Ninth In the World

A night passed quickly. By the time Di Jiu put away his cave abode, Fu Che and the other two were already waiting for him.

“Brother Di Jiu, let’s go to the Herald Night Lake!” Fu Che laughed when he saw Di Jiu. It seemed like he had not taken the Spirit Blaze Team’s threats to heart.

Di Jiu now knew about the purpose of the Roast Divine Herb. Thus, he would not retreat, no matter how difficult things got.

“I have a question to ask, Brother Fu.” Di Jiu believed that the True Form Realm Cultivator was not aware of the purpose of the Roast Divine Herb. Otherwise, the Sea Roll’s Five Young Masters would not be purchasing and collecting Roast Divine Herbs.

“Since we’re teammates, we’re also brothers. There’s no need to be so diplomatic. I will tell you everything I know,” said Fu Che with a wave of his hand.

As he looked at the foggy Herald Night Lake, Di Jiu said, “Brother Fu, I would like to know if the Sea Roll’s Five Young Masters head out to trials together frequently. Was this mission to find the Roast Divine Herb created after a particular trial?”

“That’s right. The Sea Roll’s Five Young Masters get along quite well on the surface. They do often head out to trials together. However, I don’t know if this mission was created after a particular trial.” When he heard Di Jiu’s question, Fu Che had some theories of his own.

Di Jiu, who had already understood, did not continue along this line of questioning. Instead, he said, “Let’s head to the Herald Night Lake.”

“Did you just want to ask this simple question, Big Brother Di?” Liang Guqing looked at Di Jiu inquiringly. This question was not really a question.

“I actually had one more question, but I already know the answer to it. Let’s go. Let’s not waste any time while we could be searching for the Roast Divine Herbs,” said Di Jiu causally.

He was currently 100 percent certain that the Five Young Masters had discovered the purpose of the Roast Divine Herbs at the same time during one of their trials. However, the five of them were very selfish, so they had not told anyone about it, not even the True Form Realm experts of their own sects.

Had it not been for the opening of the Five Continent Dao Convention, Di Jiu suspected that the Five Young Masters would have personally come to the Herald Night Lake to search for the Roast Divine Herbs. However, they wanted to get a reputation by conquering the levels of the Five Continent Dao Pagoda.

It was possible that they had another motive for not personally coming to search for the herbs. Maybe they wanted to mislead people into thinking that this mission was meant to help their sects test the disposition of potential disciples and divert everyone’s attention from the importance of the Roast Divine Herb.

…

Di Jiu followed the others into the grass plain. The moment he entered, he felt his Spiritual Sea get assaulted by a storm. His Spiritual Sea suddenly felt like it could get torn apart at any moment.

Fu Che’s voice was heard in time. “Big Brother Di Jiu, don’t extend your Spiritual Force while you are on the grass plain in the outer area of the Herald Night Lake. Any Spiritual Force extended here will be lost forever. Guard your Spiritual Sea. We need to find the Roast Divine Herbs by looking with our eyes.”

When Di Jiu attempted to pull his Spiritual Force back, he felt intense pain. The Spiritual Force Di Jiu had extended disappeared without a trace, while his Spiritual Sea had weakened a little for no reason.

“Thank you, Brother Fu.” Di Jiu pulled back his Spiritual Force. He decided to extend it again to search for the herbs when he was at the shore of the Herald Night Lake.

The four of them walked for nearly four hours, traveling a mere distance of 3,000 feet. There were approximately 2,000 feet left until they reached the Herald Night Lake.

Fu Che stopped and panted. “We will search this area. If we move further in, our Spiritual Seas will suffer more damage. The moment anything happens to our Spiritual Seas, it will be pointless to go on, no matter how many Roast Divine Herbs we may find.”

“Yes, I can only walk up to this point,” said Liang Guqing hurriedly.

Bei Shitao nodded her head silently. Given their strength, they could only advance up to that point.

Di Jiu had discovered the special characteristics of the Roast Divine Herb inside the Book of the World, so he knew that there were definitely some Force Crystals in the Herald Night Lake. The level of the Roast Divine Herb in the lake was much higher, which implied that the herbs in the outer region would not be high-level.

“My Spiritual Force is slightly stronger, so I intend to head further in,” said Di Jiu.

Fu Che nodded his head. “Be careful. No messages can be transmitted there. You must shout loudly if anything happens. We will naturally stand together. We’re a team after all.”

The objective of forming teams outside the Herald Night Lake was to gain strength in numbers. Otherwise, any Roast Divine Herbs found would be seized by someone else.

“Thank you, Brother Fu. I understand.” After parting ways with Fu Che and company, Di Jiu continued to approach the Herald Night Lake.

The closer he got to the lake, the greater the pressure on his Spiritual Sea became. The pressure was so great that his Spiritual Sea seemed about to compress and split apart.

Di Jiu started to circulate the Spiritual Force Training Art. He was pleasantly surprised when the pressure started to decrease while he began circulating and cultivating. Then, he attempted to pull back his Spiritual Force. Although most of the Spiritual Force disappeared like it had before, this time, he managed to take back some.

The Spiritual Force Training Art was indeed a good resource. Di Jiu, who had now gained confidence, circulated the Spiritual Force Training Art as he approached the Herald Night Lake.

He found the first Roast Divine Herb when he was a few hundred feet away from the lake.

Just like the Book of the World had stated, the Roast Divine Herb was blue, three inches tall and had no leaves to speak of.

