Seeing Shi Wanrong’s anxiety, Lan Xiaobu could only say, “Fairy Wanrong, don’t be so anxious. Even if I could defeat Qizhou Tian, I don’t know where your father is right now. Besides, I’m definitely no match for Qizhou Tian, not even close.”
If it were just the Heavenly Emperor of Qizhou Tian’s court, Lan Xiaobu might have been able to act, but with Qizhou Tian himself, the Dao Ancestor, involved, what could he possibly do?
Shi Wanrong was stunned by his words. Indeed, what could Lan Xiaobu do to help her? Not only was the gap between him and Qizhou Tian vast, but even if they were closer in strength, Lan Xiaobu had no way of finding Qizhou Tian or her father.
Fang Zhiqian had no desire to help Shi Changxing confront a Dao Ancestor. He was at the Seventh Step of the Great Dao, but in the presence of a Dao Ancestor, who knew if he’d even count for anything? If Lan Xiaobu agreed to help Shi Changxing, he’d have to go along. Hearing Lan Xiaobu’s words now, he quickly chimed in, “Exactly, we’d love to help your father. I’ve always respected Dao Master Changxing. But right now, neither I nor Master Bu know where your father is, so how can we help? My thought is, Dao Master Changxing has never been inferior to Qizhou Tian’s Dao Ancestor. They attained the Dao in the same place, so it’s not easy for Qizhou Tian to deal with him. You don’t need to worry, just wait here. Even if seven days pass and your father hasn’t returned, it doesn’t mean something has happened to him.”
Shi Wanrong paused, realising that even if Lan Xiaobu could and was willing to help, he wouldn’t know where her father had gone.
Lan Xiaobu said gravely, “Old Fang’s words may sound like an excuse, but the reasoning is sound. Dao Master Changxing cultivates the Qizhou Heaven-Opening Art and possesses the Qizhou Tian Star. Even if Qizhou Tian is a Dao Ancestor, he may not be able to do much to your father. If your father were so easily dealt with, he wouldn’t have lasted until today.”
“I’m worried my father left suddenly and fell into a trap,” Shi Wanrong said, her concern clouding her judgement.
Lan Xiaobu smiled faintly, “I don’t know your father well, but I know it’s not easy to trap him. As I just said, if he were so easily ensnared, he wouldn’t have obtained the Qizhou Heaven-Opening Art and the Qizhou Tian Star when he went out with Qizhou Tian, while Qizhou Tian only got the Qizhou Tian Mourning.”
The implication was clear: no matter how cunning Qizhou Tian was, Shi Changxing was no fool either. Judging by their gains, Shi Changxing might even be a bit more cunning.
“What do we do now…” Shi Wanrong felt lost.
Lan Xiaobu said, “If I’m not mistaken, the battle between Shi Changxing and Qizhou Tian would definitely take place in a chaotic zone, where no one could find them. Fairy Wanrong, I suggest you stay in my cave residence. I’m about to head out.”
If Shi Changxing and Qizhou Tian went out together and he didn’t return within seven days, it would be dangerous for Shi Wanrong to stay elsewhere. Shi Changxing was powerful, and many respected him. But if word got out that he might have been taken down, Shi Wanrong would be in peril. The same people who once revered Shi Changxing would now be eager to take her away.
They respected Shi Changxing because they knew his strength. They’d want to take Shi Wanrong for the same reason: if something happened to Shi Changxing, taking her would surely grant access to his Dao techniques. Hadn’t the Great Ice Palace done exactly that before?
Though extremely anxious, Shi Wanrong had no choice but to follow Lan Xiaobu’s advice and stay in his cultivation residence. Lan Xiaobu, taking Fang Zhiqian, continued with their original plan to head to the True Yan Sacred Dao.
…
In the Kusheng Chaos Zone, Mo Wuji’s aura was still surging. The chaos rule slurry in the pool beneath him was steadily decreasing, while the space around him kept expanding.
Any cultivator practising in chaos would typically find their living space compressed by the chaos, their constructed rule world constantly eroded and devoured. Even Mo Wuji had faced this when he first entered the chaos zone.
The space where Mo Wuji was now was merely a separate area naturally formed by the chaos rule slurry pool. Yet, even so, once the slurry was depleted, the space would be swallowed by the chaos.
But at this moment, the space around the chaos rule slurry pool was expanding into the chaos, not being compressed, causing the pool’s occupied space to grow larger.
