Ninth In the World

Di Jiu improved from initially escaping four meters at a time to nearly 100 meters in just three days.

He was still trying to practise the escape technique, even though his speed had been slowed down because of his condensed mental strength. Even if he only progressed by one centimeter a day, Di Jiu would still practise without hesitation, as this concerned his ability to survive.

After three days in the Sky Screen, Di Jiu came across some precious spirit herbs and ores. Apart from taking the time to collect a fourth-level Black Gold Jade, he had not collected any other things. Instead, he had spent all his time studying the mental strength escape technique.

On his seventh day there, Di Jiu stopped. His mental strength escape technique could already reach 150 meters.

The reason he stopped was because he had seen a huge book.

Di Jiu had never seen such a big book before. The book, which was half-open on the ground, looked magnificent.

At the beginning, Di Jiu thought that this was a natural boulder that looked like a book. When he felt the aura of the book though, he immediately discovered that it was a real book.

Di Jiu raised his hand and called out the Tiny Treant. When the Tiny Treant came out, it exclaimed, “That’s such a big book! Have we reached the Sky Screen, Big Brother?”

Di Jiu nodded. “Yes, this is the Sky Screen. This book is definitely a top treasure. I am going to refine it. Once I open it, I won’t have the time to find any other treasures. You will look for treasure in the meantime. If you hear from Geng Jihua, you will tell him immediately that I am refining this book.”

“Yes, Big Brother!” The Tiny Treant rubbed its hands together delightfully. It had been wanting to go out alone for a long time, but the outside world was too terrifying. If it were not careful, it would be taken away to be refined as a weapon or get used as a soup ingredient.

There should be no strong individuals in the Sky Screen, so its current speed had to be able to save its small life.

“There are a lot of dangers in the Sky Screen. If you are accidentally killed, you will just be unlucky. Take the clam with you for a walk and see if it will stumble into any opportunities,” Di Jiu said unceremoniously.

When the pointed-mouthed beetle attached to the top of the Tiny Treant’s head heard Di Jiu’s words, it let out several unsatisfied screams. However, Di Jiu did not pay any attention to it.

When the Tiny Treant took the clam, Di Jiu walked towards the book. He wanted to get close to the book so that he could reach out and touch it. When Di Jiu was about a mile away from the book, a force collided with him and tossed him a few meters away.

“This is not the right way, pal. This is not how you can read the Book of the World. If you want to read it, you must remain at least 10 feet away from the book and slowly use your mental strength to feel it. If you are lucky, you will gain very valuable knowledge.” Di Jiu had just gotten up, when a cultivator approached him and took the initiative to tell him that his method was wrong.

“Are you familiar with this book?” Di Jiu asked in amazement. He had thought that he was the first person to discover it. He hadn’t expected that someone else would know about it. Not only did this cultivator know about it, but he had even mentioned that the book was called the Book of the World.

The cultivator who had spoken looked very young, yet he must have attained the sixth-stage cultivation level. He was wearing a gray cultivator gown, and there was a storage bag around his waist.

When he heard Di Jiu’s words, he looked astonished. “This is the Sky Screen’s Book of the World. It has existed for a very long time. How could I not know about it? I came here to find it and try my luck…”

Di Jiu stroked his hair and touched his chin in embarrassment. He’d thought that he had found a treasure. He hadn’t expected that the whole world would know that this was the Sky Screen’s Book of the World.

This could only be blamed on his limited knowledge about the Sky Screen. Although he had bought two Sky Screen jade slips, they had only mentioned how to get to the Sky Screen and acquire a Sky Screen card.

This was the first time he’d heard about the Book of the World.

“This book must be very valuable, right? Why can’t anyone refine it and take it away?” Di Jiu asked in confusion.

He believed that he was not the only person who had seen the impressive potential of this book.

When he heard Di Jiu’s question, the gray-clothed cultivator opened his mouth and looked at him for a while. He had finally understood what kind of person Di Jiu was. He was someone who didn’t know anything. He wondered how this guy had even entered the Sky Screen.

