Ninth In the World

After leaving the Five Continent City, Di Jiu was still quite cautious. Back then, he had not used any Teleportation Arrays. Instead, he had relied on his Spiritual Force escape technique.

Now that his Spiritual Sea Spiritual Force had attained Level Ten, which was practically the apex of the entire Small Central World, Di Jiu was not concerned about whether Shu Haolan would detain him.

If using a Teleportation Array was faster, Di Jiu would definitely do so. However, he had attained the third-stage Pioneer Sea Realm and his Spiritual Force had reached Level Ten. Therefore, it would be faster for him to use the Spiritual Force escape technique instead of the Teleportation Arrays.

In the past, he’d had to travel for several days, yet now he reached the outer region of the Herald Night Lake after traveling for less than a day.

This was because he had not cast the Spiritual Force escape technique with his full strength. If he had, it would have only taken him two hours to travel the same distance. Perhaps when his cultivation was more powerful in the future, he would be able to travel with just one thought. Right now, Di Jiu felt very fortunate and lucky that he had obtained the Spiritual Force escape technique.

Some people were still searching for the Roast Divine Herb by the Herald Night Lake. It appeared that the information that the Roast Divine Herb could condense one’s Spiritual Sea and strengthen one’s Spiritual Force had yet to travel out.

Di Jiu looked at the Herald Night Lake, which was hanging vertically from afar, and took a deep breath. When he left the Herald Night Lake again, he would be able to challenge Ren Hai. After killing Ren Hai, he would immediately head to the Ji Nation and take revenge.

There would always be a thorn in his heart if he did not avenge his destroyed family.

…

Shu Haolan felt irritable. He was the only person at the sixth-stage True Form Realm out of the five large Sect Masters.

During the past two years, he had remained in seclusion. He had fallen short of success every time he’d tried to advance from the sixth-stage True Form Realm to the late-stage True Form Realm. Lately, he had been unable to settle down while he was cultivating. Shu Haolan could only stop cultivating with a sigh.

This turn of events was that little bastard’s fault. If it had not been for Di Jiu, he would have also attained the late-stage True Form Realm. Unfortunately, the spies he had placed at the Herald Night Lake had yet to give him any news. Furthermore, there was also no news on Di Jiu from anywhere else.

Di Jiu had not appeared in the Small Central World for a long period of time, so his ranking on the Potential Roll kept dropping as a result.

Speaking of the Herald Night Lake, Shu Haolan suddenly thought of what Ju Qi had been doing for the past few years. Ju Qi was a genius disciple of the Genesis Sect, as well as a powerful competitor for the position of the next Sect Master. However, Ju Qi should have had nothing to do with the recruitment of new sect disciples.

Shu Haolan did not know what was the matter with him, but Ju Qi had recruited seven inner sect disciples one after another. Given his status and position, it was considered normal to recruit some people. However, the recruitment criteria included using the Roast Divine Herbs.

According to Ju Qi, if one could find 10 Roast Divine Herbs in the Herald Night Lake, their Spiritual Force would surely not be weak. The future development of these people would definitely be bright if they were recruited into the sect. Furthermore, Ju Qi was not alone in this. The other four people of the Five Sea Roll Young Masters were also doing the same. It appeared that the Five Sea Roll Young Masters were all taking the sect’s interests into consideration.

Shu Haolan knew all about the Roast Divine Herb. This herb was able to stimulate one’s Spiritual Sea and increase one’s Spiritual Force. However, it was useless, as consuming it would bring about more harm than good. If one consumed the Roast Divine Herb over a long period of time, their Spiritual Sea would split open completely, or even worse, the cultivator could become a retard.

Shu Haolan frowned. He was suspicious of Ju Qi’s motives.

As soon as he thought of this, Shu Haolan sent out a message.

In less than five minutes, Ju Qi landed outside the cave abode where Shu Haolan had gone into seclusion and said respectfully, “Greetings, Sect Master. May I know what you want to order a disciple like me?”

Shu Haolan smiled and said, “You’ve already reached the first-stage Ekayāna Tripod Realm and could be considered an outer sect elder of the Genesis Sect. For the time being, you don’t have to call yourself a disciple. What if I put you in charge of the sect’s foreign affairs?”

Ju Qi was shocked. He would have no time to cultivate if he became a foreign affairs elder. Sect missions, disciple recruitment and hosting were all a foreign affairs elder’s responsibility.

“Sect Master, I think that my cultivation level is insufficient. If I become a foreign affairs elder now, I’m afraid that I would affect the sect’s status negatively,” Ju Qi said honestly without a second thought.

Shu Haolan suddenly understood. Ju Qi’s motive for recruiting those disciples was not really the sect’s own good. There had to be another reason. The man nodded his head and asked, “Can you tell me why you’re searching for Roast Divine Herbs?”

The question stunned Ju Qi. Hadn’t this question already been asked once before? Why had Shu Haolan asked it again? He immediately remembered what the Sect Master had said previously. It seemed like he knew that he was not truly recruiting disciples for the sake of the sect.

