Ninth In the World
chapter-148

Chapter 148: Escape

Di Jiu did not have the capability to continue attacking. The only thing he could do was take out his two shields again with great effort.

Escape! He had to escape! This was the only thought in Di Jiu’s mind.

When Di Jiu’s Spiritual Force swept out, he quickly discovered in pleasant surprise that Little Tree had cleverly opened the confinement array at the cave entrance in secret. The intelligence of the Tiny Tree Root had obviously increased.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Several attacks landed on Di Jiu’s shield again. As the shield started cracking, the spear of the eighth-stage Golden Core cultivator pierced through the shield again and stabbed at Di Jiu’s back.

Di Jiu did not retaliate this time. He just activated the Spiritual Force escape technique and instantly landed on the opposite side of the lake. Then, he used one hand to throw Little Tree in his spirit herb garden and the other hand to grab hold of Qin Yin before activating the escape technique once more.

The two escape techniques were activated within a breath’s time. By the time the people in the cave reacted, Di Jiu had already disappeared from the cave entrance.

Despite his serious injuries and tiredness, he persisted in madly activating the escape technique. The previous times he had used this escape technique, he had used his Spiritual Force to sense the fluctuations of the space and prevent himself from being swept into a space whirlpool. Now that he was fleeing, he did not care about this anymore. He just escaped hurriedly by relying on his luck.

Ever since he had attained the second-stage Golden Core Realm, he could flee at least two kilometers away each time he cast the Spiritual Force escape technique.

The remaining dozens of people did not chase after Di Jiu. Considering Di Jiu’s strength, they would only be committing suicide if they did not attack Di Jiu from all sides before chasing after him. There would be no point in detaining Di Jiu, as it would not benefit them or anyone else.

Even the eighth-stage Golden Core Realm Cultivator looked at the cave entrance gravely as Di Jiu disappeared from his Spiritual Force range in a few seconds.

Although he’d had the opportunity to chase Di Jiu when Di Jiu had first started to escape, he had not dared to do so. He believed that Di Jiu would take him down along with him if he were to die. That formidable escape technique had shocked him.

The blue lake had already been dyed a light red color. More than 100 corpses lay randomly around, indicating that a scary battle had once occurred there.

Zhong Xun’s face was pale. He currently felt extremely regretful. Contrary to his expectations, Di Jiu had not died. He had actually managed to escape.

Why had he been so foolish? If Di Jiu could have been killed so easily, the Qi Family would have already succeeded.

If he could turn back time, he would rather hide in a corner and not move or flee right away. He would definitely not attack Di Jiu. However, it was too late for regrets now. He had to break through to the Essence Soul Realm as soon as possible and…

Zhong Xun laughed self-derisively. So what if he did break through to the Essence Soul Realm? It was only a matter of time before Di Jiu beat an Essence Soul Realm cultivator considering his current combat strength. Plus, Di Jiu had extracted a top-notch spirit meridian.

The cultivators who had come back to their senses started to seize the storage bags on the ground. Some of them, who seized some storage bags successfully, rushed out of the cave abode and disappeared without hesitation.

Not many people were willing to stay there and cultivate, despite the presence of a lake that contained a Spirit Origin.

…

Di Jiu’s vision flickered. He should have escaped the Spiritual Force range of that eighth-stage Golden Core Realm Cultivator. He really wanted to call Little Tree out. Qin Yin was not a bad person, but he did not wish to put his life in her hands. Doing so and saving Qin Yin were two different matters.

Di Jiu’s Spiritual Force moved, yet before he could call Little Tree out, he fell from the sky with a loud sound. His Spiritual Force was all used-up. He and Qin Yin landed on the ground in a heap.

Qin Yin, who leaped up immediately, discovered that Di Jiu had completely lost his consciousness.

Her entire body was covered in blood after being carried by Di Jiu and escaping for such a long distance. Di Jiu looked even worse. He had been dyed completely blood-red, and there were at least seven injuries on his back. Qin Yin suspected that several of those injuries were deep enough to damage his dantian.

Other than his back, Di Jiu’s waist was also full of injuries. His calf was broken, and so were several bones in his hand. Even his neck had a very deep, horrifying injury.

Although Qin Yin went out frequently for test trials and witnessed battles among cultivators just as frequently, this was the first time she saw such severe injuries on a cultivator.

Qin Yin was not ungrateful. Even though she looked down upon fellas like Di Jiu who bullied Itinerant Cultivators, Di Jiu had saved her twice.

