Joe Di scoffed inwardly and said, "Senior, just give me the cultivation resources. I have my own ways to avoid being killed by those people."
Asking me to help the Destiny Guild without giving me anything in return, and making it sound so dignified—Joe Di could only chuckle. He knew Miles Phantom was probably telling the truth, but so what? When it comes to cultivation resources, the more the better.
Miles Phantom looked a bit embarrassed. He hadn't lied to Joe Di, but giving him nothing at all was clearly unreasonable. It was impossible to provide resources from the Destiny Guild's reserves. After hesitating, Miles Phantom took out a ring and handed it to Joe Di. "This is a bit of my personal savings. The Fivefold Dao Gathering auction is about to start—use this to buy whatever you need."
"Thank you, Senior." Joe Di felt no embarrassment at all. He took Miles Phantom's ring and swept his divine sense inside.
When Joe Di saw at least fifty million high-grade spirit stones inside, he was secretly astonished. These old fellows are truly wealthy.
"This is the only time I'll give you something. From now on, you'll have to earn your own cultivation resources. In fact, that's for the best—if you just soak in a pile of resources, no matter how high you cultivate, you'll never be able to challenge the prodigies of the True Domain." Miles Phantom felt relieved as Joe Di put away the ring.
It's just too rare to find a genius like Joe Di. Whenever one appears, they're quickly taken by the True Domain. As for those geniuses on the Dao Rankings and Potential Rankings, none of them qualify for the True Domain Prodigy Trials.
The Destiny Guild went to great lengths to create a Potential Ranking—for what? It's all to find talents who can participate in the True Domain Prodigy Trials.
"Senior, I will definitely help the Destiny Guild and participate in the True Domain Prodigy Trials. But before that, I have some matters to take care of." Joe Di hoped to return to Pearl City—if he didn't settle this grudge, his Dao heart would be flawed.
Miles Phantom took out another talisman and handed it to Joe Di. "Take this communication talisman. Before the trials, I'll contact you through it. The True Domain Prodigy Trials require participants to be under two hundred years old. It's a tight restriction for others, but you don't need to worry—just focus on improving your strength. Now, do you have any other questions for me?"
Joe Di quickly said, "I do have a few questions for you, Senior. First, how do I use my Fivefold Tower Points? Second, I want to visit Heng Domain Star—do you have any suggestions?"
Miles Phantom nodded. "Fivefold Tower Points are very useful. For sects, each point allows one disciple to enter a secret realm—these include Little Central Star, Skyveil, World Medicine Garden, and others. For individuals, you need ten points for a single chance to enter these realms. If you sell your points to a sect, ten of your points only count as one for them. You have quite a few points, so they'll be valuable at this auction."
As for Heng Domain Star, I advise you not to go. The cultivation level there is low—it's not even stronger than the shattered Sheye Starland. You're still under Shu Haolan's watch; leaving his sight wouldn't be good for you. Shu Haolan is ruthless—he could wipe out all your relatives and friends on Heng Domain Star without a second thought. Besides, you have Cheng Ji's small world with you..."
Miles Phantom didn't need to say more—Joe Di understood. If his strength hadn't grown, going to Heng Domain Star would only bring harm. It seemed Miles Phantom had guessed his origins.
"Thank you for your guidance, Senior. I will strive to reach the Transforming True Stage as soon as possible." Joe Di decided to focus on rapidly improving his cultivation.
Miles Phantom shook his head. "Transforming True isn't the highest realm in this world..."
"Is there a realm above Transforming True? I thought the world's laws wouldn't allow anyone to stay here after surpassing that stage." Joe Di asked in surprise.
Miles Phantom didn't know Joe Di had learned this from Qian Fenghua, but looked at him in astonishment. "You are quite knowledgeable. But after Transforming True, there's a hidden realm called the Domain Stage. Some cultivators can enter the Immortal Realm without reaching Domain Stage, but those who do will achieve far greater things in the future."
Whether or not he reached Domain Stage, Joe Di didn't care—he understood Miles Phantom's warning wasn't baseless. If he went to Heng Domain Star before growing stronger, he really might bring disaster there.
Sighing, Joe Di said to Miles Phantom, "Senior, there are still a few days before the auction. I plan to go into seclusion for a while."
"Go ahead, and be careful. Little Central Star will open soon—don't forget to visit. That place will help you greatly in your cultivation. Also, don't make yourself too conspicuous. The True Domain is full of prodigies; if you stand out too much, you might be eliminated by potential rivals before you even catch the eye of an ancient sect." Miles Phantom gave Joe Di a few final pieces of advice before leaving.
