Joe Di halted his spaceship, utterly stunned as he gazed at the vast expanse of void before him. He had traversed countless stretches of emptiness and witnessed myriad cosmic wonders.
Yet this scene, so grand and magnificent, was truly the first of its kind he had ever seen.
An ocean, so vast that even his divine sense could not reach its edge, suddenly appeared in the void before him. If not for the sound of crashing waves, Joe Di would have doubted both his eyes and his spiritual perception.
This boundless sea stretched infinitely, with only a strip of coastline on his side; everywhere else was endless water.
Even the coastline itself seemed to float abruptly in the void, looking exceedingly out of place.
At times, the waves grew fierce, but they never reached the void. It was as if an invisible force separated the sea from the emptiness. Joe Di initially suspected a formation, but upon closer inspection, he realized there was none at all.
Without hesitation, Joe Di piloted his spaceship into the Void Sea. This time, he did not send Bolt into the Ninth World. Bolt now counted as a first-rank divine beast—though still low-tier, it was more than capable of handling simple tasks for him.
The moment he entered the Void Sea, Joe Di's divine sense swept across a grand divine city, standing majestically above the sea, its presence awe-inspiring and imposing.
As Joe Di's spaceship approached, even before he reached the city, he saw a wide Starlight Avenue leading from the city out into the void. At the end of the avenue was a plaza spanning several thousand feet.
With his divine sense, Joe Di could naturally sense that going any further would trigger a flight restriction. He landed his spaceship on the Sanctuary Plaza.
This place was already bustling with cultivators, coming and going in a constant flow. None of them found Joe Di's arrival unusual.
Joe Di's divine sense swept over the distant divine city, where several large characters were inscribed: Crimson Sanctuary.
"Let's go, to Crimson Sanctuary," Joe Di said, patting Bolt at his side.
Rumor had it that this place was rich in treasures. Whether he was a Dao Origin Pill God or a Dao Transformation Pill Saint, Joe Di figured he wouldn't fare too poorly here.
But as soon as Joe Di reached the gates of Crimson Sanctuary, his expression darkened.
At the entrance to Crimson Sanctuary, a handsome young Dao Fostering cultivator was being blocked by two Dao Transformation cultivators. The young man looked battered and unstable, clearly suffering from serious injuries.
Joe Di recognized this fellow—it was Dean Carter from Great Buddha Mountain. Like him, Dean Carter's portrait had once been posted by Jaden Dai at the gates of major cities throughout the Dao Domain, wanted for capture.
Joe Di had little interaction with Dean Carter. What soured his mood wasn't seeing Dean Carter being stopped, but rather spotting his own wanted poster once more at the gates of Crimson Sanctuary.
Of course, the poster was for his capture. Joe Di didn't need to ask; he knew this was Jaden Dai's doing. He hadn't disguised himself this time, and as soon as he stood there, people immediately recognized him as the wanted Joe Di from the gate's poster.
But Joe Di didn't turn and leave. Jaden Dai was only a Hunyuan cultivator. True, Joe Di wasn't yet a match for a Hunyuan Saint Emperor, but for one to think they could so easily put a bounty on him—Joe Di—was simply overestimating themselves.
Joe Di drew the Azure Veil Blade, unleashing a slash that tore through the air. The blade light shredded his wanted poster into fragments without the slightest hesitation, and even the city wall was gouged with a deep ravine by the force of his strike.
He wanted to see who would dare try to capture him after he destroyed the wanted poster. Whoever stepped forward would clearly be Jaden Dai's lackey.
Back in his Dao Fostering days, Joe Di had slain plenty of Jaden Dai's lackeys. Now, as a Dao Transformation cultivator, even if a Dao Origin Saint Emperor came for him, he'd kill them all the same.
The surrounding cultivators stared at Joe Di in shock. To them, he was simply too formidable. This was Crimson Sanctuary, a place teeming with experts, and yet this man had torn his own wanted poster apart before even entering the city.
