Joe Di lamented in his heart—what a pity! If only he had obtained the Origin Fruit, perhaps he truly could have refined a batch of Prime Dao Pills in the future.
Now, he was just one step away from entering the Prime Realm. If he had a Prime Dao Pill, he would be almost certain to break through.
Lance Wen clearly hadn’t considered a woman’s feelings. If he had simply ended the topic of the Origin Fruit, perhaps Jade Lin would have looked for a chance to apologize to him.
Unfortunately, he continued, "We’re at the peak of Transformation, but without the Origin Fruit, who knows when we’ll ever reach the Prime Realm..."
There was a trace of disappointment and confusion in his tone.
Jade Lin’s anger flared up again. "Lance Wen, what do you mean by that? How have I ever wronged you? Are you going to complain about one Origin Fruit for two lifetimes? Plenty of people never get an Origin Fruit in their entire lives, and they still manage to reach the Second Step of Dao Ascension! Look at you—so pathetic..."
Lance Wen, having fallen from the hope of reaching the Second Step of Dao Ascension, felt bitter inside. Upon hearing Jade Lin’s words, he instinctively retorted, "Then tell me—who has ever reached the Second Step of Dao Ascension without an Origin Fruit? Besides, even if someone did, they must have relied on something else."
"Did Emperor Ye ever use an Origin Fruit to reach the Second Step? If you didn’t get one, then you just didn’t." At this, Jade Lin’s emotions surged. She thought of how Lance Wen still couldn’t let go of that single Origin Fruit after all these years. Where had their mutual love and dependence gone? A sudden sadness welled up in her heart, and she could no longer stay on the ship. She rushed out, disappearing into the distance.
Lance Wen snapped out of his dejection in an instant. He hurried out of Joe Di’s ship to chase after her, but not before thanking Joe Di for the Dao Fruit Wine. "If fate allows, we’ll meet again."
Joe Di acted as if he hadn’t noticed Lance Wen and Jade Lin leaving. In his mind, Jade Lin’s words kept echoing.
Without the Origin Fruit, is it truly impossible to reach the Second Step?
According to Jade Lin, Emperor Ye advanced to the Second Step without relying on the Origin Fruit. If others can do it, why can't Joe Di?
He cultivated the Dao of Laws and had condensed the Ninth World—how was he inferior to anyone? Besides, when he advanced to the peak of Transformation, his insights into the void grew deeper. With his Supreme Dao Vein and Primordial Chaos Essence, there was no reason he couldn't break through to the Prime Realm.
Why must he aim for the Void Market to obtain a Prime Dao Fruit before attempting the Second Step? Just as he once advanced from Dao Forging to Dao Nurturing, and from Dao Nurturing to Transformation, did he ever rely on Dao Pills or Dao Fruits for those breakthroughs? If his Dao of Laws required the aid of Dao Fruits, it would be an insult to his path. Dao Fruits are formed from the rules and energies of heaven and earth—they can heal, restore divine essence, and serve other purposes, but they shouldn't be used to break through one’s Dao realm.
At the very least, he shouldn't pin his hopes on such things. Since he began cultivating the Dao of Laws, he could no longer see himself as an ordinary cultivator.
Besides, the Void Market is nothing like Crimson Sanctuary—there’s no Unity Emperor there. What happened to Lance Wen could easily happen to him too.
With that in mind, Joe Di steered the ship and changed course, no longer heading toward the Void Market but turning around instead.
"Brother Di, aren’t we going to the Void Market?" Dean Carter asked hurriedly when he saw Joe Di change the ship’s direction.
Joe Di replied resolutely, "We’ll go to the Void Market, but not yet. I must reach the Second Step before heading there."
On his way here, he’d come across an abandoned star continent. Joe Di now planned to break through to the Second Step there.
"Ah..." Dean Carter stared blankly at Joe Di. After a long pause, he finally asked, "Brother Di, you’re not at the Second Step yet?"
In Dean Carter’s eyes, he had always assumed Joe Di was already at the Prime Realm, the Second Step of Dao Ascension.
Joe Di chuckled, "If I were at the Second Step, would I be hiding from Jaden Dai? Jaden Dai isn’t nearly that intimidating."
