Ninth In the World

“That’s Senior Sister Moshuang!” shouted Geng Ji suddenly as they were passing by the residential district where the outer sect disciples lived.

Di Jiu had seen Jing Moshuang, so there was no need for Geng Ji to inform him.

Jing Moshuang was standing nervously in the large empty space of the residential district. Other than her, there were at least 20 to 30 other outer sect disciples.

“Brother Jiu, the fella who stole Senior Sister Moshuang’s storage bag is here too. He is the one in the yellow clothes. The stolen storage bag seems to be hanging in the middle…” At last, Geng Ji had wised up a little and stopped calling the fella who had stolen Jing Moshuang’s storage bag Senior Brother.

“Let’s head over there and see.” Di Jiu walked over immediately.

A storage bag was hanging in the middle of that empty space. There was also a pile of Spirit Stones placed there. Di Jiu counted at least 30. On the right side of the Spirit Stone pile were some jade bottles.

“This is all I have on me right now, Senior Brother Tao. I should not have tried to forcefully purchase Junior Sister Moshuang’s storage bag. If you want to hurt me, I shall accept the punishment,” the cultivator in the yellow clothes said respectfully, his voice revealing his terror.

A man with a great stature and a hair-bun walked out and shouted at the cultivator in the yellow clothes angrily, “Scram! Having trash like you in the Galaxy Sect is a disgrace!”

As soon as he said that, the man cupped his fists respectfully before the surrounding crowd and said, “Our sect focuses on fraternal solidarity. Qiao Sa, a cultivator of the third-stage Qi Refinement realm, openly seized something from a new outer sect disciple. I am unfortunately not a member of the sect’s disciplinary committee. If I was, I would have kicked this kind of man out of the Galaxy Sect long ago. Now, I would like to take Qiao Sa’s belongings and give them all to Junior Sister Moshuang. These Spirit Stones and elixirs can be considered compensation for what he did to her.”

“Senior Brother Tao is awesome!” The surrounding cultivators applauded, their voices filled with respect.

After witnessing the scene, Di Jiu felt a little stunned. The disciples of the Galaxy Sect were so righteous as to care whether the items of a new disciple had been seized?

The man people called Senior Brother Tao nodded his head before turning to Jing Moshuang and saying, “You may take your things back.”

Jing Moshuang bowed hurriedly. “Thank you for your help, Senior Brother Tao. I just entered the sect recently. I would like to give this storage bag to you instead.”

Di Jiu looked at Jing Moshuang in confusion. She had just entered the sect, so she had to be aware of the value of a storage bag. Why would she casually give it to Senior Brother Tao if the item had been hers in the first place?

“Ha ha…” Senior Brother Tao laughed. He slapped the storage bag at his waist before he said, “If I accepted your storage bag, the Junior Brothers and Sisters here would think that I came here for it. Do not make things difficult for me, Junior Sister. I have one of my own anyway.”

Jing Moshuang bowed once again and said, “I will take back my storage bag then. I dare not take anything else.”

Jing Moshuang stepped forward to take the storage bag.

However, before she could touch it, Ouyang Tao had already put the Spirit Stones and the two jade bottles into the bag. Then, he placed the storage bag in Jing Moshuang’s hands. “You don’t have to worry, Junior Sister. Our sect may only be a second-rate sect, but everyone here loves and cares for one another.”

“Thank you, Senior Brother Tao.” Jing Moshuang’s hands paused before she took the storage bag and thanked him once again.

“Alright, everyone should leave. Should any Junior Brother or Sister need any help, you can come find Ouyang Tao.” Ouyang Tao waved his hand as he spoke. His voice sounded genuine and sincere.

“Thank you, Senior Brother Tao,” the crowd thanked him collectively.

Geng Ji rubbed his hands together. “Senior Brother Tao is a really good person, Brother Jiu. He is a true Senior Brother of our sect.”

At first, Di Jiu thought that Ouyang Tao had really wanted to help Jing Moshuang, just like him. Jing Moshuang’s face was ruined and she did not have a powerful background after all. However, when his Spiritual Force landed on Jing Moshuang, he sensed that something was amiss.

Jing Moshuang’s hands were shaking as she held the storage bag.

He also sensed that Jing Moshuang was extremely nervous, perhaps even terrified. She had not even looked up once to check what was happening around her. As soon as she took the storage bag, she left with unstable footsteps. Jing Moshuang should have been happy about retrieving her bag and acquiring several Spirit Stones.

“Geng Ji, wait for me at our lodging. I will take a walk before I come back.” Di Jiu had encountered many life and death situations, so he knew that Jing Moshuang had something on her mind.

If it had been anyone else, he would not have bothered. However, Jing Moshuang was a kind person who had helped him several times. If he could help her, Di Jiu would not mind doing so.

“Alright!” Geng Ji, who was kind of simple-minded, did not think much of it.

As the crowd dispersed, Di Jiu squeezed in between some cultivators and sighed deliberately. “Senior Sister Moshuang is so lucky. She attained a storage bag and Senior Brother Tao’s help. Why couldn’t I be lucky enough to answer a question no one else could?”

