Ninth In the World

After leaving the Ninth World, Di Jiu took out a pile of Divine Essence Pills and increased his strength in a frenzy.

However, the speed of his upgrade was simply too fast. No matter how many Divine Essence Pills and supporting elixir pills he consumed, his cultivation did not increase much. Another year passed and Di Jiu received Yu Qianxi’s message.

Sighing, he put the array flags away. He had spent a little over one year in seclusion, but his cultivation level had not increased at all, although his Divine Essence had become slightly more condensed.

“Senior Brother Di, thank you for waiting for me for a few years.” After searching the Vast Ruins for a few years, the veil she wore to obscure her face was long lost.

Di Jiu was impressed by her beauty. However, judging by Yu Qianxi’s disappointed expression, Di Jiu knew that she had failed to gain insight into what she had been seeking.

“It’s nothing. Furthermore, I have gained quite a bit over the past few years. Let’s go. We can head to the second level now,” replied Di Jiu as he waved his hand dismissively.

He had indeed gained much over the past few years. He had become a Primordial Dao Alchemy Deity in addition to leveling-up the Heavenly Aqua Saber into a middle-grade divine weapon.

Simply based on his status as a Primordial Dao Alchemy Deity, he would have access to an unlimited amount of cultivating resources in the Dao World. Of course, this was provided that he did not offend Jiang Dai.

Yu Qianxi bowed before Di Jiu and said with some embarrassment, “Senior Brother Di, a Senior Sister from my sect called Wen Xi-er met her doom in the Vast Ruins. Previously, my sect sent out many people to find her body to no avail. If possible, I wish to search the second level as well.”

Di Jiu immediately thought of the jade kettle he was carrying. He was certain that the reason Yu Qianxi was searching for Wen Xi-er was because of that jade kettle.

However, he had zero intention of handing the jade kettle to Yu Qianxi. After all, Wen Xi-er had tried to sabotage him. Otherwise, he would not have taken that jade kettle and made it his.

He knew that that jade kettle was now in his possession. Therefore, Yu Qianxi would not be able to find it no matter how long she searched for it. Naturally, he would not accompany her in her search for it.

“Junior Sister Yu, the second level of the Vast Ruins is much more dangerous than the first level. I suggest that we head to the third level first to search for the Dao fruit. Once we find it, our strength might increase and reach another level. Wouldn’t it be better if you came back to the second level to find your Senior Sister then?” suggested Di Jiu without hesitation.

If Yu Qianxi did not agree, he would head up to the third level by himself. His priority was to increase his strength. He did not have enough free time to take a leisure walk with a woman unrelated to him.

Yu Qianxi immediately realized that Di Jiu would not waste time with her on the second level once she heard what Di Jiu said. Therefore, left with no choice, she said, “We shall head to the third level then.”

Then, Yu Qianxi took out a bone slip made out of an unknown material and handed it over to Di Jiu. “Senior Brother Di, this slip records the location of the Dao fruit garden on the third level. I never took this out ever since I acquired it, for I originally intended to come here only when I attained the Dao Transformation. However, I believe in what Senior Brother Mo Yejiu said and agree with him that you have the capability to head to the third level.”

Mo Yejiu had said that the person who had the strongest capability to survive in the Vast Ruins was Di Jiu. Yu Qianxi had not quite believed these words at first. However, after meeting Di Jiu, she had realized that Mo Yejiu might have been telling the truth.

Rumor had it that Bai Changyi had headed to the Vast Ruins’ third level when he had only been at the Dao Modeling Realm. They would have no problem entering the third level so long as Di Jiu’s capability to survive in the Vast Ruins was greater than Bai Changyi’s. Di Jiu would definitely take care of her safety if she stayed by his side.

Upon accepting the bone slip, he scanned it with his Spiritual Force. The words “Vast Ruins’ third-level Dao fruit garden” were written within. The location of the garden was clearly indicated on the map.

In truth, Di Jiu did not need to look at the location on the map, for a faint arrow appeared above the bone slip once it was taken out. Evidently, this arrow indicated the way to the Dao fruit garden.

“Let’s go.” Di Jiu did not return the jade slip to Yu Qianxi, as he understood what she was implying. He would be holding onto the jade slip so that he could take care of her and keep her safe as well.

