Ninth In the World

Di Jiu pulled out a dozen array flags and dropped them down. Then, a legible line of words appeared on the stone door in front of him — ‘Insert any type of grade-six, seven-patterned immortal pill within two hours to open the first array door.’

“Big Brother, you could definitely refine one, right?” Xie Huang asked excitedly when he saw the words. His trust in Di Jiu was unexplainable but blind.

Di Jiu nodded and replied, “I’d definitely refine a grade-six, seven-patterned immortal pill. However, it is written here that this could only open the first array door. This means that there is more than one array door in Dai He Hall. It would be pointless even if I could open it. If I am right, the second array door will most likely require an Elixir King.”

“Ah…” Xie Huang exclaimed before he added regretfully, “If I brought Excellency Luan here, we’d be able to open the second array door.”

Di Jiu shook his head and said, “I’m afraid not.”

“Why not? Excellency Luan is an Alchemy Supremacy capable of refining grade-eight immortal pills.” Xie Huang argued, as he was unconvinced. Before he had met Di Jiu, he had only managed to hold on stably because Excellency Luan had refined an elixir to suppress his desire poison.

Di Jiu laughed and replied, “Maybe Excellency Luan is capable of refining grade-eight immortal pills, but I doubt that he could refine grade-seven, seven-patterned immortal pills.”

Excellency Luan had only managed to refine nine-patterned immortal pills because he had been inspired by Creation Wood and, more importantly, the Ninth Dao Law.

Xie Huang was at a loss for words after he heard Di Jiu. He knew how difficult it was to refine seven-patterned immortal pills, and Excellency Luan was actually incapable of doing that.

However, a second rumor soon spread across town: The cultivator who had gotten away wasn’t an Immortal Emperor. It was Di Jiu, who had once sold Starry Sky Tea in the Gigantic Tripod Liberal Immortal City.

Apparently, Di Jiu had only managed to get away because he knew an escape technique. Moreover, he had purchased the Meridian-Splitting Pill and taken it beforehand to boost his strength. Although he had managed to get away, he had become disabled, for his meridians had been destroyed after he’d taken the pill and he had been taken away by an Immortal Emperor.

While everyone was wondering which rumor was true, the Starry Sky Tea House was forcibly seized.

The person who seized the Starry Sky Tea House was the Great Fortune Inn’s manager, Hui, who had insulted Di Jiu in the past and ended up being nailed to the Starry Sky Tea House’s walls by Di Jiu’s saber. This had happened because the Starry Sky Tea House had been backed by the Starry Demon Palace.

After the auction in the Gigantic Tripod Liberal Immortal City, Starry Demon Palace’s Palatial Lord, Xie Wanling, openly claimed that the Starry Sky Tea House had no ties to him. Moreover, Heavenly Cloud Dao’s Immortal Emperor Great Sovereignty told the Gigantic Tripod Liberal Immortal City’s Deputy City Lord, Jie Guangmao, that a ruthless person like Di Jiu had no right to stay in the Gigantic Tripod Liberal Immortal City and anyone could punish him. That was akin to expressing his support for Jie Guangmao openly.

Xie Wanling had said that the Starry Sky Tea House had no ties to him, and Immortal Emperor Great Sovereignty had also expressed his support for Jie Guangmao. Therefore, as Jie Guangmao’s subordinate, Hui naturally seized the Starry Sky Tea House by force immediately.

When the Great Fortune Inn’s manager seized the Starry Sky Tea House, more people were convinced that it was Di Jiu who had walked away with so much treasure from the auction. Only someone as cocky as him would dare to go against an Immortal Emperor. Similarly, only someone like Di Jiu, who was involved in the Starry Sky Tea business, would have so many Liberal Points.

The only person in the entire Gigantic Tripod Liberal Immortal City that was worried about Di Jiu was probably Huo Jianqian.

Huo Jianqian didn’t know if Di Jiu had managed to escape from the Gigantic Tripod Liberal Immortal City. As the person with the closest ties to Di Jiu, she had even destroyed Di Jiu’s communication pearl, so there was no chance that she could send a message to him.

As the deacon of an Elixir Dispensary, Huo Jianqian obviously wasn’t an idiot. She knew very well that she was being secretly monitored by many experts. If she made any moves, she would most likely be dragged into this mess too.

After the Great Fortune Inn took over the Starry Sky Tea House by force and started selling another type of Immortal Spirit Tea, the Gigantic Tripod Liberal Immortal City issued a warrant for Di Jiu’s arrest.

The warrant stated that Di Jiu had deceived cultivators in the Gigantic Tripod Liberal Immortal City and sold Starry Sky Tea at a ridiculous price. He was a man with no morals and an enemy of the people. Any cultivators who had any information about Di Jiu would be handsomely rewarded.

The Gigantic Tripod Liberal Immortal City wasn’t the only power that had issued such a warrant. Heavenly Cloud Dao, Starry Demon Hall, Buzhou Immortal Sect, and a dozen other sects and Immortal Emperors had done the same.

The only superpower in the entire Gigantic Tripod Liberal Immortal City that did not issue a warrant for Di Jiu’s arrest was the Gigantic Tripod Elixir Association.

No matter what, Di Jiu was still their Alchemy Master. Therefore, the Gigantic Tripod Elixir Association naturally would not issue a warrant for him like everyone else, who had obviously done so because they were after Di Jiu’s belongings.

…

Meanwhile, the rich Immortal Spirit Qi in the second hall of Dai He Hall had almost turned into clouds. Everyone’s cultivation skyrocketed as time went by.

In the blink of an eye, eight years had passed. Di Jiu’s cultivation hadn’t improved the most. Even though he had absorbed the most Immortal Spirit Qi in the fastest time possible, his Starry Sky meridian and vast Spiritual Sea required several times more Immortal Spirit Qi than the others.

Xie Huang’s and Black Fire’s cultivation had improved the most. Black Fire had gone beyond level six and was now pressing towards becoming a level-seven demon beast. Meanwhile, Xie Huang was already a seventh-stage Zenith Heaven Immortal. It wouldn’t take long before he could start advancing to the Immortal King Realm.

Little Tree, who was the slowest, was still a level-three demon beast. On the other hand, Mo Yuxuan had broken through to the seventh-stage Golden Immortal Realm. Her Nirmala Spirit Body was almost completely unrestricted by bottlenecks, as she was cultivating in a great environment.

Although Di Jiu had cultivated the hardest and absorbed several times more Immortal Spirit Qi than all the others combined, he was still around the ninth-stage Grand Zenith Immortal.

Di Jiu stopped cultivating, as he knew that continuing his reclusive cultivation wouldn’t help him much. Since he possessed the Ninth Dao Law, he knew very well that his foundation was weaker. Even if he continued cultivating and advanced to the Zenith Heaven Immortal or even became an Immortal King, his foundation would only become weaker.

Plus, he needed to prepare the King’s Foundational Pills before he became an Immortal King. Xie Huang and Mo Yuxuan also needed them as much as he did.

Di Jiu wasn’t sure where he was going next, but he planned to upgrade his Heavenly Aqua Saber first.

The Heavenly Aqua Saber was currently a middle-grade immortal weapon. This was the perfect time to upgrade it, as he had obtained a piece of Zenith Divine Metal during the auction and could also summon a level-eight Dao fire now.