Hearing this, Lan Xiaobu finally understood that behind every plane, there existed an Eternal Saint. Fortunately, these planes weren’t created by the Eternal Saints, so they couldn’t control the growth of the cultivators within them. Those who cultivated in these planes, blessed with strong fortune and deep talent, could also become a second Eternal Saint.
However, if the Eternal Saint controlling a plane faced danger, they could harness the plane’s power, such as its fortune or merit, to counter the threat. When a plane’s fortune and merit were stripped away and borrowed to fight an enemy, the plane would inevitably face a tribulation of calamity.
This was easy for Lan Xiaobu to grasp. Take himself, for example, if he wanted to tap into the Great Desolate Divine Realm’s fortune, he could, simply by using the seal of the Great Desolate Dao Court’s Dao Lord. If he drained it completely, the Great Desolate Divine Realm would plunge into decline, ushering in its own calamity.
Precisely because he understood this, Lan Xiaobu grew more determined to eliminate Qu Peng. He would never strip a realm’s fortune like that, but Qu Peng wouldn’t hesitate for a moment. Lan Xiaobu was merely the Dao Lord of the Great Desolate Divine Realm, while Qu Peng was the Eternal Saint of the plane it resided in. If Qu Peng fully recovered, he could not only collapse the Great Desolate Divine Realm but the entire plane it belonged to.
Lan Xiaobu didn’t know the name of the plane containing the Great Desolate Divine Realm, but he absolutely couldn’t let Qu Peng maintain control over it.
“Friend Huang Quan, since your plane is already under the control of an Eternal Saint, wouldn’t the emergence of another Eternal Saint here provoke the controlling Saint’s fear, leading them to wipe out the newcomer?” Lan Xiaobu asked again.
Ancestor Huang Quan smiled faintly, “No wonder Dao Lord Lan doesn’t know this. I only learned a bit because I’m a second-generation inheritor of the Huang Quan lineage. To achieve Eternal Sainthood, one must leave our plane. Eternity represents freedom, and in a plane controlled by another, true Eternal Sainthood can never be attained.”
“Wait, Friend Huang Quan. From what you just said, does that mean our plane was originally capable of producing Eternal Saints, but because someone seized control of its fortune and such, cultivators here can no longer reach that level? Is that what you mean?” Lan Xiaobu caught the hidden implication in Huang Quan’s words.
Ancestor Huang Quan paused, then shook his head before nodding, “Perhaps that’s the case. By the time I began cultivating, achieving Eternal Sainthood here was already impossible, so I can’t say for sure.”
“Go on,” Lan Xiaobu said, convinced it was true.
Ancestor Huang Quan continued, “To attain Eternal Sainthood, one must go to the Land of Eternity. That place belongs to the origin of the vast cosmos, the pinnacle of existence. But the Land of Eternity can only sustain nine Creation Saints at most. To become eternal, you have to kill and replace one of those nine. That’s why every plane’s Eternal Saint needs a group of helpers, other Eternal Saints who ascended from controlled planes, perhaps even bringing along more Ninth-Turn Saints like us.”
“But the vast cosmos surely has more than nine planes,” Lan Xiaobu pointed out.
“Exactly because there are countless planes, the struggle for those nine Creation Saint positions is so brutal. Some Eternal Saints who haven’t claimed a Creation spot are constantly scheming to step into that realm, while Creation Saints are always on guard against others seizing their positions,” Huang Quan replied.
Lan Xiaobu fell silent, mulling it over before saying, “The three realms of Eternal Sainthood are Creation Path, Realm Derivation, and Creation. If reaching Creation Path already makes one an Eternal Saint, why fight for Creation Sainthood?”
Ancestor Huang Quan was momentarily stunned by the question, so naive it almost warranted a slap. But since it was Lan Xiaobu asking, he answered, “We cultivators should always pursue higher realms, no? Besides, though Creation Path is eternal, no one’s proven it. Saints beyond Creation Path haven’t died of natural age, they’ve all fallen in battle.”
Lan Xiaobu didn’t press further. By Huang Quan’s logic, no Creation Saint had died of old age either. If so, how could anyone be sure Creation was the ultimate eternity?
“Dao Lord Lan, with your strength, even if you go to the Land of Eternity, you’ll be sought after by all sides,” Zhen Changtian chimed in, sensing Lan Xiaobu’s mood dip.
Sought after? Lan Xiaobu smirked inwardly. If he reached the Land of Eternity, his first target would be the Great Cosmos Saint, the eternal being controlling his plane.
Besides the Great Cosmos Saint, the Great Dream Saint was also on his list. But after the thrashing he’d given the Great Dream Saint, even if they survived, they likely couldn’t reclaim Eternal Sainthood, perhaps they hadn’t survived at all.
