At this moment, Joe Di’s clarity of Dao thought had greatly improved, and even his goals had become much clearer.
Before, he only knew he needed to become stronger. Now, he realized that no matter how strong he became, he would still be an ant beneath someone else's hand—even this universe might be under someone else's control.
The Starhaven City he built and the laws of freedom he proclaimed were, in a sense, rather laughable.
It was like fish in a pond—even if they were free and grew strong, they were still just food on someone else's plate. The only difference was when they’d be sent to the frying pan.
The Ninth Prime Law spoke of the Cosmos Lord’s might, but also explained that as the universe expanded without limit, even the Cosmos Lord could no longer control the entire universe.
Joe Di didn’t know if the universe he was in was still under the Cosmos Lord’s control. But regardless, with the Cosmos Lord’s supreme will—casting out eight Prime Laws—he would eventually regain control over this universe.
Since that day would inevitably come, he had to become even stronger.
Even with the Ninth Prime Law’s help—or without it—he had to walk the path of strength. With its help, he had a sliver of hope for true immortality; without it, his chance of success was nearly zero.
Joe Di didn’t know what the other eight purple Prime Laws were. But he was certain the Ninth Prime Law was not the broken law the Cosmos Lord had described. If it were truly broken, it wouldn’t have escaped the Cosmos Lord’s grasp, crossed countless void realms, and—like him now—sought true freedom. Or rather, sought a chance to prove itself.
“I’m going in to cultivate.” After sending a message to Moria Lane, Joe Di piloted his shuttle to the edge of the Wood Origin Essence, then charged into it to begin advancing his cultivation.
With the other elemental bases of the Fivefold Elemental Sealing Array no longer interfering, Joe Di cultivated with his full strength—completely unburdened.
Only when Joe Di began circulating the Starspace Technique did he truly understand what it meant for the Ninth Prime Law to help him wholeheartedly.
Endless Wood Origin Essence surged toward him. Every moment, he could clearly sense all the rules within the Wood Origin, and he could fully integrate with the foundational laws of the surrounding void.
With cultivation like this, there was no such thing as slowness or bottlenecks. Joe Di only worried that the Wood Origin Essence here wasn’t dense enough.
Joe Di tossed out millions of Immortal Crystals from his ring, along with the damaged Immortal Spirit Vein.
As Joe Di absorbed immortal energy again, terrifying clouds of immortal energy formed around him. Outside these clouds, profound patterns flickered—these were the fundamental laws of the universe.
No one else cultivated like Joe Di, able to comprehend and even absorb laws for cultivation.
Sprout and Aaron Jace, who cultivated nearby, were direct beneficiaries. With Joe Di joining in, Aaron’s already rapid cultivation sped up several times over. Even Sprout, with his poor aptitude, broke through with no bottleneck and advanced to a Tier-Two Immortal Beast.
With hardly any effort, Joe Di’s cultivation soared—Celestial Lord Seventh Layer, then Eighth, then Ninth…
After just a few months of cultivation, Aaron Jace broke through the Wood Origin Essence and prepared to face the Grand Ether Immortal Thunder Tribulation.
Aaron Jace had faced the Grand Ether Immortal Thunder Tribulation once before, but this time he was even more excited and exhilarated. He’d never seen a cultivation environment like this in his life. He was certain that if he sped through the tribulation, he could even break through to the Grand Luo Immortal.
There were no bottlenecks; the rules of heaven and earth around him were as clear as if they were imprinted in his mind. Endless immortal energy and origin essence were absorbed—Aaron Jace truly had never experienced cultivation like this.
Now a body-refining cultivator, Aaron Jace couldn’t absorb thunder origin like Joe Di, but the Five-Nine Thunder Tribulation of the Grand Ether Immortal was nothing to him. In just over a day, he passed the tribulation and stepped into Grand Ether Immortal First Layer for the second time.
As soon as Aaron Jace passed the Grand Ether Immortal Thunder Tribulation, he eagerly plunged into the Wood Origin Essence. Even when Blackfire called out to ask what was happening, he didn’t have time to answer.
The Desire Poison Spirit within him had been extracted by Joe Di, and his cultivation had dropped from Grand Ether Immortal to Grand Yi Immortal. Aaron Jace thought that even though he’d once been a Grand Ether Immortal, it would take at least a hundred years to break through again.
But how long had it been now? In just a few years, he had re-entered the ranks of Grand Ether Immortal. If he didn’t seize this chance to strive for Grand Luo Immortal, he’d be a fool—how many times could one get such an opportunity?
