Before William Sha could ask, Richard Ni took the initiative to speak. "Senior Sha, I only took an ancient array disk from Simon Di. I didn’t take anything else. I did check his ring, but there was nothing valuable inside."
Richard Ni implied that he hadn’t seen anything else in David Di’s ring. He suspected that William Sha and his son came here for a particular item.
"Let me see the array disk," William Sha said as he stepped into the teleportation array.
Richard Ni dared not hide anything and hurried to follow, handing the array disk to William Sha.
William Sha examined the array disk for a long while before exclaiming, "For a mere Immortal Emperor to understand Temporal Law to such a degree and refine an array disk of this level—remarkable."
"Senior Sha, wasn’t this array disk an ancient relic that Simon Di obtained? How..." Richard Ni grew more confused. How could this array disk possibly have been refined by Simon Di?
William Sha sneered, "My eyes are not blind. This array disk may have traces of age, but that’s because the cultivator who refined it had a strong grasp of Temporal Law. If this were truly an ancient relic, and this was all it amounted to, then ancient relics would be worthless. You can’t see it because your perspective is too limited."
In other words, Richard Ni’s understanding of Temporal Law was inferior to that of Simon Di.
Richard Ni’s face turned pale. At this moment, he was almost certain that his son, Ryan Ni, had been killed by Simon Di. If Simon Di could travel freely through the wormhole, rescuing his son would have been no challenge at all.
Simon Di killed his son and refined this array disk, mainly to deal with him or people like him. It was meant to divert their attention, so they wouldn’t suspect that Simon Di could traverse the wormhole without the array disk.
"Did you just think of something?" William Sha's gaze fell on Richard Ni.
Richard Ni bowed respectfully. "Senior, I have learned that my son Ryan Ni was also killed by this man. I deeply regret not having dealt with this ant back then."
William Sha ignored Richard Ni. As the head of a trading guild, he was surely arrogant, otherwise he wouldn’t have let someone like Joe Di slip away. Normally, a Dao Ascension Pill could decide the fate of an Immortal Emperor.
But a cultivator who can escape the wormhole is no ordinary cultivator. One who dares reside at the edge of Lake Defiance, where no one else dares go, is certainly not ordinary.
The teleportation array activated, and the group was swiftly sent to the Endless Expanse.
Upon arrival at the Endless Expanse teleportation array, William Sha walked up to the cultivator guarding the array with Joe Di’s portrait in hand. "Have you seen this man?"
As he spoke, William Sha’s overwhelming aura pressed down on the guardian cultivator like a tidal wave.
The guardian cultivator’s legs trembled, and he stepped back several paces before hastily bowing. "Senior, half a day ago, such a cultivator did indeed arrive through the array."
William Sha’s powerful aura left no doubt for the guardian cultivator—this was a second-step powerhouse. He had seen many cultivators before, and the aura of a second-step expert was unmistakable.
As for Joe Di and Zane Wu, he remembered them clearly. After being teleported here, they seemed dazed. It was only after he barked at them that they snapped out of it, so the memory was still fresh.
"Where did those two go?" William Sha’s tone was cold and severe.
The guardian cultivator quickly replied, "I didn’t check where they went, Senior. Usually, cultivators who come here either look for things in the market district or head into the Endless Expanse."
Before the guardian cultivator finished speaking, William Sha had already left the teleportation hall.
He shared the same thought as the guardian cultivator—teleporting from Leapgate City didn’t mean arriving in just one place. The Endless Expanse was only one destination. Since they chose the Endless Expanse, they must be trying to use it to escape. To William Sha, the Endless Expanse was just a larger wormhole guard zone or a bigger Leapgate City.
As long as they entered the Endless Expanse, he was certain he would catch them...
At this thought, William Sha paused. He remembered Joe Di’s meticulous style—never leaving a loose end, seizing every opportunity, even making Richard Ni drink his foot-washing water.
If Joe Di was so thorough, would he not realize the Endless Expanse was a dead end?
The more William Sha considered that Joe Di might not have entered the Endless Expanse, the darker his expression became.
If they hadn’t escaped into the Endless Expanse, where should he search now? The Dao Domain was vast and boundless—even as a Dao Origin powerhouse, it wouldn’t be easy to search the entire realm.
"Father, let’s immediately issue a bounty in the Endless Expanse market district for this ant named Simon Di. I refuse to believe that with so many trial-goers entering the Endless Expanse, we can’t find two mere Immortal Emperors."
William Sha’s face darkened. After half a day’s delay, he knew it was likely he would never catch that ant named Simon Di.
"You take charge here. I’ll check elsewhere." With that, William Sha immediately left the Endless Expanse market district. Though he didn’t know which direction Joe Di had escaped, he still chose one at random, hoping to catch up.
...
Joe Di kept flying, changing direction several times along the way.
After three whole months of flight, Joe Di finally stopped. His spiritual sense had detected a sizable divine city ahead.
Moreover, the city was definitely near the sea—though still far away, Joe Di could already smell the faint scent of saltwater on the wind.
This place was ideal. Even if Richard Ni caught up, they could escape into the boundless ocean.
Joe Di called out Zane Wu and Mu Jie. Here, they should be safe for the moment. He trusted his Spirit Shift technique—ordinary cultivators could hardly sense the spatial ripples. Not only was it due to Spirit Shift, but also his understanding of the laws of heaven and earth far surpassed most cultivators. When he used Spirit Shift, there was almost no disturbance at all.
"Brother Di..." As soon as Mu Jie and Zane Wu emerged, they cried out in excitement. Their spiritual senses had already swept the area—it was spacious and deserted, with no signs of life nearby.
"We should be safe for now. There’s a divine city up ahead. Let’s head there and gather information. From now on, we must work hard to advance our cultivation. Otherwise, no matter how far we flee, we’ll still be meat on someone else’s chopping block." Even without the sense of immediate crisis, Joe Di still felt the urgency to attain enlightenment.
"Brother Di, if not for you, I would have lost everything." Mu Jie, sensing the rich spiritual energy in the surroundings, bowed deeply to Joe Di, her voice trembling with emotion.
Zane Wu said nothing, but he knew he owed Joe Di a great debt as well.
Joe Di waved his hand. "We’d better disguise ourselves. I have a few masks I refined myself—they aren’t high-grade, but they’ll do for now. We can worry about better ones later."
Joe Di took out three top-grade immortal artifact masks. In the Immortal Realm, these were considered supreme treasures, but here, he wasn’t wrong—the masks weren’t anything special.
Zane Wu and Mu Jie didn’t object. Donning the masks, Zane Wu transformed into a scholarly cultivator with a pale face, Joe Di disguised himself as a rugged rogue cultivator, and Mu Jie became an utterly ordinary-looking female rogue.
"Brother Di, your plan is brilliant. I bet those trying to hunt us are still busy issuing bounties in the Endless Expanse market district." Zane Wu greatly admired Joe Di’s foresight, choosing to escape immediately instead of lingering in the Endless Expanse.
Joe Di shook his head. "Don’t be too optimistic. Sooner or later, they’ll realize we’re not in the Endless Expanse—maybe they already do. Once we reach the divine city, if there’s a good secret realm or a lucrative opportunity, we should seize it immediately."
Compared to Zane Wu, Joe Di was far less optimistic. Richard Ni was one thing—his arrogance blinded him. What concerned Joe Di most was the cultivator whose Dao Seed he had stripped. If that person’s backers started hunting him, things could turn dire very quickly.
"I agree with Brother Di. We must focus on advancing our cultivation." Mu Jie admired Joe Di to her core. She suspected he possessed a top-tier world—otherwise, he could never have brought her out of Leapgate City.