Chapter 00201: The Void Rift of the Hundred Mo Star System
# The Void Rift of the Hundred Mo Star System
Chapter 201
Novel: Abandon The Universe
Chapter 201: The Void Rift of the Hundred Mo Star System
"Xiao Mu, it's been a long time since we last met. You've aged quite a bit!" Lan Xiaobu's teasing voice echoed through the hall, causing Mu Zeji to jump up reflexively.
"Is that you, Lan Xiaobu?" Mu Zeji gazed at Lan Xiaobu in disbelief.
This voice had haunted him for years and now it was echoing in his royal hall.
How could Lan Xiaobu appear here without his knowledge?
Lan Xiaobu strolled to the side of Mu Zeji, pulling him over to a nearby seat, and then sat himself down in the Emperor's throne, saying, "It's been a while! You don't look too happy to see me. I remember you were waiting outside Yuqi Star for me back in the day; you were quite excited to see me then."
"Lan Xiaobu, you, you..."
Mu Zeji pointed at Lan Xiaobu, a mix of fear and anger rising within him.
His fear wasn't of Lan Xiaobu but of Hou Yi.
Hou Yi was an Emperor from a Level-7 Technological Civilization planet, and it was said that the Emperor Hei Xuchen from Zero Luo Star had died at Hou Yi's hands.
That Hei Xuchen was a ruthless figure, capable of casually exterminating anything from a Level-5 Civilization.
What did that make Mu Zeji in front of Hou Yi but an ant?
"Lan Xiaobu, you were once a person from True Promise Star, part of our star system's subjects. How dare you act so rebelliously, sitting in the Emperor's seat?" An elder with a full head of white hair stepped forward, trembling with rage as he pointed at Lan Xiaobu.
Lan Xiaobu simply smirked, forming a handprint of true essence, and lifted the elder, tossing him out without effort.
The other ministers who had tried to rise in protest fell silent, realizing the gravity of the situation.
This was the power of a cultivator, and an exceedingly powerful one at that.
"You should be grateful, encountering someone as kind as me. Otherwise, you would have much to regret," Lan Xiaobu declared.
Cultivators were notorious for their ruthlessness, indifferent to the lives of mortals.
At this moment, those who wished to survive kept their mouths shut.
Mu Ziqiao, who had already stepped forward, silently withdrew his foot.
He was at the Pill Condensation stage, making him one of the strongest here besides Lan Xiaobu.
But he understood well that someone who could create a handprint of true essence was a being capable of easily annihilating a planet.
Before the establishment of the first cosmic wall, a powerful cultivator could effortlessly destroy a planet.
Any weapon from a technological civilization was like mere dust to them.
The Lan Xiaobu before him could easily form a handprint of true essence, indicating he was such a powerful cultivator.
Mu Ziqiao possessed true essence as well, but it was still quite recent in his cultivation.
He suspected that Mu Yuansang had likely died at Lan Xiaobu's hands, and he did not wish to follow in his footsteps.
In a way, he felt grateful that Lan Xiaobu had eliminated Mu Yuansang.
"Are you now a cultivator?" Mu Zeji gazed at Lan Xiaobu in shock.
His previous anger had vanished, replaced by a keen desire to avoid offending a cultivator.
"And what do you think?" Lan Xiaobu gazed back at Mu Zeji.
"Lord Immortal Master, we were once all subjects of the same planet. In any matter you wish, I, Mu Zeji, will handle it personally, without fail," Mu Zeji promised, almost pounding his chest in his eagerness.
Lan Xiaobu patted Mu Zeji on the shoulder.
"Xiao Mu, if you had said this sooner, we wouldn't have had to see that old man tumble just now."
"Your Majesty, the person has arrived, but he has lost consciousness again."
At this, two soldiers entered, carrying a narrow bed.
On the bed lay a man whose face was as pale as gold paper, with his hands and feet shackled, clearly a result of Mu Zeji's doings.
Deep down, Mu Zeji cursed at the timing of Lan Xiaobu’s arrival.
If he had come a little earlier, Mu Zeji wouldn’t have allowed such an important figure to be brought here.
At present, he could only force a smile as he said, "Lord Immortal Master, we found this one on Waste Star Eleven."
Lan Xiaobu's gaze fell on the man on the bed, noticing the instability of his aura.
The injuries he sustained must have been critical.
Mu Yuansang had likely fed him top-tier medicinal herbs, which saved his life.
The strength of this man should have been above Mu Zeji's—perhaps even comparable to Luan Jia.
But unlike Luan Jia, he was gravely injured not only physically but also had lost consciousness at the primordial spirit level.
Mu Zeji seemed to have used some treasure since the man's spirit was slowly recovering, and at this rate, he would awaken from his stupor within the hour.
Lan Xiaobu couldn't help but sneer inwardly.
Mu Zeji was asking for trouble.
He might think that if he completely shackled an injured cultivator, he could control him at will.
How naive.
Even though he was at the true god level, Lan Xiaobu would not rampantly kill here.
When a minister from Tian Luo Star had earlier dared to provoke him, he merely tossed him out.
Had another cultivator entered to confront him, they would have likely annihilated everyone present before questioning Mu Zeji, surely killing him after gaining the information.
