Ninth In the World

Could one be unable to head to the Everlasting Domain Planet from this place? Di Jiu’s knowledge had been obtained from Master Qian Fenghua. However, tens of thousands of years had passed. On Earth, several civilizations would have been born and eliminated during that period.

This sort of situation could even occur in a cultivation continent. Di Jiu was not sure if one could be teleported to the Yalun Continent from this place. “That’s right, I want to go to the Yalun Continent,” he confirmed.

The female cultivator serving him immediately asked respectfully, “Please pass me your qualification card, sir. I’ll help you go through the necessary procedures and get to the Yalun Continent immediately.”

She might find Di Jiu’s attire strange, but eccentric people would often do extraordinary things.

“Qualification card?” Di Jiu asked in confusion, “Is a qualification card necessary to be able to teleport? Can’t Spirit Stones be used instead?”

When the female server understood what was going on, her face turned cold. “Go back and purchase a book on teleportation regulations.”

“Ha ha! This guy has made the same mistake I did. When I first came here, I also thought that one could teleport to the other four continents at will. I only discovered later that this wasn’t the case!” a crisp voice said by Di Jiu’s ear.

When he looked back, Di Jiu saw a young man who was slightly shorter than him. The young man’s eyes were bright, and his long hair was tied in a cultivator hairstyle. He was wearing a tight-fitting cultivator robe. With one glance, Di Jiu realized that he was at the third-stage Essence Soul Realm.

“I am Di Jiu. I just came here from somewhere else, so I would like to consult another Daoist,” said Di Jiu as he cupped his fists hurriedly.

The friendly young man smiled again. “Your attire is very unique, my friend. I am Gai Shitian. Our names have certain similarities. Your name has the number nine in it, while mine has the number 10 ¹ .”

Di Jiu’s attire aside, the most important thing about him was the ordinary saber he was carrying. However, the most unusual part of his saber were the strange red embellishments engraved on its handle.

“I just saw off a friend, so I have nothing on me right now. It would be impossible for you to head to the Yalun Continent today. Why don’t we head to the Sky Route City first and chat?” Gai Shitian looked very forthright. He seemed like the kind of person who enjoyed making friends.

“Alright.” Di Jiu had just arrived at this place, so he knew nothing. Going to the Sky Route City and understanding the situation would be beneficial for him.

Gai Shitian was a conversationalist. Before they even reached the Sky Route City, Di Jiu had already found out the origin of his name. Gai Shitian had been born in a farmer’s family that had owned 10 plots of land. Hence, he had been named Gai Shitian upon birth. Unfortunately, the family’s pleasant life had been short-lived. A group of people had shown up and said that there was a mineral mine underneath their land, so they wanted to destroy the land to access it.

Gai Shitian’s father had naturally not agreed, so he had been beaten to death. Meanwhile, Gai Shitian and his mother had escaped from their home. Gai Shitian’s potential was not bad, so he had entered a sect.

“Did you take revenge?” asked Di Jiu casually.

Gai Shitian’s eyes dimmed. He shook his head as he said, “No. If I wasn’t currently an Azure Sect disciple, I would most likely already have been killed by these bastards. Revenge is just not possible. Forget it. Let’s not talk about this. We’ve reached the Sky Route City.”

Di Jiu saw the two big words “Sky Route” floating above a Level-Nine Defense Array, giving off a majestic aura.

A white-jade stone road at least 60-meters wide led into the city. There were many cultivators transversing on the road. Thanks to a casual sweep of his Spiritual Force, Di Jiu discovered that a lot of those cultivators had a higher cultivation than him. There were a lot of Void Spirit Realm and Pioneer Sea Realm cultivators. Di Jiu was unable to sense the cultivation level of some cultivators, so there were probably some experts with cultivation levels above the Ekayāna ¹ Tripod Realm.

Gai Shitian, who seemed to have forgotten about the 10 plots of land, pointed to the Sky Route City and told Di Jiu, “The reason this city is called ‘Sky Route’ is because it’s a cultivation city one has to pass through while traveling. At least 70 percent of the Teleportation Arrays of the Small Central World are concentrated in the small central teleportation hall opposite the Sky Route City. That hall is where we came from. Everyone who wants to leave or come to this place must pass through the small central teleportation hall. The Sky Route City and the teleportation hall are separated by only a road, which is why this place has been becoming increasingly prosperous.”

“Does only teleporting to the four continents require a qualification card? Is that not a requirement for other destinations?” Di Jiu could not help but ask. After all, his priority was to head back to the Everlasting Domain Planet.

Gai Shitian chuckled. “Other than the four continents, only a few places require teleportation qualification. Most destinations only require Spirit Stones for users to be able to teleport there. As far as the four continents are concerned, you will get the teleportation qualification only if you meet one of the four criteria.”

