Ninth In the World

The Tiny Treant became Di Jiu’s little servant. Although it was still a little unhappy about it, when it thought about leaving this place, where it had been trapped for several thousand years, its melancholy decreased.

Di Jiu pointed at the pit where the Blue Flower-Leaf Grass grew and told the Tiny Treant, “You are not allowed to adsorb blood from now on. You can only absorb Spirit Qi. Now go to the bottom of the pit and cultivate. That environment is perfect for you.”

“The Spirit Qi here is insufficient for me. I will have no motivation to cultivate,” murmured the Tiny Treant. Based on its Spirit Qi absorption speed, it would probably need several thousand years before its cultivation bore any fruit. On the other hand, adsorbing blood instead of Spirit Qi was way faster.

“Why do you adsorb blood in order to cultivate?” asked Di Jiu.

“To condense a body and leave the place where that withered body of mine is, of course.”

Di Jiu slapped the Tiny Treant’s head. “Hasn’t that already been accomplished? You’ve already left that place.”

“But…” The Tiny Treant still felt that there was something amiss, yet it could not remember what it was.

“Go cultivate quickly. Stop whining!” Di Jiu slapped its head again.

“Can you stop hitting my head, Big Brother? I will go stupid.” The two slaps Di Jiu had given it had made the Tiny Treant unhappy. It could already foresee its miserable future.

Di Jiu, who could not be bothered to take heed of the Tiny Treant, took the skeletal ring out.

When it realized that its boss was not in the mood to pay attention to it, the Tiny Treant could only rub its head, push its chin down and go into the concave pit to start cultivating.

After analyzing the skeletal ring in his hand for a long time, Di Jiu began to suspect that it might be a storage ring. However, the storage ring back at the auction house had been worn like an average ring.

When he did not see any traps, Di Jiu started to refine the ring.

After understanding the workings of the restriction technique and starting to learn about array formations, the refinement of the ring became a more orderly process.

The restrictions on the ring were much more complicated than those on the kitchen knife. Di Jiu started to use his Spiritual Force to refine them one at a time. Two days later, when he ran out of Spiritual Force, he exclaimed in pleasant surprise.

This ring was not a storage ring, but it certainly resembled one. Instead, it was a spiritual herb garden. Di Jiu knew what this was. A spiritual herb garden was a rank higher than a storage ring. Storage rings could only store dead objects, but spiritual herb gardens could store living things. Most importantly, some spiritual plants could be planted inside the spiritual herb garden.

Di Jiu thought that this spiritual herb garden was quite big. It was as big as a football field and several meters tall. The middle portion was divided into many sections, yet there was not a single spiritual plant in sight. Perhaps there used to be some, but they had all withered away.

Meanwhile, Di Jiu understood why this ring, which appeared to be so small, was made out of bones. The size of this ring could be altered as one pleased, as long as the ring was refined first. When Di Jiu put the ring on his finger, it was not visible anymore. The ring had turned the color of his skin. Di Jiu could only see it because he was wearing it. Otherwise, it was impossible to spot.

The reason the ring looked white to him was because the original wearer had met his doom. This ring was only altered according to its characteristics. If the owner’s soul was still present, then the ring would merge with the bone on their finger. Thus, even if one possessed Spiritual Force, they might not be able to sense it.

Di Jiu’s only regret was that the spiritual herb garden was empty. There were no Spirit Stones, Dharma treasures or elixirs inside.

Di Jiu felt dubious. That should not have been the case. If that cultivator had possessed nothing, then how had he cultivated?

It was unnecessary to ask the Tiny Treant about these things, as it surely would not know the answers. In any case, this spiritual herb garden would become Di Jiu’s storage ring.

Di Jiu placed all the items in his bag, as well as the stone ball, into the storage ring. “Tiny Treant, let’s go!” he shouted.

This was the first time Di Jiu had felt so relaxed ever since he had started cultivating.

If he had to carry a huge bag wherever he went, then it would only grow bigger and bigger. Even he would get tired of cultivating at some point.

“I came up with a name for myself, Big Brother. Don’t call me Tiny Treant anymore. It does not sound nice.” The Tiny Treant felt that being called this way all day was demeaning.

“You are able to come up with names? What is it then?” Di Jiu had his doubts about the name the Tiny Treant had come up with.

When it heard Di Jiu ask about its new name, the Tiny Treant looked proud. “From now on, I will be called Sovereign Heaven Tree.”

Di Jiu slapped it again. “Don’t even think about it. Sovereign Heaven Tree? Do you think you will become my Big Brother or something? You can use that name, as long as it is in reverse order and the word ‘root’ is added at the back.”

“Tree Heaven Sovereign Root…” After repeating the name, the Tiny Treant nodded its head. “That name is okay, too.”

