Lan Xiaobu didn’t go out, but through his monitoring array, he saw several unidentified cultivators lingering outside his door, seemingly puzzled that he was the only one staying in his room. A few even had greedy looks in their eyes, clearly suspecting he had some secret.
Lan Xiaobu not only stayed put but also refrained from using his divine sense to observe the outside situation. As for the cultivators who knew he had a secret, he wasn’t concerned. Unless he was besieged by hundreds, he had no reason to fear anyone on the Listening to the Dao.
This ruin-breaking took nearly twenty days. Lan Xiaobu calculated that even if the cultivators outside paid ten thousand high-grade Dao crystals per day, twenty days would cost each of them two million. He wondered what happened to those who couldn’t pay—likely they were either killed or had their worlds plundered.
Being on such a black ship, Lan Xiaobu had no mood to cultivate or study array techniques. Most of his time was spent observing the void outside the Listening to the Dao or contemplating what was needed to achieve the fourth step of the Dao.
In the fifteenth year, the Listening to the Dao stopped, and Lan Xiaobu heard the announcement he’d been waiting for: “The Listening to the Dao has stopped outside the Jiuyuan Chaotic Zone. Passengers wishing to venture into the chaotic zone, please disembark. The Listening to the Dao will remain here for three years. All cultivators heading to the chaotic zone must return to the ship within three years, or bear the consequences.”
Lan Xiaobu immediately removed all his arrays and left his room. These fifteen years had been a waste of his life. If it weren’t for wanting to visit the Jiuyuan Chaotic Zone, this trip would have been a huge loss.
As he expected, leaving the Listening to the Dao required a fee—fifty thousand high-grade Dao crystals per person, euphemistically called an exit fee.
Lan Xiaobu saw no one objecting. Those who might have were likely already dealt with. The survivors were the ones who knew how to stay alive.
He handed over the fifty thousand Dao crystals and followed the crowd off the ship.
Lan Xiaobu didn’t know how many people the ship could carry, but only two to three thousand disembarked. He was certain that more than half had died on the Listening to the Dao, and this was only after fifteen years.
He could imagine how many Dao crystals the Listening to the Dao earned per trip. If he ever reached the fourth step, robbing this ship would make him rich.
After leaving the Listening to the Dao, before even approaching the chaotic zone, Lan Xiaobu felt a faint chaotic aura, familiar to him. Mixed with it was a disordered Dao principle aura, somewhat similar to the oppressive spatial feeling when the ship passed through the ruleless ruin space.
Lan Xiaobu wondered if this was why cultivators couldn’t stay in the chaotic zone for long. As he prepared to speed up and enter the chaotic zone, he suddenly sensed someone following him.
There were no fourth-step cultivators on the Listening to the Dao, and Lan Xiaobu’s biggest worry onboard was being besieged. Now that he was off the ship and being followed, he welcomed it. Over the years on the Listening to the Dao, his Dao crystals had been nearly drained.
Lan Xiaobu sped up, and half a day later, he landed on a barren stretch of blue gravel. He’d seen plenty of gray gravel, but blue was a first. This wasn’t the time to study it, though, as the cultivator following him landed as well.
It was a woman in a Five Elements Dao robe, clearly at the peak of the Creation Saint realm. Though she hadn’t half-stepped into the fourth step, she had more potential than those who had. Those half-stepping into the fourth step were usually failed attempts at achieving it, while this woman was likely waiting for the perfect moment.
“Not bad, you actually noticed I was following you,” the woman said lightly, her tone even soft, her appearance pleasing.
Lan Xiaobu didn’t respond, just stared at her while extending his divine sense. He confirmed that she was the only one following him, which put him at ease.
“Do you have business with me?” Lan Xiaobu asked, feigning confusion.
The woman smiled, “Five years ago, when the Listening to the Dao passed through the ruleless ruin space, almost everyone couldn’t endure the chaotic Dao principle suppression in their rooms and left. You didn’t, so I suspect you have a big secret—possibly a sky-opening treasure space, or even a post-chaos treasure space. Or perhaps your Dao is so extraordinary that you created your own spatial realm.”
