Ninth In the World

Zhong Xun was not a descendant of the Qi Family, so it was not necessary for Di Jiu to kill him. Now that Zhong Xun had offered to reveal the location of the Fire Nirvana Nest, Di Jiu was less willing to kill him.

However, he could not just announce that casually. Thus, he looked at Zhong Xun and said mildly, “Tell me who exterminated the Tress Tranquil Village.”

“It was Qi Hong from the Qi Family. He was the one who brought up the idea and he went to exterminate the village alone,” said Zhong Xun without hesitation.

There were no cultivators from the Polar Night Continent there, not that he would have cared if there had been any. After he left this place, he had no intention of staying with the Qi Family. His father had lost his life because of the Qi Family, and they had kept the flame instead of passing it on to him. Another reason he would not work for the Qi Family anymore was Di Jiu, who was standing in front of him.

Di Jiu had only been a mid-stage Qi Refinement Realm cultivator when he had destroyed the Qi Family’s Commercial Building in the Marsh Ocean Town. In a few years, he had already attained the Golden Core Realm. Although he was not the first to reach the Golden Core Realm in a few years, he was surely the first to kill a seventh-stage Golden Core cultivator instantly right after attaining the Golden Core Realm.

It was not hard to imagine what this kind of person could achieve. Given Di Jiu’s bright future, the future of the Qi Family was obvious.

“Good. Give me the items. I will let this pass, as long as you leave the Qi Family’s Commercial Building in the future.” Di Jiu nodded his head.

He was actually not as collected as he appeared to be. From a certain perspective, the value of the Fire Nirvana Nest was much higher than that of the flame.

This did not mean that the flame was not valuable. Actually, the flame was extremely rare. Even top-notch sects might not possess a good flame. What they possessed was a place located on top of an Earth fire vein, where cultivators could practise alchemy or blacksmithing.

Flames might be valuable, but the ones that could successfully upgrade were few. Most flames lacked the Fire Nirvana Nest. After its birth, a flame would not automatically engulf the Fire Nirvana Nest. Instead, it would slowly absorb fire Spirit Qi and mature. As time passed, the Fire Nirvana Nest would become an average stone, so it would be hard to recognize a Fire Nirvana Nest. Some flames would engulf Fire Nirvana Nests after they matured to a certain degree, but most flames would be taken away by people before they could mature.

Therefore, Fire Nirvana Nests were rarer than flames, which were already rare by nature.

When he heard what Di Jiu said, Zhong Xun retrieved a jade slip and gave it to him hurriedly. Di Jiu scanned the jade slip with his Spiritual Force and discovered that Zhong Xun was not lying. The jade slip did indeed record a certain location.

He was sure that Zhong Xun would not lie to him. Judging by his attitude, he obviously did not wish to keep working at the Qi Family’s Commercial Building and incur Di Jiu’s wrath, which meant that Zhong Xun would not lie to him about this matter.

“Let’s go, Little Tree.” After taking the item, Di Jiu turned around and started walking away.

“Daoist Di! There is an array here. Why don’t the two of us combine our forces?” When he saw that Di Jiu was about to leave with the Tiny Tree Root, the seventh-stage Golden Core cultivator immediately panicked.

Di Jiu stopped and looked at the cultivator in front of him. “Why should I combine forces with you?” he said coolly. “Why should I share the goodies with you, when I could head over by myself?”

Di Jiu knew why this Golden Core cultivator was so anxious. Although the Spirit Qi of the blue lake was flourishing, the shore on the other side of the lake was blurry. Due to the presence of a spiritual-force-obscuring restriction, nothing was visible enough.

In order to reach the other side, one had to go through the blue lake. However, the space above the blue lake and outside this valley was the same. They both contained a natural strangulation array.

The reason they had gotten stuck there was because they had wanted Little Tree to detect this array and figure out how they could cross over. Little Tree had looked for a long time and said several times that it had almost deciphered it. Unfortunately, every time they had been about to cross over, it would say that the deciphering process was still incomplete.

They would have killed Little Tree long ago if it had not been the only one that could help them under the circumstances.

Hence, by the time Di Jiu arrived, they had yet to cross the lake, even though they had spent a large amount of time there.

How could they let Di Jiu leave with Little Tree? Di Jiu was truly formidable. Otherwise, the seventh-stage Golden Core cultivator would not have called out, but attacked him.

The cultivator choked in shock upon hearing Di Jiu’s reply.

What could they do if Di Jiu refused to let them tag along?

Di Jiu’s strangulation array sensed a violent vibration coming from the outside, where the natural strangulation array was being attacked.

Whatever was on the other side of the blue lake had to be good. Although Di Jiu was unwilling to fight with these Golden Core cultivators, he would kill them if they decided to attack him together.

