Sean Yu stood on Joe Di's ship and said gratefully, "Brother Di, I truly was a frog at the bottom of a well. If you hadn't forcefully killed Feng Binglu today, I would have been slaughtered by that Burt Su."
He had seen it clearly—if Joe Di had been killed by Feng Binglu, Burt Su would have seized the excuse to attack him. He wasn't afraid of Burt Su alone, but with Feng Binglu beside him, any resistance would have been a dead end.
Joe Di smiled and said, "If not for me, Burt Su wouldn't have found an excuse to attack you."
Sean Yu shook his head. "No, even without today's incident, I couldn't have stayed here for long. Burt Su and Yuan Hui have issues with me—they've set their sights on my territory. Sooner or later, they'd come for me..."
Sean Yu suddenly paused, then anxiously said, "Brother Di, you can't go so fast above Lostlake. We've already left the safe zone—it's easy to encounter a spatial vortex and get swept away, never to return."
He was shocked by Joe Di's speed—his control over the ship was simply terrifying.
Don't be fooled by his earlier pursuit of the Lostlake Peacock—he was fast only within his own territory. Outside that range, he wouldn't dare go so quickly.
Joe Di, a Fourth-Rank Array Grandmaster, swept his spiritual sense and quickly discerned the situation. He sighed, "This should be the boundary between the Dao Domain and the void. There's a Dao Domain Guardian Array here, but it's malfunctioning. If anything happens, it won't stop a thing."
"Brother Di, you're going to repair the Dao Domain Guardian Array?" Sean Yu stared at him in disbelief.
That method to avoid spatial dislocation—Joe Di reckoned very few could truly pull it off. He possessed the Eye of the Way, and his spiritual sense had been tempered through the Mindforge Chapter, honed again and again. What he obtained was only the basics, but over the years, he’d already transformed the art at its root.
Joe Di had already inspected it—he couldn't repair the array yet, but once he advanced to Fifth-Rank Array Grandmaster, he'd be qualified to attempt it. He was just one step away, and there was a real chance to break through here.
"You know the way out?" Sean Yu's voice trembled with excitement. Though he was willing to leave with Joe Di, he hadn't truly believed he could escape together with him.
He knew well that Joe Di had suppressed Burt Su, rendering him unable to move. But once Joe Di left, trouble would come for him sooner or later.
For these reasons, he had no choice but to follow Joe Di.
Besides, once he reached Fifth-Rank Array Grandmaster, he could repair the Dao Domain Guardian Array. If he didn't fix it now, even reaching Seventh-Rank Array Emperor later might not be enough, because the array was collapsing by the moment. For now, the collapse was slow, but once it reached a certain point, it would avalanche.
After getting Joe Di's definite answer, Sean Yu was genuinely excited.
Once out of Lostlake, legend said there was a chance to enter the Void Sea.
It was rumored that the Void Sea offered countless opportunities. If he could reach it, he might even advance further—perhaps into the Prime Realm.
The Prime Realm—a stage he had never even dreamed of. In the Dao Domain, though there were quite a few Prime Realm cultivators, compared to the vast ranks of those in the Transformation Realm, Prime Realm experts were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.
Sensing Joe Di's focused control of the ship, Sean Yu no longer dared disturb him. He closed his eyes and began cultivating as quickly as possible.
Meanwhile, Joe Di was both tempering his spiritual sense with Mindforge and steering the ship forward at full speed. He discovered that the more he traveled along areas rife with spatial dislocation, the faster he moved—and the more frequent those dislocations became.
Clearly, these spatial dislocations had a directional pattern—the further he went in one direction, the more frequent they became. Joe Di didn't dare steer the ship directly into a dislocation, but his spiritual sense could enter them for tempering.
At first, whenever his spiritual sense entered, it would be shredded instantly. But as time passed, he learned to withdraw his sense from the dislocations, and eventually, he could pierce through them, glimpsing space on the other side.
This progress was astonishing—within just a dozen days, Joe Di felt his spiritual sense had advanced by leaps and bounds. Now, he could clearly find the right direction relying solely on his sense, without needing Dao Eyes.
Unfortunately, his ship was too low-grade; otherwise, he could have moved even faster.
Five months later, Sean Yu emerged from his closed-door cultivation. Opening his eyes, he immediately sensed the ship was moving at least twice as fast as three months ago. This speed rivaled even top-grade ships—and they were still in Lostlake...
Sean Yu realized that Joe Di had truly found a way out of Lostlake—and knew how to navigate it. Otherwise, they couldn't have traveled this fast for three months without issue.
