Ninth In the World

Panda Novel

Lan Ru did not conquer the Big Dipper Planet immediately. She was not cruel and bloodthirsty after all. Other than the fella in the Big Dipper Palace, whose bones and meridians had been shattered, there were at least a couple thousand people involved in the test trial.

She would only allow certain demon beasts to live on her planet. She did not want strangers living there.

However, throwing people with low cultivation levels into that vast, expansive space would only cause them to turn to dust before they disappeared completely.

Three days later, Lan Ru’s Spiritual Force sensed an azure Star Continent. She immediately lifted all the people on the Big Dipper Planet and conquered the planet without hesitation.

As she approached the azure planet, the pressure of the Law of the Universe grew. Given her current strength, she was obviously unable to enter the planet.

However, this was not what Lan Ru wanted. She casually carried the few thousand test trial cultivators like dumplings before she threw them into the various corners of the Star Continent.

Everyone who was thrown on this new land, including Yu Jie and Ceng Beizi, looked at the sky in a daze. When the Fairy Square had been invaded by the frenzied demon beasts, they had escaped into the Fairy Planet.

After hiding on the Fairy Planet for about a year, almost everyone’s strength had increased multifold. Anyone unable to adapt had been eliminated according to the Law of the Jungle. Everyone had originally thought that this would be their life from now on. They would only be able to return to Earth when they got stronger.

A few days earlier, the Fairy Planet had started to revolve and quake, so they’d had to search for places to hide.

Not too long ago, a gentle force had carried them away from the Fairy Planet and set them down on a foreign land like dumplings.

Were they still on the Fairy Planet?

…

After throwing everyone on this foreign continent, Lan Ru’s gaze landed on Di Jiu, who was still unconscious. This had made things difficult for her. If she didn’t despise massacring people in cold blood, she would have killed Di Jiu ages ago. However, she had woken up ahead of time because of him, so she had decided to spare his life.

Despite her decision, given the circumstances, Di Jiu would still get killed if she threw him onto the Star Continent just like everybody else.

It was evident at first glance that all his bones and meridians had been shattered, so it would be a miracle if he survived a fall on the Star Continent in his condition.

As she stood in the outer area of the azure continent, Lan Ru felt the increasing pressure of the force of the laws exerted on her, even though she had repressed her cultivation. She decided to give Di Jiu 30 more seconds. If she did not find a place where he could live within that time frame, she would just casually throw him onto the Star Continent.

This group of low-level cultivators of unknown origin had already wasted too much of her time.

30 seconds later, Lan Ru’s Spiritual Force landed on a gigantic group of courtyards filled with lanterns and colorful lights. It was obvious that this place was a wedding venue. A young man with a gloomy expression was pacing back and forth anxiously in one of the courtyards. A manservant in blue stood by the entrance of the courtyard.

“Qi Ting, help me think of something. Quickly! The Jing Family’s sedan chair will be coming by shortly to pick me up.” The young man turned around in circles. Unable to think of anything, he eventually asked the manservant in blue for help.

“I have an idea, Young Master,” the manservant in blue, whose name was Qi Ting, said with a chuckle.

“Come on, tell me!” the young man said anxiously before grabbing the manservant.

Qi Ting lowered his voice. “You could find someone to replace you. When that group of people leaves, you could also leave the family in secret.”

The young man frowned and said, “But where would I find someone that looks like me?”

“Why would you need to, Young Master?” Qi Ting said hurriedly. “That ugly woman has never seen you before. Plus, no one will check when you get in the sedan chair. The moment all the rites are completed and the sky darkens, the newlyweds will enter the nuptial chamber and be covered with a blanket in bed, so no one will be able to change anything anymore.”

“If the Jing Family finds out, they will not take this lying down. My position in the Zhong Family is not that high, so this whole matter…”

Before the young man could finish his sentence, Qi Ting chuckled. “Given your qualifications, if you leave the family in secret, you will surely be able to join an immortal sect. Once you do, the Jing Family won’t be able to do anything, no matter how powerful it is.”

“That’s right…” The young man clenched his fist. He had always wanted to join an immortal sect, but his position in the Zhong Family was too low, so he had never gotten such an opportunity. If he left the Zhong Family in secret, then he should be able to join an immortal sect easily. His qualifications had already been verified by an immortal cultivator passing by the area.

Of course, that immortal cultivator had also said that many other members of the Zhong Family would qualify as well. Why would that matter, though?

“Where could we find such a person right now? Is there even enough time?” The young man felt his future get increasingly brighter. He could potentially become an immortal cultivator like the ones he read about in stories, who stepped on flying swords. He suddenly got a little excited.

