Ninth In the World
Chapter 84: SOS Signal

Chapter 84: SOS Signal

“I will continue to cultivate here for some time before I leave. I intent to head to the area outside the red line, so it would not be appropriate for you guys to follow me. Plus, you are halfway to the Earth Tier and you no longer make any progress by cultivating, so I believe you need to go out and challenge yourselves for a certain period of time. Otherwise, there would be no point in you going into seclusion again,” Di Jiu said seriously.

He knew how formidable the little blue flowers could be. If Pang Fan and He Tai were only halfway to the Earth Tier, then he was certain that the two of them had yet to fully consume the essence of the flowers.

Pang Fan and He Tai looked at each other and nodded their heads. Di Jiu was right. They would not be able to improve if they kept cultivating in this manner.

There were some differences between martial arts cultivation and Dao cultivation after all. Martial arts cultivation required one to continuously challenge oneself in order to improve, whereas Dao cultivation required one to spend large amounts of time in seclusion.

However, if a Dao cultivator only went into seclusion, they would just become an average hardworking cultivator with not much space for growth. Other than entering reclusive cultivation, a real Daoist had to travel everywhere and challenge themselves like their martial arts counterparts. This was how they would attain great strength and deepen their understanding of the Dao of Heaven and Earth.

Di Jiu had gained this knowledge from the cultivation jade slips. Although it had only been a short sentence, he believed that it made a lot of sense.

“Brother Jiu, we will be heading to the garrison. If you need my help in any fashion, you only need to say so,” said He Tai immediately.

“The same goes for me,” Pang Fan said loudly. “If you want me to head to the East, I will turn my back to the West.”

They both owed their great achievements in this short period of time to Di Jiu, so they were very grateful for his help.

“I believe that the Fairy Planet is very dangerous. Increasing your cultivation level, but not your techniques, would not be the right thing to do. I’ve already said that I would teach you guys some saber moves. My clan has a few saber moves that have been passed down from generation to generation. Take out your cell phones. I will take a picture for you guys and then give you an explanation.” Di Jiu had originally intended to impart the Di Clan’s saber moves to Pang Fan.

However, now that He Tai was there, he might as well impart the moves to both of them. In any case, this was not the first time he’d be imparting this knowledge to other people, so sharing it with two more people would not make a difference. It would actually help these moves shine even brighter. Di Jiu ignored the fact that his ancestor might have called him the black sheep of the family. His descendants would not be cultivating by using the Di Clan’s Seven Sabers, but Daoist cultivation techniques.

“Thanks a lot, Brother Jiu.” When he heard what Di Jiu had said, Pang Fan got so excited that his voice started to quiver.

He’d had a clear view of Di Jiu’s saber move when he had chopped off the horned lion’s head. In Pang Fan’s opinion, it had been an earthshaking move.

He Tai, who reckoned that he had benefited from his association with Pang Fan, thought that he should get even closer to Pang Fan in the future if he wanted to earn Brother Jiu’s approval.

Although Pang Fan had not been popular in class, he had still been able to get to know someone like Brother Jiu. This meant that people who stayed true to themselves could make true friends.

…

After sending Pang Fan and He Tai away, Di Jiu left the cave abode himself to hunt for a wild rabbit that he could barbecue and eat. Then, he returned to the cave to cultivate.

Three more days passed before he sensed that his cultivation progress had slowed down. When he did, he decided to eat another little flower.

His slow cultivation speed started to soar once again.

A few days after he attained the sixth-stage Qi Refinement realm, Di Jiu ignored his fast cultivation speed and stopped cultivating. He probably would be able to advance to the seventh-stage Qi Refinement realm if he ate the remaining little blue flowers.

However, that was not Di Jiu’s plan. The optimum effect of the little blue flowers was experienced when one consumed the first flower. There had been no obstacles while Di Jiu had advanced from the fourth-stage Qi Refinement realm to the fifth-stage Qi Refinement realm. His progression from the fifth-stage Qi Refinement realm to the sixth-stage Qi Refinement realm had been also considerably smooth, even though it had taken some time.

When he ate the second little flower, Di Jiu’s cultivation speed improved a lot. However, it was still not as fast as when he had consumed the first flower. Sometimes, fast cultivation speed did not equal a breakthrough to the next cultivation level. Eating a few more little blue flowers would not help one attain the seventh-stage Qi Refinement realm. Plus, Di Jiu believed that these flowers were quite important…

Was there something he was forgetting?

Di Jiu massaged his forehead. Suddenly, he remembered buying an elixir formula at the auction. He had yet to take a closer look at it, as he had only glanced at it once at the time. On the elixir formula had been a spiritual herb diagram and an introduction that had mentioned something about the color blue…

Di Jiu took out the formula hurriedly and placed it in his backpack. This was the Foundation Establishment Elixir Formula.

