Qian Qi Saint stared blankly at Lan Xiaobu. She had never imagined that one day she could stand here so effortlessly. At this moment, the Dao threads that bound her soul and primordial spirit completely disintegrated, severed by Lan Xiaobu.
“It’s truly severed… the Great Severing Technique…” Qian Qi Saint murmured to herself. After a while, she finally snapped out of her daze and bowed deeply to Lan Xiaobu, her voice trembling with emotion. “Thank you, fellow Daoist, for your help. I thought I would spend the rest of my life here, turning into a pile of bones. I never expected to be freed—no, to regain my freedom.”
The Great Severing Technique! How many people still knew this technique? And today, she had encountered someone who not only knew it but had used it to save her.
Lan Xiaobu waved his hand dismissively. “Kun Wei is my enemy, and he is also your sworn foe. Even if we can’t become friends, we should still help each other. Besides, I need to take the twelve Dinghai Pearls, and for that, I need you to step aside and give me space.”
“May I ask how I should address you, fellow Daoist?” Qian Qi Saint bowed again, this time with a formal immortal salute.
To Lan Xiaobu, mastering the Great Severing Technique might have been just another skill to save her. But to her, it was her life and her chance to regain freedom.
Why had she helped the trapped cultivators in the Great Path Gorge? It was because she couldn’t stand Kun Wei imprisoning so many cultivators without reason, stripping them of their freedom and leaving them to fend for themselves in isolation.
She cherished freedom deeply. Now that Lan Xiaobu had saved her and given her back her freedom, her gratitude was beyond words.
Lan Xiaobu returned the salute. “I am Lan Xiaobu…”
“You’re Lan Xiaobu? The Dao Lord of the Great Desolate God World, Lan Xiaobu?” Qian Qi Saint’s eyes widened in excitement. She never imagined that the Dao Lord of the Great Desolate God World had come to the Eternal Realm and even stood before her. When she had heard the heavenly proclamation, she had assumed Lan Xiaobu was an ancient sage. Now she realized how young he truly was.
No wonder Kun Wei wanted to hunt him down. For Kun Wei, the existence of a Dao Lord in the Great Desolate God World was unacceptable—unless that Dao Lord was himself. That was the only way it made sense.
“Currently, I am indeed the Dao Lord of the Great Desolate God World. However, some holy sects seem unwilling to accept this and have issued warrants for my arrest,” Lan Xiaobu admitted without hesitation.
Qian Qi Saint bowed once more. “I know. The Great Desolate Dao Court is dedicated to maintaining peace in the Great Desolate God World, upholding equality among all cultivators, and establishing a divine realm of fairness, justice, freedom, and equality. It enforces Dao Court laws and order… This is the divine Dao Court I have always longed for. Hu Lengqi may not have great abilities, but I am willing to join the Great Desolate Dao Court and contribute my modest strength to the Great Desolate God World.”
Hearing this, Lan Xiaobu was overjoyed.
He hadn’t expected that saving Qian Qi Saint on a whim would yield such a significant reward. Although Qian Qi Saint was also a pseudo-saint, she was far stronger than a quasi-saint. And with his help, perhaps one day she could even ascend to true sainthood, becoming a saint on par with Kun Wei.
“Thank you, Senior Qian Qi. With your help, the stability of the Great Desolate God World will be further secured,” Lan Xiaobu said, his joy genuine.
Qian Qi Saint shook her head. “My strength is limited. Though I bear the title of a saint, I am merely a pseudo-saint at best. My assistance will be modest, but I have seen through most of the so-called holy sects and saints here. Sigh…”
After a moment of reflection, Qian Qi Saint seemed to remember something urgent. “Dao Lord, I suggest you immediately extract and take away the twelve Dinghai Pearls. The reason Kun Wei hasn’t arrived yet is likely because he’s not in his sect. I suspect he already knows you’ve saved me.”
Although Lan Xiaobu had acted cautiously, he couldn’t be sure whether Kun Wei was aware of what had happened. He knew Qian Qi Saint was right—lingering here for too long would not bode well for him.
“I understand. Senior Qian Qi, please step aside. I will extract the Dinghai Pearls,” Lan Xiaobu said, pulling out a handful of array flags.
Seeing that Lan Xiaobu planned to use array-breaking methods to extract the pearls, Qian Qi Saint quickly interjected, “Dao Lord, attempting to extract the Dinghai Pearls here using array techniques might not work. We should launch a direct attack now. Perhaps we can seize the pearls before Kun Wei returns. Once he’s back, the pearls will be out of reach.”
Lan Xiaobu waved his hand. “No need. I can use arrays to extract them.”
The core treasure suppressing the nine-level连环神阵 (连环神阵,连环神阵) was something Lan Xiaobu couldn’t extract on his own. But the Cosmic Dimension Module could. The Cosmic Dimension Module had already completed the construction of the连环神阵 here. To be honest, if Lan Xiaobu hadn’t wanted to use this nine-level连环神阵 to further his understanding of array Dao, he would have entered the Great Path Gorge long ago. Why wait until now?
