The Longevity Halberd swept up a burst of halberd light. The overlapping domains of the two eighth-rank saints locking onto him shattered like eggshells, offering no resistance whatsoever.
Lan Xiaobu couldn’t help but marvel inwardly. Though both were domains of saintly principles, the strength of his Great Dao domain was fundamentally different from theirs. Before he’d refined his own Great Dao, his domain might have suppressed just one of them at best. Facing the combined domains of two eighth-rank saints, his only option would’ve been to flee.
The long-bearded man felt his domain cracking apart and cried out in terror, “Attack together! He’s a half-step eternal, hiding as a first-rank…”
As he spoke, he summoned a massive Flowing Cloud Seal. The potent charm of saintly principles fused into it, causing the surrounding space to groan with a series of sharp cracks.
The other eighth-rank saint, a woman, paled dramatically. She too sensed her domain fracturing. Unlike the long-bearded man, she didn’t bother summoning a treasure. Instead, she frantically retreated.
As one of Tai Xu Hall’s supreme elders, Zhi Yi had no intention of falling here. Forget dying—she didn’t even want a scratch. She’d come for resources and to lend Tai Xu Hall some prestige. Facing a top-tier powerhouse, she wasn’t about to risk her life.
Even with her and Chang Ting’s eighth-rank domains combined, they couldn’t suppress Lan Xiaobu. To her, that marked him as a top-tier expert—quite possibly the half-step eternal Chang Ting had mentioned.
Seeing Zhi Yi, an eighth-rank supreme elder, turn to flee, the seventh- and sixth-rank saints scrambled back in a frenzy. What a joke! A half-step eternal who could make an eighth-rank like Zhi Yi run—why would they throw their lives away?
In the end, only Chang Ting remained to face Lan Xiaobu. Furious and exasperated, he shouted, “Attack him together! We’ve got the strangulation array here, and the hall master will be back soon…”
Sure enough, the fleeing saints paused, recalling that no matter how strong Lan Xiaobu was, this was Tai Xu Hall’s plaza—a place guarded by a top-tier trapping and killing array. As for the hall master, he had a positioning teleportation talisman and could return at any moment.
Boom! Lan Xiaobu’s Longevity Halberd crashed into the Flowing Cloud Seal. The seal’s principles shattered, and Chang Ting spat out a jet of blood. With his domain already crushed by Lan Xiaobu, even he began to consider retreat. Lan Xiaobu was too powerful. Even if the strangulation array activated and they managed to kill him, Chang Ting knew he’d likely die first if he didn’t escape.
Thinking of leaving? Seeing the dozen or so attackers preparing to retreat, Lan Xiaobu unhesitatingly summoned the Reincarnation Bridge. He had no intention of sparing any of Tai Xu Hall’s enforcers today.
His slaughtering principles tore through the Flowing Cloud Seal’s charm. The rules of space fractured, and a surge of wild divine energy easily ripped apart the ninth-level sealing barrier around the auction platform.
Several cultivators seated near the front were swept up by this force, spewing blood. Those who’d lingered to watch the spectacle now fled in a desperate rush. A battle of this caliber wasn’t something to gawk at—linger too long, and they’d be lucky to escape. At best, their bodies and Great Daos would be shredded; at worst, they’d be cast into reincarnation.
Crack! Amid the splintering of domain principles and divine ability rules, a wooden bridge stretched across Tai Xu Hall, tearing the structure apart.
The elders and deacons who’d initially planned to gang up on Lan Xiaobu, only to hesitate after recalling the strangulation array and the hall master’s imminent return, froze again. In that moment, they felt their own principles locked by the wildly swirling reincarnation charm of the bridge.
The Reincarnation Bridge? Outside the crumbling Tai Xu Hall, fleeing cultivators gaped in awe at the hazy wooden bridge spanning the sky above. Beneath it flowed a rolling tide of principle breath, faintly revealing the words “One Breath, One Cycle” tumbling across the bridge. Combined with the surrounding principles, what else could this be but the Reincarnation Bridge?
Lan Daoyou, your friend’s matter has nothing to do with me. I arrived late—I’m only here for the Time Dao Scroll, Zhi Yi said, a flicker of fear in her eyes. She had a sinking feeling that if things went wrong today, her life might end here.
