Ninth In the World

“You shouldn’t have given the Void Lattice Elixir Shu Haolan gave you to Hu Yipan. Shu Haolan is suspicious in nature. What you did will only make him backtrack,” said Huan Mingzi casually as he took a sip of the tea.

Di Jiu’s heart sank. Ever since he had obtained the Void Lattice Elixir from Shu Haolan, he had never thought of consuming it. That was why he had casually offered it to Hu Yipan. Thinking back now, what he had done had been truly foolish.

He was not afraid of offending Hu Yipan, but he would be helpless if Shu Haolan grew suspicious of him. Returning to the Everlasting Domain Planet’s Yalun Continent would be a joke in that case. He would have to go through a bitter fight to enter the Sea Roll and head to the Yalun Continent. Shu Haolan could head over anytime he wanted.

Right now, there was no point in heading to the Yalun Continent. The only thing he could do was search for a place to hide and cultivate until he attained the True Form Realm.

Actually, this was not realistic. It would be difficult for a True Form Realm Cultivator to appear in the Small Central World again. Even if one could cultivate to the True Form Realm, the resources one needed would be great. Where could Di Jiu obtain these cultivating resources?

Huan Mingzi, who seemed to want to defeat Di Jiu completely with his speech, added, “Other than Shu Haolan, there is also someone else who would kill you as soon as they met you. I think that person will be arriving soon.”

“Who is it?” Di Jiu asked as he lifted his head.

“He is called Cheng Ji and he should be at the sixth-stage True Form Realm. He is no weaker than Shu Haolan. He could actually be slightly stronger than him. If he found you, do you think you could still escape unscathed?” Huan Mingzi said lightly.

“Who’s Cheng Ji?” Di Jiu was a little confused. There was no one called Cheng Ji among the people he had offended.

Huan Mingzi looked at Di Jiu meaningfully as he said, “Cheng Ji is the Sect Master of the Enduring Immortal Sect. If I’ve guessed correctly, you have obtained a Small World that belongs to him…”

A bomb seemed to explode in Di Jiu’s head. He suddenly felt his scalp tingling. He finally understood who Cheng Ji was. In the Sky Screen, he had encountered Cheng Ji’s daughter, Cheng Bijun. Cheng Bijun had threatened him before that he would not escape.

However…

Di Jiu looked at Huan Mingzi in astonishment. How did Huan Mingzi know that this Small World was on him? He was wearing it on his toes. The Small World carried its own invisibility effect. Plus, the Level-Nine restrictions he had used should not be so easy to see through. Could Huan Mingzi pass his Level-Nine restrictions? Could this fella be an immortal? Or was Huan Mingzi an expert of the same rank as Master Qian Fenghua?

Something was not right. Di Jiu was being threatened.

He slowly let out a long breath. What was there to be afraid of? He had already disregarded the threat of death when he had escaped from the Ji Bei Mountain outside the Pearl City. Could he still be afraid, even though he had reached the third-stage Void Spirit Realm? Why should he be afraid of a threat if death was insignificant?

When he thought of that, Di Jiu calmed down, looked at Huan Mingzi and said, “I did indeed obtain a Small World, sir. However, I only obtained it by accident. I am perplexed as to how you knew that this Small World was in my possession…”

Di Jiu did not believe that a sweep of Huan Mingzi’s Spiritual Force could see past his Level-Nine restrictions. Otherwise, Huan Mingzi would not have focused on the Small Central World.

When he sensed that Di Jiu had calmed down and there was no trace of anxiety left in him, Huan Mingzi praised him silently.

If this had happened to another cultivator who had just attained the Void Spirit Realm, the cultivator in question would have been extremely distraught and found ways to save their life upon hearing what he’d said. The young cultivator before his eyes had immediately calmed down after a short moment of anxiety. His disposition could not compare to an average cultivator’s. He had not been wrong about Di Jiu.

This was a fella whose potential and disposition were heaven-defying.

Huan Mingzi nodded his head and said, “The reason I knew that you possessed Cheng Ji’s Small World is because Cheng Ji was once a disciple of the Prophecy Pavilion. He learned a Spiritual Force imprint technique back when he was with us. He placed a top-notch Spiritual Force imprint on the Small World, so I sensed it the moment I saw you.”

When he saw that Di Jiu was doubtful, Huan Mingzi waved his hand, indicating that Di Jiu should listen to him calmly. Then, he added, “One must spend large amounts of time and effort to engrave this kind of top-notch imprint. Therefore, no one would create such an imprint on anything other than a top-notch treasure.”

“There are not many people who could create such a top-notch imprint. There are only five people, myself included, with this capability. The other four have not lost any valuable items. Cheng Ji is the only one who did. His Small World was given to his son Cheng Biqun, who was lost on the Big Dipper Planet. If my theory is correct, the Small World in your possession should be the one Cheng Biqun lost. The one that belonged to Cheng Ji.”

Huan Mingzi felt very strange about not sensing Cheng Ji’s signature Spiritual Force imprint, the tarsus Spiritual Force imprint, on Di Jiu. This imprint should have been on Di Jiu if he had obtained the Small World.

Di Jiu let out a sigh of relief. It looked like Huan Mingzi had not seen through his Level-Nine restrictions, which was all the reassurance he needed. Huan Mingzi most likely would not attack him. When he returned, he would immediately find the hidden imprint on the Small World. His Spiritual Force was currently at Level Eight, and the condensation of his Spiritual Force surpassed the Spiritual Force of most True Form Realm Cultivators. He believed that finding a Spiritual Force imprint would not be that hard.

“Thank you for the warning, sir. I will keep that in mind.” Di Jiu stood up and bowed.

