Tammy Tang did not say anything further; she still trusted Joe Di. Ever since she had invited Joe Di to Thousand Bamboo Sanctuary, his insight and judgment had proven sharper than hers. If her suspicion was correct and the Demon Clan’s Jin Shengxun had truly been killed by Joe Di, then Joe Di might really have nothing to fear from anyone here.
Everyone boarded the skyship. Once the skyship’s restrictions were activated, Joe Di stood at the edge of the deck, with Tammy Tang right beside him.
The skyship left behind a trailing shadow, and in just a blink, it shot out of the protective array of Thousand Bamboo Sanctuary.
Moments after the skyship exited Thousand Bamboo Sanctuary’s protective array, Joe Di raised his hand and tossed down three array banners. At the same time, he tore the void with a gesture, causing a sudden crack to appear in the restrictions on Jason Silentwood’s skyship.
To everyone watching, it seemed that Joe Di had thrown out three Five Direction Banners, but in truth, he had sent out four. The Cloudrealm Banner was concealed within the Terraflame Banner.
Joe Di’s voice followed, "Senior Sister Tammy, until we meet again."
Tammy Tang had been waiting for these words. Almost at the same moment Joe Di spoke, she activated her escape talisman and vanished without a trace.
Boom! In the next instant, Jason Silentwood’s fist crashed down. Joe Di did not meet the blow head-on, but instead flickered away, slipping out of Jason’s Hunyuan domain with uncanny agility.
Not only that, Joe Di also retrieved three of his Five Direction Banners. He had sent out four banners and recovered three, leaving one behind. Unfortunately, even if someone here matched Joe Di’s array skills, they could not detect the hidden banner. This banner was concealed within his rule array banner—unless one had a deep understanding of the laws of heaven and earth and could outline a rule array banner, it was impossible to discern.
Jason Silentwood did not pursue further; he knew Tammy Tang was already out of reach. He also realized Joe Di had no intention of leaving—if Joe Di had wanted to go, he would have left just now.
"You have impressive skills, Daoist friend. You tore open the restrictions on my skyship with a mere gesture," Jason Silentwood said coldly, staring at Joe Di.
Joe Di replied lazily, "I’m not that skilled, but my friend didn’t want to travel with us, so I gave her a head start. If you’re upset, you can vent your anger on me. I guarantee I’ll take it."
Jason Silentwood laughed, "Joe Di, we’ve already agreed that since we’re searching for the Chaos Lotus together, no one is allowed to leave early. You’re breaking the rules knowingly—do you think all of us combined couldn’t defeat you?"
Joe Di spread his hand, and the Azure Veil Blade appeared in his palm. His voice was icy: "Oh? So I let my friend go first—what can you do about it? If you’re unhappy, come at me. Don’t waste your breath."
Jason Silentwood’s expression darkened. His divine sense swept over the other Genesis Realm Saint Emperors, but aside from a few, most showed no intention of making a move.
Jason Silentwood frowned. He knew that until the Chaos Lotus was found, no one would truly join forces with him to take down Joe Di. Right now, they seemed to follow his lead, but only wanted him to guide them to the Chaos Lotus. Jason saw this clearly—and in truth, he was using them as well. Yet this little Prime Realm ant, Joe Di, seemed rather peculiar.
"Aren’t you afraid I’ll kill you?" After weighing his options, Jason Silentwood’s tone softened.
Joe Di chuckled, "If you kill me, I’ll make sure you’re injured. Do you really think you dare make a move?"
Jason Silentwood smiled. "Not bad, the younger generation is truly impressive."
After saying this, he didn’t press Joe Di further, but instead began chatting amiably with the other Saint Emperors about the location.
He had already guessed why Joe Di dared to act this way—it was because he was certain Jason Silentwood wouldn’t make a move. With too many powerful figures present, Jason couldn’t afford to get injured. Joe Di figured he had a couple of trump cards: if Jason attacked and got hurt, the others would finish him off. Joe Di even thought that if things got out of hand, he could tear open the skyship’s restrictions again to escape.
Had Jason Silentwood been absent for so long that people now saw him as someone who could be easily manipulated?
He really wouldn’t attack again—not because he feared injury, nor because he worried Joe Di would tear open the skyship’s array and escape. It was simply that killing Joe Di now was pointless. Who would have thought this little Prime Realm ant possessed three Five Direction Banners?
His skyship’s array could be torn open once, but a second time? That was wishful thinking.
Seeing Jason Silentwood make no move, Joe Di put away his Azure Veil Blade. He had fused a Cloudrealm Banner into the skyship’s protective array and knew that after he sent Tammy Tang away, Jason had upgraded the array by another level. It was originally a fifth-level divine array—now it was sixth-level.
