Joe Di's Divine Spirit Herbs were nowhere near as plentiful as his crafting materials. In just two years, every last Divine Spirit Herb he possessed had been used up.
He now had a handful of low-grade divine pills, all of them Dao Forging Pills. The best among them was the Spatial Veil Pill, which owed its quality to the Stacked Reed Grass Joe Di had obtained from the Chaos Hive.
Although he hadn't refined any truly exceptional pills, becoming a Dao Forging Pillmaster in just two years was enough to satisfy Joe Di. His only regret was that none of the Dao Forging Pills he crafted bore a single Dan Stripe.
He sensed that if he wanted to further improve his arraycraft and pillcraft, he first had to advance his cultivation and flames. Cultivation was one thing, but his flame absolutely needed to improve. Without a stronger flame, he would never be able to refine higher-level artifacts and pills.
As for pills with Dan Stripes, only a divine flame could produce them.
Within his own world, Joe Di sorted through his alchemical and crafting accomplishments from the past seven or eight years. Though he hadn’t focused on cultivation during this time, his gains were no less than if he had.
Having spent five or six consecutive years refining artifacts, especially with rule materials, Joe Di’s progress in arraycraft had also been rapid. Though he was still a second-tier Divine Arraymaster, his approach to arraycraft was unlike that of ordinary cultivators—his formations were nearly impossible to decipher.
Even some third-tier and intermediate Divine Arraymasters couldn’t create a second-tier array as flawlessly as he could.
If he couldn’t find any law fragments, so be it—he could leave now. Once outside, he’d ask around for anything that could help upgrade his flame.
Just as Joe Di was about to leave the Ninth World, he suddenly felt intense waves surging through his spiritual sea.
Joe Di was shocked to discover that the Surveillance Array he’d set up outside had been shredded to pieces. He quickly swept his Spiritual Sense outward, only to find that the giant peak he was on was also being torn apart.
A terrifying Law Fragment Vortex swept through, grinding even Joe Di’s extended Spiritual Sense into dust.
Such a frightening Law Fragment Vortex chilled Joe Di to the bone.
After more than a decade of trials in the Grand Ruins, Joe Di had certainly encountered Law Fragment Vortices before. But compared to this massive vortex, those encounters were mere breezes.
This colossal Law Fragment Vortex was like a giant shredder—anything caught in its currents was pulverized by chaotic laws.
Luckily, he was in the Ninth World; otherwise, he might not have had a chance to escape such a terrifying wave of law fragments.
The terrifying Law Fragment Vortex arrived quickly—and vanished just as fast.
In little more than half a stick of incense, the fearsome vortex faded into the distance. Emerging from the Ninth World, Joe Di found that the mountain where he’d dug his Cloudspire Sanctuary was nowhere to be seen; it had been shredded into nothing, erased from the Grand Ruins.
Two fist-sized, pale-gold crystals appeared not far from Joe Di. When his Spiritual Sense touched them, he immediately felt a dense aura of gold elemental law.
Are these Gold Law Fragments?
The thought flashed through his mind and was gone—Joe Di instantly knew these were definitely Gold Law Fragments. Without hesitation, he stepped forward and grabbed both fragments, elated.
He’d already planned to leave, but never expected to gain two Gold Law Fragments right before departing. These fragments were worth a fortune—if he sold them, he might have enough resources to break through to Dao Nurturing.
"Fellow Daoist..." Just as Joe Di was about to leave, a voice weak to the extreme called out to him. Sweeping his Spiritual Sense, he discovered a nearly shattered Primordial Soul drifting nearby. Judging by the voice, it seemed to be a female cultivator.
Before Joe Di could respond, a jade flask about half a foot tall fell from the Primordial Soul.
When Joe Di’s Spiritual Sense landed on the Primordial Soul, he immediately realized it was on the verge of complete collapse—ravaged beyond recognition by the Law Fragment Vortex. No one could save it, but with the Duality Blossom in his Ninth World, Joe Di might be able to rescue her.
Before Joe Di could speak, the Primordial Soul left another message: "Please take me back to Purelight Sect..."
Joe Di quickly replied, "You shouldn't speak right now—you're in grave danger. But there is still a slim chance for survival..."
Hearing Joe Di’s words, the Primordial Soul suddenly said, "I'm sorry, please don’t bother..."
With those words, the Primordial Soul vanished in an instant, leaving no trace behind.