Sean Yu stopped cultivating, sensing that Joe Di's ship seemed to be accelerating every moment. It was beyond anything he could perceive.
The reason mid-grade artifact ships weren't as valuable as top-grade ones was simple—their speed could never match. But now, the ship Joe Di controlled was truly accelerating every second.
If a mid-grade artifact ship could travel this fast, who would ever want a top-grade one?
Joe Di's origins were a mystery—so formidable, not only was his combat prowess terrifying, but his survival skills were equally unmatched. Sean Yu was certain Joe Di wasn't in the Prime Realm, not even in the Transformation Realm.
How fearsome was Lostlake? Even Unity Realm experts wouldn't dare claim they could traverse it safely. Yet here was Joe Di, moving across Lostlake as if strolling through a garden.
Just as Sean Yu thought this, a misty haze appeared in his spiritual sense, blocking him instantly.
"Brother Di..." Sean Yu quickly stood up, exclaiming in alarm.
Joe Di slowed the ship, sending his spiritual sense outward. Then he called out in delight, "Brother Sean, if I'm not mistaken, we've crossed Lostlake."
As he spoke, Joe Di accelerated the ship again. In just moments, they burst through the mist. When his spiritual sense cleared, the ship had left Lostlake and landed on a stretch of black terrain.
"What is this place?" Sean Yu asked in astonishment, gazing at the scene before him—a black band, beyond which lay endless void, unreachable even by spiritual sense.
Joe Di, a Fourth-Rank Array Grandmaster, swept his spiritual sense and quickly discerned the situation. He sighed, "This should be the boundary between the Dao Domain and the void. There's a Dao Domain Guardian Array here, but it's malfunctioning. If anything happens, it won't stop a thing."
Joe Di had set up boundary arrays before; he knew exactly what a problem in such an array meant. The Dao Domain looked fine now, but if trouble came, it would be exposed, utterly defenseless.
"That's right. After leaving Lostlake, you reach the Dao Domain Guardian Array. Beyond that is the void leading to the Void Sea," Sean Yu responded quickly.
After speaking, he excitedly clasped his fists to Joe Di. "Brother Di, if not for you, I don't know how many more years I'd have been trapped in Lostlake."
He didn't have as many feelings about it as Joe Di did.
Joe Di laughed, "Brother Sean, if not for you, I wouldn't have found my way here. I suppose we helped each other out."
He wasn't exaggerating. If Sean Yu hadn't taken him to the exchange meeting, he never would have gotten the jade slip for Lostlake's exit. Without it, reaching this place would have been impossible.
"Brother Di, where do you plan to go?" Sean Yu was eager to rush into the void and search for the path to the Void Sea. Unlike Joe Di, he'd been trapped in Lostlake for years, unable to move, and was desperate to reach the Void Sea.
Joe Di pondered for a moment. "I want to go to the Void Sea, but I don't have a spatial map for it."
"Then let's go together. I don't have a Void Sea map either, so we'll just have to try our luck," Sean Yu said quickly.
Joe Di replied, "I'm afraid I can't leave just yet. I'm somewhat skilled in arrays, and this place is clearly the Dao Domain Guardian Array. But it's been torn apart—if it isn't repaired, the damage will only get worse over time."
"Brother Di, you're going to repair the Dao Domain Guardian Array?" Sean Yu stared at him in disbelief.
Joe Di nodded. "That's right. I do intend to repair the Dao Domain Guardian Array."
Joe Di had already inspected it—he couldn't repair the array yet, but once he advanced to Fifth-Rank Array Grandmaster, he'd be qualified to attempt it. He was just one step away, and there was a real chance to break through here.
As for why he wanted to repair it, Joe Di knew all too well how terrifying Void Fiend Beasts were. If not for him, both Cauldron Haven and Thundercrest Continent would have long since been wiped out.
He truly was the first to reach the Dao Domain, but he had too many friends and family in the Immortal Realm. Should he wait until they arrived in the Dao Domain, only to face endless hordes of Void Fiend Beasts?
Lostlake was vast, with countless spatial dislocations, but compared to the overwhelming beast hordes, it was nothing. If the Void Fiend Beasts found this place, invading the Dao Domain wouldn't be mere paranoia.
Besides, once he reached Fifth-Rank Array Grandmaster, he could repair the Dao Domain Guardian Array. If he didn't fix it now, even reaching Seventh-Rank Array Emperor later might not be enough, because the array was collapsing by the moment. For now, the collapse was slow, but once it reached a certain point, it would avalanche.