It took Joe Di a full year to completely stabilize his cultivation at the early Dao Nurturing stage.
And that was with a pile of God Origin Pills at his disposal; without them, stabilizing his cultivation might have taken nearly ten years. Once his realm was consolidated, Joe Di stopped cultivating. At his current level, making further progress in the short term was extremely difficult.
Given that, he decided to focus on alchemy instead. He had plenty of divine spirit herbs on hand; after refining pills for a while, he could leave Grandridge.
In fact, ever since learning that enlightenment at Grandridge meant attaining someone else's Dao, Joe Di had wanted to search for a Dao vein here. Yet from the moment he entered Grandridge until now, he hadn’t found a Dao vein—he hadn’t even found a decent cultivation site.
Clearly, Grandridge’s reputation far exceeded its actual effectiveness—it was somewhat overrated. In terms of fame, Grandridge was far superior to the Vast Ruins, but in Joe Di’s opinion, the trial effects of the Vast Ruins were much better than Grandridge.
When Joe Di took out the Genesis Cauldron, a sudden memory struck him. Back on the Cycle Bridge, when he’d nearly had his soul swept away by Cycle Resonance, a faint aura of living wood had abruptly jolted him awake. If not for that subtle wood aura, he might have already perished in the surging cycle yin energy.
Previously, Joe Di had been distracted by thoughts of the Rainbowwing Lightning Bug, and coupled with the joy of his Dao Nurturing breakthrough, he hadn’t recalled this incident until now.
What could have awakened him from that state of oblivion? In his spiritual sea, besides the World Tree, what else could have done it? He’d once obtained a World Tree Branch, which self-destructed to help him break the Fivefold Elemental Sealing Array. After the branch exploded, it left behind a small piece of World Tree Heart, which ultimately fused with the Genesis Cauldron.
Looking back, it was surely the World Tree Heart that had roused him.
Joe Di felt deeply ashamed—he’d once promised not to use the Genesis Cauldron for pill refinement, and that when he was able, he would help restore the Genesis Cauldron and that small piece of World Tree Heart to their true forms.
Now that his Ninth World had taken shape, Joe Di knew he could finally attempt this task.
With this realization, Joe Di lost all interest in alchemy. He hurriedly entered the Ninth World. Whether it was to repay kindness or to restore the World Tree within the Ninth World, these were now his utmost priorities.
As soon as he stepped into the Ninth World, Joe Di knew he hadn't been mistaken. The faint spiritual wood aura from the Genesis Cauldron was the same presence that had warned him before.
"Thank you," Joe Di murmured, gently stroking the Genesis Cauldron, his heart overflowing with gratitude. It wasn't the Ninth World itself that had warned him, but the World Tree Heart within it.
The moment Joe Di's hand touched the Genesis Cauldron, he sensed profound and mysterious rules of spiritual wood permeating between heaven and earth. He quickly closed his eyes, allowing himself to become fully immersed.
Originally, Joe Di hadn't planned to enter seclusion when he entered the Ninth World, but now he was completely absorbed in comprehending the wood element rules of the World Tree.
When Joe Di finally awoke with a start, he realized that he had spent five months immersed in enlightenment within the Ninth World.
Joe Di raised his hand, continuously casting law restrictions. After an hour, a faint rule vortex appeared before him.
The rule vortex fused with the soil of the Ninth World, forming a sizable pit. Joe Di grabbed the Genesis Cauldron once more, channeling strands of wood element rules through his restrictions and into the cauldron. The Genesis Cauldron gradually blurred, dissolving into streams of rules that seeped into the vortex pit.
Joe Di placed nearly all his divine crystals around the pit where the World Tree Heart was planted, yet he could still sense that the spiritual energy was far from sufficient.
For the World Tree to sprout again, it would need a Dao Vein.
He couldn’t afford to go into seclusion. Regardless of whether Grandridge had a Dao Vein or not, he had to search for one.
As soon as Joe Di exited the Ninth World, he sensed the aura of the Thunderbird.
The Thunderbird had clearly been here, deliberately leaving its aura before flying off into the distance.
Without hesitation, Joe Di followed the trail. After comprehending the rule evasion technique, his speed wasn’t the fastest in the Dao Domain, but among first-step Dao cultivators, none could match him.
