Ninth In the World

Di Jiu pulled out a dozen array flags and dropped them down. Then, a legible line of words appeared on the stone door in front of him — ‘Insert any type of grade-six, seven-patterned immortal pill within two hours to open the first array door.’

“Big Brother, you could definitely refine one, right?” Xie Huang asked excitedly when he saw the words. His trust in Di Jiu was unexplainable but blind.

Di Jiu nodded and replied, “I’d definitely refine a grade-six, seven-patterned immortal pill. However, it is written here that this could only open the first array door. This means that there is more than one array door in Dai He Hall. It would be pointless even if I could open it. If I am right, the second array door will most likely require an Elixir King.”

“Ah…” Xie Huang exclaimed before he added regretfully, “If I brought Excellency Luan here, we’d be able to open the second array door.”

Di Jiu shook his head and said, “I’m afraid not.”

“Why not? Excellency Luan is an Alchemy Supremacy capable of refining grade-eight immortal pills.” Xie Huang argued, as he was unconvinced. Before he had met Di Jiu, he had only managed to hold on stably because Excellency Luan had refined an elixir to suppress his desire poison.

Di Jiu laughed and replied, “Maybe Excellency Luan is capable of refining grade-eight immortal pills, but I doubt that he could refine grade-seven, seven-patterned immortal pills.”

Excellency Luan had only managed to refine nine-patterned immortal pills because he had been inspired by Creation Wood and, more importantly, the Ninth Dao Law.

Xie Huang was at a loss for words after he heard Di Jiu. He knew how difficult it was to refine seven-patterned immortal pills, and Excellency Luan was actually incapable of doing that.

“Moreover, I’m afraid that you would not be able to bring him even if you wanted to. Unless I’m wrong, your father wouldn’t let Excellency Luan follow you out,” Di Jiu said as he glanced at Xie Huang. He could tell that Xie Huang wasn’t too important in Xie Wanling’s opinion.

Furthermore, he believed that Xie Wanling was one of the Immortal Emperors that wanted to kill him.

“Then what should I do?” Xie Huang was frustrated. Deep down in his heart, he knew that Di Jiu was right. His father didn’t value him highly.

“I’ll open this door first.” Di Jiu took out a cauldron and a bunch of immortal spiritual herbs that were necessary for refining Clear Drizzle Pills.

In merely an hour, Di Jiu had managed to refine a batch of seven-patterned Clear Drizzle Pills. He took out all six pills and inserted them into the six slots on the stone door.

A faint radiance lit up around the stone door, and they soon heard a screeching sound.

The stone door opened in mere moments, revealing a stone hall that was several times larger than the one on the outside.

Xie Huang and the others couldn’t help exclaiming when they felt an even richer flow of Immortal Spirit Qi.

Even Di Jiu was pleasantly surprised as he glanced around the hall. There were 18 middle-grade immortal spirit meridians in this hall that formed a massive immortal spirit meridian array.

“It’s no wonder that the Immortal Spirit Qi on the outside is so rich. So this is where it comes from!” Xie Huang exclaimed. He had never seen such an impressive set-up before, even though he came from the Starry Demon Palace.

Di Jiu’s Spiritual Force scanned the stone walls behind the 18 middle-grade immortal spirit meridians and discovered that there was indeed another stone door at the edge of the walls. He quickly walked over and realized that there were several slots on this stone door as well. After he placed his array flags down, a line of words appeared beneath the slots — ‘Insert any type of grade-seven, eight-patterned immortal pills to open the second array door of Dai He Hall.’

“Big Brother, you were right. Grade-seven, eight-patterned immortal pills are needed here,” Xie Huang said with a sigh.

“I can’t open this immortal pill array door at the moment. Everyone, take this time to cultivate. It’s at least several times better to cultivate here than on the outside.” Di Jiu was sure that he couldn’t open this door.

Even though he was a grade-seven Alchemy King, he wouldn’t be able to refine grade-seven, eight-patterned immortal pills unless he used the Creation Cauldron. Besides, he wasn’t even a grade-seven Alchemy King yet.

Now that he had a great alchemical fire, his Alchemy Dao began to form its own structure. However, he didn’t have a good cauldron.

Xie Huang quickly found a spot near Di Jiu when he realized that he was going to cultivate here too. It was much tougher for him to cultivate without Di Jiu. The laws were much clearer when he cultivated beside him.

…

The auction that had ended not too long ago became the hottest topic in the Gigantic Tripod Liberal Immortal City.

Not only had the Spirit Immolation escape technique been sold at the astronomical price of over two hundred million Liberal Points, but items like the Time Crystal, the Agama True Glazed Water, and the Zenith Divine Metal now held the record for the highest raise in a single bid. Not a single soul had raised the bid afterward.

It was rumored that the Time Crystal, the Agama True Glazed Water, and the Zenith Divine Metal had all been obtained by the same person. Not only had this person bid for these items, but he had even gone toe to toe against Immortal Emperor Great Sovereignty during the auction. In the end, a dozen Immortal Emperors had ganged up on this cultivator, yet he had still managed to get away easily. After all, he was a top-notch Immortal Emperor with unrivaled strength.

However, a second rumor soon spread across town: The cultivator who had gotten away wasn’t an Immortal Emperor. It was Di Jiu, who had once sold Starry Sky Tea in the Gigantic Tripod Liberal Immortal City.

