Lan Xiaobu charged back once more, this time grabbing the Seven-Tone Halberd. The halberd’s radiant light exploded, clearly aimed at Tu Wang.
Tu Wang’s face turned pale. He knew that if the fight continued, he would lose his life here. Lan Xiaobu was only at the Unity God Realm, so how could his strength be so terrifying?
“Stop, I admit defeat,” Tu Wang urgently called out, simultaneously summoning a shield.
“You start the fight when you want, and admit defeat when you want? Is that how it works?” Lan Xiaobu showed no hesitation, and the Seven-Tone Halberd continued to sweep toward Tu Wang.
In truth, Lan Xiaobu was well aware that the Sage He Ku from Tianjie Alliance would never stand by and watch him kill Tu Wang.
Sure enough, seeing Lan Xiaobu charging at Tu Wang with overwhelming killing intent, Sage He Ku’s expression changed, and he immediately spoke up, “Fellow Daoist, since Tu Wang has admitted defeat, why do you still insist on attacking? Are you trying to break the rules?”
Lan Xiaobu sneered inwardly. Rules? When Bei Ji was fighting on the arena earlier, didn’t someone still intervene to help?
“Friend, killing me will do you no good. I’m just a small ant. You must be new here. If you kill me directly, Sage He Ku will definitely activate the grand formation here to detain you. The strength of the Daoting Alliance in this place is far inferior to that of the Tianjie Alliance,” Tu Wang said, keeping a wary eye on Lan Xiaobu while sending him a voice transmission.
Sensing the powerful auras emanating from the depths of Tianjie, Lan Xiaobu knew Tu Wang was likely not lying. Old Zhao’s Daoting Alliance here was indeed weaker than the Tianjie Alliance, otherwise no one would have interfered in the duel.
Thinking this, Lan Xiaobu chuckled, “Tu Wang, back then you sold me a fake cultivation technique. Shouldn’t you compensate me for that?”
Tu Wang cursed inwardly, but he knew that even though Lan Xiaobu was wary of him now, he couldn’t afford to completely turn against him, as Lan Xiaobu’s strength surpassed his own. If he dared to leave Tianjie, he would surely be ambushed by Lan Xiaobu.
More importantly, Tu Wang was afraid. Back then, what level of cultivation had Lan Xiaobu been at? In such a short time, he had already reached the Unity God Realm and was even suppressing him in strength. If Lan Xiaobu were to advance to the Quasi-Sage Realm in the future, how would Tu Wang ever escape with his life in a duel?
With this in mind, Tu Wang could only suppress the frustration in his heart and say, “Fellow Daoist, I admit I was in the wrong before, but I’ve already compensated you with two top-grade divine spirit veins and twenty high-grade divine spirit veins. You can’t make me compensate you twice for the same thing, can you?”
Lan Xiaobu was also somewhat puzzled. He had already reconstructed the Great Death Technique using the Cosmic Dimension Model. When he brought up the matter earlier, Tu Wang’s tone didn’t seem to carry any regret over losing the Great Death Technique. And if Tu Wang truly knew the Great Death Technique, why hadn’t he used it earlier?
Lan Xiaobu said indifferently, “Back in Tianjie, I was alone and powerless, so I had to settle for less compensation from you. You should know that I originally demanded ten top-grade divine spirit veins, but you only gave me two, and only a fifth of the high-grade divine spirit veins. If that were all, I might have let it go. But you even incited that scapegoat to attack me. Later, I went to smash your den, but I couldn’t find you.”
Tu Wang secretly regretted provoking this guy. He had no choice but to say helplessly, “I’m really poor in Tianjie. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have ended up here. I only have three top-grade divine spirit veins left on me. I’ll give them all to you.”
As he spoke, Tu Wang took out another ring and handed it to Lan Xiaobu.
Lan Xiaobu scanned it with his divine sense. Inside were not only three top-grade divine spirit veins but also sixteen high-grade divine spirit veins. He put away the ring and said, “This matter ends here, but I still have a few questions for you, Fellow Daoist.”
Hearing that the matter was finally over, Tu Wang breathed a sigh of relief. This guy was a lunatic. He swore to himself that he would never have any dealings with Lan Xiaobu again. Just look at the powerful figures in Tianjie—Sage Wang Lun, who cultivated destruction, and Ming Changxiao, who practiced curse techniques. Had any of them come out on top against him?
“Fellow Daoist, please ask,” Tu Wang said, though he remained on guard despite putting away his defensive treasures. This guy was cunning. Even though Tu Wang had been in Tianjie for a long time, he could still easily fall into Lan Xiaobu’s traps.
“Old Tu…” Lan Xiaobu put away the Seven-Tone Halberd, his tone becoming warm and polite.
Tu Wang shuddered. Here it comes again.
Back then, after compensating Lan Xiaobu with the divine spirit veins, Lan Xiaobu had been just as polite, even calling him “brother.” But then he turned around and smashed Tu Wang’s shop. And now, after meeting again, wasn’t Lan Xiaobu still trying to kill him?
“Since you’ve come here, you must have crossed the Divine Gate, right? If you’ve crossed the Divine Gate, you should have a divine status. How did you end up so miserable, sealed in the Great Path Valley?” Lan Xiaobu was genuinely puzzled.
Tianjie wasn’t an easy place to leave. He had only managed to leave with Guan Huan’s help.