As long as it didn’t reach seventh-level divine array, Joe Di had no fear of the skyship’s restrictions.
"Joe Di, if I’m not mistaken, you just brought out several Five Direction Banners, didn’t you? Are they for sale? I can offer you any price you want." To Joe Di’s surprise, it wasn’t Jason Silentwood who spoke up, but Franklin Young of the Demon Clan.
"Not for sale." Joe Di replied with just two words, and said nothing more.
Franklin Young chuckled at Joe Di’s reply and didn’t press further about the Five Direction Banners.
The Genesis Realm Saint Emperors aboard the skyship instinctively distanced themselves from Joe Di. Everyone knew Jason Silentwood’s temperament—if Joe Di had humiliated him and Jason held back, he wouldn’t be so intimidating.
The reason Jason Silentwood wasn’t making a move now was clear—he was waiting for a better moment to strike at Joe Di. Besides, Joe Di still had the Five Direction Banners, which were innate treasures. If the late-stage Genesis Realm experts here knew Joe Di had them and didn’t act, they’d be blind.
Seeing no one bothered him, Joe Di simply sat down and closed his eyes to rest. The skyship’s inner cabin was spacious, but no one entered it—not even Jason Silentwood invited anyone in, as if he knew no one would accept.
Half a month later, the skyship came to a stop and the restrictions were lifted.
Joe Di’s divine sense swept forward and saw a massive fortress in the void. Three divine script characters marked its entrance: Fenghorn Fortress. The place was bustling—Joe Di’s scan revealed at least three to four hundred thousand cultivators within.
Jason Silentwood laughed, "Everyone, we’ve arrived. This is the place—the thing we’re looking for is beneath this fortress. We’ll need to blend in, and then..."
"Why bother? Wouldn’t it be easier to just flatten the whole fortress?" Warren Wraith said coolly.
Jason Silentwood smiled faintly. "Warren, you have a point."
"In that case, let me do everyone a favor and wipe out this fortress. Once I’m done, you can all join me…" Warren Wraith laughed and stepped out toward the restriction.
Joe Di sneered, "You piece of trash—were you born from a turtle and a bastard hybrid? No, that’s an insult to turtles and bastards."
Only now did Joe Di truly understand Tammy Tang’s words. Warren Wraith wasn’t just ruthless—he probably believed only his own life had value in the universe, and everyone else’s was worthless. They came here to seek treasure in the fortress, but Warren wanted to slaughter all the hundreds of thousands of cultivators inside. Joe Di also realized what Jason Silentwood meant earlier—this trash was just waiting for Warren to wipe out the fortress’s population. Truly, birds of a feather.
"I was planning to kill you later, but I didn’t expect you to be so impatient." Warren Wraith spun around, a pitch-black staff already in hand, ready to charge at Joe Di.
"Feel free to do what you must, Wraith. A mere Dao Origin ant can't stop you, so let me help you deal with him." Unexpectedly, it was Graham Ming, who had no stake in this, that stepped forward to confront Joe Di.
As Graham Ming stepped forward, Warren Wraith glanced at Jason Silentwood and let out a sinister chuckle before dashing out of the ship's restriction toward Fenghorn Fortress. At the same moment, Jason Silentwood once again locked the ship’s restriction. Franklin Young of the Demon Clan deliberately positioned himself at an angle with Graham Ming, blocking Joe Di’s path.
Now that they had arrived, Joe Di naturally wouldn’t remain on the ship. His figure flickered as he once again reached out to grasp the ship’s restriction.
Joe Di’s speed didn’t seem fast, yet Graham Ming’s domain still couldn’t lock onto him.
Seeing Joe Di reach for the ship’s restriction a second time, Jason Silentwood’s lips curled into a cold smile. Did Joe Di really think his restriction was just a sheet of paper?
Crack! The ship’s restriction was torn apart by Joe Di for the second time, freezing Jason Silentwood’s cold smile. In that instant, Joe Di had already rushed out of the ship. A sudden unease crept into Jason’s heart—Joe Di was simply too mysterious.
After bursting out of the ship, Joe Di didn’t leave. Instead, he called out to Graham Ming, "Tree-bark face, come out! Grandpa’s waiting for trash like you."
Then, Joe Di raised his voice and shouted, "Hear me, cultivators of Fenghorn Fortress! There’s a piece of trash named Warren Wraith who’s about to wipe out the entire fortress. If you have the ability, escape while you can!"
This was all Joe Di could do to help. Even if he managed to stop Warren Wraith, Jason Silentwood and the others would still slaughter Fenghorn Fortress.