Ninth In the World

Di Jiu looked on as Shu Haolan disappeared after landing within the Herald Night Lake. He was shocked. He had finally witnessed the scariness of the Herald Night Lake. Shu Haolan, who was a True Form Realm Cultivator, had landed into the lake without even being able to struggle. What was the Herald Night Lake water made of?

Still, Di Jiu had killed Shu Haolan. Di Jiu let out a breath of relief as his Spiritual Force landed carefully within the Herald Night Lake.

Heat traveled once again. However, this time, when the heat landed along with Di Jiu’s Spiritual Sea, it was no longer as frightening as before. It also disappeared quickly.

A level-ten Spiritual Sea was indeed very powerful. Di Jiu’s Spiritual Force started to permeate the lake from its borders. It did not take long before he saw a black Roast Divine Herb at the bottom of the lake.

The Book of the World had been right. The black Roast Divine Herb was nine-inches tall, while black spirit patterns decorated its exterior…

Di Jiu was ecstatic. This was a level-nine spiritual plant. In his opinion, the value of the black Roast Divine Herb exceeded that of an ordinary level-nine spiritual herb by far. However, the issue would be how he would take the black Roast Divine Herb from the bottom of the lake.

Although his Tempered Body was at the Hollow Realm and his Spiritual Force was at level ten, Di Jiu was aware that his fate would be no better than Shu Haolan’s if he entered the Herald Night Lake.

To Di Jiu’s pleasant surprise, his level-ten Spiritual Force took the Roast Divine Herb from the lake with a sweep.

The spirit patterns on the Roast Divine Herb had originally been very distinct. However, when the herb landed on Di Jiu’s hand, it immediately became lifeless and showed no hint of spirituality.

Di Jiu sighed and threw the Roast Divine Herb onto the ground. It seemed like one had to use their hand to grab it the moment the Roast Divine Herb left the soil. This was such a troublesome, incomprehensible property.

His Spiritual Force had attained level ten, so Di Jiu did not need to wait till nightfall. His Spiritual Force circled the lakeside and quickly found several red Roast Divine Herbs again. Di Jiu dipped his hand into the lake swiftly and plucked out the red Roast Divine Herbs.

A sizzling sound was suddenly heard. No matter how fast Di Jiu’s speed was, even though he was a Hollow Realm Tempered Body Expert, the skin of his hand was still corroded. However, compared to when his body had been at the Monarch Realm, his state was much better now.

If he had tried to obtain the Roast Divine Herbs by the lake in the past, only the bones of his hand would have been left. His bones would also have gone gray in the end, even though the corrosion of the Herald Night Lake at night was weaker than it was in the day. Besides, he had cultivated the Colossal Kun Body-Tempering Art. Without that art, he would not have been able to obtain even a single Roast Divine Herb.

By relying on his powerful Spiritual Force and the Colossal Kun Body-Tempering Art, one day later, Di Jiu harvested 53 red Roast Divine Herbs and 11 black Roast Divine Herbs from the Herald Night Lake.

He had scoured almost all the Roast Divine Herbs surrounding the Herald Night Lake before he started to permeate the heart of the lake with his Spiritual Force.

An indistinct hexagonal platform appeared within Di Jiu’s Spiritual Force. His Spiritual Force immediately closed in. Just as he was thinking of looking closely to see what this hexagonal platform was, a frightening aura rushed into his Spiritual Sea.

There was an explosive sound in his Spiritual Sea. Then, a rumble echoed within it. Di Jiu felt muddled. He wanted to rush into the lake, kneel by the edge of the hexagonal platform and pray.

His Spiritual Sea was simply too vast. The rumbling sound in it quickly became weak and Di Jiu woke up temporarily from this stupor. An intense corrosive pain traveled from his feet, making Di Jiu retreat frantically.

Di Jiu looked down at his left foot in horror after retreating several hundred feet. He would have walked straight into the Herald Night Lake had he not suddenly regained consciousness.

