Having killed Ji Yige, Lan Xiaobu didn’t even bother to refine anything. With a sweep of his hand, the God-Locking Net that Ji Yige had set up here was drawn into his own Longevity Realm.
“Lord Lan, what should we do now?” Bai Shengsun’s tone was extremely respectful, as if awaiting Lan Xiaobu’s instructions.
Lan Xiaobu said, “I’m going to refine the Cosmic Mill, you and Pi Zuling stay at the outer sect of the Swirling Origin Dao Sect. I’ve heard that Ji Yige and the others have invited a few more powerhouses, if they show up, just call me, I’ll go deal with them.”
“Yes, Lord Lan, rest assured,” Bai Shengsun promised with a firm tone, he knew there wasn’t the slightest exaggeration in Lan Xiaobu’s words. It would be just as easy for Lan Xiaobu to kill him, Bai Shengsun, as it was to say it.
Lan Xiaobu didn’t pay it much mind, there were simply too many things in Ji Yige’s world, many of them would have to wait until he had time to sort through them. For him, the most important reason for coming to the Great Void Star was the Cosmic Mill, otherwise, he would have long since gone searching for the Seven Realm Flags, why would he make a special trip to the Great Void Star?
At the outskirts of the Great Void Star, a long-haired man stood there, hesitating to enter and observe the situation.
“Brother Kuang, you arrived earlier than me,” a sudden voice called out, followed by a brown-robed cultivator landing not far from the long-haired man.
“Sect Leader Qin, why do I feel something’s off?” the long-haired man said with a frown.
“What’s off about it?” the newly arrived Sect Leader Qin asked, puzzled.
The long-haired man said gravely, “City Lord Ji said he’d invited eight people, with the four Ninth-Turn experts from the Great Plate Dao Sect and the Ganxu Holy Dao, that makes thirteen of us. No matter how powerful that Lan fellow is, thirteen Ninth-Turn powerhouses should be enough to take him down.”
“What’s the problem then?” Pi Zuling asked, confused.
The long-haired man snorted, “It’s precisely because of Lord Lan’s assurance that I believed we could take down this Lan chap, I’ve been here for at least an hour, you’re only the second person to arrive, I haven’t seen anyone else in that time. Isn’t that a problem? Eight people were supposed to come, so far, it’s just the two of us, not to mention, the two Ninth-Turn elders from Nine Shuttle Void City are much closer than us, how have they not arrived yet? That’s not even the worst of it, the real issue is that I sent a message to Sect Leader Lu, there’s been no reply at all.”
Just as the long-haired man finished speaking, a flying vessel landed nearby, out stepped a refined-looking woman, the charm of the Dao flowed around her, clearly marking her as another Ninth-Turn powerhouse. “Lord Gu, you’re here too,” Pi Zuling quickly greeted her.
The woman, addressed as Lord Gu, glanced around, asked in confusion, “Why are there only the two of you? Where’s everyone else?” Her journey had been longer, yet she’d arrived, why hadn’t the others?
The long-haired man replied, “That’s the problem, so far, it’s just the three of us, I got here an hour early, I sent a message to Sect Leader Lu later, there’s been no response.”
Lord Gu’s expression shifted slightly as she frowned, “Not long ago, I sent a message to Lord Fang Sha of the Ganxu Holy Dao, I got no reply either, has something happened here that we don’t know about?”
“Wait a moment, I’ll send a message to Lord Lan,” Pi Zuling said, immediately taking out a communication bead, he sent a message to City Lord Ji, stating that he’d arrived at the Void Plaza of the Great Void Star, asking where to meet up.
After sending the message, Pi Zuling held the communication bead in his palm, half a stick of incense passed, then a full stick, there was no response, not even a ripple of the bead’s Dao charm.
The long-haired man gave a self-mocking laugh, “We’re a trusting bunch, aren’t we? That Lan fellow can kill nine Ninth-Turn powerhouses from Nine Shuttle Void City, how could he be a simple character? Yet we thought we could come here to deal with him, others are clearly more perceptive than us, Lord Gu, Pi Zuling, I’m leaving, until we meet again, this has taught me, Kuang Xing, that the two of you are worth befriending.”
With that, the long-haired man summoned his flying treasure, departed without hesitation, his address for Sect Leader Qin had shifted from “that Lan fellow” to “Lord Lan.”
The refined woman and Pi Zuling didn’t hesitate either, each summoned their own flying treasures, swiftly left, not even stepping foot onto the Great Void Star’s plaza.
At the same time, Bai Shengsun of Purple Cloud Valley and Pi Zuling of Hundred River Dao stood outside the Swirling Ji Yige, their faces filled with lingering fear, the leader of the Origin Dao Sect had learned from Bai Shengsun that Ji Yige had been effortlessly slain by Sect Leader Tai, not only that, the Ninth-Turn powerhouses from the Great Plate Dao Sect and Ganxu Holy Dao might have been killed by Sect Leader Qin as well.
“Sect Leader Bai, should we make a move on the Great Plate Dao Sect and Ganxu Holy Dao?” After the initial shock, the Origin Dao Sect leader grew excited, the two best cultivation grounds on the Great Void Star belonged to the Great Plate Dao Sect and Ganxu Holy Dao, now that those sects had no Ninth-Turn powerhouses, weren’t they ripe for the taking? Bai Shengsun nodded, “Of course, not yet, right now, we need to guard Zhuo Xuantian, we’ll wait until Zhuo Xuantian refines the Cosmic Mill, ask for his opinion, no matter what, we must befriend Lan Xiaobu, Zhuo Xuantian treats Lan Xiaobu well, befriending him is definitely the right move.”
