Everyone was looking at Sage Kun Wei. Although no one asked, it was clear that something significant had happened; otherwise, Kun Wei wouldn’t have such an expression.
Sure enough, Sage Kun Wei spoke in a heavy tone, “The Chain Divine Array I set up in the Great Path Gorge Valley has been destroyed. One hundred and eight top-grade divine spirit veins have been extracted. Not only that, the twelve Sea-Calming Pearls that were suppressing the array’s core have been stolen…”
The people in the hall were stunned. Even the sages from the Everlasting Sacred Dao and the Myriad Dao Sacred Gate, who were at war with the Taihan Sacred Mountain, were momentarily speechless. They had chosen to fight the Taihan Sacred Mountain because it had pushed them to the brink. If the Taihan Sacred Mountain hadn’t seized the Everlasting Secret Realm, the Everlasting Sacred Dao would have continued to endure. If they hadn’t known that the Taihan Sacred Mountain would target the Myriad Dao Sacred Gate after destroying the Everlasting Sacred Dao, the Myriad Dao Sacred Gate wouldn’t have joined this sacred war.
If it didn’t concern the safety of their own sacred gates, who would willingly provoke the Taihan Sacred Mountain? Just Kun Wei alone could easily annihilate these pseudo-sages.
“Could it be Lan Xiaobu?” someone suddenly recalled.
Sage Kun Wei nodded, “It’s definitely him. Only he would dare to attack my dao field. I need to hunt him down now, and I hope all of you can assist me.”
“Perhaps it’s too late for us to act now. Lan Xiaobu is extremely cunning. Back at the Everlasting Secret Realm, even with the Sky-Separating Cover and various divine arrays, we couldn’t catch him. Now that he’s taken the twelve Sea-Calming Pearls, he’s most likely already fled,” Sage Jiang Yiqian from the Myriad Dao Sacred Gate said indifferently.
Lan Xiaobu’s strength might be average, but his ability to escape, in Jiang Yiqian’s view, was the epitome of cunning.
Kun Wei shook his head, “No, I’m certain he hasn’t left. He’s definitely entered the Great Path Gorge Valley. We were right before—he won’t leave the Everlasting World easily. Since he’s not leaving the Everlasting World, nor is he in seclusion, and he’s even been to Seven Rocks Mountain, his intentions are clear.”
There was no need for Kun Wei to explain further; everyone understood. Lan Xiaobu had gone to Seven Rocks Mountain to seek help from the Great Origin Sage, but the sage refused. Now, he’s gone to the Great Path Gorge Valley, clearly looking for more allies. The Great Path Gorge Valley is filled with countless powerful beings trapped by the Taihan Sacred Mountain. If Lan Xiaobu can recruit some of them, it would be a significant boost.
“No wonder he became the Dao Lord of the Great Wilderness Dao Court. He truly has courage. Doesn’t he fear being trapped inside?” another sage sneered.
The Great Path Gorge Valley was sealed by Kun Wei of the Taihan Sacred Mountain, and many sages were likely imprisoned there. Once inside, if Kun Wei resealed it, there would be no way out.
Sage Kun Wei spoke slowly, “It’s not that simple. My sealing divine array isn’t so easily broken. Even a ninth-grade divine array emperor like me wouldn’t be able to break my chain divine array. Yet, Lan Xiaobu managed to destroy it. This person is not to be underestimated.”
Kun Wei didn’t mention Sage Qian Qi. His chain sealing divine array was a peak ninth-grade divine array, and with Sage Qian Qi guarding the array’s core, even a divine array emperor beyond the ninth grade wouldn’t be able to break it easily. In other words, even if someone could break it, it would take at least a few hundred years. By then, Kun Wei would have long returned, and no one could break the array under his watch.
This was why he believed his sealing divine array was unbreakable.
What angered Kun Wei was that after he spoke, apart from the Everlasting Sacred Dao and the Myriad Dao Sacred Gate, many other sacred gates showed little enthusiasm. None offered to join him in dealing with Lan Xiaobu, let alone entering the Great Path Gorge Valley.
With a moment’s thought, Kun Wei understood. The Great Path Gorge Valley might not be able to seal Lan Xiaobu. If Lan Xiaobu couldn’t be sealed and instead recruited many powerful allies within the valley, he might indeed solidify his position as the Dao Lord of the Great Wilderness Dao Court in the future.
A true Dao Lord of the Great Wilderness Dao Court—who would want to offend that?
For many sacred gates, their conflict with Lan Xiaobu wasn’t as deep as that of the Everlasting Sacred Dao, the Myriad Dao Sacred Gate, or the Taihan Sacred Mountain. Since it wasn’t a life-or-death enmity, there was room for reconciliation.
What if Lan Xiaobu wasn’t killed and truly became the Dao Lord of the Great Wilderness Dao Court? This wasn’t impossible, as many sacred gates from the Great Wilderness Universe hadn’t participated in the hunt for Lan Xiaobu. While they hadn’t openly supported him either, there was always the possibility.
…
“I suspect Kun Wei will reseal the valley to prevent us from leaving,” Sage Qian Qi said as they entered the Great Path Gorge Valley. She knew Kun Wei well. If he suffered such a significant loss and did nothing, he wouldn’t be Kun Wei.
