The Ninth Prime Law harbored a stubborn obsession—it absolutely could not allow itself to be erased by Joe Di. It had yet to prove to the Lord of the Cosmos that it was the finest cosmic principle in existence. In fact, no one had ever validated its Dao up to this point.
Joe Di was equally obsessed. He could not simply let the Ninth Prime Law break free, regardless of any thoughts of vengeance. The Ninth Prime Law, after all, was the source of his Dao enlightenment; he had not come seeking revenge. But Joe Di knew its nature all too well—if it escaped, it would inevitably seize control of another cultivator, and that person would become Joe Di's nemesis in the future.
If there were someone who understood him completely from beginning to end, that would be a disaster for Joe Di.
The Ninth Prime Law lacked a Dao body, yet it understood Joe Di deeply; all of Joe Di's rule-based Dao enlightenment stemmed from the Ninth Prime Law.
Although Joe Di's Dao was enlightened by the Ninth Prime Law, he possessed a Dao body, an immortal and divine body, and with the help of the Sacred Yin Pearl, he also understood the Ninth Prime Law. For a time, their contest was evenly matched.
Ten years, a hundred years...
The colossal Dao cocoon surged from one void to another, traversing countless empty realms and unknown worlds.
There were dozens, if not a hundred cultivators who had witnessed this Dao cocoon. Yet, it was so overwhelmingly powerful that seeing it was one thing—claiming it for oneself was nothing but a dream.
The Ninth Prime Law knew very well that if it was erased by Joe Di, it would vanish into the vast cosmos, without even the chance to decompose into chaotic Dao laws.
So, throughout these years of deadlock with Joe Di, the Ninth Prime Law had split off endless Dao rules, each one trying to tear Joe Di apart.
But Joe Di also understood the Ninth Prime Law deeply. Throughout their standoff, not only did his physical body grow ever stronger, his comprehension of the endless cosmic laws split off by the Ninth Prime Law became more profound.
With the Sacred Yin Pearl's aid, the Ninth Prime Law could never truly destroy Joe Di. As the Ninth Prime Law developed a touch of sentience, it realized that the longer this stalemate continued, the worse it would be for itself—and the better for Joe Di.
The decomposition of these laws was increasingly advantageous for Joe Di. He grasped endless cosmic principles and touched upon countless heavenly rules. Once he fused them together, he would forge a cultivation method truly his own.
Joe Di grew ever stronger, while it grew ever weaker.
"Joe Di, release me, or I will immediately annihilate my own Dao!"
Sensing the message from the Ninth Prime Law, Joe Di remained unmoved. His physical body was on the verge of surpassing the immortal-divine stage, advancing into a realm he had never dared imagine. He believed he could withstand the Ninth Prime Law's annihilation. Besides, he was constantly progressing—every moment brought new insights into countless cosmic laws.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
A series of cracking sounds echoed from the depths of Joe Di's spiritual sea. After such a long standoff with the Ninth Prime Law, how could he not know what was happening?
He knew the final moment had come—the Ninth Prime Law was about to annihilate itself. Joe Di frantically activated the Titan Body Technique, while the Starspace Technique surged to its limit, driving the chaotic energy within the Sacred Yin Pearl to tear and erode the Ninth Prime Law.
Boom! A terrifying Dao aura slammed into the Sacred Yin Pearl, and Joe Di spat out several more streams of blood.
Crack! A sharp fracture rang out, and Joe Di's heart sank—he immediately recognized it as the aura of the Sacred Yin Pearl splitting.
The Sacred Yin Pearl was cracking? That was absolutely impossible...
Joe Di instantly realized it was no illusion—the Sacred Yin Pearl had truly fractured, sabotaged by the Ninth Prime Law. Not only the Sacred Yin Pearl, but even he himself had been outmaneuvered by the Ninth Prime Law.
All these years, the Ninth Prime Law had seemingly been locked in a standoff, but in truth, it had been constantly siphoning the rule auras from the Sacred Yin Pearl. Otherwise, no matter how many laws it tore apart, it could never have shattered the Sacred Yin Pearl.
Joe Di was furious, but he also realized he was still too inexperienced.
Endless pure yin chaos surged out of the Sacred Yin Pearl. Joe Di's spiritual sea was on the verge of splitting apart. With grim determination, he resolved that no matter how cunning the Ninth Prime Law was, it would not escape unscathed today.
