Ninth In the World

“Look at who’s Number One!” shrieked someone on the square suddenly.

Before this shriek was heard, everybody had been staring blankly at the ranking on the huge ranking array formation screen. The Number One was a name previously unheard of in the True Dominion—it was Di Jiu.

Di Jiu, who came from the Galaxy Master Sect of the Small Central World, had 100 points.

“Oh my god! He has full marks!” A voice suddenly broke the silence.

“Who is Di Jiu?”

“How is it possible for somebody from the Small Central World to become Number One?”

Nobody cared about Mei Zhiyun anymore. Almost everybody was scurrying to find out who Di Jiu was.

“Something is wrong! Mei Zhiyun has now become Number Three. Hu Burang is now Number Two. Who is Hu Burang?” As everybody had been asking about Di Jiu, another name had appeared, confusing the people on the Immortal Ascension Square even more.

The second name on the array formation screen was Hu Burang, who had 90 points. He was an Itinerant Cultivator from the Small Central World.

The first two spots had been taken by people from the Small Central World. The True Dominion couldn’t accept these results.

“Number 10 is also from the Small Central World!” said somebody who discovered this suddenly.

Number 10 was Gu Jue with 71 points, who came from the Mirage Sword Sect of the Small Central World.

By now, Mei Bashan’s expression had turned solemn. Although he was confident that Mei Zhiyun would still clinch the Number One title in the end, he felt disgraced that Mei Zhiyun had been pushed to the third spot during the first round.

Being pushed to the third spot was bad enough. However, what made things worse was that the top two people came from the Small Central World.

“He actually made Number One?” The Skygold Protectorate Lord, Huan Changzhu, was staring in awe at the huge screen too. Although he had predicted that Di Jiu would make the top three, he hadn’t expected that he would score full marks and become Number One in the first round. By now, Huan Changzhu knew very well that Di Jiu had more and bigger secrets than he had imagined.

He had lent Di Jiu out before, so he knew that Di Jiu was an extremely dangerous person.

Suddenly, Mei Bashan stood up and walked out of the suspended level he had been on. Once he walked out, a hunch-backed man appeared beside him.

“Go kill Di Jiu, Gou Shang. Do not let him take part in the second round that will take place in three days,” instructed Mei Bashan intimidatingly.

“Yes, Master,” answered the hunch-backed man respectfully. He then turned and walked away. This sounded like an easy task.

...

“You actually clinched Number One, Di Jiu!” Xian Ze welcomed Di Jiu excitedly as he walked out. He was well aware of Di Jiu’s strength. Thus, he felt even surer that Di Jiu would be in the top three now that he had become Number One after the first round of the written examination.

“Let’s go. Please come with me to take care of some matters, Brother.” The second round of the competition was three days later, yet Di Jiu’s priority now was to find Han Qingyi.

Before Di Jiu left to look for Han Qingyi, a young man who was at the Pioneer Sea Realm approached him and bowed. Then, he cupped his fists and said, “Are you Young Master Red Embellishment, Di Jiu?”

“That’s right. I am,” answered Di Jiu calmly.

The cultivator then said, “My Villa Lord is holding a celebration party for you at the Immortal Ascension Inn Unit A-7 today. Please join us, Young Master Red Embellishment.”

He handed out a gold-stamped invitation card as he spoke.

Di Jiu didn’t accept the invitation. Instead, he asked indifferently, “Who is your Villa Lord?”

“My Villa Lord is Han Wushui from the Falling Ice Mountain,” answered the cultivator hurriedly.

“Please say that I will be coming over right away,” said Di Jiu as he took the invitation card.

“Got it,” replied the cultivator before bowing again and leaving.

“Please wait for me at the inn, Brother. I will be back in a jiffy after attending this appointment,” Di Jiu told Xian Ze.

Han Qingyi came from the Falling Ice Mountain, so he would surely go now that the Villa Lord of the Falling Ice Mountain had asked. Jing Moshuang was at the Falling Ice Mountain too.

“Okay, please take care.” Xian Ze didn’t worry about Di Jiu. Di Jiu was experienced with matters of the world. Even the Skygold Protectorate Lord had to respect Di Jiu. Therefore, the Falling Ice Mountain, which was weaker than the Skygold Protectorate, would definitely respect him.

Di Jiu didn’t return to his abode. Instead, he went to Unit A-7 straightaway.

The units with the prefix “A” were the highest-class units at the Immortal Ascension Inn. They were numbered with suffixes in descending order based on their quality. The Falling Ice Mountain’s unit had the suffix “7”, which meant that its status in the True Dominion was quite high.

Although Di Jiu stayed in the most expensive room on the top floor, his room still paled in comparison to the A-prefixed units.

Di Jiu felt the difference the moment he reached Unit A-7. Even though he looked in through a restriction, he could still see that the unit was surrounded by green hills and blue waters.

