A series of rumbling sounds echoed through the void, and Tifo was overcome with excitement—this was about to trigger a resonance with the Heavenly Dao. He hadn’t chosen wrongly. Such a proclamation would surely be accompanied by arcs of thunder.
At the same time, numerous powerhouses from the saint sects and divine courts of the Eternal Life Realm gazed perplexedly into the vast void, where spatial laws seemed to fluctuate intensely. It felt as though a proclamation aligned with the laws of heaven and earth was about to descend, yet this alignment was peculiar—they couldn’t hear the proclamation itself.
For it to be on the verge of descending yet not fully manifest was unprecedented in the history of Heavenly Dao proclamations.
Lan Xiaobu looked in astonishment at the ten-thousand-mile radius around him, where the charm of the Great Dao rumbled and thunder intertwined. Yet he faintly sensed that his proclamation was merely reverberating with the laws of heaven and earth without truly taking effect. It wasn’t entirely unmanifested—it had landed within this ten-thousand-mile area, but beyond that, it hadn’t reached.
If his proclamation didn’t extend beyond this radius, it meant it couldn’t gain the Eternal Life Realm’s acknowledgement or be heard by all.
At that moment, a notion brushed against Lan Xiaobu’s consciousness from the heavens: he must swear an oath to the Heavenly Dao. Only by swearing such an oath—pledging to safeguard the Eternal Life Realm’s existence, rooting it in his own Great Dao foundation, and anchoring it with his cycles of reincarnation—would the Eternal Life Realm recognise his proclamation and support his role as the Dao Lord of the Great Desolation Divine Realm.
This was absurd, wasn’t it? Lan Xiaobu frowned instantly.
Tifo was the first to sense something amiss—Lan Xiaobu’s proclamation was confined to this ten-thousand-mile radius, unable to spread further through the Eternal Life Realm’s laws.
With a quick thought, Tifo understood and shouted, “Dao Lord Lan, quickly swear the Heavenly Dao oath! Only then will your proclamation be recognised by the Eternal Life Realm, allowing it to fully merge into the Great Desolation Divine Realm, with you as its Dao Lord!”
Lan Xiaobu’s expression darkened. He didn’t follow the Heavenly Dao’s guidance or Tifo’s urging to swear the oath, and he absolutely wouldn’t make such a vow based on his entire Great Dao foundation and reincarnation.
He’d do everything in his power to protect the Eternal Life Realm, but if a world-ending calamity struck, was he to perish with it? Or if the Eternal Life Realm shattered, would his Great Dao shatter too?
Moreover, with the Eternal Life Realm’s saint sects and divine courts locked in war, could he stop them? If he couldn’t, and they demanded he stake his Great Dao foundation on it, he’d never agree. This wasn’t just betting his Great Dao—it was betting his endless cycles of reincarnation.
That wasn’t even the main issue. More critically, Lan Xiaobu had a hunch that swearing this Heavenly Dao-guided oath would forever bind his cultivation to the Eternal Life Realm’s rules. He knew that beyond the Ninth-Turn Saint lay the three realms of Eternal Life Saints. Trapped under this realm’s laws, he might never achieve eternal life.
Why had he created and cultivated the Eternal Life Technique? For eternal life! Why should he tether himself to this petty domain?
If he were to bind himself, it’d be to the Great Desolation Divine Realm. As its Dao Lord, when he’d proclaimed there, it hadn’t demanded a Heavenly Dao oath. What was this trifling Eternal Life Realm?
This situation likely arose because the Eternal Life Realm’s Heavenly Dao was displeased with him.
The Heavenly Dao was hard to define, perhaps because he hadn’t thought to use his Destiny Dao Seal to shelter the Eternal Life Realm on his first visit, it now demanded he swear an oath rooted in his Great Dao.
His Great Dao must never be shackled by the Heavenly Dao, or the consequences would be dire.
With this in mind, Lan Xiaobu declared loudly, “I, Lan Xiaobu, in the name of the Dao Lord of the Great Desolation Divine Realm, proclaim: From this day forward, the Eternal Life Realm ceases to exist, no longer sheltered by the destiny of my Destiny Dao Lord Seal. All domains, mountains, rivers, deserts, lakes, wastelands, and voids fused into the Eternal Life Realm may merge into the Great Desolation Divine Realm via the Primordial Chaos Law, still under the protection of the Great Desolation Divine Realm’s Destiny Dao Seal…”
If you throw a tantrum, I’ll kick you out of this framework entirely. As it stood, the original Eternal Life Realm’s domain was less than a tenth of the whole, and as more void domains fused in, its share would shrink further.
Almost as his words fell, hundreds of thunder arcs crashed down simultaneously.
Yet they all struck outside the defensive array Saint Tifo had set up, the terrifying arcs shattering it beyond repair.
Lan Xiaobu’s location, however, remained unscathed.
