Bolt heard Joe Di's words and, without hesitation, shot out, vanishing in the blink of an eye to a million miles away.
Joe Di barked, "Move at your fastest speed. Stop dawdling!"
He was certain Bolt hadn't used its full strength to escape; otherwise, it would have been much faster than this.
Upon hearing Joe Di's words, Bolt held nothing back and accelerated with all its might. Soon, Bolt realized that no matter how fast its escape technique was, the old master was still right behind it.
This made Bolt secretly grateful; if those who had hunted it before possessed the old master's abilities, it would have long since become someone else's beast pet.
Bolt sped up more and more along the way, never stopping even once. Because Joe Di had spent years refining Vast Iron Crystal with Grand Way Principles, he was very sensitive to Ascendant Gold. On this journey, he sensed several places where Ascendant Gold might exist, but since Bolt didn't stop, he couldn't be bothered to search for it either.
Given his sensitivity to Ascendant Gold, even if Bolt failed to find any this time, Joe Di was confident he could locate enough to reach the Ascendant Gate in a short period.
What puzzled Joe Di was that he hadn't encountered a single cultivator along the way.
Even at Bolt's speed, they traveled for nearly half a year before coming to a stop. Joe Di marveled at the vastness of the Forgeworld universe—after half a year of flight, his divine sense still swept across endless expanses.
"Old master, it's right in there," Bolt pointed ahead.
Joe Di looked ahead in confusion. All he saw was an ordinary, dried-up swamp—nothing special at all. If there was anything unusual, it was the presence of unfamiliar cosmic laws flowing through the center of the swamp. But since this was Forgeworld, encountering new cosmic rules wasn't all that strange.
"Bolt, are you sure you found the right place? This is just a swamp, and there's nothing here. My divine sense..."
Joe Di's words abruptly stopped—his divine sense had detected a vast and boundless aura of cosmic law, one that felt oddly familiar...
That's it—the same aura he, Nick Ning, and Emperor Ye had sensed when constructing the new universe. That aura was the sign of newly born cosmic laws, evolving after the universe's creation. Joe Di was confident he hadn't mistaken it; the aura here was definitely that of a newborn universe's laws. Although these rules were completely different from the ones they'd built, the sense of new order emerging from chaos was almost identical.
Thinking Joe Di hadn't figured it out, Bolt hurriedly said, "Old master, I would never lie to you. I can feel it—there's Ascendant Gold beneath this swamp, and there's a lot of it!"
"You can sense Ascendant Gold?" Joe Di was even more puzzled. He could sense the aura of a newborn universe, but not a trace of Ascendant Gold.
"That's right, it's definitely Ascendant Gold," Bolt insisted, sounding even more certain.
Joe Di motioned for Bolt to step aside, then began setting up a grand array to break the barrier beneath the swamp that was shrouding the newborn cosmic laws. Just then, he sensed something unusual. His gaze fell on an inconspicuous, shriveled piece of wood in the dried-up swamp.
What puzzled Joe Di wasn't that the wood hadn't rotted after countless years, but that it looked like nothing more than an ordinary piece of timber. If it were spirit wood, it would be normal for it to last many years without decaying. But a regular piece of wood would disappear after just a decade or so.
The only explanation was that he couldn't discern what was strange about the wood.
Without hesitation, Joe Di traced out lines of Grand Way Laws. Though they appeared chaotic, the disorderly lines quickly locked down the piece of wood.
The next moment, Joe Di was astonished to discover that the wood contained an ancient vitality—one he had never encountered before, even surpassing the life force within his own World Tree.
Joe Di stepped beside the wood. Before he could act, the wood sighed and spoke, "Samuel Woodson greets you, fellow Daoist."
"You even mastered transformation techniques—almost fooled me." Joe Di chuckled. He had learned the Heavenly Gang Illusion and Earth Fiend Illusion, but even with those, he couldn't disguise himself as flawlessly as the other had. His discovery was purely due to experience and intuition.
Bolt said there was a lot of Ascendant Gold here—he wouldn't just make that up. If this guy was hiding here, it was either for the Ascendant Gold or to ambush those looking for it. Either way, Joe Di and he would end up in conflict.
Samuel Woodson gave a bitter smile. "You give me too much credit, fellow Daoist. I know of transformation techniques, but I've never learned them. I'm here because my Grand Way was stripped away. If I hadn't cultivated the Way of Vitality, I wouldn't have made it this far. Even though my Grand Way was taken, I managed to escape with my Vitality Dao Heart..."
