Desolate River Forbidden Zone—Joe Di had come here once before. Back then, he was with Zhuo Wenshu, even saving her life, and he gained some benefits himself.
The vague map left by Cheng Ji pointed to the Desolate River Forbidden Zone. Joe Di had repeatedly questioned the Golden Core cultivator who brought the jade slip. That cultivator only knew that a jade slip had fallen into his hands, and he was instructed to deliver it to Joe Di at the Starstream Order, after which he would receive a soul-condensing pill to advance his soul stage.
The Desolate River Forbidden Zone was not a place for Golden Core cultivators. That cultivator was likely at the end of his lifespan, so he wanted to risk everything in the forbidden zone. In fact, he planned to die there. Unexpectedly, a jade slip appeared in his hand, and as long as he delivered it to the Starstream Order, he would receive a soul-condensing pill. Even a fool would know what to choose.
Joe Di was quite worried about whether Cheng Ji was still alive. The Golden Core cultivator had obtained the jade slip in the Desolate River Forbidden Zone several months ago.
The first time Joe Di came to the Desolate River Forbidden Zone, all he could see was endless yellow sand, and his Spiritual Sense could only search within a limited range. Now, returning to the forbidden zone, Joe Di's Spiritual Sense could sweep across thousands of miles. Not only that, he could hear a wailing sound within the boundless yellow sand.
Joe Di didn't know how the Desolate River Forbidden Zone came to be, but he was sure it wasn't simple—too many ancient secrets were hidden here. Joe Di didn't want to investigate these secrets; he only wanted to find Cheng Ji as soon as possible.
The location Cheng Ji marked in the jade slip was extremely vague. If Joe Di hadn't reached the Transforming True Stage, or if his Spiritual Sense hadn't surpassed the tenth level, it would have been truly difficult for him to find the spot Cheng Ji described.
However, Joe Di's current strength was among the top in the Central Realm. With his powerful Spiritual Sense, it took him only half a day to find the location Cheng Ji had marked.
The spot Cheng Ji had marked seemed to Joe Di like a top-tier Concealment Array. Joe Di didn't know how Cheng Ji had opened it, but he had his own methods.
He summoned the Terraflame Banner, and the previously flawless natural restriction suddenly revealed the faint outlines of its array base. Joe Di threw down several Array Banners, easily opening a gate in the restriction concealed within the raging yellow sand.
At the center of the formation gate stood a boxwood tree so large that even a dozen people holding hands could not encircle its roots.
In the middle of the tree roots was a staircase leading underground. Joe Di put away the Terraflame Banner and stepped onto the staircase.
The staircase twisted and turned, stretching on for an unknown distance. Even with Di Jiu's eleventh-level spiritual sense, he could only sweep a range of a thousand meters while standing on the steps.
Within that thousand-meter range, at least a dozen killing intents lay hidden. As Di Jiu descended, he was constantly beset by various traps and illusions. A single careless move would cost him his life. This made Di Jiu realize Cheng Ji's true purpose in calling him here—clearly, Cheng Ji knew he couldn't escape and was trying to lure Di Jiu to his death.
Cheng Ji mainly wanted him to come and die, though perhaps there was a sliver of hope that Joe Di could save him. As for the jade slip, Joe Di suspected it wasn't sent out after Cheng Ji entered this place, but rather, Cheng Ji had arranged a method to deliver the jade slip beforehand, using a fragment of his soul to send it to a Golden Core cultivator.
Only this way could everything be reasonably explained.
Cheng Ji must have made many calculations, but didn't expect Di Jiu to possess eleventh-level spiritual sense—such schemes were useless against him.
Dodging countless traps and dangers along the way, Di Jiu walked for a full two hours before arriving in front of a massive coffin.
This coffin was different from others—it stood upright.
The coffin's door was open, now half-closed, and Di Jiu's spiritual sense couldn't penetrate inside.
Standing outside the upright coffin door, Di Jiu sensed for half a stick of incense’s time. He confirmed Cheng Ji’s presence here—not only Cheng Ji’s, but also the aura of two other cultivators he knew. In other words, three people had entered this place.
After making sure he felt no danger, Di Jiu stepped into the coffin.
A rotten, deathly aura engulfed him, and Di Jiu felt his vitality rapidly dissipating. He quickened his pace and immediately took out a seven-colored immortal peach, swallowing it.
The seven-colored immortal peach had just ripened in the True Spirit World. After Di Jiu swallowed one, his lost vitality was restored even faster.
Di Jiu was overjoyed—the seven-colored immortal peach was indeed a treasure. With its support, no matter how strong the rot and corrosion in this coffin, it could do nothing to him.
