Ninth In the World

Clutching the two wrinkled notes in his hand, Di Jiu walked towards the East District.

Just as Fei Yuelan had said, the East District was dilapidated. Di Jiu made a special effort to find an extremely rundown hotel where he planned to stay for a night before living.

He intended to leave the Honor Parade City to head to the Wang Chuan Temple on the Wang Chuan mountain range once daybreak arrived. Something he wanted was located below the Wang Chuan Temple. He wanted to take the Reincarnation Bridge while recuperating at the temple.

The hotel’s name was full of character. It was called the Journey Hotel.

Di Jiu had just walked to the entrance of the hotel when someone dashed toward where he was. If it weren’t for the fact that Di Jiu had fast reflexes, this person would have collided with him.

“I’m so sorry.” It was a middle-aged lady. She apologized hurriedly before sprinting to the front desk of the hotel.

The lady’s hair looked very dry and was casually tied up in a ponytail. There was a distinct layer of dust on her face and some dried blood stains were left on her clothes. She was carrying a scimitar on her back.

However, Di Jiu knew very well that this woman was in disguise. She was actually quite young.

“Help me reserve a single room for a night.” The lady handed a certificate to the front desk attendant.

Di Jiu took a glance at it. It was not an identification certificate.

“370 dollars. 500-dollar deposit,” intoned the attendant.

“Here.” The lady took out a few dollar bills and handed them to the attendant, who quickly helped her register.

When she accepted the room key, she seemed to realize something and she turned and sized up Di Jiu.

The clothes Di Jiu was wearing looked old and he was covered in dried blood. The wounds on his face and arm had yet to completely heal.

In truth, Di Jiu’s appearance was not considered bizarre. When the demon beasts were roaming the Earth, many warriors loved to wear such clothes.

Di Jiu had completely lost his desire to register, as he was certain that Fei Yuelan herself knew that 100 dollars were insufficient to cover the cost of staying in a hotel. Therefore, she had felt really embarrassed and left hastily.

This hotel was evidently considered one of the worst. One ordinary room at such a hotel already cost 370 dollars, and there was the additional cost of a 500-dollar deposit. He only had two wrinkled bills on him and he did not own an identification certificate.

Di Jiu turned to leave with a sigh. He decided to leave the Honor Parade City. If he was unable to find any form of transport, he would walk all the way.

The one thing he was not lacking was time. The distance he had to walk did not bother him at all.

“Wait up…” To Di Jiu’s puzzlement, the middle-aged lady stopped him just as he was about to leave.

Di Jiu looked back at the lady and asked in confusion, “Are you talking to me?”

“I am really sorry that I almost collided with you previously.” The lady apologized again.

Di Jiu knew that she was probably not speaking to him simply to apologize. After all, she had already apologized to him.

“It’s nothing. You did not collide with me anyways.” Di Jiu shook his head.

The lady smiled, revealing two rows of pearly-white teeth that were contrasting with her appearance. “Just now, I saw that you intended to stay in the hotel. Why did you choose not to in the end?”

“I realized that I lost my certificate and I do not have enough money. Therefore, I cannot stay in this hotel anymore,” Di Jiu answered honestly.

“Where are you headed to then?” asked the lady in astonishment.

Di Jiu hesitated before answering, “I want to head to Luo Jin in the South River Province. Do you know where I could find transport? How much would a trip cost?” he inquired.

The lady sighed and replied, “Luo Jin is quite far from here. If you do not even have enough money for accommodation, you would definitely not have enough for the transport to Luo Jin. Taking the train would cost several thousand dollars and an identification certificate is required as well.”

“It’s that expensive?” muttered Di Jiu. Back when he had been on Earth, a common seat had only cost a few hundred dollars when using the high-speed rail from Luo Jin to the Honor Parade City.

However, the lady said, “This is already considered the cheapest option. On the way, there are many ferocious beasts. Specialists are required to guard the train while it is moving.”

Di Jiu frowned. He was completely stumped as to why so many formidable wild beasts, including demon beasts, had appeared on Earth.

“It is very dangerous to leave the Honor Parade City now. Once night falls, there is essentially no one who can survive outside the city. If you don’t mind, share a room with me. I will get a larger room.” Di Jiu was surprised by the lady’s words.

They were strangers. Why would she want to stay in a room with him?

Di Jiu was still hesitant when the lady changed the room to a large suite. The deposit increased to 1,000 dollars and the cost of the stay for one night became 703 dollars.