“Um… You may not know this, pal, but the Book of the World can’t be refined or taken away. I heard that it has come from the previous world. Maybe someone will fly to the previous world someday and take this message there. Then, the people of the previous world will come and take away the Book of the World. I have not heard of anyone who can refine the Book of the World in the Cultivation World,” the gray-clothed cultivator answered after a long time.

Then, he seemed to realize that Di Jiu was clueless about cultivation and simply added, “A pioneer sea realm expert younger than 100 years old came to the Sky Screen once. He spent a year refining next to the Book of the World. The book reacted by wounding him seriously. It was rumored that his foundational root was also damaged. Ever since that incident, no one has dared take the risk of refining the Book of the World, as it is simply impossible to accomplish.”

Di Jiu gasped. A pioneer sea expert younger than 100 years old? He was almost 30, yet even though he had the galaxy meridian and his gray stone, he was still not sure whether he would be able to enter the pioneer sea realm within 100 years.

There were many experts in the world, so there was always someone better out there.

What was even more terrifying was that a pioneer sea realm expert had spent a year trying and had still been unable to refine the Book of the World. Di Jiu was just a Foundation Establishment cultivator, but he had actually thought of refining this book.

“May I ask what the benefits of staying here and trying to understand the Book of the World are, pal?” Di Jiu asked in a sincere tone as he held up a fist.

The gray-clothed cultivator pointed to the book and said, “This book contains the treasured names and wisdom of the whole universe. Once, a Qi cultivator crafted the wisdom elixir of the book by chance. He is now a seventh-stage elixir king. I have been stuck at the sixth-level Foundation Establishment for many years. I wanted to use this opportunity to come to the Sky Screen to gain some wisdom so that I could enter the seventh-level Foundation Establishment Realm.”

“Do a lot of people come here to learn from the Book of the World?” After learning about the book, Di Jiu had lost any hope of refining it.

Although he was ambitious enough, wasting his time after discovering that it was impossible would be stupid.

“Of course. The Sky Screen has just opened, so soon many cultivators will gather here. Some people give up looking for treasures in the Sky Screen so they can learn from the Book of the World.” After the gray-clothed man answered, he searched for a spot and arranged some defensive restrictions around it. Then, he closed his eyes so he could learn from the book.

When Di Jiu realized that the other man was not going to speak again, he gave up.

He sat down about 10 feet from the book and began to study it like the gray-clothed cultivator.

Di Jiu’s thoughts slowly touched the Book of the World and then penetrated it.

A vast expanse of aura rushed over. Di Jiu knew that even though he was very relaxed, he was still really anxious.

Bam! As the vast aura collided with him, blood shot out of his mouth. Before the aura could enter Di Jiu’s sea of knowledge, the gray stone in his sea of knowledge formed a circle of ripples and blocked the horrifying aura of the Book of the World.

Di Jiu’s mental strength, which was also very condensed, was blocked by the book’s vast aura. After he vomited blood, he actually left his mental strength behind in the Book of the World.

The gray-clothed man stared at Di Jiu from a distance and shook his head. Then, he closed his eyes again and began to seek enlightenment.

He realized that his mental strength could never get within three feet of the Book of the World without getting hit by the vast aura of the book. Therefore, the Book of the World could not be refined. If one’s mental strength couldn’t touch it, then how could one refine it?

An aura that felt like a vast sea of smoke rushed towards Di Jiu, who was shocked to feel the first row of big characters inside the book. “The world, the stars and the universe are vast. The universe may exist in any form, but it is always a composition of matter. Matter is tangible, regardless of whether it is metal, water, fire, earth, wind, snow, hail, darkness, light, time, or space…”

Di Jiu was shocked. This was the first time he had read such a thing. From his point of view, time and space were intangible. Even light and darkness seemed intangible to him…

The beginning of the book had already given him a big shock. Apparently, everything was tangible.