Boom! Joe Di’s cultivation finally reached perfection at the Ninth Layer of Celestial Lord, and his Starspace Sea of Consciousness was filled with origin essence and immortal energy.
The Wood Origin Essence around him was utterly depleted, and the broken Immortal Spirit Vein and millions of Immortal Crystals he’d taken out had all shattered into nothingness.
Some of the immortal energy dissipated into the void, but most was absorbed by Joe Di, Aaron Jace, and Sprout.
“Big brother, I’m about to break through to Tier-Three Immortal Beast!” With no Wood Origin Essence left, Sprout immediately stopped cultivating and was the first to rush over and share the good news with Joe Di.
Heh, you’re still the weakest. Your brother Aaron is now at Grand Ether Immortal Fourth Layer—even Little Fire’s cultivation is higher than yours now." Aaron Jace walked over, feeling refreshed.
Before his cultivation dropped, he was only at Grand Ether Immortal First Layer. But following big brother for such a short time, he’d reached Fourth Layer—what a world of difference.
It was a pity there was too little Wood Origin Essence here—he wasn’t satisfied with his cultivation. If there were enough immortal energy and Wood Origin Essence, Aaron Jace was confident he could break through to Grand Luo Immortal. With such clear cosmic laws, not only did his cultivation speed soar, but his understanding of his divine powers reached a whole new level.
At this moment, Aaron Jace even wanted to stand before those so-called geniuses and shout at them—who else could break into Grand Ether Immortal without a Zhixia Pill? Only your grandfather Aaron.
“Big brother’s cultivation doesn’t seem to be rising quickly.” Aaron Jace glanced at Joe Di, whose aura was still at the early Celestial Lord stage.
Joe Di’s cultivation in the Starspace Technique wasn’t reflected in his realm—the current stage was only simulated.
“Sprout, you and Aaron Jace go to the shuttle. I’m about to face my tribulation.” Joe Di sensed the Grand Yi Immortal stage and prepared to break through.
Whenever he attempted to break through to Grand Yi Immortal, he could summon the thunder tribulation at will. Joe Di couldn’t help but reflect—he’d once prepared Grand Yi Pills for this breakthrough, but now it seemed he wouldn’t need any. The Ninth Prime Law was truly extraordinary. Clearly, when it had only been residing in his sea of consciousness before, it had only helped him casually.
Was big brother really just at early Celestial Lord? Aaron Jace was momentarily stunned, then understood. He’d reached Grand Ether Immortal Fourth Layer—even Sprout, with his poor aptitude, was now a Tier-Two Immortal Beast. How could big brother remain stagnant with such clear Wood Origin Essence laws?
Once Aaron Jace and Sprout entered the shuttle, Joe Di set up a spirit-gathering array, scattered a pile of Immortal Crystals, and began his breakthrough to Grand Yi Immortal.
In just one cycle, Joe Di sensed the thunder tribulation—the barrier to Grand Yi Immortal had cracked.
Boom, boom, boom! Nine thick arcs of thunder crashed down, their terrifying intensity making Aaron Jace shiver.
What kind of thunder tribulation was this? The arcs from his own Grand Ether Immortal Thunder Tribulation weren’t even a tenth as thick, and the lethal aura in these arcs was far more terrifying.
“Sprout, what kind of thunder tribulation is big brother facing?” Aaron Jace couldn’t help but ask—was this the tribulation for advancing to Immortal King?
Sprout scoffed, “Big brother’s tribulation is naturally powerful—just wait, you’ll be stunned. When he first faced a tribulation, only my big tree was there to anchor the formation and protect him. Since then, each tribulation has been stronger than the last—even I…”
Sprout felt he should stop here—if he kept talking, he’d give himself away. In truth, he didn’t know what kind of thunder tribulation Joe Di was facing either.
After all that, Aaron Jace still didn’t know what kind of tribulation Joe Di was facing. What stunned him was that after those nine thick waves of thunder tribulation, a continuous barrage followed—this time, eighty-one arcs crashed down.
Was it really the Immortal King tribulation? No, the Immortal King tribulation was the Seven-Nine Thunder Tribulation—sixty-three arcs, delivered in seven waves, not all at once.
Was big brother facing the Immortal Emperor tribulation? The thought shocked Aaron Jace, but he quickly realized it was wrong. The Immortal Emperor tribulation should be even stronger, with an overwhelming pressure of cosmic laws—which he wasn’t sensing now.