“Why? Is there something you can’t tell me?” Shu Haolan asked coolly with a heavier tone when he noticed Ju Qi’s hesitation.

This time, Ju Qi kneed on the ground. “Please forgive me, Sect Master. I lied to you. However, I could not say anything.”

Ju Qi now knew that the Sect Master had suspected him.

“Why?”

“Back then, Yan Tashan, Gun Yantao, Mu Qisha, Fang Wushang and I explored a mystic area together and found a tattered jade slip. The information it recorded was very shocking. Thus, we all swore that we would not reveal this information to anyone else,” said Ju Qi respectfully.

He had no intention of lying to the Sect Master. Back when they had obtained that tattered jade slip, everyone had said that anyone who revealed this secret would be turned to ashes by the Thunder Tribulation. This was an oath that no one would ignore casually.

There was indeed a secret. Shu Haolan frowned. After a long while, he said, “If you can’t say this out loud, you could write it down on a jade slip and give it to me.”

Ju Qi did not speak. They had used their Blood Essence to make that oath. Once they revealed the secret, they would be turned to ashes by the Thunder Tribulation. No one questioned whether this would come true once the oath was broken. There was a 100 percent chance that this Blood Essence Oath would indeed come true.

What difference would it make if he used his Spiritual Force to engrave the secret instead of saying it out loud? He would still be breaking the oath.

Shu Haolan could not possibly force Ju Qi to do this. Thus, he took a light gold talisman out of his ring and handed it to Ju Qi. “This is for you. Now tell me.”

“An Oath-Breaking Talisman!” exclaimed Ju Qi. The Oath-Breaking Talisman was a talisman that surpassed the Cultivation World. It should actually be a Level-Ten talisman, which was considered an immortal talisman in the Cultivation World.

Ju Qi knelt down once again and said, “Thank you, Sect Master.”

Then, he wrote down on a jade slip without hesitation and handed it to Shu Haolan.

Shu Haolan, who took the jade slip, almost jumped when his Spiritual Force landed on the jade slip. “Spiritual Force Training Art…” he murmured.

Shu Haolan suddenly understood completely. The Roast Divine Herb would bring about harm if consumed alone. However, if the Spiritual Force Training Art was used along with the Roast Divine Herb, then it would become an ultimate weapon that would upgrade one’s Spiritual Sea and Spiritual Force.

Di Jiu had originally possessed the Spiritual Force Training Art, which was why he had previously told Fu Che that the Roast Divine Herb could upgrade one’s Spiritual Force. He had not been aware that the Roast Divine Herb had to be consumed by using the Spiritual Force Training Art. If he had known this, he would not have told Fu Che.

Now that he knew that the Roast Divine Herb could upgrade one’s Spiritual Force and expand one’s Spiritual Sea, Shu Haolan could not wait even one minute. He left the sect immediately and headed towards the Herald Night Lake.

The most important aspect of a cultivator was not their cultivation level, but upgrading their Spiritual Force. After obtaining the method to upgrade his Spiritual Force, Shu Haolan could not keep sitting there for one more moment.

…

When he landed beside the Herald Night Lake, Shu Haolan was still in an excitatory state. If he had not been paying close attention to the Herald Night Lake, it was highly possible that he would have remained ignorant about the use of the Roast Divine Herb.

That kid Ju Qi had buried his secrets very deep. The same could also be said for the other four Young Masters. If he did not improve his cultivation, many years later, nobody in the Small Central World would know who Shu Haolan was anymore.

Di Jiu? Shu Haolan was so excited that he was almost shaking.

He had not expected to see Di Jiu, the man he had dreamed of capturing, when he arrived at the Herald Night Lake.

Right now, Shu Haolan was not in the mood to blame people for not informing him that Di Jiu had come to the Herald Night Lake. He took a step forward, shortening the distance between them. Then, he lifted his hand in a slapping motion towards Di Jiu.

Di Jiu was too cunning. He knew that he could not escape from him, yet he intended to injure Di Jiu first.

Di Jiu’s cultivation level, which was at the third-stage Pioneer Sea Realm, was inferior to Shu Haolan’s, which was at the True Form Realm. If he were to face Shu Haolan head on, he would not be able to survive even one attack. He would be killed even if he possessed a Level-Seven saber array.

However, his Spiritual Force surpassed Shu Haolan’s. His Level-Ten Spiritual Force was way higher than his.

The disparity in their Spiritual Force was much bigger than the gap between their cultivation levels.

Almost as soon as Shu Haolan stepped forward, Di Jiu, who had already sensed it, rushed into the Herald Night Lake without hesitation.

Bam! Although Di Jiu’s speed was fast, the edge of Shu Haolan’s palm still landed on him. Crack! Di Jiu’s physical body was at the Hollow Realm, yet his bones were still smashed into pieces. When he opened his mouth, he spat out blood. His body was like a kite with broken strings that crashed into the deep recesses of the Herald Night Lake.

Given Di Jiu’s current cultivation level and Spiritual Force, he had the opportunity to use the Spiritual Force escape technique to escape. However, he knew that he definitely could not choose to flee the moment Shu Haolan sneaked an attack on him without a warning.