“Wrong! Remove the word ‘sovereign’. Your name will be Tree Earth Root.” Di Jiu interrupted the Tiny Treant’s daydream without hesitation.

“This name is worse than Tiny Treant, Big Brother. Let’s remove the word ‘root’,” said the Tiny Treant sadly.

“Okay, you’ll be called Little Tree from now on,” said Di Jiu casually.

In any case, the name Little Tree sounded better than Tree Root. The Tiny Treant dared not ask for more. “I will be called Little Tree from now on,” it said. “I will follow my Big Brother’s commands. Where are we headed now, Big Brother?”

Di Jiu took out an ancient-looking map. This map, which was rumored to indicate the location of a cave abode, had been auctioned off back at the auction house. Many Connate Warriors from the Fairy Planet’s Earth Union had died because of this cave abode. In the past, Di Jiu had been weak, yet now his strength had increased. He also possessed a storage accessory and some knowledge on array formation, so he naturally wanted to take a look.

“We will be going to this place,” Di Jiu said, pointing at the ancient map.

Little Tree naturally did not have any objections. It would follow Di Jiu anywhere.

When he reached the cave abode’s entrance, Di Jiu heard waves of terrifying roars traveling from afar. It seemed like numerous demon beasts were rushing in this direction. Di Jiu was shocked. What could have happened? He had only just obtained an empty spiritual herb garden ring. Had the demon beasts been drawn there because of the ring?

This was not right. None of this could have happened because of him. As Di Jiu’s Spiritual Force extended, he felt goosebumps all over.

An infinite number of demon beasts rushed past, some flying in the air and others running on the ground. The demon beasts formed a three-dimensional image. The scariest part was that they were heading in the direction of the Fairy Square.

Di Jiu did not know what the Fairy Square had done to cause those demon beasts to rush over in such a frenzy. Apparently, Wu Cheng’s worries had become a reality. The Fairy Planet’s demon beasts had really gone crazy. Perhaps even Wu Cheng had not expected that this time would come so fast.

Di Jiu knew very well how scary groups of frenzied demon beasts were. This was a Beast Tide. According to the cultivation jade slip, every time a Beast Tide occurred, there was a massacre.

“Big Brother…” Little Tree had transformed from the essence of the ancient tree, so it was not completely ignorant about issues of the Fairy Planet. It could tell that a Beast Tide had occurred based on the noise.

As Di Jiu’s Spiritual Force swept across demon beasts even more powerful than the alligator and horned lion he had met in the past, he could only sigh. Given the extent of this Beast Tide, he was unable to do anything by using his current strength. An attempt to prevent this Beast Tide would only lead to his death.

As he looked in the direction of the Fairy Square, Di Jiu could only pray that everyone would survive. He could only help himself now.

When the Beast Tide was over, he would head into the recesses of the Fairy Planet. His first destination would be the cave abode indicated on the map.

…

Back at the Fairy Square, the crowd was looking at Yu Jie enviously. This time, when Yu Jie had come back, she had broken through to the Connate Realm. As a result, she became the Assistant Director of the Fairy Planet’s Institute of Martials Arts and was invited by the Earth Union to become a member of the Earth Union Elder Association.

That day was the day the Earth Union awarded Yu Jie with a badge of honor. This was a glorious time for Yu Jie. Anyone on the Fairy Planet who attained the Connate Realm would also enjoy the same glory.

Yu Jie was not feeling much joy, though. She had mentioned that the Heaven Tier was still not at the Connate Realm, but no one had paid attention. Everyone was more concerned about whether she would lead them to the Tiny Treant after she became an Elder of the Earth Union.

Fan Wenxing, the head secretary of the Fairy Planet’s Earth Union, walked over to Yu Jie. A young lady carrying the box with the badge stood there.

Fan Wenxing lifted the badge and looked at Yu Jie earnestly. “Congratulations on attaining the Connate Realm and becoming a member of the Earth Union Elder Association…” he said.

Before Fan Wenxing could finish his speech and Yu Jie could receive the badge, a piercing alarm sounded throughout the entire square. This alarm did not ring intermittently, like the ones before had. It was continuous, and its volume kept increasing in time.

Everyone’s facial expression changed. Fan Wenxing stuffed the badge into Yu Jie’s hand and yelled, “All hands on! Defend the wall!”

Ever since he had become the head secretary of the Earth Union, he had heard the alarm go off many times. However, this was the first time he had heard the scary Catastrophe Alarm go off.

This alarm signified that the Fairy Square was about to be destroyed. It was the alarm meant to ring for the highest degree of danger.

Fan Wenxing’s warning was unnecessary. Almost everyone rushed to the top of the wall immediately. Sai Jia’er, the troop leader of the Fairy Planet’s martial arts troops, frenetically gave out commands one after another, mobilizing everyone to prepare to defend the Fairy Square.