Ninth In the World

Xigu Boyang threw into the air a Teleportation Array disc that transformed into a teleportation gate with a circumference of 30 feet.

“Everyone enter the teleportation gate now. Once you exit the gate, you could enter the Evil Beast Valley from there,” said Xigu Boyang who pointed at the teleportation gate and retreated to the side.

The participating geniuses gathered on the square all stepped through the teleportation gate. Just as Di Jiu was about to follow the masses and enter the gate, Mei Zhiyun brushed past him and entered the gate first.

Di Jiu silently sneered as he looked at Mei Zhiyun’s back. This fella must be very arrogant to dare place a Spiritual Force imprint on him in such a hasty manner.

However, Di Jiu did not remove that Spiritual Force imprint. Instead, he entered the Teleportation Array with the masses.

Di Jiu saw a humongous valley entrance in front of him when his feet touched the ground. At the valley’s entrance was a ten-feet tall stone pillar with the words “True Dominion Forbidden Zone, Evil Beast Valley” carved on it.

He was surprised that this was actually a forbidden zone. Di Jiu did not enter the valley immediately, even though the rest of the cultivators rushed into the Evil Beast Valley without hesitation.

Di Jiu did not move, for he had seen Mei Zhiyun walking towards him. He did not mind killing this fella ahead of his plan if Mei Zhiyun dared to attack him here.

“I’m sorry, Di Jiu.” Zhuo Wenshu had already walked up to Di Jiu before Mei Zhiyun could do so.

Mei Zhiyun glanced at Di Jiu coldly when he saw Di Jiu and Zhuo Wenshu speaking to each other. Then, he turned and entered the Evil Beast Valley. Di Jiu was someone he had to kill, and the best place to do so would be within the valley itself.

“What are you apologizing for? You did nothing wrong back then under the circumstances.” Di Jiu looked at Zhuo Wenshu in confusion. The reason he had thrown her out and saved her was because he had wanted to save as many lives as he could.

Zhuo Wenshu shook her head. “It’s not because of that. You saved my life, yet the Zhuo Family wants to kill you.”

Di Jiu’s expression immediately turned frosty. This level of ungratefulness was unbelievable.

Zhuo Wenshu looked guilty. “My elder brother Zhuo Wencheng died on the Planted Cultivators’ Mountain, and you did not bring him down the mountain. The Zhuo Family wants to blame this on you. I would have died in the Desert River Forbidden Zone if it hadn’t been for you. However, my abilities are too weak and I don’t have any authority in the Zhuo Family...”

She was truly left with no options. She had seen the video of her elder brother, who had tried to seize Di Jiu’s ring. He had indeed touched Di Jiu. Blaming her elder brother’s death on the Planted Cultivators’ Mountain on Di Jiu was a bit forceful considering that it was the former who had coveted the latter’s possession. She was also aware that her elder brother Zhuo Wencheng would most likely not have taken such a risk if Di Jiu had not been on the Planted Cultivators’ Mountain.

Only then did Di Jiu recall his enmity with the Zhuo Family. Back on the Planted Cultivators’ Mountain, Zhuo Wencheng had wanted to chop off his arm and take his ring. He did not like this sort of person, so why would he bring Zhuo Wencheng down the mountain?

Di Jiu, who could see that Zhuo Wenshu had nothing to do with this matter, said calmly, “You also helped me back when I arrived at the Desert River Forbidden Zone. Hence, our debts of gratitude have canceled each other out. There is no need for you to think that you owe me anything. However, there’s something I would like to tell you. Something that you could report back to the Zhuo Family.”

“What is it?” asked Zhuo Wenshu subconsciously.

“The cause of your elder brother’s death was his own greed. His death had no direct relation to me. I would not be courteous if your family tried to attack me.” When he said that, Di Jiu took a step forward and entered the Evil Beast Valley.

Zhuo Wenshu was startled before she shook her head in resignation. She knew that Di Jiu had a strong personality. Otherwise, he would not have proposed to split the loot 50-50 back then. However, she knew very well that a strong personality was meaningless to the Zhuo Family. Di Jiu was probably not aware of just how powerful the Zhuo Family was.

As the saying went, the ignorant were fearless. Perhaps this also applied to Di Jiu. Back in the Desert River Forbidden Zone, it was her whom Di Jiu had encountered. If he had encountered anyone else, he would most likely have been forced to help after stating his conditions.

...

Di Jiu had yet to fully land on the ground when he sensed some extremely dense Spirit Qi surging from Heaven and Earth. The Evil Beast Valley was surprisingly a treasured cultivating ground.

Boom! A terrifying ball of Quintessential Essence slammed at Di Jiu’s right. Di Jiu could not evade it in time.

He spurted out a mouthful of blood in mid-air as the Heavenly Aqua Saber transformed into a saber flare and slashed out.

Bam! Quintessential Essence exploded before Di Jiu’s saber move forced the demon beast that had attacked him back. He then landed on the ground.

By the time his Spiritual Force swept out again, that demon beast had already disappeared. In the valley, his Spiritual Force was restricted to only sensing the fluctuations within a 1,000-feet circumference.

The demon beast that had attacked him earlier had definitely been a peak level-nine demon beast. That attack would have destroyed his body if he hadn’t been largely successful in body-tempering.

It made sense that the Evil Beast Valley was considered a forbidden zone. He had not sensed even the slightest trace of killing intent before the demon beast had lunged a sneak attack on him.

Di Jiu took a deep breath. His Spiritual Force could only scan a 1,000-feet circumference in the Evil Beast Valley, which meant that the average genius would only be able to scan an area of about 10 feet. Most people would be unable to even release their Spiritual Force.

