Ninth In the World

Two more months passed. Di Jiu began refining the saber weapon after stabilizing his cultivation level. Now that he had advanced to the third stage of the Ekayāna Tripod Realm, his Spiritual Force was at the extremely stable level ten. Thus, he could easily execute the level-nine saber array—which was full of supreme-grade spirit weapons.

After continuously refining the saber weapons for a few months and amassing 6,642 supreme-grade saber weapons, Di Jiu could now use the ninth-level Defense Array and the invisible Dharma Array to protect Ji Ming’s tomb. Therefore, he left the Cauldron Elixir Mountain. He estimated that the Small Central World Planet was about to open, so Huan Mingzi should be waiting for him along with Di Di.

…

The road that led to the Small Central Planet was about 70 to 80 feet wide, making it impossible to see its boundaries. Yellow leaves had been covering this road for a long time.

In late autumn, the reflection of the yellow leaves seemed to make the sky look kind of yellow.

Although a deadly feeling lingered in the air, people still hurried by continuously, walking down the road with the withered yellow leaves.

An average young man with a red embellished saber walked down this road as well. As he looked up at the sky, his heart was filled with admiration for the array formation experts in the Small Central World. The alleviating restriction there had to be scrutinized in order to show any signs.

“It’s the Young Master Red Embellishment!” shouted somebody in surprise. The moment the young man stepped onto the road, he was immediately recognized.

It was Di Jiu. He hadn’t disguised himself during this trip to the Small Central Planet, as he knew that he would be recognized anyway. Disguising himself wouldn’t have made a difference.

“Benefactor Di, please do not go to the Small Central Planet. The Genesis Sect is after you!” a voice suddenly said in Di Jiu’s ears.

When Di Jiu’s Spiritual Force swept outwards, he discovered that the voice belonged to a male Essence Soul cultivator that he didn’t know. However, the male cultivator just hurried on with his head lowered, as if he hadn’t just spoken to Di Jiu.

Di Jiu didn’t expose him. He was rightfully puzzled. Even if the Genesis Sect was after him, they wouldn’t dare issue an arrest warrant so openly, unless they had proof that he had killed Shu Haolan.

The male cultivator, who saw that Di Jiu didn’t leave despite his warning, breathed in and increased his speed.

…

The Small Central Planet was only 10,000 feet above the Small Central World. From afar, it looked like a boundless, blurry ball floating above the Small Central World.

Nobody’s Spiritual Force could sense what was on this ball clearly. Even the most powerful True Form cultivator could only see a vague image. As long as the Small Central Planet wasn’t open, nobody could resort to any means to enter it.

Below the Small Central Planet was a huge square surrounded by all kinds of shops, buildings and sect garrisons. The extensive area directly below the Small Central Planet had alleviating restrictions, but no Teleportation Arrays.

The Small Central Planet only opened once in 100 years. 100 years was a whole life for mortals. However, cultivators didn’t consider it a long time. Thus, regardless of whether the Small Central Planet was open, the shops and buildings on the square below it had always been there.

Di Jiu had just walked to the border of the square when a voice said, “Hey! I wouldn’t dare go to the Small Central Planet if I were you.”

A short cultivator was standing in front of Di Jiu. Di Jiu’s Spiritual Force only needed to scan the man quickly to tell that he was at the second-level Ekayāna Tripod Realm.

“Who are you?” Di Jiu frowned slightly. He believed that the man was a member of the Genesis Sect. However, letting a level-two Tripod Transformation block him would be equal to disregarding him.

The man snorted coldly. “I’m Ju Qi from the Genesis Sect.”

“I don’t seem to know you. Why are you blocking my way?” Di Jiu’s tone was cold. He could sense that his trip to the Small Central Planet would cause a fight.

He was not afraid to fight given his current cultivation level. Plus, he could just leave if he could not handle the fight. It was only a pity that he would not be able to enter the Small Central Planet if he started a fight. He knew that Ju Qi ranked second on the Sea Roll and was one of the Five Young Masters.

Ju Qi laughed before he suddenly told the cultivators coming over from the vicinity, “My friends, I believe that everybody knows me— I’m Ju Qi after all. I come from the Genesis Sect and have been lucky enough to rank second on the Sea Roll for a long time. I owe the fact that I became one of the Five Young Masters of the Sea Roll to you.”

“Many of you must be puzzled about why I stopped this man. Some of you may know him— he’s the Young Master Red Embellishment, who climbed to the 90th level of the Five Continent Dao Pagoda a few years ago. However, he is related to the disappearance of the Sect Master of the Genesis Sect. Therefore, I have to get him to answer a few questions…”

News of the disappearance of the Sect Master of the Genesis Sect had spread long ago. Basically all the cultivators present knew this. When they heard Ju Qi say that Di Jiu was involved in the disappearance of the Genesis Sect Master, most of them were doubtful.

Di Jiu’s improvements were by no means small, so he should be at the Pioneer Sea Realm by now. He had even won a challenge against Sea Roll Cultivator Jin Xun in the Five Continent City. However, no matter how capable he was, he was only at the Pioneer Sea Realm. The Sect Master of the Genesis Sect, Shu Haolan, was a True Form expert and one of the 36 True Form Kings! Even suggesting that the disappearance of a True Form King had had something to do with a mere Pioneer Sea Realm cultivator was laughable.

