Ninth In the World

Ji Qi laughed. “I have nothing to hide.”

“Good. You said that the Genesis Sect Master went to the Herald Night Lake. Can you tell me why he went there?” Di Jiu asked Ju Qi, all the while staring at him.

Ju Qi laughed coldly. “How would I know why our Sect Master went there? He just casually mentioned that he was going to the Herald Night Lake, that’s all.”

“In that case, let me ask you a second question. Do you know what the Herald Night Lake is most famous for?” asked Di Jiu again.

“Its Roast Divine Herbs, of course. However, although the Roast Divine Herb is a spirit herb, it has no use whatsoever.” Ju Qi’s replies were extremely prompt, as he knew that he would soon get to question Di Jiu in the same manner.

Di Jiu had planned all along on leading Ju Qi into saying that the Roast Divine Herb was useless. He hadn’t expected that Ju Qi would say so on his own. “If the Roast Divine Herb is useless, why did you still ask the Itinerant Cultivators to collect it and allowed them to join the Genesis Sect if they collected 10 of them?” Di Jiu asked.

“Even though the Roast Divine Herb is useless, it is difficult to pick,” Ju Qi replied nonchalantly. “Anyone who can pick 10 Roast Divine Herbs has to be extraordinary. What’s wrong with recruiting such outstanding cultivators? Besides, I’m not the only one doing this.”

Everyone around was nodding silently. Ju Qi was one of the Five Young Masters. The fact that he recruited geniuses for his sect meant that he wasn’t a selfish person who only cultivated. Plus, Ju Qi was right. All the Five Young Masters were doing the same.

Di Jiu sighed. “It’s a pity that your Sect Master doubted your intentions for collecting Roast Divine Herbs. When he brought you in for questioning, you had no choice but to tell him about the use of the Roast Divine Herb. This is why your Sect Master headed to the Herald Night Lake to find Roast Divine Herbs…”

Di Jiu was spot on. He had looked at this matter from the viewpoint of the Sect Master of the Genesis Sect. If he had been the Sect Master of the Genesis Sect, he would definitely have been suspicious of Ju Qi. Why would a cultivator like him, who only wanted to improve his own strength, waste any time recruiting disciples?

After starting to have suspicions, he would call Ju Qi in for questioning. Given his strength, it would have been impossible for Ju Qi to hide the truth from Sect Master Shu Haolan. Once Shu Haolan discovered the use of the Roast Divine Herb, he would definitely have headed to the Herald Night Lake when he got the chance.

Logically speaking, nobody in the Genesis Sect should have known that Shu Haolan had gone missing by the Herald Night Lake. If the Genesis Sect knew about this, then it was highly possible that Ju Qi had spread the word. Ju Qi was the only member of the Genesis Sect who had been collecting Roast Divine Herbs. Thus, he was the only one who knew the use of the Roast Divine Herb.

“Nonsense! Everybody knew that if they consumed a Roast Divine Herb, their Spiritual Sea would tear apart and their Spiritual Force would disperse. You have asked too many questions, it must be my turn to ask you some now!” Ju Qi shouted angrily as his aura pressed down against Di Jiu. He regretted that he had let Di Jiu say so much.

How could Di Jiu allow Ju Qi to ask him questions? Although he wasn’t the least bit afraid that Ju Qi’s aura would crush him, he clenched his fists and told the crowd watching them, “Does anyone know why Ju Qi won’t allow me to talk about this? It’s because the real use of the Roast Divine Herb isn’t to compress one’s Spiritual Sea, but to condense one’s Spiritual Force and expand one’s Spiritual Sea…”

Di Jiu’s words acted like a bomb thrown into the crowd. The most valuable things in the Cultivation World were related to Spiritual Force.

Any cultivation technique that strengthened the Spiritual Force or any spirit herb that condensed the Spiritual Sea were priceless treasures. The revelation that the Roast Divine Herb could condense the Spiritual Force and expand the Spiritual Sea was shocking. Some people’s eyes turned red as they stared at Di Jiu and waited for him to continue speaking. They wanted him to tell them how to use the Roast Divine Herb.

Under the circumstances, Di Jiu believed that he would be torn apart if he could not come up with the real use of the Roast Divine Herb.

Even Huan Mingzi was staring at him in disbelief. He didn’t think that Di Jiu would lie. He actually suspected that Di Jiu knew the technique that would strengthen the Spiritual Force and condense the Spiritual Sea. Otherwise, Di Jiu wouldn’t have gone to the Herald Night Lake so many times in a row and met Shu Haolan there.

Ju Qi clenched his fists. He knew that Di Jiu couldn’t move now. Xia Ku from the Genesis Sect stared at Ju Qi, equally astonished. He could feel that Di Jiu was telling the truth based on his words and Ju Qi’s reaction. He suddenly started to regret not thinking of this earlier. If he had, he would have known the technique that could increase the Spiritual Force in combination with the Roast Divine Herb long ago.

“Young Master Red Embellishment, please tell us quickly how the Roast Divine Herb expands and strengthens the Spiritual Sea and condenses the Spiritual Force,” blurted somebody uncontrollably when Di Jiu paused.

The magic techniques of many cultivators there were related to Spiritual Force. If one’s Spiritual Force was strong, the magic technique would also be strong. At times, Spiritual Force was more important than Quintessential Essence.

