When Joe Di emerged from the lake, Zane Wu was already waiting on the shore. He wasn't surprised that Joe Di had entered the water, and simply asked, "Brother Zane, is this place suitable for cultivation?"
Joe Di nodded. "Go ahead and cultivate, there are no problems here."
"Good." Zane Wu cupped his fists to Joe Di, asked no further questions, and turned to enter his cave abode, clearly placing great trust in Joe Di as he prepared to enter seclusion for cultivation.
While Zane Wu could cultivate, Joe Di found himself unable to do so. After a few days of futile effort, he decided to focus on refining artifacts instead.
Joe Di cultivated the Rule Cycle, and now, fully dedicating himself to artifact refinement, was able to produce Supreme Immortal Artifacts in just over a month.
Seeing that Zane Wu was still in seclusion and Shane Rivers hadn't sent any message asking them to guard the Wormhole Gate, Joe Di decided to revisit the shop where he had previously purchased jade slips.
The shopkeeper recognized Joe Di and greeted him with a broad smile. "Friend, is there anything else you need?"
Joe Di said, "The two jade slips I bought from you last time were quite useful. Now I'd like to ask if you have any jade slips listing the cultivators who entered the Leap Dao Gate?"
"I only have records from the past thousand years. Anything older, I don't have," the shopkeeper replied, already taking out a jade slip and handing it to Joe Di. "This one is just five hundred Immortal Crystals."
"Alright, I'll take one." For Joe Di, even a list from the past one or two hundred years would be sufficient—his main goal was to search for Nora Xiu.
There were tens of thousands of names from the past millennium, and Joe Di quickly scanned through them. Nora Xiu was not among them, which made Joe Di uneasy. If Nora Xiu had ascended here but hadn't entered the Leap Dao Gate, there was only one possibility—she had perished in the Wormhole Gate.
If Nora Xiu were still alive, Joe Di would have sensed her presence as soon as he arrived.
Joe Di didn't draw Nora Xiu's portrait to ask the shopkeeper. He wasn't familiar enough with the shopkeeper, and showing her likeness might put Nora Xiu in danger.
Just as Joe Di was thinking about when he could visit the Wormhole Gate, the identity token hanging at his waist lit up.
"Good luck to you," the shopkeeper said with a smile, having seen the message on Joe Di's identity token.
In fact, from his perspective, the odds of survival for a brash newcomer like Joe Di were extremely slim.
"Thank you," Joe Di replied, then turned and left the shop.
......
When Joe Di arrived at the North District assembly point, over a thousand people had already gathered. Zane Wu, who had been in seclusion, was also there, standing in the farthest corner.
Joe Di walked over to Zane Wu, having already noticed the distinct factions present. Among the roughly thousand people, most were grouped into forces of dozens or hundreds, clearly separated. Joe Di and Zane Wu stood alone in a corner, obviously apart from the other cultivators.
Shane Rivers hadn't arrived yet. At the front of the crowd stood a middle-aged woman whose gaze swept over everyone before settling briefly on Joe Di and Zane Wu.
But it was only for an instant before she looked away, then spoke calmly, "Many of you know me—I'm Maya Mu, and I'll be leading the team to the Wormhole Gate this time. We'll be guarding the Wormhole Gate for eleven days. Most of you are familiar with this duty. The most important thing is to do your utmost, support each other, and strive to minimize casualties. Let's move out."
"Excuse me, if I want to guard the Wormhole Gate for a full month, how would I go about it?" Joe Di didn't want to keep coming back and forth—he wanted to complete a month's duty in one go and use the rest of his time for his own pursuits.
At Joe Di's words, many cultivators looked at him with ridicule. Clearly, they thought he was a newcomer who didn't know his limits.
At the Wormhole Gate, even lasting ten days is considered an achievement, let alone a whole month.
Guarding the Wormhole Gate not only consumes a great deal of immortal essence, but also contaminates one's meridians and spiritual sea. After ten days, cultivators must spend months recuperating. This is one of the reasons why progress is so difficult for those stationed at the Wormhole Gate.
Each time, about one in ten cultivators die while guarding the Wormhole Gate, and after leaving, another tenth perish at home because they can't fully expel the worm poison and filth in time.
Maya Mu's gaze fell on Joe Di again, her tone even as she said, "If you want to guard for a whole month, it's not impossible. Survive this round, and you can apply to the team leader. Alright, let's go—into the Wormhole Gate sector."
The journey from the North District Trading Post to the Wormhole Gate was neither short nor long. After about the time it takes an incense stick to burn, Maya Mu led the thousand or so people to the entrance of a defensive array. Joe Di had previously scanned this array with his spiritual sense, but because of its high grade, he couldn't penetrate it.
Upon arriving, Maya Mu took out her identity token and swiped it outside the array, which opened instantly. The first thing Joe Di saw wasn't the Wormhole Gate, but a shop with a sign reading, 'Merit Exchange Station.'
Joe Di understood perfectly: any cultivator guarding the Wormhole Gate who wanted to have their merit points tallied had to hand in the complete bodies of the slain insects here. Merit points were calculated based on the type and size of the insects.
Of course, if you didn't want to hand over your kills, that was fine—you just wouldn't earn any merit points. After all, no cultivator wanted to spend their life killing insects here. Everyone was eager to accumulate enough merit points as quickly as possible and enter the Leap Dao Gate.
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Although every cultivator was desperate to accumulate enough merit points, it was also necessary to keep some insects. To survive here, insects were the only source of cultivation resources. Without them, you couldn't exchange for resources, and relying solely on ambient spiritual energy wasn't enough.
After passing the Merit Exchange Station, they walked several more miles and encountered another defensive array. This time, the array opened on its own as they approached.
A wave of foul stench hit them as Joe Di saw thousands of cultivators fighting swarms of multicolored insects. Each insect was at least a ninth-rank Immortal Fiend Beast, some even stronger.
A faint poisonous mist lingered in the air, and even Joe Di felt slightly dizzy from it. But as soon as he activated his Rule Cycle, he quickly identified the law aura within the mist. Though the mist contained various laws, it was no problem for Joe Di.
Once he pinpointed the law aura, his Rule Cycle transformed all the poisonous mist into energy to replenish his cultivation.
Most cultivators had already swallowed an Antidote Pill. Zane Wu did the same, but when he saw Joe Di wasn't using one, he glanced at him instinctively. Before Zane Wu could speak, Joe Di waved his hand, indicating he didn't need the pill.
Maya Mu didn't lead anyone into battle, but simply waited to the side.
After more than half an hour, most of the insects had either been slain or retreated into the Wormhole Gate.
The cultivators who had just fought looked utterly exhausted, but also relieved to be leaving soon.
Joe Di did a quick count—there were at most just over nine hundred people left. Since each batch started with a thousand, that meant over a hundred had died this round, not counting those who would later perish at home from poisoning or damaged Dao Foundation...
By Joe Di's estimate, six to seven hundred cultivators died in the Wormhole Trading Post area every month. With so many deaths, the Ascension Pool couldn't possibly replenish them all, yet the area always maintained a population of over ten thousand. There must be other sources of cultivators.
"It's your turn now." After driving off the insects, a young man leading the group said to Maya Mu, then quickly departed with the nine hundred-plus wounded cultivators.
Only now did Joe Di get a clear look at the boundary between the two realms. Calling it a cave entrance wasn't inaccurate, as what lay before him was indeed a massive hole.
The hole was at least five hundred feet wide. Any spiritual sense sent inside was instantly swallowed up and vanished.
(That's all for today, friends. Good night!)