Ninth In the World

Di Jiu had originally intended to search for the beetle before looking for the flame. However, although the Spiritual Force imprint on his body might not cause him any problems in the near future, it still made him uncomfortable.

Di Jiu discovered quickly that the beetle was in the area where he wanted to search for the flame. Although he did not know how that little insect had managed to get over there, he increased his speed and headed over.

After attaining the seventh-stage Golden Core Realm, he could move nearly 20 miles at a time. This was because he did not continue to condense his Spiritual Force. Otherwise, considering the increased condensation of his Spiritual Force, Di Jiu believed that he would have moved an even bigger distance away.

The further Di Jiu walked, the hotter it became. After several days, a flaming mountain appeared in his Spiritual Force.

In Di Jiu’s opinion, this flaming mountain was not a volcano. A volcano would sprout lava and soot from a close distance. Although the flaming mountain in front of him was covered in flames, there was no soot in sight. It seemed like this was a pure flame.

What shocked Di Jiu more was the light blue flame floating on the flaming mountain peak.

At first, Di Jiu was elated. This was definitely a treasure. This flame was at a much higher level than the one he and the hunchback had found in the Qi Family’s Commercial Building.

Wait…

Di Jiu quickly sensed that something was amiss. Wasn’t this the location Zhong Xun and the sixth-stage Golden Core Realm Cultivator had given him?

Although the detailed location provided by the two men was different, they had both indicated a mountain. This mountain was obviously the place they had been talking about.

The Earth fire had to exist below the mountain. The Fire Nirvana Nest Zhong Xun had mentioned and the flame the sixth-stage Golden Core Realm Cultivator had mentioned should be located within the mountain.

Although he could not see a Fire Nirvana Nest, the flame ran to the top of the mountain peak. Didn’t this mean that…

Di Jiu did not have to keep guessing. His Spiritual Force sensed that there were several dozens of people at the foot of the mountain. Like Di Jiu, they were all looking at the flame on the mountain peak ravenously. Unfortunately, no one could obtain it.

Di Jiu’s heart sank. He was standing a long distance away, yet he was able to sense the extremely high temperature. It would be strange if he obtained that flame successfully.

There was something strange about this. This place must have existed for many years, so why would a scary flaming mountain appear when he obtained the jade slip? Even the flame hidden within the mountain would float to the mountain peak.

Di Jiu had a rough idea why. The culprit was either Zhong Xun or that Golden Core Realm Cultivator who had given him the jade slip. The two of them had cultivated in the blue lake for a few days, so their strength had increased exponentially. They probably wanted to try their luck here, yet they had failed and activated this scary flaming mountain instead.

Di Jiu’s guess was not far from the truth. This incident had indeed been caused by Zhong Xun.

After incurring Di Jiu’s wrath once again, Zhong Xun had been despondent. When all the cultivators inside the blue lake had left, he had gone back inside the lake and cultivated until he attained the eighth-stage Golden Core Realm.

He had risked his life, as he had known that cultivating within the blue lake was dangerous. Di Jiu would definitely kill him if he came back.

After he had reached the eighth-stage Golden Core Realm, the Spirit Origin within the lake had been very sparse. Just as he had been about to leave, he had discovered Di Jiu’s beetle.

Zhong Xun recalled that the beetle had flown out of Di Jiu’s body and into the lake to cultivate. Upon seeing this beetle, he had captured it without hesitation, placed a restriction on it and put it inside a jade box.

He knew that once he encountered Di Jiu, his life wouldn’t be spared for the sake of an insect. However, it would still be a bargaining chip.

The first thing Zhong Xun had done after attaining the eighth-stage Golden Core Realm was search for the Fire Nirvana Nest.

Who would have known that while his strength had increased, his array formation capabilities had not. The Earth fire there had always been nurturing two flames. One of them had been taken away by Zhong Xun’s father, while the other was the flame indicated on the jade slip the sixth-stage Golden Core Realm Cultivator had given Di Jiu.

Zhong Xun had accidentally broken the Dharma Array suppressing the Earth fire and released all the flames. In the end, he had been burned to death by the flames on the mountain.

When it had lost its restrictions, the second flame had gone wild and started to frantically absorb the Earth fire essence. This flame would immediately flee into space once it automatically advanced one level.

The explosion of the huge flaming mountain would naturally attract many Cultivators who had gone to the Sky Screen.

When these Cultivators had seen the blue flame, they had all gone even crazier. Some of them had risked their lives in hopes of obtaining the flame, so at least Five Golden Core Realm Cultivators had died in two weeks.

As time passed, some cultivators still refused to leave, even though they knew that they would not be able to obtain the flame.

However, Di Jiu had to obtain this flame. He would feel extremely uncomfortable if he did not obtain it and had to carry this Spiritual Force imprint around.

“Enter the herb garden, Little Tree.” Although the herb garden had become a Small World, Di Jiu still called it herb garden out of habit.

When Little Tree entered it, Di Jiu landed at the foot of the flaming mountain, where there were about 34 Cultivators. The majority of them were late-stage Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivators and Golden Core Realm Cultivators, so obtaining the flame would be a great help to their immortal cultivation. They were hoping that this flaming mountain would suddenly be extinguished or the flames would grow weaker.

