Ninth In the World

Di Jiu had stood there for many days. Only he knew that he hadn’t really fallen. However, he couldn’t move and his Spiritual Force couldn’t reach out.

Now, Di Jiu could clearly feel the lifelessness on the Planted Cultivators’ Mountain. That lifelessness restricted his movements and imprisoned the space his Spiritual Force could reach. However, this could neither make his god-like body lose its life-force nor permeate his level-ten Spiritual Sea.

Even so, Di Jiu was still bewildered. Although his body and Spiritual Sea were not corroded, his life was leaking away. When the day came that his lifespan was up, he would fall on the Planted Cultivators’ Mountain like all the other cultivators.

He was still alive now solely because he had a level-ten Spiritual Sea and a top-notch tempered body.

Although Di Jiu’s Spiritual Force couldn’t reach out, he urgently wanted someone to rush to his side and attack him.

If an external force came into contact with his body, his Spiritual Force would then be able to gush out and he would recover his ability to move.

As more days passed, Di Jiu grew hopeless. He didn’t know how much lifespan he had left, but he knew that it wasn’t long.

…

When Han Qingyi saw Jing Moshuang fall on the Planted Cultivators’ Mountain, she sighed. After all, she had spent some time with her and more or less had some feelings for her.

These feelings were quickly brushed aside. As she stared at Di Jiu, who stood on the Planted Cultivators’ Mountain, she felt disappointed.

Until now, there had been at least 130 people standing behind Di Jiu. Nobody could get closer than 20 steps away from him. Should she make a move herself? By now, Han Qingyi and everybody else could see that the road Di Jiu had taken was the most frightening road that led to death on the Planted Cultivators’ Mountain.

She had to get the Plane Split Talisman. This was her secret after all.

Just as Han Qingyi was planning to go up herself, a yellowish figure appeared at the foot of the Planted Cultivators’ Mountain. Han Qingyi immediately stopped in her tracks. She recognized this person— it was Zhuo Wencheng from the Zhuo Family.

The Zhuo Family, which was considered to be among the top three family clans in the True Province, had been even more prosperous lately. This was because the Zhuo Family had produced two peerless geniuses in recent years. These two geniuses were actually a pair of siblings. The younger sister was called Zhuo Wenshu. She had heard that Zhuo Wenshu had a high possibility of attaining the True Form Realm before the True Province Genius Tournament. The elder brother was the man before her eyes—Zhuo Wencheng. His strength was even more astounding, as he was already at the ninth-stage Life Tribulation Realm. Besides, Zhuo Wencheng had already established a name for himself in the True Province. Because he liked to wear yellow, he was known as Young Master Yellow Shirt.

Han Qingyi herself would also be joining the True Province Genius Tournament. Based on her advancing speed, she was likely to be at only the fourth-stage Life Tribulation Realm by the time the True Province Genius Tournament started. Thus, she paled in comparison to the Zhuo Family siblings.

“So Junior Sister Qingyi is here too…” Zhuo Wencheng saw Han Qingyi and walked over just to greet her.

Han Qingyi’s looks were rare in the True Province. Plus, Han Qingyi had been born on the Falling Ice Mountain in the True Province.

Han Qingyi bowed in return. “Greetings, Senior Brother Zhuo. Do you plan on going up the Planted Cultivators’ Mountain?”

Zhuo Wencheng smiled. “I do indeed. The technique that I’m cultivating requires a large amount of supreme-grade spirit meridians. I heard that there was an invisible ancient spirit meridian canyon, but by the time I got there, there were no supreme-grade spirit meridians left.”

Han Qingyi smiled. “I heard this too. Everybody said that all the supreme-grade spirit meridians had been taken by Young Master Red Embellishment.”

“Right,” said Zhuo Wencheng casually as he took a look at Di Jiu on the Planted Cultivators’ Mountain. “I have come here precisely for those spirit meridians.”

Han Qingyi bowed again. “Senior Brother Zhuo, I have a presumptuous request to make.”

Zhuo Wencheng, who had liked Han Qingyi all long, naturally replied without hesitation, “Feel free to speak your mind, Junior Sister Qingyi. I will do my best to help you.”

“Young Master Red Embellishment has taken a Plane Split Talisman from me. I wish to take it back…” said Han Qingyi.

“Ha ha…” Zhuo Wencheng laughed. “It’s only a Plane Split Talisman. I can guarantee that I will help you reclaim it. I’ll go up the mountain now. Wait for my good news, Junior Sister Qingyi.”

As soon as he said that, Zhuo Wencheng stepped onto the Planted Cultivators’ Mountain immediately with a flash of his figure.

A mere Plane Split Talisman didn’t mean anything to him. Although the Plane Split Talisman was very valuable, it wasn’t what he needed.

“Thanks a lot, Senior Brother Zhuo.” Han Qingyi, who was still thanking him, was aware that Zhuo Wencheng didn’t need the Plane Split Talisman. Although there were few Plane Split Talismans left in the Cultivation World, they weren’t considered very precious. However, she needed to have the Plane Split Talisman in order to go to that place. Thus, although the Plane Split Talisman meant nothing to others, it was irreplaceable for her.

