“Brother Xu, take a look ahead. Is that a life-bearing planet floating in the void?” Zhen Ti stood on the deck of the Reincarnation Pot, pointing into the distant void.
Saint Tiangang saw it too. “Indeed, it’s a life-bearing planet, dozens of times stronger than the Demi-God Realm we were in before. Let’s go check it out.”
Lan Xiaobu had only told them to leave the Demi-God Realm without giving a specific destination. Now that they had left and Lan Xiaobu wasn’t with them, Saint Tiangang immediately wanted to investigate upon spotting the life-bearing planet.
As soon as the Reincarnation Pot landed on this green planet teeming with vitality, Saint Tiangang excitedly rushed out, reaching down to uproot a Qinglian fruit tree. It was a Dao fruit, and not a low-grade one at that.
Though Saint Tiangang (Xu Ge) and Saint Dashu (Zhen Ti) had reached the fourth and third turns of sainthood in the Demi-God Realm, this was the result of countless years of accumulation, the benefits of refined cosmic rules, and, most importantly, their deep foundations in the Great Dao.
But having hidden in the Demi-God Realm out of fear for so long, they hadn’t seen anything valuable in ages. Now, suddenly arriving on a lush planet and immediately encountering a wealth of divine herbs and Dao fruit trees, they were naturally overjoyed.
“Are you two planning to openly rob someone else’s things?” An icy voice rang out, sending a chill through both Saint Tiangang and Zhen Ti. They quickly realised they were locked in place by a powerful saintly domain.
A third-turn saint and a fourth-turn saint, they might not match Lan Xiaobu, but to be restrained by another saint’s domain so soon after leaving the Demi-God Realm was disheartening.
“Lan Daojun, save us…” Saint Tiangang called out urgently.
The outside world was indeed treacherous—first crushed by Lan Xiaobu upon leaving, and now, at their second encounter, overwhelmed again. It was as if their fourth-turn and third-turn sainthood were a joke.
“Fellow Daoist, we didn’t know this was your territory,” Zhen Ti said, his voice tinged with panic. He felt equally helpless. If this was your planet, he thought, you could at least set up a defensive array. With nothing in place, exposed in the void like this, anyone could wander in.
Unless…
A sudden thought struck Zhen Ti. Perhaps this was intentional bait, meant to lure passing cultivators into a trap and take them all out. The idea sent a shiver down his spine.
By now, he could see the cultivator who had locked them in her domain. It was a woman—an astonishingly beautiful one at that. Were it not for her chilling voice, her beauty might have inspired only admiration.
…
“Xiaobu, is the technique you taught me the Longevity Art?” In the Longevity Realm, Su Cen’s face still carried a faint flush, her eyes fixed solely on Lan Xiaobu.
Lan Xiaobu nodded. “Yes, it’s a technique I created myself. It’s the most compatible with me, but I’ll tweak it later to suit you as well for cultivating the Longevity Art.”
“No, I still plan to cultivate the Imperishable Great Dao. I feel like the Imperishable Great Dao I practised in my past life suits me best. As for the incomplete parts, I’m determined to find them,” Su Cen said firmly.
Hearing this, Lan Xiaobu paused, then ruffled Su Cen’s hair. “The Imperishable Great Dao is with me. If you want to cultivate it, just come to me.”
“You have the Imperishable Great Dao?” Su Cen’s eyes lit up with surprise.
Lan Xiaobu casually produced a Dao scroll. “Here it is. Start cultivating it. Once you’ve memorised it fully, pass this scroll to your master, Qiao Aolun, for him to practise.”
“What? My master from my past life? You’ve seen him?” Lan Xiaobu’s words brought Su Cen yet another shock.
Lan Xiaobu was about to reply when he suddenly chuckled. “Someone’s stopped our Reincarnation Pot outside. I’ll go take a look.”
“Alright, I’ll stay here and cultivate the Imperishable Great Dao,” Su Cen replied with a nod. She knew her strength wouldn’t be of any help if she went out.
…
“The Reincarnation Pot?” The woman’s gaze landed on the nearby vessel, her eyes gleaming. Clearly, she recognised its value. But her attention quickly shifted to Lan Xiaobu as he stepped out of it.
“Lan Daojun, save us!” Saint Tiangang shouted again upon seeing Lan Xiaobu emerge.
Lan Xiaobu looked at Saint Tiangang and Zhen Ti, restrained by someone else’s domain, and couldn’t help but feel a bit exasperated.
Were these really the helpers he’d recruited? Constantly getting trapped by others’ domains—how could they assist him? Were they here to hinder instead? He began to wonder if he’d overestimated Saint Tiangang’s abilities.