Even without Bai Shengsun’s advice, the Origin Dao Sect leader knew what to do, with a figure like Sect Leader Qin backing Lan Xiaobu, who would dare cross him unless they were tired of living?
With the aid of the Cosmic Mill’s small stele, Sect Leader Qin had sensed the Cosmic Mill.
Almost the moment he sensed it, the Cosmic Mill tried to break free of his restraints, escape into the vast void.
Having spent so much time on the Cosmic Mill, how could Sect Leader Qin let it get away? He unleashed wave after wave of Longevity Dao principles, one after another.
But soon, Sect Leader Qin’s expression changed, no matter how many Longevity Dao principles he sent out, whether spatial principles, Five Elements principles, or others, they were all torn apart by the Cosmic Mill in the shortest possible time.
Sect Leader Qin could only frantically continue bombarding it with various binding Longevity Dao principles, he inwardly rejoiced that he’d preemptively taken out several Ninth-Turn powerhouses from the Great Plate Dao Sect and Ganxu Holy Dao, as well as City Lord Ji, otherwise, if they attacked him now, he’d likely be in serious trouble, this wasn’t just a matter of abandoning the Cosmic Mill, even if he gave it up at this point, he’d suffer a severe backlash from it, once gravely injured, the consequences would be unpredictable.
Sect Leader Qin sighed inwardly, if it weren’t for him, even City Lord Ji wouldn’t have had the qualifications to take the Cosmic Mill, the God-Locking Net capable of binding the Cosmic Mill? That was a pipe dream, for a treasure like the Cosmic Mill, if one didn’t cultivate their own Dao principles but instead relied on the principles of this universe, they’d have no right to tangle with it.
Fortunately, he cultivated his own Longevity Great Dao, which allowed him to hold the Cosmic Mill in place for now, his only hope was that the reinforcements City Lord Ji had called wouldn’t show up, otherwise, he’d be at a disadvantage, facing the Cosmic Mill, he couldn’t spare even a shred of focus.
One binding Dao principle after another was sent out by Sect Leader Qin, only to be torn apart again.
As time passed, Sect Leader Feng gradually gained the upper hand, not that he was stronger than the Cosmic Mill, but rather that he’d begun to grasp its Dao charm and aura, his binding principles became more targeted, grew increasingly powerful, naturally weakening the Cosmic Mill in comparison.
Initially, Sect Leader Qin had planned to refine the Cosmic Mill in a single day, now he realised how naive that idea had been, it took a full half-month before Sect Leader Tai truly bound the Cosmic Mill, imprinted his first thread of will into it, as this thread of will surged into the Cosmic Mill, Sect Leader Qin sensed its terrifying slaughter aura, wave after wave, relentless and unending, these slaughter charms formed a massive grinding disc of destruction, seemingly intent on dragging Sect Leader Qin in, reducing him to blood and nothingness.
Sect Leader Qin knew full well that if he were truly pulled into this slaughter disc, he’d be finished, even if he entered the Cosmic Dimensional Model, it would be a dead end, while the Cosmic Dimensional Model was on the same level as the Cosmic Mill, once ensnared by the Mill, it would eventually grind him down over time, after all, the Cosmic Mill was an offensive treasure, while the Cosmic Dimensional Model was merely an auxiliary one.
Sect Leader Qin understood that although he’d temporarily bound the Cosmic Mill, danger lurked at every moment, he had to refine its first restriction.
As Sect Leader Qin’s will forcibly slammed into the Cosmic Mill once more, the slaughter aura surged forth, his Longevity Domain was torn apart, the backlash of the Dao charm forced a jet of blood from his mouth.
This blood sprayed onto the Cosmic Mill, before the terrifying slaughter disc could fully form, Sect Leader Qin frantically unleashed more of his will.
Crack! At last, the Cosmic Mill’s first restriction was torn apart by Sect Leader Qin.
A thunderous roar of wild Dao charm exploded in the sky above the outskirts of Swirling Ji Yige, startling nearly half the cultivators on the Great Void Star, everyone, including Zhuo Xuantian, stared in awe at the void, where Sect Leader Qin stood locked in confrontation with the Cosmic Mill.
Compared to the Cosmic Mill, which towered over a million feet, Sect Leader Qin seemed negligible, the waves of terrifying slaughter aura pouring from the Mill were so potent that even a cultivator with weaker cultivation would be gravely injured just by brushing against it with their divine sense.
Even so, the onlookers could feel that the Cosmic Mill’s aura was steadily being worn down, a testament to the sheer power of the one refining it, yet the danger Sect Leader Qin faced remained invisible to all.
Far off, Bai Shengsun sucked in a cold breath, said slowly, “This Cosmic Mill, even if it were up to anyone else on the Great Void Star, no one could refine it.”
Pi Zuling sighed, “Indeed, that’s the truth.”
Though they’d known the Cosmic Mill didn’t belong to them, they’d still felt a pang of reluctance at the thought of an outsider coming to refine and take it away, after witnessing the Cosmic Mill, they realised that if it had been up to them, it would have long since escaped into the void.
When Lan Xiaobu tore through the first restriction, the Cosmic Mill’s full aura burst forth, Lan Xiaobu’s heart leapt with joy, he knew he’d taken the first step.
What shocked Lan Xiaobu next was that he no longer sensed mere slaughter aura, instead, an overwhelming surge of destruction, annihilation, and void, every terrifying force of extinction, rushed towards him, amidst it all, Lan Xiaobu caught a glimpse of a golden scroll of the Dao, faintly hovering at the deepest core of the Cosmic Mill.
