If Shi Changxing, Qize Tian, and Emperor Lan were to sit together, they’d likely guess with near certainty that Mo Wuji would retreat to the Kusheng Chaos Zone for seclusion. But neither Emperor Lan nor Lin Jie, no matter how hard they racked their brains, would ever imagine Lan Xiaobu and Mo Wuji choosing that place.
To them, if Mo Wuji and Lan Xiaobu were to pick a chaos zone for seclusion, the Kusheng Chaos Zone would be the last on the list. It was a death zone, survivable only by Dao Ancestor-level beings. No matter how formidable Lan Xiaobu and Mo Wuji were, they were merely at the Sixth Step of the Great Dao.
Yet, at this moment, Lan Xiaobu and Mo Wuji were deep within the Kusheng Chaos Zone, at the very spot where Mo Wuji had once obtained Chaos Rule Serum.
“So, this is where you got your Chaos Rule Serum. What luck,” Lan Xiaobu said, eyeing the dried-up Chaos Rule Serum pool, instantly recognizing it had recently held the substance.
Since Mo Wuji had harvested the Chaos Rule Serum so quickly, the area hadn’t yet been fully consumed by chaos, even without the pool.
Mo Wuji spread his hand, and half a pool of Chaos Rule Serum flowed back into the basin. He grinned, “Shi Changxing and Qize Tian both know this place. If that Wang Congjing you mentioned knows too, that’s three people. But I’m certain they won’t find it. Wang Congjing’s half-dead, unlikely to survive, let alone come here. As for Shi Changxing and Qize Tian, they’d need luck to stumble upon it. Even I only found it by chance.”
Lan Xiaobu nodded. Locating a specific spot in chaos again was no easy task. Mo Wuji managed because of the Chaos Rule Serum’s lingering aura, which he’d cultivated with here.
Even if Shi Changxing and Qize Tian weren’t injured, finding this place would be difficult.
“With the Chaos Time Crystal and all this Chaos Rule Serum, ten thousand years should give us a shot at the Seventh Step. I’ve also got a top-grade Dao vein,” Lan Xiaobu said, planting one into the ground.
“I’m not short on those,” Mo Wuji replied, tossing out another top-grade Dao vein. Two would suffice for their seclusion, and he had four.
Lan Xiaobu stared at Mo Wuji’s Dao vein, surprised. “Do you also go by Xinghe Mo?”
He’d seen wanted posters everywhere: Xinghe Mo had killed Yin Yuan and stolen his top-grade Dao vein.
Mo Wuji laughed heartily at the question. “That’s right, I took out Yin Yuan, that brat of Tian’s. He was cocky, thinking he could rob me just because he was a Heavenly Emperor’s son. I turned the tables on him.”
Lan Xiaobu burst into laughter too. “You know, Qu Peng, the one we killed in the Burial Dao Plain, was also Tian’s son. If he’d recognized you, he’d probably have fought you to the death.”
“Probably not,” Qi Manwei interjected. “He knew you killed Qu Peng and didn’t fight you. He’s quite rational.”
Lan Xiaobu shook his head. “That’s because Qu Peng was just a bastard, not inheriting his Dao. Yin Yuan, though, definitely did. I bet he’ll figure it out eventually.”
Mo Wuji snorted, “So what if he does? By then, we’ll be at the Seventh Step. Could two of us at that level take down Emperor Lan?”
Lan Xiaobu pondered briefly. “If we don’t need help and both reach the Seventh Step, we’d have a chance against Emperor Lan. I suspect he’s at the Eighth Step, definitely not the Ninth, or other Dao Ancestors wouldn’t stand a chance against him. His Eighth Step is polished, likely stronger than the others. But after the Eternal Life Assembly starts, other Dao Ancestors will show up. If they team up, even at the Seventh Step, we’d have to flee.”
“Not necessarily,” Mo Wuji countered. “I heard the Dao Ancestor of the Great Desolation World is Old Ancestor Hong Gou. If he attends the assembly, he wouldn’t side with someone like Emperor Lan.”
