Despair clouded Maya Mu's eyes as she gazed at Joe Di, her voice breaking with sorrow. "Simon Di, I have failed you."
She had always thought Joe Di entered the wormhole to rescue her and save Ryan Ni, never realizing that Ryan Ni had actually been killed by Joe Di. The truth struck her with a wave of bitter regret.
Guilt weighed heavily on Maya Mu, but it was Joe Di who felt it even more deeply—he blamed himself for her suffering. If Maya Mu were as ruthless as Wang Xie, he might have felt differently, but now, a sense of responsibility gnawed at his heart.
Joe Di understood that saving Maya Mu from Richard Ni was a hopeless fantasy. Against such overwhelming power, only raw strength could decide fate—any other hope was mere delusion.
Knowing rescue was impossible, Joe Di acted without hesitation, weaving intricate law flags into the fabric of space. No matter how much might Richard Ni possessed, he could never suspect that Joe Di could shape the laws of space with a mere thought, setting the stage for a hidden gambit.
The moment Joe Di finished weaving his law flags, a blinding white beam sliced down from the void, cleaving Maya Mu's forehead with ruthless precision.
Blood mist erupted violently as Maya Mu's soul barely emerged before it began to unravel—such was the terror of the white beam. Without hesitation, Joe Di hurled a fireball, his voice echoing with regret, "Alliance Leader Mu, forgive me—if only you had protected the young master..."
With a thunderous boom, Maya Mu's body was instantly swallowed by flames. In that same heartbeat, her soul was utterly annihilated—a tragic end, swift and merciless.
Richard Ni was taken aback by Joe Di's sudden assistance, but quickly realized that Joe Di sought his favor. Such things were commonplace and did not concern him. He'd intended to cast a fireball himself, but with Joe Di's intervention, he simply let it be, his indifference palpable.
To Richard Ni, Maya Mu was less than a speck—a mere ant among ants. It was only because she had never truly harmed Ryan Ni that her end was swift. Had she been involved in Ryan Ni's death, Maya Mu would have faced unending torment, her soul shattered again and again.
Meeting Richard Ni's cold gaze, Joe Di feigned terror, his voice trembling with respectful fear. "Senior, my cultivation is far too weak. This fireball cannot destroy her body quickly. Perhaps..."
Though Maya Mu's body was not yet fully consumed by the flames, nearly half had already burned away. Everyone present could see through Joe Di's act—his cultivation was not lacking, but Maya Mu was a refined body cultivator, and destroying her with a single fireball was wishful thinking.
Richard Ni cast a frosty, commanding glance at Joe Di, then turned to Shane Rivers. "Lead the way. I will go to the wormhole." His authority was undeniable, and the air seemed to grow heavier with his words.
Maya Mu's soul had been torn to fragments by his blade—Richard Ni had no interest in lingering here a moment longer.
"Yes..." Shane Rivers dared not hesitate for even an instant. Whether the wormhole would suppress Richard Ni's cultivation or threaten his survival was irrelevant—fear ruled his every thought.
Chang Xin shot Joe Di a cold, mocking glare, his eyes brimming with scorn and contempt. Only then did he turn on his heel and follow Richard Ni, his posture radiating disdain.
Joe Di refrained from scanning Richard Ni with his divine sense, knowing that even the slightest probe would be detected. Yet he was certain Richard Ni and his companions had gone to the wormhole—Joe Di had left law flags as signposts along the way. No matter how high Richard Ni's cultivation, he could not fathom that laws could be transformed into array flags, only able to sense them as subtle shifts in the world's rules.
Once he was sure Richard Ni had left, Joe Di raised his hand, extinguishing the fireball. Maya Mu's body lay before him, burned beyond recognition, a grim testament to the ordeal.
Joe Di's concern was not for Maya Mu's ruined body, but for the fragile soul he had managed to preserve—a shimmering hope in the void.
Retrieving the law flags, Joe Di watched as Maya Mu's anxious soul flickered into existence in the void. Even shielded by the laws, her soul continued to unravel. Relief washed over Joe Di; had Richard Ni noticed anything amiss, he too would have met a swift and certain death.
Luckily, Richard Ni dismissed him entirely, never bothering to inspect the fireball's aftermath. He could not have imagined that Joe Di, an Immortal Emperor, might conjure spatial law flags from thin air—such a feat shattered the boundaries of his understanding.