Joe Di sighed, knowing the Primordial Soul had truly perished. Whether she could reincarnate was up to fate. At least she retained her consciousness at the end, and as a disciple of Purelight Sect, she should, in theory, be able to reincarnate.
When he first entered this mountain peak, he sensed that a cultivator was in secluded cultivation here. Only now did he realize that the one in seclusion was a disciple of the Purelight Sect.
Joe Di walked over and picked up the jade urn. He was still puzzled—why did the Purelight Sect disciple, who had asked him to deliver the jade urn to the sect, suddenly apologize before dying and tell him not to deliver it?
As soon as the jade urn landed in Joe Di's hand, his expression darkened. A powerful law aura within the urn clung to his hand the moment he picked it up, then began to seep into his body.
If not for his cultivation of the Rule Dao, which made him more sensitive to the laws of heaven and earth than anyone else, he might not have noticed it at all.
At this moment, Joe Di understood completely—the woman wanted him to deliver the jade urn to the Purelight Sect and then be buried with it. The Purelight Sect was said to be a lofty, prestigious sect, yet its disciples could be so despicable.
With this law's infiltration, leaving the Grand Ruins would be like carrying a giant beacon. Even if he didn’t go to the Purelight Sect, they would quickly be able to track him down.
As soon as the jade urn touched his hand, a vast and majestic aura surged forth. Joe Di was certain this jade urn was no ordinary item. With a flick of his wrist, the urn was swept into the Ninth World.
If the female cultivator had been honest and not tried to scheme against him, no matter how precious the jade urn, Joe Di would not have kept it; sooner or later, he would have delivered it to the Purelight Sect.
But this woman wanted him to deliver something at the cost of his life, which infuriated Joe Di to the extreme. If she still expected him to deliver the urn, she was dreaming. As for her final apology and plea for him not to deliver it, Joe Di guessed she still had some shred of conscience and, hearing his words, abandoned her scheme.
For anyone else, it would have been too late. Whether or not the female cultivator intended to scheme against him, the moment he picked up the jade urn, he was already caught in her trap.
After sitting down, it took Joe Di only half a stick of incense's time to strip away and assimilate the law aura that had infiltrated his body.
Under the Rule Dao, such minor tricks were nothing to him.
He could leave now.
Joe Di never forgot a path he had walked. With a flicker of his figure and his Spiritual Sense unleashed, he quickly sped toward the first layer.
Five months later, a weathered Joe Di walked out of the Grand Ruins.
A long-haired, bearded cultivator emerging from the Grand Ruins was not particularly eye-catching. Those who entered the Grand Ruins usually did so in groups, and often only one or two made it out in the end.
Joe Di did not intend to visit the gray-yellow main hall; he planned to teleport directly back to the Dao Sect.
"Wait a moment..." As Joe Di walked past the gray-yellow hall, a sudden voice called out to him.
Joe Di turned and saw a woman staring at him in shock. He recognized her—she was the one who had sold him the Grand Ruins Info Chip back then. She had tried to save him some trouble by not selling him the Navigation Chip, which had caused him some inconvenience, but he still had a favorable impression of her.
"Hello," Joe Di nodded to the woman.
"It really is you?" The woman stared wide-eyed at Joe Di, then covered her mouth, her tone full of disbelief.
She had heard more than a decade ago that Joe Di had entered the Grand Ruins alone, and she had felt some regret about it. Unexpectedly, after more than ten years, not only had Joe Di survived the Grand Ruins alone, he had even walked out by himself.
"Yes, it's me. Here, these are for you. Farewell." Joe Di tossed her a storage pouch as he spoke. In the Grand Ruins, if he had anything in abundance, it was Five Elemental Materials.
He had used up nearly ninety percent of the Five Elemental Materials for artifact crafting; the remainder was not particularly valuable to him, so he casually gave some to the female cultivator.
"Thank you, thank you..." By the time the woman reacted, Joe Di was already far away.
She watched in the direction Joe Di had disappeared, waves of shock churning in her heart. Just how powerful was he, to survive in the Grand Ruins for more than ten years and emerge unscathed?
Even Dao Step Two powerhouses and Dao Transformation cultivators rarely ventured into the Grand Ruins. Among Dao Step One experts, the genius Bai Changyi of Eternity Saint City was known as the most capable survivor in the Grand Ruins, but even Bai Changyi probably couldn't last over a decade and come out unscathed, could he?
This man was even stronger than Bai Changyi. Who exactly was he?