Bang! Joe Di crashed to the ground. Fortunately, the talisman was incredibly powerful, so his bones were not completely shattered—only his leg bone was broken.
Joe Di let out a sigh of relief. Since he had broken out of the void and landed on solid ground, he figured he would be fine. Now, it was just a matter of time before his body recovered.
He had no idea how long he had been tumbling in the void, but thankfully, he endured. Over the years, although he hadn’t completely purged the toxic Nirvanic patterns from his meridians and soul sea, he had managed to maintain a fragile balance. Now that he was on solid ground—whatever realm this was—he would only get better from here.
In the past, if Joe Di’s leg had broken, he could have healed it in half a Rule Cycle. But now, although his Rule Cycle was still repairing his leg bone, most of its energy was focused on suppressing the Dao Foundation Nirvana caused by the Worldbreaker Talisman.
Roars of beasts echoed around him, making Joe Di suspect this wasn’t Earth—more likely, it was somewhere on Heng Domain Star. The spiritual energy here was extremely scarce, almost imperceptible.
As night slowly fell, Joe Di still sat motionless in place. He truly couldn’t move, but that didn’t mean he was defenseless. As long as no immortal-grade beast came, he could still construct Rule Blade Edges to strike back.
Of course, Joe Di hoped no beasts would come. If he had to construct Rule Blade Edges, the balance he maintained to suppress the Dao Foundation Nirvana would be disrupted bit by bit, worsening his Nirvanic injuries.
Joe Di was battered and bruised, but luck was on his side. Whether it was the beasts’ natural sense of danger or simply that they were too far away, not a single beast approached him the whole night.
Snow began to fall heavily during the night, quickly burying Joe Di’s body under a thick layer of snow.
Instead, Joe Di fully immersed himself in the Rule Cycle, working to expel the Nirvanic patterns from his body. As another day was about to pass, a hurried figure suddenly rushed toward him.
The figure seemed to have been running for a long time before stopping beside Joe Di, placing a hand on his shoulder and panting heavily.
Soon, the person holding Joe Di’s shoulder sensed something odd. Under the thick snow, there seemed to be a person.
She quickly brushed away the snow, revealing Joe Di’s face. Startled, she exclaimed, "Ah, is he frozen to death?"
Joe Di sighed, opened his eyes, and looked at the woman in front of him, asking in a gentle voice, "May I ask, where is this place?"
"Ah..." With a cry of surprise, the woman retreated more than ten steps before finally calming herself. After a long pause, she asked, "You’re still alive?"
Only then did Joe Di realize she was speaking Mandarin. He had to ask again in Mandarin, "Not dead yet. Can you tell me where this is?"
The woman finally understood—Joe Di had to be a martial arts expert, otherwise he couldn’t have survived in the snow for so long.
"This is the Grand Crescent Zone, on the edge of the Dire Beast activity area. Wait, how could you have survived here all night?" As she spoke, she realized Joe Di must have sat here all night, or else so much snow wouldn’t have piled up.
Grand Crescent Zone? Joe Di suddenly felt that name was familiar...
Joe Di almost slapped his own forehead. Since she was speaking Mandarin, this really must be Earth.
He had been so focused on purging the toxic Nirvanic patterns from his body that he hadn’t reacted at first.
Once he realized this was Earth, Joe Di immediately understood—he really did know Grand Crescent.
It was the name of a district in Dai City. He hadn’t expected it to have become a wilderness. The woman had mentioned Dire Beasts—had Earth been overrun by monsters?
That couldn’t be right. He remembered clearing out all the monsters before leaving Earth—how could there still be beasts now?
"Dai City is gone?" Joe Di muttered.
The woman had calmed down now, convinced Joe Di was truly alive. She looked him over and asked in confusion, "Your strength must be at least Profound Rank late stage, right? Otherwise, how could you have survived here all night? Oh, by the way, my name is Yvette Fei. What’s yours?"
"My name is Joe Di..." Joe Di didn’t hide his identity.
