Ninth In the World

Two hours later, the six of them reached the 88th level together.

The first thing they saw was Ji Hongchuan.

The Spirit Qi surrounding Ji Hongchuan was currently surging, ready to physically manifest itself. Di Jiu was astonished to realize that Ji Hongchuan’s aura was rapidly rising. He was about to break through from the first stage to the second stage of the Pioneer Sea Realm.

“This is a Dao Law cultivation level. Let’s cultivate here for a while, shall we?” said Xu Bai excitedly.

The Heaven Earth Spirit Qi of every Five Continent Dao Pagoda level was extremely dense, and this density increased with each level. However, none of the prior levels had had the Spirit Qi density and Dao Law clarity of the 88th level.

“What does everyone else intend to do?” Di Jiu looked at the rest of the group. Almost everyone nodded their heads in agreement.

“Alright then. We will cultivate here. Remember, when you cultivate, a strand of your Spiritual Force must be attached to the Five Continent Dao Disc. This strand cannot be moved,” Di Jiu warned them before seeking a place out. He intended to increase his cultivation level and reach the perfected Essence Soul Realm.

Just as he was about to gain insight into the Foundation Order of this level, he actually sensed an Order fluctuation in the space surrounding Ji Hongchuan.

Di Jiu’s heart sank. He realized that Ji Hongchuan was also able to sense the Foundation Orders of the Five Continent Dao Pagoda. The origins of this fella were definitely not simple.

Di Jiu would have agreed to this suggestion if he had not been at the perfected Essence Soul Realm. However, given his cultivation, he was certain that he would not be able to break these cultivation shackles and attain the Void Spirit Realm on the 89th level. In that case, it would be a waste of time for him to stay on this level.

Di Jiu was the team leader, so everyone was looking at him. Just like Ji Hongchuan, they evidently wanted to cultivate there for some time.

Di Jiu glanced at Ji Hongchuan, who was cultivating like crazy, and said solemnly, “I intend to rest here for an hour before heading to the 90th level. You can stay here and cultivate if you wish, Daoist Xu. However, I must remind you that the reason Daoist Dong was able to stay on the 81st level was because he could resist the pushing force of the 81st level so long as he did not walk up the stairway. The pushing force of the 89th level would be unbearable without the Five Continent Dao Disc.”

“We will follow you, Brother Di Jiu. We will head to the 90th level in an hour,” Xuanyuan Kong said without hesitation.

Since Xuanyuan Kong had already expressed his consent, the rest of the group could only agree. After all, Di Jiu had already agreed to everyone’s suggestion once before. They would be disrespecting his position as their leader if he had to agree with their opinion again.

Within an hour, Di Jiu had gained insight into the Foundation Order of the 89th level. He immediately stood up and led the way to the 90th level.

Ji Hongchuan opened his eyes and took a look as the group left. Then, he closed his eyes again and continued to cultivate and frantically absorb the Spirit Qi. Di Jiu had been right. He intended to break through to the third-stage Pioneer Sea Realm on the 89th level first before heading up to the 90th level.

The moment he entered the 90th level, Di Jiu once again sensed the Spirit Qi that assaulted one’s Spiritual Sea. Everyone was really excited to feel this Law Spirit Qi that could condense one’s Spiritual Force.

“There are exactly six futons here. Each of us can occupy one!” Yue Qiongyu said excitedly.

Everyone had seen the six futons. There had been no need for her to point this out.

Di Jiu, who had gained insight into the Foundation Orders of every pagoda level, had a vague premonition. It was too much of a coincidence that there were exactly six futons and six of them had headed up together. The only possible explanation was that, every time the Five Continent Dao Pagoda opened, the first individual that entered the 90th level would obtain a white-jade futon, while the people who reached the level afterwards would get nothing.

This time, the six of them had reached the 90th level at the same time. Hence, there were six futons waiting for them. If one person had reached the level alone, there would perhaps only have been one futon. Di Jiu suspected that the first person to reach the 90th level the previous time the Five Continent Dao Pagoda had opened had not been Yan Tashan. If he’d guessed correctly, Yan Tashan, who ranked first on the Sea Roll, was not as powerful as the fella who had stayed on the 90th level.

“Yes, yes, we all get one futon each. Ha ha! It was fortunate that we listened to Brother Di Jiu. Otherwise, if Ji Hongchuan had come up here first, there would have been one less futon,” said Xuanyuan Kong as he laughed.

Di Jiu also laughed as he said, “That’s right, we all get one futon each. Why don’t we place the Five Continent Dao Disc between the six futons?”

Everyone naturally agreed with his suggestion. Even Ling Yixiao, who wanted to occupy a futon, passed the array disc to Di Jiu without hesitation. Although he did want the array disc, the time was still not ripe. He would have it at the topmost level.

Di Jiu took back the array disc and placed it between the six futons under everyone’s watchful eyes, putting several explosive restriction array engravings on the array disc in the process.

He did not possess the refinement skills to create such an array disc, yet he was still able to communicate with an array engraving within the array disc to make the array disc self-explode.

Di Jiu had originally intended to leave the array disc on the 108th level when he got there and everyone teleported away. After all, no one else would ascend to the 108th level. His wish was obviously unachievable. Di Jiu was certain that Ji Hongchuan would seize the spiritual-force-tempering futons when he reached the 90th level and would most likely seize his futon first. Since he could no longer stay at this place, how could he allow everyone else to stay and cultivate, thus exposing the fake Five Continent Dao Disc?

The Five Continent array disc had to self-explode. He could not take it away or leave it on the 90th level and let the people who arrived later take it. Di Jiu could not think of a better solution other than making the array disc explode.

After putting the array disc in place, the six of them each occupied a white-jade futon.

Before they could temper their Spiritual Force, Di Jiu spoke up. “There are only six futons here. Ji Hongchuan will definitely seize one when he comes up and discovers that there’s none left for him. No matter whose futon he attempts to seize, I hope that everyone will attack him as a team.”

They all knew that Ji Hongchuan would surely seize Di Jiu’s futon when he came up. However, no one objected. It would be easy to remove Ji Hongchuan, who was a mere early-stage Pioneer Sea Realm cultivator, from the Five Continent Dao Pagoda if everyone attacked him together.

After reaching a consensus, no one was willing to waste any time. They all tried their best to temper their Spiritual Force.

Di Jiu guided the piercing Spirit Qi into his Spiritual Sea, feeling intense pain. Shortly thereafter, he discovered that this piercing Spirit Qi had started to circulate in his Spiritual Sea and was quickly converted into an even more condensed form of Spiritual Force. This Spirit Qi could also condense his original Spiritual Force even more.

The most common method to do this was by using up this part of the Spirit Qi before taking in more Spirit Qi to continue condensing one’s Spiritual Force. Di Jiu was a different case, though. He possessed the Forging Spiritual Art, so he could endlessly absorb this Spirit Qi to continuously temper his Spiritual Force.

His condensing speed was much faster than the other five indivinduals’.

In just two days, Di Jiu felt his Spiritual Sea vibrate slightly before expanding. The Spiritual Force condensation increased significantly right away.

Di Jiu believed that his Spiritual Force would be upgraded again. However, he did not know what level his Spiritual Force was at.

He was not sure when Ji Hongchuan would head up to the 90th level. The only thing he could do was frantically absorb the Spirit Qi there and temper his Spiritual Force before Ji Hongchuan came up.

Two more days passed. Di Jiu thought that this condensation speed was simply too slow. Unable to take this anymore, he took out a Roast Divine Herb and consumed it while guiding the Spiritual Force Spirit Qi into his Spiritual Sea.