Ninth In the World

As soon as he said this, Di Jiu made up his mind to kill Yue Henghe. It was highly likely that Yue Henghe had discovered something and gotten suspicious that he had the cultivation technique able to temper Spiritual Force. In that case, he’d better kill him quickly.

He wasn’t scared of the Genesis Sect, but of the Skygold Domain Lord.

The cultivators around didn’t doubt Di Jiu’s words. Although Di Jiu had said that he didn’t know the pair of tied-up cultivators, he had only wanted to make Yue Henghe lower his guard. Since he wouldn’t lower his guard, all he could do was fight.

Many people were looking forward to a battle between Di Jiu and Yue Henghe. Di Jiu was among the top 10 people on the Genius Roll and had entered the top 100 on the Sea Roll a few years ago—based on his improvement, he could possibly exchange a few moves with Yue Henghe.

Nobody actually believed that Di Jiu could possibly beat Yue Henghe.

“Ha ha…” Yue Henghe laughed and grabbed a Cosmic Spike. “You are gutsy. You have some guts indeed!”

Nobody questioned Yue Henghe. They knew that Yue Henghe, who was second on the Tripod Roll, was at the ninth-stage Ekayāna Tripod Realm. Given his strength, even someone at the early-stage Life Tribulation Realm might not be a match for him.

“That’s too much nonsense. Watch for my saber…” Di Jiu took a step and struck with the Heavenly Aqua Saber.

The area within a few hundred feet between Yue Henghe and him disappeared. In the blink of an eye, the Heavenly Aqua Saber transformed into a frightening killing intent that swept in towards Yue Henghe.

All the onlooking cultivators watched this saber move in awe. They could only look on as the saber flare tore up heaven and earth and filled up all the surrounding space. Their Spiritual Force could not permeate it at all.

It wasn’t until this moment that they finally understood how powerful Young Master Red Embellishment was. This was the first time they were seeing such a saber intent.

The attack of this relentless, wind-rustling saber intent made Yue Henghe tremble and feel as if he was going to explode through his scalp. Suddenly, his face changed drastically. Di Jiu was definitely not a Pioneer Sea Realm cultivator. He was a Ekayāna Tripod Realm Cultivator no weaker than him. Wrong! He was not a Ekayāna Tripod Realm Cultivator either…

Upon realizing that Di Jiu could be a Life Tribulation Realm expert, Yue Henghe didn’t dare act carelessly anymore. The Cosmic Spike being waved continuously in the air transformed into a towering spike that looked like it was going to pierce the planet.

Even though his Cosmic Spike had been completely triggered, Yue Henghe still didn’t feel any confidence. Di Jiu’s saber exuded a determined aura that made him feel like he were on a battlefield where tens of millions of people fought. This saber move combined the killing intent of everybody on one side of the battlefield. This determined saber intent left him no place to hide. He had to block this saber in order to get a chance to escape.

Boom! When the saber intent blasted against the spike, a cloud of Quintessential Essence exploded and waves rippled in space. A few Void Spirit cultivators couldn’t help but move backward.

The raging Quintessential Essence backfired and blasted away Yue Henghe’s Cosmic Spike. Even the Spiritual Force imprint he had left on the Cosmic Spike was shaking. Yue Henghe opened his mouth and spurted fresh blood. Meanwhile, the Spiritual Sea rumbled.

If anyone else had been caught in this situation, they would only have thought of escaping. Escaping quickly.

Yue Henghe had been through many battle formations and killed many cultivators with levels higher than his. Thus, he knew that Di Jiu’s killing aura would only kill him quicker if he tried to escape. Besides, he had a trump card that he could use, although he couldn’t bear to.

The Cosmic Spike transformed into a boundless spike shadow. What confused Di Jiu was that the spike shadow didn’t attack him. Instead, it swirled towards Yue Henghe himself.

Was it because Yue Henghe knew that he was no match for him and wanted to commit suicide? This was impossible…

Suddenly, a sense of deadly danger surged in. Di Jiu didn’t dare think that Yue Henghe was trying to commit suicide anymore. His Heavenly Aqua Saber transformed into a saber screen that cocooned him.

He realized now that Yue Henghe’s Cosmic Spike had blasted towards him not because he’d wanted to commit suicide, but so he could form a protective shield.

Tens of thousands of changes happened during a battle. Things like this happened in split seconds. It was too late by the time Di Jiu realized this.

Boom! A frightening sword intent lunged towards Di Jiu. Even the cultivators at the Void Spirit Realm, who stood very far away, spurted blood because of this frightening sword intent and backed off frantically.

Crack! Di Jiu’s saber screen shattered. The sword intent was only slightly, momentarily blocked before it lunged at Di Jiu again.

When Di Jiu’s Heavenly Aqua Saber struck, saber intent and sword intent collided once more. The saber intent burst. Meanwhile, the quality of the Heavenly Aqua Saber improved tremendously and was upgraded to a middle-grade spirit weapon.

At this point in time, Di Jiu could not rejoice over his upgraded Heavenly Aqua Saber. Although the sword intent had been blocked twice, it still pierced his chest without any hindrance.

