Lan Xiaobu hesitated before saying, “Ling Zhuzhen is the Dao Ancestor of the Jicheng World. The Heavenly Emperor of Jicheng, Pei Qionghu, has helped me several times. Plus, Xing Ni from Jicheng is a friend worth keeping. Let’s spare him. Besides, we don’t need to take more risks, our group is strong enough.”
Mo Wuji agreed. Adding Chang Yi to their side while reducing Di Lan’s by one shifted the balance. Continuing to act might arouse Di Lan’s suspicions, which wouldn’t benefit them.
“Friend Chang Yi, you don’t need to do anything. When the Eternal Life Conference begins, just follow our lead,” Mo Wuji said courteously, giving Chang Yi a sense of respect as a Dao Ancestor.
After Lan Xiaobu and Mo Wuji left, Chang Yi immediately checked his Great Dao and body, fearing Mo Wuji had left some mark or technique. Finding nothing, he wondered if Mo Wuji was genuine, forming an alliance without hidden measures.
“Wuji, you really didn’t leave anything?” Back at their residence, Lan Xiaobu couldn’t help but ask.
Mo Wuji grinned, “If Chang Yi does as we say and doesn’t double-cross us, there’s indeed no trick. But if he tries anything, don’t blame me for being ruthless.”
“Haha…” Lan Xiaobu laughed, satisfied. He trusted none of these Dao Ancestors. If it were him, with his divine sense freely roaming Chang Yi’s Great Dao, he’d never leave nothing behind.
“Lord Bu, a man named Gou Mang is outside requesting a visit,” Fang Zhiqian reported at the door.
Despite being at the seventh step of the Great Dao, Fang Zhiqian’s status here was the lowest. Even Tai Chuan could order him around. Fortunately, Fang Zhiqian knew his place, and with Lan Xiaobu and Mo Wuji, he lacked no cultivation resources. He’d even obtained a small bottle of the Chaos Rule Sap coveted by Dao Ancestors.
“Gou Mang, that name sounds familiar…” Mo Wuji frowned. “Let him in,” Lan Xiaobu replied.
A man soon entered, exuding a vibrant life aura, indicating his Great Dao was tied to vitality. Yet, he was covered in bloodstains, as if he’d fought his way here. His Dao likely saved him, or he might not have made it.
“You have wings?” Lan Xiaobu noticed the man seemed to have wings, resembling a demon race member, but he sensed no demonic aura.
Mo Wuji said curiously, “You’re a seventh-step Great Dao powerhouse. How did you get so badly injured along the way?”
Gou Mang clasped his fists, “Gou Mang greets Friend Lan and Friend Mo. I’ve come to seek refuge with you, as I’m out of options. My injuries are a long story.”
Mo Wuji said calmly, “Our cultivation isn’t high. If you want refuge, why not seek a Dao Ancestor instead of us?”
Gou Mang sighed, “Because I cultivate the Vitality Great Dao, people constantly try to capture me. I heard you two are from the Great Desolate World, so I came, as I’m also from there…”
“You’re the Ancestral Witch Gou Mang of the Witch Clan?” Lan Xiaobu exclaimed, delighted.
Gou Mang nodded eagerly, “You do know me! I’m indeed the Witch Clan’s Ancestral Witch. But the Great Desolate World’s Dao Ancestor rarely oversees matters, leaving it in chaos.”
“Is the Great Desolate World’s Dao Ancestor Yang Tian?” Lan Xiaobu asked.
Gou Mang nodded, “Yes, Yang Tian Dao Ancestor brought us to the Great Universe. Things were fine at first, but later he stopped managing us, leaving the Great Desolate World in disarray, with the Heavenly Court utterly disordered.”
“What about Ancestor Hongjun?” Lan Xiaobu asked again.
“Ancestor Hongjun?” Gou Mang looked at Lan Xiaobu blankly, unfamiliar with the name.
Lan Xiaobu frowned, “You’re not saying you’ve never heard of Ancestor Hongjun, are you?”
Gou Mang nodded honestly, “I truly haven’t heard of Ancestor Hongjun. What’s wrong? Is he powerful?”
