Ninth In the World

Di Jiu let the two of them wait at the top while he jumped down into the pit.

The moment he landed beside the blue plant, he could sense the dense Spirit Qi in the air surrounding it. This Spirit Qi was somewhat different than the Spirit Qi at other places. The Spirit Qi there could cleanse one’s Spiritual Sea.

That was especially true for those little flowers, which emitted a soothing aura.

Di Jiu plucked two flowers and gave Pang Fan and He Tai one each. Then, he said, “These flowers are not ordinary. Consume them immediately and cultivate on the ground. I will cultivate here instead.”

Pang Fan and He Tai were both martial arts cultivators. However, Di Jiu was a Dao cultivator, so his need for Spirit Qi was much higher. The Spirit Qi at the bottom of the pit was denser, which was why Di Jiu let the other two men cultivate on the ground instead.

“These must be quality items. The moment I held this flower in my hand, I felt my Inner Energy fluctuate,” said He Tai, sounding pleasantly surprised.

“I think eating them straight away would be too wasteful. We have no other choice, though. Let’s eat them and see. Don’t forget to switch off your locators. If I do not come back up, don’t enter the pit and disrupt my cultivation,” Di Jiu warned the two men repeatedly before he headed back to the bottom of the pit once more.

…

The Fairy Planet had originally been a suitable environment for cultivation, and the Spirit Qi was even much denser in that pit.

When Di Jiu reached the bottom of the pit again and started cultivating, he realized that this place was way more cultivation-friendly than Earth.

After completing a Qi Circulation, he could feel the Spirit Qi flow like water and permeate every single meridian in his body. Then, it repeatedly filtered out the toxins inside his body and condensed into Quintessential Essence.

One day later, Di Jiu could feel his cultivation level soaring. However, he plucked a small flower and placed it inside his mouth.

Even without these flowers, he would still be able to break through to the fifth-stage Qi Refinement realm before long. However, he was anxious to increase his strength even further, so he chose to use one.

When he swallowed the flower, he felt a gentle, warm current spread across his body. This current increased his cultivation speed multifold and made his cultivation awareness much more profound.

As Di Jiu cultivated, time passed by in a flash.

However, he was unable to achieve Grain Abstinence. Although his hunger was reduced whenever he absorbed Spirit Qi, when he had no food for long periods of time, he would still feel strong hunger pangs.

Fortunately, he had forgotten about his hunger ever since he had gotten in this cultivating state.

When he perfected the fourth-stage Qi Refinement realm without any obstacles, his cultivation level advanced to the fifth-stage Qi Refinement realm. Even after this breakthrough, Di Jiu could still sense some Spirit Qi and spiritual aura left in his body. The essence of this spiritual aura and the Spirit Qi he had absorbed merged together and increased his cultivation level repeatedly.

…

It only took He Tai three days to advance to the mid-stage Black Tier. He really wanted to laugh out loud, but he only did so once, as he knew that he should not make any sounds that could affect Pang Fan’s or Di Jiu’s cultivating process.

He Tai looked at Pang Fan, who was cultivating at the other side of the concave pit. Then, he held in his excitement and grabbed a handful of dry biscuits to eat before he resumed cultivating.

Eating the little blue flower had helped him advance to the mid-stage Black Tier. However, he sensed that less than one tenth of the flower’s essence had been used.

…

Pang Fan was sitting on the other side of the concave pit, so he, He Tai, and Di Jiu formed a straight line.

Pang Fan, who was even more excited than He Tai, did not consume the little flower Di Jiu had given him immediately. Instead, he drank the bottle of medicinal liquid Di Jiu had given him first.

This liquid allowed him to advance to the early-stage Black Tier in only two and a half days.

Just like He Tai, who had recently reached the Black Tier, Pang Fan wanted to howl. Luckily, he remembered that Di Jiu had asked them not to disrupt his cultivation, so he curbed his urge to celebrate. Pang Fan gritted his teeth and swallowed the little blue flower.

He immediately sensed its extraordinary nature, as his cultivation level soared rapidly.

The three of them cultivated there, forgetting completely about the time.

Pang Fan and He Tai would occasionally eat a mouthful of food. Di Jiu, however, did not eat anything. He relied completely on the Spirit Qi in order to survive.

…

Back at the first garrison of the Fairy Planet’s Institute of Martial Arts, Wu Cheng’s expression was kind of ugly.

That day was their twelfth day on the Fairy Planet. Although two days had passed since their appointed meeting date, only 41 students of the elite class had turned up.

The total number of students in Elite Classes 5 and 6 was 61. If only 41 people had shown up, this meant that there were 20 people missing.

Other than two locators, Wu Cheng had not found anything else belonging to the 20 missing people. It seemed like the price of the law of the jungle was too high.

Wu Cheng knew very well that, should word of his methods travel back to Earth, he would be scolded as an immoral tyrant. So many people would spit at him that their saliva would drown him.