The first time, she had been restrained by a Golden Core Realm Cultivator, so she would have died if it had not been for Di Jiu. The second time, Di Jiu had taken her along even though he had been severely injured and ready to leave. Qin Yin would have died in a similarly horrible manner if he had not taken her with him.

Her master had once told her that she would not face such dangers when she attained the Golden Core Realm. No one would be able to recognize her constitution, so a significantly smaller number of cultivators would target her. She would just be prettier than the average girl. Nothing else.

Therefore, she felt even more grateful for Di Jiu for taking her into that blue cave. She was already an eighth-stage Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivator, so it would not be too difficult for her to reach the first-stage Golden Core Realm in the Sky Screen.

Qin Yin was someone who showed gratitude with grace. She knew that it was expected of her to save Di Jiu, as Di Jiu had saved her twice and allowed her to attain the eighth-stage Foundation Establishment Realm in a few days. Thus, she should at least wait for Di Jiu to wake up before leaving.

As she thought of this, Qin Yin hesitated no more. She grabbed Di Jiu and left the place.

Half a day later, she finally found a hiding spot.

It was a cave abode hidden between two cliffs. Someone had certainly cultivated there before. Even though time had passed, the Spirit Qi density within this cave was still quite good.

Qin Yin carried Di Jiu into the cave. She wanted to leave, but she would not feel at ease while Di Jiu was still unconscious.

Fortunately, Di Jiu regained consciousness after a short period of time. When his Spiritual Force swept out, he immediately understood where he was and who was with him.

He must have lost consciousness before he could call Little Tree out, so Qin Yin had brought him to this place.

Di Jiu knew that his forte was healing. When his meridians had been shattered in the past, they had healed naturally. Although his current injuries seemed to be worse, Di Jiu knew very well that they were lighter than his injuries when he had first arrived in the Polar Night Continent. He would heal completely in time.

“You are awake!” Qin Yin shouted in pleasant surprise when she noticed that Di Jiu had regained consciousness.

She did not want to stay with him, so now that he was awake, she could finally leave.

“Thank you.” Di Jiu was still unable to stand up, so he cupped his fists gratefully.

Qin Yin shook her head. “There’s no need to thank me. You took me out after all. You’ve saved me twice. If it weren’t for you, I would have died long ago. I didn’t help you much, all I did was find this place.”

Di Jiu smiled, but did not explain. The reason he felt so grateful was not because Qin Yin had saved him, but because she was a good person.

A slightly more wicked cultivator would have killed him while he had been unconscious and seized his possessions.

Nearly 200 people had attacked him for his possessions earlier after all.

He actually felt grateful that Qin Yin had not attacked him. This showed that he had judged her character correctly. This woman had been worth his two attempts to save her.

“Since you’re okay now, I will be leaving.” Qin Yin stood up. The way she handled things was incompatible with Di Jiu’s way of doing things.

“Hold on a minute. I want to give you something!” Di Jiu called out.

Qin Yin stopped in her tracks. She looked at Di Jiu calmly and said, “Thank you, but I should be able to obtain the cultivating resources I need within the Sky Screen.”

Qin Yin bowed before Di Jiu before she added, “Although I don’t know whether what you said about liking me was true, I really have no intention of becoming your cultivation partner, nor do I have any feelings for you. Hence, I cannot accept anything from you. I am leaving. Take care of yourself.”

The reason she told Di Jiu to take care of himself was because he had offended too many people.

Di Jiu was stunned for a moment. Although Qin Yin was beautiful, he actually had no feelings for her. He just felt grateful to her for not seizing his possessions, so he had intended to give her a portion of the blue spirit meridian and a Soul Origin Fruit.

He had not expected that she would give up on this kind of treasure. He was certain that Qin Yin knew what he had been about to give her, as everyone knew what he had obtained in that cave.

When he realized that Qin Yin was about to turn and leave, Di Jiu said, “In that case, I will give you this mask that can conceal your aura.”

“Thanks a lot.” Qin Yin did not reject him this time. She actually accepted Di Jiu’s mask.

Although it was easy for people to identify her constitution before she attained the Golden Core Realm, this mask would keep her safer.

After Qin Yin left the cave abode quickly, Di Jiu called out Little Tree and gave it a pile of array flags. “Set up a Defense Array at the cave entrance. I need to heal my wounds quickly.”

“That dung beetle has not come back, Big Brother,” said Little Tree worriedly as it grabbed hold of the array flags.

Di Jiu waved his hand indifferently. “I can sense that it’s alright. I doubt that anyone would find it as long as it did not go looking for trouble.”