His Spiritual Sea was clean and clear. Plus, it was a level-ten Spiritual Sea with a light gray ball. All it took was a thought on Di Jiu’s part for his Dao fire to land within his Spiritual Sea and that light gray ball to get burned without leaving a trace.

It was so scary! Di Jiu no longer dared approach the Herald Night Lake. He had finally understood the origin of the lake’s name. One had to worship that altar.

Di Jiu had harvested sufficient Roast Divine Herbs. His Spiritual Force was already at level ten, so he should not be too greedy. Di Jiu retreated and left the Herald Night Lake swiftly.

…

“I thought you would not come.” Di Jiu had just reached the outskirts of the Five Continent City when he saw Han Qingyi, who was carrying a blue sword and wearing a purple robe.

“Miss Han, are you once again going to make me put away the saber I’m carrying and enter the Five Continent City while bowing?” Di Jiu asked mockingly.

The truth was that he did not want to make an enemy out of Han Qingyi. However, this woman was just too ridiculous. Even though he had kicked Ji Hongchuan out of the Five Continent Dao Pagoda, that shameless Ji guy had attacked Di Jiu of his own accord.

Han Qingyi sized Di Jiu up and said coolly, “Your invisibility cultivation technique can’t be bad if even I am not able to see your true cultivation level. Give me an item that is in your possession. I will pay you as many Spirit Stones as you want. Our past feud will then be forgotten.”

“What item?” asked Di Jiu immediately.

He would love to give that woman one item if that would stop her from pestering him.

“The Plane Split Talisman.” Han Qingyi stared at Di Jiu as she spoke. Her tone was slightly threatening and her aura overpowered the surrounding area. She would attack Di Jiu as soon as he tried to escape.

Di Jiu’s heart sank. How did Han Qingyi know that he had obtained the Plane Split Talisman during the auction? He had been disguised at the time.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Di Jiu expressionlessly. He knew very well that Han Qingyi knew that he had obtained the Plane Split Talisman. Otherwise, she would not have stayed there for a few years waiting for his return.

“I will kill you if you don’t admit it. There is no one in the Five Continent City who would dare say anything about that,” said Han Qingyi with a tinge of killing intent.

Di Jiu finally understood how she had discovered that he had obtained the Plane Split Talisman. This woman came from the True Dominion, so no one in the Five Continent City or the Small Central World would dare incur her wrath.

Therefore, she’d only had to investigate who had purchased that ticket. Di Jiu had bought the auction tickets from the Five Continent Pavilion. He had even rented a cave abode from the pavilion. When so much information overlapped, it would have been strange if Han Qingyi had not been able to trace everything back to him.

Di Jiu sighed silently. He had forgotten to take Han Qingyi’s origins into consideration.

Even the Sect Masters of the five large sects would not have been able to obtain any information about the tickets sold by the Five Continent Pavilion. However, Han Qingyi was someone even the Five Continent Pavilion dared not offend.

One should never rely on other people.

The Heavenly Aqua Saber on Di Jiu’s back transformed into a blue flare and flew into his hand. Di Jiu, who had been explaining himself, now said lazily, “Let’s fight. I will play with you this one time.”

“You have a death wish!” The fire in Han Qingyi’s eyes was about to erupt. Meanwhile, her sword transformed into a blue sword that enveloped Di Jiu.

Her erupted fury stunned Di Jiu, who soon understood that his words had been too careless. The woman had misunderstood their meaning.

So what if he had been misunderstood, though? Di Jiu, who was not bothered by this, slashed out with his saber. It was practically impossible for a third-stage Ekayāna Tripod Realm Cultivator like her to oppress him. He had even killed a True Form Realm Cultivator before, so a third-stage Ekayāna Tripod Realm Cultivator was nothing in comparison.

Plus, this woman was suicidal. She had dared use a Spiritual Force sword engraving in front of him!

