Joe Di tore open the boundary and returned to Earth. Decades of change had passed; the Lethe Mountains, now nearly devoid of fiend beasts, looked even more desolate.
"Grandfather, did my mother once live here?" Nina Di gazed in surprise at the small courtyard atop Lethe Temple.
Joe Di had never told her about the origins of the Di Family; she simply assumed the Di Family was like the Ning Clan, both being large cultivation families.
Now, arriving at Lethe Temple, she realized that the spiritual energy here was even less than the outskirts of the Torrent Springs Mountains where she used to live.
"Yes, your mother once lived here..." Joe Di did not continue. He thought of Autumn Waters after her birth, and how he had never fulfilled his duty as a father, feeling deep regret.
"Grandfather, Mother surely understands you had your reasons." Nina Di did not hold grudges—not because she lacked emotional intelligence, but because years of wandering with Axel and Yana Rain had taught her much. Seeing Joe Di’s expression, she knew he felt guilty toward her mother.
Joe Di did not explain further. Pointing at the small courtyard, he said, "The cultivation resources in your ring are enough for your training. I have matters to attend to and cannot stay with you. If you get bored alone, you can visit the mundane cities for a while."
Nina Di was at Foundation Establishment Fifth Layer and had over ten years of survival experience in the Torrent Springs Forest. On Earth, she would face little danger—even innate experts would not threaten her. Besides, Joe Di had left a rule imprint on her, so even those beyond the innate realm could not easily harm her.
"Grandfather, what about you?" Nina Di asked, looking at Joe Di in confusion.
If Grandfather wanted to enter seclusion, staying on Dayuan Star would be better than here.
"I have some matters to attend to, and I'm not sure how long it will take, but I'll be right beneath Lethe Temple," Joe Di said. His only purpose in returning was to refine and take away the Reincarnation Bridge.
"Okay, I understand," Nina Di replied quickly.
"Apart from the divine sense escape technique, I'll also teach you the Five Elements escape technique. If your cultivation doesn't progress much, make sure to take time to master these techniques." After instructing her, Joe Di burrowed underground.
In just a few minutes, Joe Di arrived outside a dark, wooden bridge.
When Joe Di's cultivation was lower, his divine sense could only vaguely sense the bridge. Now, as his divine sense touched the bridge again, he could clearly perceive its presence, and the ancient characters for 'Reincarnation' became tangible.
Without hesitation, Joe Di stepped onto the bridge, instantly enveloping it with his divine sense. Rule imprints fell upon the bridge, and at the same time, the rule cycle connected it together.
Almost as soon as Joe Di stepped onto the bridge, it dimmed again, as if it might disappear the next moment.
But Joe Di's Dao of rules had already formed its own system. As the bridge dimmed to a certain degree, it was influenced by Joe Di's divine sense rules, and the rule cycle permeated the bridge.
Boom! Sensing someone trying to refine it, the Reincarnation Bridge erupted with endless rule aura. Joe Di's spiritual sea seemed to be flooded with fragments and auras of reincarnation from across the universe.
A sharp pain struck him, and Joe Di could no longer focus on refining the Reincarnation Bridge. His rule cycle frantically wrapped around the reincarnation fragments and aura pouring into his spiritual sea. If he didn't refine these fragments quickly, his spiritual sea would burst.
At this moment, Joe Di felt immensely grateful that his spiritual sea had once been sabotaged, and even more grateful for possessing the Ninth World.
If his spiritual sea had not been sabotaged and transformed into a starry domain, he would have had no resistance at all; the first wave would have instantly annihilated his spiritual sea.
The Reincarnation Bridge churned endlessly, enveloping Joe Di in infinite nether aura. At this moment, sitting atop the bridge, Joe Di seemed as if he had already perished, his body frozen by the yin energy.
At first, Joe Di could still spare a trace of consciousness to observe the outside world, but soon his entire being was immersed in the bridge’s aura of reincarnation.
The aura on the bridge kept changing, and its fluctuations gradually weakened. Yet Joe Di seemed oblivious, lost within his own world.
