The female cultivator was right. Following the direction she pointed, Lan Xiaobu saw a huge market in just half a day. The market had already grown to a considerable size, even taking on the semblance of a divine city.
Lan Xiaobu wasn’t interested in browsing the market. What he lacked now were top-tier cultivation resources, and the items in the market weren’t what he needed. After the surge of fortune and the refinement of rules in the Eternal Realm, the most abundant things were various top-tier divine herbs. With so many divine herbs available, divine pills became highly sought after. As for Dao Pills, they were even rarer, with each pill being extremely difficult to obtain.
Thus, in the market, aside from magical treasures, the most valuable items were divine pills and Dao Pills. Of course, top-tier flying divine artifacts were also highly prized.
The market hadn’t been established for long and didn’t even have a proper name yet. The reason it had grown to such a scale in such a short time was related to the Dao discussions held by Sage Kuachen, the leader of the Buzhou Sect from Mount Buzhou. After Sage Kuachen’s Dao discussions, he also recruited a million disciples. With so many people gathered in one place, a market naturally formed.
When Lan Xiaobu entered the market, he was surprised to find it quite crowded. Perhaps due to the ongoing war between the Buzhou Sect and the various sacred sects of the Great Desolate Divine Realm, although there were many people here, most of them were just wandering the streets, with very few leaving the market.
Lan Xiaobu found what appeared to be the largest inn. He came here to gather information about Mount Buzhou and to hear about any treasures that might have appeared there.
The inn wasn’t particularly crowded. In a hall that could seat thousands, there were no more than three hundred people sitting and drinking tea or resting.
Lan Xiaobu deliberately chose a spot where there were more people and sat down. However, after listening for a while, he found that these people were only chatting about where to find good resources, where the spiritual energy was denser, or which sacred sect was recruiting disciples and which sage had made another breakthrough.
No one mentioned the Buzhou Sect, which was what he wanted to hear about. As for the treasures of Mount Buzhou, no one brought them up at all.
Lan Xiaobu decided not to wait any longer and planned to ask someone directly. Just as he stood up, he saw a disheveled woman rush into the inn.
The woman was covered in injuries, and her aura was extremely unstable. To Lan Xiaobu’s surprise, she was the same woman who had told him about the market earlier and warned him not to mention joining the Buzhou Sect here.
Following her were a man and a woman. The man was at the early World God stage, while the woman was at the early Divine Lord stage. The man was exceptionally handsome, and the woman was strikingly beautiful.
For this wandering cultivator to have escaped from these two and made it here showed that she had some skills.
The wandering cultivator looked anxious and uneasy. After entering the inn’s hall, she glanced around as if searching for a familiar face to help her. However, her eyes revealed that she had no acquaintances here. Her gaze finally landed helplessly on Lan Xiaobu—he was the only one who had spoken to her before.
“You wretch, you think you can just take our things and run?” The beautiful woman at the early Divine Lord stage shouted as she rushed in, reaching out to grab the injured woman.
Although she was the one making the move, the man at the early World God stage beside her had already unleashed his domain, ruthlessly locking down the injured wandering cultivator.
The injured woman’s eyes were filled with despair. “You shameless people, openly stealing my things. What right do you have?”
Even as she spoke, she threw a punch at the beautiful woman.
But then she froze. She had clearly been restrained by the other party’s domain, so why was she able to throw this punch so easily?
The beautiful woman had assumed that her companion’s domain would suppress the injured woman, so she had acted carelessly. To her surprise, the injured woman was still able to strike, and the punch landed squarely on her hand.
Crack! The sound of bones breaking echoed as the beautiful woman was sent flying, landing by the door.
The male cultivator at the early World God stage, however, turned his gaze to Lan Xiaobu. He had felt Lan Xiaobu’s domain locking down his own, so he knew what had happened. Otherwise, his companion wouldn’t have been injured.
“What’s the meaning of this, fellow Daoist? I am a disciple of the Yun Shen Dao. This matter has nothing to do with you, so why are you interfering?” The man stared at Lan Xiaobu, sensing that Lan Xiaobu’s cultivation level might be higher than his own. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to suppress his domain.
Lan Xiaobu stood up. “What’s the meaning of this? You’re attacking my friend, and you’re asking me what’s the meaning of this?”
The injured woman was both surprised and delighted. She hadn’t expected Lan Xiaobu to be so righteous. She had only given him a casual tip earlier, and they were essentially strangers. For a stranger to risk offending a disciple of the Yun Shen Dao to help her was an immense kindness.
Thinking this, she quickly sent a voice transmission to Lan Xiaobu. “I’m Cui Xinglan, a wandering cultivator. Thank you for saving my life, senior.”
“She’s your friend?” The man frowned slightly, sensing that Lan Xiaobu might be lying.
Before he could say anything, the beautiful woman with the broken hand shouted, “Are we disciples of the Yun Shen Dao so easy to bully? She was the one who stole our things earlier. By forcing your way into this, are you trying to make an enemy of the Yun Shen Dao?”
