Ninth In the World

The Dao Abyss seemed to be extremely deep. The feet of Di Jiu, who was carrying Chu Manhe, touched the ground half an hour after he jumped down.

The surrounding mist disappeared, and he saw a row of Illumination Arrays instead. These arrays brightened up the surroundings significantly.

Di Jiu immediately realized that his Spiritual Force was unaffected at the bottom of the Dao Abyss. Upon scanning the area with his Spiritual Force, he discovered numerous stone paths extending outward in a spiderweb-like fashion. Amongst all these stone paths was an extremely broad one.

At the end of this stone path was a round building with the signboard “Dao Trading” outside.

Di Jiu knew that this should be a trading hall. However, what was the purpose of these spiderweb-like stone paths?

Di Jiu opened his eyes and quickly discovered that something was amiss. There seemed to be a cave abode at the end of each stone path. These cave abodes had been sealed using invisibility restrictions, so they had been undetected by his Spiritual Force.

This was a powerful Array Dao technique. He knew that each cave abode should contain a cultivator who was in reclusive cultivation.

When he used his Dao eye to look at these cave abodes, he saw clearly that each cave abode was leaning on the side of the Dao Abyss’s building. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that the cave abodes had been dug out at the foot of the mountain.

Di Jiu’s gaze followed the stone paths one at a time, discovering that all cave abodes had been dug in a similar fashion. It seemed that the only way to sense the Creation Aura and cultivate was to dig a cave abode by the mountain. However, he would need to dig one at the furthest end, for the mountain was almost completely surrounded by cave abodes.

He knew without a doubt that the Creation Aura in those areas was the weakest.

Half an hour had passed since he had entered the Dao Abyss, and he had been standing in the same spot and observing all this while. Unfortunately, no one came out. It seemed as though there was no one there or everyone had died.

“This place is strange, Daoist Di.” Chu Manhe was aware that this was a cultivation heaven for cultivators, but even she felt that this situation was very strange. All her information had been gleaned through hearsay, and she had never been to this place personally.

“It’s not that strange for the people hiding and cultivating in their cave abodes. Hold on, I need to find someone.” Upon saying that, Di Jiu landed on one of the stone paths.

He stopped walking after taking three steps, for a short-haired man had suddenly appeared in front of him. This man was wearing a gray robe and a tall cultivator hat. After appearing, he simply stared at Di Jiu and remained silent.

“Yes?” Di Jiu frowned.

This man had to be at the late-stage Dao Integration Realm, as he was emitting rich Dao runes. Di Jiu believed that he could eliminate this man with three moves if he used his full strength, yet he dared not do anything in this place.

Since the man blocking his path was already at the late-stage Dao Integration Realm, it would not be fun if he lured the real experts out.

Of course, there was another reason behind his thoughts as well. This man must have been hiding within the void earlier.

Di Jiu perceived his understanding of the spatial laws to be quite good, with his supernormal ability called the Jumbo Footprint being the best proof yet. However, this man could hide in the void without Di Jiu being aware of his presence, which signified that the man’s understanding of the spatial laws surpassed his.

“This is private property. Please stop where you are,” the man said. He did not continue speaking, but Di Jiu understood that if he forced his way forward, the man would take action against him.

Di Jiu faintly replied, “Does that mean that newcomers like us can do nothing but wait here?”

The man pointed to the end of that broad stone path, at the huge square right outside the trading hall, and said, “Cave abodes are sold on that square. You can purchase one there.”

Di Jiu pointed at the end of the stone road he was trying to enter. “A beast companion of mine was captured by someone here. Can’t I enter as well?”

“No. Fighting is banned here. If you start anything, you will be killed by the major arrays and the third-step experts of this place,” the man replied expressionlessly.

Di Jiu chuckled. “Does that mean that I can only resign myself to my fate if someone steals my things?”

“You can challenge them if you know the identity of the culprit. You can issue a challenge on the Dao Abyss Square. If the other party is willing to accept the challenge, you can kill them and seize your things back,” the man said.

“What if they are unwilling?” Di Jiu felt dissatisfied.

The man stared at Di Jiu coldly. “Then you would die if you did anything.”

“Daoist Di…” Chu Manhe could tell that they could not start anything there, or the consequences would be too serious to bear.

Di Jiu waved his hand dismissively, understanding Chu Manhe’s worry. There was a level-nine Divine Array here, and each array foundation was situated at the end of each smaller stone path.

This kind of major array was very frightening. Once activated, every array foundation would be controlled by an exceptional Array Dao expert. Such a major array could kill him easily, and he could not replicate it despite his capabilities.

“Let’s go to the Dao Abyss Square,” Di Jiu informed Chu Manhe, choosing to stop chit-chatting with the man.

Anything he said at the moment would be useless. Why should he waste his time here since he could not start a fight?

The man disappeared into the void once again when he saw Di Jiu and Chu Manhe retreat.

“What a formidable supernormal invisibility skill…” Chu Manhe sighed. She had once been an expert as well, but she’d realized just how weak she was after encountering many experts in the Creation War. Also, she understood that ignorance was the scariest, as the ignorant would always think that everything was within their grasp. Nonetheless, the ignorant were not completely useless, for they were fearless.

“It’s not a supernormal ability but an understanding of the spatial laws,” Di Jiu replied solemnly.

He chose inaction exactly because he knew that this man’s understanding of spatial laws surpassed his own. After all, given how powerful a Dao Integration guard was, he might really have to flee if he started a fight and lured true experts.

There was still no one on the Dao Abyss Square. When Di Jiu and Chu Manhe arrived at the square, he discovered that some cultivators were tied down on the edge. They were tied to a pillar, surrounded by restrictions. He had not seen them previously, but upon taking a closer look, the first person he saw was actually Dao Lord Po Xu.

Di Jiu spotted Dao Lord Po Xu the moment the latter saw him.

“Daoist Po Xu, how did you end up in such a sorry state?” Di Jiu walked over to Dao Lord Po Xu.

Dao Lord Po Xu explained regretfully, “Daoist Di, don’t break the restrictions binding me, or both of us will die. You do not know how outrageously powerful the people here are. I thought that my strength was not bad, but I do not stand a chance here.”

Di Jiu evidently knew that he could not do anything. Otherwise, he would already have broken the restrictions binding Dao Lord Po Xu instead of standing around chit-chatting.

“What’s going on? Tell me,” Di Jiu requested as he continuously threw nomological array flags on the square.

Weren’t there a lot of experts here? Therefore, he would have a good backup plan if he needed to escape later.

Dao Lord Po Xu sighed. “When I chased that guy here and tried to seize Lightning back, that b*stard was actually aware of the rules of this place. He did not fight back, letting me attack him as I pleased instead. Because I violated the rules, I was captured and pinned onto this square.”