Lan Xiaobu smiled, “He can’t seal me in, and I’m not afraid of his seals. I suspect he’ll try to rally other sacred gates. If enough sacred gates are willing to follow him, he’ll only lightly seal the valley and then lead a force to kill us. However, this is unlikely, as many sacred gates know what kind of person Kun Wei is and won’t side with him. If he can’t gather enough allies, he’ll seal the Great Path Gorge Valley and wait outside for me to break the seal again before attacking.”
In either case, Lan Xiaobu wasn’t worried. The Great Path Gorge Valley was filled with countless trapped powerful beings. If Lan Xiaobu hadn’t been teleported to the Everlasting World by the Primordial Dao Rules, he would have likely ended up sealed in the Great Path Gorge Valley as well.
From what he knew, the Great Path Gorge Valley had no exit other than entering the Everlasting World. Most cultivators who entered the valley did so through one-way teleportation arrays, with a few entering through spatial rifts.
As they spoke, over a dozen figures appeared at the edge of their divine senses, followed by several divine sense scans.
“There are quite a lot of people here,” Sage Qian Qi remarked. She and Lan Xiaobu had just entered, yet they had already encountered so many people. It was clear that deeper into the Great Path Gorge Valley, there were even more cultivators.
“Let me find someone to ask,” Lan Xiaobu said, speeding up to intercept a cultivator.
The cultivator, seeing Lan Xiaobu and Sage Qian Qi blocking his path, immediately became wary. He was only at the Unity God Realm, and the woman with Lan Xiaobu was clearly stronger than him.
Lan Xiaobu clasped his fists and said, “Greetings, fellow Daoist. We’ve just arrived here. I wanted to ask if there’s a marketplace or something similar in this area?”
Hearing that Lan Xiaobu was only asking about a marketplace, the male cultivator immediately took out a jade slip and handed it to Lan Xiaobu. “This is a map of the area. Apart from some scattered settlements, there’s a relatively large marketplace called Little Tian Street…”
Little Tian Street? Lan Xiaobu’s eyes lit up. He immediately thought of the real Tian Street he had seen before.
According to the information he had, crossing the Divine Position Gate in Tian Street could grant one a divine position. Could it be that crossing the Divine Position Gate led to this place in the Everlasting World? If so, then what was the point of crossing the Divine Position Gate? In this place, even he, as the Dao Lord, didn’t have a divine position, let alone others.
Lan Xiaobu scanned the jade slip with his divine sense and indeed found a marketplace not far from their current location. Even without using the Reincarnation Pot, it would take no more than an hour or two to reach.
“If you have no further questions, I’ll take my leave,” the Unity God Realm cultivator said politely, clasping his fists.
This was the Great Path Gorge Valley. While the valley wasn’t small, to the cultivators inside, it was a confined space. Offending someone here could lead to trouble sooner or later. So even when leaving, he made sure to be courteous.
Lan Xiaobu put away the jade slip and thanked the cultivator, then asked, “Have you heard of Zhao Gongming?”
Upon hearing Zhao Gongming’s name, the cultivator immediately said, “Of course. In Little Tian Street, there are two major factions. One is the Dao Court Alliance established by Fellow Daoist Zhao, and the other is the Tian Street Alliance founded by Sage He Ku, who created Little Tian Street. You’ll find out more once you reach Little Tian Street.”
“Thank you,” Lan Xiaobu said, delighted. He hadn’t expected to find news of Old Zhao so easily after entering the Great Path Gorge Valley. It was truly a stroke of luck.
In less than two hours—just one hour, in fact—Lan Xiaobu and Sage Qian Qi arrived at Little Tian Street.
Despite being in the confined space of the Great Path Gorge Valley, Little Tian Street was surprisingly large, even larger than the real Tian Street. At the very least, it wasn’t just a single street.
The words “Little Tian Street” floated above the entrance to the marketplace, and the entire area was protected by a defensive array.
As soon as Lan Xiaobu reached the entrance, he felt intense fluctuations—someone was fighting inside Little Tian Street.
Lan Xiaobu quickened his pace and rushed in.
Little Tian Street might have a nice name and a decent-sized area, but its layout was far from impressive. Stalls were scattered haphazardly, and many places showed signs of being blasted by divine abilities, with no one bothering to repair them. It was likely that any repairs would be undone soon after.
Near the entrance of Little Tian Street was a large dueling platform, protected by a ninth-grade divine array. Currently, two cultivators were fighting on the platform.
Both were at the Quasi-Sage Realm. One had long hair and wielded a spear, while the other was portly and used eighteen Buddhist beads.
On the dueling platform, Dao rhythms clashed, and divine essence exploded in the air. Both fighters were clearly experienced, and their divine abilities collided without either gaining the upper hand.
However, Lan Xiaobu could tell that they were fighting to the death.
He was puzzled. Weren’t they all trapped in the Great Path Gorge Valley? Why were they still fighting among themselves instead of working together to break out?
“Boom!” A burst of blood light erupted on the dueling platform as one of the portly cultivator’s beads pierced the long-haired man’s shoulder. However, the portly cultivator didn’t come out unscathed—the spear had torn a deep gash in his chest.