Anyone else would have tried to defend themselves from this attack immediately, even if their cultivation was at the perfected Ekayāna Tripod Realm.

Unfortunately, Di Jiu’s Spiritual Force was at level ten. Thus, his Spiritual Force was ripped apart easily by her Spiritual Force sword engraving. When the Heavenly Aqua Saber met Han Qingyi’s sword accurately, the blue flare landed and the sword and saber clashed.

Quintessential Essence exploded as Han Qingyi’s Spiritual Force sword engraving dispersed without a trace. Di Jiu sensed the onslaught of a terrifying Quintessential Essence Aura. As the Quintessential Essence Aura collided with his chest, he could not help but retreat a dozen steps.

Han Qingyi, whose face had been turned red by the rebound shock of the Quintessential Essence Aura, looked at Di Jiu in disbelief.

Although she was at the third-stage Ekayāna Tripod Realm, her true strength was incomparable to the average third-stage Ekayāna Tripod Realm Cultivator. She was not even afraid of the early-stage Life Tribulation Realm cultivators of the Small Central World. However, she had failed to obtain an advantage over Di Jiu after one blow. In the past, she had always fought with cultivators of a higher cultivation level. Since when could this happen to her?

Han Qingyi did not continue to attack. She had not used her full strength earlier, and she could tell that Di Jiu had not either. Given Di Jiu’s capability, she would not beat him even if she attacked with her full strength.

“You have indeed hidden your cultivation very well. A perfected Pioneer Sea Realm cultivator sneaked an attack on a cultivator who had recently attained the Pioneer Sea Realm in the Five Continent Dao Pagoda. He he…” said Han Qingyi mockingly.

She assumed that she knew the truth. Di Jiu was not an Essence Soul Realm cultivator, but a perfected Pioneer Sea Realm cultivator. That was why he had been able to sneak an attack on Ji Hongchuan. Di Jiu was able to block her sword with great difficulty because his cultivation level was similar to hers. It was around the third-stage Ekayāna Tripod Realm.

Di Jiu, who could not even be bothered to interact with this woman any longer, said coolly, “If we are not going to fight, I will be entering the city.”

He was also chuckling silently. She thought he was at the perfected Pioneer Sea Realm? If he had been at the perfected Pioneer Sea Realm back then, he would not have needed to use his footprint to kick Ji Hongchuan. He would have just slapped Ji Hongchuan away.

If he had been truly at the perfected Pioneer Sea Realm right now, let alone back at the Five Continent Dao Pagoda, he would have made her suffer with that saber move of his.

“Did you go to the auction held when the Five Continent Dao Convention ended?” If any other item had been at stake, Han Qingyi would have let it go. However, the Plane Split Talisman was far too important to her.

“I didn’t.” Di Jiu would naturally not admit this. Regardless of whether she possessed evidence, if the people who supported this woman had not been powerful, he would have already entered the city. He would not have stayed there to chit-chat.

Han Qingyi’s expression turned even colder as she asked, “So did you or did you not purchase an auction ticket?”

“I did purchase a ticket,” admitted Di Jiu without hesitation. Han Qingyi had used that ticket as a clue to find Di Jiu.

“What happened to that ticket then?”

“Someone asked me to help them purchase a ticket. I would also buy you one if you gave me 50,000 high-grade Spirit Stones and asked me to purchase an auction ticket that cost 50,000 middle-grade Spirit Stones.” Di Jiu denied his involvement completely.

“You’re saying that someone asked you to help them purchase a ticket?” Han Qingyi, who had been misled by Di Jiu, thought of another possibility. The selling price of the Plane Split Talisman at the time had been simply too high. Di Jiu did not look like he possessed that many Spirit Stones. Everything would make sense if someone else had asked him to help them purchase a ticket in order to hide their own identity.

“That’s none of your business,” Di Jiu said coldly.

Then, with a stretch of his body, he entered the Five Continent City.