Hearing Lan Xiaobu’s words, Qian Qi Saint’s expression showed a hint of surprise, but she chose to step aside.
Lan Xiaobu’s array flags fell like rain, and in a short time, the surrounding space began to shift. One by one, the array bases of the连环神阵 were exposed.
Qian Qi Saint watched in stunned silence. She had assumed Lan Xiaobu was, at best, a level-six divine array master or perhaps a level-seven divine array king. But the way Lan Xiaobu was dismantling the array bases with his array flags was far beyond the capabilities of a level-seven divine array king. This was clearly the work of a level-nine divine array emperor!
The space continued to rumble, and the spatial rules gradually became clearer. Eventually, even Qian Qi Saint could discern the traces of space. Once the spatial traces appeared, she too could locate the array bases.
As these array bases were revealed, one after another, top-grade divine spirit veins appeared before Lan Xiaobu and Qian Qi Saint.
Qian Qi Saint stared in disbelief at the top-grade divine spirit veins. She had no idea how Lan Xiaobu had managed this. This was a nine-level连环神阵! In the entire Eternal Realm, there were likely no more than ten people capable of setting up such a top-tier grand array. After all, following the collapse of multiple cosmic realms and the cataclysmic tribulations, the Eternal Realm had gathered almost all the powerful beings from the divine realms.
Ten people—that was not many. And now, one of them stood before her. No wonder Lan Xiaobu had become the Dao Lord of the Great Desolate Dao Court.
Lan Xiaobu didn’t know what Qian Qi Saint was thinking. He was well aware that his ability to dismantle the array bases here was entirely due to the Cosmic Dimension Module. To achieve this on his own, he would need to reach the level of a divine array emperor. For now, he was still a considerable distance away from that.
With so many top-grade divine spirit veins appearing, Lan Xiaobu didn’t hesitate. Array flags fell, and his hands moved with Dao principles, swiftly collecting one divine spirit vein after another.
The entire outer space of the Great Path Gorge echoed with continuous rumbling. As Lan Xiaobu removed more and more top-grade divine spirit veins, the fog-shrouded gorge became increasingly clear.
When the 108th divine spirit vein was taken, twelve faintly glowing, multicolored pearls floated amidst the array bases.
They were indeed the twelve Dinghai Pearls. Without hesitation, Lan Xiaobu collected them and said, “Senior Qian Qi, I need to enter the Great Path Gorge to find a friend. Would you like to join me?”
“Of course,” Qian Qi Saint replied without hesitation, following Lan Xiaobu into the Great Path Gorge.
Almost immediately after they entered, a series of explosions echoed from behind. Qian Qi Saint knew that Lan Xiaobu had destroyed all the array bases Kun Wei had set up outside.
…
In the Holy Hall of the Eternal Secret Realm, dozens of people were gathered. The weakest among them were quasi-saints, and while there were only one or two saints like Kun Wei, there were over a dozen pseudo-saints.
The Holy Hall had been established by the major holy sects after the wars, with the sole purpose of capturing Lan Xiaobu, the Dao Lord of the Great Desolate God World.
Kun Wei, the strongest and most influential sect leader, sat at the head of the table.
At this moment, Kun Wei was speaking, his tone grave. “Fellow Daoists, I feel that if we continue like this, it will be difficult to capture Lan Xiaobu. After all, the Eternal Realm is vast and boundless. If he hides in a secluded place to cultivate, we will have no way to find him. Although the Eternal Realm has complete rules, its boundaries are incomplete, and the heavenly secrets are obscured. None of us saints can perceive the past or future, nor can we calculate the movements of the stars…”
Everyone nodded in agreement. Kun Wei was right. In their original universes and realms, they could sense the movements of an entire world, and even quasi-saints could feel the heavenly Dao’s will. But here, not only was the heavenly Dao’s will absent, but most of the so-called saints were merely pseudo-saints.
“Lan Xiaobu’s cultivation level is likely at the Unity God Realm. He won’t leave this place because the resources here are abundant, and the rules are clear. He will want to improve his strength…”
Kun Wei paused before continuing, “This is what worries me the most. Our strength has reached the peak of the ninth level, and it’s nearly impossible to advance further. For us, cultivation resources are no longer ordinary divine crystals or divine materials. What we need are Dao fruits, Dao pills, luck, and at the very least, divine spirit veins… These things are extremely rare, even in the Eternal Realm.
Lan Xiaobu is different. He is only at the Unity God Realm. He can use the abundant cultivation resources and clear heavenly rules here to ascend to quasi-sainthood in the shortest time possible. Once he becomes a quasi-saint, capturing him will be even more difficult.”
Although Kun Wei didn’t spell it out, everyone present understood. If Lan Xiaobu were allowed to grow, everyone here would become his enemy. No holy sect could afford to make an enemy of a Dao Lord. Therefore, Kun Wei’s meaning was clear: they must do everything in their power to eliminate Lan Xiaobu before he could grow stronger.
“So we must unite fully and ensure that in the shortest time possible…” Before Kun Wei could finish, his expression suddenly changed, and he abruptly stood up.
