Ninth In the World

“Brother Jiu, will we be staying here for a long period of time? Will Ouyang Tao’s Great Uncle know that we killed Ouyang Tao?” Geng Ji asked hastily when he saw Di Jiu put down the jade slip.

Di Jiu sighed. “That’s right. His Great Uncle is the head of a sect, so he must be formidable. Unfortunately, I have forgotten something.”

“What did you forget?” asked Geng Ji.

“I forgot to ask Ouyang Tao why he wanted to plot against Jing Moshuang. I suspect that the mastermind behind this plot was not Ouyang Tao. If I’m right, then we are in trouble,” said Di Jiu with a sigh. He had indeed forgotten to ask about this.

Actually, Di Jiu had not taken this issue seriously, as he had not been concerned about the reason Ouyang Tao had been plotting against Jing Moshuang. He had just realized that it was possible that Ouyang Tao had not been the one plotting against her after all. If the reason behind this remained unknown, then it could turn into a hidden danger.

Geng Ji, who was unable to help Di Jiu do anything, naturally could not remember what Di Jiu had forgotten.

“Let’s not talk about this. You hold onto the Spirit Stone and cultivate first. I will find out what this whole situation is about.” Di Jiu took out a low-grade Spirit Stone and passed it to Geng Ji.

“Alright.” Geng Ji’s priority was finding out whether he could cultivate.

Even though Geng Ji had not seen him cultivate before, Di Jiu had been able to kill a well-known Senior Brother of the Galaxy Sect. Little Tree did not look weak either, yet it still followed Di Jiu around. All this made Geng Ji admire Di Jiu even more. He subconsciously thought that Brother Jiu was very powerful, so if he was unable to help him cultivate, then he would be completely hopeless.

This was not the first time Geng Ji had cultivated using the Galaxy Art. He had known the steps for a long time. The only difference was that he was unable to absorb any Spirit Qi in the process.

Di Jiu’s Spiritual Force stayed with Geng Ji. While Geng Ji was cultivating the Galaxy Art, Di Jiu could clearly sense that the issue was not Geng Ji’s inability to absorb Spirit Qi, but the stable status quo both when he was absorbing Spirit Qi and when he was not.

Following the path indicated by the Galaxy Art, the Spirit Qi performed a circulation in Geng Ji’s body before dispersing into the air again.

Could the Galaxy Art perhaps not be suitable for Geng Ji’s cultivation? Di Jiu’s Spiritual Force persistently observed Geng Ji before permeating his Qi Circulation.

Geng Ji was ignorant, while Di Jiu was fearless.

If someone else had been cultivating in his stead, the cultivator would have experienced a Qi Deviation if someone had used their Spiritual Force to watch them complete a Qi Circulation. Geng Ji, who was simple-minded, believed that Brother Jiu would not harm him, so he spread Qi across his body without hesitation.

Di Jiu observed the consecutive Qi circulation, but did not see where the problem lay.

Even a Golden Core cultivator might not have been able to spot Geng Ji’s problem. Di Jiu had only recently been exposed to cultivation, so it made sense that he was unable to spot it either.

Di Jiu extended a finger and rested it against the space between Geng Ji’s eyebrows as he said, “Don’t mind me, Geng Ji. Just focus on cultivating.”

Both Geng Ji and Di Jiu were ignorant. Geng Ji did not know that Di Jiu’s action could accidentally damage his Purple Palace and result in a disability.

Di Jiu might be a medical grandmaster, but Dao cultivation and medicine were two completely different fields. It was exactly because Di Jiu was ignorant that he dared to do such a thing.

While Geng Ji was spreading Qi across his body to his Niwan Palace ¹ , Di Jiu’s Spiritual Force aroused the gray stone in his Spiritual Sea. The Spirit Qi Geng Ji absorbed was instantly filtered by the gray stone before it was sent back to Geng Ji’s Niwan Palace by Di Jiu for another Qi Circulation.

Di Jiu could clearly sense that the Spirit Qi absorbed during a Qi Circulation was transformed into Quintessential Essence.

He hurriedly put his hand down in excitement.

Geng Ji, who was completely unaware, continued to complete a Qi Circulation. When Di Jiu removed his finger, his Qi Circulation could still convert the Spirit Qi to cultivation experience.

Geng Ji was currently completely submerged into cultivating, so he did not know that Di Jiu had stopped interfering with his cultivation.

Despite his small possibility of success, he had actually succeeded.

When he sensed Geng Ji’s cultivation level soar rapidly, Di Jiu took out a pile of Spirit Stones and placed them beside Geng Ji. Then, he took out Ouyang Tao’s materials and started to refine some array flags.

Half a day later, Di Jiu had set up a Spirit Gathering Array and a Defense Array. The two arrays were both level-two Dharma Arrays.

Di Jiu could feel his understanding of the Array Dao become much more incisive after he set up the two arrays. He had previously studied the Array Dao for a couple of years by making use of the theoretical knowledge within the gray stone in his Spiritual Sea. However, now that he had personally set up two Dharma Arrays, he had truly become an Array Dao practitioner.

