Ninth In the World

“Senior Brother Di Jiu…” A helpless cry traveled from the outside. As Di Jiu’s Spiritual Force swept out, he saw a lady in a wretched state rush over.

The lady was covered in blood, her tattered clothes clinging to her body. Her skin was exposed, and her hair was disheveled. She actually looked extremely wretched.

“Congratulations on improving your cultivation, Big Brother.” Little Tree was not concerned about anyone else, so when it saw Di Jiu stand up, it immediately went up and congratulated him.

“You are Senior Brother Di Jiu…” The wretched lady calmed down when she came closer, as if she could not believe what she was seeing.

Di Jiu used a dusting spell on himself before he casually took out an article of clothing and put it on. “That’s right, I’m Di Jiu,” he said. “But I have never seen you before.”

Despite what he said, Di Jiu felt that this lady was a little familiar. He must have seen her before.

The lady bowed hurriedly and said, “I am Wei Shanshan from the Galaxy Sect…”

When he heard her name, Di Jiu was enlightened. He had indeed seen her before. Wei Shanshan had entered the Galaxy Sect along with him. Her Spirit Root was not bad, so she had been accepted as a personal disciple by Tributary Lotus Peak Master Wu Zhenzhen in advance.

“How did you end up in this state? And how did you know that I was here?” Di Jiu looked in surprise at Wei Shanshan. She was already at the second-stage Foundation Establishment Realm, so it seemed like having a good master made a difference.

Although it had originally been a humongous tree that had not been to a lot of places, it had lived long enough to know this.

Di Jiu docked the flying boat. Two hours later, his injuries had healed significantly.

In front of him was an abandoned Spirit Stone mining site. The huge hole before him seemed bottomless. When Di Jiu’s Spiritual Force entered the hole, it was blocked by various restrictions. Some of these restrictions were natural, while others were man-made.

“Junior Sister Shanshan, this place is an abandoned Spirit Stone mining site. Is this the Vile Soul Valley?” asked Di Jiu uncertainly. He was wondering why Jing Moshuang and Qin Yin would decide to enter such a place.

“Yes, Senior Brother Di. Look over here!” Wei Shanshan took out two array flags and threw them.

A white stairway that exuded dense amounts of Spirit Qi suddenly appeared in front of Di Jiu. Di Jiu was shocked. He actually almost thought that Wei Shanshan was an even more powerful Array King than him.

However, he immediately realized that this was not possible. Wei Shanshan must have known beforehand that a Spirit Qi stairway would appear when one threw out two activation array flags.

When he saw this white Spirit Qi stairway, Di Jiu wanted to go down and take a look. This stairway was absolutely real. If the Spirit Qi of the stairway was so dense, it was not hard to imagine that good things would reside inside.

“The Vile Soul Valley is downstairs,” said Wei Shanshan as she pointed at the white stairway.

Di Jiu nodded his head and told Little Tree and Wei Shanshan, “Walk behind me and stay close to each other. I will lead the way. Let’s head down and take a look.”

“Yes, Senior Brother Di,” replied Wei Shanshan hurriedly.

When she had entered the sect, her starting point had been much higher than Di Jiu’s. She had heard a lot about Di Jiu, though. Even her Master might not have dared to do what Senior Brother Di Jiu had done, yet Di Jiu did this kind of thing all the time.

The Qi Family’s Commercial Building in the North Ridge City was not a place one could rob at will. However, that was exactly what Senior Brother Di Jiu had done.

Unfortunately, she had heard her Master mention that Senior Brother Di Jiu could no longer enter the Galaxy Sect. If he did, the Galaxy Sect would not be able to survive for long. She had discovered his whereabouts thanks to Qin Yin. Under these dire circumstances, she had not cared anymore. She’d had to seek out Senior Brother Di Jiu. If she had been afraid that he might bring harm to the sect, she would not have dared to contact him.

Senior Sister Moshuang would definitely die if she chose to not look for Senior Brother Di now. The sect master had said that Senior Sister Moshuang was the future of the Galaxy Sect, so nothing could happen to her. Senior Brother Di Jiu did not even fear the Qi Family, so he definitely would be able to save Senior Sister Moshuang.

The white stairway was so long that it seemed endless. Di Jiu was wondering how Wei Shanshan had even managed to walk out of this valley.

After walking for more than an hour, they finally left the white stairway behind. In front of Di Jiu was a valley with two sleek sides.

Everyone suddenly felt a dull chill. Although this was Wei Shanshan’s second time there, she couldn’t help but shudder.

The valley, which was very long and gloomy, led to unknown locations. Despite the fact that he had attained the Essence Soul Realm and his Spiritual Force had become much stronger, Di Jiu’s Spiritual Force was unable to enter the long valley.

“This is the Vile Soul Valley. A lot of us came down here, but only a few of us survived. Most people fell into the Vile Soul Lake…” said Wei Shanshan in trepidation.

“Why did you guys come here when it looked like there was nothing good to be found in this area?” Di Jiu did not understand.

Wei Shanshan pointed into the deep recesses of the valley. “There was a beam of blue light that contained the boundless aura of Heaven Earth Dao laws. Several ninth-stage Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators sensed the aura within this blue light and broke through to the Golden Core Realm. Senior Sister Moshuang and Senior Sister Qin Yin also benefited from the light and attained the Golden Core Realm. When that blue light dispersed, everyone wanted to enter the valley, but no one knew how.”

“An array master suggested that there was a hidden array here. When he threw out two activation array flags, the white stairway appeared. We all immediately swarmed inside like bees. That was when the nightmare began…”

Di Jiu, who finally understood what had happened, opened his hand. His saber instantly appeared in his palm.

If Wei Shanshan had found him at a later time, he could have successfully refined his own saber weapon. Instead, she had found him right after he had broken through to the Essence Soul Realm, so his injuries had not healed yet.

Di Jiu’s Spiritual Force completely engulfed the space that he, Wei Shanshan and Little Tree occupied so that he could sense any vibrations inside it. He believed that he would not fall prey to an average sneak attack, for he was able to sense the vibrations of the spatial laws.

However, Di Jiu was also aware that anything could happen in a dangerous place like this. He had almost been killed by a shadowless saber move on the Heaven Saber Peak platform after all.

Besides, the gray stone had not been reliable while he had been condensing the Dao fire. He would become the joke of the century if he was killed by his own Golden Core Flame, were it not for the fact that he managed to sense the Essence Soul Realm barrier in time.

After they had walked for about half an hour, an indistinct black shadow appeared within Di Jiu’s Spiritual Force range. Before Di Jiu could regain his senses, he heard Wei Shanshan scream. He immediately lashed out, using the saber he had in his hand.

A blood-curdling scream was suddenly heard. Wei Shanshan rubbed her neck with a pale face.

“How did you leave this place before, Junior Sister Shanshan?” Di Jiu asked as he stopped. It could not be easy to enter and leave such a dangerous place.

“Senior Sister Moshuang gave her escape talisman to me. That was how I was able to leave.” Wei Shanshan did not read too much into his question, as she had yet to regain her senses after almost getting strangled by something.