The first time he had come to the Vast Ruins, the nomological whirlpools and chaotic nomological currents of the second level had continuously created injuries on his body.

This time, when he arrived on the second level again, nothing posed a threat to him. His Spiritual Force was able to capture the nomological whirlpools and the various nomological displacements, allowing him to evade them timely. If he was unwilling to evade them, his Nomological Qi Circulation was capable of absorbing these chaotic nomological whirlpools so that he could cultivate.

After following Di Jiu for a day, Yu Qianxi knew that she had made the right call. She was silently astounded by how powerful Di Jiu was in the Vast Ruins.

Upon arriving at the Vast Ruins’ second level last time, she’d had to leave that level to head back to the first level in a few days while sustaining severe injuries.

When she arrived at the second level this time, she had no intention of seeking Di Jiu’s help. However, she was shocked when she saw Di Jiu’s capabilities on the second level.

In the Vast Ruins, there was no order to the appearance of the nomological whirlpools and fragmented nomological displacements. However, Di Jiu was still able to seek out the safest path. The only thing she had to do was follow Di Jiu. The occasional fragmented weak nomological spots they encountered could be easily dealt with by her.

Upon glancing at Di Jiu, who was walking in front of her, she sighed. Mo Yejiu certainly had not lied to her. His words had actually been an understatement. The way Di Jiu transversed the Vast Ruins could be more accurately described as a leisurely stroll.

She knew that Bai Changyi had not believed Mo Yejiu’s words back then. Now, she was certain that Bai Changyi’s capability to survive in the Vast Ruins was far inferior to Di Jiu’s.

A violent roar startled Yu Qianxi out of her musings. She felt despair when she saw the incoming dense wave of Five-Element Beasts.

They were really unlucky. It was common to encounter Five-Element Beasts in the Vast Ruins, but there would only be 100 to 200 of them on the first level. On the second level, the most they would encounter was 10 of them. The wave of Five-Element Beasts before her included at least 10,000.

She could still have turned around and escaped if this had happened elsewhere. However, that was now impossible since this was the Vast Ruins. Yu Qianxi looked at Di Jiu. She knew that this had nothing to do with Di Jiu’s strength, as their luck was simply terrible to say the least.

“Are you not worried?” asked Yu Qianxi, her face deathly pale. She discovered that Di Jiu looked very calm and was drawing something in the air by using his finger.

The laws here were far too fragmented and chaotic. Thus, she was completely unable to sense what Di Jiu was drawing in the air.

Boom! She heard an explosion before she could receive a reply from Di Jiu. Then, the whole space shook.

Yu Qianxi stared dumbly at the tens of thousands of Five-Element Beasts, which were blocked by a Defense Array Di Jiu had set up unknowingly.

What stupefied her was the fact that Di Jiu rushed out of the Defense Array, unsheathing the saber weapon on his back. Then, he leaped into the Five-Element Beast swarm.

Piercing screams could be heard. Yu Qianxi only saw glistening saber flashes that dispersed thereafter within the beast crowd.

“What kind of supernormal ability is this exactly?” Yu Qianxi murmured as she stared at Di Jiu’s saber flare in complete astonishment.

In order to test the Heavenly Aqua Saber he had recently refined, Di Jiu chose to not even use the Primeval Thunder Pattern. He was highly satisfied with the powerful saber. He would have no problem dealing with the Five-Element Beasts, no matter how many of them came his way, much less if a mere 10,000 of them attacked.

When other people were in the Vast Ruins, they would tread carefully in fear of accidentally being sucked into a fragmented nomological whirlpool. Di Jiu was not concerned about that, however. He cultivated the Nomological Dao, so such a situation could not possibly occur. Even if it did, he would still be able to escape and avoid being pulverized like other cultivators given his current strength.

In other words, no one else possessed a greater capability to survive within the Vast Ruins.

Yu Qianxi finally understood that the Defense Array setup was not meant for the two of them. It was for her only. He would not have needed a Defense Array if he had been alone.

“So powerful!” Yu Qianxi did not know that Di Jiu was not afraid of this nomological fragment. Therefore, the impression he gave her could be summarized into two words: so powerful.