Ninth In the World

Another month passed before Di Jiu finally managed to completely finish repairing the Defense Array. Then, he left the Search Lake.

Di Jiu had originally intended to leave a backdoor in this Defense Array, as he was worried that someone would be forced to retrace their steps even though he had made so much effort to cross the Search Lake. This was because the Defense Array was preventing them from leaving the Search Lake.

Di Jiu was able to exit the Search Lake only because the Defense Array had been previously incomplete. Now that he had repaired the hold in the Defense Array, other people would have no choice but to turn around even if they transversed the lake.

Doing this would indeed render a portion of the cultivators who had successfully transversed the Search Lake unable to leave the lake. This was unfair to them. However, Di Jiu quickly changed his mind about this matter. He felt that there was no such thing as fairness in the world. If he left a backdoor behind, in the future, someone might discover the defect in the Defense Array. Should that happen, all of Di Jiu’s efforts over the few years would be wasted.

After all, not everyone would have the same intentions as him: to protect the Dao World’s Defense Array and keep it intact.

Thus, he decided to not leave a backdoor. When the Defense Array was repaired, only Di Jiu would be able to freely pass through. Everyone else needed to leave the Dao World through the real exit of the Defense Array.

Di Jiu, who was in a jolly mood, left the Dao World’s Defense Array. He even called Lightning out to let it control the flying boat.

Lightning could go wherever it wanted to. What he needed to do now was stabilize his cultivation. In any case, there was no specific location of the Void Ocean, so he wanted to stabilize his cultivation level before doing anything else.

He took out a pile of Divine Essence Pills and another pile of Dao pills used by Dao Transformation cultivators. There were indeed many cultivating resources to be found in the Void Ocean, but he did not believe that these resources were easily obtainable. He needed to become stronger in preparation for that.

Right now, he was unafraid of Primordial Dao cultivators. However, he knew very well that his current strength was insufficient to battle with Jiang Dai. That day would most likely come only when he attained the Primordial Dao Realm.

His purpose for increasing his cultivation level and strength now was to be able to escape easily when he encountered Jiang Dai again.

The speed of the flying boat under Lightning’s control was extremely fast. Its combat strength was average, but its understanding of speed surpassed even Di Jius understanding.

The middle-grade divine weapon flying boat similarly transformed into lightning, as Lightning made use of its various natural capabilities. However, there was a Divine Spirit Qi whirlpool present within this lightning, for it had been created by Di Jiu as he had been cultivating.

…

The Void Ocean was, as the name suggested, an ocean. Its only difference from other water bodies was that this ocean was located within the vast void.

There were numerous divine cities within the Void Ocean, although the cultivators who came to the Void Ocean would go to the Dark Red Sacred Dao City. This city was also the largest divine city in the entire Void Ocean. It was said that the Dark Red Sacred Dao City had been built by Sacred Emperor Dark Red. Sacred Emperor Dark Red had been a powerful Dao Integration expert, which was why he had been able to construct the Dark Red Sacred Dao City.

Although there were other divine cities in the Void Ocean, extremely few cultivators would stay in these cities for an extended period of time. Even if they stayed behind, it would only be for a short while.

This was because the cultivators in the Void Ocean knew very well that any place in the Void Ocean, so long as it was not the Dark Red Sacred Dao City, could disappear without a warning.

The Void Ocean had another unique feature, which was that it was bottomless. No one knew just how deep the ocean was. Standing up again once one fell into the Void Ocean would not be an issue. However, should they intend to find out just how deep the ocean was, the majority of the cultivators would never return again.

It was important to note that one should never stay in the ocean for too long, or they would sink to the bottom of the sea without cause and disappear forever.

The Void Screen Pier was one of the many piers in the Dark Red Sacred Dao City. Its size was incomparable to the Dark Red Pier, but it was still considerably large.

A long-haired young man was struggling in the ocean located outside the pier. Every single time he attempted to shore up, a pale-faced, beardless man who was standing by the shore would kick him back into the water.

Many people were spectating, but no one dared to say anything. Everyone knew who this pale-faced, beardless man was: Young Pavilion Lord Ang Yuan of the Dark Red Sacred Dao City’s Surplus Ocean Elixir Dispensary.