“Director Wu, the number of students we’ve lost is too high.” Wang Chuangtian had also encountered a demon beast, but his late-stage Earth Tier strength had allowed him to flee with some injuries after working together with Yu Jie.

Such a high number of missing people during an Institute of Martial Arts trial was not unheard of. However, these circumstances were not as unique as those of the previous trials. This time, Wu Cheng’s decision to adhere to the law of the jungle was to blame.

Wu Cheng took a deep breath and said slowly, “Earthlings must bleed in order to become stronger here. We will be the ones to begin this process.”

Yu Jie’s hair was very messy. This was not her first trial on the Fairy Planet, yet it was the only time she had felt like the Fairy Planet was undergoing a huge change. Some powerful demon beasts had entered the safe zone drawn out by the Earth Union.

Yu Jie felt guilty for Pang Fan’s disappearance. Although his strength was average, he was a passionate person who did not possess the arrogance of the other elite class students. If she could turn back time, she would definitely have escorted Pang Fan to the first garrison before leaving.

As he looked at the many students in varying states of disorder, Wu Cheng’s expression was very serious. Deep inside, he did not regret his decision.

Only 10 days had passed, yet these students were completely different from the students who had entered the Fairy Planet. Everyone now gave off the vibe of an expert. Plus, two students that had been almost at the Earth Tier had advanced. He believed that if this trial continued in the same manner, this group of students would eventually become the main force that would protect the Earth.

Even if only 10 people were left in the end, they would still be their only hope.

“My students, I believe that everyone has had some sort of encounter during the past few days and has understood many things that I could not possibly explain.”

Wu Cheng paused and pointed to the recesses of the Fairy Planet. His tone became grave as he said, “In the past, we had not encountered many powerful demon beasts inside the red line. Only one or two would occasionally pass through. I believe everyone knows that almost all of us have encountered some powerful demon beasts lately. This implies that the time when the demon beasts will collectively attack the Fairy Square is not too far off. However, there are not enough true experts on Earth. I will not discuss this topic any further. You just need to know that Earth is currently in an extremely dangerous predicament. We will not wait for the rest of your classmates anymore. Everyone has to continue their trial separately. We will be meeting at the second garrison in 10 days.”

…

Crack! Di Jiu heard a sound come from his Spiritual Sea as he suddenly felt his Spiritual Sea expand a little again. Meanwhile, his cultivation level advanced to the sixth-stage Qi Refinement realm.

Di Jiu’s Spiritual Force extended so that everything within one kilometer was within its range.

His Spiritual Force could see Pang Fan and He Tai, who had stopped cultivating and were instead talking excitedly about something. Di Jiu leaped and landed on the edge of the concave pit.

“Brother Jiu, you finally came back up. Why did you get so skinny?” Di Jiu had told Pang Fan to call him by his name, but Pang Fan simply admired him too much, so he had decided to call him Brother Jiu instead.

He Tai, who was just as excited as Pang Fan, dared not believe that his strength could improve so rapidly in little more than 20 days.

“Pang Fan, has your cultivation level matched He Tai’s to some extent?” Di Jiu took one look and immediately noticed the massive improvements in Pang Fan’s and He Tai’s cultivation. Their cultivation levels were similar now.

Anyone who entered the elite class was an elite martialist. Although no external factors had helped them previously, this time, thanks to the help of the little blue flowers, their cultivation levels had improved by leaps and bounds.

“We are both halfway to the Earth Tier. It won’t be long before we reach the true Earth Tier,” Pang Fan answered, his eyes filled with stars.

If his cultivation level had not truly been halfway to the Earth Tier, he would have thought that he was dreaming. Meeting Di Jiu had been the biggest opportunity he’d ever had. It was because of Di Jiu that he had been able to improve so much in about 20 days.

“This fella is a monster. He advanced from the late-stage Yellow Tier and got halfway to the Earth Tier in a mere 22 days. Now he is almost as strong as I am.” Although He Tai had said that Fang Pan was a monster, deep inside he believed that he was not too shabby either.

“Actually, He Tai and I got halfway to the Earth Tier by the 15-day mark. However, we have been seeing no improvements lately, so we decided to stop cultivating.” Pang Fan rubbed his head and chuckled.

“It has already been more than 20 days?” Di Jiu had not expected that he would spend more than 20 days back when he’d entered this reclusive cultivation. He had solely depended on Spirit Qi to survive for more than 20 days. It was no wonder that he had become so skinny!

“Switch on your locators first and take a look at them.” Di Jiu did not take his locator out, for he did not plan on going back.

As soon as Di Jiu allowed them to switch on their locators, Pang Fan quickly took his out and switched it on. He Tai did not possess one, so he just looked at Pang Fan’s locator instead.

“Director Wu has sent more than 10 emergency notices, requesting that we head to the garrison immediately. The last notice said that we should head to the second garrison instead. He Tai and I still want to stay with you.” Pang Fan lifted his head and looked at Di Jiu.

He Tai looked just as eagerly at him. It was obvious that they had already discussed this beforehand.