Ninth In the World

When Di Jiu came out of the lake, Zhuo Wujia was already waiting by the lake. The latter was not surprised that Di Jiu had entered the lake. He only inquired, “Brother Zimo, can we start cultivating here?”

Di Jiu nodded his head. “You can begin cultivating. There are no problems.”

“Okay.” Zhuo Wujia cupped his fists at Di Jiu before entering the cave abode without any questions asked. He evidently had absolute trust in Di Jiu and was getting ready to enter reclusive cultivation.

Zhuo Wujia could cultivate, but Di Jiu was unable to. After cultivating for a few days, he sensed that it was meaningless for him to cultivate any more. Therefore, he started to practice blacksmithing.

Di Jiu cultivated the Nomological Dao. Now that he started focusing on blacksmithing, he could refine supreme-grade immortal weapons after one month.

Aware that Zhuo Wujia was still in reclusion and Shen Changshui had not sent any messages asking them to guard the Wormhole, Di Jiu went back to the same store where he had purchased the jade slip previously.

Upon seeing Di Jiu approach, the store owner immediately welcomed him with a huge smile. “What else do you need, my friend?”

Di Jiu replied, “The two jade slips I purchased from your shop here previously have benefited me greatly. Therefore, I would like to ask if you sell any jade slips that contain the name list of the cultivators who entered the Leaping Dao Door.”

“I have one that records the last 1,000 years. If you are looking for one that records a longer period of time, we don’t sell them here.” As he spoke, the store owner had already taken out a jade slip and handed it to Di Jiu. “This costs only 500 immortal crystals.”

“Alright, give me one.” Di Jiu only needed the name list for the past 100 to 200 years, as he wanted to find Xiuqi.

He quickly scanned all 10,000 plus names but did not find Xiuqi’s name on the list. This worried Di Jiu greatly. If Nong Xiuqi had ascended here but had not headed to the Leaping Dao Door, there was only one possible explanation: She had died in the Wormhole.

After all, if Nong Xiuqi had still been alive, he would have been able to sense her presence the moment he’d arrived there.

Di Jiu did not procure Nong Xiuqi’s portrait to ask the store owner about her, as he did not know the man well. He might harm Nong Xiuqi instead if he did that.

As Di Jiu was wondering when he could head to the Wormhole to take a look, the identification card hanging at his waist lit up.

The words on the identification jade slip stated clearly: Gather in the North District immediately. Get ready to head to the Wormhole.

“Good luck,” wished the store owner with a smile. He had seen the words on Di Jiu’s identification card.

In his honest opinion, an arrogant newbie like Di Jiu would have an extremely low chance of survival.

“Thank you,” replied Di Jiu as he turned and walked out of the store.

…

By the time Di Jiu arrived at the gathering spot, there were already more than 1,000 people gathered there. Zhuo Wujia, who had been in seclusion, was here as well. He was standing at the furthest corner.

Di Jiu walked over to Zhuo Wujia, as he had already discovered that this place was heavily segregated by different powers. The people here distinctly belonged in different factions. Di Jiu and Zhuo Wujia were standing at the corner by themselves, evidently not part of the masses.

Shen Changshui had not come. Instead, a middle-aged woman was standing before a group of people. Her gaze swept across the entire crowd before landing on Di Jiu and Zhuo Wujia.

She paused for only an instant before she shifted her gaze immediately. Then, she said evenly, “Many of you will recognize me. I am Mu Jie and I am the commander for this expedition. We will be standing guard at the Wormhole for 11 days. I’m sure all of you are familiar with guarding the Wormhole. The most important thing is that everyone puts in their all, helps each other out, and strives to achieve a low mortality rate. Let us head out now.”

“Excuse me. What if I want to guard the Wormhole for one month?” Di Jiu did not want to travel back and forth. He intended to guard the Wormhole for one month straight so that he could do his own things with the rest of his time.

Most of the cultivators looked at Di Jiu mockingly after hearing his words. Evidently, they all felt that Di Jiu was an ignorant newbie.

Being able to guard the Wormhole for 10 days was already considered an impressive feat. Doing so for one month would be an impossible feat.

When guarding the Wormhole, one would expend large amounts of Immortal Essence and their meridians and Spiritual Sea would get corroded as well. Therefore, one would have to recuperate for several months after guarding it for 10 days. This was also why the cultivators in the Wormhole found it extremely challenging to increase their cultivation level.