When Di Jiu placed the Roast Divine Herb in his mouth, he felt a bitter taste. Before he could react, his Spiritual Sea burst into flames like a ball of fire with a loud sound.

His entire Spiritual Sea seemed to ignite as its aura soared frantically.

Di Jiu was shocked. His Spiritual Sea would explode if this went on, yet he did nothing about it. Even if an explosion did not occur, the abuse of this frightening aura would still make him look stupid. This incident could only be blamed on his carelessness. He should not have consumed a Roast Divine Herb in one go. This was obviously not the proper way to eat the herb.

The Forging Spiritual Art circulated frantically. Meanwhile, the frightening aura in Di Jiu’s Spiritual Sea seemed to encounter a grinding disc. With every Qi Circulation that was completed, the grinding disc would take away a bit of this aura and the aura would weaken a little. Di Jiu slowly felt his Spiritual Force strengthen a little.

This was good stuff. Di Jiu was extremely excited as he circulated the Forging Spiritual Art even more swiftly.

He stood up only after six hours had passed. He had expended the Roast Divine Herb completely. When Di Jiu checked his Spiritual Force and Spiritual Sea, he realized that his Spiritual Sea had expanded a little and his Spiritual Force had gotten stronger.

That was why this herb was called the Roast Divine Herb. It required burning one’s Spiritual Sea.

Di Jiu, who was aware of the benefits of the Roast Divine Herb, circulated the Forging Spiritual Art and continued to search for Roast Divine Herbs nearby. The Spiritual Force Training Art he had obtained was a match made in heaven for the Roast Divine Herb when the two of them were used together.

The effects of the blue Roast Divine Herb were so obvious that it was hard to imagine how powerful the red and black Roast Divine Herbs would be.

Di Jiu could extend his Spiritual Force now. This, in combination with the fact that he was very close to the Herald Night Lake, made it easier for him than the other cultivators to find herbs.

In half a day, Di Jiu found nearly 200 Roast Divine Herbs.

However, he had to sit down and refine the herbs upon consuming them. Otherwise, he would have kept searching while consuming the herbs.

When Di Jiu arrived at the edge of the Herald Night Lake, he looked at the lake from afar. The entire Herald Night Lake seemed to be erected vertically on the ground. Now that he was beside it, he discovered that it was no different from any other lake. At first, he’d thought that he was seeing things.

Di Jiu attempted to control his Spiritual Force so he could permeate the Herald Night Lake. The moment his Spiritual Force came into contact with the lake water, he felt a terrifying burning aura again. There was a stab of pain in his Spiritual Sea that almost made him faint.

Di Jiu hurriedly pulled back his Spiritual Force. After sitting beside the Herald Night Lake and recuperating for a long time, he stood up once again.

The sky had gotten dark, and the surface of the lake seemed to be covered by a layer of starlight. The lake looked extremely beautiful. Unlike during the day, when night came, the aura surging into the Spiritual Sea became even more violent. Di Jiu would have had to retreat a long distance away if he had not had the Forging Spiritual Art.

He looked at the Herald Night Lake in front of him with a sigh. It seemed like it would be slightly difficult for him to find red Roast Divine Herbs in the lake.

When Di Jiu’s gaze landed on the shore of the lake, he was pleasantly surprised to see a few dozens of red and half-red Roast Divine Herbs. All the red Roast Divine Herbs had one leaf.

Half of the half-red Roast Divine Herbs were submerged in water, while the red Roast Divine Herbs were submerged completely.

Di Jiu was very happy. Apparently, one could see the red Roast Divine Herbs by the lake only at night.

Di Jiu did not entertain any thoughts about finding black Roast Divine Herbs. The Herald Night Lake was so scary that his current Spiritual Force level would definitely be unable to permeate it. He only wanted to obtain the red and half-red Roast Divine Herbs by the lake. He would come back and search for the black Roast Divine Herbs in the future, when his Spiritual Force became more powerful.

Since he could not use his Spiritual Force, he would have to use his hands to pick the herbs.

Di Jiu walked over to a completely submerged red Roast Divine Herb and carefully dipped his hand into the water.

A sizzling sound was heard, as if a piece of quicklime had dropped into the water. Meanwhile, an intense pain traveled from Di Jiu’s hand to the rest of his body. Di Jiu could even feel his bones corroding. This corrosion quickly spread inside his Spiritual Sea. Di Jiu, who no longer dared hold onto the Roast Divine Herb, hurriedly withdrew his hand from the water.

The part of his hand that had been submerged was missing some flesh. Only the bones remained.

Di Jiu took a deep breath. He was a Three-Monarch Void Realm Tempered Body Cultivator. However, despite the power of his body, even the back of his hand had been corroded. Who could possibly obtain the Roast Divine Herbs inside the lake?

Fortunately, Di Jiu was a Three-Monarch Realm Tempered Body Cultivator who possessed the Colossal Kun Art Schema. Therefore, after one night, his body had recovered completely and his corroded hand had returned to its original healthy state.

The next day, when Di Jiu looked again, he could no longer see any Roast Divine Herbs by the lake. It seemed like the red Roast Divine Herbs could indeed only be found at night.

It was impossible to enter the lake. Thus, Di Jiu could only try his luck again when night fell.

During the day, he found nearly 200 more blue Roast Divine Herbs. He dug up almost all the blue Roast Divine Herbs beside the lake.

Di Jiu, who now possessed more than 300 blue Roast Divine Herbs, was too lazy to keep searching for blue Roast Divine Herbs. He wanted to obtain half-red and red Roast Divine Herbs instead.