Ninth In the World

Yan Xueyi and Shen Feng cupped their fists and expressed their gratitude towards Di Jiu before sitting down to recuperate.

Di Jiu walked to the shelves on the left, where six items were placed. Thanks to his level-eleven Spiritual Force, he broke open the restrictions on the first item in under half an hour. Within the restriction was a Dharma treasure that looked like a handkerchief. A brief scan of his Spiritual Force showed that this was an item that surpassed a supreme-grade Spirit Weapon and could possibly be an immortal weapon. He did not need this item, but he could give it to Di Di instead.

He spent another half hour breaking open the second restriction, which contained a scorching blue stone. The laws on this stone seemed to be higher than those of the Cultivation World. Di Jiu suspected that this was a material used in the Immortal World. He had yet to see anything from the Immortal World in the Book of the World. Hence, he placed this item inside a jade box and put it in the Quintessential World.

The third restriction was slightly more complicated, so Di Jiu spent an hour on it. When he broke open the restriction, he saw inside two talismans with Dao runes circulating on them.

Delighted, Di Jiu took out two jade boxes and put the two talismans inside. These two talismans were the Plane Split Talismans he desperately needed.

Plane Split Talismans were usually arranged in pairs, so it was normal to see two of them together.

“Young Master Red Embellishment, thank you for saving my life. I was at the True Form Realm back when you were still at the Essence Soul Realm. I believe that your current cultivation level is not any lower than mine. However, I’m currently still at the True Form Realm. I will never understand the realm of geniuses.” Yan Xueyi was the first to stand up. His injuries had yet to completely recover, yet he could still move about.

Actually, he was also a genius. However, there was some distance between geniuses. He might be a genius of the Cultivation World, but someone like Di Jiu would most likely be a genius of the whole universe.

“Sect Master Yan, I would like to ask you about something. As the Sect Master of one of the five large sects of the Small Central World, why would you use your Spiritual Force to search a lady in front of so many people? Would you do it for a Five Continent Dao Disc?” asked Di Jiu directly. He did not want to beat around the bush with Yan Xueyi.

Yan Xueyi was stunned when he heard Di Jiu’s question. However, he understood what was going on immediately. He sighed and said, “I’m sure you must have heard that from someone, Young Master Red Embellishment. I might have coveted that treasure and even killed someone without hesitation in order to seize it. However, I would not stoop to using my Spiritual Force to search a younger lady’s body. I know that you’re referring to Di Feixue. When Di Feixue was brought in front of the Sect Masters of the five large sects, Shu Haolan wanted to use his Spiritual Force to search her body. I stopped Shu Haolan and suggested to have only Sect Master Shen Feng of the Moonlight Snow Mountain search her instead.”

“However, Sect Master Shen Feng rejected my suggestion and left the place. She even said that she was giving up on the Five Continent Dao Disc, which was indeed what she did. Shu Haolan suggested that the four other Sect Masters use our Spiritual Force to search Di Feixue’s body together. I might not be a good man, but I would not stoop to doing such a thing. Hence, I gave up on searching for the Five Continent Dao Disc as well. It was also because of this matter that I immediately thought of Sect Master Shen when Sect Master Cheng Ji contacted me and invited me to explore the Desert River Forbidden Zone. The three of us arrived at the Desert River Forbidden Zone together and ended up getting trapped here. We would have met our doom sooner or later if you hadn’t come.”

“Sect Master Yan is telling the truth. I would never use my Spiritual Force to search a Junior, even if that person was female,” said Shen Feng, who had also stabilized her injuries. It was extremely fortunate that she was still alive, although her lifespan had been shortened significantly.

“I see now.” Di Jiu cupped his fists before Yan Xueyi. He was extremely displeased at Di Feixue for trying to make use of him. They might be from the same sect, but he did not wish to have any further interactions with her.

“Thank you for saving us. Have you found the items you needed?” Cheng Ji also stopped recuperating and walked over.

“Sect Master Cheng, according to the information I gleaned when I came in, this place is extremely dangerous. How did all of you cross over the Life-Extermination Coffin?” Di Jiu asked in confusion.

He had personally seen how scary the Life-Extermination Coffin could be. The coffin could easily corrode one’s life-force and lifespan. If it weren’t for the Rainbow Immortal Peach he possessed, he would have been left in the same state as the three of them.

Even if he had been able to cross over the Life-Extermination Coffin, he would have been killed by the two coffin nails. This was because, after crossing over the coffin, one’s Spiritual Force and Quintessential Essence would get completely used up. Thus, it would not be possible to evade the attacks of the two powerful coffin nails under the circumstances.

Cheng Ji sighed and said, “It was because I obtained a Blood Drop Jade Card that belonged to the Excellency Life-Exterminator. That Blood Drop Jade Card required the combined effort of three True Form Realm cultivators to open the Life-Extermination Coffin. Hence, I invited Sect Master Yan and Sect Master Shen to come along with me. We relied on the Blood Drop Jade Card to dash out of the Life-Extermination Coffin after opening the coffin.”