There were many elixir dispensaries in the Dark Red Sacred Dao City, as it was very easy to obtain various Dao fruits and high-level divine spirit herbs there. As a result, many top-notch alchemists were willing to gather there, for this was the place where their Alchemy Dao could improve.

The Surplus Ocean Elixir Dispensary was a Dao pill elixir dispensary. There, one could find different types of divine pills and sometimes even Dao pills. Many alchemists were willing to join the Surplus Ocean Elixir Dispensary due to the sheer power of the elixir dispensary. Some cultivators who obtained Dao fruits and high-level divine spirit herbs were also willing to trade with the Surplus Ocean Elixir Dispensary.

The Surplus Ocean Elixir Dispensary’s strength grew over time. It was currently not considered one of the Three Major Powers of the Dark Red Sacred Dao City, but it was still considered an apex power beneath the Three Major Powers.

The three Pavilion Lords of the Surplus Ocean Elixir Dispensary were very powerful. Ang Yuan was the fourth son of the Third Pavilion Lord of the Surplus Ocean Elixir Dispensary and was a half-step Primordial Dao expert. Therefore, no one in the Dark Red Sacred Dao City dared to provoke him.

“My friend has been in the ocean for one hour already, Young Master Ang. Please show mercy and allow him to reach the shore. I, Ding Chi, am willing to bring some gifts and apologize for his disrespectful actions toward you…” The long-haired handsome young man knew that the man in the ocean would definitely die if this went on. Thus, he had no choice but to apologize to Ang Yuan.

Ang Yuan lifted his hand and slapped Ding Chi. Ding Chi was only at the Dao Birth Realm and possessed no abilities to resist Ang Yuan, who was at the half-step Primordial Dao Realm. This slap sent Ding Chi into the Void Ocean as well.

By now, Ding Chi’s friend had already disappeared mysteriously. No one knew how it had happened.

The people gathered there were not surprised by this turn of events. It was normal for one to die when they stayed in the Void Ocean for more than an hour. Anything else would be abnormal.

Ding Chi’s heart sank, as he had similarly sensed that his friend had died. Now, he could not protect himself, much less his friend.

“Let me see if anyone dares to bring you up, punk,” said Ang Yuan frostily as he stared at Ding Chi in the water and chuckled.

Ding Chi did not reply, nor did he attempt to make a fool of himself by trying to get back to the shore. He knew that his death was imminent. In the Dao World, he would have brought up the name of the Great Buddha Mountain, but this was the Dark Red Sacred Dao City by the Void Ocean. Such an act would be laughable there.

This made him really desperate. The Great Buddha Mountain had lost two Primordial Chaos experts because it wanted to protect him. He had yet to exact any revenge, yet here he was, being kicked by someone into the Void Ocean. How could he be willing to resign himself to his fate?

Ang Yuan walked to the edge of the Void Screen Pier, bent down and looked at Ding Chi, who was submerged in the ocean water. He was about to mock the man when a sword came flying from the sky.

After he grabbed the flying sword, Ang Yuan’s Spiritual Force landed on it. Then, he immediately turned and swiftly left the place, ignoring Ding Chi, who had landed into the ocean.

Upon seeing that Ang Yuan had left, Ding Chi hastily climbed out of the ocean water and dashed toward the city gates of the Dark Red Sacred Dao City.

He would die if he remained in the Dark Red Sacred Dao City any longer. There was still a chance of survival if he left the city now.

Ding Chi rushed out. No one stopped him either.

…

Di Jiu made Lightning stop the flying boat. He had just come out of reclusive cultivation, and his cultivation level had stabilized to the early-stage Dao Transformation Realm. He sensed an imprint aura the moment he came out. He had interacted with Xue Yu before, so he knew that this imprint had been left behind by Xue Yu when he scanned it with his Spiritual Force.

Di Jiu was extremely grateful for Xue Yu, who had found the Void Ocean and left behind his imprint aura where the Void Ocean was located. The man had been worried Di Jiu might miss it.

Di Jiu really might have missed the location of the Void Ocean without Xue Yu. After the discovery of the imprint, Di Jiu controlled the flying boat and quickly entered the Void Ocean.