“Is the Universe Wall man-made?” Lan Xiaobu stared at Qin Qingtian, sensing he knew some insider details.
Qin Qingtian hesitated before replying, “I can’t say for certain if it’s man-made, but the Universe Wall appears silently and abruptly. If it were built by someone, how powerful would they have to be? I vaguely feel the Universe Wall is naturally formed, perhaps even emerging after certain epochs, separating collapsing universes from those still intact as the vast cosmos reshapes and births new universes.”
Lan Xiaobu frowned at Qin Qingtian’s words, sensing their truth. If the Universe Wall were man-made, the creator’s strength would be terrifying. Even the walls he’d seen in low-level universes weren’t something ordinary beings could construct.
“Do you know Huan’s origins?” Lan Xiaobu asked again.
Qin Qingtian shook his head. “I don’t know. I spent time in the Great Universe, but when I rose, Huan was already a Dao Ancestor. The only odd thing is, when the Universe Mill appeared, Huan didn’t compete for it.”
Qin Qingtian wasn’t the only one puzzled; Lan Xiaobu found it strange too. Given that Huan cultivated the Great Universe Technique, the Universe Mill should have been a must-have for him. Why didn’t he pursue it, only to later demand it from Lan Xiaobu?
Seeing Lan Xiaobu remain silent, Qin Qingtian cautiously said, “Lord Lan, if this vast expanse collapses, whether you seek a new universe or vie for a surviving one, you’ll need help. I believe I can do much for you, saving you time and effort. Tasks you’d rather not or can’t handle, I, Qin Qingtian, can take on, guaranteeing your satisfaction.”
Lan Xiaobu smirked, his Longevity Principles locking onto Qin Qingtian. In an instant, he tore open Qin Qingtian’s world, seizing everything within.
Then, he summoned the Six Paths Bridge and cast Qin Qingtian beneath it. The act was seamless, clearly premeditated.
Qin Qingtian, flung out like a bubble, vanished beneath the Six Paths Bridge.
A ruthless figure like Qin Qingtian, no matter how capable, was someone Lan Xiaobu neither dared nor wanted to spare.
The dozen cultivators Qin Qingtian had captured watched Lan Xiaobu in awe. This was Qin Qingtian’s domain, yet Lan Xiaobu dispatched him as easily as slaughtering a chicken. How powerful was he?
Chen Manxing, after a moment, snapped out of it and stepped forward, bowing. “Thank you, Lord Lan, for saving us and avenging countless innocents.”
Others followed, expressing their gratitude.
Lan Xiaobu waved them off. “Everyone, leave this place first. I need to collect this world.”
Though it appeared as an island, it was the Chaos Path. With it in hand, Lan Xiaobu’s Chaos Road would be complete, needing only to be refined.
“Yes,” the group responded, rushing out of the hall. Having expected death, they were now saved by Lan Xiaobu. None hesitated to follow his order.
But just as they exited the island, a cry of alarm rang out.
Lan Xiaobu’s divine sense swept out, revealing the void collapsing around them. Apart from the island, there was nowhere to go.
He promptly summoned the Seven Realms Stone, storing the Chaos Path in his world.
Without needing his call, the others rushed onto the Seven Realms Stone. Staying off it meant being dissolved with the collapsing cosmic rules.
As a planet appeared, teetering under the dissolving void, Lan Xiaobu steered the Seven Realms Stone, landing outside the Mortal Star in mere moments. He noticed the Mortal Star endured due to a formidable barrier, unmistakably Mo Wuji’s handiwork.
“How is it that other planets dissolved under the great dissolution rules, yet this one remains unscathed?” a cultivator asked, staring at the Mortal Star in astonishment.
“Probably just luck. This place dissolved later,” someone replied.
Lan Xiaobu had no time for such questions. He knew the Mortal Star’s survival wasn’t luck. First, Mo Wuji’s barrier protected it. More crucially, the Mortal Star was built on independent Great Path rules.
This was Mo Wuji’s Mortal Path, a planet arguably detached from this vast expanse’s rules. Lan Xiaobu activated the Seven Realms Stone, tearing through space and vanishing.
When it reappeared, Lan Xiaobu knew they were outside Li Zhou Star, though the planet was long gone, not even debris remaining.
“Li Zhou Star collapsed long ago,” Chen Manxing said, sensing their location, his tone heavy with loss. Though he knew it had collapsed, returning here stirred unease.
Lan Xiaobu’s divine sense swept out. With his own Great Path, his divine sense relied less on cosmic rules. He needed to find the Mortal Star quickly, relocate it, then head to the Great Desolate Universe to secure it. If the plane containing Earth was collapsing, he even considered taking Earth.
Praying to find the Mortal Star swiftly, Lan Xiaobu’s hopes were answered as his divine sense brushed its edge. Qin Qingtian’s guess might be correct: under this dissolution of cosmic rules, the void would collapse into chaos.
Perhaps, after countless epochs, this chaos would birth life, then universes, evolving from low to high levels.
Chen Manxing produced a directional jade slip, saying, “I have a directional jade slip… wait…”
“What’s wrong?” Lan Xiaobu asked immediately.
Chen Manxing, visibly anxious, said, “The directional principles on the jade slip are extremely vague, almost unreadable… no, they’re getting even fainter.”
“Give it to me,” Lan Xiaobu said, snatching the jade slip.
With the vast void’s rules dissolving, time was critical. Once the rules fully collapsed into a lawless space, the jade slip would be useless.
Upon receiving it, Lan Xiaobu activated the jade slip.
“Lord Lan, we have nowhere to go. The void is dissolving,” Chen Manxing said, his voice trembling. Even without Qin Qingtian’s capture, they’d face death in this void.
The others looked at Lan Xiaobu with concern. He had saved them, but he wasn’t obligated to protect them indefinitely. If he told them to leave the Seven Realms Stone, they’d have nowhere to survive. Even more shocking was the Seven Realms Stone’s ability to endure here, likely due to its status as a primordial treasure and Lan Xiaobu’s strength, his Great Path rules surpassing the dissolving cosmic rules.
Otherwise, who could survive such a cataclysmic dissolution?
Lan Xiaobu stared in shock at the dissolving void, spaces vanishing as all rules crumbled.
He recalled Mo Wuji describing a cosmic dissolution during an apocalyptic calamity, when Mo Wuji, using several Hongmeng Great Paths and his Mortal World, saved a few. Lan Xiaobu had witnessed calamities, but none as staggering as this.
In such a dissolution, not just planets and voids, but everything within might be reduced to nothingness by the dissolving rules.
After a moment, Lan Xiaobu said, “Everyone, stay on the Seven Realms Stone and use Longevity Spirit Stones. This calamity can’t dissolve what I control. Chen Manxing, can you locate the initial position of Li Zhou Star?”
Standing on the Seven Realms Stone, feeling the relentless dissolution of all rules around them, Lan Xiaobu realised his own strength. In this place, even a slight weakness would mean dissolution. His unscathed state, without needing to resist, meant his Great Path rules surpassed this calamity’s dissolving cosmic rules, which were unrelated to this universe’s rules.
This thought sparked an idea. With so many planets dissolving under this calamity, yet the Mortal Star unscathed, could it be that planets within the vast expanse were subject to its rules, while those derived from an independent Great Path were immune?
