Ninth In the World

The 65th level similarly had 18 rings that were filled with a killing aura. By scanning this place with his Spiritual Force, Di Jiu realized that it was designed for metal-element body-tempering. There were way fewer cultivators tempering their body there. There were actually only two people on this level.

Di Jiu did not choose to temper his body there. His Spiritual Force sensed that the difference in body-tempering between the 65th and the 64th level was not big. He was currently at the Soul Realm of the Three-Monarch Realm. Thus, he would not be able to break through to the True Monarch Realm, even if he underwent body-tempering till next year.

After gaining insight into the Foundation Order of the 65th level, Di Jiu entered the 66th level.

The 66th level was a body-tempering level designed for the wood element. The 67th level was designed for the water element, and the 68th level for the earth element…

Although there had been 12 people on the 64th level, there was a decreasing number of people on the next body-tempering levels. There was no one on the 66th and 67th level, and only one person on the 68th level.

As he was ascending the pagoda in this manner, he only encountered more people after reaching the 69th level. On the 69th level was a total of nine people.

There was no place for body-tempering on that level. When Di Jiu entered it, he felt a Spirit Qi that assaulted one’s Spiritual Sea. Compared to the Spirit Qi on the 49th level, the 69th level’s Spirit Qi was even more powerful and its Dao runes were clearer.

Di Jiu realized that this was a place where one could temper one’s Spiritual Force. It was no wonder that there were so many people gathered there.

When he looked around, Di Jiu noticed that there were nine white-jade futons, each of them occupied by someone.

It was evident that tempering one’s Spiritual Force while sitting on the white-jade futons would be even more effective.

If he wanted to sit on a futon, Di Jiu would have to take someone else’s seat. If he had been in the Ji Nation’s Pearl City, he would have kicked someone out and occupied their seat without hesitation.

However, his way of doing things had changed drastically. Plus, he despised what Hu Yipan had done earlier, so he would definitely not do something similar.

Di Jiu walked over to a late-stage Void Spirit Realm Cultivator who was tempering his Spiritual Force. When he saw Di Jiu walk towards him, the man immediately stood up and stared at him warily.

Di Jiu seemed to only be at the Essence Soul Realm. However, how could he be so weak yet be able to ascend to the 69th level? Di Jiu might not be a match for him, but the man could teleport out the moment he used his Quintessential Essence and Spiritual Force in the event that he was no longer able to resist the pushing force of the Dao Pagoda. Furthermore, the competition for the nine futons on the 69th level was probably the worst in the entire Dao Pagoda. If he exerted too much force, he would most likely not be able to stay there much longer.

Di Jiu cupped his fists and said, “May I ask how many spiritual-force-tempering levels there are on the pagoda, Daoist?”

Di Jiu assumed that, since the 49th level and the 69th level could both temper one’s Spiritual Force, there were more levels ahead that could do so as well.

Although Di Jiu did not immediately attack, the cultivator kept his guard up as he said slowly, “To my knowledge, there is a place where one can temper one’s Spiritual Force on the 90th level. I don’t know if there are any other such levels after the 90th level.”

“Thank you,” said Di Jiu when he heard that there was another similar place on the 90th level. He then found a random place and started to gain insight into the Foundation Order on the 69th level.

Within an hour, he stood up and walked towards the stairway leading to the 70th level.

The cultivator, who had been on constant vigilance, stared at Di Jiu’s disappearing back in shock. From the 64th level onwards, he had never seen a cultivator who could enter the next level after only one hour.

Yan Tashan, who had ranked first on the Five Continent Dao Pillar the previous time, spent half a day on the 64th level before he could ascend to the 65th level.

While climbing the Five Continent Dao Pagoda, the longer one stayed in one of the levels, the easier it would be to ascend to the next one. Otherwise, the process would become even more arduous.

The 70th level was an average cultivation level. There was nothing there except extremely distinct Laws and dense Spirit Qi. Eight people were cultivating on this level.

Di Jiu was certain that if he cultivated on the 70th level for six months, he would definitely be able to break through to the Void Spirit Realm.

The 70th level was not his target, though. After gaining insight into the Law Aura of the 70th level, he immediately moved to the 71st level.

…

Back when Di Jiu had reached the 64th level, the entire Five Continent Square had been in a state of shock and most sects had started to get interested in Di Jiu. Now that Di Jiu reached the 71st level and ranked 49th, even the five large sects started to pay close attention to him.

“The Young Master Red Embellishment has reached the 71st level.” Even the cultivators on the square who had not known that Di Jiu was called the Young Master Red Embellishment now knew his name.

…

After gaining insight into the 71st Foundation Order, Di Jiu did not immediately head up to the 72nd level. Instead, he walked over to a young male cultivator who was carrying a red sword.

There were not many people on the 71st level, so everyone who ascended to this level got to know each other well. Hence, they would all pay close attention to an unfamiliar face like Di Jiu. When they saw Di Jiu walk towards the young man carrying the red sword, many cultivators watched to see what the newcomer wanted to do.

The young man was called Dong Youjian. A few months ago, he had killed Hong Kui, who ranked 93rd on the Sea Roll, in the Sky Route City and replaced him.

