After ten years of frantic escape, Di Jiu was beginning to lose hope. He had sacrificed Qin Mutian, but unfortunately, he still hadn't found a way out.
In fact, the day after Qin Mutian severed the realm, Di Jiu completely lost track of the chaotic aura. However, he could still rush forward in the correct direction. In Di Jiu's view, as long as his orientation was right, he could find a way out in just a few months. This was also Qin Mutian's belief.
Yet, Di Jiu had kept fleeing in the same direction for ten years. He trusted his own senses; even in the chaos, he wouldn't stray far from his path over such a long time—perhaps not at all.
However, ten years had passed, and he was still lost in chaos. Di Jiu stopped, knowing that continuing any further was pointless. If he kept going, he would surely deviate greatly from his course. With his rule-based escape technique, even in the vast chaos, a tiny deviation over a year would mean an infinite distance—a distance far beyond his divine sense. So, he knew there was no point in pressing on.
Having stepped into the Realm-Creating stage, even Di Jiu couldn't keep rushing through chaos for ten years without rest. Though not yet exhausted, he had to stop and recuperate.
There was almost no danger in chaos—any threat would eventually be consumed by the chaos itself. The only danger was whether he himself would become part of the chaos.
Though he knew there was no danger, before recovering, Di Jiu still set up protective arrays while keeping his Dao Eyes open to observe his surroundings.
The array flags wouldn't last long in chaos, but for Di Jiu, it was enough to restore his strength.
When Di Jiu opened his Dao Eyes, he was nearly startled.
He actually saw a blur of dazzling colors—how could this be? All these years wandering in chaos, he had used his Dao Eyes countless times, yet never once had he seen color. In the vast chaos, everything his divine sense and Dao Eyes touched was the same: endless chaos.
Now he could actually see dazzling colors—had he really found a way out after ten years?
Though Di Jiu was desperate to rush over, he restrained his impulse. He immediately grabbed fragments of the Void Mountain, refined them into array flags, and marked the spot, pointing toward the multicolored area.
If this really was the exit, he would never come back. Since he wouldn't return, marking the place meant that if Lightning ever arrived here, he would surely spot the sign.
A mark made with Void Mountain fragments could last at least a million years in chaos before being consumed.
After setting the mark, Di Jiu charged toward the blurred colors at top speed.
In just half a stick of incense, Di Jiu sensed the space around him clear. He was ecstatic; he knew this was the feeling of leaving the vast chaos. Within chaos, he had never felt so light.
He hadn't expected his direction to be correct, and that he could really leave the vast chaos this way.
But when Di Jiu's gaze fell upon dozens of vortex passages of different colors, he realized he was mistaken. He hadn't left the vast chaos—he had returned to the starting point. After passing through the Stellar Stairway, he had stood right here.
Back then, he hadn't chosen any of the vortex passages but had entered the vast chaos instead. In truth, he hadn't made the wrong choice: he severed a realm within the chaos and succeeded in creating a new one.
After all these years, he had returned to where he started. Di Jiu knew that, aside from the dozens of vortex passages, there was also a Stellar Stairway here. Unfortunately, he couldn't see the Stellar Stairway now. Without seeing it, there was no way to return through it.
Di Jiu didn't rush to choose a cosmic passage. He took a breath and glanced back at the vast chaos he had just come from.
This expanse of chaos was truly terrifying. Unless absolutely necessary, Di Jiu would never return.
At the same time, Di Jiu realized that his plan with Qin Mutian had failed. According to Qin Mutian, he should have appeared in the space where Flicker resided. In reality, he hadn't fully escaped and was still within the vast chaos.
Di Jiu could enter any vortex passage and likely leave the chaos. But he knew he couldn't choose at random. He suspected that each passage led to a different universe. Considering how hard it was to leave the Five Elements Universe, if he entered the wrong one, returning would be nearly impossible.
Even after creating his own realm, Di Jiu's divine sense couldn't penetrate these cosmic vortex passages.
Di Jiu had never felt such hesitation before. It wasn't a matter of decisiveness—there simply was no way to be decisive.
Time slipped by quickly as Di Jiu wrestled with indecision.
Boom! A burst of light erupted as a figure shot out from the brown passage. Di Jiu instinctively retreated several meters, staring in shock at the newcomer.
Could this passage not be an entrance, but an exit?
The figure landed not far from Di Jiu, immediately stowing away her protective treasure and swallowing several pills. Only now did Di Jiu see her clearly—a delicate, frail young woman. Her aura was chaotic, clearly gravely injured. As for her protective treasure, Di Jiu sensed it was no less valuable than the World Book—an absolute top-tier artifact. Unfortunately, she put it away too quickly for him to get a good look, but he vaguely sensed it resembled a Landscape Diagram.
While the delicate young woman was healing, Di Jiu did not approach or disturb her.
Several days passed before the young woman finally let out a breath and stood up. The Dao aura around her was much gentler now. Dressed in a gray cultivator's robe, she radiated a sense of purity.
"Thank you, fellow Daoist." The young woman bowed to Di Jiu as soon as she stood up, expressing her gratitude.
Di Jiu waved his hand. "I was just standing here, didn't do anything to help, so you don't need to thank me."
The young woman smiled faintly. "When I emerged, I was gravely injured. Not only did you not take advantage, you even protected me from the side. I should thank you for that."
Di Jiu didn't argue. There was no need for protection in this place, but if she insisted, he wasn't going to protest. After all, if someone had attacked her while she was healing, he would have stepped in. Besides, she clearly possessed a top-tier treasure, and he hadn't tried to seize it—perhaps another reason for her gratitude.
"My name is Di Jiu. May I ask how I should address you, fellow Daoist?" Di Jiu had been wandering here for months. Now that someone had appeared, he naturally wanted to know more.
"I am Mo Zhizhi. Greetings, Daoist Di." Mo Zhizhi nodded slightly, her tone gentle.
Mo Zhizhi? Di Jiu had never heard of her. He vaguely sensed traces of the Five Elements Universe in her cultivation, but then doubted his own perception. The feeling was strange.
"Daoist Mo, I came here by accident and can't find my way back. Could you perhaps offer some guidance?" Di Jiu didn't dwell on it. He was here to find an exit, and since Mo Zhizhi had come through one of the passages, she might know the real way out.
Accidentally arrived here? Mo Zhizhi immediately realized Di Jiu was just making conversation—there was no such thing as accidentally coming to this place.
"All I know is that this place might be the vast chaos. I truly don't know the way out. I only came here because I was fleeing for my life. I was being hunted, but fortunately I could still control my own fate, so I managed to escape here." Mo Zhizhi's words left Di Jiu both disappointed and deeply shaken.
He was disappointed that Mo Zhizhi didn't know the way out. Yet he was shocked—this was the first time he'd heard someone claim to truly control their own fate.
He had always believed his fate was in his own hands, but that was just a saying—a matter of confidence, self-reliance, and indomitable will. Yet the way Mo Zhizhi spoke, it seemed she genuinely could control her destiny. This control wasn't just willpower, but something innately real.
(That's all for today. Good night, friends!)