Apparently, Di Jiu had only managed to get away because he knew an escape technique. Moreover, he had purchased the Meridian-Splitting Pill and taken it beforehand to boost his strength. Although he had managed to get away, he had become disabled, for his meridians had been destroyed after he’d taken the pill and he had been taken away by an Immortal Emperor.

While everyone was wondering which rumor was true, the Starry Sky Tea House was forcibly seized.

The person who seized the Starry Sky Tea House was the Great Fortune Inn’s manager, Hui, who had insulted Di Jiu in the past and ended up being nailed to the Starry Sky Tea House’s walls by Di Jiu’s saber. This had happened because the Starry Sky Tea House had been backed by the Starry Demon Palace.

After the auction in the Gigantic Tripod Liberal Immortal City, Starry Demon Palace’s Palatial Lord, Xie Wanling, openly claimed that the Starry Sky Tea House had no ties to him. Moreover, Heavenly Cloud Dao’s Immortal Emperor Great Sovereignty told the Gigantic Tripod Liberal Immortal City’s Deputy City Lord, Jie Guangmao, that a ruthless person like Di Jiu had no right to stay in the Gigantic Tripod Liberal Immortal City and anyone could punish him. That was akin to expressing his support for Jie Guangmao openly.

Xie Wanling had said that the Starry Sky Tea House had no ties to him, and Immortal Emperor Great Sovereignty had also expressed his support for Jie Guangmao. Therefore, as Jie Guangmao’s subordinate, Hui naturally seized the Starry Sky Tea House by force immediately.

When the Great Fortune Inn’s manager seized the Starry Sky Tea House, more people were convinced that it was Di Jiu who had walked away with so much treasure from the auction. Only someone as cocky as him would dare to go against an Immortal Emperor. Similarly, only someone like Di Jiu, who was involved in the Starry Sky Tea business, would have so many Liberal Points.

The only person in the entire Gigantic Tripod Liberal Immortal City that was worried about Di Jiu was probably Huo Jianqian.

Huo Jianqian didn’t know if Di Jiu had managed to escape from the Gigantic Tripod Liberal Immortal City. As the person with the closest ties to Di Jiu, she had even destroyed Di Jiu’s communication pearl, so there was no chance that she could send a message to him.

As the deacon of an Elixir Dispensary, Huo Jianqian obviously wasn’t an idiot. She knew very well that she was being secretly monitored by many experts. If she made any moves, she would most likely be dragged into this mess too.

After the Great Fortune Inn took over the Starry Sky Tea House by force and started selling another type of Immortal Spirit Tea, the Gigantic Tripod Liberal Immortal City issued a warrant for Di Jiu’s arrest.

The warrant stated that Di Jiu had deceived cultivators in the Gigantic Tripod Liberal Immortal City and sold Starry Sky Tea at a ridiculous price. He was a man with no morals and an enemy of the people. Any cultivators who had any information about Di Jiu would be handsomely rewarded.

The Gigantic Tripod Liberal Immortal City wasn’t the only power that had issued such a warrant. Heavenly Cloud Dao, Starry Demon Hall, Buzhou Immortal Sect, and a dozen other sects and Immortal Emperors had done the same.

The only superpower in the entire Gigantic Tripod Liberal Immortal City that did not issue a warrant for Di Jiu’s arrest was the Gigantic Tripod Elixir Association.

No matter what, Di Jiu was still their Alchemy Master. Therefore, the Gigantic Tripod Elixir Association naturally would not issue a warrant for him like everyone else, who had obviously done so because they were after Di Jiu’s belongings.

…

Meanwhile, the rich Immortal Spirit Qi in the second hall of Dai He Hall had almost turned into clouds. Everyone’s cultivation skyrocketed as time went by.

In the blink of an eye, eight years had passed. Di Jiu’s cultivation hadn’t improved the most. Even though he had absorbed the most Immortal Spirit Qi in the fastest time possible, his Starry Sky meridian and vast Spiritual Sea required several times more Immortal Spirit Qi than the others.

Xie Huang’s and Black Fire’s cultivation had improved the most. Black Fire had gone beyond level six and was now pressing towards becoming a level-seven demon beast. Meanwhile, Xie Huang was already a seventh-stage Zenith Heaven Immortal. It wouldn’t take long before he could start advancing to the Immortal King Realm.

Little Tree, who was the slowest, was still a level-three demon beast. On the other hand, Mo Yuxuan had broken through to the seventh-stage Golden Immortal Realm. Her Nirmala Spirit Body was almost completely unrestricted by bottlenecks, as she was cultivating in a great environment.

Although Di Jiu had cultivated the hardest and absorbed several times more Immortal Spirit Qi than all the others combined, he was still around the ninth-stage Grand Zenith Immortal.

Di Jiu stopped cultivating, as he knew that continuing his reclusive cultivation wouldn’t help him much. Since he possessed the Ninth Dao Law, he knew very well that his foundation was weaker. Even if he continued cultivating and advanced to the Zenith Heaven Immortal or even became an Immortal King, his foundation would only become weaker.

Plus, he needed to prepare the King’s Foundational Pills before he became an Immortal King. Xie Huang and Mo Yuxuan also needed them as much as he did.

Di Jiu wasn’t sure where he was going next, but he planned to upgrade his Heavenly Aqua Saber first.

The Heavenly Aqua Saber was currently a middle-grade immortal weapon. This was the perfect time to upgrade it, as he had obtained a piece of Zenith Divine Metal during the auction and could also summon a level-eight Dao fire now.