Boom! As the Dao fire wrapped around the sword intent in Di Jiu’s body, the powers of a level-nine flame exploded and the sword intent that had pierced Di Jiu’s body was burned into ashes.

Pain tumbled in Di Jiu’s body while he let out a moan and stared at Yue Henghe, who was standing a few feet away from him. This sword intent definitely didn’t belong to Yue Henghe. Even True Form cultivators were not able to condense this sword intent. Only a Domain Realm expert could have possibly condensed this sword intent.

Yue Henghe was in a similarly wretched state. Even though he had triggered the sword intent, the force that had backfired had made him vomit a mouthful of blood too.

He felt a tinge of regret. He didn’t want to kill Di Jiu. All he’d wanted was to get hold of him and ask for the Spiritual Force condensation technique. However, Di Jiu’s greatness had exceeded his expectations. He had no choice but to use his trump card— the Domain Spirit Sword Intent.

Once the Domain Spirit Sword Intent was used, Di Jiu would be crushed and his soul would be annihilated, no matter how strong he was.

When the sword intent disappeared, Yue Henghe saw the seriously-injured Di Jiu standing in front of him. His eyes betrayed his disbelief. This was impossible. Absolutely impossible. His sword intent had been inherited from an ancient Domain Realm Sword Dao Expert. Even if Di Jiu was at the True Form Realm, he would have been ripped apart by this sword intent.

“You blasted a sword at me, so it should be my turn to bash you now.” Di Jiu didn’t even bother wiping away the blood stain at the corner of his mouth. He stood still as he threw a punch.

Without his level-nine physique and his level-nine Dao fire, his body would have disintegrated due to this sword intent, even if the Sky Screen and Heavenly Aqua Saber were shielding him.

As he used his fist, the surrounding space became stifling.

Peaks gathered and furious waves roared!

Amid this raging fist wind, everything was flattened and the Heavenly Ascension Great Dao was formed like rivers running through the Tong Pass [1. A pass is a gantry, so the rivers running through it make it a weak spot. This line is a verse from the poem Sheep on the Mountain Slope by Zhang Yanghao.]

Boom! As fist mountains blasted out one after another, the whole space was filled with gathering peaks.

Yue Henghe forgot about this frightening pressure. Maybe he knew that he couldn’t escape from the fists even if he tried, so he only muttered, “This is impossible…”

When the fist mountain came, he was finally awakened momentarily. A streak of lifeless gray flashed across his eyes.

He had never thought that he would die in the hands of a nobody one day. He, Yue Henghe, could ascend to the second place on the Tripod Roll not only because he had great potential, but also because he was more cautious and experienced than others.

When grouping up with others, Yue Henghe had never been at a disadvantage precisely because of his calculative nature. He could think of everything that others didn’t. He had dared wait for Di Jiu there that day because he had been completely sure that Di Jiu would be no match for him. In other words, even if Di Jiu had had a higher cultivation level, his trump card could have still destroyed him easily.

True Form cultivators were not allowed into the Small Central Planet. No matter how strong he was, Di Jiu couldn’t be a True Form cultivator. Actually, the Domain Spirit Sword Intent wasn’t afraid of True Form cultivators.

However, he had been wrong. Di Jiu’s strength had exceeded his imagination by far. The fact that Di Jiu had managed to survive the Domain Spirit Sword Intent had completely crushed the confidence he had built over time. The scariest thing for a cultivator was losing their confidence.

Bam! A huge fist mountain blasted against Yue Henghe. Yue Henghe’s body immediately disintegrated. Before his Principal Spirit left his body, a second fist mountain blasted again and his Principal Spirit dissipated. This was not the end. A third fist mountain swept in…

After the Gathering Peaks Move was used, a vast plain appeared. There was nothing in front of Di Jiu anymore. Yue Henghe was no longer around and neither were any clothes. There were only blood stains all over the ground. Di Jiu picked up a ring and put it away. If he hadn’t wanted this ring, there wouldn’t have been any blood stains on the huge rock.

When Di Jiu lifted and twisted his hand, the male and female cultivator tied on the pillar were let down. Yue Henghe’s restriction was like a toy to him.

The female cultivator was well aware of Di Jiu’s intent for saving them—Di Jiu had killed Yue Henghe by using them as an excuse. Yue Henghe had been an inner sect elder from the Genesis Sect, one of the five large sects, after all. If he had been killed without a reason, Di Jiu would have caused a public uproar. However, if they were his friends, then it would make sense for Di Jiu to kill Yue Henghe.

“Zhong Yu is thankful for your help, Big Brother. If it had not been for you, my husband and I would not have been able to escape our doom.” The woman quickly bowed as she thanked him.

The man also bowed and said, “Yuan Jia is thankful for your help, Senior Brother Di. I have something to tell you, Big Brother.”

Di Jiu nodded his head. Zhong Yu was smart enough to read his thoughts. This husband and wife were a third-stage Pioneer Sea Realm cultivator and a first-stage Pioneer Sea Realm cultivator. Their potential looked quite good.

“Let’s discuss any other matters later. Do you know what happened on the Planted Cultivators’ Mountain?” he asked casually.