“Lan Daojun?” The woman stared at Lan Xiaobu, murmuring the title to herself in confusion. A Daojun—possibly someone who controlled an entire realm.
Her domain then surged towards Lan Xiaobu. Whether he ruled a realm or not, anyone who came to this planet she’d claimed as hers would be restrained.
Feeling the overwhelming power of her domain rushing towards him, Lan Xiaobu didn’t hold back. His Longevity Domain countered with equal force, while his divine sense brazenly scanned the woman.
When he discerned her cultivation level, Lan Xiaobu was inwardly stunned. Apart from Wuliang, she was the strongest being he’d ever encountered. Even Guang Ye Chang back in the day hadn’t reached her realm.
A ninth-turn saint—this was undoubtedly a ninth-turn saint. Her Dao aura flowed smoothly, showing no signs of injury or obstruction in her Great Dao. No wonder Saint Tiangang and Zhen Ti had been caught off guard and bound by her domain. A third-turn and fourth-turn saint could indeed be restrained by a ninth-turn saint’s domain if unprepared.
“You’re a ninth-turn saint?” Sensing that Lan Xiaobu was entirely unaffected by her domain—and that he hadn’t yielded an inch in their clash of Dao principles—the woman asked in astonishment.
Hearing her words, Saint Tiangang and Zhen Ti finally realised they’d encountered a ninth-turn saint.
While silently cursing their bad luck, they didn’t find it too outrageous. They were two crippled survivors who’d hidden in the Demi-God Realm, managing to reach third and fourth turns of sainthood. This woman, cultivating in a true divine realm with abundant resources, reaching the ninth turn didn’t seem impossible.
Lan Xiaobu didn’t answer her. His Longevity Dao aura swept out again, and several soul-piercing strikes slammed into her domain. The woman grunted and took a step back.
Saint Tiangang and Zhen Ti felt the pressure lift and quickly retreated to stand on either side of Lan Xiaobu. They inwardly rejoiced—thankfully, they’d allied with Lan Xiaobu. Otherwise, being bound by this woman would likely have led to a grim fate.
“Since you’re a ninth-turn saint, if you all leave now, I’ll treat this as a misunderstanding,” the woman said, clearly wary of Lan Xiaobu. Her tone offered them a way out.
She sensed his cultivation didn’t seem high, but even so, he could stand toe-to-toe with her in a contest of domains. She had no desire to provoke such a powerhouse.
Lan Xiaobu replied coolly, “This is an unclaimed planet in the void. Why can you be here but we can’t?”
“I was here first,” the woman retorted angrily, glaring at Lan Xiaobu. She didn’t want to offend him, but that didn’t mean she feared him.
She was genuinely furious. Had they arrived a year or two later, she’d have already refined this planet.
Lan Xiaobu shrugged nonchalantly. “If it were my territory and I got here first, I’d at least set up a protective array. You haven’t even bothered with a planetary shield. It makes me wonder if you’re deliberately ambushing passersby here—robbing anyone who shows up.”
As he spoke, Lan Xiaobu’s divine sense forcefully extended outward. He soon detected an immense concentration of cosmic vitality, all confined within a specific area.
At that moment, he understood. She hadn’t neglected to set up a planetary array—she simply hadn’t had the time.
She’d arrived first, discovered the planet’s treasures, and used an array to lock down the valuable area before starting on a full planetary array. But before she could finish, Saint Tiangang and Zhen Ti had stumbled upon the planet and landed.
By that logic, she wasn’t entirely wrong to say they’d disrupted her.
Still, right or wrong, Lan Xiaobu wasn’t about to let an unclaimed planet with such riches slip by. The competition of the Great Dao left no room for courtesy. If he didn’t seize it, others would, and he’d be the one left behind.
Realising there might be even greater treasures within, Lan Xiaobu’s divine sense didn’t hesitate—it tore through her defensive restrictions.
Vast expanses of divine marrow essence crystals appeared in his perception, alongside heaps of top-grade divine essence pills, their quality no less than those he’d obtained in the Abyssal Relic. While the Dao fruit trees didn’t rival the Five-Needle Pine, they were numerous, lined up in rows.
Beyond that, Lan Xiaobu spotted several people digging divine marrow essence crystals for her. And they weren’t strangers—he recognised them.
Among them were Bei Ji, Saint Buyi, Saint Qianqi, Xuan Hui, and Tu Wang. These were the people who’d left the Great Radial Gobi Valley with him and gone to the Rootless Divine Realm. Everyone was here except Ye Baiyi.
