Joe Di watched as Howard Lane disappeared into Nightlake, utterly shocked. He had witnessed the terror of Nightlake before—a Transforming True cultivator like Howard Lane fell into its waters and couldn't even struggle. Who knew what kind of substance made up Nightlake?
No matter what, he had already killed Howard Lane. Joe Di breathed a sigh of relief and cautiously extended his divine sense into Nightlake.
The searing heat returned, but this time it landed in Joe Di’s spiritual sea. It was no longer as terrifying as before and quickly faded away.
A tenth-level spiritual sea truly was powerful. Joe Di’s divine sense began to seep in from the edge of the lake, and soon he saw a black Firegod Herb beneath the water.
Just as the World Tome described, the black Firegod Herb grew to nine inches tall, with black spiritual patterns etched on its surface...
Joe Di was ecstatic—this was a ninth-level spiritual herb! To him, the black Firegod Herb was far more valuable than ordinary ninth-level herbs. But how could he possibly retrieve it?
Even though his body refinement had reached the Honored Realm and his divine sense was tenth-level, Joe Di knew that if he entered Nightlake, his fate would be no better than Howard Lane’s.
With a gentle sweep of his tenth-level divine sense, to Joe Di’s surprise, he easily brought the Firegod Herb out of the water.
The Firegod Herb, whose spiritual patterns were once clear, instantly became lifeless in Joe Di’s hand, losing all trace of spiritual energy.
Joe Di sighed and tossed the Firegod Herb to the ground. It seemed that the moment the Firegod Herb left the soil, it had to be grabbed by hand. He really didn’t know what kind of property this was.
Now that his divine sense had reached the tenth level, Joe Di no longer needed to wait for nightfall. With a sweep of his divine sense along the lake’s edge, he quickly found several red Firegod Herbs. Joe Di swiftly reached into the lake and grabbed the red Firegod Herbs.
A sizzling sound rang out. Even though Joe Di moved quickly and was a Honored Realm body-refining cultivator, the skin on his hand was still corroded. But compared to when his body was only at the King Realm, this was much better.
Back then, he had only picked Firegod Herbs from the shore, and Nightlake’s corrosion was much weaker at night. Even so, every time he grabbed a Firegod Herb, only the bones of his hand would remain, and eventually even those turned gray. It was only thanks to the Titan Body Technique; without it, he wouldn’t have been able to pick a single red Firegod Herb.
In just one day, relying on his powerful divine sense and the Titan Body Technique, Joe Di harvested fifty-three red Firegod Herbs and eleven black Firegod Herbs from Nightlake.
Joe Di had almost finished searching for Firegod Herbs along Nightlake’s edge. His divine sense began to probe toward the center of the lake.
A faintly visible hexagonal altar appeared within Joe Di’s divine sense. As he focused on it, intending to see what it was, a terrifying aura suddenly surged into his spiritual sea.
Joe Di’s spiritual sea roared, and a mournful sound echoed within it. His mind immediately became muddled, and a compulsion arose—he wanted to rush into the lake’s center and kneel at the edge of the hexaltar to worship.
But Joe Di’s spiritual sea was vast. The mournful sound quickly weakened inside it, and he regained brief clarity. Intense corrosive pain shot up from his foot, and Joe Di staggered backward in panic.
He retreated dozens of meters before finally looking down in horror at his left foot. If he hadn’t regained consciousness just now, he would have already stepped into Nightlake.
Joe Di’s spiritual sea was still clean and clear, still at the tenth level. But now, a faint gray patch appeared in its center. With a thought, Joe Di summoned his Cosmic Flame into his spiritual sea, burning the gray patch away without a trace.
How terrifying. Joe Di no longer dared to approach Nightlake. At last, he understood the origin of its name—it was all about worshipping that altar at the lake’s heart.
He had more than enough Firegod Herbs now, and his divine sense was already at the tenth level. It was time to leave. Joe Di quickly retreated and soon left Nightlake behind.
...
"I thought you weren’t coming," Joe Di had just returned outside Fivefold City when he saw Cynthia Winters, carrying a green sword and dressed in a purple skirt.
