Ninth In the World

Two hours later, Di Jiu found the location of the spirit meridian. When he saw clearly the Defense Array protecting the spirit meridian, he was dumbfounded.

In his opinion, the array protecting the sect’s spirit meridian was even more powerful than the protective sect array formation outside. This array exceeded level-nine.

Even if he brought a crowd of people and they attacked this spirit meridian Defense Array together, it probably would not break open within a couple of months.

It would take 1,000-2,000 attackers several months to successfully break this Defense Array. In that case, Di Jiu’s share would be very small, so he would not do such a senseless thing.

After all, he rather liked the Heaven Saber Sect, which had originated from the unyielding saber intent.

Di Jiu sent Little Tree a message. He had decided to leave this place and analyze the Forging Spiritual Art.

Little Tree came over after a short while. When he saw that it was in high spirits, Di Jiu immediately knew that its harvest was not small.

“There are so many good things here, Big Brother! I discovered a spirit herb garden that contained many spirit herbs. I’ve obtained at least 1,000 herbs. Unfortunately, the highest-level herb was only at level-five…”

“Let’s go,” Di Jiu interrupted Little Tree. He had not expected to find any high-level spirit herbs there. Unlike herbs that grew in the wild, herbs within sect spirit herb gardens needed a spiritual plant master to take care of them. Otherwise, the high-level spirit herbs would wither easily.

Most importantly, high-level spirit herbs needed a world with complete laws in order to survive. This was what Di Jiu had sensed from the Book of the World. The law within the Sky Screen was incomplete, so how could high-level spirit herbs be growing there?

“What?” Little Tree exclaimed in surprise. “There are still many good things here, Big Brother…”

“Let’s go.” Di Jiu took a flying boat out immediately. Other people might not dare fly there, but Di Jiu did not care. He had flown from this place once and there had not been many dangers along the journey.

When it saw Di Jiu take out the flying boat, Little Tree dared not stay behind. It hurriedly jumped onto the flying boat with him.

As he traveled in the same direction, Di Jiu increased the speed of the flying boat. In just under a day, they reached the valley again.

Di Jiu liked to cultivate in the cave abode Qin Yin had discovered. There were not many spiritual objects or ores there, so very few cultivators would visit it.

Di Jiu did not know when the Sky Screen would close. He knew, however, that he would be teleported to the Sky Screen Square once this happened.

Given his current strength, he had no reason to be afraid of the Qi Family. Instead, he was afraid of the level-nine Array King who had placed the Spiritual Force imprint on the Spiritual Force escape technique jade slip.

He had not obtained a body-tempering jade slip, so attaining that flame was just wishful thinking. Fortunately, he had obtained a Forging Spiritual Art jade slip, which would be extremely beneficial to him.

After upgrading the Defense Array of the cave abode to level-six, Di Jiu called out Little Tree. He took out both the blue spirit meridian and the frosty blue pearl before he began to research the tattered Forging Spiritual Art jade slip.

Even though the words on the Forging Spiritual Art jade slip became increasingly unclear, it still benefited Di Jiu a lot. Several days later, when he used the Forging Spiritual Art to temper his Spiritual Force, he was pleasantly surprised.

His starry sky meridian was practically tailor-made for the Forging Spiritual Art. He followed the method indicated on the Forging Spiritual Art to temper and compress his Spiritual Force. Then, he completed a Qi Circulation through his starry sky meridian before tempering, compressing and using the Forging Spiritual Art once again. After a few Qi Circulations, Di Jiu’s Spiritual Force became increasingly condensed and his cultivation increased.

…

Boom! The powerful Defense Array of the Galaxy Sect suddenly shook violently.

All the disciples of the Galaxy Sect rushed out in a panic. However, before they could reach the entrance of the array, another explosion was heard.

The Defense Array of the Galaxy Sect was shattered into nothing. The whole sect was now exposed.

“Are you Qi Chenxiang from the Qi Family?” said Liu Musheng, the strongest expert of the Galaxy Sect, who was also the first to rush out.

Qi Chenxiang was even older than him. Plus, he was the strongest expert of the Qi Family. Based on his deep breathing and powerful aura, it was evident that Qi Chenxiang’s cultivation had improved significantly.

It had improved again? Liu Musheng was very alarmed. Qi Chenxiang had attained the perfected Essence Soul Realm many years ago, so if his cultivation had improved significantly, didn’t that mean that…

There was no need to guess. Liu Musheng was certain that Qi Chenxiang had attained the Void Spirit Realm. It seemed like the reason the Qi Family had not dealt with the Galaxy Sect yet was not because of the sect’s retaliation, but because the Qi Family’s experts had yet to truly return. This time, Qi Chenxiang had reached the Void Spirit Realm and come to find the Galaxy Sect. The only explanation was that the Qi Family had never entertained the notion of letting the Galaxy Sect off. Once the Qi Family’s experts had returned, it was time to settle the score.

Liu Musheng cupped his fists and said, “The Galaxy Sect has already been sealed. That year, Di Jiu…”

Qi Chenxiang did not wait for Liu Musheng to finish. Instead, he lifted his hand and punched out. A violent fist aura immediately engulfed Liu Musheng.

Liu Musheng’s first-stage Essence Soul Realm Cultivation had never been real. Therefore, he had no means of fighting against this fist move.

The two Golden Core cultivators following behind him realized that Grand Elder Liu would not survive this fist move and rushed out without hesitation.