After just over an hour, Joe Di stopped before the ruins of a sect, abandoned for who knows how long. Even among the ruins, one could still sense traces of its former glory.
Now, Joe Di didn’t need to sense the Thunderbird’s aura—his divine sense swept across a blasted-open hidden array gate.
Joe Di stepped through the gate, finding a winding Nine-bend Staircase leading downward beneath his feet. He swiftly traversed the staircase and landed before a Black Jade Stone Gate. Above the gate, several words were inscribed: Titan Saint Sect Body Refinement Pool.
Seeing the name Titan Saint Sect, Joe Di immediately sensed a connection between his own Titan Body Refinement Technique and this sect.
Joe Di couldn’t tell what the Black Jade Stone Gate was made of—his divine sense penetrated it without any reaction. The gate bore marks of recent attacks.
Without hesitation, Joe Di kicked the gate squarely in the center, and it swung open with a sudden jolt.
To Joe Di’s astonishment, there were more than twenty people inside. At the center was a pool spanning several dozen meters. The cultivators were all seated cross-legged in the pool, most clustered at the edges, with only a few daring to venture slightly further in.
As soon as Joe Di’s divine sense touched the pool, he felt a stabbing pain—clearly, this pool was no ordinary place.
Immediately, Joe Di saw the Thunderbird pinned to a stone pillar at the pool’s edge by a long spike, its head drooping, uncertain whether it was alive or dead.
Joe Di was furious. Without hesitation, he strode over, pulled the spike free, and placed a pill into the Thunderbird’s beak.
"Heh heh!" A bald man in the pool sneered, fixing his gaze on Joe Di. "You’ve got guts, brat—daring to snatch our competition prize."
Every cultivator in the pool, including the sneering bald man, looked at Joe Di with mocking eyes. Joe Di cultivated the Dao of Rules—unless he wished it, no one could discern his true cultivation level. Yet he appeared unremarkable, lacking any imposing aura, standing there as naturally as a blade of grass or a tree by the roadside, completely unobtrusive.
Joe Di ignored Serena Yu entirely, summoning the Azure Veil Blade and slashing directly at the bald man.
This bald man was already at the late Dao Forging stage, his aura surging and formidable. As Joe Di unleashed the Azure Veil Blade toward him, the other cultivators in the pool were left stunned.
Who was this guy, daring to attack Ji Feng of Eternity Saint City? Was he courting death?
"You’re seeking death…" Ji Feng roared, drawing a silver-white spiked halberd and swinging it at Joe Di.
Crack! As the blade light swept through, the sound of an artifact domain shattering rang out. Ji Feng’s halberd technique hadn’t even fully formed before its divine law was instantly broken.
"Shattered divine law technique…" Ji Feng barely had time to cry out in shock before Joe Di’s Azure Veil Blade transformed mid-swing into a curtain of white light.
"Thud!" The white blade curtain cleaved Ji Feng in two. Before the pool water could even be stained red, Joe Di became a fireball, landing atop Ji Feng’s corpse and burning him to nothingness.
Without waiting to fall into the pool, Joe Di twisted in midair and landed once again at the pool’s edge.
All the cultivators in the pool were stunned, staring at Joe Di in shock. How could this man be so formidable? Killing Ji Feng, a late Dao Forging stage cultivator, was as easy as slaughtering a chicken—one strike had ended the fight.
Ji Feng was no ordinary late Dao Forging stage cultivator—he hailed from Eternity Saint City, and was even a core disciple there. To kill a core disciple of Eternity Saint City just like that…
"I understand now—it’s you!" Serena Yu suddenly pointed at Joe Di, exclaiming with delight. She finally realized who Mo Yejiu had meant—the cultivator with the greatest survival skills in the Vast Ruins was none other than Joe Di.
Joe Di gave Serena Yu a puzzled glance, not knowing what she’d discovered. But his gaze quickly turned cold as he stared at the cultivators in the pool, his voice laced with killing intent: "Who nailed my Thunderbird? Step forward now."
"Ha ha…" A loud laugh echoed. "Do you think killing a late Dao Forging stage cultivator makes you impressive?"
With that voice, a domain aura several times stronger than Ji Feng’s swept toward Joe Di.
Even the cultivators in the pool were so terrified by this oppressive domain aura that they hurriedly retreated.