"Miss Cynthia, are you going to make me put away my blade again and bow my way into Fivefold City?" Joe Di said sarcastically.
Truthfully, he didn’t want to become enemies with Cynthia Winters. But this woman was simply too unreasonable. Even on the Fivefold Dao Tower, when he kicked Jamie Redriver down, it was only because Jamie had been shameless and struck first.
Cynthia Winters looked Joe Di up and down and said coolly, "Your concealment technique is impressive—even I can’t see through your cultivation. Hand over one item to me; I’ll pay you in spirit stones, and we’ll settle all past grievances."
"What item?" Joe Di asked immediately.
If handing over one item could get this woman to stop pestering him, Joe Di would gladly do so.
"The Realmshatter Talisman." Cynthia Winters fixed her gaze on Joe Di, her tone carrying a hint of intimidation. The aura around her locked down the surrounding space—if Joe Di tried to escape, she would act immediately.
Joe Di’s heart sank. How did Cynthia Winters know he was the one who won the Realmshatter Talisman at auction? He had been in disguise at the time.
"I don’t know what you’re talking about," Joe Di replied, his face expressionless and tone flat. He knew Cynthia Winters must be certain he had the Realmshatter Talisman, otherwise she wouldn’t have waited here for years just for his return.
"You don’t have to admit it. I guarantee that if I kill you, not a soul in Fivefold City would dare say a word to me." Cynthia Winters’ voice carried a trace of murderous intent.
Suddenly, Joe Di understood how Cynthia Winters had figured out he was the one who bid for the Realmshatter Talisman. She was from the True Domain—no one in Fivefold City or the Central Realm would dare cross her.
Since no one would dare offend her, all she had to do was check the auction’s records for the seat number of the Realmshatter Talisman’s winner. He had bought his auction ticket at Fivefold Pavilion and rented a cave dwelling there too. With so much information, it would be strange if Cynthia Winters couldn’t find him.
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Joe Di sighed inwardly—he had underestimated Cynthia Winters’ background.
If it had been anyone else, even the sect master of one of the Five Grand Sects, they probably couldn’t access Fivefold Pavilion’s ticket records. But if Cynthia Winters wanted to check, Fivefold Pavilion wouldn’t dare refuse her.
It’s true—one should never place their hopes in others.
The Azure Veil Blade on his back flashed blue as it landed in Joe Di’s hand. He stopped explaining and said lazily, "If you want to fight, then let’s fight. I’ll play along with you this once."
"You’re courting death!" Cynthia Winters’ eyes blazed with fury. Her longsword swept up, transforming into a ring of emerald sword sigils that whirled around Joe Di.
Joe Di paused, momentarily stunned by her explosive anger. Then he realized she’d misunderstood his words just now.
But what did a misunderstanding matter? Joe Di didn’t care at all. He swung his blade without hesitation. A mere third-level Cauldron Lord thought she could overpower him? She was dreaming. He’d slain Ascendants before—what threat was a third-level Cauldron Lord?
Besides, this woman was courting death—she dared to use divine sense sword sigils against him.
Anyone else—even a peak Cauldron Lord—would have to defend themselves first against such divine sense sword sigils.
But Joe Di’s divine sense was at the tenth level. He easily tore through Cynthia Winters’ sword sigils. The Azure Veil Blade found her sword, blue light flashed, and blade met sword.
Clang! True essence burst forth. Cynthia Winters’ sword sigils shattered, and a terrifying surge of true essence slammed into Joe Di’s chest, forcing him to stagger back more than ten steps.
Cynthia Winters’ face flushed crimson from the backlash. She gripped her longsword, staring at Joe Di in disbelief.
She might be a third-level Cauldron Lord, but her strength was anything but ordinary. In the Central Realm, she didn’t even fear early-stage Tribulation Kings. Yet after clashing with Joe Di, she hadn’t gained any advantage. She was always the one defying her limits—when had anyone ever managed to defy hers?
Cynthia Winters didn’t strike again. She hadn’t gone all out, but she could tell Joe Di hadn’t either. With his skill, even at her full strength, she wouldn’t be able to defeat him.