Approximately 10 percent of the cultivators guarding the Wormhole would die during every expedition. However, after leaving the Wormhole, 10 percent of the surviving cultivators would die in their lodgings because they were unable to thoroughly cleanse the worm poison and dirt from their bodies in time.

Mu Jie’s gaze landed on Di Jiu once again as she answered coolly, “It is not impossible if you wish to guard the Wormhole continuously for a month. If you survive this time, you can apply with the team leader. Alright, let’s go enter the Wormhole District.”

With that, Mu Jie led the way. She did not bother explaining too much in detail, for she was certain that it would not be easy for Di Jiu to even survive this time, much less for one month. He would sing a different tune after experiencing it this time.

The journey to the Wormhole from the North District Market was neither too long nor too short. One hour later, Mu Jie had already led the crowd to the entrance of a Defense Array. Di Jiu had used his Spiritual Force to scan this Defense Array before, but because the level of the Defense Array was quite high, his Spiritual Force had been unable to permeate it.

Upon reaching this place, Mu Jie took out her identification card and swiped it at the Defense Array, which opened immediately. What Di Jiu saw instantly was not the Wormhole, but a store with the signboard “Contribution Points Accumulation Site”.

Di Jiu knew what was going on. All the cultivators guarding the Wormhole had to hand in intact worms here if they wished to accumulate contribution points. The contribution points were counted according to the species and size of the worms.

Of course, it was alright if one was unwilling to hand in the worms they had killed. However, they would gain no contribution points. Who would be willing to stay here and kill worms for a long period of time? Probably every cultivator was anxious to quickly accumulate enough contribution points so that they could enter the Leaping Dao Door.

Nonetheless, it was still necessary for one to reserve some worms even if every cultivator wished to accumulate sufficient contribution points. This was because the worms were the only source of cultivating resources. Without any worms, one would be unable to exchange them for any cultivating resources. Solely relying on the Heaven Earth Essence Energy was not enough.

After bypassing this store and walking several more kilometers, they reached another Defense Array. This time, Mu Jie did not have to swipe her identification card. The Defense Array opened on its own when they reached it.

A pungent aura then washed over them. Di Jiu saw about 1,000 cultivators and a huge group of colorful worms battling. These worms were all at least level-nine immortal demon beasts, some even stronger than level-nine.

A faint poisonous mist circulated in the air, making Di Jiu feel a little faint when he sensed it. However, as he completed the Nomological Qi Circulations, he quickly found the nomological aura of the poisonous mist. This poisonous mist contained various laws so it posed no problem to Di Jiu.

After finding the nomological aura and completing the Nomological Qi Circulations, this poisonous mist was converted into Essence Energy that supplemented one’s cultivation.

Most cultivators, including Zhuo Wujia, had already swallowed an antidote. Upon seeing that Di Jiu had not consumed any antidotes, Zhuo Wujia subconsciously glanced at him. Before Zhuo Wujia could speak, Di Jiu waved his hand dismissively, indicating that he did not need any.

Mu Jie did not lead the masses to join the battle, choosing to wait at the sidelines instead.

Over one hour passed. Other than the worms that were killed, all the worms retreated back into the Wormhole.

The cultivators who had just fought with them were all exhausted but they seemed overjoyed to be able to leave this place soon.

Di Jiu did some rough calculations. There were at most 900 people here. Logically, more than 1,000 people would come here every time, which meant that each batch would have about 100 casualties. However, if one added the cultivators who died in their lodgings after being poisoned and damaging their Dao foundation…

This meant that 600 to 700 cultivators would die every month in the entire Wormhole Market District. There could definitely not be so many cultivators from the Ascension Lake that could replace such a high loss. In other words, another place should be replenishing the cultivators here, considering that the Wormhole Market District maintained a population of more than 10,000 people all year round.

“Your turn,” said a young man who was taking the lead. He swiftly retreated with the other cultivators who were also covered in injuries.

Only now did Di Jiu see the border of the two worlds clearly. Describing it as a cave entrance would be quite accurate, for there was a huge cave before him.

This cave was at least 5,000 feet wide. His Spiritual Force disappeared without a trace when he scanned the cave with his Spiritual Force.