Ninth In the World

“I only have a few thousand middle-grade Spirit Stones right now,” Wang Zheng said guiltily. “This amount of Spirit Stones is insufficient to help Senior Brother Zheng.”

“I do not have any Spirit Stones.” Unlike Wang Zheng, Jing Mobing cut straight to the point. She did not even attempt to be tactful about it.

Qi Qian lowered her head. She had already asked them once.

“Let’s head over and see what’s going on first.” Di Jiu sneered mentally.

He knew that the possibility of the two of them giving out their Spirit Stones was extremely small. However, he had originally formed a team with Zheng Feisheng, who was alright. Di Jiu could not become as cold and detached as Jing Mobing and Wang Zheng under the circumstances.

“Alright, I will lead the way.” Qi Qian walked ahead hurriedly.

Perhaps it was because they were in the same team, but Wang Zheng and Jing Mobing felt too ashamed to stay behind. Thus, they followed Di Jiu and Qi Qian when the latter walked out of the room.

The flying boat contained a total of three floors. The first floor did not have a market, but there was a market on both the second and the third floor. The third floor was usually where Golden Core cultivators stayed, so the things sold at that market were better than those sold at the second floor market.

The incident had occurred at a spirit herb store on the second floor. Di Jiu spotted the store owner from a long distance away. The guy, who probably weighed half a ton, was at the third-stage Foundation Establishment Realm. He had to be cultivating by using a special cultivation technique.

“Did you bring the Spirit Stones?” When he saw Qi Qian walking over, the fat store owner chuckled, his fat shaking along with his movements.

Di Jiu immediately realized that it would be hard to settle this matter peacefully.

They had failed to pool together 100,000 high-grade Spirit Stones. However, even if they had succeeded, this matter would still not be settled.

“Senior Brother Zimo…” Qi Qian looked at Di Zimo. She was now aware that Jing Mobing and Wang Zheng were common teammates that could not be treated as true friends. The only person who could help her was Di Jiu.

“May I know where our friend is?” Di Jiu did not immediately ask why their friend had been kidnapped. Instead, he inquired about Zheng Feisheng’s location.

“Give me the ransom and we will bring your friend over.” The fat store owner continued to shake his fat parts.

Di Jiu took out a huge octagonal hammer and placed it on his back.

As he watched Di Jiu, the fat store owner sneered, “What? Are you thinking of starting a fight here?”

“Do you see me fighting?” Di Jiu said nonchalantly. “I only placed my Dharma treasure on my back. Do I need to seek your approval before I do that? As for the Spirit Stones, we have a lot of them here. However, we have to see our friend before we take out even one Spirit Stone.”

“Bring him over,” grunted the fat store owner before waving his hand.

A shop assistant at the mid-stage Qi Refinement Realm dragged Zheng Feisheng out and threw him onto the floor casually.

Zheng Feisheng’s head was hanging down, as if he was still unconscious. Di Jiu used his Spiritual Force to scan Zheng Feisheng. Besides his two broken legs, there was nothing wrong with his meridian or cultivation. For a cultivator at the second-stage Foundation Establishment Realm, this type of injury was nothing major.

Di Jiu was now even more aware that this fat man was just after wealth.

“Qi Qian, drag Brother Zheng aside,” Di Jiu said before purposely blocking the path of the fat store owner.

“What’s this about? Are you thinking of taking him away without paying the ransom?” The fat store owner felt an oppressive aura as soon as he finished speaking.

Di Jiu seemed to be standing in his way, blocking his movements.

When he sensed that Di Jiu was no ordinary person, the store owner took a step back and looked at Di Jiu coldly. He was confident that he would not escape or dare take Zheng Feisheng away.

“Junior Sister Qi Qian!” called Di Jiu.

Qi Qian had already moved Zheng Feisheng aside and given him a healing elixir. When she heard Di Jiu call her, she walked up to him hurriedly and bowed. “Yes, Senior Brother Zimo.”

“Let me see the rules and regulations of this flying boat.” Meanwhile, Di Jiu’s Spiritual Force sensed that a fella at the ninth-stage Foundation Establishment Realm was approaching.

Qi Qian quickly took out a jade slip and gave it to Di Jiu, who used his Spiritual Force to swiftly scan the jade slip. Then, he placed the jade slip back down and said, “We came in later, so we do not know how we’ve offended your business. If it abides by the rules and regulations of this flying boat, we are willing to pay the Spirit Stones. Even though we do not have enough, the few of us could sell our Dharma treasures to attain some more Spirit Stones and pay you.”

As he spoke, Di Jiu discovered that the cultivator at the ninth-stage Foundation Establishment Realm had stopped not far away. It seemed like this person and the fat store owner were not afraid that Di Jiu would pull any tricks.

