As Mo Wuji spoke, his gaze shifted to the massive golden root he’d seen earlier, and Lan Xiaobu followed suit.
Both knew that to defeat the Tianmeng Clan, they had to dismantle all the cosmic principles the clan had woven into the Great Universe.
To their astonishment, the thick golden root had vanished.
“I didn’t catch how it disappeared,” Lan Xiaobu frowned. Though he’d been fighting the Tianmeng cultivators, he’d kept a subtle focus on the root, yet now it was gone, and he had no memory of how.
Mo Wuji nodded, “Indeed, it’s peculiar, likely a matter of rules.”
He, too, hadn’t noticed how the root vanished. His divine sense, extended through his storage network, found no trace. Since even that couldn’t detect anything, searching further was pointless. His divine sense and storage network had already confirmed this place, despite having a sun star, was a sealed space, not vast, blocked by a boundary. Though his divine sense couldn’t pierce it, he knew crossing it would lead to another sealed domain like this one.
Mo Wuji’s eyes fell on the bound Tianmeng cultivator, “You’re from the Tianmeng Clan?”
Though restrained by Mo Wuji’s principles, the cultivator hadn’t cared much, but at Mo Wuji’s words, his face changed. The Tianmeng Clan was unknown to outsiders, how did this man know? His body’s principle aura surged chaotically, and in moments, he vanished entirely.
“What a strange race,” Ling Zhuzhen remarked, frowning.
The Tianmeng cultivator, clearly subdued, had escaped using the cosmic rules.
“Is this the Tianmeng Clan’s lair?” Ku Yichi couldn’t help asking.
“The rules here are complete, with sun, moon, and stars, yet it’s underground, it might indeed be their lair,” Pei Qionghu replied.
Lan Xiaobu said, “I don’t know if this is their lair, but I’m certain this is likely where the Cosmic Tree’s roots survive.”
The Cosmic Tree, a vast network of roots, might require an entire realm to sustain even a single root.
“Daoist Ling, you were fighting above, how did you end up down here?” Mo Wuji asked Ling Zhuzhen.
Ling Zhuzhen sighed, “I had a way to escape, knowing further fighting was futile. I hesitated because escaping meant abandoning my Domain-Breaking Banner. If I could use it to lock their restraining domains, I could flee. At first, I couldn’t bear to lose it, but as the situation worsened, I planned to abandon it and go. Those Tianmeng ghosts must have guessed my intent, they jointly broke the space and brought me here. Once here, even abandoning the banner wouldn’t let me escape.”
He paused, as if recalling something, “By the way, how did you get here?”
“I sensed the Cosmic Tree’s principle aura, found a point where spatial principles intersected, and broke through,” Mo Wuji answered simply, his mind on finding the Cosmic Tree.
“Daoist Mo, Daoist Lan, this might truly be the Tianmeng Clan’s domain. Let’s search together, I’m sure we’ll find something,” Ling Zhuzhen said, admiring Mo Wuji, he doubted he could find such a spatial intersection.
Mo Wuji shook his head, “No, this may be one of their places, but we won’t find them here, and we don’t have time to search.”
Before Ling Zhuzhen could ask, Mo Wuji explained, “There are countless spaces like this, and they aren’t connected.”
“How do you know?” Pei Qionghu asked instinctively.
Mo Wuji replied calmly, “My divine sense scanned it.”
Ling Zhuzhen’s heart tightened, even without cosmic rules suppressing his principles, could his divine sense sweep this space? Likely not. Mo Wuji’s divine sense surpassed his elsewhere too.
Mo Wuji turned to Ling Zhuzhen, “If we waste too much time here, the Great Universe may already be nearly destroyed by the Tianmeng. As a Dao Ancestor, I hope you can unite other worlds’ forces to at least slow their rapid engulfment.”
Ling Zhuzhen nodded, “I can do that, but how do we get out?”
Mo Wuji grabbed a handful of array flags and tossed them out. In moments, the spatial rules in the void shifted dramatically, and with a point of his finger, a passage appeared.
“Let’s go up,” Mo Wuji said, rushing in first, followed by the others.
Half an hour later, they emerged onto the Great Universe’s surface.
“Impressive, Daoist Mo,” Ling Zhuzhen praised sincerely. He knew Mo Wuji had found the spatial principle intersection and broken it to create the exit, a feat he understood but couldn’t replicate, unable to locate such a point.
“Daoist Ling, here are some talismans, take them. If you’re besieged by Tianmeng experts, they’ll help,” Mo Wuji handed Ling Zhuzhen a stack of talismans.
Lan Xiaobu was puzzled why Mo Wuji gave talismans, but seeing them, he understood, they were mortal principle space talismans.
Though lacking offensive power, in a situation like Ling Zhuzhen’s earlier siege, one such talisman could save him. Ling Zhuzhen, initially confused, was overjoyed upon recognising them, clasping his fists, “Thank you, Daoist Mo, with these, I’ll ensure the Tianmeng don’t advance further.”
“Are there teleportation arrays in Beixing Heavenly City to Weiju World or Great Desolation World?” Mo Wuji asked.
Ling Zhuzhen replied, “We don’t have one to Weiju World, but I have one to Great Desolation World, built with many collaborators.”
Mo Wuji’s eyes lit up, the Central World lacked a Great Desolation array, but Jicheng World had one.
“Wuji, let’s skip Weiju World and head to Great Desolation World,” Lan Xiaobu decided, learning of the Tianmeng’s cosmic rules.
Mo Wuji nodded, “I agree, if I’m right, the forgotten principles targeting Ancestor Hongjun were set by the Tianmeng.”
“Hongjun?” Ling Zhuzhen frowned, the name familiar.
“Yes, Hongjun may be the only one who knows how to break the Tianmeng’s rules over the Great Universe, otherwise, they wouldn’t target him with forgotten principles,” Mo Wuji said.
He now understood why Hongjun was targeted, just as the Tianmeng made humans forget them to grow, forgetting Hongjun prevented anyone from seeking him, as he knew how to break their rules. Hongjun alone couldn’t undo their rules and might be trapped somewhere, even the clone Ou Ping saw.
Even finding the Cosmic Tree now held little meaning, as they didn’t know how to use it to remove the Tianmeng’s rules. Refining it required finding the Cosmic Tree’s spirit.
Lan Xiaobu and Mo Wuji admired Dilan, who somehow found and trapped the Cosmic Tree’s spirit. Though Dilan’s chances of refining it were slim, finding it was no small feat. These Dao Ancestors were cunning, but the rules here limited them, letting Lan Xiaobu and Mo Wuji suppress Dilan.
“Wuji, if we can’t find Hongjun, we should track down Dilan and make him reveal how to find the Cosmic Tree’s spirit. Even if we refine it, we can’t let the Tianmeng continue, if the Great Universe’s rules are thoroughly altered, this place is as good as ruined,” Lan Xiaobu sent a message to Mo Wuji.
Mo Wuji nodded, agreeing. The Cosmic Tree was the Great Universe’s foundation, but if controlled by the Tianmeng, its purpose was warped.
