Chapter 00164: Confronting the Earthly Immortal
# Confronting the Earthly Immortal
Chapter 164
Novel: Abandon The Universe
Chapter 164: Confronting the Earthly Immortal
Yu Yi spoke, “This person had Elder Hu transfer his target to the Guihai Family and Elder Zou Zheng. One of them is likely to have a grudge against this man, as well as against the Guihai Family and Elder Zou. We have looked into many people who have recently clashed with the Guihai Family, and there are almost none who could contend with Elder Hu’s Primordial Spirit. However, there is one suspect, named Lan Xiaobu. Now he holds the position of the City Lord of Mubei Immortal City, which he established along with the Mubei Immortal Academy.”
An elder asked in puzzlement, “Isn't Lan Xiaobu the cultivator who entered the Primordial Ruins last time? If this is the case, he is at most at the Golden Core Stage, thus he cannot secretly plot against Elder Hu’s Primordial Spirit.”
Yu Yi nodded, “What Peak Master Xue said is true, but Lan Xiaobu possesses some oddities. His strength far exceeds that of an ordinary Golden Core cultivator; he once killed Gui Wushou. Moreover, he holds a deep grudge against the Guihai Family, who once intended to kill him in the Primordial Ruins but did not dare to act out of fear of his strength.”
Everyone now realized the weight of this matter, for the incident had created a huge uproar at that time.
Gui Wushou was a strong presence in the Void Spirit Realm — wanting to kill Gui Wushou was no simple task, especially not openly.
Peak Master Xue remarked, “If he was able to kill Gui Wushou, then he indeed has the ability to plot against Elder Hu’s Primordial Spirit.”
Yu Yi continued, “When he killed Gui Wushou, it was an open kill, with only Meng Ao assisting him. Meng Ao had only recently entered the Spirit Refining Stage; I suspect his help was limited, so the primary effort to kill Gui Wushou was still Lan Xiaobu's. As for how he managed to kill Gui Wushou, we cannot know for certain, but he should be skilled in formations. The Guihai Family refrained from acting against him due to their fear of him after he killed Gui Wushou."
After pausing for a moment, Yu Yi added, “This is only one of the suspicious points. The second point is that Elder Hu’s Primordial Spirit likely cultivated in the Eternal Sea, something Elder Hu once hinted at to me. The area Lan Xiaobu governs in Mubei Immortal City encompasses both the Eternal Sea and the Mubei Mountain Range.”
Hearing this, nearly everyone felt that even if Lan Xiaobu wasn't the killer of Elder Hu, it would be hard to deny his involvement.
“Furthermore, Lan Xiaobu is known to settle scores; when the Crescent Moon Pill Tower detained a disciple from the Thousand Clouds Immortal Sect, he went directly to destroy the Crescent Moon Pill Tower, killing its manager. The Guihai Family is behind the Crescent Moon Pill Tower; thus, it is out of character for Lan Xiaobu not to take revenge on the Guihai Family.”
To investigate, Jiu Zhou Mountain has eliminated the head of the Guihai Family, the strongest among them, and their most talented inheritor.
Now they spoke of Lan Xiaobu's desire for revenge without a hint of hesitation or awkwardness.
Yu Yi looked at Zou Zheng, “As for why Lan Xiaobu would frame Elder Zou Zheng, I am not entirely clear. Does Elder Zou have anything to add?”
Zou Zheng’s face darkened as he huffed, “Back at the Primordial Ruins square, I wanted to take this person away. Lan Xiaobu must have seen my intent and thus bore resentment. Unfortunately, the Holy Maiden of the Western Kunlun Sect, Liu Li, spoke up prematurely and confined me with her words, leaving me no choice but to hold back. Had I known, I would have taken him away and flayed him.”
Mu Yangzhe spoke slowly, “Then we have our answer; the one who secretly plotted against our Jiu Zhou Mountain Elder must be Lan Xiaobu.”
“Haha, this man truly thinks too highly of himself. If he hadn't acted so self-importantly, we might not have discovered him so quickly.” One Elder from the Earthly Immortal Peak chuckled heartily.
