Upon completing the Spatial Enlightenment, Lan Xiaobu immediately sensed that the level of his Longevity Realm had risen once more.
At this moment, Lan Xiaobu was well aware that, although in the eyes of others he was now equivalent to a First-Turn Sage, his strength far surpassed what it had been when he first arrived—by a significant margin. He didn’t know the origins of the Nine Turns of Sainthood or why, when the various realms were perfected in the past, cultivators could all sense those nine turns. But with his current understanding of the Sage’s Great Dao, the concept of the Nine Turns of Sainthood seemed largely meaningless.
Lan Xiaobu had no intention of leaving yet. He pressed on to enlighten the Dao of Reincarnation.
The Reincarnation Dao he had initially obtained was indeed from the Heaven-Opening Scroll, but the Reincarnation Sage had skewed its interpretation. This wasn’t entirely the sage’s fault—anyone who acquired the Reincarnation Dao and aimed to elevate it to the pinnacle of great daos couldn’t limit it to a single realm. Unless they could, like Lan Xiaobu, use their own dao principles to enlighten reincarnation, they’d need to venture into the vast cosmos to comprehend the grander, more expansive Six Paths of Reincarnation.
The Reincarnation Sage’s version of the dao was confined to his own world. Although the Six Paths Nirvana Land was countless times larger than that world, it was still just one plane. In the boundless expanse, who knew how many planes existed? This was likely why the Reincarnation Sage’s strength had never reached its peak.
Using his Longevity Dao as a foundation, Lan Xiaobu began reconstructing the Six Paths of Reincarnation principles, enlightening a Reincarnation Dao unique to his Longevity Realm.
One by one, reincarnation principles dependent on the Longevity Dao took shape under Lan Xiaobu’s crafting. A fresh set of Six Paths principles gradually clarified, and the reincarnation passage in his Longevity Realm shifted from blurry to distinct.
Ten years later, another layer of principles encircled the Longevity Dao Tree in Lan Xiaobu’s consciousness. He knew he’d enlightened the Dao of Reincarnation. His Longevity Realm was no longer a rootless tree or sourceless water—it now housed a complete reincarnation world. With the charm of reincarnation infused, the vitality of the Longevity Realm grew even more vivid and robust.
However, to further perfect the Longevity Realm, his next step should ideally be to enlighten the Dao of Time.
Lan Xiaobu understood that his clear and complete enlightenment of Space and Reincarnation stemmed from possessing the Heaven-Opening Scroll of Reincarnation and the Spatial Array Disk. Beyond that, he’d previously enlightened both Space and Reincarnation Daos.
Without those, enlightening Space and Reincarnation would’ve taken an indeterminate amount of time—or might’ve been impossible.
So, to enlighten the Dao of Time, he’d need the Heaven-Opening Scroll of Time.
Though he knew he should pursue the Time Dao soon, Lan Xiaobu had to wait. First, he’d complete the enlightenment of the Daos of Fortune and Merit.
Any world of his own required these two daos. He’d enlightened Fortune and Merit in the Great Desolation Universe before; now, he’d do it for his Longevity Realm.
A realm without fortune would eventually collapse. For Lan Xiaobu, if his Longevity Realm fell apart, his own dao might not be far behind. Likewise, any realm’s existence demanded various merits.
Fortunately, enlightening Fortune was the easiest for him. In less than half a year, another ring of principles wrapped around his Longevity Dao Tree. Three years later, he completed the Merit Enlightenment. Four flowing principle-rings now adorned his Longevity Dao Tree.
Unlike the vivid Space and Reincarnation principles, Fortune and Merit were dimmer.
Lan Xiaobu understood why—his Longevity Realm was far from perfected. As it grew more complete and its fortune deepened, these principles would sharpen.
In his mind, before entering the chaotic, ruleless zone of the Taixu Tomb, the strongest of his Five-Turn Enlightenment had been the Dao of Rules.
