Ninth In the World

The Marsh Ocean Forest had gotten its name because most of its area was densely covered by endless trees. The forest there was also different from other places, as any part of it could be a secret swamp sea. Although it might seem like there was nothing wrong with it, when one stepped a foot inside the forest, they could discover a hidden swamp. Once one stepped into a hidden swamp, it would be really hard to escape.

If it were not for the Tiny Treant’s sensitivity to danger, Di Jiu and Geng Jihua would have fallen into a swamp multiple times. Thanks to the Tiny Treant, the three of them had only encountered a monster on the road. However, they had not gotten in danger.

Even so, two days later, Geng Jihua eventually fell into a swamp.

He stepped on a boulder that disappeared in the blink of an eye, revealing the muddy swamp around it. There was no way to climb out of the mud.

Di Jiu tried to fly on the flying sword, but the jade slip was right. It was impossible to fly through a swamp formed by the Marsh Ocean Forest. To add insult to injury, once someone stepped into a forest swamp, they were immediately sucked down.

“Don’t move, I will refine a rope first!” Di Jiu yelled quickly when he saw Geng Jihua struggle and fall a foot deeper.

“It’s too late…” Geng Jihua knew that it was too late. If he waited for Di Jiu to refine the rope and pull him out, by the time he did, he would already have sunk into the swamp. He had just started to experience the joy of cultivation. He had not expected to die so suddenly in the Marsh Ocean Forest. If his mother found out that he had died there, she would be very sad.

As he got deeper into the swamp, he stopped moving. Even though he stayed still, he still felt like he was constantly sinking into the water.

The Tiny Treant did not wait for Di Jiu. It instantly grew into a tree vine and wrapped itself around Geng Jihua, who was in the swamp. Then, it threw him in a trajectory in the air and dropped him on the periphery of the swamp.

Di Jiu was overjoyed. He had actually forgotten about the Tiny Treant!

As soon as Geng Jihua escaped death, he started thanking the Tiny Treant profusely. “Thank you, Brother. If it were not for you, I’d be dead.”

The Tiny Treant was proud of its actions. It was looking for some words to set its powers apart, when the swamp suddenly started to bubble and a huge red beast emerged.

“Quick, run! We cannot defeat this monster!” Based on the monster’s aura, Di Jiu could tell that he was no match for it. The flaming demon beast, which had also been introduced on the jade slip, was actually a swamp lion.

The swamp lion had its limitations, so if they got further away, it would not be able to go after them on the shore.

“Where are we going now, Brother Jiu?” Even after the three men escaped from the dangerous zone of the swamp, they still felt afraid.

“We have been flying for a long time and crossed a longer distance than the average person can walk. However, the map I bought does not indicate where we are. We should keep walking deeper into the forest and cultivate in the process.” Di Jiu felt no sense of security, as they were still too close to the Marsh Ocean Town.

Both the Tiny Treant and Geng Jihua submitted to his leadership.

…

Bang! Di Jiu slashed at the swamp lion before he turned back to Geng Jihua, who had killed another swamp lion in the distance, and said, “We will look for a place nearby to cultivate for a while. I will also need to sort some things out.”

“Okay.” By the time Geng Jihua and the Tiny Treant replied, he had already killed another swamp lion.

It had been three months since they had entered the Marsh Ocean Forest. During those three months, out of the dharma treasures he had robbed, Di Jiu had only refined a high-grade dharma long saber. He had not had the time to sort any other things out.

Di Jiu had been on the run before, so he knew that one had to run away for at least a month or so. Now that they had been gone for three months, they probably were safe.

This place was really deep in the Marsh Ocean Forest. During their over three months on the run, they had met powerful monsters more than once. Di Jiu suspected that he had even met a big demon that surpassed the Golden Core’s abilities. Fortunately, that demon had not been interested in them and thus had not attacked them.

If it had not been for the Tiny Treant’s leadership, Di Jiu believed that they would have been eaten by the monsters and become fertilizer for the Marsh Ocean Forest.

After three months of hiding and killing beasts, Di Jiu’s cultivation level had returned to the seventh-stage Qi Refinement realm. Thanks to the long-term arrangement of a Dharma Array, he could now easily refine and arrange level-four Dharma Array flags. As far as Qi training material and various low-grade spiritual herbs were concerned, his spiritual herb garden was almost full.

The progress the Tiny Treant had made was also very big. Based on its cultivation level, the Tiny Treant had reached perfection. It was a first-class peak monster, so it soon would be able to attain the second-grade monster ranking.

The biggest change was actually Geng Jihua, who had perfected the third-level Qi Refinement realm. Although they were focused on improving their cultivation speed, the three of them had not fully set their minds on cultivating in the Marsh Ocean Forest. They would spend at most half a day cultivating every few days before continuing on their journey.