Had Ryan Ni been present, he would never have been so careless. Ryan Ni knew that Joe Di had already stepped into the domain of spatial laws, his mastery profound and dangerous.
"Simon Di, am I truly alive? How could Chairman Ni possibly..." Each word trembled on Maya Mu's soul, her confusion and disbelief palpable in the emptiness.
Before Maya Mu could finish, Joe Di gently interrupted, "Fellow Daoist Mu, open your heart and mind—I will take you away from this place..." His words carried both urgency and a promise of salvation.
"Alright." Without hesitation, Maya Mu opened her heart, allowing Joe Di to guide her into the True Spirit World—a fleeting hope in the darkness.
Joe Di departed Shane Rivers' residence at a breakneck pace, racing back to Lake Defiance. No sooner had he arrived than Zane Wu rushed over, anxiety etched in his features. "Simon Di, are you alright?" he asked, voice taut with concern.
Joe Di waved his hand dismissively. "I'm fine. But I need to enter seclusion for a while." His tone was resolute, leaving no room for doubt.
Zane Wu let out a sigh of relief. "I'm glad you're safe. I heard Richard Ni went to guard the wormhole. Also, we've made quite a stir—both of us are now in the top thousand on the contribution leaderboard, and you're ranked around five hundred." His excitement was tinged with pride and caution.
"That's not just attention—our goal is the top ten." With those words, Joe Di hurried into his cave residence, swiftly arranging several law defense arrays at the entrance, a testament to his vigilance.
Here at Lake Defiance, Joe Di could sense any approach—even if Richard Ni drew near, he would be the first to know. The air was thick with anticipation and hidden danger.
Once inside his cave, Joe Di summoned Maya Mu's fragile soul and produced her half-burned, charred body. The air was heavy with the scent of tragedy and hope.
"Simon Di, did you really save me? But..." During her time in the True Spirit World, Maya Mu had pieced together the truth—Joe Di was her savior, against all odds.
Yet she could not fathom how Joe Di had managed such a feat. The mystery gnawed at her, mingling shock with a fragile hope.
Joe Di clasped his hands, his expression filled with remorse. "I'm sorry, Fellow Daoist Mu. This time, I was the one who brought harm upon you."
"Ah..." Maya Mu was utterly bewildered by Joe Di's words. She had always thought she was the one who had wronged him—how could it be the other way around?
Joe Di straightened, his tone grave. "My true name is Joe Di—Simon is merely an alias. I suspect Ryan Ni once killed a friend of mine, so I secretly sent him into the wormhole." His words carried the weight of vengeance and hidden pain.
Maya Mu stared at Joe Di in stunned silence, the truth dawning at last. Now she understood why he had followed Ryan Ni into the wormhole—it was to exact deadly retribution.
After a long, heavy silence, Maya Mu finally sighed. "So be it. You are far more honorable than any cultivator I've met. Though I can't comprehend how you managed to save my soul in front of Richard Ni, I'm certain you risked your life. I won't hold this against you any longer." Admiration and acceptance mingled in her voice.
Even if she wanted to hold a grudge, what could she do? Now, she was nothing but a soul—Joe Di saving her here was little different from not saving her at all. Resignation filled her heart.
In a place like this, her primordial soul was doomed to fade away. Worse still, her soul was already unraveling, and soon, she would vanish into oblivion.
Joe Di breathed a deep sigh of relief and placed a jade box beside Maya Mu's charred remains. "This is a pair of Duality Blossoms I once found. They should be enough for your recovery. As for the Dao Domain, don't worry—I will personally take you there." His promise was both solemn and hopeful.
Maya Mu's primordial soul froze, stunned into silence. Only after a dozen breaths did she recover, her voice trembling with excitement. "Si—Fellow Daoist Di, did you say Duality Blossom?"
She hadn't known of the Duality Blossom before her ascension, but after years in this realm, she understood its worth. If word spread that a pair existed here, even the greatest powers of the Dao Domain would come to claim them. Such treasures were truly priceless.
The Duality Blossom was not a Dao Fruit, yet its value surpassed most Dao Fruits. It could help one attain Dao, neutralize all poisons, and reconstruct a body to merge with the primordial soul—these were only its most basic uses.
"That's right, it's a Duality Blossom." Joe Di knew its worth well. If Zane Wu hadn't shattered the void during his ascension, Joe Di would have harvested a third pair. But in that moment, even the slightest hesitation would have cost him his chance to escape the rift between realms.