"Way of Vitality?" Joe Di exclaimed. The Way of Vitality was one of the highest Grand Ways in the Vast Expanse. Even the Way of Life cultivated by the Fate Dao Lord was just a small part of it, and his Way of Life was limited by the rules of the Five Elements Universe. If the Way of Vitality from the Vast Expanse were integrated into his Dao Tree, it would add another Dao Branch.
"Yes, I cultivated the Way of Vitality. Unfortunately, my Grand Way was stripped away, leaving only an empty shell—or perhaps just my Vitality Dao Heart." Samuel Woodson seemed to realize there was no point in hiding the truth, and answered all of Joe Di's questions honestly.
"Who stripped your Way of Vitality?" Joe Di asked. To be honest, he was still a bit skeptical of Samuel Woodson's story. Usually, if someone's Grand Way was stripped, they wouldn't make it this far. Still, Samuel Woodson's explanation was just barely plausible—he said he had his Vitality Dao Heart left. What really made Joe Di suspicious was that anyone who cultivated the Way of Vitality would never be ordinary. Joe Di believed that even someone as strong as the likes of Hu Ye couldn't strip Samuel Woodson's Way of Vitality.
Samuel Woodson's voice grew heavy. "I don't know who he is. I only know what Dao he cultivates, and where he went."
"What Grand Way does he cultivate?" Joe Di asked immediately.
Anyone capable of stripping Samuel Woodson's Way of Vitality would also be able to strip the Grand Way from his Dao Tree. Joe Di was naturally extremely cautious of such a powerful figure.
"He cultivates the Life-and-Death Grand Way. He has established several Life-and-Death Gates, and specializes in stripping the Dao Foundations of powerful cultivators through them. If he finds a Grand Way unworthy, he only strips its Dao Principles. But if he takes an interest, passing through the Life-and-Death Gate guarantees your Dao Foundation will be taken—there's no escape..."
When Samuel Woodson mentioned the Life-and-Death Grand Way, Joe Di understood and believed his words.
If not for his good fortune, and the support of the World Tree and cosmic Dao veins, he too would have had his Dao Foundation stripped by that bastard. Without a Vitality Dao Heart, losing his Dao Foundation would leave him even worse off than Samuel Woodson.
Fortunately, in the struggle to strip away the Grand Way, he won—he not only kept his Dao Foundation, but even stripped away the other's Life-and-Death Grand Way, adding another Dao Branch to his Dao Tree.
"I know you may doubt my words, but I swear I'm telling the truth..." Seeing Joe Di remain silent, Samuel Woodson spoke again.
Joe Di waved his hand. "I believe you. Tell me, how can I help you now?"
"Ah..." Samuel Woodson hadn't expected Joe Di not only to refrain from attacking, but to ask how he could help. He had already prepared himself to have his Vitality Dao Heart stripped away by Joe Di. After all, aside from his Dao Foundation, his Vitality Dao Heart was his most precious possession.
Joe Di guessed Samuel Woodson's thoughts and said calmly, "I'm not interested in your Vitality Dao Heart. I came here to search for Ascendant Gold, but I also sensed the laws of a newborn universe here. If I'm not mistaken, you used the vast Ascendant Gold here to reconstruct your universe's laws. In fact, your newly built universe should be stronger than your previous Way of Vitality. Gains and losses are indeed hard to discern."
"You can tell?" If Samuel Woodson could stand, his jaw would have dropped wide enough to fit a planet.
Samuel Woodson had spent tens of millions of years comprehending the laws of this new universe, thanks to being at the center of Ascendant Gold. More importantly, he succeeded only because he had no retreat—he had to break and rebuild. Otherwise, even given tens of millions more years, he would never have understood the vast laws of a newborn universe.
In fact, given a little more time, once his Vitality Dao Heart fused with the laws of the new universe, Samuel Woodson would once again become a Sixth Step powerhouse—stronger than before.
"That's right, I can tell. Because I'm going to take all the Ascendant Gold here, and if you don't fuse with your new universe soon, it'll only get harder in the future."
Joe Di had no intention of playing the good guy. Knowing Samuel Woodson was using the Ascendant Gold here to rebuild his universe, he wasn't about to leave it behind.
The Vitality Dao Heart belonged to Samuel Woodson—Joe Di wouldn't touch it. But Ascendant Gold belonged to no one; whoever came could take it. That was his principle.
As for offering Samuel Woodson help, it was because they shared a common enemy: the Sage of Life and Death. Plus, Joe Di wanted the Ascendant Gold. Once he took it, it would be even harder for Samuel Woodson to fuse with his new universe. So, before taking the Ascendant Gold, he planned to help Samuel Woodson complete the fusion.