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.

Di Jiu had a favorable impression of Wei Shanshan, who came from the Galaxy Sect. Although most of his opportunities had originated from the gray stone, the Galaxy Sect was his first sect. It was because he had learned the Galaxy Art of the Galaxy Sect that he had been able to get where he was now.

The Galaxy Sect had not let him down. Moreover, one must never forget their roots.

“Senior Brother Di, please save Senior Sister Moshuang…” When she heard Di Jiu’s questions, Wei Shanshan remembered the reason she was there.

Moshuang? Di Jiu hesitated for a while before he remembered. “You mean Jing Moshuang?”

Wei Shanshan nodded her head repeatedly. “That’s right. Senior Sister Moshuang and Senior Sister Qin Yin were pierced by the Vile Soul Threads hanging above the Vile Soul Lake in the Vile Soul Valley… Oh, Senior Brother He Tai was also there. He said that he knows you too…”

When he heard Wei Shanshan mention Qin Yin, Di Jiu understood. Qin Yin must have told Wei Shanshan that he was there. She would naturally know where he was since she had discovered this place.

“Alright, take me to the Vile Soul Valley,” said Di Jiu without hesitation.

He did not know anything about the Vile Soul Valley, but he had to save Qin Yin, Jing Moshuang and He Tai.

When she saw Di Jiu take out a flying Dharma treasure, Wei Shanshan said hurriedly, “It’s prohibited to fly in this area…”

Wei Shanshan came to a realization half-way through her sentence. Di Jiu’s knowledge and experience were significantly greater than hers, so he would surely know that flying was prohibited there.

“There’s no need to worry. Let’s go. Lead the way!” With a lift of Di Jiu’s hand, Wei Shanshan was standing on the flying boat. Before she could speak, the flying boat had already left in the direction she had come from.

“Why were you with Senior Sister Moshuang? And what kind of place is the Vile Soul Valley exactly?” Di Jiu asked while controlling the flying boat after Wei Shanshan gave him directions. Meanwhile, he was also healing his injuries.

When he had broken through to the Essence Soul Realm, he had gotten injured pretty badly. Despite the help of the Spirit Rain, his injuries had still not completely healed during this short period of time.

“I’m following Sect Master He’s orders. He regards Senior Sister Moshuang very highly, so when she returned to the sect, he accepted her as his personal disciple and let her cultivate in the place with the highest density of Spirit Qi in the sect. Sect Master He gave Senior Sister Moshuang one of the only two Sky Screen slots and told me and Fang Andu to listen to her,” answered Wei Shanshan, who was also very impressed.

Although she was a Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivator, Senior Brother Di Jiu had lifted her with his hand and dropped her on the flying boat. It was no wonder that the Qi Family’s Commercial Building had been unable to do anything to him. Senior Brother Di Jiu was most likely already at the late-stage Golden Core Realm.

“Didn’t you just say that the sect only had two Sky Screen slots?” Di Jiu asked in confusion.

“My slot was obtained by my master outside, as I originally did not qualify to enter the Sky Screen,” Wei Shanshan answered.

Di Jiu sighed inwardly. It was indeed good to have a master.

Di Jiu’s Spiritual Force after attaining the Essence Soul Realm was even more powerful, so the speed of the flying boat was extremely fast. Two hours later, Wei Shanshan said, “We’re here. This is the place.”

“This place is a little strange, Big Brother,” said Little Tree.

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.