He was very satisfied with this conversation and had high hopes for Joe Di. If Joe Di keeps growing like this, he might really make it into the top ten at the True Domain Prodigy Trials and win the Destiny Guild a spot to enter the Immortal Realm.
After leaving the Destiny Guild's Rest Pavilion, Joe Di returned to his own cave-dwelling. Miles Phantom hadn't given him any life-saving tools, and Joe Di understood why.
Strictly speaking, he wasn't really a disciple of the Destiny Guild. If he died along the way, it would only mean he lacked the ability to represent the Destiny Guild in the True Domain Prodigy Trials. The spots for the trials are limited—if he can't protect himself, he won't be allowed to waste a spot.
Back in his cave, Joe Di set up defensive arrays and immediately took out the small world. He had refined it twice, but there was still a Spirit Mark inside—it showed just how hard it was to claim treasures from these old fellows.
Joe Di's Spiritual Sense was now at the eighth level, and much more refined than others'. This time, when he spread his Spiritual Sense over the small world, it took only half a day to find another Spirit Mark.
He sent out Dao Fire, and the Spirit Mark was instantly burned away.
After removing the Spirit Mark, Joe Di carefully checked the small world again. Once he was sure there were no more issues, he put it back on his toe and set a restriction.
As for the Void Nexus Pill Shu Haolan gave him, Joe Di didn't touch it—he didn't even check it with his Spiritual Sense. Keeping this pill was like holding a time bomb, but he couldn't just give it away. This left Joe Di feeling helpless.
Just in case, Joe Di disguised himself as a hot-tempered male cultivator and suppressed his aura to the peak of the Soul Ancestor Stage before heading to the upcoming auction. With his cultivation hidden, he didn't need Miles Phantom's concealment technique.
......
When Joe Di arrived at the auction venue, the area outside was already packed with people. Only then did he realize how wise it was to have bought a hall ticket in advance.
Cultivators were everywhere outside the auction, begging for tickets—even those who knew they couldn't afford anything still wanted to get inside. For a major auction like this, just witnessing it was worthwhile.
Joe Di's seat was Row 116, Number 39—not too far back, mostly because he bought his ticket early.
Some cultivators hoping to buy auction tickets from others saw Joe Di's fierce appearance and quickly let him pass.
Originally, Joe Di thought those seated in the hall would be rogue cultivators or those with lower cultivation. But after sitting down, he realized he was mistaken. On his left was a tall elder whose aura, sensed by Joe Di's Spiritual Sense, was far stronger—likely a Cauldron Lord Stage cultivator.
On his right sat a Taoist nun, also quite strong—probably in the middle of the Seabreaker Stage.
In fact, Joe Di's displayed Soul Ancestor Stage wasn't particularly impressive here.
No matter how fierce Joe Di looked, he could only intimidate those weaker or at the same level. Those with higher cultivation simply ignored his appearance.
The auction hadn't started yet. Joe Di sat in his seat, refining his Spiritual Sense. Several hours passed quickly, until a crisp sound of a gavel made Joe Di open his eyes.
An elderly man with white hair and a beardless face stood at the auction platform, the lights of the Bright Array illuminating every detail.
A powerful Spiritual Sense Barrier Array surrounded the platform, making it impossible for Joe Di to scan inside. He could sense that the old man's cultivation was at least at the Tribulation King Stage.
The old man looked around the auction hall and spoke in a deep voice, "I am Tai Yan of Fivefold Pavilion. Every ten years, during the Fivefold Dao Gathering, Fivefold City hosts a grand auction—this time is no exception. The auction is jointly organized by Fivefold Pavilion and Destiny Guild. I won't go over the rules; I'm sure everyone knows them."
"As the world's spiritual energy grows thinner and resources become scarcer, rare cultivation treasures are harder to find. Each appearance is an opportunity—may everyone seize this chance. Enough talk, let's begin the auction."
In the end, it was all about fierce bidding. Joe Di knew the old man was right—spiritual energy was waning, and rare treasures were getting harder to find.
With a wave, the old man received a jade box via spatial transmission. He raised it and announced, "The first item for auction is an extremely rare treasure—a Realmshatter Talisman. As far as I know, neither the Central Realm nor the other worlds have anyone who can still refine Realmshatter Talismans. Even in the True Domain, these talismans are extremely rare. The few that remain are ancient relics. Normally, this would be a finale item, but there are so many treasures this time that we're auctioning it first."