Lan Xiaobu chuckled, “I’m sort of from the same hometown as Hong Gou. Even if he doesn’t help, he wouldn’t attack me, right?”
“You’re from the same place as Hong Gou? You know Earth?” Mo Wuji looked at Lan Xiaobu in surprise. He’d never asked about Lan Xiaobu’s origins. In the vast universe, finding someone with shared ideals was rare. He felt Lan Xiaobu was like-minded, not the type to destroy a planet for power. To Lan Xiaobu, life mattered more, and he was loyal and kept his word.
Lan Xiaobu stared back, equally shocked. He’d thought the same of Mo Wuji: a kindred spirit who valued life, didn’t kill indiscriminately, and respected others’ right to exist. Could Mo Wuji also be from Earth?
“You’re from Earth too?” Lan Xiaobu blurted out.
They exchanged a glance and burst into laughter.
“I get it now. There must be a time rule layer around Earth. When I returned, my strength was too low to see it,” Mo Wuji said, realization dawning. Even before becoming a Creation Saint, he couldn’t sense the time rule layer.
Both from Earth, yet they’d never heard of each other, likely due to the time rule layer separating their eras.
Qi Manwei was thrilled. She knew Lan Xiaobu and Mo Wuji got along because of their shared Dao ideals and lack of wariness as friends. She hadn’t expected them to hail from the same place. She wanted to visit this Earth, a planet surely not given to casual slaughter.
“No wonder I always felt a kinship with you,” Mo Wuji said, delighted.
“So, we could try to connect with Hong Gou. Would he acknowledge us as hometown folk?” Lan Xiaobu said with a smile.
Mo Wuji shook his head. “Not necessarily. Earth must have a hidden realm. When I returned, my cultivation was too low to see it. Hong Gou has legends on Earth, but he doesn’t live there.”
“Right, Earth’s just an ordinary mortal planet in the Great Desolation Universe. I suspect Hong Gou’s legend there comes from a phase of his Dao quest,” Lan Xiaobu agreed.
“But if Hong Gou’s a Dao Ancestor from a place like that, wouldn’t he be weaker than others?” Qi Manwei asked, puzzled.
Mo Wuji replied, “I’m sure Hong Gou’s stronger than other Dao Ancestors. The Great Desolation World rose in the Great Universe so quickly. Could a weakling establish a world in such a short time? He must have bested other Dao Ancestors, making them wary, allowing his world to stand.”
…
While Lan Xiaobu and Mo Wuji secluded themselves in the Kusheng Chaos Zone with the Chaos Time Crystal, Chaos Rule Serum, and top-grade Dao veins, Ku Yichi, under Emperor Lan’s orders, was investigating their origins in Anluo Sky City.
With Zang Qionghua’s help, Lan Xiaobu’s background was quickly confirmed. Based on this, Mo Wuji likely had no prior connection with Lan Xiaobu in the Great Universe, suggesting they might come from the same place.
In Jinluo Tower, no one from the Moru Heavenly Court’s base was allowed to leave. With the Eternal Life Assembly nearing, and given Ce Kuhui’s close ties with Lan Xiaobu, Moru Dao Ancestor Xing Jia feared someone might target their people to provoke the Moru Heavenly Court. He warned Ce Kuhui to keep everyone inside Jinluo Tower until the assembly began.
Ten years was a blink for cultivators of the Great Dao, so no one minded.
Logically, after Jinluo Tower’s two destructions and the arrival of various Dao Ancestors, with the troublemaker Lan Xiaobu having left, the tower should have been safe.
Yet today, a lanky man in blue stood outside Jinluo Tower. Without a word, he glanced at the tower and threw a punch.
*Boom!* Jinluo Tower collapsed again under the blow. Countless cultivators, including all the Heavenly Emperors residing there, rushed out.
Che Zizi, the tower’s master, was on the verge of breaking down. In such a short time, Jinluo Tower had been reduced to rubble for the third time.
