Joe Di picked up the Divine Fire Mirror from the ground, his gaze sweeping across the crowd.
Those cultivators who wanted to act before Shawn Ran to seize Joe Di's Prime Ley Line quickly lowered their heads. In their hearts, there was only one thought: Red Tassel Joe is terrifying.
From the time he couldn't even withstand a single move from Ren Hai, to easily defeating Jin Xun and entering the Sea List, then slaying Yue Henghe, the second on the Cauldron List, and just recently besting Shawn Ran, ranked thirty-seventh on the Life List...
How much time has passed between all these events?
It's certain that once Red Tassel Joe leaves the Starlight Nexus, even True Transformation cultivators won't faze him. Trying to snatch the ley line of someone like Red Tassel Joe—are they tired of living, or simply tired of living?
The cultivators who hadn't tried to seize the ley line from afar all cupped their fists toward Joe Di from a distance. This battle had established Joe Di's peak status in the Central Realm.
Joe Di cupped his fists and said, "Fellow Daoists, I have a few friends still in the Little Central Star. If you encounter them in the future, please let them know. If they face any difficulties, I hope you can lend them a hand. Any Daoist who helps, once we leave the Starlight Nexus, I will personally gift you a pill..."
Just one pill? While everyone thought Joe Di was being stingy, he added, "For those at the Sea Opening Realm, I'll give a Kun Cheng Pill; for those at the Cauldron Ascension Realm, a Hui Jie Pill; and for those at the Tribulation Life Realm, a True Spirit Pill is also possible. Every pill I give is a supreme-grade spirit pill."
Joe Di was taking precautions—he'd offended too many people. Those who couldn't harm him might very well target his friends.
Everyone gasped. Just one pill? The kind of pills Joe Di mentioned only appeared at major auctions, and even the top sects couldn't always obtain them. Not to mention top-grade pills, which were even rarer.
"Rest assured, Red Tassel Joe. If we see your friends, we will definitely pass on the message." Several cultivators replied from afar, cupping their fists.
Joe Di's rise was astonishingly fast. In such a short time, he could already contend with experts from the Life List. Whether or not they met Joe Di's friends, naturally, anyone would want to befriend him.
After expressing his thanks, Joe Di began breaking the restriction again. The restriction on the second Prime Ley Line was far too simple for him. After one hundred and nine strikes, the restriction was torn apart, and he collected the second Prime Ley Line.
The third, the fourth...
The others watched as Joe Di collected dozens of Prime Ley Lines in less than half a stick of incense, their mouths agape, unable to believe what they were seeing.
What kind of ability was this? Instantly, everyone thought—just how much wealth would collecting so many Prime Ley Lines bring?
Even knowing Joe Di had struck it rich, no one dared make a move against him. Not even Life List expert Shawn Ran could do more than flee with serious injuries. To try and snatch Red Tassel Joe's possessions—was that not courting death?
In less than an hour, all one hundred and fifty-three Prime Ley Lines here had been collected by Joe Di. In addition, he took forty-seven High-grade Ley Lines, exactly two hundred in total.
The others watched with reddened eyes. If Joe Di kept this up, they'd end up with nothing left—not even scraps.
Fortunately, after collecting two hundred Ley Lines, Joe Di didn't go for the remaining nearly three hundred. Instead, he left immediately.
"Amazing." Only after Joe Di left did anyone dare to speak up.
"He really is amazing. I bet in a hundred years, Red Tassel Joe will be the number one in our Central Realm."
"Hmph!" A cold snort sounded. "Amazing? I think he's just greedy—he took two hundred Ley Lines for himself, and not just Prime ones, but High-grade ones too. Someone so selfish, even if he becomes number one in the Central Realm, it can't be a good thing."
The speaker was a cultivator in red, already at the fourth level of the Seabreaker Stage.
Another cultivator at the Seabreaker Stage said calmly, "I think Red Tassel Joe is not greedy at all, but rather generous. He may have taken two hundred Ley Lines, but in truth, it's as if he didn't take any. Who here could have broken the restriction on the Prime Ley Lines? As for the High-grade Ley Lines, tell me, besides Shawn Ran, ranked thirty-seventh on the Life List, who else has ever gotten one?"
