The woman scanned the ring Lan Xiaobu gave her with her divine sense, retrieving a blank jade slip. In moments, she etched a simple map onto it and sent it to him.
As Lan Xiaobu grabbed the slip, she said, “My name is Shi Wanrong. If you ever reach the Seven Cosmos Heaven World, tell my father, Shi Changxing, that his daughter was imprisoned by the Great Ice Pan Palace…”
Though she believed Lan Xiaobu was deceiving her, she had no other choice. Continuing as she was would likely lead to her death.
Lan Xiaobu nodded. “Alright, but if you escape, you can tell him yourself.”
With that, he began scattering array flags, weaving his Great Dao principles to create a latent Great Cutting Technique’s divine ability rhythm in the space. He couldn’t activate it now—cutting Shi Wanrong’s Dao threads immediately would alert the palace. He needed to wait until his mission was complete.
Hearing his calm tone, Shi Wanrong paused. She had mentioned her father, Shi Changxing, yet this man showed no reaction. Any cultivator in the Great Universe should be moved by that name. Though not a world’s Dao Ancestor, Shi Changxing’s reputation rivaled or surpassed theirs.
Lan Xiaobu genuinely hadn’t heard of him. He’d only skimmed details about the Dao Ancestors of the Great Desolate and Moru Worlds, barely glancing at others, let alone a non-Ancestor like Shi Changxing.
He embedded the Great Cutting Technique’s rhythms into the preset array, ready for activation.
An hour later, he stopped and said, “Once I’m done, this array will cut your Dao threads and teleport you out. Because some array patterns are newly learned, I can only guarantee you’ll leave the palace, not where you’ll end up. When you’re teleported, immediately use a flying treasure to escape—don’t get caught again.”
Many teleportation patterns were learned from Tianmo City’s world-level array. Though the cosmic dimensional model hadn’t fully constructed it, Lan Xiaobu had studied its outer restrictions, grasping the basics.
“You can really cut my Dao threads?” Shi Wanrong asked, doubting but sensing his sincerity.
Lan Xiaobu chuckled, “Don’t worry. Once I’m done, this array will definitely get you out.”
“How did you enter the palace?” she pressed. Its arrays were so formidable that even her father would struggle to infiltrate silently. She suspected Lan Xiaobu had an insider, which could endanger his friend.
He waved it off. “Don’t worry about that. I’m off to handle my business. Be ready.”
Stepping out of the ice peak, he transformed back into an ice origin Dao principle.
Changyuan’s cave mansion was far from Shi Wanrong’s peak. His ice principle form, while not slow, was far less swift than teleportation, and caution slowed him further.
Three days later, he stopped outside a peak with three grand Dao rhythm characters: Ice Wall Peak.
Without Shi Wanrong’s map, finding it could’ve taken a year. The palace was vast, its ice peaks countless. A wrong turn could delay him indefinitely, and lingering as an ice principle risked detection.
The peak exuded potent ice origin Dao principles, marking it as one of the palace’s top cultivation sites.
Sensing no cultivation rhythms, Lan Xiaobu feared Changyuan was absent, wasting his trip. To save time, he didn’t manually breach the peak’s protective array but used the cosmic dimensional model to construct its structure, entering effortlessly.
At the peak’s summit, a small bamboo grove stood, a vibrant contrast to the icy sect. His divine sense detected faint Dao rhythm fluctuations—not cultivation, but a discourse.
Stepping through the restrictions, he saw an ice lake ringed by green bamboo. In its center, a man and woman sat facing each other in the void, hands clasped, Dao rhythms swirling around them.
They were clearly practicing a joint technique. But Lan Xiaobu was puzzled—didn’t the palace forbid male disciples? Why were a man and woman cultivating together?
Regardless, he focused on the woman. Whether she was Changyuan or not, he’d act first.
“Who dares intrude my cave mansion?” the woman shouted, her fury palpable across the vast lake.
Lan Xiaobu ignored her, unleashing his Longevity Halberd, conjuring billions of halberd waves toward the pair while fully extending his domain.
In this place, he needed a swift victory—no delays, not even a breath.
The two, at a critical cultivation moment, didn’t counter immediately. Lan Xiaobu was speechless—did they think he wouldn’t dare strike? How arrogant.
The man, sensing the halberd waves, realized his life was at stake. Ignoring the risk to his Dao foundation, he frantically retreated. “Pfft!” As their hands parted, violent Dao rhythms backlashed, and he spat blood. The halberd waves followed, tearing into him.
“Boom!” The waves left dozens of bloody gashes, hurling him into the lake, his bones shattering.
Lan Xiaobu knew the man wasn’t dead, but he wasn’t the target. His halberd waves, paired with his Longevity Domain, fully restrained the now-recovering woman.
Blood trickled from her mouth as she glared coldly. “Who are you, daring to cause trouble here?”
Lan Xiaobu said calmly, “I heard the palace forbids men. Why are you openly cultivating with one on this lake?”
She wanted to snap, “None of your business,” but didn’t dare. Saying so would doom her under sect laws, even if she survived this encounter.
“I, Changyuan, have never offended you or even met you. Isn’t storming my cave excessive?” Realizing her predicament, she softened her tone, though inwardly puzzled by how he infiltrated.
Lan Xiaobu chuckled, “I heard you have a Chaos Unicorn…”
“So, you’re after the Chaos Unicorn? It cost our sect dearly. Don’t even think about it. Even if I gave it to you, you couldn’t tame it. Leave now, and I’ll pretend this never happened, even offering compensation.” Her tone was firm, but Lan Xiaobu sensed her apprehension.
“Call out the Chaos Unicorn. If I can’t tame it, I’ll leave,” he said, tempted to kill both and head to Saint Sword Palace. But he restrained himself. Peaceful resolution was best—killing Changyuan would alert the palace.
Alerting them wasn’t the issue, but he needed to save Qi Manwei next. Since the palace acquired Tai Chuan, they likely knew Tai Chuan and Qi Manwei came from the same place, a high possibility.
“Fine.” Perhaps fearing exposure of her illicit cultivation with the man, Changyuan relented, summoning a purple-gold saint beast. She sneered inwardly—Chaos Unicorns, with top intelligence, chose their masters. Tame it? Dream on.
As the beast appeared, Lan Xiaobu recognized it instantly—Tai Chuan.
Before Changyuan could speak, he unleashed several Dao principles. Though she was Fourth Step, her array and restriction skills were inferior. He easily lifted Tai Chuan’s restraints.
Freed, Tai Chuan roared, then saw Lan Xiaobu. It rushed to him. “Boss Bu, I knew you’d save me! This woman’s no good!”
