Joe Di was not afraid to take action. In a place where strength ruled, constant retreat and fear would only hasten one's demise.
Upon returning to his residence, Joe Di immediately took out two jade slips.
The jade slip about the Wormhole gave a detailed explanation: the Wormhole was simply the boundary between the Dao Domain and the Worm Domain. The Dao Domain absolutely forbade any Worm Domain creatures from entering, so cultivators guarded the Wormhole year-round.
The Wormhole between the Worm Domain and Dao Domain was heavily suppressed by the rules of heaven and earth. Once a Dao Seed was formed, it was no longer possible to remain at the Wormhole. However, almost no one could refine a Dao Seed in such a place.
Joe Di didn’t know what a Dao Seed was, but he believed the other jade slip would surely contain an explanation.
Creatures from the Worm Domain were bizarre and varied, but most carried worm poison. Especially when slain, the poison would spread even more fiercely.
Guarding the Wormhole wasn’t without benefits; most worm materials could be used to craft a variety of magical treasures.
Some worms were even delicious, while those that couldn’t be eaten could be used as fertilizer for divine spirit herbs. The Wormhole Detoxification Pill, for example, was refined from the bitter gall of certain worms.
Of course, these weren't the most important benefits. The key was that every worm slain earned Wormhole contribution points. There were only two ways to leave the Wormhole quickly: one, refine a Dao Seed; two, rank in the top ten for contribution points.
Refining a Dao Seed was out of the question; the only option was to make it into the top ten on the Wormhole Contribution Ranking.
The jade slip also introduced methods for killing various worms, but since Joe Di hadn’t seen any worms yet, he simply skimmed through them.
Setting aside the jade slip about the Wormhole, Joe Di picked up another jade slip—the introduction to the Dao Domain.
This jade slip was blunt and straightforward: true cultivators began with shaping the Dao. What did it mean to shape the Dao? It meant condensing one’s own Dao Seed and forming the embryonic shape of one’s Dao. Condensing a Dao Seed didn’t guarantee that one could shape the Dao, but without a Dao Seed, it was impossible.
At this point, Joe Di finally understood what a Dao Seed was. After an Immortal Emperor ascended to the Dao Domain, they needed to condense their own Dao Seed. Once that was done, they could attempt to shape their Dao.
After shaping one’s Dao, it could be nurtured—this was called nurturing the Dao. After nurturing came transformation, known as transforming the Dao.
From shaping to transforming the Dao, these were only the first steps in cultivating the Grand Dao.
In other words, despite all his cultivation, Joe Di hadn’t even set foot on the true path of the Grand Dao. As for the real nature of the Dao Domain, the jade slip only mentioned one thing: after leaving the Wormhole and entering the Leap Dao Gate, the first task was to choose a Dao Gate.
Only by choosing the right Dao Gate could one ensure the continuation of their Dao and reach higher levels.
Joe Di put away the jade slip, feeling that its claims were somewhat exaggerated. After all, he cultivated the Rule Dao and understood the laws of heaven and earth thoroughly. To say he hadn’t even started on the Dao path—Joe Di refused to accept that.
This jade slip was probably written by some ascended cultivators from the Wormhole, and couldn’t be fully trusted.
Joe Di didn’t begin cultivating right away. The space around Lake Defiance was already covered with his Law Array Banners. Now, Joe Di condensed one law formation after another, shrouding the entire area before opening his Eye of the Way.
He had to figure out what prevented cultivation at Lake Defiance. Otherwise, he’d rather move away.
After just half a stick of incense, Joe Di vaguely saw a red dot within Lake Defiance. However, his Eye of the Way wasn’t strong enough to discern what it was. Since even his spiritual sense couldn’t detect it, it was clearly extraordinary.
Seeing that Zane Wu was still studying the jade slip, Joe Di simply dove into Lake Defiance.
The moment he entered Lake Defiance, Joe Di felt his immortal essence grow chaotic, and even his sea of consciousness became turbulent. It was as if foreign laws were trying to invade his mind and will.
Joe Di’s sea of consciousness was no ordinary one. Even if he allowed these law auras to seep in, he would remain unafraid. Not only did his sea of consciousness contain the Ninth World, but even without it, he could restrain such bizarre law auras.
Joe Di cultivated the Rule Dao of heaven and earth, so he didn’t let these law auras invade his mind. Instead, his Law Array Banners swept out one after another.
In just a short time, the law auras trying to invade Joe Di’s mind and will were wrapped up by his law formations and instantly dispersed into nothingness.
What Joe Di didn’t expect was that this was only the beginning. As soon as he destroyed the first law aura trying to invade his mind, a second and third followed. After that, a continuous wave of law auras surged toward him.
Joe Di sighed. No wonder it was called Lake Defiance. Only someone like him could withstand so many law auras trying to invade. Anyone else would have been overwhelmed—the collapse of the sea of consciousness would be the mildest outcome. As for the destruction of one's Dao foundation, that was a certainty.
Joe Di’s law formations swept out mercilessly, devouring every foreign law aura, then grinding them away without hesitation—no matter how many came.
At first, Joe Di was on the defensive, but soon the power and reach of his law formations grew. He ended up wrapping the entire space, inside and outside the lake, grinding away any special law aura that could infiltrate mind and will.
After half a stick of incense, Joe Di reached the spot at the lake’s bottom where the red dot was located.
Now, even with his low-level Eye of the Way, Joe Di could clearly see what the red dot was—a seven-pointed red crystal radiating wave after wave of violent law aura.
Joe Di was very familiar with this law aura—it was the same kind he’d just ground away with his law formations. Its sole purpose seemed to be invading a cultivator’s mind and will.
Looks like Lake Defiance’s problems were all caused by this thing.
It seemed that Lake Defiance’s troubles were all caused by this object.
Joe Di drove his spiritual sense, wrapping the seven-pointed red crystal with Law Array Banners and penetrating it with his mind.
The moment Joe Di’s spiritual sense touched the seven-pointed red crystal, a violent Dao aura surged forth. Joe Di wasn’t polite; his Law Array Banners swept out one after another. Not only that, his spiritual sense transformed into blade light, slicing into the crystal.
Feeling the law aura surge like a raging tide, Joe Di was secretly amazed. Even with his Starsea sea of consciousness and cosmic veins, it was a struggle to cope. Any other cultivator would surely die. Compared to this seven-pointed red crystal, at least Joe Di had his law formations.
In less than half an hour, Joe Di completely locked down the law aura within the red crystal. As his own Dao aura seeped in, Joe Di instantly understood what it was.
It was actually a Dao Seed. Someone had placed a Dao Seed at Lake Defiance—what did that mean? There was no need to ask; a Dao Seed was condensed from a cultivator’s Dao. By rights, a Dao Seed was everything to a cultivator, so why would it be left here?
No matter who put their Dao Seed in such a place, it couldn’t be for any good reason. Without hesitation, Joe Di forged several Law Nails and drove them into the Dao Seed. Then he layered restriction seals over it, thoroughly binding the Dao Seed before tossing it into his Ninth World.
In his Ninth World, no matter how powerful the Dao Seed’s owner was, they’d be subdued.
...
Almost at the same moment Joe Di put away the seven-pointed Dao Seed, a piercing scream echoed from the closed-door training chamber of Samuel Jade, the young master of Star Dock in the Dao Domain.
When people rushed into the young master’s training chamber, they found Samuel Jade bleeding from all seven orifices, unconscious and in a deep coma.