A small-eyed cultivator walking beside Di Jiu chuckled. “Stop dreaming. Master Xun always asks that question when he is teaching Dao. To this day, only Junior Sister Moshuang was able to answer it. That requires both good luck and talent.”

Why would he always ask the same question? Di Jiu stopped asking questions. He sensed that there was something strange about this entire situation.

His Spiritual Force was very powerful, so he casually followed Jing Moshuang from afar. Jing Moshuang’s lodging was not at a remote area. She actually stayed at one of the residential districts reserved for outer sect disciples. Although her Spirit Root was not that great, it was still better than Di Jiu’s and Geng Ji’s, so her lodging was slightly better as well.

After Jing Moshuang entered the house and closed the door, Di Jiu waited outside for a long while. When he confirmed that no one was following him, he found a corner behind Jing Moshuang’s house and put some invisible restrictions.

He was a level-four Array Great-Master, so even though he used arrays infrequently, no one would probably be able to see through his invisible restrictions in that residential district.

As soon as he made himself invisible, Di Jiu’s Spiritual Force entered Jing Moshuang’s room. Jing Moshuang was holding onto the storage bag with both hands while sitting on her bed in a daze.

Di Jiu was surprised. This was the first time he was able to sense Jing Moshuang’s Spirit Qi fluctuations. According to his understanding, she was at least at the first-stage Qi Refinement realm.

How many days had it been since she had entered the Galaxy Sect? How fast would her cultivation speed have to be to allow her to attain the first-stage Qi Refinement realm? He did not think that Jing Moshuang had also obtained a heaven-defying gray stone. Did she really have triple Spirit Roots given her cultivation speed?

Could Jing Moshuang have some kind of secret that Ouyang Tao knew about? Was that why Ouyang Tao had wanted to come into contact with her? More than an hour had passed, yet Di Jiu did not see Ouyang Tao come over. He began to suspect that his judgment had been wrong.

Just as Di Jiu was about to enter Jing Moshuang’s house to see her, a shadow suddenly appeared within his Spiritual Force.

The shadow was so fast that it reached Jing Moshuang’s house in the blink of an eye.

Di Jiu quickly realized that it was Ouyang Tao. His judgment had been correct. Ouyang Tao had decided to save Jing Moshuang for a reason.

Ouyang Tao knocked on the door and called out gently, “Junior Sister Moshuang, are you in there?”

Di Jiu’s Spiritual Force saw Jing Moshuang’s hands shake slightly. She immediately regained her composure and hung the storage bag around her waist before she approached the door with quick steps and opened it. When she saw that it was Ouyang Tao, she said in pleasant surprise, “Senior Brother Ouyang Tao! Please come in.”

Ouyang Tao did not enter the house. Instead, he stood at the entrance and said, “I will not be coming in, Junior Sister. Junior Sister Wang Qi, Junior Brother Yue Chi and I will be heading to the Furious Gale Mountain Ridge tomorrow for a test trial. Come with us.”

“But I just joined the sect. I have not cultivated at all…” Jing Moshuang said fearfully.

Ouyang Tao waved his hand. “It doesn’t matter. It is exactly because your cultivation level is low that you need to join the test trial. I joined Senior Brother Ping for the test trial at the Furious Gale Mountain Ridge in the past myself. Alas, as the sect becomes bigger, there will always be mean members. You already have a storage bag. I only wish that you could attain a mid-stage Qi Refinement realm quickly so that scum like Qiao Sa would not dare bully you.”

Ouyang Tao obviously wanted to help Jing Moshuang increase her cultivation level so that she could protect her belongings in the future.

“Oh!” Jing Moshuang cried out in pleasant surprise before she bowed and said, “Thank you, Senior Brother Ouyang. I understand what you mean. One cannot stay in the sect forever. I will head to the Furious Gale Mountain Ridge with you tomorrow.”

“Alright, I will be leaving now. We will be waiting at the Missions Hall for you tomorrow. Before we leave, we will accept a sect mission on the Furious Gale Mountain Ridge. Accumulating points is very important in our sect. If we attain some points when we come back, your cultivation level will increase at a faster rate,” said Ouyang Tao before turning to leave.

Di Jiu had no intention of speaking to Jing Moshuang anymore. Just as he was about to shadow Ouyang Tao, he saw Jing Moshuang quickly put her belongings away and walk out of the house, heading quickly in the opposite direction than the one Ouyang Tao had taken.

Di Jiu did not care where Jing Moshuang was going. He just wanted to know why Ouyang Tao was plotting against her. Jing Moshuang only had one storage bag. If Ouyang Tao had wanted that storage bag, he could have taken it when she had offered it to him. Di Jiu could not believe that Ouyang Tao could actually like Jing Moshuang.

Although he was not sure where Ouyang Tao lived, after shadowing him for more than an hour, he saw him enter the ordinary lodging of an outer sect disciple.

Di Jiu believed that Ouyang Tao had to be at a late-stage Qi Refinement realm, so he should not be living at a place like this.

When Di Jiu’s Spiritual Force entered the house, he was even more confused. Inside the house was Qiao Sa. Wasn’t Qiao Sa the fella who had seized Jing Moshuang’s storage bag and been taught a lesson by Ouyang Tao?