He realised the ten-thousand-mile domain he’d claimed was no longer part of the Eternal Life Realm—it was a domain birthed by the Primordial Chaos Law, now part of the Great Desolation Divine Realm, beyond the Eternal Life Realm’s Heavenly Dao influence.
Thus, the Eternal Life Realm’s Heavenly Dao, furious at his proclamation, retaliated.
Saint Tifo stayed silent, grasping Lan Xiaobu’s intent. The Eternal Life Realm’s Heavenly Dao clearly demanded a Great Dao oath, but Lan Xiaobu’s stubborn streak refused it. Not only that, he’d thoroughly provoked the Eternal Life Realm’s laws.
Look at what Lan Xiaobu said—words that’d enrage anyone, not just the Heavenly Dao.
The Eternal Life Realm’s current state stemmed from its refined laws and surging destiny, drawing countless void domains to merge with it.
It was precisely these fusions—named domains, mountains, rivers, seas, swamps, deserts—that made it ever more complete and vast.
Lan Xiaobu’s proclamation essentially said: If you, Eternal Life Realm, don’t accept my decree, my Destiny Seal won’t shelter you, and I, as Dao Lord, don’t need you. But rejecting you doesn’t mean rejecting those merged domains and landscapes—if you collapse, they can still merge into the Great Desolation Divine Realm.
Such a proclamation naturally incensed the Eternal Life Realm’s Heavenly Dao, summoning hundreds of thunder arcs. They could’ve obliterated Lan Xiaobu, but his location was no longer under its rule—it belonged to the Great Desolation Divine Realm, where its thunder couldn’t reach.
Ancient titans indeed had their pride, Tifo sighed inwardly. In his place, he’d have sworn the oath. But Lan Xiaobu not only refused, he outright rejected sheltering the Eternal Life Realm after its Heavenly Dao spurned his proclamation.
Far from disappointed, Tifo grew more convinced of Lan Xiaobu’s worth. Only a peerless powerhouse would act this way. If everything followed his own plans, he’d be just another saint in this realm.
Lan Xiaobu’s second proclamation wasn’t without effect—though it didn’t cover the entire Eternal Life Realm, it landed in newly merged domains, mountains, rivers, and seas.
These areas, freshly fused, hadn’t fully integrated with the Eternal Life Realm’s laws.
Countless cultivators heard his decree.
Once it spread, everyone knew the Great Desolation Divine Realm would be the true seat of perfected laws.
Powerhouses occupying new mountains and islands felt their domains’ integration with the Eternal Life Realm’s laws grow sluggish.
No need to ask—it was Lan Xiaobu’s decree at work. As a realm’s Dao Lord, he didn’t need the Eternal Life Realm, with countless external domains and the Great Desolation Divine Realm to merge instead.
“Lan Xiaobu, as a realm’s Dao Lord, you issue such a laughable, absurd proclamation?” A chilling voice rang out.
Lan Xiaobu recognised it instantly—Saint Kun Wei of Taihan Saint Mountain.
“Kun Wei, I’m the Dao Lord of the Great Desolation Divine Realm, and you, a mere saint unrecognised by it, dare hunt me? Heh, who’s the absurd one here?” Lan Xiaobu laughed, unfazed by Kun Wei.
He could tell Kun Wei was likely a Second-Turn Saint, but Tifo could handle him. Tifo’s strength matched or surpassed Kun Wei’s.
“What, did Saint Kun Wei misspeak? You’re the Great Desolation Divine Realm’s Dao Lord, yet you proclaim not to suppress the Eternal Life Realm’s destiny with your Destiny Seal—what’s your game?” Another voice chimed in, this time a First-Turn Saint from the Myriad Dao Saint Sect. Lan Xiaobu guessed it was Jiang Yizhan, their strongest, likely recently ascended to First-Turn.
As airships descended rapidly, Lan Xiaobu knew the main forces of the saint sects and courts had arrived.
Tifo remained unfazed, repairing the defensive array before standing by Lan Xiaobu. He wasn’t worried—their location was Great Desolation Divine Realm territory. Though mere steps from the array’s edge, with Lan Xiaobu as Dao Lord, the realm’s Heavenly Dao laws bolstered them, rendering any number of foes powerless.
Their foes scolded but didn’t attack, clearly aware of this.
Why the reprimands? They knew how damaging Lan Xiaobu’s proclamation was. It abandoned the Eternal Life Realm but not its merged domains, stunting its law refinement. Without a recognised Eternal Life Dao Court Dao Lord, and with the Great Desolation Dao Court’s Dao Lord issuing such a decree, new domains would merge directly into the Great Desolation Divine Realm.
Moreover, as the Eternal Life Realm’s wars raged on, partially fused domains and landscapes would gradually detach, re-merging into the Great Desolation Divine Realm.
