Lan Xiaobu hadn’t guessed wrong; Fang Zhiqian had been keeping an eye on him all along. So, as soon as Lan Xiaobu left Anluo Heavenly City, Fang Zhiqian immediately followed.
Seeing Lan Xiaobu speeding up, perhaps unwilling to waste time returning to Anluo Heavenly City, Fang Zhiqian quickened his pace. In just the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Fang Zhiqian had already overtaken Lan Xiaobu.
Lan Xiaobu stopped his spaceship and landed on the ground. Although this place was only tens of millions of miles from Anluo Heavenly City, not a single soul was in sight.
“Master Bu, you wouldn’t have forgotten me, would you?” Fang Zhiqian laughed heartily, his plump body reverting to its original form as he landed.
“Nine Infants, you’ve come at the right time. I’ve recently been blocked by a few grasshoppers from True Derivation Sacred Path, and I could use your help with something…” Lan Xiaobu showed no trace of surprise, not even bothering to feign it.
Fang Zhiqian gave a forced smile, “Heh, I’m just a poor soul. I finally stepped into the Seventh Step of the Great Path, yet I’m still slaving away for others, sigh…”
Lan Xiaobu said calmly, “So, you’re getting cocky in front of me just because you’ve reached the Seventh Step?”
Fang Zhiqian showed no fear, his tone brash, “Cocky? Not quite. It’s just that you kept saying there was a divine sense mark on me, and I was always worried. Now that I’ve stepped into the Seventh Step, I came to confirm it with you. Guess I’m just a bit of a coward.”
Fang Zhiqian was certain there was no divine sense mark on him. If there had been, he would have found it by now with his Seventh Step cultivation. Otherwise, how could he dare to speak so arrogantly in front of Lan Xiaobu?
Lan Xiaobu looked at him coldly, “You’re not wrong in your guess. I didn’t place a divine sense mark on you.”
“Haha…” Fang Zhiqian burst into laughter, “Lan Xiaobu… oh, Master Bu, you must have thought I’d never reach the Seventh Step in this lifetime, so you dared to deceive me like that? No divine sense mark, yet you kept threatening me with one. Fortunately, I’ve reached the Seventh Step and can finally tell if there’s any threat on me.”
Lan Xiaobu said indifferently, “You’re mistaken. Even a pig, if I gave it a Curse Dao Seed, could step into the Seventh Step of the Great Path. I reckon, since you cultivate the Curse Great Path, you’re at least a tiny bit smarter than a pig, no? Thankfully, you didn’t disappoint me and managed to reach the Seventh Step.”
Fang Zhiqian’s smile vanished at Lan Xiaobu’s words, his voice turning cold, “Enough. Open your world, let me see if there’s anything worthwhile inside…”
But before he could finish, Lan Xiaobu stepped forward, raising his hand and delivering a resounding slap.
“You’re looking for…” Fang Zhiqian roared, his saintly domain about to lock onto Lan Xiaobu. But after only two words, he felt all his dao rhythms locked, as if something had bound them. He couldn’t release his dao intent, nor could he muster any primal energy. At that moment, he was no different from an ordinary mortal. A suffocating aura of death enveloped his entire soul, nearly choking him.
*Slap!* Lan Xiaobu’s palm struck Fang Zhiqian’s face squarely, sending him flying.
Fang Zhiqian soared dozens of yards, flattening a small hill before crashing to the ground.
In a single step, Lan Xiaobu stood before Fang Zhiqian, looking down at the terrified and disbelieving man, “Looking for what? Still want me to open my world for you to take a look?”
Fang Zhiqian, ignoring the blood on his face, stammered in panic, “I was looking for death, my mistake. Master Bu, you know I was just joking earlier…”
Lan Xiaobu sighed, pinching Fang Zhiqian’s face, “Why would I bother placing a divine sense mark on you?”
Fang Zhiqian thought bitterly, *If you didn’t place a mark, how could you render me powerless in an instant, controlling my life and death with a single thought?*
Lan Xiaobu continued, “What I placed was a Great Path Imprint. How foolish can you be?”
Fang Zhiqian froze, realisation dawning. A divine sense mark could only track his location, but a Great Path Imprint could kill him at any moment. In other words, a single thought from Lan Xiaobu could end him. In his subconscious, he had assumed a mark included a Great Path Imprint.