Huan Mingzi took out a jade bottle and said with a smile, “Cheng Ji will not be coming here anytime soon. Therefore, before he arrives, you are still considered safe. I just took this jade bottle from Hu Yipan. Although this Void Lattice Elixir contains Shu Haolan’s imprint, you would be safer carrying that imprint around. However, you will need to suppress your cultivation level, preferably to the cultivation realm of the perfected Essence Soul Realm. I have a magic technique jade slip for cultivation concealment here. I will give it to you.”

He placed a jade slip beside the jade bottle.

Di Jiu had already noticed that this jade bottle was the exact same one he had given Huan Mingzi. If Huan Mingzi had taken this jade bottle from Hu Yipan without anyone realizing it, his Spiritual Force had to be more powerful than Di Jiu’s.

He now owed him a favor. He knew that it would not be acceptable not to join the Prophecy Pavilion now. Di Jiu put away the jade bottle and jade slip with a sigh. “I was originally a disciple of the Galaxy Sect, so I will need to take revenge for that sect in the future. However, I owe you a huge favor. Please tell me what I can do to help you.”

Huan Mingzi, who understood what Di Jiu meant, smiled. “Actually, I wanted you to join the Prophecy Pavilion to help us do something. If you agreed, it wouldn’t matter whether you were willing to join us or not.”

“Please tell me what to do, sir,” said Di Jiu sincerely.

Huan Mingzi, who suddenly became focused, said sternly, “You must have heard of the True Dominion, right?”

Di Jiu nodded his head. “I’ve heard of it, but I don’t know what kind of place it is.”

“The truth is that, a long time ago, there was an ascension passageway to the Immortal World in the Small Central World. Cultivators at the perfected True Form Realm could use this ascension passageway to enter the Immortal World…”

“Is there no such thing now?” asked Di Jiu in surprise. Qian Fenghua had said that one could ascend to the Immortal World from the Small Central World.

Huan Mingzi shook his head. “The cultivating resources of the Small Central World are diminishing with each passing day. The ascension passageway has lost its purpose. Now, if one wishes to ascend to the Immortal World, they must head to the True Dominion. However, the slots for Immortal World ascension are limited and the competition over them is extremely fierce. This competition involves top-notch genius cultivators from various large sects and it is called the True Dominion Genius Tournament. Only the top 10 can obtain Immortal World ascension slots. The True Dominion is the home of some ancient hidden sects so there are many geniuses there. The Prophecy Pavilion has attended the tournament many times, but it has never made the top 100…”

“You want me to represent the Prophecy Pavilion, participate in the True Dominion Genius Tournament and obtain an Immortal World ascension slot?’ Di Jiu understood what was going on.

Huan Mingzi nodded his head. “Yes. That’s why it doesn’t matter whether you join the Prophecy Pavilion. I simply want you to represent the Prophecy Pavilion and attend the tournament. The Prophecy Pavilion has some extremely important matters that require communication with the Immortal World. Ascension is no longer possible in the Small Central World, so the Prophecy Pavilion has lost all contact with the Immortal World.”

“I will take on this mission, sir,” Di Jiu said without hesitation. Huan Mingzi had helped him a lot. Therefore, helping him in this matter was not an issue.

It did not matter how many geniuses there were in the True Dominion, for Di Jiu was one as well.

Huan Mingzi nodded his head. “Your potential is considered supreme in the Small Central World. However, it is still lacking compared to the genius cultivators of the True Dominion…”

Di Jiu was indifferent. He did not believe that he could not compare to the geniuses of the True Dominion. Ji Hongchuan, who came from the True Dominion, had needed one and a half months to attain the third-stage Pioneer Sea Realm from the first-stage Pioneer Sea Realm. It had only taken Di Jiu one month to reach the perfected Essence Soul Realm from the seventh-stage Essence Soul Realm.

Actually, Ji Hongchuan had faced way more difficulties while cultivating from the first-stage to the third-stage Pioneer Sea Realm than Di Jiu had while cultivating from the seventh-stage to the perfected Essence Soul Realm.

Di Jiu had not thought this through clearly, so he was not bothered by it. After thinking it through, he took a deep breath. Ji Hongchuan’s potential was simply too frightening, as was the potential of the lady carrying the blue sword. She looked young, yet she seemed to already be at the Ekayāna Tripod Realm.

If he did not make more effort, he would most likely not be able to catch up with these geniuses.

Huan Mingzi, who noticed Di Jiu’s momentary indifference, said, “Di Jiu, do you know why I said that your potential is weaker than theirs? You must have met Ji Hongchuan and Han Qingyi. The two of them are the top-notch genius successors of the True Dominion. The True Dominion has access to immeasurable cultivating resources, resources you could not possibly compare with. Other than these cultivating resources, they also have the True Spirit Thread…”

“What’s the True Spirit Thread?” asked Di Jiu.

“It’s a specialty product of the True Dominion. Its production is limited, so all products are given to top-notch geniuses of the various large powers of the True Dominion. The True Spirit Thread is the only treasure that can directly increase the potential of one’s Spirit Root. It is a priceless treasure that might not even be found in the Immortal World. In other words, the potential of these geniuses is constantly improving. No matter how good your potential is, it doesn’t change the status quo. That is the first reason you are weaker. The second reason is that I’m unable to provide you with many cultivating resources. If you represent the Prophecy Pavilion, this will be a secret until the tournament starts. If anyone finds out, you will probably be killed by the experts of the True Dominion before you’ve fully matured.”

Di Jiu looked at Huan Mingzi speechlessly. This was just despicable.

Huan Mingzi sighed. “People from the True Dominion are present in all corners of the Small Central World, including the Prophecy Pavilion. This is nothing if you have an average potential. If your potential is good, however, your life will be in danger if it’s discovered that you have the Prophecy Pavilion’s support.”