Felix Fang's smile froze instantly. Even though Joe Di's blade had clearly struck within the domain he controlled, his palm had just grasped at empty air.
Crack! Felix Fang's domain was actually split by the Heavenly Silk Blade, a fissure opening as the blade energy tore through. Felix Fang hurriedly shifted aside, but the force of the Heavenly Silk Blade sliced off a corner of his robe.
His cultivation was far superior to Joe Di's; Joe Di's domain shouldn't have been able to affect his own at all. Otherwise, this strike could have seriously injured him.
"Good, good..." Felix Fang was surprised but delighted. "You haven't even reached Immortal King, yet you've touched the edge of spatial law. No wonder you could refine the Starspire Tea. Manager Joe, you truly surprise me again."
Joe Di was equally surprised. In that last strike, he'd infused a trace of spatial law he'd comprehended from the giant footprint, and actually managed to slice off the robe of a late-stage Immortal Emperor.
Although Felix Fang hadn't taken him seriously and was careless, it showed that once he reached the Immortal King realm, he'd be capable of injuring Felix Fang.
This strike was both an attempt to transfer his spatial law insight from the giant footprint and a way to delay Felix Fang.
He was certain Felix Fang had waited here for so long not to kill him. Since that wasn't the case, he could afford to waste some time.
Sure enough, with just a single strike, Joe Di sensed Zhong Ao approaching. This pleased Joe Di greatly; it meant that even if he used his full power to escape with Divine Sense Escape, Zhong Ao, without merging with his physical body, wouldn't be faster than him.
"This bastard is blocking the road and robbing me. Today, I'm going to teach him a lesson." As Joe Di spoke, he stepped forward and unleashed another slash.
He wasn't saying this for Felix Fang's benefit, but for Zhong Ao—he was sure Zhong Ao understood his meaning.
Seeing Joe Di unleash his second slash, Felix Fang was at a loss for words. He finally understood why Joe Di dared to offend so many Immortal Emperors in Great Cauldron City—turns out, he was a real madman.
Watching Joe Di's blade swing toward him, Felix Fang decided to give Joe Di a lesson he'd never forget—he intended to cripple one of Joe Di's arms.
But just as his hand reached out, he felt a fierce killing intent lock onto him. That killing intent carried the aura of death—if he moved, he would surely die.
Cold sweat instantly poured down Felix Fang's face. As a seventh-level Immortal Emperor, he didn't doubt his senses—a being far stronger than him was locking him in with killing intent.
Splurt! Blood sprayed as Felix Fang's arm was severed by Joe Di and fell within his own domain.
Joe Di chuckled, stepped up to Felix Fang, and tapped Felix Fang's face with the Heavenly Silk Blade. "President Fang, should I kill you, or should I let you live?"
Felix Fang's face was pale; he had already seen Zhong Ao approaching slowly through the void. Each of Zhong Ao's steps seemed to fall upon nothingness, yet every step made Felix Fang's heart twitch with fear.
"Manager Joe, this is my fault. I was blind and provoked Brother Joe." Felix Fang didn't dare move a muscle. Zhong Ao's domain of killing intent was at least twice as strong as his own—if he moved, it would be suicide.
Joe Di sneered at Felix Fang. "Heh, just admitting your mistake with words is useless. You said earlier I gave you a big surprise—now let's see what kind of surprise you can give me."
Hearing Joe Di's words, Felix Fang was overjoyed—Joe Di didn't intend to kill him.
Joe Di naturally had no intention of killing Felix Fang. Killing him would bring no benefit. Besides, if he traveled with Zhong Ao in the future, everyone would know it was he who killed Felix Fang. People like Felix Fang were everywhere in the universe—there was no end to killing them.
Since he couldn't kill them all, he might as well take some real benefits first.
"Brother Joe, just name it—anything I can provide, I will. Oh, and I have a few things here for you to look at first." As Felix Fang spoke, he unhesitatingly tossed his ring to Joe Di.
Joe Di swept his hand and easily opened Felix Fang's ring with his divine sense. Inside were several hundred million high-grade immortal crystals, but what delighted Joe Di most was a high-grade lightning-attribute immortal spirit vein—a true treasure.
Unfortunately, there were too few forging and alchemy materials in the ring.
Joe Di didn't stand on ceremony and put the ring away. He said calmly, "I need some eighth- and ninth-grade immortal spirit herbs. Of course, top-grade forging materials are also in short supply for me."
Felix Fang quickly replied, "No problem. I guarantee I can get you at least five hundred eighth-grade immortal spirit herbs. Ninth-grade herbs are rarer, but fifty or sixty should be possible. As for forging materials, I'll do my best to collect them for you."