A chill ran down Lan Xiaobu’s spine. If even the Witch Clan’s Ancestral Witch hadn’t heard of Hongjun, it was as absurd as him not knowing his own name.
Mo Wuji also sensed something amiss. He hesitated, “Something’s off. Only Ancestor Hongjun could’ve brought the Great Desolate Universe’s beings to the Great Universe and established the Great Desolate World. Yet no one knows him now. That’s strange.”
Lan Xiaobu pondered, then said, “No, I think I heard of Ancestor Hongjun in the Great Universe, but why is that memory so vague?”
He was puzzled. He hadn’t been in the Great Universe long and had never visited the Great Desolate World, yet he’d heard of Hongjun. Others shouldn’t be unaware. But Kong Xinjian, Qi Zhou Tian, and now Gou Mang from the Great Desolate World didn’t know him. Something was wrong.
After a while, Lan Xiaobu said, “Wuji, after the Eternal Life Conference, let’s visit the Great Desolate World to find out what’s going on.”
Mo Wuji shook his head, “I suspect by the time we go, we might forget Hongjun too. I’ve noticed my memory of him weakening, as if I’m constantly forgetting his name.”
“You think it’s a rule?” Lan Xiaobu asked, shocked.
Mo Wuji nodded, “Yes. We likely still remember Hongjun because our self-cultivated Great Dao isn’t fully affected by the Great Universe’s rules. Otherwise, we’d be like them, unaware of Hongjun’s existence.”
“But who has the power to spread such a forgetting principle across the entire Great Universe?” Lan Xiaobu said skeptically.
Mo Wuji took a deep breath, “Xiaobu, we must visit the Great Desolate World, but not now. Before we go, to avoid forgetting Hongjun, we need to imprint it in our Great Dao. Since we cultivate our own Dao, even if we forget him after staying too long in the Great Universe, we can recall it from the imprint.”
“I remember! When I first arrived in the Great Universe, I bought a jade slip…” Lan Xiaobu pulled out a jade slip, which read, ‘Great Desolate World’s Dao Ancestor Yang Tian.’
Lan Xiaobu grabbed his hair, regretting, “I should’ve checked in my own world, not taken the jade slip out.”
In his world, the Great Universe’s forgetting principle couldn’t affect it. But once exposed, the jade slip’s content likely changed under the principle’s influence.
Mo Wuji and Lan Xiaobu exchanged a shocked glance. Even if this forgetting principle didn’t cover the entire Great Universe, its presence in the Ten Directions World was terrifyingly potent. Could they achieve this, even at the ninth step? Clearly not.
Putting the matter aside, Lan Xiaobu asked, “Friend Gou Mang, you’re at the seventh step. Who injured you so badly, nearly preventing you from reaching us?”
Gou Mang’s seventh-step strength had dropped to the sixth, his aura weak. Had he arrived later, he might not have made it.
“He said his name was Fang Can, some eight-star something. He wanted to take me to the Weiju World, saying my Vitality Great Dao was worth studying,” Gou Mang answered honestly.
Lan Xiaobu said, puzzled, “Weiju World? Isn’t that a tech world? How could someone from a tech world beat you like this?”
Not just Lan Xiaobu, Mo Wuji also looked at Gou Mang curiously. No matter how advanced a tech civilization, in the Great Universe, it should pale compared to cultivation civilizations.
Qi Zhou Tian’s voice came, “Friend Lan, Friend Mo, do you know which of the ten worlds is the strongest?”
“Not the Central World?” Lan Xiaobu replied instinctively. He’d almost said the Great Desolate World, but Hongjun’s mystery held him back.
Qi Zhou Tian shook his head, “You’re wrong. The strongest is the Weiju World, the tech civilization. Their weapons can destroy a world’s heavenly rules, stripping it of all vitality. Though Weiju doesn’t focus on cultivation, its status in the Great Universe is nearly untouchable.”
As if confirming Qi Zhou Tian’s words, a faint light tore through the restrictions Lan Xiaobu and Mo Wuji had set up.
“Rule-Breaking Sword Qi…” Gou Mang’s face paled instantly.
