To Joe Di's disappointment, he never saw Miles Steward appear.
According to his plan, if this beast tide could also take out Miles Steward, that would be perfect. But since Miles Steward never showed up, there was nothing Joe Di could do. He didn’t have the guts to charge into the crowd and kill Miles Steward himself.
Since the Soul Ancestors couldn’t organize a coordinated attack, everyone fought in chaos, like scattered sand, and the cultivators suffered heavy casualties.
At first, Joe Di thought those Soul Ancestors were simply foolish. But as things went on, he began to doubt himself—maybe these Soul Ancestors weren’t mindless at all, but were deliberately letting casualties rise.
Once Joe Di realized this, he sighed inwardly. The cultivation world truly was cruel. After these cannon fodder died, their storage bags would surely be collected. And maybe there were other reasons behind it besides the storage bags. Joe Di didn’t want to dig deeper—he was one of the cannon fodder himself.
With this realization, Joe Di became even more reluctant to kill fiend beasts. Second-rank fiend beast materials were still somewhat useful to him, but trying to collect them now would be too risky.
There were fourth-rank fiend beasts here. If he went too far, a fourth-rank fiend beast could kill him in an instant. In this place, no Soul Ancestor would help him fend off those great fiends.
Although Joe Di didn’t kill many fiend beasts, his intimidating presence still dominated the area.
Even first-rank Blackhowler fiend beasts were intelligent. When Joe Di’s Octagonal Warhammers struck, they died instantly. Now that Joe Di had left the beast horde, very few fiend beasts dared to charge at him.
Even first-rank fiend beasts were intelligent. When Joe Di’s hammers struck, they died instantly. Now that Joe Di had left the beast horde, very few fiend beasts dared to charge at him.
"Senior, my strength is too weak. I really can't hold out any longer. May I seek shelter by your side?" A late-stage Essence Training cultivator, covered in blood, retreated to Joe Di and spoke in a trembling voice.
Before he finished speaking, a peak first-rank Blackfur Howler lunged at him. Joe Di swung his hammer sideways and killed the fiend beast instantly.
"Thank you, Senior. I also have a piece of Nightthread Ore." As he spoke, the late-stage Essence Training cultivator produced a third-grade Nightthread Ore and handed it to Joe Di.
Joe Di hadn’t thought much of helping out, but when the artifact cultivator offered him an ore, he hesitated briefly before accepting it. "Alright, since that's the case, you can stay by my side."
Since he’d helped, it was only natural to accept something in return. That was the rule of the cultivation world. If he helped without taking anything, it would actually be seen as a bad thing.
"Senior, I have a third-grade Phoenixleaf Vine." Seeing that Joe Di, a Foundation Stage cultivator, had offered protection for just a third-grade ore, another Essence Training cultivator hurried over to Joe Di's side.
Third-grade spiritual herbs and ores were extremely precious for Essence Training cultivators. Compared to their lives, they wouldn’t hesitate to offer even fourth- or fifth-grade materials in such a moment.
More than seventy percent of the cultivators killed in this beast tide were Essence Training cultivators. If you lost your life, what use was there in keeping these ores and materials?
Soon, more and more people gathered around Joe Di. He didn’t turn anyone away—after all, he was just biding his time here.
Eventually, even some Foundation Stage cultivators joined Joe Di, drawn by the overwhelming power of his twin octagonal hammers.
Whether it was materials, ores, jade slips, or magical artifacts, Joe Di accepted everything.
As more cultivators gathered, Joe Di began to organize them into a defensive alliance under his leadership. All they had to do was follow his defensive strategy.
In fact, Joe Di could have formed an offensive alliance. With that, the number of fiend beasts killed would have increased tenfold.
But Joe Di wasn’t about to do something so foolish. An offensive alliance would require arraycraft repositioning. If he did that, his identity as an arraycraft expert would be exposed.
That wasn’t all—the greater danger was that too much aggression would attract the attention of high-ranked fiend beasts.
The chaotic battle lasted for most of the day. Afterward, several Soul Ancestors clearly increased their attack intensity. The beast tide seemed to realize it couldn’t win and began to retreat.
Joe Di and the others slowly withdrew and returned to their own skyships.
"Brother Joe Di, I knew you’d be alright!" Felix Zheng, already back in his room, exclaimed with delight upon seeing Joe Di.
