Ninth In the World

Panda Novel

Shangmou Tai possessed a strength of around the third-stage Grand Zenith Immortal Realm. Di Jiu knew that he would not be able to resist against Shangmou Tai’s attack for long without relying on other measures if the latter decided to launch an attack.

However, Di Jiu was not afraid of Shangmou Tai, for the former was on a boat that possessed a Defense Array. He would be able to cast the saber array to trap the latter while Shangmou Tai was attempting to break open the Defense Array. The prowess of the present saber array might be insufficient for him to kill Shangmou Tai, but it would at least take some pressure off him.

Shangmou Tai’s gaze landed on Little Tree and Black Fire. Little Tree was nothing. It was just an ordinary demon tree who was able to cultivate thanks to a lucky opportunity. He looked down on such pieces of trash.

Shangmou Tai sensed that Black Fire was extraordinary. Although Black Fire looked quite young, it possessed a powerful aura whose fluctuation was…

Di Jiu sensed that Shangmou Tai’s gaze kept shifting and his Spiritual Force kept going back and forth between Black Fire and Di Jiu. Although Mo Yuxuan was beautiful, she had currently only barely regained her appearance. Therefore, she looked just like any other ordinary female cultivator, perhaps a slightly ugly one at that. Her cultivation level was also low. She did not capture Shangmou Tai’s attention as a result.

If Shangmou Tai had known that Mo Yuxuan was a Virtuous Nirvana Sect disciple, he would not have looked down on her in this manner.

“Daoist Shangmou Tai…” Di Jiu interrupted Shangmou Tai’s thoughts. He knew that the latter could not see through his strength. If Shangmou Tai had known that Di Jiu was a mere second-stage Golden Immortal, he would most likely have attacked him.

A wandering cultivator like Shangmou Tai would definitely be extremely sinister. Otherwise, he would not have been able to survive in the void so far.

Shangmou Tai’s attention was diverted by Di Jiu’s words. He retracted his gaze from Black Fire and chuckled. “Daoist Di looks very young. If you are able to cultivate to this height, your potential is evidently much better than mine.”

Di Jiu sneered silently. Shangmou Tai was only putting up an act by speaking as though he had seen through Di Jiu’s cultivation level when he evidently had not. Di Jiu, who looked down on Shangmou Tai’s behavior, said coolly, “Your potential is not bad either if you were able to cultivate to the third-stage Grand Zenith Immortal Realm in the void. Your potential could be considered superior to that of disciples from top-notch major immortal sects.”

Shangmou Tai’s heart sank when he heard Di Jiu’s words. How had Di Jiu managed to see through his cultivation level so clearly?

The same logic applied in both the Cultivation World and the Immortal World. If one wished to see through someone else’s strength, the most basic prerequisite was to possess a cultivation level higher than the other party’s or to be more powerful in general.

The fact that Di Jiu was able to see through his strength meant that Di Jiu was no weaker than him and would most likely be even stronger.

Shangmou Tai took in a deep breath, adjusted his attitude, and laughed dryly. “Excuse my weak cultivation, Daoist Di. May I know if you intend to continue wandering in the void or to head somewhere else?”

Di Jiu opened the flying boat’s Defense Array restrictions, stood on the deck fearlessly and cupped his fists. Then, he said, “Daoist Shangmou, I originally intended to head to the Thunder Spring Void City. I suddenly gained some insight, however, so I now need to head to the protectorates on the land to advance my cultivation. Unfortunately, the Thunder Spring Void City is too far away. Do you know where the nearest void continent is?”

Di Jiu was speaking nonsense. The Thunder Spring Void City had naturally been made up by him. He knew that there were some void cities in the void, as he had found this information in the jade slips of those Sect Masters. These void cities existed mainly to serve the cultivators wandering in the void, on the floating continent within the void itself.

Shangmou Tai evidently had never heard of the Thunder Spring Void City before. Upon hearing that Di Jiu had gained some insight, since he was unable to see through Di Jiu’s cultivation, Shangmou Tai took out a jade slip and let it float in front of him. “Daoist Di, this is the locational jade slip of the Outer Tripod Void City. I hope that it will be of some help to you.”

Di Jiu did not look like an extremely wealthy fella. The only cultivator he was very wary of was the demon insect.

Shangmou Tai did not need to attack in order to gain such meager benefits. He did not want to take the risk, but he still wanted to measure Di Jiu’s true strength. That was why he left the jade slip floating in front of him and did not pass it to Di Jiu directly.

Di Jiu’s Spiritual Force had to be at least at the level-three Immortal Force if he was able to take the jade slip by using his Spiritual Force. Shangmou Tai himself only had a level-three Immortal Force, so Di Jiu’s ability to accomplish that feat meant that Di Jiu’s cultivation level was higher than his.

Di Jiu naturally understood what Shangmou Tai was trying to do. When he reached out and made a grabbing motion in the empty air, he took the jade slip floating in front of Shangmou Tai.

Shangmou Tai became nervous and subconsciously controlled the flying boat so he could retreat several dozen feet. He was certain that Di Jiu was more powerful than him, as Di Jiu had been able to take away the jade slip in front of him easily.

