Ninth In the World

Two more months passed. Di Jiu began refining the saber weapon after stabilizing his cultivation level. Now that he had advanced to the third stage of the Ekayāna Tripod Realm, his Spiritual Force was at the extremely stable level ten. Thus, he could easily execute the level-nine saber array—which was full of supreme-grade spirit weapons.

After continuously refining the saber weapons for a few months and amassing 6,642 supreme-grade saber weapons, Di Jiu could now use the ninth-level Defense Array and the invisible Dharma Array to protect Ji Ming’s tomb. Therefore, he left the Cauldron Elixir Mountain. He estimated that the Small Central World Planet was about to open, so Huan Mingzi should be waiting for him along with Di Di.

…

The road that led to the Small Central Planet was about 70 to 80 feet wide, making it impossible to see its boundaries. Yellow leaves had been covering this road for a long time.

In late autumn, the reflection of the yellow leaves seemed to make the sky look kind of yellow.

Although a deadly feeling lingered in the air, people still hurried by continuously, walking down the road with the withered yellow leaves.

An average young man with a red embellished saber walked down this road as well. As he looked up at the sky, his heart was filled with admiration for the array formation experts in the Small Central World. The alleviating restriction there had to be scrutinized in order to show any signs.

“It’s the Young Master Red Embellishment!” shouted somebody in surprise. The moment the young man stepped onto the road, he was immediately recognized.

It was Di Jiu. He hadn’t disguised himself during this trip to the Small Central Planet, as he knew that he would be recognized anyway. Disguising himself wouldn’t have made a difference.

Only the five large sects would be so tyrannical. No normal sect would have dared do this.

Shu Haolan had indeed been killed by Di Jiu. However, Di Jiu didn’t believe that Ju Qi had any concrete evidence against him. “You should be asking the nanny of the Genesis Sect Master why he is missing. Maybe she took him out to buy him milk. What’s the use of asking me?” Di Jiu said nonchalantly.

“Ha ha ha ha…” The sound of laughter was heard from nearby.

The Genesis Sect was one of the five large sects of the Small Central World. Thus, Di Jiu’s question about the nanny of the Sect Master of the Genesis Sect was a direct insult.

“You must have a death wish!” As Ju Qi suddenly flew into a murderous rage, a killing aura surrounded Di Jiu.

Di Jiu, who looked as though he had no means of retaliating, remained still. He wasn’t sure if he could strike here. Even if he could, he wouldn’t initiate a fight.

“Elder Ju, this man dared insult the Genesis Sect. Capture him and take him back to the Genesis Sect for now,” said a ruthless voice. Then, an extremely thin old man in red clothes appeared beside Di Jiu.

A strong aura swept in, making Di Jiu feel real pressure. This was definitely a True Form expert. Although he was not as powerful as Shu Haolan, he wasn’t weak either. Ju Qi paled in comparison to him.

As Di Jiu took a few steps back, his Spiritual Force landed on the Heavenly Aqua Saber. Once the True Form expert struck, he immediately executed a level-nine saber array. He had to make his opponent lose some blood before he left, even if he could not beat this True Form expert.

“Are you really so shameless, Qin Ku? You have the cultivation level of a stage-four True Form Realm expert, yet you are fighting against a late-stage Pioneer Sea Realm cultivator… Come on, come on… Fight me, if you are so good…” Huan Mingzi appeared as he spoke.

Elated, Di Jiu rushed forward to pay his respects. “Greetings, Senior Huan Mingzi!”

Huan Mingzi’s arrival was a powerful form of support. Di Jiu took his trip to the Small Central Planet very seriously. If he could attain the Life Tribulation Realm on the Small Central Planet, he would no longer have to be afraid of the Genesis Sect.

Qin Ku scowled when he saw Huan Mingzi, who was helping Di Jiu openly. Huan Mingzi, who was extremely close to attaining the Domain Realm, was considered an expert in the Prophecy Pavilion. He was actually one of the three Pavilion Lords. Even Shu Haolan would have been no match for Huan Mingzi, let alone Qin Ku.

The Genesis Sect had four True Form experts. After Shu Haolan’s disappearance, there were now only three. The only way to stop Huan Mingzi was to have all three True Form experts combine their power.

“Pavilion Lord Huan, you already have more problems than you can handle on the Prophecy Island. Do you also have to defend an Itinerant Cultivator?” Qin Ku could have told his men to capture Di Jiu. However, he didn’t dare act disrespectfully in front of Huan Mingzi.

Huan Mingzi laughed. “There’s no need for you to worry about the problems of the Prophecy Pavilion, Elder Qin. However, I lack some spirit herbs and need the Young Master Red Embellishment to help me go to the Small Central Planet. How could I not help him under the circumstances?”

Qin Ku didn’t say anything else. The Small Central Planet had many spirit herbs. Besides, there was only one rule about opening it—one had to rely on their qualifications in order to enter. The points of each large sect aside, one also had to be a True Form expert.

“Senior Huan Mingzi, the Genesis Sect Master went to the Herald Night Lake but never came back. According to our investigation, the Young Master Red Embellishment had also been there at the time. If the Young Master Red Embellishment wasn’t involved in this incident, why is he so unwilling to answer my questions?” Even though Ju Qi had cupped his fists before Huan Mingzi, he spoke loudly enough for all the cultivators around them to hear.

Di Jiu laughed coldly. He was sure that Ju Qi didn’t know that he had gone to the Herald Night Lake. After killing Shu Haolan, he had rushed back to the Yalun Continent and exposed himself by going to the Five Continent City to challenge Sea Roll Expert Jin Xun. If he had hidden somewhere else for about a year instead, nothing would have happened.

Di Jiu didn’t regret going there to challenge Jin Xun. Fortunately, he had returned early. If he had been delayed for another year or so, Di Di and Tian Ku would have been gone.

Di Jiu wasn’t afraid that they wanted to use public opinion to pressure him. As long as there was no concrete evidence of him killing Shu Haolan, this feud would remain between the Genesis Sect and him. If there was concrete evidence, an awful feud between him and the five large sects would take place.

“Ju Qi, since you have some questions for me, I’d like to ask you a few questions as well. Is that okay?” said Di Jiu happily.

Ju Qi, who didn’t know that Di Jiu was setting up a trap for him, replied without thinking, “I have nothing to hide. Ask me anything you want.”

Di Jiu smirked as he said, “Listen to my first question carefully. Of course, if you have a guilty conscience, I will understand if you choose not to answer or stutter while looking for an excuse.”