When he saw Di Jiu walk over, Dong Youjian stood up. Instead of unsheathing his sword, he looked calmly at Di Jiu and said, “I know you.”

Di Jiu smiled. “That’s right. I’ve been wanting to get to know you for a long time, Brother Dong. Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to. Today, I finally can. First and foremost, I would like to thank you for saving me in the past.”

“Even if I had done nothing, Hong Kui would still have been helpless against you,” Dong Youjian said coolly.

Di Jiu was startled. He would indeed have dealt with Hong Kui’s move even if Dong Youjian had done nothing. He had a hidden trump card. How did Dong Youjian know this?

“How did you know that, Brother Dong?” Di Jiu asked in astonishment.

“I didn’t at first,” Dong Youjian said expressionlessly. “However, I do know now. If you were not able to deal with Hong Kui’s fist move, you wouldn’t be able to climb up to the 71st level either.”

Although Di Jiu knew that Dong Youjian had reached the wrong conclusion, he did not correct him. “You were able to ascend to the 71st level very fast too. Your strength must rank above the 93rd place on the Sea Roll.”

Dong Youjian shook his head. “My current strength can barely remain at the 93rd place on the Sea Roll. A lot of cultivators whose strength is greater than mine have intentionally stayed on the 49th level. Although they wanted to ascend to higher levels, this is not the right time. A month from now, more than 100 people will be surpassing me. The 71st level is as far as I can ascend.”

Dong Youjian sounded despondent. Although his target was the 81st level, he knew very well that he definitely would not get the opportunity to enter it. If he lost this opportunity now, he would get no similar opportunity in the future.

It would also be difficult for him to ascend to the 71st level when he attained the Ekayāna Tripod Realm.

Di Jiu understood what Dong Youjian meant. The 49th level was designed for Spiritual Force condensation.

On the 69th level, one could temper their Spiritual Force and expand their Spiritual Sea. However, there were only nine white-jade futons. If everyone gathered on the 69th level, there would definitely be a fight over the futons. At the end of this battle, only nine people would be able to cultivate. Most cultivators knew that their strength was insufficient to participate in this battle, which was why they had chosen to stay on the 49th level and cultivate.

“I would like to seek your guidance on something, Brother Dong,” said Di Jiu sincerely as he cupped his fists.

His cultivation level seemed to be at the early-stage Essence Soul Realm, yet he had been able to ascend to the 71st level. Dong Youjian was certain that Di Jiu would be as successful, if not more, in the future. Thus, he nodded his head. “Speak.”

“I admire your sword array. Could you impart this knowledge to me? Of course, as a form of compensation, I’d be willing to give you whatever you wanted.”

Di Jiu was truly envious of Dong Youjian’s sword array. After all, there was a difference between Dong Youjian’s and Hong Kui’s strength. Dong Youjian had relied on his sword array to kill Hong Kui.

Di Jiu was a Level-Nine Array King. If he learned the sword array and altered it into a saber array, he could use it to deal with opponents much stronger than him in the future.

The sword array maximized the full potential of the combat power of array formation. An array master who did not know about sword arrays would get killed fast if he relied upon setting up Dharma Arrays to fight his opponents.

Dong Youjian fell silent for a long time before he said, “You’re perhaps the first person who’s had the guts and courage to ask someone to share their secret techniques. If this had happened in the past, I would have attacked you without hesitation. Now, however, I agree. Rather than letting my lineage disappear, it would be better to impart my sword array knowledge to you. After all, I like you. However, you could not give me what I want in return now.”

“Letting your lineage disappear? Even if you do not impart this knowledge to me, your lineage will not disappear. You are still alive, so you could take on a disciple.”

Dong Youjian smiled self-mockingly. “The reason I gave everything up to reach the 71st level is because I wanted to head to the 81st level. Given my current state, I will evidently be unable to reach the 81st level. I have an enemy whose strength is much stronger than mine. If I’m unable to upgrade my sword array, I will be chased and killed soon enough.”

“Is this because of Hong Kui?” asked Di Jiu.

Dong Youjian nodded his head silently.

Di Jiu laughed and said, “Brother Dong, before you’d encountered me, your words might have been true. Now that you have encountered me though, what’s so difficult about reaching the 81st level?”

Di Jiu’s voice was quite loud, so all the cultivators on the 71st level heard what he said and looked at him in disdain. Ascending each level of the Five Continent Dao Pagoda was very difficult. This cultivator had lucked out and reached the 71st level at the early-stage Essence Soul Realm. However, he had to be truly ignorant to even think of ascending to the 81st level.

“You have a way to reach the 81st level?” Dong Youjian looked at Di Jiu in excitement, his voice shaking. He actually had a feeling that Di Jiu was speaking the truth.

“Tell me, what kind of level is the 81st level?” asked Di Jiu.

“It’s a sword Dao level,” Dong Youjian said. “I’m the only successor of the Sword Array Sect. The only thing I’m currently lacking is the sword heart. I want to go to the 81st level and search for it. If I really find it, I will attain the Life Tribulation Realm after breaking through the Ekayāna Tripod Realm. What more do I have to fear?”

Dong Youjian, who was very excited, had spoken in one breath.

“Brother Dong, since there’s a sword heart level, is there also a saber heart level?” Di Jiu asked hurriedly.