Ninth In the World
chapter-154

Chapter 154: Unintentional Willow Planting

“I just entered the Void Spirit Realm. You can’t see my cultivation because your realm is not high enough,” Di Jiu said faintly.

The Void Spirit Realm?

When they heard Di Jiu’s words, all the cultivators stared at him in shock. How was this possible? Although a Pioneer Sea Realm cultivator had entered the Sky Screen before, how many years ago had that happened? At the time, the various continents had been rich in cultivating resources, so it had been possible to enter the Pioneer Sea Realm in less than 100 years.

These days, there was a shortage of resources in the world, so there was not enough Spirit Qi. An Essence Soul cultivator who entered the Sky Screen was already a true genius, but entering the Void Spirit Realm was almost impossible.

“He is definitely not at the Void Spirit Realm. He was still at the Golden Core Realm not long ago, when I besieged him!” a sharp voice called out.

Di Jiu recognized the cultivator as one of the people who had surrounded him in the blue cave abode. Di Jiu had broken his arm, so he hadn’t expected to see the guy there.

He didn’t wait for the second-level Essence Soul cultivator to speak. Di Jiu’s mental strength escape technique immediately landed behind the early-stage Golden Core cultivator. Then, he used the long saber in his hand to draw a scar down his back.

“He wants to kill…” The Golden Core cultivator knew that Di Jiu was really powerful. However, even though he had been guarding himself against Di Jiu, he had not expected Di Jiu to appear almost instantly before him.

Bam! The early-stage Golden Core cultivator did not get to finish his sentence before he was torn apart by Di Jiu.

Di Jiu sneered. Did they think that if there was an Essence Soul cultivator around, he would not dare take revenge?

After sensing the power of Di Jiu’s saber move, the second-level Essence Soul cultivator widened his eyes. He was now sure that Di Jiu was not a Golden Core cultivator.

If he was one, then he must have perfected the Golden Core Realm. However, he also affirmed that Di Jiu was not at the Void Spirit Realm either.

“What do you guys think?” The second-level Essence Soul cultivator’s eyes fell on the three first-level Essence Soul cultivators.

“I have fought with him, and I was not his match,” Cheng Bijun said calmly.

The second-level Essence Soul cultivator was startled. “Although Cheng Bijun is just a first-level Essence Soul cultivator, her strength should not be weaker than his. Cheng Bijun must be wrong. Even if this cultivator is at the Void Spirit Realm, she is an Essence Soul Expert at a higher realm than him.”

When Cheng Bijun said that she was no match for Di Jiu, the rest of the Essence Soul cultivators went silent. There was no enmity between them and Di Jiu, but there was also no need to offend an expert for the sake of an unfamiliar Golden Core cultivator.

Di Jiu was a bit puzzled. This woman should be encouraging everyone to fight with him. Why had she let him go?

Di Jiu suddenly understood what was going on. He had a Small World that Bijun was extremely eager to get. Once he was killed, this Small World would most likely fall into the hands of the second-level Essence Soul cultivator. Perhaps Cheng Bijun would have a greater chance of getting the Small World back when it wasn’t in Di Jiu’s hands anymore.

The second-level Essence Soul cultivator laughed and immediately told Di Jiu, “You, my friend, are a member of my generation, so it would be good for us to work together to break through this ancient sect.”

“That is only natural. However, I am kind of poor, so I want to do a little business before I start,” Di Jiu said faintly. “Anyone who is wealthy doesn’t have to care about me.”

As soon as he said that, Di Jiu walked to an empty space. When he opened his hand, rows of shelves appeared in front of everyone.

This ancient sect array was definitely a perfected ninth-level Defense Array. Even though there were so many people around, it would take them at least a few months to smash this array. Even if he took the lead, it would take them at least a month.

Di Jiu didn’t want to waste any time on this useless work. There were a lot of people there, so he wanted to take care of his own business first.

“Dear friends, I have top-level Quintessential Growth Elixir, Foundation Establishment Elixir, Profound Essence Elixir…”

Before Di Jiu could finish, many cultivators were already swarming over. The Qi Refinement Realm Cultivators stared at the Foundation Establishment Elixir with envy, and the Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivators stared eagerly at the Quintessential Growth Elixir. The Profound Essence Elixir was the medicinal elixir Golden Core cultivators needed to cultivate.

These were rare medicinal elixirs that were usually not found even in big commercial buildings.

Although the grade of the Foundation Establishment Elixir was not high, the main herbs used to refine it were extremely rare. As far as the Quintessential Growth Elixir was concerned, it was rumored that the Forge Elixir Herb was already extinct.

“I want some Foundation Establishment Elixir and Quintessential Growth Elixir…”

“I want some Quintessential Growth Elixir, Essence Growth Elixir…”

The cultivators who wanted to attack this array were not unbreakable. Everyone crowded and squashed to the booth where Di Jiu was.

Di Jiu threw multiple array flags, so the booth was soon guarded by a Defense Array. When it was, Di Jiu said, “Everyone must take turns. However, you should know that I do not accept Spirit Stones in exchange for my elixirs…”

When they all heard that Di Jiu did not accept Spirit Stones, the enthusiastic crowd finally calmed down. However, the eyes of the second-level Essence Soul cultivator lit up. The Dharma Array Di Jiu had arranged was at least a fourth-level array, which meant that Di Jiu was at least a level-four Array Great-Master.

If an array formation expert like Di Jiu joined the alliance, the ancient sect array would break faster.

As he thought about asking Di Jiu for help, he suppressed the unhappiness in his heart.