In his view, if Lan Xiaobu hadn't foolishly revealed the names of Gui Haizhao and Elder Zou Zheng to Elder Hu, they wouldn't have been able to trace him so easily.
It was Lan Xiaobu's arrogance that provided Jiu Zhou Mountain with this lead.
Yu Yi retorted, “Lan Xiaobu decisively handed over the ‘Seven Sounds’ to the Western Kunlun Sect after obtaining it at the Primordial Ruins, showing that he is not someone who acts irrationally. On the contrary, he is extremely meticulous. If it weren’t for the names of Gui Haizhao and Elder Zou, we would have tracked down Mubei Immortal City within half a month and could have captured him for soul extraction.”
Everyone realized that had it not been for Gui Haizhao and Elder Zou Zheng’s diversion, Yu Yi knew that Elder Hu had likely been killed in the Eternal Sea.
Regardless of whether it was related to Mubei Immortal City, the warriors within Mubei would definitely be subjected to soul extraction, and as the City Lord, Lan Xiaobu could not escape.
To outsiders, this nonsensical soul extraction seemed unbelievable, but to those from Jiu Zhou Mountain, it was as routine as breathing.
Gui Haizhao had been subjected to this very practice; Jiu Zhou Mountain felt no guilt or regret.
Better to mistakenly kill than to let a target slip away — this was their modus operandi.
Mu Yangzhe stated coolly, “This person is quite ambitious, daring to establish the Mubei Immortal Academy within Mubei Immortal City — a veritable death wish. Elder Feng Han, you take the trouble to bring Lan Xiaobu back to Jiu Zhou Mountain. Everyone else, eliminate all the rest on the spot. Destroy Mubei Immortal City, leaving no living soul from Mubei Immortal Academy.”
“Yes.” A man of medium build with sparse hair stood up, bowing in compliance.
No one harbored any doubts.
Elder Feng Han was one of Jiu Zhou Mountain’s seven Earthly Immortals.
Even Lan Xiaobu, who possessed extraordinary talents, had to kneel before Elder Feng Han.
An orange flying sword quickly flew in and landed in Yu Yi’s hand.
Yu Yi glanced at the flying sword in bewilderment, drawing the attention of everyone else.
Within Jiu Zhou Mountain, this kind of flying sword served as an urgent signal; normally, it would not be employed for trivial matters.
When Yu Yi finally saw the contents within the flying sword, her expression turned grim.
“Alliance leader, esteemed elders and peak masters, it seems we have underestimated City Lord Lan. The first thing he did upon returning was to destroy the isolation formation we set up and then kill two of our guards — ha, that’s impressive.” Yu Yi felt a mix of anger and incredulity.
In all of Menzhou's history, no one had seen someone as bold as Lan Xiaobu, daring to lay hands on those from Jiu Zhou Mountain; he seemed completely unaware of his own mortality.
“He truly possesses audacity.” Zou Zheng was surrounded by a killing intent.
Had it not been for the alliance leader dispatching Elder Feng Han to Mubei Immortal City, he would have rushed over to crack open Lan Xiaobu's skull himself, curious about the thoughts inside such an audacious ant's head.
Mu Yangzhe was usually reserved in showing his emotions, yet even he found Lan Xiaobu amusingly irritating, shocked by the boldness of a Golden Core cultivator.
In the eyes of Mu Yangzhe and everyone from Jiu Zhou Mountain, killing Lan Xiaobu and destroying Mubei Immortal City was a justified act.
Such a lowly ant of an immortal city would naturally be subdued.
Under the command of Jiu Zhou Mountain, who would dare resist?
Given the punishment from Jiu Zhou Mountain, if one did not resist, they might have a few chances to survive.
To resist, however, meant annihilation.
“It appears we may have been too gentle in our dealings; many seem to have forgotten that there is still a Jiu Zhou Mountain in Menzhou. Elder Feng, don’t leave a single soul in Mubei Immortal City.” Mu Yangzhe’s tone grew increasingly even.