Boom! The Spirit Qi in the room fluctuated violently. Geng Ji opened his eyes and looked at Di Jiu in extreme excitement before he said, “Brother Jiu, I can cultivate now! I can really cultivate now…”

“You can cultivate even faster than me. In just half a day, you have already attained the first-stage Qi Refinement realm.” Di Jiu shook his head. Geng Ji’s potential was too terrifying. Di Jiu now realized why Elder Yu had made an exception and recruited Geng Ji.

“Thank you, Brother Jiu.” Geng Ji was so excited that he was not coherent anymore. “I can now clearly sense something. When I was cultivating, it felt so easy and natural…”

Di Jiu thought of his condition while he had been cultivating. That gray stone had seemed to aid him in breaking through the Law of Heaven and Earth and allowed him to remain clear-headed and not become stagnant in the process. Thanks to the gray stone, Geng Ji seemed to have a deeper understanding of the cultivation process than the average person.

“Don’t be so grateful. Here’s a pile of Spirit Stones. You must cultivate again quickly. My cultivation speed is very fast, so you can’t be left behind.” Di Jiu pointed at the Spirit Stones. He now possessed several hundred Spirit Stones, so he naturally wanted to convert them into cultivation experience before he headed into the Marsh Ocean Forest.

“Yes, Brother Jiu. I suspect that I am absorbing Spirit Qi through the third method, by forming a vague, unrefined galaxy…”

“You cultivate through the galaxy meridian?” Di Jiu asked in astonishment. He could immediately tell that Geng Ji was telling the truth.

With the help of the gray stone, Di Jiu had established a fourth method of cultivating the Galaxy Art- the method of the starry sky meridian. His gray stone had also helped Geng Ji master the third cultivating method, so it seemed like the stone had powerful origins.

“Just keep cultivating, Geng Ji. But don’t tell anyone about your cultivation method!” Di Jiu warned Geng Ji.

If Geng Ji let this slip, Di Jiu’s life would be over.

“Don’t worry, Brother Jiu. I would not say anything even if you killed me.” Geng Ji was no fool. He knew that he had only been able to open up the galaxy meridian and cultivate because of Di Jiu. If this leaked out, Di Jiu would most likely be in danger.

Di Jiu casually threw Little Tree out. “The Defense Array is set up. Let’s all cultivate together. I have some Grain Abstinence Elixirs over here. Eat one when you get hungry.”

Little Tree’s eyes lit up when it saw the Spirit Stones. Geng Ji yearned to continue cultivating as well.

Di Jiu had not owned any Spirit Stones in the past, so now that he had obtained a pile, he wanted to increase his strength quickly.

As the three of them cultivated intensely within the Spirit Gathering Array, the Spirit Qi in the room soon became a whirlpool.

Di Jiu did not have much experience with this. However, as time passed, this cultivation disturbance became obvious to everyone.

…

People went to the Marsh Ocean Town from all parts of the northern province. There were also some people who came from other provinces. However, the power structure of the Marsh Ocean Town was not chaotic. There were actually only five great powers in the entire town.

These powers were the Cluster Alliance Elixir, the Deluxe Divine Dharma Treasure, the Qi Family’s Commercial Building, the Marsh Ocean Wei Clan and the Itinerant Cultivator Guild.

The Itinerant Cultivator Guild was the most powerful, given that most people who visited the Marsh Ocean Town were Itinerant Cultivators or scattered outer sect disciples from various sects.

In truth, the biggest power of the Marsh Ocean Town was the Qi Family’s Commercial Building, which was not really a local power. It was said that the Qi Family’s Commercial Building was one of the best commercial buildings in the entire continent, one that actually had a branch at every corner of the Polar Night Continent.

Even in a remote place like the Marsh Ocean Town, the Qi Family’s Commercial Building had a Golden Core cultivator on garrison duty. In the average sect, Golden Core cultivators were Elders.

The Young Master of the Qi Family’s Commercial Building was Qi Shao, who had perfected the ninth-stage Qi Refinement realm and was rumored to be halfway to the Foundation Establishment Realm. Anyone who attained and perfected a Qi Refinement realm in the Marsh Ocean Town was considered an expert.

Qi Shao came from the main branch of the Qi Family. The only reason he stayed at the Marsh Ocean Town and refused to leave was because he had discovered that, while there were no top-notch treasures around, this place was extremely beneficial for his cultivation. He had only been at the sixth-stage Qi Refinement realm when he had reached the Marsh Ocean Town, yet within a year, he had perfected the ninth-stage Qi Refinement realm. His cultivation speed was extremely fast.

He would have already attained the Foundation Establishment Realm if he had consumed a Foundation Establishment Elixir. However, there were two reasons why he had not. The first was because he did not wish to attain the Foundation Establishment Realm by consuming the Foundation Establishment Elixir, and the second was because he wanted to stabilize his cultivation base. As a disciple of a big clan, he naturally knew the difference between attaining the Foundation Establishment Realm with and without using a Foundation Establishment Elixir.

In the room with the densest Spirit Qi inside the Qi Family’s Commercial Building, Qi Shao was analyzing a magic technique jade slip he had just acquired, when a piece of news appeared in his communication pearl.

A Spirit Qi whirlpool had appeared at an Itinerant Cultivator town inn. It was said that this disturbance had been caused by two low-level Itinerant Cultivators who had just arrived.

He had to head over and take a look at the situation.