Sadly, that Rules Dao was enlightened in the Great Desolation Divine Realm. Though he controlled it, its cosmic rules weren’t his—they were derived from that realm, unrelated to his Longevity Dao. Even before perfecting his Longevity Dao, the cosmic rules within it were borrowed from external insights.
After entering the ruleless chaos of the Taixu Tomb, Lan Xiaobu realised his Rules Dao wasn’t just limited by a single realm—it was fundamentally incomplete.
The Rules Dao had two parts: the rules of the cosmos, universe, or oneself, and the absence of rules in this chaotic zone.
To enlighten the Rules Dao, both must be included.
What stumped Lan Xiaobu was whether to merge Rules and No-Rules into a single Fifth Principle or enlighten them separately.
The common view was that rules—whether present or absent—were still rules. Lan Xiaobu had thought so too, aware of ruleless places but never dwelling on it. No-Rules was just a type of rule, so enlightening Rules sufficed.
Now, he knew better. No-Rules was its own beast. If it were a subset of Rules, he wouldn’t have struggled to strip away foreign dao principles in rule-bound zones, only to do so effortlessly in the ruleless chaos.
Thus, he had to enlighten both Rules and No-Rules separately.
Not everyone had his luck—standing in a ruleless chaotic space to enlighten No-Rules. Since he was here, he’d do it. One more or fewer principle-ring on his Longevity Dao Tree? No impact.
Endless fragments of laws, evolved from his Longevity Dao, filled the rhythmic space around Lan Xiaobu. These fragments fused into varied Longevity Realm cosmic rules, flowing ceaselessly, gradually condensing into a new Rules Dao.
Having enlightened Rules before, doing it again with his Longevity Dao as the base was seamless—no hitches.
In under three years, the cosmic rules of his Longevity Realm grew sharper, and another flowing principle-ring graced his Longevity Dao Tree.
…
Taixu Tomb Square.
A thousand years ago, Lan Xiaobu killed someone here with Tai Chuan, then charged into the Taixu Tomb. It had caused a stir—slapping the faces of the tomb’s overseers. Though they knew catching him inside was near impossible, the Taixu Hall still sent many powerhouses after him.
His stunt didn’t just end the constant-open entry array; a buffer defense array was added. Killing at the square and rushing in? No chance now. Even if you pulled it off, you’d be trapped in the buffer.
But a millennium later, Lan Xiaobu’s tale had faded. To a sage, a thousand years might pass in a blink. At the bustling Taixu Tomb Square, who’d recall it? Only the tomb’s long-term denizens knew it never truly died down—just shifted from overt to covert pursuit. Lucky for Lan Xiaobu, he hailed from the distant Great Desolation Divine Realm, unknown to all. Otherwise, that realm might’ve been wiped out.
Now, a woman with slightly yellowed hair stepped into the square. Her divine sense swept it, then she headed for the Taixu Hall. She’d never been here but heard it was ideal for perfecting divine abilities—and that it had a Time Dao Valley for sensing time rules.
As she neared the hall, her steps faltered, her heart skipping. A massive wanted poster loomed—Lan Xiaobu’s face stared back.
She knew she shouldn’t linger on it. Turning to enter the hall, a man in a Taixu enforcer’s robe blocked her.
“Your name?” he asked, voice calm.
“Mo Xiao Xi greets the enforcer lord,” she said, bowing. She’d heard how ruthless and powerful these enforcers were—capable of executing outsiders over trifles.
“Mo Xiao Xi? You know this wanted man?” His tone stayed even, but his domain pressed hard.
Her heart sank. That flicker of shock when she saw Lan Xiaobu’s poster had been caught. He mattered—so much that someone watched for reactions.
Denying it was pointless; they could haul her off on any pretext.
Sighing inwardly, she said, “Years ago, I met this fellow in a market in the Jiu’ang Divine Realm. We traded some items. Seeing him wanted today just struck me.”
“Good. Since you know him, come with me,” the enforcer chuckled, his tone laced with mockery.
