Joe Di turned his gaze once more to Long Nie, his voice cold as steel. "Long Nie, do you have a son named Quentin Nie? He kidnapped a friend of mine—Charlotte Ling."
Long Nie was stunned. Never had he imagined that because of such a nobody, he would have to pay with his life.
Indeed, to him, Charlotte Ling was nothing but an ant—or perhaps not even worthy of being called an ant. Yet this insignificant creature had such a terrifying ally?
"Joe, this place isn't bad at all," Cyrus Flame remarked, having already decided to cultivate in Celestial Beyond.
"Then stay here in Celestial Beyond. I'll set up a protective array—who knows, maybe many of my friends will come here in the future," Joe Di replied, understanding Cyrus's intent. But he had no intention of staying to cultivate; there were far too many things he needed to do.
Most important of all, Joe Di felt his strength was still far too lacking. Celestial Beyond was good for cultivation, but it couldn't help him improve quickly.
Hearing Joe's words, Cyrus Flame thumped his chest. "Joe, just leave this place to me. I promise I'll take good care of Celestial Beyond for you."
Joe Di could only respond, "Celestial Beyond isn't mine, but now that we're here, it won't be sealed off as before. From now on, anyone can enter Celestial Beyond. But those who cause trouble here will face only one outcome—death."
"Big Brother Joe, I'll stay here too," Shelby Young said after a moment's hesitation. She understood from Joe Di's words that he would soon be leaving.
She realized that once Joe Di left, she would have nowhere else to go.
"Long Nie, where did Nora go?" As Joe Di formed a hand seal, Long Nie was instantly imprisoned within the Divine Essence Seal.
Long Nie let out a wild laugh, refusing to answer Joe Di. In the next instant, his physical body dissolved into Dao energy and vanished completely.
"That guy has guts—to actually dissolve himself," Cyrus Flame exclaimed in astonishment.
Dissolution is not the same as reincarnation; it means giving up any chance to be reborn.
Joe Di could only sigh inwardly. If Long Nie had tried to self-destruct, he would have stopped him at all costs. But this dissolution came without warning—there was nothing he could do to prevent it.
"Cyrus, I'm planning to leave for a while. I'll leave behind a jade slip—use it to reorganize Celestial Beyond according to my instructions." Joe Di's most urgent destination was Alliance Star, where the Cosmic Essence could be found. He also had a promise to Charlotte Ling: he would help rescue her.
Now that Joe Di had slain seven Prime Realm cultivators here—including Long Nie—he worried that Miles Nie would soon hear of it.
"Big Brother Joe, there are few cultivators left in Celestial Beyond. Since you now control this place, why not leave a message here—make your authority official," Shelby Young suggested.
Cyrus Flame quickly agreed, "Yes, yes, Joe, you must announce yourself before leaving—let everyone know that from now on, you are the Sovereign here."
Joe Di nodded to Shelby Young, understanding her intent.
Shelby Young worried that once Joe Di left, Cyrus Flame might seize control of Celestial Beyond. So she asked Joe to declare the realm's ownership first. Cyrus understood Shelby's meaning and quickly made his position clear—he didn't want to risk being cut down by Joe Di.
Joe Di recalled what Charlotte Ling had said: Celestial Beyond was the crossroads of all major realms. Any domain wishing to travel to another, or to the Chaos Realm, had to pass through Celestial Beyond.
This made Celestial Beyond's strategic location all the more important. Once his journey was complete, Joe Di knew he would return here one day.
With this in mind, Joe Di declared in a resonant voice, "My name is Joe Di. The scum from the Prime Realm have run rampant in Celestial Beyond—slaughtering the innocent and sealing off cultivators from entering or leaving. Worse yet, they performed sacrificial rituals at the altar, utterly devoid of humanity. I have killed those wretches. From today onward, Celestial Beyond is under my control."
Since there is still a scoundrel named Nora in the Prime Realm who remains at large, I must journey to the Prime Realm and deal with her. For now, Cyrus Flame and Shelby Young will oversee the reconstruction and management of Celestial Beyond. Any cultivator wishing to enter or leave must undergo identity verification."
Joe Di was determined to visit the Prime Realm, but not yet. First, he planned to travel to Alliance Star before heading to the Prime Realm.
Joe Di's cultivation was already formidable, and with his voice carried on the laws of space, nearly every cultivator in Celestial Beyond heard his words with perfect clarity.
Soon, cultivators began to emerge, and more and more gathered in the open.
Once it was certain that Joe Di had truly slain Long Nie and the others, the crowd erupted in cheers. A Genesis Realm cultivator, upon learning that Long Nie had fallen, immediately rushed toward the Nie Clan estate.
Some cultivators who sensed what was happening bowed respectfully to Joe Di and his allies.
The Prime Realm had erected a massive altar here, and many had guessed its purpose. If it was meant to sacrifice the lives of an entire realm, then before the ritual, it might consume every living thing in Celestial Beyond.
Now that Joe Di had destroyed Long Nie, he would surely tear down the altar as well. That meant everyone was safe—for now.
Just as the cultivators of Celestial Beyond had expected, once Joe Di made his announcement, his first act was to demolish the altar in the main plaza and then reestablish the protective array around the realm.
Joe Di left the array control flags not with Cyrus Flame, but with Shelby Young.
Nora was only a late-stage Prime Realm cultivator. Even if she arrived while Joe Di was away, with Cyrus Flame, Shelby Young, and his protective array in place, they would not fear her.
After all, he had left behind four Five-Element Flags to guard this place.
......
It wasn't difficult to locate Alliance Star. Within Long Nie's soul world, Joe Di had found a positioning orb for Alliance Star.
Because Alliance Star was far away, Joe Di let Lightning, who had just awakened, pilot the shuttle. Lightning had devoured the soul of a Prime Realm cultivator and fallen into a deep sleep, missing the chance to cultivate atop the Chaotic Magma.
Joe Di took advantage of the time to continue his study of array techniques. He had gained new insights at the Wheel Domain, advancing into the ranks of a Seventh-Level Divine Array Emperor. But he remained wary of Morris Zhou, whose cultivation and mastery of arrays might surpass even the seventh level.
Time slipped away unnoticed in cultivation, and even more so in the study of arrays.
Thanks to the stack of array jade slips left by Cyrus Flame, and the array disk with the Rift Wheel Eye, Joe Di's mastery continued to progress by the day.
After six months of focused study, Joe Di sensed that with one more breakthrough, he might step into the ranks of an Eighth-Level Divine Array Emperor.
Just then, a violent tremor shook the ship, snapping Joe Di out of his trance. He immediately landed on the shuttle's deck.
A massive void ship blocked the shuttle's path. Two Dao Origin cultivators stood aboard—one at the mid-stage, the other at the late stage.
Joe Di quickly surmised what had happened: the void ship had intercepted his shuttle. Lightning could easily have avoided it, but clearly wasn't one to take the easy route. Instead, Lightning steered the shuttle straight into a collision with the void ship.
The void ship was enormous. The late-stage Dao Origin cultivator at the bow relaxed when he saw Joe Di emerge.
Joe Di could tell the man wasn't very old. Someone so young, yet possessing such a fine flying artifact, likely had an impressive background.
(That's all for today's update. Good night, friends!)