The man frowned even more. While this wasn’t something that couldn’t be said, it was too early to say it without first understanding Lan Xiaobu’s background.
Lan Xiaobu chuckled and said to Cui Xinglan, “Sister Xinglan, tell me what really happened.”
Even without asking, Lan Xiaobu knew that this man and woman were bullying others. What level of cultivation did Cui Xinglan have? Would she actively provoke a World God? If Cui Xinglan had that kind of temperament, she wouldn’t have survived until today.
Cui Xinglan immediately said, “I found a fairly high-grade divine herb outside. While I was picking it, they spotted me and tried to take it from me. I used a escape talisman to flee, but they still managed to injure me.”
Lan Xiaobu was certain that Cui Xinglan hadn’t just found a “fairly high-grade” divine herb—it must have been a top-tier treasure. Otherwise, this situation wouldn’t have arisen. If it were an ordinary divine herb, Cui Xinglan would have handed it over. The herb must have been so valuable that Cui Xinglan knew giving it to them would result in her being killed to silence her.
“Heh, since you’re forcing your way into this, let’s settle it with strength,” the male cultivator sneered, pulling out a flying sword and sending a few messages.
Even if Lan Xiaobu was a disciple of a top-tier sacred sect, he wouldn’t dare to do anything to the Yun Shen Dao.
However, Lan Xiaobu’s expression suddenly changed. He immediately said to Cui Xinglan, “You should leave first. I have some matters to attend to here.”
His expression didn’t change because the male cultivator was a disciple of the Yun Shen Dao, nor because the guy was calling for reinforcements. It was because his divine sense had detected several disciples of the Eternal Sacred Dao outside the market, including one he had captured before—Ji Qu.
Seeing these people, Lan Xiaobu didn’t even need to ask to know that he had been exposed. The reason these people hadn’t entered yet was to trap him inside the market. In no more than the time it takes to burn an incense stick, a top-tier expert would arrive.
Cui Xinglan knew that her strength wouldn’t be of any help to Lan Xiaobu here and would only hold him back. She quickly took out a ring and handed it to Lan Xiaobu. “Then I’ll leave first. This contains some information about what you’re looking for.”
Normally, Lan Xiaobu would have refused without hesitation, but after hearing Cui Xinglan’s words, he nodded and accepted the ring. He then sent another voice transmission, “My enemies are here, and they’re all powerful sacred sect members. You need to go as far and as remote as possible, or you might get dragged into this.”
Cui Xinglan had always been a wandering cultivator and knew when to act decisively. After giving the ring to Lan Xiaobu, she quickly left. Without Lan Xiaobu’s reminder, she knew she had to go as far and as remote as possible. Fortunately, the Eternal Realm was currently expanding everywhere, so there were plenty of places to hide.
“Thinking of leaving? Don’t even dream of it!” Seeing Cui Xinglan trying to leave, the female cultivator at the early Divine Lord stage reached out to grab her again, confident that her companion would assist. The idea of Cui Xinglan escaping from right under her nose had never crossed her mind.
However, as soon as her hand stretched out, a blade of light slashed through the air.
A burst of blood mist erupted as the female cultivator was split in two, her primordial spirit not even having a chance to escape.
“You dare kill…” The male cultivator’s face turned pale. He hadn’t expected Lan Xiaobu to be so bold as to publicly kill a disciple of the Yun Shen Dao.
But he only managed to utter three words before another blade of light swept toward him. The male cultivator was filled with terror as the aura of death enveloped him. He wanted to beg for mercy, but not a single word could escape his lips. In the next moment, another burst of blood mist erupted as he, too, was slain by Lan Xiaobu.
After guessing that Cui Xinglan’s item must have been extraordinary, Lan Xiaobu had no intention of letting this man and woman live. As for offending the Yun Shen Dao, he couldn’t care less. He had already offended the Taihan Sacred Mountain, the Eternal Sacred Dao, and the Myriad Dao Sacred Sect. What was one more?
The inn fell into complete silence. The Yun Shen Dao was a powerful sacred sect with a first-turn sage among its ranks. For Lan Xiaobu to dare kill a disciple of such a powerful sect in this place showed that his courage knew no bounds. Moreover, the fact that he could easily kill a World God suggested that Lan Xiaobu was at least a Divine King.
Lan Xiaobu’s divine sense continued to monitor Cui Xinglan. Seeing that the disciples of the Eternal Sacred Dao didn’t intercept her, he leisurely walked out of the market.
He hadn’t managed to kill Ji Qu last time, so today he would make up for it.
As for the experts of the Eternal Sacred Dao, even if a first-turn sage came here, it would take at least the time it takes to burn an incense stick. In that time, his Reincarnation Pot could travel who knows how far.
“Lan Xiaobu, stop right there…” Ji Qu’s voice trembled as he spoke. His worst fear had come true—Lan Xiaobu was about to leave the market before the experts of the Eternal Sacred Dao arrived. Lan Xiaobu had the Reincarnation Pot, and if he left now, it would be too late for the Eternal Sacred Dao’s experts to catch him once they arrived.