Geng Jihua had really changed his combat effectiveness. At first, he had not been able to react or attack, as had been the case when Di Jiu had fought with Qi Shao.

However, he now had a huge axe and had killed more than 10 first-grade, mid-stage and late-stage monsters. He had killed even more weaker beasts.

Geng Jihua had no axe skill yet though, so he had been depending entirely on his thick Quintessential Qi. Di Jiu was impressed. If Geng Jihua had been on the battlefield, he would have been a natural warrior.

As they were getting deeper into the Marsh Ocean Forest, the monsters they met were getting stronger and stronger, so Di Jiu wanted to find a place to cultivate for a while. Their battle experience had risen exponentially, but their strength was too weak, which was something experience could not make up for.

Geng Jihua needed to learn magic techniques.

“I’ll look for a place.” The Tiny Treant was always alert and sensitive. The fact that the three of them had been safe and sound throughout their journey was more than 90% of the time attributed to the Tiny Treant.

The Tiny Treant did not brag, though. After only half a day, it found a deserted cave abode near a swamp.

The most dangerous places in the Marsh Ocean Forest were the swamps, but the safest places were also the swamps. Almost 90% of the swamps in the Marsh Ocean Forest prohibited flying, and all of them housed hidden monsters. Only a very small number of swamps were normal. Those swamps offered very few cave abodes that allowed one to cultivate. This was the Tiny Treant’s first discovery.

The cave abode was deep in the swamp, so it was difficult for ordinary people to discover.

Once one found a cave suitable for cultivation, they were basically safe.

The swamp caves that they found were not the biggest nor the smallest ones, but they could be tolerably split into three cultivation rooms, one for each of them.

The Tiny Treant wanted to reach the second-grade tree-demon level as soon as possible, while Geng Jihua was crazy about cultivation. As soon as they entered the cave abode, they immediately began to practise like mad.

Di Jiu arranged various Dharma Array restrictions outside the cave. He did not arrange the Spirit Gathering Array though, as such an array formation would only make the monsters come faster. He placed a warning array in the middle of the swamp, a trap killing array under the swamp, and a defensive array outside the cave. Besides these, he also arranged a spirit-hiding array.

The most important effect of the spirit-hiding array was that it could conceal spiritual fluctuations during cultivation.

After the incident in the Marsh Ocean Town, Di Jiu naturally did not want to make a similar mistake.

When all the Dharma Arrays were arranged, the first thing Di Jiu did back in his cave room was sort out his harvest from the Qi Family’s Commercial Building.

…

North Ridge City, the largest cultivation city in the northern province, also had such a building.

The headquarters of the Qi Family’s Commercial Building in the northern province were located in North Ridge City. Even though the land there was really expensive, the Qi Family’s Commercial Building stretched over most of the main streets.

All kinds of shops owned by the Qi Family, as well as the family’s cultivation cave abode, were there.

Qi Zhishang was very satisfied with his cave abode. After half a year in seclusion, he had finally perfected the fourth-level Essence Soul. As long as he kept going, he would be able to reach the fifth-level Essence Soul.

The shopkeeper of the Qi Family’s Commercial Building in North Ridge City was Qi Zhishang, who was the highest-ranking person in the city. As one of the Qi Family’s top 10 Essence Soul Ancestors, Qi Zhishang had the right to speak inside the Qi Family’s Commercial Building.

“Wenbin, what happened?” he asked in confusion. He had just walked out of the cave abode and found the treasurer of the North Ridge City, Qi Wenbin, waiting outside. Something must surely have happened.

Qi Wenbin was a Golden Core cultivator who had attained seven cultivation levels, but did not have enough potential to break through the Essence Soul and become one of the main leaders of the North Ridge City’s Commercial Building.

“Elder Shang, three months ago, something bad happened in the Marsh Ocean Town. Some people robbed the Qi Family’s Commercial Building there and killed Mister Qi…” Qi Wenbin’s tone was somewhat fearful as he spoke.

He knew very well how much the Qi Family’s Essence Soul Ancestors respected Qi Shao, Qi Zhishang’s most prolific grandson. Qi Shao had been left in the remote Marsh Ocean Town because he worked hard, and Qi Zhishang had wanted him to cultivate his talent. That was why he had also sent Golden Core cultivator Fang Ling to guard him.

However, Qi Shao had been killed by some people who had also dared rob their business building!

“Good, good, good…” Qi Zhishang said repeatedly. The killing intent coming from his entire body could not be hidden. Even Qi Wenbin, who was a seventh-level Golden Core cultivator, felt cold with fear.