It had been more than two hundred years since he left Earth. After so long, surely no one who knew him would still be alive.
"Joe Di? You have the same name as my ancestor’s benefactor!" Yvette Fei exclaimed in delight.
"Who was your ancestor?" Joe Di asked casually.
Yvette Fei answered respectfully, "My ancestor was Keith Fei."
Joe Di looked at Yvette Fei in shock. He truly hadn’t expected to meet a descendant of Keith Fei here. His gaze fell on the wounds covering Yvette Fei—she had clearly been beaten.
Yvette Fei was holding a long blade. Back then, Joe Di had passed the Di Family Blade Technique to Keith Fei—if Yvette Fei had mastered even half of it, she shouldn’t have ended up in such a sorry state, right?
"You use a blade?" Joe Di asked.
Yvette Fei nodded. "Yes, I use a blade."
"Is your family's blade technique really this poor? To get yourself hurt like this?" Joe Di frowned and asked again.
Yvette Fei shook her head. "My family doesn’t have a blade technique. I practice the Di Family Blade Technique. My father only knew two of the blades, and now I only know one."
Joe Di was speechless. He hadn’t expected that the once-mighty Di Family Seven Blades had fallen to such a state here.
Seeing Joe Di’s expression, Yvette Fei snorted, "It’s not the blade technique’s fault. My talent is lacking. Besides, medicinal herbs are so expensive these days—we simply can’t afford them."
Joe Di struggled to his feet—his broken leg had finally healed. With his Rule Cycle running constantly, his movement was no longer hindered.
"Where are you going?" Yvette Fei asked Joe Di in confusion.
"I want to find a place to settle down. I’m pretty badly injured," Joe Di replied. Right now, he couldn’t even open his storage ring and would have to rely on Yvette Fei for some things.
"Then let’s go to Dai City," Yvette Fei said.
Joe Di looked at Yvette Fei. "Didn’t Dai City get destroyed?"
Yvette Fei gave Joe Di a helpless look. "Where did you come from? How could you not know about Dai City? We’re standing on its original site. Back then, there were too many Dire Beasts, so Dai City was relocated and rebuilt further back. Don’t let all the beasts outside fool you—the inside of Dai City is still very safe."
"You’re really not worried about going to Dai City?" Joe Di could tell at a glance that Yvette Fei had killed someone and was hiding out here.
Yvette Fei’s expression was clearly unnatural, but she quickly covered it up. "What’s there to worry about? I just killed a Dire Beast, didn’t I? Even though I got chased here, I’m safe now, aren’t I?"
Joe Di didn’t bother arguing. Whether Yvette Fei had killed a person or a beast, he could tell at a glance—there was no need to ask.
...
Dai City had been rebuilt, and now Joe Di saw city walls and even a defensive laser grid. It reminded him of the days on Celestial Maiden Star—the only thing that star brought to Earth was trouble. The reappearance of city walls made him wonder if civilization was regressing.
After entering Dai City, Joe Di could clearly sense Yvette Fei’s nervousness. However, no one questioned them, and they entered the city without incident. The two guards at the gate didn’t even look their way.
Joe Di quickly understood why—it wasn’t just him. Many people entered carrying bows and weapons, and he and Yvette Fei weren’t the only ones injured.
As soon as they entered Dai City, Yvette Fei finally relaxed. She immediately told Joe Di, "If you want to stay at an inn, go to the East District. The inns there are the cheapest."
Joe Di said a bit awkwardly, "Could you lend me some money? I don’t have a single coin on me right now."
Yvette Fei blushed, then awkwardly pulled out two crumpled bills and handed them to Joe Di. "This is all I have—one hundred yuan. Use it to get settled first."
After saying this, Yvette Fei quickly turned and left, disappearing from sight.
Entering Dai City with Joe Di was indeed meant to help him, but she also wanted to use him to divert others’ attention.
She wasn’t much better off than Joe Di—the hundred yuan she gave him was truly the last of her money.
(That’s all for today’s update. Good night, friends!)