It was now the eleventh day since Joe Di had tunneled beneath the Snow Mountain. He didn't know any earth-escape techniques, and the earth-escape talismans he carried were of poor quality, all obtained from the Qi family trading house. The highest grade was only a level-three earth-escape talisman, which had become useless by the second day underground.
At present, Joe Di relied entirely on his powerful physical body, plus his refined true essence and divine sense, to bore through the earth.
Whenever he was exhausted, he would enter his Pocket World to rest for a while. After eleven days, although Joe Di remained at the second layer of the Void Spirit Stage, his true essence had grown considerably stronger.
Fortunately, he had the Cosmic Flame with him. No matter how vast the depths beneath the Snow Mountain, he would not lose his way.
On the fifteenth day, Joe Di stopped. He had discovered a ninth-rank grand array—and it was a chain formation.
This ninth-rank chain formation included an illusion array, a spirit-binding array, and a defensive array. That alone would have been formidable, but behind the defensive array, there was also a ninth-rank slaughter array.
Joe Di felt a trace of unease. He had thought the Cosmic Flame's reaction meant there was a natural flame hidden deep underground. Now, seeing so many ninth-rank arrays, he realized this was likely the cave mansion of a top-tier expert.
If that expert was still alive, coming here would be courting death.
Should he go in or not?
After only a few breaths of hesitation, Joe Di decided to go in. As a Grand Arraymaster, he knew that although these chain formations had not been destroyed, they had endured for countless years. By his estimation, these protective arrays had been set up at least ten thousand years ago.
Even if a Transforming True Stage expert once lived here, there's no way anyone could survive for ten thousand years.
He had found this place only because he possessed the Cosmic Flame. If he left now out of fear, could he ever be content? Besides, cultivation resources were growing scarcer—who could find an opportunity without risk?
Having made up his mind, Joe Di began to dismantle the formation.
If anyone else came here and saw a ninth-rank protective array, they could only stare helplessly. Without array mastery, they wouldn't even notice the illusion array and would simply wander around before leaving.
Joe Di was a Grand Arraymaster. In just three days, he unraveled the secrets of this chain formation.
......
Aurora Continent, Starstream School.
Sherry Jing stared blankly at the ruins of Starstream School. She knew the sect had been destroyed, but seeing the devastation still left her heart aching.
She had received great kindness at Starstream School and had sworn to rebuild it. But with her current Golden Core cultivation, restoring the sect could take centuries—or even millennia.
Shannon Wei wiped her tears. Her master, Jane Wu, had been killed here by the Qi Trading House.
"Senior Zell, I humbly ask if you could help me repair the protective array of Starstream School." Sherry Jing knew some basic array techniques, but restoring a sect's grand array was far beyond her ability.
The senior Sherry Jing addressed was a short, honest-looking, dark-skinned man. He had met Sherry Jing and her companions in Sky Ruins City while searching for Joe Di, and later accompanied them to the Ice River in the Million Sky Ruins, rescuing Violet Zane and Jade Yu.
Unfortunately, even Sherry Jing—who claimed to be Joe Di's wife—had no way of finding him. With no other options, he had come with her and the others to Starstream School, planning to wait here for Joe Di.
Hearing Sherry Jing's request, Sean Zell could only rub his head helplessly. He had something very important to discuss with Joe Di. He had already confirmed Joe Di's age through Tyler He, Violet Zane, and Jade Yu—just as he suspected, Joe Di was only in his twenties.
A cultivator in his twenties, already at the Soul Ancestor Stage, and capable of defeating Void Spirit Stage experts as a Soul Ancestor—Joe Di's talent was extraordinary. In all the history of Aurora Continent, no one had ever reached such heights at his age.
And this was with no master to guide him, and all his cultivation resources gathered on his own.
If he could provide Joe Di with abundant resources and proper guidance, how far might Joe Di go in the future?
If he could find Joe Di, there was a chance to take him to the Central Realm and then join the True Domain Prodigy Trials. Many cultivators on Aurora Continent didn't even know about the Central Realm. As a third-level Ascendant, Sean Zell not only knew of the Five Continents and the Central Realm, but also understood the existence of the True Domain.