Though she wasn’t yet ensnared by the bridge, the faint reincarnation charm drifting around her made her suspect that any attempt to flee would see her instantly dragged in.
Zhi Yi, what are you saying? Do you know the consequences of those words? Chang Ting wiped the blood from his mouth, roaring in anger.
Zhi Yi ignored him entirely, her focus locked on Lan Xiaobu’s response.
Lan Daoyou, recall your Reincarnation Bridge. Tai Xu Hall is willing to negotiate peace, a calm voice rang out. A sturdy man in gray robes stepped from the void, accompanied by a lanky seventh-rank saint.
The hall master’s back, the saints trapped by the bridge breathed in relief.
Who are you? Lan Xiaobu asked, standing atop the Reincarnation Bridge with the Longevity Halberd in hand, reincarnation principles swirling around him.
The bridge’s charm had ensnared over a dozen people, the weakest among them a fourth-rank saint.
The gray-robed man spoke evenly, Jiang Jiechang, master of Tai Xu Hall. Lan Daoyou, if you withdraw your bridge now, I’ll let bygones be bygones. We could even be friends. Otherwise, do you think you can escape my hall’s strangulation array? Besides, your three friends are fine—hurt, yes, but they’re recovering now, aren’t they?
In that case, die, Lan Xiaobu replied. The bridge’s reincarnation charm surged, its principles erupting. In an instant, the sixfold principles of the bridge locked onto Jiang Jiechang and the seventh-rank saint beside him.
The moment Jiang Jiechang arrived, Lan Xiaobu had sensed he was the one pinning Mo Xiaoxi and the others. Now, with the man admitting he was Tai Xu Hall’s master, what was there to hesitate over?
Seeing Lan Xiaobu dare to strike, Jiang Jiechang snorted coldly and activated the plaza’s strangulation array.
But in the next moment, his expression shifted. His ninth-rank saint domain, under the principles of Lan Xiaobu’s Reincarnation Bridge, crumbled effortlessly, dragging him into the bridge. Worse still, though he’d triggered the array, it showed no response.
Boom, boom, boom!
The bridge’s charm churned, obscuring everything within from the onlookers outside. The rolling reincarnation principles veiled all.
Everyone, strike with all you’ve got… Realizing his domain had been effortlessly shredded, Jiang Jiechang knew Lan Xiaobu’s Great Dao surpassed his own. If he couldn’t break free in time, he was finished.
No need for his urging—everyone trapped by the bridge unleashed their treasures, hammering at Lan Xiaobu atop it. Locked by the reincarnation charm, if they didn’t act, they’d be cycled—and that cycle would be in Lan Xiaobu’s hands.
Only now did Lan Xiaobu truly feel his own strength. Though he’d caught them off guard by summoning the bridge, trapping over a dozen, their domains—save Jiang Jiechang’s, which posed some threat—were crushed with ease.
As the first fourth-rank saint was swept into the bridge’s churning principles, the others, suppressed by both the bridge and Lan Xiaobu’s domain, followed one by one. Their worlds were torn open in succession.
Had Jiang Jiechang, Chang Ting, and Zhi Yi attacked Lan Xiaobu furiously at that moment, he might not have dispatched the hall’s elders so swiftly.
But all three, sensing the bridge’s grip, focused on tearing free of its principles, desperate to escape.
Jiang Jiechang even produced a dao cauldron, spitting blood to fuel it. As Lan Xiaobu ripped apart the other saints’ worlds, he ignited his principles and detonated the cauldron.
Boom! Crack! The explosion tore a rift in the bridge’s principles and Lan Xiaobu’s domain. Elated, Jiang Jiechang rushed toward the gap. But just as he reached it, a halberd slashed down.
Forced to retreat or face annihilation under Lan Xiaobu’s domain, he stepped back half a pace. A wave of reincarnation breath swept over him. When he came to, he stood on a wooden bridge alive with flowing principles.
A shadow of death loomed. Jiang Jiechang’s mind flashed back to distant memories. Snapping awake, he stared blankly at the grand principles before him: “One Breath, One Cycle; One Halberd Spans Three Lives.”
Then came the halberd, cleaving space and principles alike. He glimpsed his past, present, and future—all flickering in a single breath…
All blurred into haze. He had no future left.
No, Lan Daoyou, I’ll offer my soul imprint… Jiang Jiechang screamed, desperate to cling to life.