Di Jiu, who was an Itinerant Cultivator, could probably cultivate so fast due to a secret. Everybody believed that the only reason the Genesis Sect was after Di Jiu was because they were eyeing the secret he was hiding.

Only the five large sects would be so tyrannical. No normal sect would have dared do this.

Shu Haolan had indeed been killed by Di Jiu. However, Di Jiu didn’t believe that Ju Qi had any concrete evidence against him. “You should be asking the nanny of the Genesis Sect Master why he is missing. Maybe she took him out to buy him milk. What’s the use of asking me?” Di Jiu said nonchalantly.

“Ha ha ha ha…” The sound of laughter was heard from nearby.

The Genesis Sect was one of the five large sects of the Small Central World. Thus, Di Jiu’s question about the nanny of the Sect Master of the Genesis Sect was a direct insult.

“You must have a death wish!” As Ju Qi suddenly flew into a murderous rage, a killing aura surrounded Di Jiu.

Di Jiu, who looked as though he had no means of retaliating, remained still. He wasn’t sure if he could strike here. Even if he could, he wouldn’t initiate a fight.

“Elder Ju, this man dared insult the Genesis Sect. Capture him and take him back to the Genesis Sect for now,” said a ruthless voice. Then, an extremely thin old man in red clothes appeared beside Di Jiu.

A strong aura swept in, making Di Jiu feel real pressure. This was definitely a True Form expert. Although he was not as powerful as Shu Haolan, he wasn’t weak either. Ju Qi paled in comparison to him.

As Di Jiu took a few steps back, his Spiritual Force landed on the Heavenly Aqua Saber. Once the True Form expert struck, he immediately executed a level-nine saber array. He had to make his opponent lose some blood before he left, even if he could not beat this True Form expert.

“Are you really so shameless, Qin Ku? You have the cultivation level of a stage-four True Form Realm expert, yet you are fighting against a late-stage Pioneer Sea Realm cultivator… Come on, come on… Fight me, if you are so good…” Huan Mingzi appeared as he spoke.

Elated, Di Jiu rushed forward to pay his respects. “Greetings, Senior Huan Mingzi!”

Huan Mingzi’s arrival was a powerful form of support. Di Jiu took his trip to the Small Central Planet very seriously. If he could attain the Life Tribulation Realm on the Small Central Planet, he would no longer have to be afraid of the Genesis Sect.

Qin Ku scowled when he saw Huan Mingzi, who was helping Di Jiu openly. Huan Mingzi, who was extremely close to attaining the Domain Realm, was considered an expert in the Prophecy Pavilion. He was actually one of the three Pavilion Lords. Even Shu Haolan would have been no match for Huan Mingzi, let alone Qin Ku.

The Genesis Sect had four True Form experts. After Shu Haolan’s disappearance, there were now only three. The only way to stop Huan Mingzi was to have all three True Form experts combine their power.

“Pavilion Lord Huan, you already have more problems than you can handle on the Prophecy Island. Do you also have to defend an Itinerant Cultivator?” Qin Ku could have told his men to capture Di Jiu. However, he didn’t dare act disrespectfully in front of Huan Mingzi.

Huan Mingzi laughed. “There’s no need for you to worry about the problems of the Prophecy Pavilion, Elder Qin. However, I lack some spirit herbs and need the Young Master Red Embellishment to help me go to the Small Central Planet. How could I not help him under the circumstances?”

Qin Ku didn’t say anything else. The Small Central Planet had many spirit herbs. Besides, there was only one rule about opening it—one had to rely on their qualifications in order to enter. The points of each large sect aside, one also had to be a True Form expert.

“Senior Huan Mingzi, the Genesis Sect Master went to the Herald Night Lake but never came back. According to our investigation, the Young Master Red Embellishment had also been there at the time. If the Young Master Red Embellishment wasn’t involved in this incident, why is he so unwilling to answer my questions?” Even though Ju Qi had cupped his fists before Huan Mingzi, he spoke loudly enough for all the cultivators around them to hear.

Di Jiu laughed coldly. He was sure that Ju Qi didn’t know that he had gone to the Herald Night Lake. After killing Shu Haolan, he had rushed back to the Yalun Continent and exposed himself by going to the Five Continent City to challenge Sea Roll Expert Jin Xun. If he had hidden somewhere else for about a year instead, nothing would have happened.

Di Jiu didn’t regret going there to challenge Jin Xun. Fortunately, he had returned early. If he had been delayed for another year or so, Di Di and Tian Ku would have been gone.

Di Jiu wasn’t afraid that they wanted to use public opinion to pressure him. As long as there was no concrete evidence of him killing Shu Haolan, this feud would remain between the Genesis Sect and him. If there was concrete evidence, an awful feud between him and the five large sects would take place.

“Ju Qi, since you have some questions for me, I’d like to ask you a few questions as well. Is that okay?” said Di Jiu happily.

Ju Qi, who didn’t know that Di Jiu was setting up a trap for him, replied without thinking, “I have nothing to hide. Ask me anything you want.”

Di Jiu smirked as he said, “Listen to my first question carefully. Of course, if you have a guilty conscience, I will understand if you choose not to answer or stutter while looking for an excuse.”