Everyone who knew him understood that the more calm his demeanor became, the greater his intent to kill surged.
…
Lan Xiaobu had long since set up defenses for Mubei Immortal City.
Not only that, at a distance of a thousand miles outside Mubei Immortal City, he had also arranged a sixth-grade trapping formation and a sixth-grade soul-locking strangling formation.
At this moment, Lan Xiaobu was deciphering the seventh-grade strangling formation of Mubei Immortal City.
After he had swiftly dealt with two guards of Jiu Zhou Mountain, he anticipated that they would soon arrive — he just wasn’t sure whether they would send Void Spirit cultivators or Earthly Immortal ones.
If a Void Spirit cultivator arrived, he would be too lazy to utilize the great formation.
However, if they sent Earthly Immortal cultivators, he might need the defenses he set up.
Back then, in order to kill Elder Hu, who is an Earthly Immortal Primordial Spirit, he had almost been killed himself.
This time, it would definitely not be as simple as just facing one Primordial Spirit.
At this moment, Lan Xiaobu’s divine sense extended beyond three thousand miles.
Although he was focused on deciphering the great formation, his divine sense remained alert.
As soon as Feng Han’s ship approached, Lan Xiaobu detected it.
Elder Feng clearly did not regard Mubei Immortal City seriously, as he showed no signs of investigation or caution on his way.
Lan Xiaobu smirked.
He directly descended outside Mubei Immortal City, a thousand miles away, where he arranged more trapping and killing formations.
Almost as soon as Lan Xiaobu landed, Feng Han’s ship appeared before him.
“You are Lan Xiaobu?” Having seen Lan Xiaobu's portrait, Feng Han recognized him immediately upon seeing Lan Xiaobu standing with a spear in hand.
Clearly, he realized that this man was arrogant enough not to engage with the defenses of Mubei Immortal City but to wait for him outside.
“Indeed, I am the great-grandfather Xiaobu. Do tell me your name so that you can ensure you die with a name.” Lan Xiaobu raised the spear in his hand, his tone still infuriating.
Feng Han was momentarily taken aback.
He truly didn't believe there were such reckless youths who dared to act this way before an Earthly Immortal.
Shaking his head, Feng Han's large hand reached toward Lan Xiaobu, “Do you think just because you’ve reached the Golden Core stage, you are invincible in this world?”
Seeing that his disdain was manifest, Lan Xiaobu was delighted.
He planted several formation flags down, activating the soul-locking strangling formation, while in the same moment, the spear in his hand radiated an almost solid beam of killing intent.
The space immediately grew dense, and Feng Han's expression changed.
Was this a killing domain?
To form a domain, a cultivator must reach at least the Earthly Immortal stage.
However, not all Earthly Immortals can create their own domains.
In Jiu Zhou Mountain, only one person could manage to form a domain at the Earthly Immortal level — the alliance leader, Mu Yangzhe.
Could Lan Xiaobu form a domain without even being an Earthly Immortal?
No, Feng Han quickly realized that Lan Xiaobu hadn’t formed a domain; rather, the intent of his spear was too strong, creating a killing force.
To form such a killing force, the divine sense needed to surpass that of an ordinary Earthly Immortal…
When Feng Han understood this, he was filled with shock.
He immediately saw that Jiu Zhou Mountain had underestimated Lan Xiaobu.
Regardless of whether or not Lan Xiaobu was an Earthly Immortal, his divine sense absolutely would not be weaker than that of regular Earthly Immortals.
Feng Han attempted to pull out his Void Profound spear, but it was too late.
Lan Xiaobu's spear had locked onto his life force and surged toward him.
This was no mere Golden Core intensity; it was undeniably Void Spirit power — no, this killing intent was even more potent than that of a Void Spirit.
This neared the Earthly Immortal realm.
Feng Han panicked.
His true essence surged as he attempted to condense all his strength to repel Lan Xiaobu’s spear.
Yet, his expression changed again; his true essence and divine sense grew sluggish, even a little suppressed.
(End of Chapter)