“Let’s go. We can head up together,” the lady informed him with a smile as she waved the room key at Di Jiu. The front desk attendant seemed to not have seen it, as though such a thing was a daily occurrence.

Di Jiu hesitated a little before nodding his head. “Thank you then.”

Staying inside the hotel was definitely safer than staying outside the establishment. At least he could put all his focus into expelling the Poison Dao engravings within him and he would not have to split his attention between other matters.

…

The suite was not very big, but there were indeed two rooms.

The lady locked the door behind Di Jiu once they entered the room and said, “I’m Nong Xiuqi. And you are?”

“I’m Di Jiu,” replied Di Jiu casually.

Nong Xiuqi evidently had never heard of his name before, as she advised him, “Big Brother Di, did you sustain your injuries within the Major Crooked District, where the beasts roam? I heard that a demon beast came to the Major Crooked District recently and killed a Black Tier warrior. You must be careful if you head to the Major Crooked District’s beast district in the future.”

“I know that. However, we do not know each other. Why did you help me?” This was the question Di Jiu was burning to ask. He did not believe that people were so welcoming as to casually invite an unknown man to stay in the same room with them.

Nong Xiuqi bowed before Di Jiu before explaining, “I saw someone I am afraid of in the Honor Parade City, which was why I hastily sprinted into the Journey Hotel. Later on, thinking back to the speed I was using, an average person would certainly not be able to evade me. Even a peak Yellow Tier expert could not do so, yet you accomplished it effortlessly. Evidently, you are at least at the Black Tier…”

Nong Xiuqi herself felt that something was not quite right about that after she finished speaking. If her guess was correct and Di Jiu was a Black Tier expert, why would he be so poor that he would not be able to afford to stay in a hotel?

This was when Di Jiu realized why Nong Xiuqi wanted to help him. Firstly, Nong Xiuqi herself was in disguise and her age was nothing noteworthy. She would mean nothing to an expert like him. Secondly, Nong Xiuqi suspected that he was a Black Tier warrior and she wished to seek some guidance from him.

Di Jiu had no choice but to say, “I’m not a Black Tier warrior.”

Nong Xiuqi had already come to the realization that Di Jiu would definitely not be so poor if he was a Black Tier warrior. The reason Di Jiu had escaped the collision was most likely because he possessed fast reflexes or perhaps because this was a talent of his.

Realizing that this was all a misunderstanding, Di Jiu smiled politely and stood up. “It seems that you have made a wrong judgment. In that case…”

Before Di Jiu could complete his sentence, Nong Xiuqi hastily interrupted him. “Big Brother Di, it is dangerous for you to go out now. Since the room has already been booked, stay here for a night. We can discuss this matter tomorrow.”

“Thank you.” Di Jiu nodded and did not reject the offer.

He was not a Black Tier warrior, so Nong Xiuqi’s interest in him decreased drastically. She returned to her own room and locked the door behind her. The room was silent from then on.

She did not care nor did it concern her where Di Jiu came from and where he was headed to.

Di Jiu returned to his room as well and started to expel the Poison Dao engravings within him. There was no disturbance now, so he did not need to put his guard up. After starting the Nomological Qi Circulations, Di Jiu instantly sensed that something was different.

His Nomological Qi Circulations and Poison Dao engravings had originally been balanced, but the former was now slowly winning over the latter. A small discrepancy would indeed lead to a great error. The situation started improving after he let his guard down.

As a result, Di Jiu was extremely grateful for Nong Xiuqi. If he could cultivate in this place for three days, he would be able to use part of his Spiritual Force.

Eight hours passed in the blink of an eye. Di Jiu finally removed the first poison pattern. There were millions of them within him. Things were looking up now that he removed the first one.

Crack! The Spiritual Sea was still filled with cracks, but Di Jiu could finally communicate with it. He extended a bit of his Spiritual Force and could finally regain clarity of the surrounding 100-meter circumference. He was elated, for he had thought that it would take three days for this to happen. Now, it had only taken him a few hours.

A man in gray entered the hotel from the back door and reached the third floor with one step. He then went to the fifth floor and headed straight to the room Di Jiu was staying in.

He was certainly an Earth Tier expert. Di Jiu frowned, as he did not know any experts. Why was this person there this night to harm him then?

Di Jiu quickly reacted. The man should be here for Nong Xiuqi, not for Di Jiu.