Standing on the Samsara Bridge, Lu Kuanping was bound by strands of Samsara runes, feeling as though he’d stepped into death’s embrace, and he knew it wasn’t an illusion, escape was impossible this time. In the past, he’d never have believed anyone could sweep through nine of Jiu Shuo Void City’s Ninth Turn Sages.
True, the city had more than nine Ninth Turn Sages. The city lord and two elders were away, and if a distress call went out, dozens more from allied planets could rush in.
But under normal circumstances, nine Ninth Turn Sages in Jiu Shuo Void City was already a formidable force. Without a special auction, five at most would be present, yet even with so many gathered, they were utterly annihilated, showing how terrifying this foe was.
As for reinforcements, Lu Kuanping knew they wouldn’t come. Had they held Lan Xiaobu off for half a day, even just an hour, aid would’ve poured in. But they didn’t last half an hour, and any reinforcements, upon hearing the news, wouldn’t dare step in to die.
Lu Kuanping didn’t beg further or resist. He silently swore a blood oath: in his next life, if he didn’t avenge this, he wouldn’t be the Hidden Blade Sage. His nickname in Jiu Shuo Void City, Hidden Blade Sage, meant a knife concealed in a smile, though as vice lord, no one dared say it to his face. In his next life, he’d make this killer understand what that meant.
Gazing at the binding Samsara runes, he closed his eyes, hatred boiling to its peak. Even reborn, he’d quickly regain his strength, surpassing today. If he couldn’t reach the Eternal Realm, he’d still find a way to backstab this half-step Eternal.
Crack! Lu Kuanping’s eyes snapped open in terror as his world was seized and torn apart, a void vortex swirling above him. A shrill scream escaped as his soul was shredded again and again.
“Spare me, I’ll be your dog…” Lu Kuanping panicked, his soul fragments outside yanked into the vortex, what power was this? How could he reincarnate now?
“Don’t insult dogs,” Lan Xiaobu’s cold voice replied, a footprint kicking him off the bridge into the rolling soul stream below.
Boom! Two loud blasts shook the entrapment array again, but even hastily set, it wasn’t something two could break.
“If you two can shatter my array today, I won’t touch you, I’ll open it myself and let you leave,” Lan Xiaobu said.
Hearing him, the last two Ninth Turn Sages stopped attacking the array. They’d focused on breaking it to escape before Lu Kuanping fell, only for the array’s spatial blades to rip their bones bare. Lu Kuanping hadn’t bought them even half an incense stick’s time.
“Friend, today was truly an unprovoked disaster for us. Yuan Qing and I stayed in Jiu Shuo Void City just for resources, we had no hand in its rules,” the black-robed elder said, the same one who’d scolded Lan Xiaobu for killing the deacons.
Lan Xiaobu chuckled, too lazy to waste words, and kicked out.
Against eight or nine stacked Ninth Turn domains, he could only dodge and block, but two? He didn’t even blink.
His Longevity Domain easily tore through theirs, and they realized in horror that without their comrades, they could barely move under it, too slow to evade his kick.
Thud! Thud! Two muffled impacts, Samsara Charm enveloped them, runes binding them tight. Lan Xiaobu ripped their worlds open, sending them under the bridge.
Of the nine, he only plundered three worlds, the other six died too fast to loot. Even without tallying the haul, he could tell these three were filthy rich.
Lan Xiaobu waved, retracting all his array flags, leaving Jiu Shuo Void City a wreck.
Beyond the streets his halberd had torn, his earlier array activation—spurring everyone to attack the lord’s mansion—had piled ruin upon ruin.
Corpses littered the streets, mostly city-clad deacons or mansion staff, though some unaffiliated cultivators died too. Lan Xiaobu’s push had toppled the city, let alone its deacons. For those caught in the crossfire, he could only apologize, his strength couldn’t yet spare the innocent. Killing nine looked easy, but had he failed to do it fast, he’d be the one dead.
With the flags gone, the city’s oppressive killing intent vanished. The shattered streets fell eerily silent, as if the slaughter never happened. Some cultivators, freed from the killing pressure, fled wildly, while others stared at Lan Xiaobu in shock, whether fleeing or staying, all too afraid to make a sound.
“Senior…” Zhuo Xuantian approached from his hiding spot, having predicted Lan Xiaobu’s victory but not its swiftness.
Had the nine delayed Lan Xiaobu longer, he’d have faced not nine but nineteen or twenty-nine Sages. His decisive slaughter deterred the rest.
“Sect Master Zhuo, was the city lord among them?” Lan Xiaobu asked.
Zhuo Xuantian quickly replied, “The lord is Ji Yige, incredibly strong, but he wasn’t here today.”
Lan Xiaobu laughed, knowing why. He’d never believe Ji Yige was unaware of this massacre. Likely, Ji Yige was en route back, learned the fight ended, and didn’t dare show.
Indeed, Ji Yige had been close by, alerted instantly when Lan Xiaobu killed the deacons with one blow. Knowing it took a single move to slay a Seventh and Eighth Turn Sage, he’d ordered all nine to act—not out of fear they’d lose, but that Lan Xiaobu might escape, damaging the city’s prestige.
The outcome shook his soul. Just outside the city, he got word Lan Xiaobu had slain all nine, and his array had nearly wiped out the deacons. One man against nine Ninth Turn Sages, Ji Yige knew he was no match, so he turned and fled.
Lan Xiaobu gazed at the silent crowd and said calmly, “The deacons tried to kill me, so I killed them. The nine Ninth Turn Sages too, all me. This ends here, I won’t chase the rest. But if anyone harms my friend Zhuo Xuantian after I leave, don’t blame me for coming back to finish the job. Sect Master Zhuo, there’s a teleport to Da Mo Void Star here, right?”
“Yes, Senior, there’s one, I’ll take you,” a voice answered before Zhuo Xuantian could, trembling with excitement. Lou Pa, a Seventh Turn Sage, had stayed in the city to kill Xing Mopo, but his strength fell short, he never expected Lan Xiaobu to avenge him.
Lan Xiaobu was surprised by the man’s boldness, given he hadn’t wiped out everyone here.
“Thanks, lead the way,” he nodded.
Da Mo Void Star, a key branch of Jiu Shuo Void City, hosted commercial outposts for its four major sects. The teleport array here was not only present but the largest, its guards all dead, letting Lan Xiaobu and Zhuo Xuantian use it without a single divine crystal.
