In Zhu Fen’s view, under his Dream Entry Domain, an ordinary Seventh Step Great Path cultivator would be instantly drawn into a dream state. Lan Xiaobu’s strength might prevent him from being fully ensnared, but struggling would be inevitable.
To his shock, however, he saw Lan Xiaobu’s disdainful gaze, and within his dream domain, Lan Xiaobu even brandished the Longevity Halberd.
The Life-Soul Blade Path divine technique used countless living blade-soul principles to bind and tear opponents to pieces, but its full power relied on synergy with the Dream Entry Domain.
Yet now, Lan Xiaobu moved through his dream domain as if strolling casually, rendering it a joke. Far from binding or affecting Lan Xiaobu’s dao intent, it couldn’t even slow him down.
As the halberd’s beams filled the space, swallowing his blade-soul principles one by one, Zhu Fen felt his scalp tingle.
Only then did he understand why Hu Qian had sided with this human cultivator. Defying Lan Xiaobu would mean the Beast Soul Clan’s annihilation. In Zhu Fen’s position, he would have made the same choice.
“Senior, my Da Yuan Clan is willing…” Zhu Fen reacted swiftly, but before he could finish, Lan Xiaobu’s halberd pierced his brow. For Lan Xiaobu, the Beast Soul Clan’s submission was enough; he had no need for the Da Yuan Clan.
Among the Eighth Step Great Path opponents Lan Xiaobu had faced, Zhu Fen was arguably the weakest. His Dream Entry Domain had no effect on Lan Xiaobu, making killing him as easy as slaying a Seventh Step cultivator.
As Zhu Fen’s primordial spirit escaped, he saw the Beast Soul Clan slaughtering the Da Yuan Clan, with their top powerhouses nearly wiped out under Hu Qian’s pursuit.
The difference between a cultivator army’s battle and a mortal army’s was stark. In a mortal army, killing the commander left deputy commanders and lower officers, and commanders were rarely killed. In a cultivator army, once the strong were eliminated, the weaker were left to be slaughtered. A single divine technique from a powerhouse could decimate swathes, even without a grand destruction technique.
The Da Yuan Clan was finished. As this thought hit Zhu Fen, he saw Lan Xiaobu tear open his world.
In the distance, Hu Qian had killed down to the Sixth Step Great Path cultivators, having nearly eradicated the Da Yuan Clan’s Seventh Step powerhouses. The Beast Soul Clan’s extermination of the Da Yuan Clan was a foregone conclusion. At that moment, Hu Qian saw Lan Xiaobu rip open Zhu Fen’s world.
This scene sent a shiver through Hu Qian. He had thought Zhu Fen could hold out longer, but now he realised Zhu Fen had no chance against Lan Xiaobu. Indeed, who could claim to stand against someone who could crush Jie Ti?
Had he not acted swiftly, his own world would likely have been torn apart by Lan Xiaobu. As for the Beast Soul Clan, they would have been wiped out before even getting the chance to slaughter the Da Yuan Clan.
Lan Xiaobu naturally did not join the killing. No matter how many Da Yuan Clan members remained, once their cultivator army was destroyed by the Beast Soul Clan, the rest were merely awaiting slaughter.
Though Lan Xiaobu had no desire to partake in such a bloodbath, he was no saint. He knew that without his intervention, the human race would have been the ones slaughtered.
Despite his lack of fondness for the humans here, as a member of the human race, he saw no harm in lending a hand to ensure their survival.
On the Seven Realm Stone, Lan Xiaobu didn’t wait long. Just a day later, Hu Qian stood before him with several thousand Beast Soul Clan members. Farther back, millions of Beast Soul Clan cultivators, having completed the genocide of the Da Yuan Clan, stood in orderly ranks, awaiting Hu Qian’s command.
“Brother Lan, the Da Yuan Clan is gone. Any stragglers are no longer a threat. These thousands of Beast Soul Clan members have possessed human bodies. I’ve brought them all here. Though they contributed greatly to destroying the Da Yuan Clan, I believe merit and fault are separate. I leave their fate to you,” Hu Qian said respectfully.