...
Magic Garment Mountain is considered the premier mountain of the Magic Garment Immortal Continent. Not only is it famous there, but it is also renowned across the Four Immortal Continents.
Most famous of all is the Magic Garment Summit.
The Magic Garment Summit usually lasts around a hundred years, but the actual debate only takes a few days at most.
The longest part is the cultivation at the Magic Garment Immortal Spring before the summit.
Magic Garment Mountain was chosen as the site of the summit not only for its secret realm but also for its Immortal Spring. Typically, the Magic Garment Summit features the five strongest sects of the Magic Garment Immortal Continent. Participants include the sect masters, their heirs, and the official witnesses.
Once the summit begins, the Immortal Spring opens. The heirs of the five sect masters enter the Magic Garment Immortal Spring for a hundred years of cultivation, while the sect masters debate atop Magic Garment Mountain for a hundred years.
After a hundred years, the Immortal Spring is nearly depleted and will only reopen at the next summit. At this time, the five heirs return to the mountain top for the second phase, the Dao duel—the most crucial part of the Magic Garment Summit.
The first-place winner enters Magic Garment Mountain for a month; after they leave, the second-place winner enters for a month, and so on.
Magic Garment Mountain is only so large. Although the interval between summits is long, new top-grade immortal materials emerge each time. The later one enters, the fewer resources they gain.
Thus, only first and second place in the Magic Garment Summit matter. Strictly speaking, only first place truly matters.
Originally, the five sects were Yaohua Snow Mountain, Star Demon Palace, Skycloud Dao Sect, Swordshift Immortal Sect, and Unending Immortal Sect. However, when Eugene Xiling, sect master of Unending Immortal Sect, went to Cauldron Haven to trouble Joe Di, he was killed by Joe Di.
Now, only Yaohua Snow Mountain, Skycloud Dao Sect, Star Demon Palace, and Swordshift Immortal Sect remain to participate in the Magic Garment Summit.
Unexpectedly, Yaohua Snow Mountain sent someone to invite Joe Di as a summit witness, but he was not home. Blackfire insisted on bringing Longsun Arlo to Magic Garment Mountain.
Longsun Arlo is the son of Marlon Jace. Even if he changed his name, he is still Marlon Jace's son. Now that Longsun Arlo wants to participate in the summit, the other three sects naturally object.
Since Star Demon Palace has already chosen Jie Cheng as heir, Longsun Arlo cannot participate in the summit.
Blackfire insisted they were filling in for Unending Immortal Sect. The summit was meant for five sects, and since Unending Immortal Sect was gone, he and Longsun Arlo took their place. Longsun Arlo had changed his name, so even if Marlon Jace was displeased, he could only swallow his anger.
He feared no one else, but dared not show any disrespect to Joe Di.
What the sect masters found most contemptible was that, while the five heirs entered the Immortal Spring to cultivate, the sect masters and invited witnesses began the actual summit. Blackfire, unable to participate in the debate, just wandered around, picking his nose and eyes, and finally left the venue with his hands behind his back.
If Blackfire weren't backed by Joe Di, someone lowering the summit's prestige like him would have been killed long ago.
...
Atop Magic Garment Mountain, Yaohua Snow Mountain's sect master, Morrow Snow, stopped the debate and looked toward the Immortal Spring, smiling, "A hundred years have passed. I think the Immortal Spring is about to close, and the five heirs will soon emerge."
Just as the others were about to agree, thunder suddenly rumbled down.
Whether it was Morrow Snow, Yue Boundless, Marlon Jace, or Zhou Swordless, their expressions changed. As top Immortal Emperors, they could all tell this was an Immortal Lord tribulation.
There is an age limit for entering the Immortal Spring during the Magic Garment Summit. No matter how talented, it should be impossible to break through to Immortal Lord there.
But now someone has broken through to Immortal Lord in the Immortal Spring—how can you debate Dao with a group of Immortal Kings and one Immortal Lord?