When everyone had finally calmed down, Di Jiu said, “In addition to these medicinal elixirs, I also still have a Soul Origin Fruit!”

Di Jiu took out a jade box and placed it on top of the shelf. “This is it.”

The elixirs had only invoked the envy of the Qi Refinement Realm Cultivators and the Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivators, while the Golden Core cultivators had only wanted the Profound Essence Elixir. However, even the Golden Core cultivators were now staring at the fruit with envy.

The Soul Origin Fruit could be used to refine a Condensing Soul Elixir, which was the very elixir that allowed Golden Core cultivators to enter the Essence Soul Realm. The reason this kind of medicinal elixir was difficult to obtain was because there was hardly any Soul Origin Fruit.

The Pioneer Sea Realm Experts had entered the Sky Screen long ago because this spirit herb was everywhere, so advancement was not difficult to achieve there. A genius without a medicinal elixir to aid them, that nonetheless wanted to break through, could only let time go by. If one’s blood and strength deteriorated instead of advancing, they could only wait until they died from old age.

“What do you need, sir?” someone asked immediately.

Di Jiu used his hands to lower the loud noises and raise his voice. “I recently reached an obstacle in my cultivation and have been finding it difficult to go further. Therefore, I want to refine my body. Today, I will only accept body-tempering techniques in exchange. Don’t give me poor body-tempering techniques, I already have a lot of those. I need top-grade body-tempering techniques. As long as your techniques are good enough, you can ask for a certain price.”

Di Jiu had shown his precious possessions in order to get top-grade body-tempering techniques.

When they heard that Di Jiu wanted a body-tempering technique, Cheng Bijun and Zong Min immediately understood that Di Jiu had gone there for the flame. Di Jiu’s strength required body-tempering so he could enter the flaming mountain. It seemed like they had no hope of staying there.

Most of the cultivators were disappointed by Di Jiu’s announcement, as very few people had a body-tempering technique. Even though Di Jiu had taken out a lot of things, they had no chance of acquiring them. Robbing him would definitely be suicide. Even the Essence Soul cultivators did not dare attack him. If Di Jiu wanted to kill them, it would be a piece of cake for him.

“Must it be a body-tempering technique, sir?” a perfected Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivator asked unwillingly.

He had come to the Sky Screen to get the opportunity to attain the Golden Core Realm, so he had spent all his savings to find a place there. Therefore, he could not purchase the Quintessential Growth Elixir that had been placed in front of him. What could possibly disappoint him more than this?

Di Jiu’s mental strength swept past the Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivator’s body and sensed his cultivation level.

Although he knew that this Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivator was eager to have the Quintessential Growth Elixir, he did not offer him any charity. There were also other cultivators eager to have the elixir, so he couldn’t help them all.

“Not necessarily. If you have any pleasing techniques, dharma treasures, or perhaps a mental strength condensation technique, you could still get an elixir from me,” Di Jiu said lightly.

When he heard about the mental strength condensation technique, the Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivator got excited. He quickly grabbed a weathered jade slip and handed it to Di Jiu. “This is a weathered technique that I acquired, sir. You can look at it.”

Di Jiu took the jade slip and scanned it with his mental strength. The jade slip was really weathered. Although it was unknown exactly how old it was, many of the words on it were faint. Fortunately, Di Jiu’s mental strength condensation was strong, or he wouldn’t even have been able to read one-tenth of the contents.

Even so, Di Jiu could only read 60 percent of its contents, which was surprisingly enough to shock him. When he checked out the contents of the jade slip, Di Jiu realized how precious it was.

At first, the jade slip stated that, “A Daoist cultivates the soul, while a mortal person cultivates the flesh. Even though the flesh is strong, it is gone in time. Sects like the Witch Sect, the Flood Sect, and the Paint Tin Sect cultivate the spirit without daring to pursue immortality. Instead, one must attain true Dao techniques… This article is about learning the Forging Spiritual Art and studying Spiritual Forces and mental strength until ultimately transforming into a Soul.”

This was a Forging Spiritual Art jade slip. Di Jiu had wanted to plant flowers, but the flowers would not open. Then, he had unintentionally planted a willow and received this jade slip. Although his galaxy meridian could also be tempered, it was mainly for the sake of condensing the Quintessential Essence. This was incomparable to real mental strength training. The Forging Spiritual Art was basically like finding charcoal in the snow.

If Di Jiu had to choose between a top-grade body-tempering technique and the Forging Spiritual Art jade slip, he would most likely choose the Forging Spiritual Art jade slip.

Di Jiu did not look any further. Instead, he suppressed the excitement in his heart and said calmly, “This is useful to me, so I will give you an elixir.”

Di Jiu picked up a jade bottle and handed it to the Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivator. There were three doses of Quintessential Growth Elixir in the bottle.

He knew very well why the Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivator would exchange this jade slip with him. If Di Jiu were in his shoes, he would exchange it as well. The Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivator must have recorded the contents of the jade slip that he could discern long ago and copied them on another jade slip. The value of this jade slip was naturally incomparable with that of the Quintessential Growth Elixir.

Value-wise, all his things combined were not as valuable as this jade slip. However, he couldn’t give away too much stuff without making people suspicious.

When the mental strength of the Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivator scanned the jade bottle, he immediately said, “Thank you, sir.”

He knew that his jade slip was valuable, so he had already memorized its contents. Although the jade slip could temper with his mental strength, it could not allow him to enter the Golden Core Realm. Thus, he was more than willing to exchange it for the Quintessential Growth Elixir.