This was a bottomless coffin. Di Jiu entered from the opening, but no matter what he tried, he couldn’t speed up his movement inside. He walked for half an hour and still hadn’t reached the bottom.
Di Jiu was secretly alarmed. If he hadn’t had the seven-colored immortal peach, walking for half an hour in this coffin that corroded vitality would have cost him his life. He swept his spiritual sense around—inside the coffin was pitch-black, and his sense touched a concealed restriction. Within it, he seemed to see a corpse still being corroded.
This was no ordinary thing. Sensing Di Jiu’s probing spiritual sense, an even more terrifying aura of decay seeped in from both sides of the coffin. Di Jiu was startled—while the seven-colored immortal peach could keep his vitality strong, he could only eat one. It only worked once.
Just as the aura of decay was about to reach him, the ground beneath Di Jiu’s feet gave way, and he was suddenly out of the coffin.
Di Jiu looked back at the pitch-black coffin entrance, his scalp tingling. With his current strength, he hadn’t been able to resist at all inside that coffin.
The moment he left the coffin, the corrosive force on his vitality vanished, and Di Jiu finally breathed a sigh of relief. Before he could survey his surroundings, a terrifying killing intent locked onto him.
"Sss! Sss!" Two murderous forces tore through the air, appearing right before Di Jiu’s eyes. He dodged with a flicker of his body.
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"Boom! Boom!" Two consecutive explosions rang out. Di Jiu turned to see two long nails embedded in the hard bluestone beneath his feet.
Were those coffin nails?
Di Jiu’s true essence field protected his body as his spiritual sense spread outward.
It seemed to be a tomb chamber. Di Jiu hadn’t had time to inspect it before he saw three people—more precisely, three people nailed to the ground by coffin nails.
He recognized two of the three; the unfamiliar female cultivator was someone he’d seen before, perhaps the sect master of Xingluo Mountain or Tianyao Valley. The other two were familiar: one was Cheng Ji, sect master of the Zhuxian Order who had lured him here; the other was Yan Xueyi, sect master of the Purple Thunder Sect, one of the Five Grand Sects.
In fact, among the Five Grand Sect masters, Di Jiu had the best impression of Yan Xueyi. He was far better than Shu Haolan, and never pretended to be something he wasn’t. Still, Di Jiu had decided to kill him. Regardless of Di Feixue’s character, she was still a member of the Di family. Yan Xueyi, as an elder, had swept Di Feixue’s entire body with his spiritual sense—such behavior was beastly.
All three now looked like skin and bones, their vitality weak to the extreme. Di Jiu sensed they weren’t completely dead, so he began searching the tomb chamber with his spiritual sense.
The tomb chamber was shaped somewhat like a spherical bedroom, with a bed in the very center. Beside the bed were two jade boxes, each protected by a restriction that Di Jiu’s spiritual sense couldn’t penetrate.
On both sides of the chamber, there were two rows of shelves made from yellow jade. Each shelf held eleven items, all sealed by restrictions.
Di Jiu walked over to the table and directly sent the two jade boxes into his True Spirit World.
"Young Master Hongying..." Cheng Ji’s weak voice came. Di Jiu turned to look at Cheng Ji, who was nailed to the ground by coffin nails, and calmly said, "Sect Master Cheng, it seems your luck isn’t too good, being pinned down in a place like this."
"Young Master Hongying, although I did consider the possibility of you perishing here, I also held a sliver of hope that you could break free from that deathly coffin and save me..." Cheng Ji spoke at length, then rested before continuing, "Actually, my main purpose in coming here... was truly to find the Realm Breaking Talisman for you... The talisman is on the left yellow jade shelf."
Di Jiu thought for a moment. Although Cheng Ji had hoped he’d die here, as he said, he’d at least helped Di Jiu find the Realm Breaking Talisman. With that in mind, Di Jiu waved his hand, and the two nails pinning Cheng Ji to the ground were swept away, falling onto the floor.
"Thank you, Young Master Hongying." Once freed, Cheng Ji hurriedly took out several pills and swallowed them, then sat down to heal his injuries.
"Haha, Young Master Hongying, it’s been a long time. I didn’t expect that the next time I’d see you, along with the sect master of Longyue Snow Mountain, would be in a place like this." Yan Xueyi was in good spirits, still able to laugh.
"Sect master of Longyue Snow Mountain?" Di Jiu looked at the woman in confusion, thinking, isn’t the sect master of Longyue Snow Mountain a man? How could it be a female cultivator?
"I am indeed Shen Feng, sect master of Longyue Snow Mountain. Shen Feng greets Young Master Hongying." The woman’s attitude was calm and unhurried.
Di Jiu vaguely felt he’d been set up by Di Feixue and her father. Without hesitation, he swept away the nails pinning Yan Xueyi and Shen Feng, rescuing them both.