"Good. In that case, write me an IOU. By the way, I'll need a lot of immortal spirit herbs and forging materials from your Glaze Chamber of Commerce in the future. Next time I visit, make sure to give me a discount. If you don't, I'll just have to discount what's on you." Joe Di wasn't going to be polite—Felix Fang had clearly intended to capture him, and not killing him now was already a mercy, all thanks to the goods.
"Of course." Felix Fang didn't dare say another word. He quickly inscribed a video IOU on a jade slip and handed it to Joe Di, then produced a golden jade token. "This is the most precious VIP token from my Glaze Chamber of Commerce. With this, you can enjoy the best VIP privileges at any of our establishments."
"At least you know what's good for you. Get lost, and don't cross me again." Joe Di snorted.
"Yes." Felix Fang hurriedly grabbed his severed arm, cupped his fists to Zhong Ao standing beside Joe Di, and quickly fled.
"Your standards are too low. You let that guy go for just these few things?" Zhong Ao shook his head, speechless.
Joe Di chuckled, "What do you know? This is called casting a long line to catch a big fish."
By not killing Felix Fang, he would have a steady supply of discounted cultivation resources. If he killed Felix Fang and the Glaze Chamber of Commerce replaced him with another Immortal Emperor, he couldn't just bring Zhong Ao and rob them openly, could he?
It was normal for Zhong Ao to look down on Felix Fang's compensation. Joe Di suspected Zhong Ao came from a higher plane—otherwise, he wouldn't be so powerful.
Joe Di summoned the Ji Yun Cone and said to Dash, "Dash, help me control the Ji Yun Cone and head to this place. I need to go into seclusion for a while."
Joe Di tossed a jade slip to Dash. The jade slip marked the final location of a temporary teleportation array he had set up after escaping from Great Cauldron City.
Dash nodded, took control of the Ji Yun Cone without further comment. A place like this wasn't suitable for his cultivation. Besides, even if it were, he wouldn't cultivate here. If he couldn't recover his physical body, he'd need to find better treasures to reconstruct it—he wouldn't use this temporary body.
As soon as Joe Di entered the Ji Yun Cone, he began refining Liuluo Immortal Pills. As a seventh-grade Immortal Pill King, he produced six top-quality Liuluo Immortal Pills in just his second batch.
After refining seven or eight more batches of Liuluo Immortal Pills, and a few batches of healing pills, Joe Di was preparing to use his insight into the law of time to purify the Hui Zi Luo when Dash's voice came from outside—they had arrived.
"Dash, how did you get here so fast?" Joe Di was astonished, instantly appearing on the Ji Yun Cone's deck.
It had only been two or three days. Joe Di had expected that traveling from Moon Ruins Grave to the void teleportation array he'd set up would take months, even half a year at the fastest.
"We're really here." Joe Di swept his divine sense and immediately found the location of the teleportation array he'd set up.
"I casually inscribed a few arrays to make the Ji Yun Cone faster. Otherwise, it would have been way too slow."
Joe Di's gaze fell on the Ji Yun Cone's driving array patterns—they had indeed been replaced, but the artifact was now covered in cracks.
"Dash, is my Ji Yun Cone finished?" Joe Di's face was grim. He'd spent a fortune on it, and now it was broken after just one trip.
"Heh, the materials used to refine this Ji Yun Cone are garbage. It can probably fly for a few more days." Zhong Ao laughed, completely unconcerned that Joe Di had used up a top-grade flying immortal artifact.
Joe Di couldn't be bothered to argue. To him, the Ji Yun Cone was a top-grade immortal artifact; to Zhong Ao, it was just trash.
He stepped out of the Ji Yun Cone and landed on the foundation of a hidden void teleportation array. When he'd left this place before, he'd left behind a secret recording array. Last time, he'd been in a hurry to find time crystals and hadn't come—this time, he returned specifically to see if anyone had tracked him here.
Though many years had passed, the recording array was still there. Joe Di easily inscribed the array patterns from the recording array into a crystal ball.
A man wearing a tall crown appeared in the crystal ball, startling Joe Di—someone had really managed to track him to his final teleportation array. He didn't recognize the man in the crown.
"This recording array is pretty good—shows some real skill." Zhong Ao landed beside Joe Di.
"I'm going to find a place to undergo my tribulation and break through to the Immortal King realm. Guard me." No matter who the crowned man was, Joe Di knew all too well—too many experts were targeting him, and he was still just a Da Luo Immortal ant.