The fat store owner was just afraid that Di Jiu would be foolish enough to fight inside his store. Although Di Jiu surely had a death wish, this situation was unfavorable. Thus, the owner pointed at Zheng Feisheng and said coldly, “This man tried to purchase a Blood Quintessential Herb at my store earlier. Although the Blood Quintessential Herb is a rare level-three spirit herb, it’s not exceptionally expensive. One herb costs 150 high-grade Spirit Stones. He wanted to purchase two Blood Quintessential Herbs, but my shop assistant brought out the wrong herbs. He actually took out a Glass Nacre Herb. Your friend recognized the Glass Nacre Herb, grabbed it quickly and placed it inside his storage bag…”

“A Glass Nacre Herb?” repeated Di Jiu in surprise.

He could be considered knowledgeable, so he knew very well what a Glass Nacre Herb was. This herb was a level-five spirit herb that was considered a precious treasure used in the making of the Glass Soul Elixir. The value of this herb surpassed its ranks, as the Glass Soul Elixir could even heal the Principal Spirit of an Essence Soul cultivator. Some level-nine spirit herbs were actually cheaper than the Glass Nacre Herb.

If this had truly been a Glass Nacre Herb, 100,000 high-grade Spirit Stones would probably not be enough to purchase even one leaf of the herb.

The fat store owner let out a sad sigh. “My store should actually also bear part of the responsibility. My shop assistant failed to recognize the Glass Nacre Herb after all. Otherwise, I would not have let this go even if you paid me one million high-grade Spirit Stones.”

Di Jiu refused to believe the man. Although the Glass Nacre Herb and the Blood Quintessential Herb looked similar, there were actually some huge differences between them, such as the crystal-like white line in the middle of the Glass Narce Herb. After plucking the herb, one could not use their hand to touch it anymore. Otherwise, the herb would turn to dust. Even alchemists refining the Glass Soul Elixir would use their Spiritual Force to wrap this herb up.

No one would believe that a shop assistant of a spirit herb store would not recognize a Glass Nacre Herb. Plus, how could the shop assistant be able to directly take out an herb as precious as the Glass Nacre Herb? The fat man’s words did not make sense.

The store owner pointed at Zheng Feisheng again and said, “When he grabbed the Glass Nacre Herb, he accidentally touched the herb and caused it to turn to ashes. Do you think 100,000 high-grade Spirit Stones is too much?”

Zheng Feisheng woke up. When he saw that Di Jiu and the others were there, he said regretfully, “I’m sorry that I’ve implicated everyone.”

Wang Zheng and Jing Mobing remained silent. They’d had no intention of helping out right from the start. Meanwhile, Qi Qian said hurriedly, “Senior Brother, Senior Brother Zimo has been helping me out ever since he heard about this.”

Zheng Feisheng was no fool. How could he not know this, when Wang Zheng and Jing Mobing remained silent?

Di Jiu walked up to Zheng Feisheng and asked, “Brother Zheng, are you certain that it was a Glass Nacre Herb you saw?”

Zheng Feisheng sighed. “I can’t be wrong. It was indeed a Glass Nacre Herb. However, I’m sure that I didn’t touch it with my hand.”

Di Jiu patted Zheng Feisheng on the shoulders and smiled. “Looks like you have been scammed. Unless I’m wrong, you must have come here to purchase a Foundation Quintessential Elixir. The seller told you that in order to purchase a Foundation Quintessential Elixir, you needed to buy two Blood Quintessential Herbs, which are the main ingredient of the elixir. When you came here to purchase the Blood Quintessential Herbs, seeing the Glass Nacre Herb tempted you.”

Di Jiu did not believe that 100,000 was sufficient compensation for a ruined Glass Nacre Herb. It seemed like the mastermind of this scam knew that they would not be able to get more than 100,000.

Zheng Feisheng sighed. “I have already given them a top-notch ore. It was a level-four Pure Heaven Saber Gold…”

“You gave this man a level-four Pure Heaven Saber Gold?” asked Di Jiu while forcefully curbing his excitement.

He desperately wanted a Pure Heaven Saber Gold. This was the best material to make a saber Dharma treasure. Unfortunately, he had not seen or found it anywhere.

Di Jiu had read in an incomplete ancient jade slip that the Pure Heaven Saber Gold was a level-four blacksmithing material. However, it was considered a rank-less blacksmithing material, because it had a unique characteristic. If the Pure Heaven Saber Gold was combined with the level-nine blacksmithing material Violet Aqua Sand, the saber weapon made could be upgraded.

Although the Violet Aqua Sand was extremely rare and valuable, it was incomparable to the value of an upgradeable Dharma treasure. Even if this ability was not limitless, that weapon would still be a priceless treasure.

“That’s right. I had a piece of level-four Pure Heaven Saber Gold, but I’ve already given it to him.” Zheng Feisheng stared at the fat manager.

Di Jiu looked at the fat man as he said, “Return my friend’s item first. Then let’s sit down and calculate the exact compensation.”

He had set his sights on this Pure Heaven Saber Gold. So far, he had never had a good Dharma treasure. However, even if he could not find Violet Aqua Sand, he could still make a relatively good saber weapon with the Pure Heaven Saber Gold.