With Aurora Continent fractured, even Seabreaker Stage cultivators were rare—Sean Zell was deeply worried. So when he learned that a newcomer had restored Nightfall Starland, he immediately set out to find Joe Di.
Others believed Nightfall Starland had truly been restored, but as an Ascendant, Sean Zell knew it was only a superficial repair. The real cosmic laws were still broken. At this rate, Nightfall Starland would never produce truly powerful cultivators.
To truly restore the cosmic laws of Nightfall Starland, one would need to seek out an expert from the Immortal Realm.
He longed to travel to the Immortal Realm and bring news of Nightfall Starland's fracture. Over countless years, many powerful cultivators had emerged from Nightfall Starland; if any of them learned their former home was broken, perhaps they would return to repair it.
Though Sean Zell was an Ascendant, he knew his own limits well. At his current level, he might never advance past the early Ascendant stage. He hoped to find a true genius, support them to reach Ascendant, and then go to the Central Realm.
All these years, he hadn't found a single genius—or even a barely passable cultivator—until Joe Di appeared. Naturally, he wanted to find Joe Di as soon as possible. Yet, instead of finding Joe Di, he had found a whole group of his friends.
Hearing Sherry Jing's plea and looking at the young cultivators around him, Sean Zell sighed, "Sherry, it's not that I don't want to help, but there's no point in doing so."
Violet Zane asked in confusion, "Senior Zell, as long as we restore Starstream School's protective array, we can cultivate here and gradually rebuild the sect's glory. Besides, aren't you looking for Brother Joe? He could be in seclusion somewhere, and might return once he finishes his closed-door training."
Violet Zane said this because both she and Jade Yu had reached mid-Foundation Stage. As for Sherry Jing, she was already at the Golden Core stage. After the Qi Trading House was destroyed by Joe Di, their strength was enough to rebuild the sect.
Sean Zell shook his head. "Rebuilding a sect isn't as simple as you think. First, do you have ley lines? Second, do you have vast quantities of spirit stones? To restore a second-tier sect like Starstream School, you'd need at least several hundred million high-grade spirit stones..."
Before Sean Zell could finish, Sherry Jing and the others gasped. Ley lines were legendary, and hundreds of millions of high-grade spirit stones? Just hearing the number was overwhelming.
Seeing their shock, Sean Zell added, "I also don't recommend rebuilding Starstream School here."
Sherry Jing bowed and said, "Senior, Starstream School was kind to me. Now that it has been destroyed, I have a duty to rebuild it."
Sean Zell smiled slightly. "I'm not forbidding you from rebuilding Starstream School—I'm just not recommending you do it here. Do you know about the Five Continents? Or the Central Realm?"
Seeing Sherry Jing and the others exchange confused looks, Sean Zell patiently explained the Five Continents and the Central Realm. "That's why I think, even if you want to rebuild Starstream School, you should wait until you find Joe Di—then you can rebuild it in the Central Realm."
In Sean Zell's opinion, Joe Di's talent was enough to make the Dao Rankings in the Central Realm. If he did, he'd be qualified to establish a sect there.
"Senior, how do we get to the Central Realm?" Sherry Jing clenched her fists in secret.
She'd once thought the Soul Ancestor Stage was impressive. When she reached Golden Core, she was thrilled. But now, hearing Sean Zell, she realized that in the Central Realm, even Soul Ancestor Stage cultivators might not qualify as inner disciples in some sects—let alone a mere Golden Core cultivator like her.
Sean Zell spoke gravely, "This is why I need to find Joe Di. I know of a place called the Darkstar Ruins. It's very likely there's a portal array there leading to the Central Realm. Unfortunately, after Sheye Starland was fractured, everything changed so much that I have no idea where the Darkstar Ruins are now.
All these years, I've searched every corner of Aurora Continent, but never found the Darkstar Ruins. I heard the Qi Family once discovered a secret realm—I suspect it might be the Darkstar Ruins, but the Qi Family was wiped out by Joe Di... Huh, so young and already at the Soul Ancestor Stage."
Sean Zell paused, looking at a tall man rushing over from the distance.
"Sister Sherry..." the man called out excitedly before he even landed.