Ninth In the World
chapter-240

Chapter 240: A Familiar Place

Zhuo Wenshu opened her mouth. She suddenly felt like she had shot herself in the foot. The reason she had said that she was only at the seventh-stage Pioneer Sea Realm was because she had been worried that Di Jiu would think that her cultivation level was too high and would refuse to work with her as a result.

She could not possibly agree to split the loot 50-50. As she thought about this, Zhuo Wenshu said, “Why don’t we do it this way? When we enter the place, we will each rely on our own capabilities to get our share.”

“Alright.” Di Jiu naturally agreed with Zhuo Wenshu without hesitation.

This was not because he was greedy, but rather because he had to possess large amounts of high-level spiritual herbs in order to become a grade-seven Elixir King. Otherwise, all this would just be empty talk.

Zhuo Wenshu was very pleased with Di Jiu’s decisiveness. “Let’s go. Follow me. Remember to watch your step once you enter the place. I have to warn you that I will be unable to help you if anything happens.”

Di Jiu nodded his head in acknowledgment.

The environment of the Desert River Forbidden Zone was exactly like its name indicated. As he walked behind Zhuo Wenshu, he only saw stretches of sand. Even his level-ten Spiritual Force could not encompass the entire Desert River Forbidden Zone.

The further the two of them walked, the higher the temperature became. During the last part of their journey, Di Jiu suspected that the temperature had exceeded 200 degrees, and yet it continued to rise.

Zhuo Wenshu took out a dharma treasure called a locator disc and looked at it as she walked on. Two hours later, she stopped walking, looked back at Di Jiu and said, “This is the place. See, if I hadn’t been leading the way, you would never have found this place.”

Di Jiu had to admit that he would indeed have been unable to find this place without Zhuo Wenshu. However, after reaching the place, he quickly realized that there was something different about it. There seemed to be some obscure traces of spatial array engravings.

It was not surprising that he was able to identify the array engravings, considering that he was a Level-Nine Array King with a level-ten Spiritual Force. Di Jiu was more interested in taking a look at the round disk Zhuo Wenshu was holding, which was actually able to detect hidden Dharma Arrays. If this round disk could discover any invisible Dharma Array, it would be a top-notch treasure.

“I have already entered this place once. However, each entrance costs several million high-grade Spirit Stones. I found this place myself and also saved you. I’m sure you would not have a problem paying for the Spirit Stones,” said Zhuo Wenshu, who already considered Di Jiu a stingy person. If Di Jiu was not willing to take out the necessary Spirit Stones, she would. However, she would naturally not be courteous when she opened the spiritual herb garden and seized the spiritual herbs. When that time came, Di Jiu would not be able to say that she was taking too much.

Zhuo Wenshu had not expected that Di Jiu would throw out five million high-grade Spirit Stones without thinking. “Is this enough?” he asked. “If it’s insufficient, I have some more.”

“It’s enough. I will take over from here,” Zhuo Wenshu said awkwardly.

Di Jiu thought that Zhuo Wenshu would throw out some array flags and open the invisible array door. However, Zhuo Wenshu simply activated the round disk she was holding. Star-like sparks flew from the round disk and landed on the sandy ground before she grabbed a bunch of array flags swiftly with one hand and threw them out. The array flags landed accurately on the light sparks.

After landing on the sparks, the array flags quickly disappeared.

Boom, boom, boom! The space shook before a spatial array door appeared in front of Di Jiu and Zhuo Wenshu.

“Quickly, follow me. This spatial array door is unstable. It will disappear in a few seconds…” Zhuo Wenshu entered the spatial array door as she spoke.

Di Jiu followed her without hesitation.

Although he entered a spatial array door, he seemed to have crossed a physical door. He felt no difference after landing on both feet on solid ground.

“This is the place.” Zhuo Wenshu pointed to the illumination Dharma Array in front of them, which looked like a crystal ball.

Di Jiu could clearly see the verdant spiritual herbs within. It was exactly as Zhuo Wenshu had said; its inside was filled with top-notch spiritual herbs at and above level-seven.

“I’m sure you can see the spiritual plants within the spiritual herb garden. This crystal Dharma Array requires the blood of a male and a female. There is a blood sacrifice bowl placed at both sides of the crystal array… Oh, I forgot. Are you a virgin?” Zhuo Wenshu had suddenly remembered something important. This blood sacrifice array required using virgin blood.

Although Di Jiu had been a wastrel in Pearl City in the past, he had not lost his virginity. He had Zhen Man to thank for that, as at the time, he had only cared about her. After everything that had happened, he had focused on cultivating.

“Forget it. I’m asking too much of you. If you’re not a virgin, you’d better use your Blood Essence instead of your ordinary blood.” Zhuo Wenshu did not wait for Di Jiu to reply before she waved her hand in dismissal. Di Jiu had already cultivated up to the fourth-stage Pioneer Sea Realm. Her expectations would be too high if she also expected him to be a virgin.