As the Starspace Technique whipped the chaotic energy into a frenzy, the Fivefold Elemental Sealing Array formed in Joe Di's spiritual sea, locking down the Ninth Prime Law as it tried to escape.
Boom! The Fivefold Elemental Sealing Array split apart in Joe Di's spiritual sea, the Dao rules shattered, as if the universe itself suddenly collapsed—Joe Di's entire spiritual sea caved in.
At the same time, the Ninth Prime Law emitted a series of fracturing sounds. After years of struggle with Joe Di and the Sacred Yin Pearl, it was already on the brink of exhaustion. Its final sabotage of the Sacred Yin Pearl had nearly depleted it. Now, with Joe Di willing to self-destruct rather than let it escape, it began to collapse as well.
Joe Di once again fell completely unconscious. The Ninth Prime Law had begun to collapse, dissolving into endless cosmic Dao auras, falling silent just like Joe Di's shattered spiritual sea and the broken Sacred Yin Pearl.
If not for the massive cocoon enveloping Joe Di, the endless chaotic laws from the collapse of the Ninth Prime Law, the Sacred Yin Pearl, and Joe Di’s own spiritual sea would have all dissipated into the boundless cosmos.
For a cultivator, if their spiritual sea collapses, they are essentially crippled. Pills that can repair a spiritual sea are extremely rare—even Joe Di’s Spirit Thread Pill cannot restore a collapsed sea of consciousness.
But Joe Di was different from other cultivators. Even without a spiritual sea, he could still cultivate. Thanks to his Rule Cycle, as long as he had a thought, the Rule Cycle could continue his cultivation.
Now even Joe Di’s thoughts had faded, but his will remained. He clung to a single obsession: not to die. He had to survive, to return to Earth, to return to the Temple of Forgetting.
There, Xiuqi awaited him, as did the Reincarnation Bridge he wished to refine.
The massive cocoon drifted through the void, with time slowly slipping away as it wandered.
Within the remains of Joe Di's collapsed spiritual sea, the countless shattered fragments of chaotic law and the endless chaotic aura from the Sacred Yin Pearl gradually condensed within his Rule Cycle, merging into a new existence.
As time passed, the sharp edges of this new life were worn away, until it became a tiny, round bead.
The bead floated in Joe Di’s shattered spiritual sea. Under the influence of his Rule Dao, an entirely new cosmic law began to take shape.
As Joe Di’s Rule Cycle grew ever smoother, even the cocoon enveloping his body began to slowly dissolve.
The endless fragments of law in the cocoon were not all absorbed by the bead in Joe Di’s shattered spiritual sea. Some were merged into a law within the bead, while others were cast aside by the Rule Cycle, left to drift in the vast cosmos.
A dense stream of meteors swept past, and Joe Di was caught by a fierce wind and wedged into a crevice of one of the meteors.
The meteor carrying Joe Di flew through the void for an unknown length of time, then was swept up by a chaotic spatial current and tore through the atmosphere of a planet, plunging downward.
The Stormspring Mountains are a primordial range on the Five Rivers Continent, which itself is just one of the five continents on Grand Abyss Star.
Because the Stormspring Mountains have few powerful spirit beasts and are rich in forests and rare spiritual herbs, many rogue cultivators and low-level martial artists come here seeking fortune.
Although there are few powerful spirit beasts, spending the night in the Stormspring Mountains is extremely dangerous. Most cultivators enter at dawn and leave by dusk. Now, as the day broke, many low-level martial artists began to form teams to enter the mountains.
By the roadside near the entrance to the Stormspring Mountains, a young man lay in the grass, his body covered in wounds. One glance was enough to see he was gravely injured—on the verge of death.
Yet no matter how many people entered the Stormspring Mountains, not a single one stopped to check on the wounded man.
Such things were all too common in the Stormspring Mountains. Everything of value had clearly been taken from this man. No one could tell whether he was injured by another person or by a spirit beast in the forest.
If he’d been wounded by a spirit beast, he was beyond saving. If by another person, anyone who tried to help might unwittingly make enemies—either the attacker or the young man’s friends or family.
Just then, two women and a man walked past. The man and one of the women in front saw the young man lying on the ground and quickly averted their eyes. They’d lived in the Stormspring Mountains for years and knew what to get involved in—and what to avoid.
But the woman at the back stopped, her gaze uncertain and surprised as she looked at the young man on the ground.
"Village girl, let’s go! This might be a vendetta. If we get mixed up in this, we won’t be able to survive in the Stormspring Forest." The other woman quickly tugged at her, urging her away.