A handsome man appeared in the void projection, he looked much like an ordinary cultivator, but his eyes were like twin void whirlpools, even in a mere image, they sent a chilling, indescribable shiver through everyone.
Tu Wang sighed, “Yes, that’s indeed Gu Shishe, the Demise Sage, I never thought he’d come to the Great Desolate Divine Realm.”
Heavenly Astral Sage added, “It’s Gu Shishe alright, I’ve met him, he looks all warm and approachable, but he’ll wipe out a planet without blinking, truly a monster.”
Before knowing Lan Xiaobu, Heavenly Astral wouldn’t have said this, to people like them back then, killing a random planet wasn’t a big deal, but after following Lan Xiaobu, he knew how much his Dao Lord despised senseless slaughter.
“Who might you be, fellow daoist?” Kun Wei asked, hearing Heavenly Astral knew the Demise Sage.
Shallow Qi Sage explained, “This is Heavenly Astral Sage Xu Ge, Great Book Sage Zhen Ti, and Chen Hu.”
Kun Wei hadn’t heard of the Great Book Sage, but learning Heavenly Astral was here, he quickly clasped his fists, “Kun Wei greets you all, my biggest worry is Longevity Sage Dao City, it has plenty of sages, but none can match the Demise Sage, your arrival is perfect to help stabilize it.”
As for the Great Path Gobi Valley, since Tu Wang said he didn’t need to go, Kun Wei wasn’t eager to, Tu Wang’s bond with the Dao Lord was surely closer.
“Great, please lead the way, Kun Wei,” Tu Wang said promptly.
Though Lan Xiaobu knew space was a heavenly rule, and that rules should have form, he’d always sensed their charm, occasionally catching vague outlines, but never truly grasped a tangible rule.
Yet now, through the spatial array disc’s structure and the void whirlpool’s ripples, he faintly seized a concrete rule.
At first, it was blurry, but as the charm flowed clearer, his perception grew sharper and more solid.
No boundaries, no size, yet undeniably tangible, amid the flowing charm, Lan Xiaobu casually waved, conjuring an abrupt space, despite its lack of limits, it shifted like a physical object as the charm moved.
“Clarity arises from obscurity, order from the formless, spirit from the Dao, form from essence, and all things birth each other through form…”
Knowing was one thing, feeling it another, a fourth-turn sage mastering countless laws and rules, this was his first touch of a rule’s form—space, no less.
The aura of his Dao thickened around him, the space he occupied seemed to morph into a multidimensional cosmos, dizzying to even glance at, let alone scan with divine sense.
His aura and strength climbed steadily.
Even Su Cen, far off, felt the clear heavenly rules, her cultivation rocketing, crossing Earth and True Immortal stages into Golden Immortal in moments, under divine realm rules, she didn’t need to face tribulations.
Beyond that, as a Golden Immortal, she brushed spatial rules directly.
Days passed, as the spatial rules around Lan Xiaobu shifted, he vanished from his spot, as if melded into the void, yet the space of his retreat kept evolving with rule-charged charm.
Longevity Sage Dao City.
In the city lord’s mansion, a group of sages gathered, even Zhao Gongming joined, now a first-turn sage.
Pu He Sage spoke gravely, “After Tianyin Market, Hailin and Yiyuan Markets were wiped out, today I got word Hai Ting Divine Dao City’s gone too, that’s over ten million innocent cultivators, we can’t just sit here anymore.”
Zhao Gongming snorted, “I say we split into two groups, how many can the Demise Sage kill, even if he’s strong? He’s gone from small markets to big ones, then small divine cities, if we don’t act, medium cities are next, maybe even Sage Dao City.”
Ti Fo Sage said slowly, “Feng Kai Sage Emperor went to investigate the Demise Sage recently, he was killed right after leaving Longevity Sage Dao City, clearly the Demise Sage has his eyes on us, splitting up might just let him pick us off, he’s likely seventh-turn, Heavenly Astral, you’re the strongest here, your thoughts?”
All eyes turned to Heavenly Astral Sage, he mused, then said, “The Demise Sage obviously wants to use the Great Desolate Divine Realm to reach ninth-turn via karmic force, the more he kills, the greater the karma, the easier his ascent.”
“With the vast cosmos out there, why’d he pick our realm?” Bei Ji grumbled.
Ti Fo explained, “He likely stumbled here, once he arrived, he realized killing one here yields more karma than slaughtering a city elsewhere, the realm’s perfect rules and thick fortune amplify karma and ease his grasp of its Dao.”
“Guess we wait for the Dao Lord to deal with him,” Tu Wang said, frustrated, solving this himself would’ve impressed Lan Xiaobu, but his first-turn strength couldn’t handle it, one slap from the Demise Sage would end him.
Only those who knew Lan Xiaobu was back at the Great Path Gobi Valley understood, others had no clue when he’d return.
Tu Wang and crew knew he was there to ascend to fifth-turn, disturbing him now could disrupt his sage path.
Silence fell, going out alone or in small groups was suicide, but all leaving risked the city, they couldn’t beat the Demise Sage, and if he targeted Longevity Sage Dao City while they were gone, it’d be a disaster.
Lower cultivators like Shi Yi and Yan Ying sat in, but their strength lagged far behind sages, offering no ideas.
Shallow Qi Sage, though weaker, held sway, she stood, “I say we wait a bit longer, I believe Dao Lord Lan will be back soon.”
They could only agree, staying gave them a shot at the Demise Sage, leaving meant certain danger if he locked onto them.
At the Great Path Gobi Valley, Lan Xiaobu, fused into the void, reappeared, a golden thread of law now woven into his Dao cycle.
With a clear shout, he clawed the air, even in the rule-perfect Great Desolate Divine Realm, he tore a rift effortlessly.
“Space, so that’s it,” he watched the void crack heal, calm inside, he’d successfully ascended to fifth-turn sage via space, a true fifth-turn.
Now, spatial techniques were tangible to him, even stepping into misaligned space, its distortions couldn’t touch him, unless its rules outranked his spatial law.
He’d heard of an Eternal Realm above the divine one, wondering if its spatial rules topped his realm’s.
Even if they did, he wasn’t fazed, just an adjustment, all Daos connect, he’d master space there too in time.
Time to check Longevity Sage Dao City, the realm’s fortune was thick, scant bloodlust, Pu He and Ti Fo were doing well…
Just as he thought “well,” he frowned, catching a faint whiff of malice and slaughter, ironic after praising the lack of bloodshed.
Someone killing here? A glint of killing intent flashed in his eyes, he’d made it clear to Longevity Sage Dao City’s leaders, only the Divine Prohibition Office controlled death here, vendettas stayed under its watch.
With such laws, yet malice and blood tainted the air, whoever it was spat on the realm’s rules.
“Xiaobu, I’ve hit Great Yi Immortal!” Su Cen, reaching that stage, saw his retreat end and rushed over, thrilled, last life she’d peaked at Immortal King, this time, she’d reclaimed Great Yi Immortal fast, reaching king again was just a matter of time.
“Good, at Longevity Sage Dao City, you’ll hit divine realm soon, I’ve been in retreat too long, let’s go,” Lan Xiaobu summoned the Reincarnation Pot, fifty years here for his fifth-turn ascent.
