Ninth In the World

The Immortal King was stunned for a moment when he heard Di Jiu’s arrogant words. He would have killed Di Jiu immediately if this had happened elsewhere. However, he was the leader here. Furthermore, he needed the help of the masses to facilitate the search for the underground market.

It would not be beneficial to him, as the pending search for the underground market would be adversely affected if he killed Di Jiu. After all, such an act would cause the rest of the people to feel threatened and coerced and believe that they would be killed if they refused to listen to him.

He needed to find the underground market in the shortest time possible. Otherwise, the cultivators coming here would increase exponentially. He would gain nothing when experts who were more powerful than him arrived.

The Immortal King suppressed his desire to kill Di Jiu with great difficulty, comforted only by the reminder that this was the Lunar Immortal Sea. In other words, Di Jiu was not able to leak the news of the underground market’s appearance. He glared at Di Jiu and pointed out, “I do things with a consciousness. I have never forced anyone to do anything. Every member of this team came willingly, yet not everyone is capable of gaining profit without contributing while I am here. You are free to leave this team if you wish to. Let me emphasize this, however: I will not be courteous if you choose to do nothing and still want a share of the profit when the market is found.”

Di Jiu replied coolly, “Anyone would be able to enter the market should one of us here find it. They would not have to wait for you to arrive at the location first. Don’t think too highly of yourself.”

Di Jiu would teach him a lesson if the other party attacked him. This would deter others from causing trouble while he was searching for the loot.

Many cultivators were swayed by Di Jiu’s words. He was right. Why did they have to wait for Hao Ran’s arrival when they found the entrance if the entrance could be breached without having everyone attack it?

Hao Ran grunted and chose not to take any action. “Let’s go. Each team will head in a different direction. Once the array door is found, everyone will gather and attack collectively. A defense array door like the one in the market is not something several dozens of people could break open.”

His last sentence served as a warning to the cultivators who had started scheming. It informed them that the market’s array door was very sturdy and could only be broken open through everyone’s combined effort.

The crowd of over 100 cultivators swiftly rushed into the ruins and disappeared from sight.

Ren Zhiren and company heaved a sigh of relief when they saw that Hao Ran did not attack. Hao Ran was an Immortal King expert, so they would definitely die in the face of such a battle, even if the three of them worked together. Furthermore, there were more than 100 other people around. They would not stand idle now that they had chosen Hao Ran to be their leader.

Their lives were indebted to Di Jiu, so it would be unforgivable to abandon him. One could not abandon their teammates if they wished to survive in the Lunar Immortal Sea. Otherwise, their only option would be to leave the place.

“What do we do now, Brother Qu?” inquired Lou Jia, who sounded relieved.

Di Jiu commanded, “Let’s go as well. We must find the entrance to the market before the others. Follow me.”

Ren Zhiren and company did not doubt Di Jiu’s words. Di Jiu’s cultivation level might be similar to theirs, but his skills in the Array Dao far surpassed theirs.

Di Jiu speedily dashed into the ruins. The direction he chose was completely different from that of the four teams ahead of them. They were heading towards a location at the perimeter.

Ren Zhiren really wanted to remind Di Jiu that they were headed in the wrong direction, as the location of the ancient market would certainly be at the very center of the ruins if the market truly existed.

However, Di Jiu was leading the team, so he needed to wait for Di Jiu to fail in his search first before speaking up.

The further they walked, the more confused they felt. Logically speaking, the market should be located in the center of the ruins or at least at the edge of it, if the market truly existed. Now, however, they had evidently left the edge of the market and were likely not far away from the sea.

“Brother Qu, those people should possess some information if they claim that there is an ancient market within the ruins. Shouldn’t we head inside the ruins to continue searching?” Ren Zhiren piqued up when he could not hold it in anymore.

Di Jiu waved his hand at Ren Zhiren in a placating manner but stopped walking. The Dao fire was pulsating vigorously as he stood in that spot.

In front of him was a withered vine called the Water-Saving Vine. It did not possess any Spirit Qi and hence was not considered an immortal spiritual object. However, this type of vine could grow very long – it could grow up to more than 100 feet given time.

The vine before him was about 100 feet long.

Di Jiu gestured at Ren Zhiren and company to step back as he activated the Dao eye. He was not able to detect any traces of an array despite being a level-eight Immortal Array Supremacy.

A few indistinct Array Dao laws appeared after the activation of the Dao eye. Di Jiu, who was ecstatic, grabbed some array flags and repeatedly threw them on the ground.