A lightning-fast shadow suddenly appeared within Di Jiu’s Spiritual Force range and lunged at Di Jiu before he could even figure out what kind of demon beast it was.

It would be strange if this sneak attack was a success after the first attempt. Di Jiu extended the Heavenly Aqua Saber out and slashed out with a saber ripple.

Bam! The saber ripple slammed onto the body of the demon beast, creating a bloody mist. This demon beast seemed to not understand how Di Jiu had been able to sense its sneak attack. It turned away with the intention of escaping after it was wounded by the saber move. Di Jiu moved and appeared in front of the demon beast. With a twist of his wrist, which was holding onto the Heavenly Aqua Saber, a bloody mist exploded and the demon beast was killed.

Di Jiu took out a demon core from the carcass. This was a level-nine demon beast. Just as Di Jiu was prepared to put the body away into the Quintessential World, it suddenly dispersed into nothing.

Was that an illusion? Di Jiu immediately realized that this was not an illusion, as there was still some blood residue left in the surrounding air. Plus, a demon core lay in his hand.

The Blood Qi in the demon core was powerful, so the core had undoubtedly belonged to a level-nine demon beast.

As he put the demon core away, Di Jiu was certain that Xigu Boyang had been lying about one thing. The death rate here was definitely higher than 40 percent. He would have been killed if his strength had been slightly weaker.

Di Jiu extended his Spiritual Force to its limit. Nothing within a 1,000-feet radius could escape his Spiritual Force.

Two cultivators who were most likely participating geniuses from the True Dominion appeared in his Spiritual Force range. They were slowly moving with caution, each of them carrying a shield on their back. Di Jiu was only standing 100 feet away, yet they remained completely unaware of his presence.

Another demon beast appeared in Di Jiu’s Spiritual Force range a few breaths later. It did not attack him this time. Instead, it lunged at one of the cautious cultivators within his Spiritual Force range.

Bam! When the demon beast slapped away the round shield of the cultivator, the cultivator finally reacted. He was about to use the Dharma treasure in his hand, yet the demon beast had already swiped its claws at his head. A Life Tribulation Realm genius was thus killed by a level-nine demon beast.

Di Jiu sighed inwardly, glad that he had not let Geng Ji follow him. This place was too strange.

He moved forward and slashed out with his Heavenly Aqua Saber again when he saw that the demon beast was about to swallow the cultivator’s body. Saber aura enveloped the demon beast instantly. It was able to kill a Life Tribulation Realm genius with ease but unable to escape one of Di Jiu’s saber moves.

There was a saber flare before Di Jiu collected another demon core.

Di Jiu felt goosebumps when he discovered that both the carcass of the demon beast and the body of the cultivator who had been killed had disappeared without a trace.

This was such a strange place. He realized that it was meaningless to rob anyone here. After all, once one was killed, the body and the ring of the individual would disappear. How could anyone rob someone of their demon cores?

Di Jiu carefully observed the spot where the two bodies had disappeared. It was made of ordinary soil with no irregularities.

When he could not find the cause of the disappearance of the bodies, he became even more cautious. He gathered his Spiritual Force at his feet, ready to escape the moment any danger appeared.

A humongous rock appeared in Di Jiu’s Spiritual Force. After a casual scan with his Spiritual Force, he discovered that this rock possessed a life-force aura.

Was this an Illusionary Beast? Di Jiu immediately affirmed his suspicions.

The demon core and materials of an Illusionary Beast were very valuable. Di Jiu even began to suspect that the reason behind holding the second round of the True Dominion Genius Tournament at the Evil Beast Valley was to collect the demon cores of Illusionary Beasts.

He wanted the demon core of this demon beast. The Heavenly Aqua Saber moved. However, before Di Jiu could slash out with the saber, he felt the aura of death. Di Jiu, who felt goosebumps, immediately moved away from this place, giving up on the demon beast that had transformed itself into the illusion of a rock before him.

Crack! Two gigantic teeth pierced Di Jiu’s waist, making Di Jiu lift his feet and execute the Jumbo Footprint. The two teeth instantly let go, for even the Illusionary Beast was incapable of evading Di Jiu’s move. Di Jiu did not take heed of his own injuries. Instead, he stabbed at the demon beast with a lunge.

This time, he executed the Wind-Rustling Move. The saber intent of the Heavenly Aqua Saber became an indomitable killing intent that engulfed the shadow in the air, which had already started becoming faint.

A bloody mist erupted before that faint shadow was split into two by Di Jiu’s Heavenly Aqua Saber. Di Jiu flicked the saber and a demon core landed on his open palm.

Di Jiu ignored the Illusionary Beast’s carcass, turned to the side and slashed at the Illusionary Beast, which turned into the illusion of a rock.

That Illusionary Beast had probably never guessed that Di Jiu’s Spiritual Force could sense it. It had wanted to sneak an attack on Di Jiu, yet it had not expected that Di Jiu would attack him first instead.

When a bloody mist erupted from the humongous rock, Di Jiu collected another Illusionary Beast demon core.

The two Illusionary Beast carcasses disappeared, allowing Di Jiu to let out a breath of relief. It was hard to defend oneself against an Illusionary Beast. Even a tough body like his own could be broken if the Illusionary Beast created two gaping holes. Half his body would have been gone when the two teeth had closed if he had not executed the Jumbo Footprint.

Who would have thought that such a massive Illusionary Beast would be able to camouflage itself into wild grass and stay hidden under his feet?