Red Tassel Joe could have taken every Ley Line here, yet he only took a third of the High-grade ones. If taking what none of us can take is called greed, then tell me—who isn't greedy?
No one refuted the Seabreaker cultivator's words. Though most were jealous of Joe Di, the truth was clear. Joe Di could have taken every vein, but he only took what others couldn't. That's not greed—that's generosity. After all, even if Joe Di took them all, no one could do anything about it.
...
Joe Di was in high spirits. With two hundred Ley Lines in one go, not only could he set up the protective array for the Star River Sect, but he also had enough resources to cultivate to the Domain Stage.
After leaving the Ley Line Ravine, Joe Di found a spot to organize Yue Henghe's ring. Inside, high-grade spirit herbs were piled like mountains, from grade seven to nine. These herbs were more than enough—not just for becoming an eighth-grade Alchemy King, but even for reaching ninth-grade.
Unfortunately, not only did Joe Di not find any Sorgo Fruit for refining the Tribulation Elixir in Yue Henghe's ring, there was also no True Spirit Herb for True Spirit Pills, nor any Ice Radish for True Radish Pills. This dashed his hopes of refining a Tribulation Elixir to advance to the Tribulation King Stage.
With no other choice, Joe Di could only return to Cultivation Mountain once again.
There were still plenty of cultivators at the foot of Cultivation Mountain. A month had passed, and many were new faces.
Few paid attention to Joe Di's sudden arrival. After coming to Cultivation Mountain, the chance of dying was over ninety percent. Those who came here were either top-tier geniuses or desperate cultivators who had reached an age where they could no longer advance.
"Fellow Daoists, may I ask where on Little Central Star Sorgo Fruit has ever appeared?" Joe Di asked, cupping his fists as he joined the crowd.
It would be unrealistic to ask where Sorgo Fruit could be found, but asking where it had appeared before shouldn’t be a problem.
"You'll probably be disappointed, Daoist. If there were any Sorgo Fruit left on Little Central Star, it would surely be on Cultivation Mountain." An elder sighed and replied.
"Why?" Joe Di asked in confusion.
The elder sighed, "Little Central Star has opened too frequently—all the rare spirit herbs have been picked clean. Treasures like Sorgo Fruit, which can be used to refine Tribulation Elixir, are dug up root and stem as soon as they're found. How could any be left for those who come after? Unless you find a naturally hidden restriction that no one has discovered before, and it happens to contain Sorgo Fruit. Otherwise, you'll have to climb Cultivation Mountain—many cultivators have died there over the years, and perhaps their rings still hold some."
"Thank you." Joe Di expressed his gratitude and walked toward Cultivation Mountain.
Naturally, the cultivators here all headed for Cultivation Mountain. Most would meditate at the foot for a while before climbing. Few, like Joe Di, ascended without any preparation. But everyone here had already put their lives on the line—hardly anyone cared what Joe Di did.
The moment Joe Di set foot on Cultivation Mountain, he sensed a wisp of life force rapidly slipping away, followed by a feeling of bleakness. This wasn't seen or sensed with divine sense, but felt physically.
Joe Di closed his eyes and took a second step. The feeling of life slipping away vanished, as if there were no difference from being outside the mountain. The sensation was so normal, Joe Di thought he could walk to the summit and back down with no trouble.
But deep down, Joe Di knew that even if he couldn't feel his life force draining, it definitely was. In other words, if he could feel it, there wouldn't be so many dead cultivators on the mountain.
Three steps, four steps...
Joe Di tried hard to sense the time law on Cultivation Mountain, but even after a hundred steps, he felt nothing—not even the faintest trace. He was climbing, but felt nothing at all.
Joe Di looked up at the still-unseeable summit and thought to himself that maybe he really could reach the top.
From this point on, each step he took would add a hundred years to his life. But as Joe Di tried to take the 101st step, he suddenly found he couldn't move his legs. His senses were still present, but his divine sense could no longer reach out, and even his posture as he looked up at the summit was frozen.
A wave of loneliness surged in his heart, and for a brief instant, he felt his life force slip away again. Time was like a blade—Joe Di stood there, unmoving, gazing silently at the blurred summit.