Lan Xiaobu’s effortless slaying of the Eighth Step Zhu Fen, like crushing an ant, had thoroughly intimidated him. He had initially hoped their contributions might earn a plea for mercy, but now he didn’t dare raise the idea.
Lan Xiaobu’s gaze swept over the thousands of Beast Soul Clan members, noting that about half had misaligned souls, clearly having failed to perfectly fuse their souls with human bodies after possession.
Oddly, the other half had perfectly aligned souls. Wasn’t it said that the Beast Soul Clan struggled to fuse after possession?
As Lan Xiaobu’s gaze passed over them, the thousands trembled, none daring to speak. They understood their situation: despite their efforts in the battle, their survival depended on this human powerhouse’s will.
“Very well, end yourselves. For your efforts in destroying the Da Yuan Clan, I’ll allow you to enter reincarnation,” Lan Xiaobu said, unmoved by their contributions.
Everyone froze. They still had to die?
Seeing no one move, Lan Xiaobu’s expression darkened, “If you lack the courage to end yourselves, I’ll do it for you, but my hand offers no chance for reincarnation.”
“Senior…” a Seventh Step Great Path cultivator stepped forward, bowing.
Lan Xiaobu recognised him as one of the two with perfectly fused souls among the four Seventh Step cultivators, unlike the other two whose fusions were poor.
“Speak plainly,” Lan Xiaobu said coldly, his tone laced with killing intent. He had no time to waste. Once this was settled, he planned to use the Seven Realm Stone to tear through this plane and return to the great universe to retrieve Qi Manwei and the others.
Though the human race’s vast universe was dissolving, it would take years for it to fully collapse. Its high-level cosmic rules ensured it wouldn’t disintegrate instantly like a lower universe.
“I’m Wang Ji. Though I was possessed by a Beast Soul Clan member, their soul didn’t succeed. I counter-devoured their soul…” Wang Ji said respectfully, his tone steady.
Lan Xiaobu stared at Wang Ji, stunned, then looked at the many others with perfectly fused souls, his mind reeling. Was this possible? The Beast Soul Clan preached that possessing humans was the path to progress, yet this was the result?
If Wang Ji had counter-devoured the Beast Soul Clan soul, then most of these perfectly fused cultivators had likely done the same. Lan Xiaobu had inadvertently exposed a massive secret.
He soon realised that even if he hadn’t asked today, in the presence of a powerhouse like Hu Qian, the fact that most possessed humans had counter-devoured Beast Soul Clan souls would eventually come to light.
Since Wang Ji had spoken, the other possessed cultivators stepped forward, bowing and echoing his story. They had been possessed by Beast Soul Clan members, counter-devoured their souls, and as a result, expanded their consciousness and strengthened their souls significantly.
Lan Xiaobu sighed, noticing that even some with misaligned souls claimed to be human. He was momentarily speechless.
With a wave of his hand, he struck down the misaligned-soul Beast Soul Clan members, killing them all. He spared those with fused souls, estimating that at most, one or two might have been misjudged.
“Conduct yourselves well. Since the human race and Beast Soul Clan are now allied, there will be no more possession of humans,” Lan Xiaobu said.
Hu Qian quickly stepped forward, “Rest assured, Brother Lan, the Beast Soul Clan will stand united with human cultivators. Possession will not happen again. If it does, I, Hu Qian, will kill them myself.”
Turning to the millions of Beast Soul Clan cultivators, he declared loudly, “From today, our Beast Soul Clan stands with the human race. Anyone who possesses or slaughters a human will be the first I kill.”
Lan Xiaobu nodded, “Good. I’ll return in a few years to check. I hope you keep your word, Friend Hu, and don’t disappoint me.”
With that, the Seven Realm Stone beneath Lan Xiaobu’s feet flared with a beam of light, vanishing instantly.
Before leaving this universe, he intended to destroy the Earth Clan. For that, he had no patience to linger. A single grand destruction technique would suffice.