Lan Xiaobu replied calmly, “And so?”
The woman, surprised, studied him again before saying, “So, you have two choices. First, open your divine soul for me to inspect. Second, open your world for me to see. You should know that even if you don’t give it to me, it’ll end up with the Listening to the Dao.”
Lan Xiaobu sighed and said slowly, “Five years ago, seven people lingered outside my room, four of them particularly greedy for my things. What puzzles me is why you weren’t among them.”
The woman frowned slightly at his words, a trace of unease flickering. But she quickly realized that even if Lan Xiaobu’s cultivation was average, it wouldn’t take much effort to observe who was interested in his room from inside.
With that, she casually tossed out a handsome man onto the ground. “Is he one of the people you mentioned?”
“Junior Sister Qiang…” the man said immediately, “Don’t play these jokes with me.”
Lan Xiaobu frowned at the man. He was indeed strikingly handsome and one of the cultivators who had lingered outside his room, coveting his possessions. What puzzled Lan Xiaobu was how this woman had managed to pull him into her world without arousing suspicion from the Listening to the Dao’s stewards.
“You’re wondering how I managed to take him into my world, aren’t you? You’ll find out soon, because I’m not planning to kill you yet. His name is Zong Quan. What’s yours?” the woman asked, clearly sensing Lan Xiaobu’s confusion.
She gave a serene smile, then reached for Lan Xiaobu. As she moved, her saint domain crashed toward him like a collapsing iceberg. She clearly didn’t take Lan Xiaobu seriously—perhaps she’d killed too many like him, giving her immense confidence.
But the next moment, her expression shifted slightly. Her saint domain failed to tear through Lan Xiaobu’s, and instead, it was locked by powerful spatial Dao principles. Not only could it not expand, but it was being dragged in. This was definitely his saint domain, and it was on a completely different level from hers.
Her confidence stemmed from cultivating a sky-opening Dao, the Chaos Ice Source Dao. Any cultivator with lower cultivation than hers would have their saint domain frozen the moment it touched her Ice Source Domain.
Once she locked an opponent’s domain, they were at her mercy. This move had never failed her. But today, it did—not only that, her Ice Source Domain was being suppressed by his.
Sensing a powerful killing intent sweeping over, the woman, Junior Sister Qiang, no longer dared to underestimate him. She stretched out her hand, summoning an ice sword with a formidable aura. The sword’s Dao principles surged toward Lan Xiaobu, but his Longevity Halberd was already sweeping in.
*Crack!* The woman watched in horror as her still-forming sword Dao domain was easily torn apart. A terrifying halberd killing intent completely bound her, and the aura of death enveloped her mind.
“Senior, are you a fourth-step Dao powerhouse?” she asked, her eyes flashing with fear. Though she sensed Lan Xiaobu wasn’t a fourth-step cultivator, who else could crush her so effortlessly? In the Creation Saint realm, she wasn’t invincible, but no one should have been able to suppress her so easily. Otherwise, why would she have boldly used her domain to crush Lan Xiaobu from the start?
Lan Xiaobu didn’t bother responding. His halberd tore through her domain and struck her forehead, followed by a finger point.
“I…” The woman seemed to want to say something, but before she could finish, Lan Xiaobu’s halberd ripped through her forehead. The next moment, spatial Dao principles began tearing apart her world.
“No…” Feeling Lan Xiaobu about to destroy her world, the woman panicked.
Lan Xiaobu ignored her. If he hadn’t had some tricks up his sleeve, this woman would never have spared him. Just because he wasn’t affected by the chaotic Dao principle suppression in the ruleless ruin space, she intercepted him here—clearly not a good person.
“Senior, I know this woman’s origins. She’s not from the Moru World but from the Great Ice Pan Palace in the Central World, with a significant background. I can tell you many things about the Great Ice Pan Palace to help you evade their pursuit…” Though the handsome man spoke, the slight fear in his eyes betrayed his inner terror.