Anyone bold enough to post a wanted notice at the gates of Crimson Sanctuary was bound to be anything but ordinary. Only those with true power could do so. Yet the one being hunted was even more arrogant, cutting down the void bounty with a single slash.
To Joe Di's surprise, after he shredded the bounty notice, not a single person came forward to challenge him. In fact, from what he could tell, no one even sent out any messages.
Could it be that Jaden Dai wasn't here? Or had he simply left the bounty notice and gone elsewhere? That didn't quite add up—Dean Carter was still being blocked, and he too was wanted by Jaden Dai.
"You're Joe Di?" Dean Carter finally recognized him. Like Joe Di, he had been driven to the Void Sea by Jaden Dai's bounty.
After arriving at the Void Sea, Dean Carter had seen Joe Di's bounty notice but not his own. He realized that Jaden Dai's true target was Joe Di, and he himself had been excluded. From his observations, Jaden Dai had long since left Crimson Sanctuary, and the bounty notice was just left behind. That was why he dared to enter Crimson Sanctuary.
Joe Di nodded and walked up to Dean Carter, smiling, "Looks like you're not doing as well as I am. So, are these two guys Jaden Dai's lackeys?"
Though he hadn't seen Dean Carter's bounty notice, Joe Di instinctively assumed Dean Carter had been apprehended by Jaden Dai's men.
"Kid, you're pretty arrogant," one of the Dao Transformation cultivators guarding Jaden Dai sneered coldly at Joe Di's words.
He had no idea who Jaden Dai was, but this Joe Di was simply too brazen—daring to slash the Crimson Sanctuary bounty notice and calling them lackeys.
Joe Di assumed these two Dao Transformation cultivators were Jaden Dai's men. Without hesitation, he raised his hand and slapped out, "Arrogant? That's right. Today I'll cripple a few of your meridians. Go call Jaden Dai over and tell him the man who destroyed his lair is here, waiting at the gates of Crimson Sanctuary. I wrecked his den—let's see what he can do about it!"
Everyone could clearly see Joe Di's slap, yet the cultivator simply couldn't dodge it. He felt an overwhelming force of cosmic law binding him—Joe Di's domain, impossibly strong.
Smack! Joe Di's slap landed squarely on the cultivator's face, sending him flying into the edge of the city wall, where he crashed to the ground, spitting out a stream of blood, his face pale as ash.
The other Dao Transformation cultivator guarding Dean Carter stepped back in terror, freeing Dean Carter from his restraints.
"Second Step..." the cultivator Joe Di had slapped stared at him, face pale. Joe Di looked harmless enough, his aura hidden, yet he was a Second Step powerhouse. With just one slap, not only had he been unable to resist, but several of his meridians had been destroyed.
"Get lost and call Jaden Dai. I won't wait all day," Joe Di barked angrily.
The two Dao Transformation cultivators didn't dare hesitate a moment longer and rushed into Crimson Sanctuary.
Naturally, Joe Di dared not enter Crimson Sanctuary just yet. He was only at the early stage of Dao Transformation, and wanted to see how far he still lagged behind Jaden Dai. He was certain that, with his current strength, Jaden Dai would have a hard time catching him. Joe Di's greatest asset was not his cultivation, but his escape techniques. Besides, he had witnessed Jaden Dai's speed—it was fast, but now that Joe Di had entered Dao Transformation, his own speed had multiplied several times over.
In the vast void, Joe Di doubted that Jaden Dai's mastery of rules for escape could surpass his own.
However, once inside Crimson Sanctuary, Joe Di couldn't be sure he could still escape from Jaden Dai's grasp.
"Brother Di, you've reached the Second Step?" Dean Carter stared at Joe Di in shock. He had thought Joe Di's cultivation after entering Dao Ridge would be similar to his own.
How long had it been, and Joe Di had already crossed into the Second Step? Had he wasted all these years?