He found it strange—a man cultivating the Starstream Technique was actually locked inside a blazing Fire Prison Array, with flames constantly licking at his body. Each time the fire touched him, his body shuddered violently. No one knew how long he had endured this torment; his features were lost to the flames, and only tattered scraps of scorched skin clung to blackened bones.
Joe Di frowned slightly. For someone locked up here to reach the ninth layer of the Tribulation King Stage, he couldn't be an ordinary disciple. But if he wasn't ordinary, why subject him to such cruel punishment?
Starstream Order was founded by him; such savage punishments had never existed in his sect.
Joe Di shifted his divine sense again, this time landing on a man in crimson robes, already at the fourth layer of the Transforming True Stage, cultivating at the very heart of the sect—Starstream Peak.
Starstream Peak was the seat of the Starstream Order’s sect master. Since this man was cultivating there, he was clearly the master. As Joe Di’s divine sense focused on the crimson-robed man’s face, a flicker of familiarity stirred deep within him.
"Where did your sect master come from?" Joe Di withdrew his divine sense, his gaze settling once again on the disciple guarding the array.
The disciple guarding the array was thoroughly enraged. He wondered if his patience was too good today, since he hadn't lost his temper yet. With such patience, this visitor seemed to take him lightly—ignoring his words and now boldly asking about the sect master of Starstream Order.
"Get lost!" The gatekeeping disciple raised his array flag and kicked out again.
Joe Di simply raised his hand, his palm slicing through the void with a thunderous force, sending the disciple flying. Had this not been Starstream Order, that slap would have ended the guard's life on the spot.
There were usually two disciples guarding the sect's protective array—one stationed outside, one inside.
Now, as Joe Di’s slap sent the outer disciple of the sect’s protective array hurtling away, the disciple inside the array instantly triggered the alarm bell, its urgent clang echoing through the sect.
The crimson-robed man meditating at Starstream Peak snapped his eyes open. In a flash, his figure blurred, and he burst out of his secluded cultivation chamber with fierce urgency.
Timothy Xiang watched Joe Di with growing confusion. If Joe Di had founded this sect, how could things have come to such a state? Of course, he had no way of knowing that Joe Di had ascended to the Immortal Realm long ago and was only now returning after countless years.
Joe Di himself was puzzled. Though few disciples in the sect would recognize him, tradition dictated that after his departure, his portrait should have been enshrined in the ancestral hall. Every new disciple ought to pay homage to the founder’s likeness first.
But reality was far removed from tradition. The founder’s return was met not with reverence, but a contemptuous kick from the gatekeeper.
"Stop right there! Who dares trespass on Starstream Order’s sacred ground?" The crimson-robed man arrived at the grand plaza just as Joe Di, Nina Di, and Timothy Xiang stepped into the open.
He held back from attacking, unable to gauge Joe Di’s cultivation level—a mystery that unsettled him.
Still, he wasn’t worried. Of the two people beside Joe Di, one was merely a young girl at the Golden Core stage, and the other, though stronger, was only at the Void Ascendant stage—and missing an arm. With such companions, no matter how strong Joe Di was, he couldn’t be that formidable.
Yet his mother had always warned him never to underestimate anyone. For this man to strike a Starstream Order disciple and breach the outer protective array, he had to be more dangerous than he appeared. Silently, he activated the trap array, choosing to wait for the elders before making his move against Joe Di.
"Are you Zane Dee, the current sect master of Starstream Order?" Joe Di’s voice was cold as ice. With gatekeepers like these, the sect master could hardly escape blame.