Back when he was just at the early Transformation Realm, he’d dared to wait for Jaden Dai outside Crimson Sanctuary. If he reached the Prime Realm, would he ever fear Jaden Dai?
What were the Ten Dao Prodigies to him? That was only true for others. Before Joe Di, not even the Ten Dao Prodigies mattered. Even Emperor Xander—if he wanted Joe Di’s life, Joe Di would fight him head-on.
Dean Carter’s mouth fell open, his heart surging with shock. How strong was Joe Di, really? Able to defeat a Prime Realm cultivator while only at the Transformation Realm—he’d seen it with his own eyes, but even hearing about it would be hard to believe.
Then he remembered that he was at Dao Nurturing Perfection. If Joe Di went into seclusion to break through to the Prime Realm, wouldn’t he also have a chance to reach the Transformation Realm?
...
Several days later, Joe Di’s ship landed on that abandoned planet.
Here, Joe Di began refining Array Banners and setting up a Defensive Array. He chose this place for his breakthrough to the Prime Realm and couldn’t risk being disturbed.
One Array Banner after another was set down by Joe Di, and finally even the Five Direction Banners were placed.
With the four Five Direction Banners, Joe Di set up a Pseudo-Seventh Level Divine Array outside this small abandoned planet. Beneath this array, he also arranged a Spirit Convergence Array and a Concealment Array.
After finishing these protective arrays, Joe Di didn’t hesitate—he immediately took out three Supreme Dao Veins and placed them beneath the planet.
He had obtained seven complete Supreme Dao Veins and two broken ones from Harmony Hall, thanks to Jaden Dai. He used two for the Dao Domain Guardian Array, and after accounting for what he’d spent on cultivation, he still had five complete Supreme Dao Veins left.
When Joe Di placed the three Supreme Spirit Veins, Dean Carter shivered with excitement. What kind of spiritual energy was this? With such dense divine essence, if he couldn’t break through to the Transformation Realm using the Nine-Stripe Skycloud Pill, he’d be a fool.
What shocked Dean Carter even more was that, before he’d even taken out the Nine-Stripe Skycloud Pill, he sensed an aura so pure it was overwhelming. This was...
Primordial Chaos Essence? Dean Carter gazed at Joe Di’s cultivation spot, realizing that following Joe Di had truly led him to an extraordinary opportunity. Joe Di’s origins were a mystery—not only did he possess Supreme Dao Veins, but even Primordial Chaos Essence. He was surely someone blessed by the greatest fortune in the universe.
While Dean Carter was still marveling, Lightning had already found a spot closest to Joe Di and began absorbing the energy of heaven and earth.
As Joe Di enveloped himself in Primordial Chaos Essence, he began to frantically circulate his Dao of Laws, his mind and spirit merging once again with the rules of the void.
At this moment, not only was Joe Di’s Dao of Laws running at full intensity—even his Ninth World was fusing with the Primordial Chaos Essence and his Dao intent.
Joe Di’s Dao held that everything in the universe followed its own rules, and these rules were built from countless fundamental laws. As his Dao circulated, endless foundational law auras began to churn, reorganize, and condense in the space around him.
The Primordial Chaos Essence, wrapped in divine essence, did not leak from Joe Di’s protective arrays. Except for a small portion absorbed by Lightning and Dean Carter, ninety-nine percent of the chaos essence was swept away by Joe Di and fused into his Dao.
Surging law auras shifted from scattered to solid, wrapping Joe Di in a cocoon of Dao, as if a primordial cosmic resonance was thundering within its shell.
Fragments of various laws flickered around the cocoon, then merged into it. A profound, endless breath of the void also appeared outside the cocoon, and likewise, merged within.
Within this chaos essence, Joe Di’s Dao of Laws was like a seed meeting earth and water—there was a faint, delicate hum, as if new sprouts were breaking through the soil. A brand-new aura of rules appeared around him, and his momentum soared as the law aura grew ever more majestic.
The cocoon formed by chaos essence and divine essence around Joe Di’s Dao of Laws gradually melted away, while the vast aura of laws in the space only grew more boundless as it dissolved.
(That’s all for today’s update. Good night, friends!)