwise, if a flag escaped, where would he search?
There was precedent, the Five Realms Stone flags and Seven Realms Stone flags had escaped before. He had known where they were, but now he was clueless.
Lan Xiaobu didn’t refine the flags outside the Seven Realms Stone, instead returning to the Eternal Life Realm to do so.
It took him six days to fully refine the six flags before he returned to the Seven Realms Stone’s perimeter.
“Xiaobu, place the six flags in six of the positions, we’ll help watch to prevent the Seven Realms Stone from escaping. See if this can reveal the seventh flag’s location,” Zhen Changyuan offered.
Lan Xiaobu didn’t hesitate, grabbing the six flags. Before he could place them in the six positions around the Seven Realms Stone, its vast aura surged abruptly, and spatial rules became strikingly clear. Endless spatial rules wove back and forth, as if the stone was about to break free from this space and vanish into the cosmic expanse.
Lan Xiaobu didn’t dare delay, with a wave of his hand, he sent the six flags into their positions. The next moment, the grey-white stone began spinning frantically, and the endless rules in the void became crystal clear. But divine sense was completely blocked, making it impossible to observe the stone with it at that moment.
Blood River Saint, sensing these vivid rule auras and the emergence of boundless spatial rules, forgot his task of helping Lan Xiaobu guard the Seven Realms Stone to prevent its escape. Instead, he sat down cross-legged, beginning to comprehend the stone’s seven-realm spatial rules.
Lan Xiaobu thought to himself, this guy really isn’t reliable. But he had no time to argue with Blood River Saint, he could feel the charm of the six flags being frantically stripped by the stone. If he delayed, the flags he had recently refined would lose their connection to him again.
Thankfully, he had followed Zhen Changyuan’s advice and refined the six flags, otherwise, he’d have no control.
Just as Lan Xiaobu was about to try sending a strand of his Eternal Life Dao Rule into the Seven Realms Stone to forcibly refine it, a beam of light tore through the void, landing precisely on the seventh void position around the stone. As this flag fell, the Seven Realms Stone became perfectly clear.
Fate Saint urgently called, “Xiaobu, all seven flags are in place, I’m using my Dao to suppress the stone’s escape, hurry and refine it.”
Without needing her prompt, Lan Xiaobu had already severed all surrounding spatial rules, his Eternal Life Dao Sense landing on the Seven Realms Stone, frantically refining every rule and restriction within it.