The value of this flame could no longer be measured using average Spirit Stones.

When they saw Di Jiu land on the ground, two early-stage Golden Core Realm Cultivators who had been observing the flame grew pale. They both retreated subconsciously.

Before they could fully retreat though, Di Jiu’s saber had slashed at them.

“Please stop, Daoist. I have something to say…” One of the third-stage Golden Core Realm Cultivators took out his Dharma treasure while anxiously asking Di Jiu to stop.

Di Jiu had no intention of stopping, so a saber flash kept slashing at them.

Boom! The Dharma treasure of the third-stage Golden Core Realm Cultivator was immediately thrown away by the saber flash. Suddenly, a stream of blood spurted out. This Golden Core Realm Cultivator could not even block one of Di Jiu’s saber moves.

As soon as the third-stage Golden Core Realm Cultivator was killed, the first-stage Golden Core Realm Cultivator was killed as well. This cultivator did not even get a chance to take out his Dharma treasure.

Di Jiu walked over and took the storage bags of the two cultivators. When they saw that, the remaining cultivators retreated subconsciously, looking at Di Jiu with caution.

“These two sneaked an attack on me in the past. That’s why I killed them,” Di Jiu said calmly. “This had nothing to do with the rest of you.”

The two men had been the Golden Core Realm Cultivators who had attacked him in the blue cave abode. The third-stage Golden Core Realm Cultivator had actually inflicted an extremely serious wound on his back.

If it was not for the Spiritual Force escape technique, he would have died in that cave abode. Therefore, Di Jiu had no intention of showing mercy on these people. After all, taking revenge and showing gratitude were natural instincts.

After killing the two Golden Core Realm Cultivators, Di Jiu was about to leave. Suddenly, his Spiritual Force sensed that a man and a woman were approaching him swiftly. In the blink of an eye, they arrived right before him.

“You are really malicious, pal. You intend to walk off casually after killing the cultivators of the Constant Heaven Continent?” said the handsome man, who was wearing a golden shirt, as he blocked Di Jiu’s path.

“Senior Brother Min, there is a blue flame on the mountain peak…” said the beautiful lady who followed the man excitedly as she pointed at the mountain peak.

They had gone there to capture Di Jiu and obtain the Small World he had, so they had not expected to see a flame even more precious than a Small World when they got there.

Given their current cultivation stage, the Small World was perhaps more useful than a flame. However, all cultivators knew that the value of a flame surpassed that of a Small World.

A Small World could not be upgraded, while this flame could be upgraded repeatedly. A flame was the most useful item, regardless of how high one’s cultivation was.

“I know, Junior Sister Bijun. We will revisit the topic of the flame later.” The handsome male cultivator cupped his fists at the rest of the cultivators before he said, “Everyone, this flame is most likely unobtainable. We have a private matter to settle here, so please leave.”

They would all have left even if this handsome man had not said anything.

Even if they had obtained the flame first, after Di Jiu’s arrival, they would no longer be able to keep it. Plus, they were unable to obtain the flame because they were unable to scale the mountain.

If these factors were insufficient to suppress their greed, they would simply be committing suicide by waiting there after the arrival of those two cultivators, who seemed to be no weaker than Di Jiu.

Soon, all the remaining cultivators had left. Even though a few of them had not wanted to, they dared not stay. Instead, they chose to hide at a faraway place and observe the area from a distance.

Di Jiu did not speak this whole time. He could sense that this man and woman were very strong. The man blocking his path was most likely a perfected Golden Core cultivator halfway to attaining the Essence Soul Realm. The aura surrounding the beautiful lady was also powerful, so Di Jiu believed that she must have recently attained the first-stage Essence Soul Realm.

There were indeed many geniuses in this vast universe.

Although he had not seen it with his own eyes, Di Jiu had heard that a Pioneer Sea Realm cultivator less than 100 years old had entered the Sky Screen. Now, he saw an Essence Soul Realm cultivator under 100 years old firsthand.

Di Jiu calmed back down immediately. So what if one attained the Essence Soul Realm in less than 100 years of age? He had cultivated for less than 10 years himself and had already attained the seventh-stage Golden Core Realm. He also believed that he would reach the Essence Soul Realm when he left the Sky Screen.

“Nice going, pal! You must be a perfected Golden Core Realm Cultivator. I’m truly impressed that you killed two Golden Core cultivators from the Constant Heaven Continent without a reason. I am Zong Min, a disciple of the Constant Heaven Continent’s Enduring Immortal Sect. I am here to check out your skills as well.” The man in the golden shirt stared at Di Jiu mockingly as the spear on his back swayed slightly.

He and Junior Sister Bijun had clearly seen Di Jiu kill the two Golden Core cultivators without saying a word.

“Yes?” Di Jiu said lightly. “Does this matter affect you?”

The beautiful lady stared at Di Jiu coldly. “That’s right, it does affect me. Today, I will avenge my elder brother and enlighten you.”

Di Jiu sensed that the killing intent coming towards him was extremely intense. It seemed as if the lady wanted to swallow him whole immediately.