Di Jiu did not pay attention to Zhuo Wenshu. Instead, he stared at the crystal array with a frown. This array seemed familiar…

“Get ready, we’re starting. Let a drop of your Blood Essence drip into the bowl the moment I use my blood.” Zhuo Wenshu walked to the blood sacrifice bowl on the right side.

“Hold on…” Di Jiu stopped Zhuo Wenshu. When Zhuo Wenshu looked at him questioningly, he said, “I have seen this array technique before. It seems to be…”

After some hesitation, Di Jiu suddenly remembered. “Senior Sister Zhao, I have indeed seen these array formation traces before.”

Before he could finish speaking, Zhuo Wenshu sneered, “That’s impossible. Do you know what kind of place the Desert River Forbidden Zone is? This stretch of desert is as vast and boundless as the ocean. There are numerous historical ruins, mystic areas, cave abodes, and natural remains here…”

As she spoke, Zhuo Wenshu walked up to Di Jiu. “Do you understand what that implies? It means that every single location here is unique. Numerous people have come here before and discovered countless treasures. Of course, many people have died here as well. However, no two treasures are exactly the same.”

“I did indeed see the person who set up this Dharma Array. I don’t care whether you believe me or not,” Di Jiu said calmly. “I even had a fight with her and almost died. However, the spiritual plants I saw at the time had all been withered.”

Zhuo Wenshu waved her hand in dismissal. “Don’t find excuses. Even if you don’t help me today, I still have a way of opening the array by force. Worst-case scenario, I will just lose a priceless treasure. You should give up on the notion of partnering with someone else. Without my round disk, you would not have entered this place. Besides, you said that you have fought with this person. If you were capable of doing so, I would naturally have nothing to be afraid of.”

Zhuo Wenshu patted the round disk she was holding as she spoke.

Di Jiu knew that she did not quite believe his words. Thus, he said in resignation, “If you don’t believe me, we will just do it your way.”

He possessed the Spiritual Force escape technique. Plus, he refused to believe that this place could confine him when he had transcended spatial rifts before.

“That’s more like it.” Zhuo Wenshu walked up to the bowl on the right side before watching Di Jiu’s actions.

Di Jiu walked to the left. Before he could say anything, Zhuo Wenshu sliced her own finger and a stream of blood landed within the bowl. Di Jiu could only let some blood drops drip into his own bowl.

Before Zhuo Wenshu could warn Di Jiu to use his Blood Essence instead, the crystal ball in the middle cracked. Dense Spirit Qi immediately leaked out and a verdant spiritual herb garden appeared before their eyes.

Just as Di Jiu had predicted, two supreme-grade spirit meridians were floating above the spiritual herb garden. This was the exact same view he had seen beneath the snowy mountain. The only difference was that the spiritual plants there had all been withered, whereas these ones were flourishing.

This place and the place beneath the snowy mountain had definitely been created by the same person. The creator was certainly the female cultivator who had only been left with a Principal Spirit.

“So many spiritual plants!” Zhuo Wenshu exclaimed before she rushed out without hesitation.

Di Jiu’s Spiritual Force scanned the area multiple times. After making sure that there was nothing wrong with this place, he started to harvest the level-seven spiritual plants.

This herb garden was simply too big. Zhuo Wenshu, who was harvesting frantically, noticed that Di Jiu was not acting like her. “Didn’t you want a 50-50 share, Di Jiu?” she asked in embarrassment. “At the rate you are harvesting, you might not even obtain one percent, even after I’ve harvested 90 percent of the spiritual plants here.”

“Senior Sister Zhuo, I think that we need to leave this place as soon as possible,” Di Jiu said solemnly. “Although there seems to be nothing wrong with this place, I don’t think we should harvest too many of the spiritual plants here. If we do, something bad might occur.”

Di Jiu, who was merely a Level-Nine Array King, was certain that the Principal Spirit female cultivator he had killed had been an array formation expert with an array expertise that had exceeded that of a Level-Nine Array King. If she had set up a Dharma Array that he could not recognize, he would die before he knew it.

“You’re too timid. Forget it, the remaining spirit meridian is yours. Consider it your compensation for helping me.” As soon as she said that, Zhuo Wenshu continued to harvest the spiritual plants while also taking one spirit meridian.

Before Di Jiu could take the spirit meridian, the ground started shaking.

This was bad. As Di Jiu turned around, ready to escape, he immediately discovered that his Spiritual Force was being repressed. He could not extend it.

“Escape!” Zhuo Wenshu, who had also sensed that something was amiss, yelled. Her expression changed in an instant. Like Di Jiu, her own Spiritual Force was also being repressed. In addition, her Quintessential Essence could not be released either.