Above the massive ochre dao city floated three characters: Human Yellow City. Though Lan Xiaobu hadn’t seen who wrote them, he could tell from the characters that the writer’s cultivation was likely between the fifth and sixth steps of the Great Path, practising a fire-based technique imbued with fire dao principles.
Dai Nanjian exhaled in relief, “Good, the human cultivators have a place to settle.”
She knew why Lan Xiaobu was here. The Ku family, led by Ku Cai, had slaughtered everyone on his planet, and the survivors seemed to have fled here. A dao city of human cultivators meant they were still alive.
Lan Xiaobu said, “It’s not ideal. Though this city was built by human cultivators, it’s sealed by a treasure, preventing anyone from leaving.”
“What treasure?” Dai Nanjian gasped, unable to stop herself from asking.
Lan Xiaobu chuckled, “A long sword. It locks the dao city, and anyone trying to leave forcibly will be torn apart by it. Come, let’s check out the city.”
With that, he headed toward the ochre dao city.
Dai Nanjian and Ziyuan followed without hesitation. Perhaps influenced by Lan Xiaobu’s words, the closer they got to the city, the more they felt a faint killing aura pressing in, as if entering the city would tear them apart.
Yet they trusted Lan Xiaobu. If he was entering, he had a plan. Indeed, he did. He had located the sword, suspended by void array patterns at the city’s entrance. Anyone trying to leave didn’t need the sword to strike; its killing aura alone could shred them.
Lan Xiaobu moved slowly, arranging his own void array patterns.
The void patterns controlling the sword not only bound the entire city but also dominated the local killing aura. Lan Xiaobu wasn’t trying to dispel this aura; instead, he set up a binding barrier. If the sword activated, his barrier could instantly restrain its killing principles, seizing the sword and pulling it to him.
He could see the one who placed the sword wasn’t Jieti, as their method of arranging killing principles was far inferior. Even without the barrier, Lan Xiaobu was confident he could easily take the sword. He held off to determine whether it was set by the city’s lord or a powerhouse from this universe.
“Heh, three more,” a sneering voice called out as they approached the city entrance. Two shadows darted forward, blocking their path.
“Beast Soul Clan?” Dai Nanjian asked, puzzled.
The human-cat she’d encountered at least had a human face, but these two were bizarre, with tree-like bodies and chicken heads. Lan Xiaobu nodded, “Seems so. The Beast Soul Clan is quite diverse, with all sorts of oddities, even tree-chickens.”
“I’ll handle them. They’re not even at the Creation Realm,” Dai Nanjian said. She had gained many treasures over the years, and after leaving the mortal universe, her strength had soared. Though not as extreme as Ku Cai, she’d reached the Creation Realm and was close to the Derivation Realm after being saved by Lan Xiaobu’s chaos rule essence, which also enhanced her physique.
To her, these tree-like Beast Soul Clan members—one at most Creation Realm, the other not even there—should be easy to crush.
Lan Xiaobu waved her off, “You’re not their match.”
“What?” Dai Nanjian exclaimed, looking at him in confusion. She’d endured years of torment, and before being burned by soul fire in Ku Fang City, she’d fought countless battles, her experience vast. “Are they that strong?” she asked, trusting he wouldn’t speak nonsense.
Lan Xiaobu smiled faintly, “It’s not that they’re strong, but the local rules favour them. They’ve grown here, cultivating with these rules. You’ve come from another universe and may be familiar with these rules but can’t control them. In a fight, your strength would drop significantly.”
It was like the Great Universe, where the rules favoured the Tianmeng Clan, putting human cultivators at a disadvantage. Here, the rules didn’t inherently suit the Beast Soul Clan, but their long cultivation in this place gave them a territorial advantage. Their divine abilities would be amplified, while Dai Nanjian’s would weaken.
As the two chicken-headed Beast Soul Clan members prepared to act, a woman emerged from the ochre city, staring coldly at them. “This is Human Yellow City. Our lord has an agreement with the outside: you cannot forcibly stop human cultivators from entering. Dare to do so, and face the consequences.”
“They haven’t entered yet,” one of the chicken-headed cultivators muttered sullenly.
The woman said nothing, just stared. “Fine, we’ll go,” the other Beast Soul Clan member said, realising they couldn’t take Lan Xiaobu’s group today.
Dai Nanjian sighed in relief, “It seems humans are united here and have some strength to protect themselves.”
Lan Xiaobu sneered, “You’re mistaken. They’re not protecting us. Once we enter, we become their property. They’ve made deals with local races, periodically handing over humans. To this universe’s races, humans are the most valuable.”
“Why?” Dai Nanjian asked instinctively.
Lan Xiaobu explained, “This universe’s rules are high, comparable to our vast advanced universe, but their bodies are fatally incompatible with the Great Path. The Creation Realm is their limit, and these rules don’t allow them to transform. Only a few can reach the fourth step or higher. But if they possess a human cultivator, their path advances, potentially reaching the seventh step.”
Dai Nanjian fell silent, understanding Lan Xiaobu knew this from searching the human-cat’s soul.
“Follow me,” the woman said coldly as the trio entered Human Yellow City.
Lan Xiaobu ignored her and walked straight in.
“Bold!” The woman grabbed for him, seeing he was the group’s leader. A new human cultivator daring to defy her was courting death. She’d show these ants she could save or kill as she pleased.
Lan Xiaobu slapped out, and she felt space lock around her. Helpless, she watched his vital energy handprint strike her face, sending her flying dozens of metres, crashing into a barrier and tearing it apart.
A shrill alarm blared. Lan Xiaobu didn’t advance further, letting his divine sense sweep recklessly. He was shocked to find several barriers blocking his sense that he couldn’t tear through.
One was formed by a top-tier treasure, impenetrable unless refined. For Lan Xiaobu, it would only take a few more attempts with his divine sense.
He had no goodwill toward Human Yellow City. He hadn’t found the city lord in the human-cat’s memories, but he knew the lord was no saint, callously disregarding human cultivators’ lives.
The lord had built the city to gather human cultivators for trade with native races like the Beast Soul Clan. Controlling many humans meant he could exchange them for more resources.