Bam! Two bloody mists suddenly exploded. The two Golden Core cultivators were pulverized by Qi Chenxiang’s fist.

The remaining waves of Quintessential Essence made Liu Musheng spit out a fountain of blood. Acting Sect Master He Hui cried out in sorrow as he threw out several dozens of array flags. “All sect disciples must leave the Galaxy Sect immediately!” he screamed.

He knew that the Galaxy Sect would be destroyed by Qi Chenxiang that day. If the sect was to disband now, some seeds of the Galaxy Sect might still be saved.

The confinement array of the Galaxy Sect was activated, trapping Qi Chenxiang within it. Qi Chenxiang laughed. “A mere confinement array cannot trap me!”

He did not use any Dharma treasures. All it took was a punch for the newly-activated confinement array to start making cracking sounds, as if it was about to shatter at any moment.

Liu Musheng’s eyes became bloodshot. He grabbed an elixir and swallowed it before lunging at Qi Chenxiang frantically.

The elixir made Liu Musheng’s aura soar. Soon, his cultivation reached the late-stage Essence Soul Realm.

Liu Musheng’s cultivation had not been real at first. Even now that he had reached the late-stage Essence Soul Realm because of the elixir, he would not be able to stop Qi Chenxiang for long.

…

Di Jiu did not know that the Galaxy Sect was about to be eradicated. The condensation of his Spiritual Force had reached its limit and his cultivation had entered the ninth-stage Golden Core Realm. This had all happened within four months. The only thing he regretted was that the blue spirit meridian had become small once again.

Di Jiu stopped condensing his Spiritual Force. After learning a cultivation technique like the Forging Spiritual Art, his Spiritual Force was consistently being condensed.

Now that he had attained the ninth-stage Golden Core Realm, the only thing he needed to do was attain the Essence Soul Realm. His current Spiritual Force was extremely condensed, so if he entered the Essence Soul Realm, he could still survive when he left.

After completing a Qi Circulation through the Galaxy Art, Di Jiu was pleased to discover that the absorption rate of the blue spirit meridian’s Spirit Origin had increased once again, most likely because the condensation of his Spiritual Force had attained a certain level and caused his cultivating process to become smoother.

Standing a fair distance away, Little Tree looked on as the clouds of blue Spirit Qi on the blue spirit meridian were absorbed by Di Jiu one after the other. The smaller size of the blue spirit meridian could be seen by the naked eye. Its eyelids started jumping vigorously.

Big Brother’s Spirit Qi absorption during his cultivation was too fast. Given this cultivation speed, it predicted that the blue spirit meridian would not last long.

This spirit meridian also benefited Little Tree. The best thing about it was that it could help one overcome obstacles. Little Tree had originally intended to attempt a breakthrough by using the blue spirit meridian when it attained peak level-three. However, it looked like that would be impossible now.

Thanks to its wasteful Big Brother, this blue spirit meridian would at most last another year. A year later, Little Tree would probably still be far from attaining level-four.

Actually, it was ready to tell Di Jiu to stop wasting this supreme-grade blue spirit meridian. This kind of spirit meridian was better than certain breakthrough elixirs. Wouldn’t it be better to save some for when he needed to advance?

Little Tree knew very well that Big Brother did not like to consume elixirs. Besides, it was also unable to refine a Condensing Soul Elixir.

Two weeks later, Di Jiu attained the perfected Golden Core Realm and started to use his full concentration in attaining the Essence Soul Realm. With every attempt he made, he could feel his starry sky meridian shaking.

However, the Essence Soul Realm and the Golden Core Realm had an intrinsic difference; the Essence Soul Realm was the cultivation realm attained after the embryonic form of the Principal Spirit. Di Jiu’s insight on the Golden Core Realm was not sufficient. Hence, even though his cultivation realm was fulfilled, he was still far from the Essence Soul Realm, regardless of how many times he tried. The only effect his attempts had was that the starry sky meridian had been shaken repeatedly. However, he had yet to even touch the barrier of the Essence Soul Realm.

“Why don’t I practise refining a Condensing Soul Elixir, Big Brother?” said Little Tree hurriedly when it saw that Di Jiu was unable to enter the Essence Soul Realm.

Di Jiu ignored Little Tree, for he was certain that it would not be able to successfully refine a Condensing Soul Elixir. This was because of the restrictions of Little Tree’s cultivation realm, as well as the flame being used. Furthermore, the alchemy jade slip Little Tree possessed had been obtained at the Qi Family’s Commercial Building. He was already satisfied with the alchemy jade slips he had gotten there, as they had allowed Little Tree to become a level-three Spirit Elixir Master.

After attempting to break through for a day, Di Jiu stopped trying. It would be a waste of time if he kept doing this when he was still completely clueless about the Essence Soul Realm a day later.

Cultivation required patience. Although Di Jiu was aware of this, he was unable to take things easy.

“Don’t waste the high-level spirit herbs you obtained for the time being, Little Tree. I will have a use for them later. Don’t disturb me now. I need some time to analyze the Book of the World.” Di Jiu knew that Little Tree did not have any flames, so it would be wasting spirit herbs in an effort to refine high-level Spirit Elixirs.

Di Jiu had to find a solution as soon as possible. He was stuck at the ninth-stage Golden Core Realm with a tarsus Spiritual Force imprint on him after all.