“You don’t have to worry,” Qi Ting said slowly. “The Zhong Family caught a thief yesterday and beat him up mercilessly. He should be locked up as we speak. I could easily take him out by using a few silver coins…”

…

Lan Ru drew back her Spiritual Force, grabbed Di Jiu and said softly, “The Jing Family is not bad. They could give you a stable life.”

As soon as she said this, she casually inserted a piece of information in Di Jiu’s memory. Then, she slapped Di Jiu’s broken bones a few times and threw him into the Zhong Family’s dungeon before throwing the original thief out.

However, something seemed to be amiss. While she was throwing Di Jiu down, Lan Ru frowned. When she had inserted some language information in his memory, she had sensed a mysterious aura of the Laws in his Purple Palace.

As the pressure of the surrounding Laws increased, Lan Ru let out a sigh. She must have slept deeply for too long, which had resulted in this illusion. How could a nobody possibly carry the mysterious, esoteric aura of the Laws? As she thought about this, she moved away and disappeared into the vast, expansive universe.

…

Di Jiu woke up with a jolt. Just as his Spiritual Force was about to scan his surroundings, a wave of pain was transmitted from his Spiritual Sea. He was unable to use his Spiritual Force. Soon, he discovered that all his meridians were shattered, while most of his broken bones had been healed.

Di Jiu was not concerned about healing his broken bones, as ever since he had acquired the gray stone with the golden lightning, he had also acquired a strong self-healing ability.

He was only worried about his shattered meridians and whether they could still heal.

This was not right. He was supposed to still be in the Fairy Planet’s Big Dipper Palace. Why was he here instead?

Di Jiu quickly realized that he was inside a sedan chair. When he looked out of the slit, he discovered that this was indeed a sedan chair. His heart sank when he saw the lively crowd outside. Wasn’t this the ritual a son-in-law moving in with his wife’s family had to go through?

Back at the Ji Nation, Di Jiu had watched this spectacle many times. Was he on the Fairy Planet? Due to a misjudgment, he had activated the killing array engravings inside the Big Dipper Palace…

When the sedan chair stopped, Di Jiu turned his attention to what was in front of him.

On his head was a tassel crown, a hat typically used by emperors in ancient China, which was decorated with strings of golden tassels that dangled at the front and back. The hanging golden tassels hid Di Jiu’s face. Other than that, he was also wearing a matching gown and belt.

“The auspicious hour has finally come. The couple will now bow before Heaven, Earth and their parents…”

Di Jiu was helped out of the sedan chair and asked to perform a series of complicated rites. If he had possessed his past strength, he would have immediately removed the tassel crown and turned to leave.

However, his current self was unable to do anything. He immediately started to wonder how he had gotten there. Where was this place? Was he still on the Fairy Planet?

After suffering through the rites for an unknown period of time, Di Jiu was eventually sent to a room filled with a faint fragrance.

When he sensed that there was only a woman inside the room, he lifted his hand, removed the tassel crown and threw it aside.

He immediately felt more relaxed when the tassel crown was no longer obstructing his eyes. Then, he started to size up the woman sitting across from him. There were no accessories on her head, which was unusual for a woman who had just gotten married.

The woman’s face was covered in scars, and she was missing a portion of her left ear. Even her lower lip had been cut off a little. Di Jiu’s first impression of her was that she was ugly.

The woman did not seem to mind that he was sizing her up. She calmly waited for Di Jiu to stop looking before she said slowly, “You were captured for stealing something from Zhong Hetian, yet you dared replace Zhong Hetian so you could marry into the Jing Family?”

Her voice was surprisingly clear and pleasing to the ears.

“What?” Di Jiu looked at the ugly woman in astonishment. He had stolen something? And what was this nonsense about him replacing a member of the Zhong Family to marry into the Jing Family?

How could he even understand what this woman was saying? This language had not been included in the language jade slip.

The ugly woman, who sensed that Di Jiu’s surprise was genuine, added in a calm tone, “Looks like you really don’t know anything. The person who was supposed to enter my family as a son-in-law was Zhong Hetian. He must have thought that I was too ugly and found someone to replace him. You stole something from the Zhong Family yesterday and got caught. Zhong Hetian let you enter my family as a son-in-law in his stead.”

Di Jiu now understood. It made sense that Zhong Hetian would be unwilling to marry this ugly woman. What he did not understand was how he had ended up being a locked-up thief. He also suspected that he had left the Fairy Planet.

“In three days, I will leave the Jing Family to take a test set by an immortal sect. You can stay here with me until then. In three days, I will take you away from the Jing Family and let you go wherever you want,” said the ugly woman, who did not seem bothered by Di Jiu’s silence.