When his gaze landed on a plant called Blue Flower-Leaf Grass, Di Jiu finally understood. The plant he had obtained was in fact one of the three main spiritual plants required for making the Foundation Establishment Elixir.

From the roots to its flowers, the Blue Flower-Leaf Grass was completely blue. A fully matured Blue Flower-Leaf Grass produced seven little blue flowers, so this was exactly it. Di Jiu had a fully matured Blue Flower-Leaf Grass.

Meanwhile, he realized that the two demon beasts had not been fighting over territory earlier. They had actually been fighting over the Blue Flower-Leaf Grass.

The two beasts had obviously perfected the Qi Refinement realm, so their fight had been about improving their strength.

According to the cultivation jade slips, the Foundation Establishment Elixir was extremely valuable. It was actually so valuable that even the inner disciples of large sects did not receive one. The reason for the elixir’s high value was the shortage of main spiritual plants. Di Jiu had ignorantly eaten that Blue Flower-Leaf Grass to cultivate. That was such a wasteful act!

In order to advance to the sixth-stage Qi Refinement realm from the fourth-stage Qi Refinement realm, one only needed to have Spirit Qi and a certain period of time. Without the Foundation Establishment Elixir, many cultivators would be stuck at the Qi Refinement realm.

Di Jiu decided to stop his reclusive cultivation. If he wanted to break through to the seventh-stage Qi Refinement realm, then he would need to put himself to the test just like Pang Fan and He Tai had.

The Blue Flower-Leaf Grass was far too valuable. Di Jiu took out the jade box where he stored his Spirit Stones, plucked the remaining three little blue flowers and placed them inside. Then, he dug out the entire Blue Flower-Leaf Grass and stuffed it into his backpack. Only then did he jump out of the pit and get ready to leave.

His only regret was that he was unable to take the stone ball with him. That ball was mostly likely a quality item, so when he acquired a decent storage space, he would definitely come back and take it.

Di Jiu wished he had the storage ring. If he had obtained it during the auction…

Di Jiu shook his head, giving up on this greedy impulse. Fortune and misfortune went hand in hand, so it was hard to determine whether this was fortune or misfortune. If he had obtained that ring, he would have faced attacks from many experts the moment he had stepped onto the Fairy Square after all.

Of course, his current strength did not make him feel afraid. However, he had just attained the fourth-stage Qi Refinement realm at the time, so if he had been attacked from all sides, he could have only surrendered the ring or paid with his life.

…

Ten minutes later, Di Jiu restored the cave’s entrance to its original state, chose a direction and left that place swiftly.

He encountered many demon beasts on his way, all much weaker than the alligator and the horned lion. Di Jiu was at the sixth-stage Qi Refinement realm, so he could kill them easily.

Unfortunately, he did not possess a storage ring, so even though he killed many demon beasts, he was unable to collect any materials from them. At the last part of his journey, he decided to stop killing demon beasts and just hurry on quietly.

When Di Jiu switched on the locator five days later, he discovered that he had left the area marked by the red line.

There was only a red dot on the locator. It seemed like the test trial had ended and the elite class students had left. That red dot was his current position.

Di Jiu was about to switch off the locator, when a red dot started to blink rapidly at a corner that had originally been dim. After blinking for a while, the dot disappeared once more.

Was there still a student of the elite class around? Di Jiu knew that a blinking red dot was an SOS signal. If they got into trouble, the students had been instructed to press a button and send out an SOS signal. This way, their location would appear on the other students’ locators.

Judging by the location of the blinking red dot, the person in question had also crossed over the red line and entered the recesses of the Fairy Planet.

Di Jiu hesitated. He was not sure whether he should head over and save the student, but he eventually decided to go take a look.

Other than saving this person, his only objective now was to search for opportunities on the Fairy Planet. There was nothing wrong with lending a helping hand, though.

Although he could fly, Di Jiu chose not to step on the kitchen knife for safety reasons. Instead, he sprinted urgently for two hours in the direction where the red dot had appeared. The red dot on the locator started to blink again.

The position of the dot was very close to where he was right now. It had to be off to the side. Di Jiu stopped and used his Spiritual Force to scan the area.

Soon, his Spiritual Force stopped at the tree stump of a gigantic withered tree. This was the first time Di Jiu had seen such a big tree stump in his life. Its roots notwithstanding, one could simply determine that the cross-section of this tree was the size of a big football field based on the outer ring marks left on the tree.

Di Jiu could vaguely distinguish some indistinct footsteps in the powder surrounding the tree stump.

He was certain that the blinking red dot was in the middle of this withered stump, which was where the heart of the tree used to be. However, both his eyesight and his Spiritual Force could see clearly the powdered bark in the middle of the tree stump. There was no person or locator inside.