“How do you get to the Land of Eternity?” Lan Xiaobu asked next.
Ancestor Huang Quan, clearly the most knowledgeable, explained, “There are many ways. The easiest is through the Seven Realms Stone, which exists in every plane. But I’ve heard the Seven Realms Banner is controlled by the Great Cosmos Saint. After he was forced into reincarnation, the banner was lost across the void. With it gone, the Seven Realms Stones vanished too. For them to reappear, the banner must be found.”
Lan Xiaobu thought to himself, “No wonder Cha He, that quasi-saint, stayed in Zhan’ai Holy City. It has a Seven Realms Stone. He’s probably waiting to recover, find the banner, and head to the Land of Eternity to reclaim Eternal Sainthood.”
“The second way is waiting for a tribulation. After the Great Cosmos Saint’s fall, tribulations lessened, but they still occur. When Eternal Saints start fighting, tribulations are inevitable, often striking multiple planes at once. When they do, they point straight to the Land of Eternity. Tribulations come from Eternal Saints stripping a plane’s fortune and cosmic rules, causing collapse. In that collapsing space, you can clearly sense the Land of Eternity. No matter the destruction, it endures forever.”
After Huang Quan’s explanation, Lan Xiaobu realized tribulations didn’t doom everyone. Top-tier powerhouses survived, sensing the Land of Eternity amid the collapse. Perhaps when his plane crumbled under the Great Cosmos Saint’s plundering, no one there had been strong enough to stand in that shattered space.
He wondered if his current strength could withstand a plane’s collapse without being obliterated.
A phrase surfaced in his mind, “Heaven and earth are impartial, treating all things as straw dogs; saints are impartial, treating the masses as straw dogs…”
But “all things” didn’t include top powerhouses, just as “the masses” excluded them.
Ancestor Huang Quan paused, then added, “Of course, those aren’t the only ways to the Land of Eternity. There are more, I just know so much.”
Lan Xiaobu caught the hint, Huang Quan knew other methods but wouldn’t say. He couldn’t force it; the old ancestor had already shared plenty.
Standing, Lan Xiaobu clasped his fists, “Discussing the Dao with you all today has been richly rewarding. I’ll take my leave now, hoping we can meet again for another exchange.”
As he rose, the others stood too, offering polite farewells.
They all knew this “discussion” was mostly Lan Xiaobu asking about eternity.
Though everyone wanted to exchange communication beads with him, no one dared suggest it since he hadn’t.
Just then, Lan Xiaobu received a transmission, “Dao Lord Lan, the Eternal Saint behind our plane is Ancestor Huang Quan’s master, the Huang Quan Dao Ancestor, founder of the Huang Quan Holy Path. Huang Quan didn’t tell you everything. The Eternal War is coming soon, and a Creation Saint will surely fall. When that happens, a plane-destroying tribulation will follow, opening a passage to eternity.”
It was from Shan Bu’ang. Lan Xiaobu’s heart stirred. The Great Cosmos Saint, his plane’s controller, was still struggling in reincarnation, unfit for this war over eternal seats. The info he’d gotten was outdated.
Shan Bu’ang likely learned this from the Li Zhou Palace ancestor, an Eternal Saint, though not a Creation Saint. Perhaps that ancestor served the Huang Quan Dao Ancestor, a Creation Saint.
With that, Lan Xiaobu pulled out his communication bead, “I enjoyed today’s chat. Why don’t we exchange beads for future discussions?”
Seeing him offer, the powerhouses eagerly swapped beads with him.
Lan Xiaobu transmitted to Shan Bu’ang, “Palace Lord Shan, if a tribulation strikes here, please inform me promptly. I’d be deeply grateful.”
Thrilled by the private message, Shan Bu’ang replied, “Rest assured, Dao Lord Lan, I’ll notify you the moment it happens.”
In a tribulation, all saints above the seventh turn would head to the Land of Eternity. Teaming up with a powerhouse like Lan Xiaobu would be ideal.
Lan Xiaobu didn’t linger. A pressing urgency gnawed at him. The loathsome Great Cosmos Saint could recover any time. If that happened before he touched eternity, not just he but the Great Desolate Divine Realm would be dust.
Expecting a creep who cultivated the Great Planet Technique to spare it was like entrusting a meat bun to a dog.
Leaving Li Zhou Star, his first act was messaging the Reincarnation Saint via his bead. Moments after sending it, he received a faint distress signal, from the Reincarnation Saint.
Lan Xiaobu instantly understood. The Reincarnation Saint had tried to contact him but was too suppressed to succeed. Only when he reached out could they seize the chance to call for help.
