“It seems you’re determined to make an enemy of me?” The woman reached out and summoned a cyan long spear, a dense killing intent radiating from it. As the killing intent swept towards them, Saint Tiangang and Zhen Ti flinched, instinctively stepping back several paces. They could already tell that even without her domain binding them by surprise, they wouldn’t be her match.
Lan Xiaobu rarely saw women wielding spears as their treasures. He, too, summoned his Longevity Halberd, unleashing his saintly domain with full force, his killing intent surging. “You captured my friends to dig mines, yet you accuse me of stealing your things. I refuse to believe my Longevity Halberd can’t reason this out.”
Feeling the terrifying aura of Lan Xiaobu’s killing intent, the woman’s heart sank. She suspected that even if she could defeat him, this planet would be destroyed in the process. Moreover, with such a fearsome killing aura even before he’d fully unleashed his divine abilities, she wasn’t confident she could win. Where had this man come from? How had she never heard of or encountered him before?
“Looking for excuses to rob others—I’ve seen plenty of your kind, and you’re not the only one,” she said, though inwardly she was weighing her options: fight or not.
At her level of cultivation, the struggle wasn’t about pride but about how much benefit she could gain from this confrontation. If she didn’t fight, would she come out ahead?
Lan Xiaobu didn’t respond. His Longevity Halberd slashed out, sending a halberd arc through the air.
A killing aura that seemed to tear space itself descended overwhelmingly. The woman instinctively dodged to the side. She didn’t sense the attack targeting her, so she held back from retaliating.
“Crack!” The halberd arc ripped through layers of restrictions. The five cultivators digging divine marrow essence crystals looked up simultaneously towards Lan Xiaobu.
“Lan Daojun?” Bei Ji was the first to recognise him, calling out in delighted surprise. However, bound by Dao threads, they couldn’t approach him.
Lan Xiaobu swung his Longevity Halberd again. If his previous strike had merely hinted to the woman, Tiangang, and Zhen Ti that his halberd was an exceptional treasure, this strike sent chills down their spines.
With one swing, it wasn’t just space that tore—a faint rift appeared in the very fabric of the cosmos. Though it wasn’t aimed at her, the woman felt an icy dread, as if this strike could leave her with nowhere to hide. In this vast expanse, no matter where she fled, she’d still be under its reach.
“Crack! Crack!” The sound of Dao threads snapping rang out, almost tangible. Fear finally flashed in the woman’s eyes. Someone had severed the Dao threads binding five people with a single strike—and from such a distance.
She had set those threads herself and knew how formidable they were.
Even up close, she wouldn’t dare interfere with them. In the vast cosmos, few could break those five threads.
Yet here was someone who did it with one swing, from far away.
Was this the Grand Severance Technique? She immediately concluded it must be. Nothing else could cut her Dao threads.
In that fleeting moment, she knew she was no match for Lan Xiaobu.
Taking a deep breath, she clasped her fists towards him. “It seems these people are your friends, Fellow Daoist. I was in the wrong here. My name is Xi’e, and I apologise to you.”
In the world of the Great Dao, there was no right or wrong—only strength and weakness. Lan Xiaobu was stronger, so within the reach of his Longevity Halberd, he held the truth.
“Daojun, you’ve saved us again,” Saint Qianqi said, approaching with palpable excitement.
Lan Xiaobu glanced at the group, smiling. “Congratulations to Fellow Daoist Tu Wang and Fellow Daoist Bei Ji for achieving the first turn of sainthood.”
Saint Qianqi and Saint Buyi remained pseudo-saints, while Tu Wang and Bei Ji, former quasi-saints, had reached the first turn. This showed that true sainthood depended on the Great Dao, not just cultivation level.
Aside from Qianqi and Buyi, whose cultivation hadn’t advanced, Xuan Hui had progressed to the late quasi-saint stage—a significant leap. Likely, being with four saints allowed her to consult them on any Dao-related issues.
Tu Wang laughed heartily. “Lan Daojun, I knew sticking with you would bring good fortune. When we were captured by that woman, everyone was in despair—except me. I believed our luck would turn for the better.”
At Tu Wang’s words, Xi’e’s expression soured, though she stayed silent.
“Actually, we discovered this planet first. We arrived almost at the same time as her—she just overpowered us,” Bei Ji said, casting a displeased glance at Xi’e.
They’d been captured out of nowhere and forced to mine for one or two months.
“You’ve got more people, so whatever you say goes. Fine, I’ll leave this place to you,” Xi’e said. With Lan Xiaobu here, she knew she couldn’t reclaim the planet. Forget reclaiming it—getting even a share of its resources seemed impossible.