Tu Wang sighed, “Tianjie is indeed hard to leave, and I didn’t cross the Divine Gate.”
“If you didn’t cross the Divine Gate, how did you get out?” Lan Xiaobu looked at Tu Wang in surprise. He didn’t think Tu Wang could compare to Guan Huan. Even Guan Huan had needed his help to tear through the void.
Before Tu Wang could respond, Sage He Ku approached and said to Lan Xiaobu, “You’re indeed impressive. If you join my Tianjie Alliance, I can make you a deputy alliance leader.”
Sage He Ku had seen clearly that although Lan Xiaobu’s cultivation was weaker than Sage Qian Qi’s, it was obvious that Sage Qian Qi was following Lan Xiaobu’s lead.
Lan Xiaobu looked at Sage He Ku and chuckled, “Become your deputy alliance leader? Your face isn’t that big.”
After saying this, Lan Xiaobu cupped his hands toward the surrounding cultivators and said, “Fellow Daoists, I believe many of you were once top-tier experts in your respective universes. Being trapped in this small place is like a dragon trapped in shallow waters—utterly stifling. But I’m different from all of you, because I wasn’t trapped here. I actively tore through the outer sealing formation to come in. My main purpose here is to find my friend…”
Hearing that Lan Xiaobu had come in voluntarily, the crowd began to stir.
Coming in voluntarily meant one thing: he could leave at any time.
Sage He Ku frowned and said coldly, “You say you came in voluntarily, so it must be true? If I’m not mistaken, this place is sealed by a nine-level连环 divine formation, with an innate treasure suppressing the formation’s core. Not only that, but there are also top-tier experts guarding the formation’s foundation. How could you possibly have come in voluntarily? There are countless powerful figures here, and none of them can leave.”
Hearing Sage He Ku’s words, many people came to their senses. Indeed, Lan Xiaobu’s strength was impressive, but it wasn’t enough to casually tear through a nine-level连环 sealing divine formation.
Lan Xiaobu directly landed on the dueling platform and raised his voice, “Perhaps you all don’t know my background yet. I am Lan Xiaobu, the current Dao Lord of the Great Wilderness Dao Court…”
“You’re Dao Lord Lan?” Bei Ji exclaimed excitedly.
Lan Xiaobu looked at Bei Ji in confusion. He had saved him, but Bei Ji seemed even more excited than before.
Bei Ji quickly explained, “Dao Lord Lan, the reason Alliance Leader Zhao established the Daoting Alliance was to unite everyone to leave this place and help you stabilize the Great Wilderness Dao Court.”
Lan Xiaobu was stunned, then overjoyed. “Good! Thank you, fellow members of the Daoting Alliance. Once I meet up with Brother Zhao, we’ll leave this place together.”
“It really is Dao Lord Lan…”
The crowd grew even more excited. Although they were trapped in the Great Path Valley, they naturally knew about Lan Xiaobu gaining the recognition of the Heavenly Dao and becoming the Dao Lord of the Great Wilderness Dao Court. Otherwise, Zhao Gongming wouldn’t have established the Daoting Alliance. It was just that most people thought Lan Xiaobu’s tenure as Dao Lord wouldn’t last long, so not many were willing to join the Daoting Alliance.
Now that Lan Xiaobu, the Dao Lord himself, had entered the valley and even claimed he could leave, everyone’s mindset changed.
If Lan Xiaobu could enter the valley voluntarily, unless he was forced in by other holy sects, it meant he had the strength to leave.
If they could really leave and follow the Dao Lord, they might even have a chance to attain a divine status.
“Dao Lord Lan, we also wish to join the Daoting Alliance. Would that be possible?” someone immediately asked.
“Yes, yes. Let’s join the Daoting Alliance and work together to protect the Great Wilderness Dao Court,” others chimed in, supporting the idea.
Even Sage He Ku stared at Lan Xiaobu in shock, his mind racing. He had no desire to dominate Tianjie—this godforsaken place was resource-scarce and had vague rules. What was there to dominate? If he could leave and become a sage of the Great Wilderness Dao Court, that would be a true opportunity.
Lan Xiaobu spoke loudly, “If you all wish to leave with me, there’s no need to join the Daoting Alliance. You can directly join the Great Wilderness Dao Court. But there’s no need to rush. Take a few days to think it over. I won’t be leaving immediately, as I still have some matters to clarify. When I do leave, I will definitely come here to inform everyone.”
“Thank you, Dao Lord!” This time, Lan Xiaobu’s words elicited genuine gratitude from the crowd.
This was real gratitude. In this tiny place, the scarce resources had led to constant fighting. If they could leave, the sky would be the limit.
Lan Xiaobu jumped off the dueling platform and walked toward Tu Wang.
Sage He Ku didn’t step forward to speak. He needed to weigh his options and investigate whether Lan Xiaobu’s claims were true.
“I knew at first glance that Fellow Daoist Lan was extraordinary. Now I see I wasn’t wrong. Brother Lan has become a Dao Lord. Congratulations,” Tu Wang said, performing a respectful salute before Lan Xiaobu could approach.
The moment he learned that Lan Xiaobu was the Dao Lord, Tu Wang had decided to pledge his allegiance to him. His earlier resolve to have nothing to do with Lan Xiaobu was long forgotten. As for principles? What were those?
Lan Xiaobu patted Tu Wang’s shoulder, “Old Tu, let’s find a place to chat. I have some questions I’d like to ask you.”