Di Jiu seemed to not have seen Shangmou Tai’s reaction. His Spiritual Force landed on the jade slip.

It was a locational jade slip which marked the name and location of the Outer Tripod Void City clearly.

Di Jiu let out a breath of relief. The relationship between the Outer Tripod and the Gigantic Tripod was unknown, but he would definitely be heading to the void city.

He would not ask Shangmou Tai about the Gigantic Tripod. Instead, he would ask in the void city once he arrived at the Outer Tripod.

“Thank you, Daoist Shangmou. I’m heading to the Outer Tripod now. Are you heading in the same direction?” said Di Jiu with a smile as he put the locational jade slip away.

Shangmou Tai hastily said, “I intend to put myself to the test in the void for a longer period. Hence, I will not be going with you.”

“Oh, that’s right. Which Immortal Protectorate do you come from?” Di Jiu suddenly wanted to ask, for he was curious to know whether Shangmou Tai came from the same place as him.

“I come from the Renwei Immortal Protectorate. I have some matters to attend to. See you again, Daoist Di,” replied Shangmou Tai before hastily leaving with the flying boat. He felt that Di Jiu seemed to be delaying him by engaging in meaningless conversation topics.

He had been wandering in the void for some time now, and he had encountered numerous people who would talk amicably at first before suddenly launching an attack later. It was not thanks to luck that he had been able to survive and cultivate in the void so far.

“The Renwei Immortal Protectorate?” murmured Di Jiu puzzledly as he stared in the direction of Shangmou Tai’s disappearing flying boat. He had never heard of this Immortal Protectorate before.

Di Jiu quickly pushed his doubts aside. He had only heard of the Sunset Immortal Protectorate and the Newborn Immortal Protectorate when he had come to the Immortal World from the Cultivation World. He did not know if the Sunset Immortal Protectorate used to be known as the Renwei Immortal Protectorate.

In any case, he finally had directions now.

Di Jiu gave the void locational jade slip to Black Fire as he said, “Black Fire, control the flying boat to the Outer Tripod Void City. I need to cultivate for some time.”

He had decided not to practice alchemy or blacksmithing, for it was highly unlikely that he would achieve a blacksmithing skill breakthrough within such a short time frame. Therefore, he chose to cultivate instead during this time.

…

Black Fire was still the one controlling the flying boat. The ship’s cabin was simply too small and Di Jiu was unable to take out that incomplete middle-grade immortal spirit meridian. He could only take out immortal crystals to cultivate.

In the past, Di Jiu would have preferred to spend more time cultivating than to consume any elixirs. However, in order to quickly increase his strength, he intended to use the Golden Elixirs to cultivate.

The Golden Elixir was a grade-two immortal pill that catered to Golden Immortal Realm cultivators, who used it while cultivating. There were some Golden Elixirs he had obtained in his rings, although these were elixirs he had no intention of using. The Golden Elixirs he intended to use were the ones he had refined himself, which were all nine-patterned special-class immortal pills.

The elixir poison present in the special-class immortal pills was little and would not affect the cultivator negatively in any way, so long as one did not become dependent on it.

Di Jiu rarely used elixirs to cultivate, yet now he was using the Golden Elixirs and a huge pile of high-grade immortal crystals. A month passed before Di Jiu broke through the bottleneck of the second-stage Golden Immortal Realm and attained the third-stage Golden Immortal Realm.

Three months later, Di Jiu broke through to the third-stage Golden Immortal Realm and attained the fourth-stage Golden Immortal Realm.

Di Jiu consumed an entire bottle of Golden Elixirs. After he attained the mid-stage Golden Immortal Realm, his cultivation speed decreased significantly. However, the effects of the Golden Elixir still remained.

Just as Di Jiu was preparing to break through to the fifth-stage Golden Immortal Realm, he heard Little Tree’s voice. “Big Brother, we have reached the outside area of the Outer Tripod.”

Di Jiu stopped cultivating and headed up to the deck, where Mo Yuxuan was already waiting. Black Fire, who had stopped the boat, had been waiting with Little Tree for him to come up.

When Di Jiu used his Spiritual Force to scan the area, he did see some shadows of cultivators using their Dharma treasures to travel. Within his Spiritual Force, he could see traces of a large-scale Defense Array. What lay within the array was unknown and indistinct. Di Jiu believed that it had to be the void-floating continent concealed by the Defense Array.

It seemed like the Outer Tripod Void City was within this obscure void continent.

“Little Tree and Black Fire, enter the Quintessential World…” Then, Di Jiu looked at Mo Yuxuan.

Mo Yuxuan hastily said, “I will enter the city with Senior Brother. I would like to take a look at this void cultivation city as well.”

Di Jiu had originally intended to make Mo Yuxuan enter the Quintessential World as well. However, he still did not know if he would find the Agama True Glazed Water. If he didn’t, Mo Yuxuan’s lifespan would keep shortening day by day. Thus, he allowed Mo Yuxuan to follow him into the city.