"Junior Sister Celia, were you injured?" Joe Di was surprised to see Celia Qi had only one arm left.
"Thank you for your concern, Senior Brother Joe Di. I’m already grateful to have survived." Celia Qi replied with a somber expression, unwilling to say more.
Felix Zheng sighed, "Junior Sister Celia encountered a peak second-rank Twintail Fox and lost an arm. Compared to Junior Brother Zane, she was lucky. Junior Brother Zane ran into a third-rank Feral Tiger and didn’t make it back."
Joe Di instinctively glanced at the main cultivation chamber. Felix Zheng quickly added, "Senior Sister Sherry Frost was luckier and wasn’t injured. After the battle, she went into seclusion."
Joe Di nodded. "You all rest for a while. I’m going to enter seclusion too."
Cultivators fight for their lives—getting injured is inevitable. If he hadn’t obtained the gray stone and that golden lightning, he would have died long ago.
After setting up a restriction in his room, Joe Di sorted through his spoils.
At least sixty or seventy people had sought shelter behind him during the beast tide, and none of them offered anything too shabby. An Essence Training cultivator wouldn’t dare give a Foundation Stage senior something worthless—he might just kick them away.
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Most of the materials were third-grade, perfect for Joe Di’s artifact forging.
Besides third-grade materials, there were also jade slips with spell techniques. There were no cultivation method slips—those seeking his protection weren’t fools; they knew a Foundation Stage cultivator wouldn’t switch to someone else’s technique.
The spell techniques were all rather ordinary—far inferior to those Joe Di had obtained from the Qi Trading House.
Joe Di didn’t mind—he hadn’t helped others for profit anyway. In that situation, he was just lending a hand.
After sorting through all the jade slips, Joe Di was delighted to find one containing a Mindshift Stone.
Joe Di had long wanted a Mindshift technique. He’d raided several Qi Trading House locations, even their headquarters in the Northern Domain, but never found a single Mindshift Stone.
Now, he’d obtained a Mindshift Stone here by pure chance—a true stroke of luck.
Joe Di immediately began studying the escape technique slip. Such techniques could save your life at any moment, which was why they were so rare in merchant houses.
This escape technique slip didn’t look ancient; it was probably a replica.
Even a replica escape technique slip was extremely valuable. Who knew which cultivator, desperate to survive, had handed it over to him?
"There are countless escape techniques in the world—some harness metal, wood, water, fire, or earth; others rely on tools, blood, or the body. But this technique depends only on spiritual sense, making it a Mindshift. Thought is emptiness, vastness, the boundless universe…"
It turned out to be a Mindshift technique. According to the description, the stronger your spiritual sense, the farther you could escape. In theory, you could escape to anywhere your spiritual sense could reach.
The more Joe Di read, the more excited he became. He soon understood why the cultivator had given him this technique—it required an astonishingly high level of spiritual sense.
His spiritual sense and true essence were both compressed through star vein cultivation, making them far stronger than ordinary cultivators’. With his current spiritual sense, he could probably match a fourth-level Golden Core cultivator. Yet when he tried practicing the escape technique, he still found his spiritual sense insufficient. The main reason was that his spiritual sense wasn’t condensed or strong enough.
If even his spiritual sense wasn’t enough, who could actually cultivate this escape technique? Maybe only Soul Ancestors. But then, Soul Ancestors could simply use their true essence to escape. If the technique required spiritual sense to be condensed to such a degree, perhaps even Soul Ancestors couldn’t cultivate it.
Regardless of whether he could master the escape technique, Joe Di was determined to study the jade slip.
While others couldn’t condense their spiritual sense, Joe Di could do so using the star veins.
He kept trying the method described in the jade slip, then found ways to compress his spiritual sense through the star veins, making it increasingly solid.
Time passed as Joe Di kept practicing and compressing his spiritual sense. During this period, no one disturbed his cultivation.
After more than half a month, Joe Di was delighted to discover that, while practicing the Spiritual Sense Escape technique, he crashed into the restriction at his door from the innermost part of his room.
He’d only crossed a few meters, but he was overjoyed. No matter what, he’d already gotten started with the escape technique. Next, he needed to do two things: first, relentlessly study the technique; second, continually strengthen and condense his spiritual sense.
(That’s all for today’s update. Good night, friends!)