Di Jiu cupped his fist hurriedly. “Please explain, Daoist Shitian.”

Di Jiu was slightly relieved that one only needed to fulfill one of the four criteria. He did not believe that he would be unable to fulfill even one of them.

“I feel very close to you, Brother Di. The similarities in our names make me think that we could be friends.” Gai Shitian waved his hand as he explained, “In order to teleport out of the Small Central World, the first requirement is being a True Form Realm Cultivator…”

Di Jiu fell silent. His current cultivation level was still far away from the True Form Realm.

When he sensed Di Jiu’s silence, Gai Shitian added, “You don’t need to worry. If you work hard and enter the Dao Roll, you will meet the qualifications to teleport to the four continents.”

“What is the Dao Roll?” Di Jiu asked immediately.

Gai Shitian explained patiently, “The Dao Roll can be split into three rolls. The first one is the Sea Roll, which includes the top 108 cultivators in the Small Central World who are at the Pioneer Sea Realm or below. The second roll is the Tripod Roll, which includes the top 108 cultivators at the Ekayāna Tripod Realm and below. The third roll is the Life Roll, which includes the top 108 cultivators at the Life Tribulation Realm and below.”

“If you entered these three rolls, you would also enter the Dao Roll. If you’re a cultivator in the Sea Roll of the Dao Roll, once your cultivation breaks through to the Ekayāna Tripod Realm, you would automatically be removed from the Sea Roll. After leaving the Sea Roll, you would still meet the teleportation qualification for three years. You would only not meet it if you were unable to reach the True Form Realm and enter a higher-level Dao Roll during those three years.”

Di Jiu was dumbfounded. His cultivation level was currently at the fifth-stage Essence Soul Realm. Even if he battled with people of a higher cultivation than him and fought against early-stage Void Spirit Realm Cultivators, he would still not be close to entering the Sea Roll.

He would definitely be no match for even the weakest Pioneer Sea Realm cultivator, let alone the experts on the Sea Roll. Experts congregated in the Small Central World, so it was obvious that the 108 cultivators on the Sea Roll were all apex experts. Perhaps they could all fight with cultivators of a higher cultivation. Given his current cultivation, Di Jiu would be committing suicide if he competed against these people over a place on the Sea Roll.

“There’s no roll for cultivators below the Pioneer Sea Realm?” asked Di Jiu, who was unwilling to admit defeat.

“There is,” Gai Shitian said. “There’s a Potential Dao Roll. This roll is occupied by a total of 1,000 geniuses who are likely to enter the Dao Roll in the future. However, being on the Potential Dao Roll doesn’t provide one with teleportation qualification. Actually, there is a roll above the Life Roll called the True Form King Roll. There are only 36 people on this roll, each of them an apex True Form expert.”

“Are there any other methods to head to the Yalun Continent?” Di Jiu felt helpless. If there was no other way around this, he would just have to cultivate until he reached the Pioneer Sea Realm first. Once he attained the Pioneer Sea Realm, he would enter the Sea Roll and meet the qualification to go to the Everlasting Domain Planet.

“There are two other methods. One of them is being a Grade-Seven Elixir King acknowledged by the Elixir Association, and the other is being a Grade-Seven Weapon King acknowledged by the Weapon Association.”

“What about Array Kings, Shitian?” Di Jiu immediately asked in excitement. “What if one is a Level-Seven Array King?”

Gai Shitian shook his head. “Array formation experts don’t get any special benefits, nor do they obtain any teleportation qualification cards.”

Di Jiu’s heart sank. He suddenly sighed. He should have studied alchemy back in the day. If he had, he would have been close to reaching the level of a Grade-Seven Elixir King.

Di Jiu wondered whether it would have taken him less time to become a Grade-Seven Elixir King, a Grade-Seven Weapon King, or a Pioneer Sea Realm cultivator.

“Did you see that red-haired man, Brother Di Jiu? He is Hong Kui and he ranks 93rd on the Sea Roll. His two hammers are very scary. He might be at the ninth-stage Pioneer Sea Realm, but I’ve heard that the average early-stage Ekayāna Tripod Realm Cultivator dares not fight against him. I never expected that I would one day see Hong Kui in the Sky Route City!” pointed out Gai Shitian excitedly when he saw Hong Kui. Gai Shitian did not know what Di Jiu was thinking about.

When he looked over, Di Jiu saw a red-haired man with a fit body. Based on the man’s aura, he could sense that Hong Kui was at least at the late-stage Pioneer Sea Realm.

Meanwhile, he could also sense his oppressive aura. Many cultivators who recognized Hong Kui unconsciously made way for him. Di Jiu even saw a cultivator with an indistinct cultivation make way for Hong Kui. It was important to note that cultivators with obscure cultivation would most likely be at the Ekayāna Tripod Realm or higher.