“However, we underestimated the extent to which the Life-Extermination Coffin corroded one’s life-force. We were completely exhausted when we left the coffin. Therefore, we were unable to evade the coffin nails. That’s why we ended up being nailed inside this coffin chamber.”

Di Jiu nodded his head. This explanation was believable. In any case, he had managed to obtain the Plane Split Talismans, so this trip was not for naught.

“Young Master Red Embellishment, you saved my life. There’s no way I could take any of the items here. You can have them all,” Cheng Ji said hastily when he saw Di Jiu agree with his explanation. He had realized that Di Jiu was much stronger than him. He had gone there safely and saved them after all.

Yan Xueyi and Shen Feng cupped their fists as well and said, “We don’t want any of the items here either.”

Di Jiu laughed. “I’m not a selfish person. I have already taken my share. The three of you can split the remaining items among yourselves. I will wait here for you guys.”

There were still eight items left. The three of them were delighted when they heard that Di Jiu did not want them. They had contributed to Di Jiu’s ability to enter the Life-Extermination Coffin after all. Upon realizing that Di Jiu was telling the truth, the three of them thanked Di Jiu once again and broke the restrictions open.

They were not being impolite. It was just that their cultivation had reached a bottleneck. The items here would most likely aid them in improving their cultivation level. It would go against their Dao if they were courteous under the circumstances.

It was only after they started to break open the restrictions that they discovered just how powerful Di Jiu was. They had to spend several days to break open one restriction, yet Di Jiu had previously only spent one hour and a half to break open three.

Di Jiu did not help them break open the restrictions. Half a month later, the three of them finally broke open all the restrictions. Yan Xueyi and Cheng Ji both obtained three items, while Shen Feng only obtained two.

“Sect Master Cheng, do we exit from here later as well?” Di Jiu was still wary of the Life-Extermination Coffin.

“That’s not necessary. The Excellency Life-Exterminator’s Blood Drop Jade Card could activate the Teleportation Array here.” As he said that, Cheng Ji had already walked behind the yellow jade shelf located at the right side of the coffin chamber.

It was only then that Di Jiu realized that there were some faint array engravings behind the yellow jade shelf on the right. He had failed to discover them when he had been anxiously searching for the Plane Split Talisman earlier.

Cheng Ji and company, who stood before the array engravings, activated the Blood Drop Jade Card they held in their hands.

As a level-nine Array King, Di Jiu was not seeing a level-ten Dharma Array for the first time. As he was standing where the array engraving was, he felt jumpy. Upon thinking of the way he had felt when he had been in the Life-Extermination Coffin previously, Di Jiu did not hesitate. He immediately stepped out of the array engraving and threw out the Floating Flame Flag.

There was something he simply could not comprehend. While he was bypassing the Life-Extermination Coffin, he ate some Rainbow Immortal Peach. His life-force was not being corroded. On the contrary, he felt even more vigorous. In the end, just as he rushed out of the coffin, he was nearly killed by the life-force corrosion within the coffin. This life-force corrosion was most likely related to the corpse lying within the Life-Extermination Coffin.

That body had to be the Excellency Life-Exterminator. Since the Excellency Life-Exterminator himself was inside the Life-Extermination Coffin, there was no way he would leave behind a Blood Drop Jade Card and let people take the items in his coffin chamber away. The fact that he had left behind a Teleportation Array to let people exit made even less sense. Was the Excellency Life-Exterminator a noble person who acted selflessly?

As expected, the instant the Blood Drop Jade Card activated the Teleportation Array, a deadly blood-red mist enveloped them and pulled them towards the Life-Extermination Coffin.

Meanwhile, a bloodcurdling sound traveled from within the Life-Extermination Coffin.

All three of their faces changed drastically. They were all Sect Masters and True Form Realm experts, so they realized immediately that the Blood Drop Jade Card had plotted against them.

However, they were all enveloped by the light coming from the Teleportation Array, so they could not escape.

Di Jiu threw out the Floating Flame Flag just in time, interrupting the teleportation Dao Laws the moment that the Teleportation Array was activated.

Di Jiu had already learned a little about the space law. Furthermore, this Teleportation Array was only able to teleport one across a short distance. Di Jiu had already stepped out of the Teleportation Array by the time the Teleportation Array was interrupted by the Floating Flame Flag.

The three of them fell from the air due to the interruption of the array. They all landed outside the entrance of the Life-Extermination Coffin. They were actually extremely close to entering it.

The three of them reacted swiftly, rushing away from the coffin immediately and landing beside Di Jiu.

Di Jiu, who had already put away the Floating Flame Flag, stared at the Life-Extermination Coffin with a frown.

“Young Master Red Embellishment, you saved our lives again.” Yan Xueyi was the first to thank Di Jiu.

Cheng Ji and Shen Feng came over to express their gratitude as well. They both looked pale.

“Sect Master Cheng, since you were the one who obtained the Blood Drop Jade Card, you must be aware of the rumors about the Excellency Life-Exterminator. Who exactly is the Excellency Life-Exterminator?” asked Di Jiu out of the blue.