As Xi’e turned to leave, Lan Xiaobu said calmly, “I thought you looked familiar earlier, and now I’ve finally remembered who you are.”
“You know me?” Xi’e looked at him in surprise, certain she’d never met him.
Lan Xiaobu chuckled. “I met a guy named Guang Ye Chang. He said he’d introduce you to me, claiming you were his Dao companion or something. I don’t know if he was just spouting nonsense.”
At this, a flicker of anger crossed Xi’e’s eyes. “That eunuch—I gave him some leeway back then and didn’t hold it against him, and he actually thought he was something special.”
Eunuch? Lan Xiaobu blinked, wondering if Guang Ye Chang was impotent, leading to their separation. But that didn’t add up—given Guang Ye Chang’s cultivation, a saint of that level could easily restore himself, unless…
Lan Xiaobu stopped that train of thought, feeling it veered into dark territory.
Seeming to sense his musings, Xi’e said coolly, “You guessed right. That eunuch put on a sanctimonious act and pursued me in front of a crowd. I was in secluded cultivation for so long that I didn’t know how treacherous people could be, and he took advantage of that. He cultivates the Supreme Yin Great Dao, so he had to castrate himself. Now you see how disgusting he is.”
Lan Xiaobu didn’t care about such gossip. Though Guang Ye Chang was strong, he wasn’t a concern now. That Luo, however, felt like a lingering threat.
Tu Wang suddenly spoke up. “Fellow Daoist Xi’e, you’re a ninth-turn saint now, but further progress might be nearly impossible. Breaking through the Wall of the Great Dao is even less likely. I have a suggestion—why not join our group? Lan Daojun controls a realm, and his Great Dao is perfectly refined. He’s bound to have a shot at proving himself an Eternal Saint someday. Following us might give you a chance to enter the Eternal Saint Realm. Isn’t that better than struggling alone?”
Lan Xiaobu’s heart stirred. He’d taken in Tiangang and Zhen Ti, whose strength far exceeded Bei Ji and the others, but compared to true powerhouses, they fell short.
Xi’e considered Tu Wang’s words, her mind racing. As he said, advancing further was incredibly difficult—perhaps impossible—leaving her with no hope of reaching eternal sainthood. If Lan Xiaobu controlled a realm, with his Great Dao, he might indeed ascend to the supreme rank of Eternal Saint.
But she soon shook her head. “Let’s leave the future for the future. Perhaps I’ll change my mind later and seek you out for cooperation. For now, I’ll take my leave.”
With that, Xi’e stepped forward and vanished into the vast void, abandoning the planet entirely.
Watching her retreating figure, Tu Wang sighed. “Such a pity. That woman’s strength is incredible. If she’d helped us, our power would’ve grown significantly.”
Lan Xiaobu cut him off. “How did you all end up here?”
Tu Wang explained, “After we went to the Rootless Divine Realm, we found its rules less complete than those of the Longevity Realm, so we wanted to return. But by then, the passage from the Rootless Divine Realm to the Longevity Realm had issues. We had no choice but to cross the void domain. With our numbers, we thought we’d have nothing to fear.
Sigh, we didn’t expect to get lost in the void for centuries. Thankfully, those centuries brought us some opportunities. Not long ago, we spotted this green life-bearing planet, but before we could profit, that woman captured us and forced us to mine. If you hadn’t shown up, Daojun, we might never have escaped.”
Indeed, their luck wasn’t bad. Lan Xiaobu’s gaze settled on the green planet, pondering what to do with it. Tu Wang spoke up again. “Daojun, this planet has plenty of good stuff. Why not take it with you?”
After a brief hesitation, Lan Xiaobu said, “Here’s the plan. Whatever divine marrow essence crystals each of you dug up earlier belongs to you. As for the Dao fruits here, take whatever suits you. Once everyone’s gathered what they need, I’ll take the planet.”
Lan Xiaobu didn’t even need to refine it—he could simply take it away. Unlike Xi’e, his Longevity Realm had evolved into a complete internal cosmos. This planet could be absorbed into it. The only hassle was spending some time setting up array flags.
“Thank you, Daojun!” Saint Tiangang and Zhen Ti were elated. They hadn’t obtained a single crystal yet, and Lan Xiaobu’s words meant they’d get a share too.
“Fellow Daoist Tiangang, it’s been years, and you still haven’t kicked that little habit,” Tu Wang said, recognising him.
Saint Tiangang gave an awkward smile. His title as Saint Tiangang was the least deserved—his Tiangang Transformation was gone, and his Tiangang Array Disk was lost too.