The spatial materials used in such a setup were not something commoners could afford.

When Di Jiu knocked at the restriction, it opened up quickly. A charming young lady walked out and bowed before him as she said, “Please follow me in, Young Master Red Embellishment. Our Villa Lord has been waiting for you.”

Di Jiu followed the lady. He passed through two mountain ranges and a long river before reaching a huge entrance that led to a palace.

“Ha ha! Please come in, Young Master Red Embellishment.” A chirpy voice was heard as the restriction on the palace opened. A passageway covered with Spirit Jades led into the depths of the palace.

Di Jiu scanned the place casually with his Spiritual Force and sensed the confinement arrays and killing arrays all around him. It seemed like this was not a celebration party, but an ambush. However, he was not afraid. Di Jiu continued to walk into the palace without any hesitation.

He had a level-eleven Spiritual Force, as well as the techniques of a Level-Nine Array King, so he could not be killed by a level-nine confinement array, no matter how strong it was. He overpowered the opponent with his Spiritual Force, not with his Array Dao.

“I would like to pay my respects to Villa Lord Han,” said Di Jiu as he entered the palace and saw an elegant middle-aged man sitting in the center. This man was already at the fifth-stage Domain Realm.

More than 10 men and women were sitting on the two sides of the palace. Among them was a beautiful middle-aged lady who was sitting beside Han Wushui. She looked very much like Han Qingyi and she was at the third-stage True Form. Di Jiu suspected that this lady was Han Qingyi’s mother.

The rest of the people present were at most at the eighth-stage True Form Realm. Di Jiu didn’t care about them. He was only concerned about Han Qingyi because he didn’t see her in there. Although there were many True Form cultivators around, they wouldn’t be able to kill him in the event that a fight really broke out.

“Good! You are indeed open and honest. Take a seat, Young Master Red Embellishment,” said Han Wushui matter-of-factly when he saw Di Jiu as he cupped his fists.

Di Jiu knew why Han Wushui had commented that he was open and honest. This place was full of level-nine killing arrays. Therefore, no ordinary person would have dared enter.

A maidservant had come over to lead Di Jiu to his seat. However, Di Jiu didn’t budge. Han Wushui had assigned a lowly position to him. This was no place for a guest or a friend. Therefore, before Di Jiu found out how Jing Moshuang was doing, he wouldn’t take such a lowly seat.

Han Wushui seemed to know what Di Jiu was thinking. Therefore, he just smiled and didn’t insist that Di Jiu sit down. Instead, he asked unhurriedly, “Do you know what kind of situation you are in, Young Master Red Embellishment?”

Di Jiu replied coldly, “I have a friend here. I have only come for her. May I know if Fairy Qingyi is here?”

Han Wushui’s expression froze when Di Jiu didn’t answer his question. “The Young Master Red Embellishment is bold and highly-skilled indeed. He would not be afraid of any difficult situation,” said an elder inside the palace with a snort.

The beautiful middle-aged lady beside Han Wushui grabbed hold of the angry elder and smiled as she said, “The Villa Lord is right, Di Jiu. The Interstellar Protectorate Lord said that he wanted to kill you not long ago. Zhuo Changgeng of the Zhuo Family and Yue Li of the Yue Family seem unhappy with you as well. Even Mei Bashan, the top expert in the True Dominion, has left with an upset expression. If my guess is right, you are already under somebody’s watch and will be killed the moment you leave the inn.”

Di Jiu laughed as he replied, “The fact that I could come here means that I am not afraid of such sneaky acts. I will continue cultivating for as long as I am alive. I will only stop when I am dead. I have come here only for one purpose. I struck an agreement with Fairy Qingyi earlier and entrusted my friend Jing Moshuang to her. I hope that the Falling Ice Mountain can let my friend leave with me.”

Di Jiu sounded cold. Meanwhile, the Heavenly Aqua Saber on his back started to move with a killing aura, even though no wind was blowing.

Han Wushui snorted as his killing intent began to rage. He thought that Di Jiu was being rude to him by speaking in such a manner in his territory.

Suddenly, when she saw that a battle was about to break out, Han Qingyi rushed out and quickly told Di Jiu, “You don’t have to worry, Daoist Di. Although I did not manage to fulfill my promise to you, Junior Sister Moshuang should be fine.”

“What do you mean?” asked Di Jiu as his killing intent increased instead of diminishing. He would strike if Jing Moshuang had come to any harm. His Nine-Nine Constellation Large Array was already prepared to spill some blood.

Han Qingyi, who seemed to understand Di Jiu’s temperament, quickly replied, “After I returned to the True Dominion, I brought Moshuang to the Ji Family. I didn’t expect that the Ji Family would be unwilling to allow Moshuang to recuperate in the Turning Sphere Resuscitation Spring. I didn’t even get to see my auntie...”