In just a few breaths, Lan Xiaobu tore open the man’s world, tossing its contents into the Cosmic Dimension Model. Truthfully, ninety-nine percent of the items were rubbish to him. From the man’s world, he retrieved a golden talisman, a Plane-Splitting Talisman. Upon holding it, Lan Xiaobu was certain it wasn’t man-made but a naturally formed treasure. It was a child talisman, linked to a mother talisman, capable of tearing through planes to wherever the mother talisman resided.
Lan Xiaobu activated the Plane-Splitting Talisman immediately. It ripped through the void, and a wave of spatial Dao rules swept him up, whisking him away in an instant.
He landed on a void plaza, his divine sense sweeping out. He quickly realised this void was also undergoing annihilation, though at a slower pace. Evidently, the degree of annihilation varied across planes, some faster, some slower.
Without entering the planet where the plaza stood, Lan Xiaobu sensed its cosmic rules were dominated by darkness. From the information he’d extracted through soul-searching, this planet was likely Ku Star, the Ku Family’s stronghold.
As the thought crossed his mind, several killing auras blasted towards him. His divine sense detected four cultivators of Dark Dao rules charging from different directions, clearly aware he was an outsider.
For Lan Xiaobu, they could at least ask his purpose. Their immediate attack showed the Ku Family’s arrogance. Uninterested in questioning them, he raised his hand, sending four killing Dao rules. Four bursts of blood exploded, and the four were slain instantly. A sharp alarm blared, and the planet’s protective array began to close. Lan Xiaobu punched downwards, shattering the still-forming array into nothingness.
With the protective array gone, the planet lay exposed in the void. His divine sense swept across, revealing sparse inhabitants, most gathered in one area.
The largest place was Ku Fang City, the Dao city of Ku Star and the Ku Family’s gathering point, according to his extracted memories.
To Lan Xiaobu’s surprise, outside Ku Fang City stood a bell tower. Such structures weren’t uncommon in the cultivation world, but what was striking was a naked woman nailed to it, her form tortured by soul flames, a pitiful sight.
Lan Xiaobu stepped to the edge of Ku Fang City, reached out, and rescued the woman. Though she was beyond saving and would dissipate the moment she left the soul flames, Lan Xiaobu had plenty of treasures. He flicked a drop of Chaos Rule Sap onto her.
The seemingly doomed woman regained vitality instantly, her aura surging. Lan Xiaobu placed a concealment restriction on her and tossed her a ring. The enemy of an enemy might not be a friend, but it was worth asking.
In that brief moment, hundreds of powerhouses rushed out. They’d clearly heard of Lan Xiaobu casually killing four Ku Family enforcers outside Ku Star and rescuing the person nailed to the bell tower by their Dao Ancestor, marking him as no ordinary figure.
To the Ku Family, anyone who could even forcibly remove the person their Dao Ancestor Ku Cai had nailed to the tower was extraordinary.
“Who are you? Why oppose our Ku Family?” a black-robed elder stared at Lan Xiaobu, striving to keep his tone mild. He knew this man was immensely powerful.
“Call Ku Cai,” Lan Xiaobu said calmly.
“If I’m not mistaken, we’ve met before. Oh, you’re here because I recently destroyed your planet, aren’t you?” Ku Cai’s voice rang out as she stepped from the void. Though Lan Xiaobu didn’t move, he noticed her Plane-Splitting Talisman was more advanced, tearing through the void silently, without a trace of rule fluctuation. Scanning her, he confirmed she was at the Fifth Step of the Great Dao, her Dark Dao rules far more refined than when he’d last seen her. “Thank you, Senior, for saving me,” said the woman he’d rescued, now recovered. Though she knew she could advance further with cultivation, she stepped forward.
“Why did the Ku Family torment you so cruelly?” Lan Xiaobu ignored Ku Cai, addressing the woman.
She bowed again. “I’m Dai Nanjian. This isn’t the first time the Ku Family has nailed me up and burned me with soul flames. Last time, they took my Dai Family’s possessions and nailed me outside the Dark Source Hall to burn my soul. If not for a big brother who saved me, I’d be dead. He knew Ku Cai and had once saved her. He told me not to seek revenge and to leave. I listened, fleeing my planet to wander and cultivate in the void. But during a chance encounter in the void, Ku Cai found me again. Unhappy I’d been saved before, she captured me, nailed me outside Ku Fang City, and burned me with soul flames. She said no one she marked for death could be saved.” Though Dai Nanjian spoke calmly, her inner grief and anger were undeniable. The Ku Family stole her family’s possessions, ambushed and killed her brother, and sought to eradicate her. She knew Ku Cai recaptured her to burn her soul because she’d given her family’s iron mother to Mo Wuji.
Ku Cai stared coldly at Lan Xiaobu, holding back from attacking. She wanted to know how he’d saved Dai Nanjian so quickly and boosted her aura to the brink of advancement. Such a treasure was vital to her.
“Does your Ku Family enjoy wiping out planets?” Lan Xiaobu looked at Ku Cai, his tone betraying no anger. “Not exactly enjoy,” she replied flatly, as if discussing something trivial. “Anyone who dares kill a Ku Family disciple, we destroy their planet. Since I took charge, we’ve annihilated nineteen living planets. Your Great Desolate Divine Realm was merely the twentieth. It’s not fully destroyed yet, as I need some stragglers to return so I can root them out completely.”
“Dao Ancestor, this man killed four of our planet’s guardians upon arrival,” a beardless man stepped forward, voice laden with grief. Ku Cai’s gaze on Lan Xiaobu grew colder. Killing one Ku Family member warranted a planet’s destruction, let alone four guardians Entire Star System.
“Are all your Ku Family members here?” Lan Xiaobu asked suddenly. Ku Cai paused, then laughed, though her icy eyes held no mirth. “Looks like you think your cultivation is impressive, planning to wipe out my Ku Family. Yes, they’re all here, but let’s see if you have the ability to—”
As she spoke, Ku Cai’s violent Dark Domain surged towards Lan Xiaobu.
In her eyes, no matter how strong Lan Xiaobu was, he couldn’t surpass the Fifth Step of the Great Dao, a realm he likely didn’t even comprehend. Without her extraordinary opportunity, she wouldn’t have reached it either. In this plane, the Fifth Step was supreme. Lan Xiaobu didn’t move. Ku Cai’s Dark Domain shattered inch by inch. She then found her space disconnected from her, her Dark Dao rules lifeless, unable to activate.
“…” Ku Cai’s face paled. What strength was this?
Her recklessness stemmed from her confidence in her power. She believed she’d never meet someone stronger, and even if she encountered a Sixth Step Great Dao cultivator, she wouldn’t fear them. Her Dark Dao could kill across levels. Even if Mo Wuji returned, she’d show him that her advanced Dark Dao was unmatched.
Lan Xiaobu chuckled, raising his hand to unleash a Destruction Dao rule. The ferocious destructive aura swept out, and everyone felt a soul-shattering deathly presence. Under this Destruction Dao, everything would vanish, obliterated completely.
“No…” Ku Cai’s face turned ashen. Others might sense the terror of Lan Xiaobu’s Dao rule, unable to escape, but she knew it was the Great Destruction Technique. Under it, all became nothingness, with no talk of reincarnation or escape.