“Master Bu, I got carried away. Please, considering I can still be of some use, spare me this time. I swear I won’t upset you again,” Fang Zhiqian wanted to sound defiant, but he couldn’t. He knew that if Lan Xiaobu killed him today, there would be no trace of Fang Zhiqian left in the vast cosmos.
He also understood how Lan Xiaobu had placed the Great Path Imprint—through that Curse Dao Seed. Unless Lan Xiaobu willingly removed it, the imprint would remain forever. Even if he chose reincarnation, the imprint would follow. Even if he split his soul, the imprint would tag along.
Fang Zhiqian wanted to slap himself silly for not seeing it sooner. Lan Xiaobu, a ruthless man who dared to rob True Derivation Sacred Path, giving him a Curse Dao Seed out of the goodness of his heart? Unlikely.
“I’m starting to think you’re not much use. I’m considering killing you and taking back the Curse Dao Seed,” Lan Xiaobu mused, seemingly to himself.
Fang Zhiqian hurriedly said, “Master Bu, I’m very useful. Besides, the Curse Dao Seed has been used up, it can’t be taken back.”
“Is that so? Then I’ll test you. I’ll set up a trapping-killing array here soon. Someone will come by, and I want to see if you can take them down. If you can’t, I won’t need something as useless as you, wasting the universe’s primal energy,” Lan Xiaobu said calmly.
“Yes, yes, I won’t let Master Bu down,” Fang Zhiqian eagerly affirmed his usefulness.
“Open your world,” Lan Xiaobu said flatly.
“What…” Fang Zhiqian gasped. Open his world? What did that mean?
Lan Xiaobu’s face darkened, “What? Unwilling?”
Fang Zhiqian felt the oppressive aura of death again and quickly said, “Willing, of course I’m willing. I, Fang Zhiqian, am Master Bu’s weapon, going wherever you point, let alone something as trivial as opening my world.”
Without waiting for Lan Xiaobu to press further, he opened his world, cursing himself inwardly for earlier demanding Lan Xiaobu do the same. Now, karma had come for him.
“Oh, what’s this?” Lan Xiaobu exclaimed, pulling a cyan dao vein from Fang Zhiqian’s world, over ten thousand feet long—an exquisite dao vein. Weren’t exquisite dao veins supposed to be black or white? Why cyan?
Fang Zhiqian’s heart ached, but he forced a smile, “This is an exquisite vitality dao vein, something I stumbled upon in the chaos. I was just about to offer it to Master Bu.”
An exquisite vitality dao vein? Such a thing existed?
Lan Xiaobu, delighted, patted Fang Zhiqian’s shoulder, “Since you’re so sensible and know to honour me, I’ll let this little mistake slide, depending on your performance. Do well, and we’re even. Do poorly, well, you know.”
“I know, I know,” Fang Zhiqian said, forcing a smile, his heart bleeding as he looked at the exquisite dao vein on the ground.
Lan Xiaobu didn’t take the dao vein but began setting up array flags. Fang Zhiqian had only been pained about losing his dao vein, but as he saw Lan Xiaobu weave Great Path rules into the void with each flag, he was secretly shocked. He’d forgotten this man could set up cosmic arrays. Now, with an exquisite vitality dao vein placed here and an array being built, Lan Xiaobu was definitely setting a trap.
Sure enough, after finishing the setup, Lan Xiaobu pulled out a puppet, transferred a trace of his mark onto it, and with a gesture, the puppet transformed into his likeness.
“Come, stand in that corner. When someone enters this array, strike immediately with your strongest move. If you let them escape, you might not wake up tomorrow,” Lan Xiaobu pointed to a corner of the array, instructing Fang Zhiqian.
Fang Zhiqian hurried over, fawning, “Rest assured, Master Bu. With me, Nine Infants, here, any monster or demon that comes will be crushed.”
Lan Xiaobu ignored him, hiding in another corner of the array. Today, he was determined to take down a True Derivation Sacred Path’s Saint Lord. If Fang Zhiqian hadn’t shown up, he’d planned to ask Ce Ku Huisheng for help, but Ce Ku’s strength was slightly lacking, and a mistake could be costly.