The level of this array was very high. He would probably not have been able to unearth if it had not been for the Dao eye. Now that the Dao eye had discovered these traces, however, opening this array did not pose much of a challenge.

A pitch-black entrance appeared in front of the four of them after a few dozens of array flags were thrown.

Ren Zhiren and company exclaimed in surprise, “The Starry Flame Market!”

It was indeed the Starry Flame Market. Above the pitch-black entrance were the words “Starry Flame Market”.

“Come in quickly, everyone!” Di Jiu was the first to dash inside.

Ren Zhiren and company barely managed to suppress their excitement as they followed Di Jiu and rushed inside. With a wave of his hand, all the array flags Di Jiu threw landed on his palm. The entrance to the market then disappeared.

There was suddenly an expanse of light as they walked to the end of the path in the darkness.

“This is the Illumination Array! There are so many skeletons…” exclaimed Lou Jia. Her voice was cut off when she discovered that the items within the stores and the rings on the skeletons were all present.

The group was overjoyed. Unable to hold himself back any longer, Xue Jingkong dashed over and fervently snatched these rings up.

On the other hand, Ren Zhiren and Lou Jia were watching Di Jiu. They wanted to emulate Xue Jingkong’s actions but they were well-aware that Di Jiu was the one who had led them here. They would be going overboard if they ran over and started looting if Di Jiu had yet to make a movement or instruct them on how the spoils would be split.

It was understood that Di Jiu was the leader of their party of four, even if this had not been explicitly mentioned.

In a short span of time, Xue Jingkong had already run into a huge commercial building and disappeared from their sight.

With a sigh, Di Jiu took out two array flags and placed several hundred abstruse restrictions on them before handing each one to Ren Zhiren and Lou Jia respectively. Then, he instructed them, “There are many items here, but I would suggest that you don’t loiter around for too long. There is more than one entrance to the market, so I predict that the others will soon find the other entrances. Leave immediately once you have found sufficient cultivating resources. By activating this array flag, you will be teleported out of the array door we entered just now.”

“Thank you, Brother Qu.” The two of them accepted the array flag excitedly, choosing to remain silent about the fact that Di Jiu had mentioned nothing about giving one array flag to Xue Jingkong as well.

Di Jiu nodded his head. “Very good. Let us split up here and earn our own fortune. This market is very huge after all. I will seek my own fortune as well. If we are fated to, we will meet again.”

As soon as he said that, Di Jiu moved to the side and rushed towards a small path beside the market.

There were indeed numerous treasures within the market itself. However, Di Jiu had taken a glance at them and seen that many of them were already corroded. Not every ring was useful either. The most important thing he had to do now was search for the item that had caused his Dao fire to pulsate.

“Daoist Qu is very formidable,” Ren Zhiren commented as he looked in the direction Di Jiu had left toward. Then, he told Lou Jia, “Junior Sister Lou, let us search for treasures as well. When the time comes, we will meet back at the edge of the Yin Flame Island and leave together.”

“Alright.” Lou Jia understood what Ren Zhiren was implying. Xue Jingkong had forgotten their debt of gratitude upon seeing the treasures and had hence not received any array flags from Di Jiu. They would definitely not head back with Xue Jingkong when the time to return arrived. As for Qu Xiaoshu, they knew that he would certainly not be heading back with them.

…

Di Jiu’s moving speed was extremely fast as he executed the Spiritual Force escape technique. He stopped in front of an unassuming stone hut a few minutes later.

There were many restrictions placed outside the stone hut. With a lift of his hand, Di Jiu tore apart the restrictions and dashed inside. An extremely violent heatwave suddenly blasted at him.

Di Jiu threw a punch without thinking.

Boom! The scorching heatwave stopped in its tracks and a several-hundred-feet-long ribbon appeared before Di Jiu.

This was the Starry Sky Fire Pith? Di Jiu confirmed his guess immediately. He finally understood why the Dao fire wanted to come here. It was extremely difficult for the Dao fire to level up from level eight. However, this issue would be solved by the Starry Sky Fire Pith.

Di Jiu took out the Dao fire without hesitation and it immediately lunged at the Starry Sky Fire Pith.

The Starry Sky Fire Pith might be a durable material, but it was born from the universe. Sparks flew several thousand feet high as the Dao fire engulfed the Starry Sky Fire Pith.

Di Jiu took no heed of the Dao fire, as he was astounded by the pile of Divine Dawn Metal he saw in the middle of the house. One piece of Divine Dawn Metal would already have been considered extremely valuable, yet in front of him was a small hill of this metal.

A flying shuttle that had been almost completely refined lay beside the pile of Divine Dawn Metal.