Mo Wuji sat in the void above the pool. Though he had already reached the Sixth Step of the Great Dao, his Dao was still refining. His mortal world seemed just a step away from breaking through the rules of a medium-level universe to reach the heavenly rules of a high-level universe.
Though Mo Wuji knew his mortal world couldn’t evolve into a high-level universe before he reached the Seventh Step, he continued to draw in the chaos rule slurry and chaos energy, rapidly enhancing his Dao strength with the aid of top-grade Dao vein energy.
He was preparing to step into the Seventh Step. With the chaos rule slurry here, putting in extra effort now would make advancing to the Seventh Step much easier later.
While Mo Wuji was immersed in his cultivation, the space around him suddenly shook violently. The space containing the chaos rule slurry pool was torn open, and the barrier he had set up was shattered. Two figures rushed in from the chaos.
Mo Wuji was shocked. To barge into his space within the chaos, they couldn’t just be at the Seventh Step—could it be a Dao Ancestor?
He immediately stopped cultivating, summoned his Mortal Halberd, and focused his divine sense on the two figures.
He had killed Seventh Step cultivators before, and in Mo Wuji’s eyes, these two were far beyond that level. One stood on a star, the other gripped a radiant, starlit spear.
The man on the star was tall, with unusually long arms and large hands, and long hair. The man with the spear was pale, bald, and browless, yet fairly handsome.
Both had clearly been fighting for a long time, engaged in a desperate struggle. They were both heavily injured, their auras weak and their Dao rules in disarray.
To fight in the Kusheng Chaos Zone, a place where even Seventh Step cultivators could only barely survive and risked falling if careless, and still remain unscathed despite heavy injuries, these two were clearly Dao Ancestors or equivalent. Fortunately, their weakened state didn’t intimidate Mo Wuji.
Holding his Mortal Halberd, Mo Wuji had no intention of resuming cultivation after being interrupted.
“Chaos rule slurry?” The long-haired man stared at the pool beneath Mo Wuji, his eyes filled with shock and disbelief.
The bald, browless man was equally stunned, clearly as excited as the other, unable to believe his eyes. But when they sensed Mo Wuji’s low cultivation, they both thought what a waste of such a treasure.
After a moment, the long-haired man stared at Mo Wuji and asked, “Who are you? Why is there chaos rule slurry here?”
With a wave of his hand, Mo Wuji collected all the remaining slurry—less than a tenth of what it was. He had no intention of leaving it for these two.
Seeing Mo Wuji take the slurry, both men’s killing intent instantly enveloped the space. They hadn’t acted, likely because they were wary of each other, not Mo Wuji, and because they knew he couldn’t escape.
After collecting the slurry, Mo Wuji casually twirled his halberd and said calmly, “This is my territory. You barge in, interrupt my cultivation, break my protective array, and then ask who I am. Heh, does being stronger make you this arrogant? If you want to know who I am, introduce yourselves first.”
The long-haired man suddenly laughed, “Not bad. I’m Shi Changxing. I did intrude on your cave residence by mistake. But this is a chaos zone, open to everyone, not just you.”
As he spoke, his gaze subtly swept over the two top-grade Dao veins Mo Wuji hadn’t yet collected, half-used but still valuable.
The bald, browless man didn’t respond to Mo Wuji, his eyes fixed on the now-dry slurry pool and the half-used Dao veins. Cultivating with top-grade Dao veins in a chaos rule slurry pool suggested this young cultivator had even more treasures.
Seeing Mo Wuji staring at the browless man, Shi Changxing spoke again, “No need to stare at him. That’s Qizhou Tian, the Dao Ancestor of the Qizhou Tian World. He can’t stand others having good things and wants to snatch them. Honestly, I’m the same, like that chaos rule slurry you just took.”
Mo Wuji said coolly, “I can tell. A Dao Ancestor, huh? Robbing others is fine, but you’re not good enough to rob me, Mo Wuji.”
Outside, Mo Wuji wouldn’t dare say this. But in the chaos zone, even if these two weren’t injured, they couldn’t restrain him.
Qizhou Tian suddenly spoke, “Open your world, and we’ll spare your life. Otherwise, you know the consequences.”
Then he turned to Shi Changxing, “Shi Changxing, we’ll settle our matter later. I’m determined to get this chaos rule slurry. Let’s split it first, then continue our fight to the death.”