Zhuo Wencheng had already stepped on the Planted Cultivators’ Mountain. He wasn’t worried that he would fall on the mountain. Although he wasn’t qualified to be the Number One in the True Province, he was definitely among the top three. Besides, he had a unique gift—when he was about to die, he would sense it a moment earlier.

Although the Planted Cultivators’ Mountain frightened other cultivators, it wasn’t fatal for him.

Zhuo Wencheng wasn’t fast, yet the other cultivators quickly sensed that he would definitely get Di Jiu’s ring based on his aura.

Upon seeing Zhuo Wencheng’s speed and aura, some cultivators at the foot of the Planted Cultivators’ Mountain who were preparing to go up stopped in their tracks.

Even though Zhuo Wencheng was climbing the Planted Cultivators’ Mountain for the first time, he had heard all kinds of rumors about it. He was sure that, given his strength, it would be easy for him to climb more than 100 steps up the mountain.

However, when Zhuo Wencheng reached the 70th step, a shadow of death appeared in his heart. When he climbed the 80th step, the shadow of death became even clearer. Zhuo Wencheng was sure that his limit would be around 95 steps.

By now, he had understood everything completely. The route the death-seeking Young Master Red Embellishment had taken had to be one of the most frightening routes on the Planted Cultivators’ Mountain. Despite his ability, he couldn’t exceed 100 steps. Thus, this route was basically a road of death.

Zhuo Wencheng slowed down as he grew cautious. Although the supreme-grade spirit meridian was important to him, his life meant more. Based on his gift and abilities, he would definitely attain the Domain Realm after the True Province Genius Tournament and enter the Immortal World. He had a great future ahead of him, so he naturally wouldn’t throw away his life on the Planted Cultivators’ Mountain.

Everyone at the foot of the Planted Cultivators’ Mountain stared at Zhuo Wencheng. When he exceeded the 90 steps, almost all the cultivators paying attention to him held their breaths. All the cultivators who wanted to snatch Di Jiu’s ring had taken at most around 80 steps, which was 20 steps short of the 100 Di Jiu had taken.

Zhuo Wencheng, who had just exceeded 90 steps, kept advancing. This clearly showed how frightening Zhuo Wencheng was. Everyone immediately recalled that Young Master Red Embellishment was even more frightening—he had taken 100 steps on this road of death after all.

Zhuo Wencheng stopped on the 95th step and didn’t proceed any further. The premonition of death he felt was getting stronger. He was sure that if he took one more step forward, he would undoubtedly die. He was equally astonished by how frightening Young Master Red Embellishment was.

Zhuo Wencheng was a top-notch genius of the True Province whose cultivation level had reached the ninth-stage Life Tribulation Realm. He was only one step away from attaining the True Form Realm. However, given his current abilities, he could only take 95 steps on this route. It was obvious how frightening Young Master Red Embellishment Di Jiu was. He had taken 100 steps before dying after all.

Even though he couldn’t take another step, Zhuo Wencheng wasn’t worried. He immediately grabbed a flying dagger. It didn’t matter that his Spiritual Force was completely suppressed. Cutting off the arm with Di Jiu’s ring with his dagger shouldn’t pose any difficulties, if not for any other reason, because the dagger in his hand was a low-grade immortal weapon.

The dagger flew out. Just as Zhuo Wencheng had expected, the weapon struck Di Jiu’s wrist and a bloody mist splattered around. What shocked Zhuo Wencheng was that this strike didn’t manage to cut Di Jiu’s arm off. His dagger was an immortal weapon! When Zhuo Wencheng exerted his Spiritual Force crazily, the dagger moved and finally managed to cut Di Jiu’s wrist off.

Di Jiu had been waiting for an external force all this while. Thus, when Zhuo Wencheng’s dagger flew over and the external force severed his wrist, it also activated the Quintessential Essence in his galaxy meridian. The Spiritual Force that had been squeezed in the Spiritual Sea gushed out like life hatching from a cracked egg.

In a moment, Di Jiu had already grabbed hold of his severed wrist and attached it back in a flash.

Suddenly, Zhuo Wencheng realized that something was wrong. Blood had splattered all around when Di Jiu’s hand had been severed. Although none of the cultivators who had died on the Planted Cultivators’ Mountain had bled, fresh blood had splattered from Di Jiu’s wrist. Could perhaps…

Suddenly, he noticed that Di Jiu had actually moved. He hadn’t just moved, though. He had also grabbed hold of his severed wrist and attached it back.

Zhuo Wencheng didn’t know that one of Di Jiu’s rings was real and one was fake. The one that could be seen was fake, and the one that couldn’t be seen was real. The few hundred supreme-grade spirit meridians he had just managed to get were taken back by Di Jiu. He couldn’t take this lying down. Thus, he took a step forward subconsciously in an effort to reclaim the severed wrist.

Zhuo Wencheng knew something was amiss the moment he lifted his leg. He frantically wanted to take this step back, yet the whole space froze in an instant. Zhuo Wencheng felt his consciousness dissipate at a fast speed. His body was no longer under his control. When he opened his mouth to ask Di Jiu to quickly save him, no words came out.