Other cultivators were not nearly as reasonable as Lan Xiaobu; most preferred to kill first and question later.
"What is Waste Star Eleven?" Lan Xiaobu asked, not concerning himself with the gravely injured cultivator.
This individual, though stronger than him, could be dealt with once he regained consciousness.
Mu Zeji hurriedly replied, "Waste Star Eleven is a discarded planet on the edge of the Hundred Mo Star System. This planet has been tainted and extensively mined, losing all vitality, becoming a wasteland. Soon, it will break apart into countless meteorites that will drift into space. Several years ago, one of our astral scouts discovered this waste star. At its edge, there lies a crack several hundred miles long and a mile wide. This crack is peculiar; a certain aura flows through it. Sometimes, it violently spews forth various turbulent energies, and at other times, anything that approaches the crack, whether man or object, gets sucked in."
"This man was spewed out from that crack?" Lan Xiaobu glanced at the shackled cultivator on the bed.
Mu Zeji nodded, "Yes. When we discovered the crack, this man wasn’t there. Later, Tian Luo Star established various monitoring facilities around the crack, keeping a day-and-night watch on it. My second son, Mu Ziqiao, personally guarded the area. Half a year ago, this person suddenly burst out from the crack and fell onto Waste Star Eleven. We rescued him and used many treasures to treat his injuries, but he remains in a coma."
"Mu Ziqiao, you explain what you know about the crack," Lan Xiaobu pointed to the retreating Mu Ziqiao.
Swallowing hard, Mu Ziqiao stepped forward and said, "I have been stationed near the crack; the aura emitted seemed beneficial to martial artists. After practicing there for a while, I feel my physique has improved significantly."
Lan Xiaobu chuckled lightly, "Improved significantly? You are already at the Pill Condensation stage; are you saying that it's merely an improvement in physique?"
Feeling anxious, Mu Ziqiao quickly added, "The aura there is indeed highly suitable for cultivation, but it is also exceedingly dangerous. There was a woman who cultivated near the crack before, yet she was sucked in."
"A woman was cultivating there? When did this happen?" Lan Xiaobu couldn’t help but think of Luo Caisi, though he knew it was unlikely to be her.
Still, he couldn’t shake the suspicion.
"Three years ago," Mu Ziqiao respectfully replied.
"Do you have her likeness?" Lan Xiaobu pressed further.
Mu Ziqiao shook his head, "No. At that time, I had just arrived. She wore a veil, and because she was so powerful, none dared to approach her. Our impressions of her were only vague. She rarely came near us and focused solely on cultivation. Once, while she was cultivating, a thunderstorm suddenly struck, and arcs of thunder blasted toward her..."
Thunder tribulation? Lan Xiaobu thought to himself.
If it was a thunder tribulation, then it probably wasn’t Luo Caisi.
With her golden core perfected, she should have already entered the Dan Transformation stage, which would come with no thunder tribulation.
But he quickly recalled that the Dan Transformation stage was a nebulous realm, one that traditionally didn’t exist.
Or rather, this realm existed solely in Yuan Continent.
Because of the Taichuan Technique he learned from the Cosmic Dimension Matrix, he directly broke through to the Spirit Refining realm after becoming a Golden Core stage cultivator.
However, reaching the Spirit Refining realm also didn’t come with the thunder tribulations; he only experienced them after arriving at the Void God realm.
The disruption caused by the separation of the first and second heavens in the Great Desolate Universe had created chaos in the cultivation system here, and Lan Xiaobu wasn’t sure if others reaching the Spirit Refining realm would awaken tribulations.
"I suspect that this may have been an immortal's thunder tribulation. Typically, those who can withstand such tribulations are quite powerful, which makes me somewhat fearful. Yet that woman was strong; she weathered the thunder tribulation. But just as she got through, fierce winds from the crack rolled up, pulling her in, and then she vanished without a trace."
After Mu Ziqiao spoke, he respectfully bowed to Lan Xiaobu.
Lan Xiaobu decided to head to that crack, and just as he was about to pull out a likeness of Luo Caisi for Mu Zeji to search for, he noticed that the man on the narrow bed had opened his eyes.
In an instant, Lan Xiaobu felt all the spiritual essence in the vicinity swirl towards the man.
The man looked around, somewhat dazed, and then in a deep voice asked, "Where is this? Who has locked me up?"
Before anyone could respond, the man swung his hands, and the specialized chains binding his arms shattered as if they were made of tofu.
He sat up, raised his feet slightly, and the chains around his ankles likewise disintegrated.
Terror flickered in Mu Zeji's eyes.
He hadn’t expected that this captured immortal would be so powerful that even in such a state of injury, merely opening his eyes caused the bindings to fray into nothing.
How strong could he be?
Two soldiers rushed forward, attempting to rebind the man.
With a snort, he launched two wind blades, instantly severing the two soldiers at the neck.
"So this is just a garbage mortal kingdom," the man looked around disdainfully and casually uttered, then released several wind blades that swiftly sliced through a dozen ministers standing nearby.
Mu Zeji trembled in fear; he finally grasped the meaning of Lan Xiaobu’s words.
He was indeed a benevolent immortal master.
"Are you the kingdom’s ruler?" The man's gaze fell upon Lan Xiaobu sitting in the Emperor's seat.
(End of Chapter)