A white spear, carrying a killing rule capable of tearing through any vast universe, thundered down from the void, locking onto Lan Xiaobu alone.
Behind the spear came a middle-aged man with a fair, beardless face and an air of immortal grace. A cold smile played on his lips; in his eyes, Lan Xiaobu was already dead. Lan Xiaobu’s guess was correct—this was Jie Ti.
From the moment Lan Xiaobu appeared outside Human Yellow City, Jie Ti had known but dismissed him. To Jie Ti, Lan Xiaobu was just another human fleeing disaster to this universe, unworthy of attention. Perhaps a bit stronger, offering a few novel rules at best.
But when Lan Xiaobu effortlessly killed three Seventh Step Great Dao powerhouses, including Ding Yueyin, Jie Ti realised he had misjudged. Lan Xiaobu was stronger than expected. Jie Ti wasn’t worried about defeating him, even if Lan Xiaobu was a tier stronger. His focus was on capturing Lan Xiaobu alive.
The divine abilities Lan Xiaobu displayed were exactly what Jie Ti coveted. Others in this universe might not recognise them, but Jie Ti knew Lan Xiaobu wielded the Great Cutting Technique, a method he had long desired. The Falling Life and Destruction Techniques he possessed lacked their original scrolls, reduced to minor abilities in his hands. Lan Xiaobu’s Great Cutting Technique was so potent it likely came from an original cosmic scroll.
When Hu Qian, the Beast Soul Clan’s Dao Ancestor, arrived, Jie Ti immediately messaged him to ambush Lan Xiaobu, aiming to destroy his body to capture him.
Hu Qian, though powerful, held great respect for Jie Ti, knowing he was the strongest in this universe. Jie Ti wasn’t even native to this realm, staying only to collect cosmic rules. Aware Jie Ti would eventually leave, Hu Qian had no desire to cross him.
When Hu Qian shattered Lan Xiaobu’s hand bones, he sensed Lan Xiaobu wasn’t as strong as Jie Ti suggested, perhaps not even as strong as himself. Against Jie Ti, Lan Xiaobu seemed doomed.
As Hu Qian saw Jie Ti’s white spear unleash a trembling killing aura, he was awestruck, realising the vast gap between himself and Jie Ti. Though the spear wasn’t aimed at him, he instinctively retreated, leaving the rest to Jie Ti.
But then he stared at Lan Xiaobu in disbelief. Lan Xiaobu, who had blocked his punch—seemingly with full effort and a top-tier treasure—shouldn’t have been able to do more. Hu Qian, an Eighth Step Great Dao cultivator, doubted Lan Xiaobu held back. Yet, after his hand bones broke, Lan Xiaobu casually summoned SD a massive bow, his hand instantly healed, as if the injury was anticipated. Hu Qian was stunned, and Jie Ti felt a chill.
Jie Ti wasn’t chilled by Lan Xiaobu summoning a treasure under his spear’s terrifying lock but by the growing killing aura, stronger than his own, locking onto his very life.
The arrow, unlike any Jie Ti had seen, gathered the battlefield’s dense killing auraTun aura as the bow tensed. After slaughtering hundreds of thousands, the battlefield’s killing intent was rich, amplifying the arrow’s power.
Jie Ti’s spear still tore through the void, gathering its own killing rules, but it no longer dominated. Lan Xiaobu’s arrow seemed to sap Jie Ti’s vitality.
Jie Ti sensed that the moment his spear shattered Lan Xiaobu’s body, the arrow might destroy his soul. Even a slim chance of that was a gamble he wouldn’t take.
Lan Xiaobu, reacting later, seized the initiative—not because his strength outmatched Jie Ti’s but because Jie Ti had aimed to capture him alive. His spear would only destroy Lan Xiaobu’s body, but Lan Xiaobu’s arrow sought to annihilate his soul.
In that instant, space and time seemed to freeze, the air thick with murderous intent. Both Jie Ti’s spear, with its tearing killing rules, and Lan Xiaobu’s Wuxu Arrow, summoning cosmic destruction, held everyone in thrall.
Jie Ti’s pale face grew paler. He knew he was at a disadvantage. From the start, his strategy was inferior to Lan Xiaobu’s, and now he couldn’t even break free of the arrow’s killing lock.