The Golden Core cultivator subconsciously looked at everyone else. No one showed any fighting spirit. Di Jiu was really formidable indeed. Fighting with him now would not be worth the risk, not when what lay beyond the lake was still unknown.

Given Di Jiu’s strength, even if they attacked him together, the outcome would be internecine.

The seventh-stage Golden Core cultivator sucked in a breath, cupped his fists and said, “Daoist Di, I have two level-four spirit herbs…”

Di Jiu, who understood what he meant before he could even finish his sentence, waved his hand and stopped the cultivator. Then, he looked at the other Golden Core cultivators and said mildly, “I don’t care about items like spirit herbs or ores. What I’m lacking is a flame. I would bring along anyone who had one.”

As soon as he said that, Di Jiu walked to a spot on the blue lake. His Spiritual Force had already been sensing the fluctuations of the laws on the lake. They could probably cross the lake by relying on Little Tree’s instincts. However, what Di Jiu really cared about was this blue lake itself, not what lay beyond it.

Although no one had seen what lay on the other side of the lake, if this blue lake had Spirit Qi revolving around it, it would certainly be extraordinary.

“I know where to find a flame,” the sixth-stage Golden Core cultivator said unexpectedly as he stepped forward with cupped fists.

Di Jiu was stunned. He had only said that casually. He’d had no intention of actually bringing them along. No one would usually say that they knew where to find a flame, even if they truly did. The items there may be valuable, but their value might not be on par with a flame.

“Do you really know where to find a flame?” Di Jiu looked questioningly at the sixth-stage Golden Core cultivator.

This cultivator took a jade slip out of his storage bag swiftly and gave it to Di Jiu. “This contains the location of the flame. You could check it. This flame is located within the Sky Screen.”

As soon as Di Jiu grabbed the jade slip, his expression turned ugly.

On this jade slip was the location of an Earth fire vein. The jade slip even marked out the details of the position of the flame.

However, he also had a jade slip like this one. This was the exact same place indicated on the jade slip Zhong Xun had given him just now.

“You say that there is a flame there?” Di Jiu did not sound pleased. He could guess that this flame was the exact same one that Zhong Xun’s father had already taken.

The Golden Core cultivator, who saw Di Jiu’s expression, said hurriedly, “Although a lot of people know about this place, I’m certain that no one’s markings are as detailed or accurate as mine.”

The word “detailed” intrigued Di Jiu. When his Spiritual Force landed on the jade slip once again, he noticed a difference.

It was indeed the same place indicated on the jade slip Zhong Xun had given him for the Fire Nirvana Nest. However, the details were very different. In other words, the precise position marked on the two jade slips was not the same.

Zhong Xun’s father had personally taken away a flame, so he would naturally not have marked down the wrong spot for the Fire Nirvana Nest. However, this Golden Core cultivator said that the position he had marked down was accurate. It was therefore entirely possible that these were two different flames.

Di Jiu put the jade slip away expressionlessly as he said in a mild tone, “Although I already knew about the position of this flame, I will keep my promise. Follow me.”

“Yes. Thank you, Daoist Di.” The sixth-stage Golden Core cultivator cupped his fists and thanked Di Jiu before walking over swiftly.

He knew personally how valuable that flame was. He had gone to that place before. However, given his current strength, he could not go near it, much less obtain it. The Sky Screen would not always remain open, and he would definitely not be able to obtain it before the Sky Screen closed. Since the flame could not be obtained, he might as well show Di Jiu its position in exchange for some practical benefits.

“Daoist Di…” said Zhong Xun unwillingly as he cupped his fists.

Di Jiu knew what he meant. “You can follow us too.”

The item Zhong Xun had given him was very important to him. Plus, Zhong Xun would definitely leave the Qi Family. Considering its temperament, Zhong Xun and the Qi Family would only be enemies from then on. This was why Di Jiu allowed Zhong Xun to follow him.

“Thank you, Daoist Di,” said Zhong Xun, who looked pleased. He hurriedly took two steps forward and reached Di Jiu.

The remaining three Golden Core cultivators looked at each other. They dared not attack now that Di Jiu had the help of two Golden Core cultivators. However, they were unable to take out any treasures as valuable as the flame.

Di Jiu did not care what these people were thinking about. He could tell that above the blue lake was a space strangulation array. However, both he and Little Tree were unable to decipher it.

Fortunately, the Dharma Array within the blue lake was different. That Dharma Array was much lower in rank. It was at most a level-five Dharma Array, so he just had to cross through the lake.

When he lifted his hand, the Defense Array grabbed and threw several array flags. Di Jiu set up a level-four Defense Array to obscure his surroundings before he took out more array flags and threw them into the lake.

The ordinary-looking blue lake suddenly started to spurt out extremely dense Spirit Qi. After sensing this for a moment, Di Jiu felt his stagnant cultivation loosen up.