Di Jiu pointed at Ju Qi and said, “You’d have to ask him, my friends. According to the information I have, Ju Qi has a type of cultivation technique that is used in combination with the Roast Divine Herb. While everyone else’s Spiritual Force would be compressed and their Spiritual Sea would be torn apart if they ate the Roast Divine Herb, he can use it to condense the Spiritual Force and expand the Spiritual Sea. I know this because I have a friend in the Genesis Sect who told me that he once saw Ju Qi swallow a Roast Divine Herb and then start to condense his hand-seal cultivation.”

Ju Qi could not possibly have been seen by anyone while swallowing the Roast Divine Herb. However, nobody questioned Di Jiu’s words right now. It was true that Ju Qi had been collecting Roast Divine Herbs after all. Why would he collect them if he could not use them?

Apart from Ju Qi, the other four Five Young Masters also collected Roast Divine Herbs. All the cultivators had been in the Cultivation World for a few years now. Thus, they only needed to make some deductions to easily understand the connection. The Five Young Masters often went out looking for mystic areas together. Therefore, it was highly possible that they had discovered a way to use the Roast Divine Herb to condense their Spiritual Force in one of these mystic areas. In the end, they had treasured what they had discovered so much that they hadn’t revealed this precious cultivation technique.

Meanwhile, some people found a few loopholes in Di Jiu’s words. However, everyone was too overwhelmed by the notion that the Roast Divine Herb could condense the Spiritual Force and expand the Spiritual Sea. They could only think of how this would benefit them, so no one considered any useless doubts.

“Young Master Ju, the Small Central World is at a disadvantage because our Spiritual Force is not on par with the cultivation level. It would benefit the Small Central World greatly if you could tell us the way to use the Roast Divine Herb.”

“Right. There are countless Roast Divine Herbs by the Herald Night Lake. Why won’t Young Master Ju tell us how to use them?

“Why don’t we fetch the Spirit Stone for Young Master Ju…”

…

Ju Qi’s face grew pale as everybody stared at him like hungry wolves. He wasn’t sure if he had ever been seen eating the Roast Divine Herb. He had actually not taken the Roast Divine Herb in his own cave abode a few times.

As Ju Qi wanted to deny this vehemently, a golden-haired man suddenly appeared and said, “The Young Master Red Embellishment is right. There is a strong aura around Young Master Ju.”

Upon hearing these words, Di Jiu’s heart sank. Although he hadn’t used a Roast Divine Herb recently, the amount he had taken in the past had been far bigger than Ju Qi’s. Who was this heaven-defying fellow? Could one really feel the aura produced from eating the Roast Divine Herb?

“Greetings, Skygold Domain Lord!” All the other cultivators bowed with the utmost respect when they saw the golden-haired man.

Di Jiu realized that the True Form experts from all the large sects bowed with the utmost respect, Huan Mingzi included.

Who was this man? Di Jiu, who didn’t dare scan him with his Spiritual Force, bowed as well.

“Ju Qi, I think you also know who I am. I won’t take advantage of you. Given the current circumstances, you better share the way one can use the Roast Divine Herb. This cultivation technique is a secret the Genesis Sect can’t afford to keep.”

Di Jiu could sense no hint of doubt in the man’s gentle tone. The golden-haired man didn’t seem to care that Ju Qi was an outer sect elder of the five large sects.

Ju Qi, who knew that he couldn’t hide this anymore, bowed quickly and said, “Greetings, Senior Skygold Domain Lord. I indeed possess a method for refining the Roast Divine Herb. However, this concerns me and the other four experts. We have taken a vow…”

“Ha ha…” The golden-haired man laughed, “That’s easy to solve. Gather the Five Young Masters here. If this vow was made by the five of you, it can be broken when the five of you are together. I will not take advantage of you. I promise that all five of you can enter the True Province to cultivate. I also promise that you will get a True Spirit Elixir each.”

“I agree,” a voice said before Ju Qi could speak. Many people recognized the cultivator walking over. It was one of the Five Young Masters—Mu Qisha from the Purple Thunder Sect.

“I agree too,” said Ju Qi immediately. Only he knew how unhappy he felt deep down. If he had been alone with Di Jiu now, he would have killed him without a second thought.

Since the secret to using the Roast Divine Herb had to be revealed, he might as well get something practical in return. Getting the chance to cultivate in the True Province was much better than staying in the Small Central World. Although there were very few True Form cultivators in the Small Central World, the True Province was different—it was a place that led to the Immortal World.

On top of that, he would also get a True Spirit Elixir. A grade-nine Spirit Elixir had an 80% chance of helping one advance to the True Form Realm.

“You are good. Cultivate well and who knows, you may get the chance to go to the True Province as well.” The Skygold Domain Lord nodded at Di Jiu. Without him, he wouldn’t have known that the Roast Divine Herb could condense the Spiritual Force and expand the Spiritual Sea.

Now that an expert like the Skygold Domain Lord was around, no one dared say a word, no matter how much they coveted the refining techniques of the Roast Divine Herb.

“Thank you very much, Senior Skygold Domain Lord.” Di Jiu quickly bowed gratefully.

After expressing his gratitude, Di Jiu looked at Ju Qi nonchalantly and said, “Justice will prevail. I believe that everybody knows in their heart why the Sect Master of the Genesis Sect disappeared.”

Then, Di Jiu told Huan Mingzi, “Senior Huan Mingzi, let’s go.”

Di Jiu didn’t need to continue. Some people had already started to suspect Ju Qi. Shu Haolan had learned the refining technique of the Roast Divine Herb from Ju Qi just before he had gone missing by the Herald Night Lake. Plus, Ju Qi had previously denied the true use of the Roast Divine Herb. Even a fool could guess that the disappearance of Shu Haolan had something to do with Ju Qi.