Jie Ti stared at the Wuxu Arrow, his spear’s killing aura still surging. He couldn’t retreat; any hesitation would leave him unharmed but slain by Lan Xiaobu.
He hoped Hu Qian wouldserves would act. Hu Qian’s hesitation cost him his chance, and Jie Ti’s spear found its mark.
Lan Xiaobu’s bowstring remained taut, the Wuxu Arrow’s killing intent unyielding, locking onto Jie Ti’s life force. The battlefield’s blood-soaked aura amplified its power, a deadly promise of annihilation.
Jie Ti’s spear faltered, his confidence shaken. He had underestimated Lan Xiaobu, and now the tide had turned. His spear’s momentum waned, but the arrow’s killing intent only grew, threatening to consume him entirely.
In that fleeting moment, Jie Ti’s only hope was Hu Qian’s intervention. But he knew, unless Hu Qian was a fool, he wouldn’t step into this killing field, risking being locked onto by the Wuxu Arrow.
Jie Ti frantically fuelled his spear’s killing rules while scanning for any gap in Lan Xiaobu’s life force with his domain.
Time and space crawled, the spear moving as if through molasses, each inch forward cracking the spatial rules, its killing aura intensifying.
Jie Ti felt no joy. The Wuxu Arrow, though motionless, gathered a destructive intent that tore at existence itself, growing ever stronger.
He had one thought: he couldn’t let Lan Xiaobu fire that arrow. If it released at its peak, with its killing intent and destructive momentum fully gathered, he would lose at least his body.
He knew the next moment was the arrow’s optimal release point, when its killing intent and gathered destructive force were at their zenith.
To Jie Ti’s狂喜, Lan Xiaobu didn’t fire at that moment, granting him a sliver of survival.
Whether from inexperience or some other reason, Lan Xiaobu’s hesitation was Jie Ti’s only lifeline. He burned his essence blood, his sluggish spear surging forward, its killing aura sharper. But instead of targeting Lan Xiaobu, it veered towards the Wuxu Arrow, and Jie Ti retreated, summoning his Divine Throne Gate.
Injuring Lan Xiaobu was secondary; his survival came first.
Jie Ti exhaled slightly, puzzled why the Wuxu Arrow hadn’t fired. Had it been released earlier, he would have been at a severe disadvantage, his body likely shattered, his soul heavily damaged. Even though his spear could destroy Lan Xiaobu’s body, his own fate would be far worse.
Hu Qian, watching from afar, was equally baffled. Lan Xiaobu had missed the arrow’s optimal moment, a fact undeniable.
Lan Xiaobu held back the Wuxu Arrow, knowing his strategy had succeeded. Firing it would have had a ninety percent chance of destroying Jie Ti’s body and a thirty percent chance of annihilating his soul.
He refrained because he was waiting for this moment—Jie Ti recalling his Divine Throne Gate. Jie Ti, realising Lan Xiaobu’s strength, would prioritise retrieving it.
If Lan Xiaobu couldn’t kill Jie Ti outright, his soul could escape via the Divine Throne Gate, instantly vanishing to a safe void plane, not Lan Xiaobu’s world. With such a treasure, Jie Ti would slip away, and the Divine Throne Gate would be lost to Lan Xiaobu.
So he sacrificed destroying Jie Ti’s body for the gate.
By missing the optimal shot, Lan Xiaobu gave Jie Ti a fleeting chance. Jie Ti redirected his spear to the Wuxu Arrow, breaking its killing lock. In turn, Lan Xiaobu broke free of the spear’s lock.
Simultaneously, Lan Xiaobu opened his world. Though its contents were sealed by restrictions, neither Jie Ti, Hu Qian, nor the tens of thousands of human cultivators understood why he would do something so reckless in battle.
Only Zi Yuan vaguely grasped his intent. As Jie Ti summoned the Divine Throne Gate, it vanished from its spot, but Jie Ti’s expression changed—he didn’t feel it in his hand, and he seemed to lose control over it.
At the same time, he sensed spatial rule fluctuations at the entrance to Lan Xiaobu’s world, carrying traces of the gate’s charm. Before he could investigate further, Lan Xiaobu’s world vanished.
Boom! The spear and the Wuxu Arrow’s terrifying killing intents collided, causing the space to collapse. The human cultivators, freed from the killing pressure, fled frantically as Human Yellow City began to crumble.
