After advancing to True Immortal, Joe Di left the cave dwelling with Moria Lane. He needed to convert his true essence into immortal essence while searching for a place to settle.
After stepping into the realm of True Immortal, Joe Di knew that further cultivation was meaningless. So, apart from searching for a place to stay, he focused on converting his essence to immortal energy.
On this day, Joe Di stood in the middle of a cracked marsh, his spiritual sense spreading into the distance. He always felt that the place he was searching for was not far away, but after so many days, he still couldn't find it.
Moria Lane, who was lying on Joe Di's back, opened her eyes. Her gaze was still somewhat dazed, and she made no attempt to struggle.
As soon as Moria Lane awoke, Joe Di sensed it and quickly set her down. "Fairy Moria, you..."
But after uttering just those words, Joe Di realized there was no need to continue. Although Moria Lane had awakened and could move, her mind had not fully recovered.
"Forget it. From now on, stay by my side. If one day we are separated, remember—don't let strangers approach you, and never trust their words." That was all Joe Di could say.
In the Twilight Immortal Era, anything could happen. If he and Moria Lane were ever separated, such a warning might give her a chance to survive.
Unexpectedly, Moria Lane nodded, then silently followed behind Joe Di.
At first, Moria Lane could only follow behind Joe Di, doing whatever he taught her to do. After a while, even without instruction, she could manage some simple tasks on her own.
There were many places where Joe Di couldn't determine if an immortal city could be established, and he still needed to set up arrays. Moria Lane could also help him according to his instructions.
Seeing Moria Lane improve day by day, Joe Di was genuinely pleased.
The only thing Joe Di couldn't solve was that every time he converted immortal energy and arranged for Moria Lane to stay in a separate room, she would automatically come over and sleep in the same room as him.
Eventually, Joe Di simply stopped arranging a separate cultivation room for Moria Lane.
"Senior, senior..." As Joe Di disappointedly put away an array banner, an urgent shout echoed in his ears.
Joe Di's spiritual sense had already detected the newcomer—it was the same person who had witnessed his tribulation and quietly left. He wasn't sure why this cultivator had returned.
Joe Di sent the array banner into his ring, turned, and looked at the approaching Quinn Tong. He said calmly, "You left secretly before, probably afraid I'd kill you, right? So why come here now, offering yourself up?"
Quinn Tong hurriedly bowed, "Junior believes that Senior is not someone who kills the innocent. If you had wanted to kill me, you could have pursued me back then."
Joe Di chuckled, "Maybe I just didn't want trouble. Now that you've come to me, isn't it convenient?"
Quinn Tong sighed, "If Senior truly wishes to kill me, I have nothing to say."
The reason Quinn Tong hurried over was that, after leaving, he realized that with Joe Di's strength, escaping was pointless—if Joe Di wanted to kill him, he could have done so easily. In fact, after Quinn Tong fled, Joe Di never bothered to chase him.
This made Quinn Tong realize he had misjudged for the first time—the tribulation cultivator he had seen was not someone who killed the innocent indiscriminately.
In his eyes, Joe Di's power was astonishing, while his own was too weak. The task he wanted to accomplish was too great; without help from a powerhouse like Joe Di, it was all futile. If Joe Di truly wanted to kill him, he could only blame his own poor judgment.
In this twilight realm, whether he was killed or not made little difference to Quinn Tong.
"Speak, what do you want from me?" Joe Di nodded. He sensed no murderous intent or bloodthirst from Quinn Tong, meaning that although Quinn Tong was a True Immortal, he hadn't refined the blood of fellow cultivators.
Quinn Tong was overjoyed. As soon as Joe Di spoke, he knew he hadn't misjudged—Joe Di was not one to kill the innocent.
"Senior, everyone in the Immortal Realm believes that the twilight era has arrived, but I don't think so. I believe the Immortal Realm can be restored to its former glory!" Quinn Tong said excitedly.
Joe Di looked at Quinn Tong in surprise. "Why do you think that?"
"Because I discovered two things. First, Senior, you were able to undergo tribulation here..."
Hearing this, Joe Di sighed. He could undergo tribulation because he possessed a golden Dao principle, and the intensity of his lightning tribulation was far greater than a true immortal's standard tribulation in the Immortal Realm. So whether he could undergo tribulation had nothing to do with whether the Immortal Realm could be restored.
"And what's the second thing?" Joe Di was losing interest. After searching the Immortal Realm for so many years, he hadn't even found a place suitable to set up the Grand Fivefold Array to gather and suppress fortune. How could he believe Quinn Tong's words?
Sensing Joe Di's waning interest, Quinn Tong still spoke earnestly, "Senior, the second thing is that I discovered a spring. According to my observations, the spring is growing larger. The water is clear and sweet, with a unique immortal aura that aids cultivation..."
"You saw a spring?" Joe Di was just as excited, his eyes lighting up with joy and longing.
In all his years in the Immortal Realm, Joe Di had never seen water—not only was there no rain, but there were no rivers, lakes, or seas, not even a single stream.
While searching for a site to set up the Grand Fivefold Array all these years, Joe Di had not wasted his time. He researched the causes and consequences of the dispersal of fortune in the World Tome.
Generally, every realm has a treasure that suppresses fortune. Most of these treasures are natural and impossible to find. Even if you refined an entire realm, you might not be able to locate such a treasure. Some are manmade, and in large realms, traces of artificial suppression of fortune can usually be found.
If a realm loses all its fortune, the first things to appear are slaughter and rampant malice, followed by the drying up of all water sources.
Anywhere with water will dry up; anywhere with spirit herbs will wither. Once the water and spirit herbs are gone, even ordinary weeds will wither away.
When even the weeds have withered away, the laws of the realm begin to collapse.
The result of a realm's laws collapsing is clear to everyone—the realm ultimately falls apart.
The treasure that once suppressed the Immortal Realm's fortune was clearly gone, and without it, water could not exist. If water appeared, according to the World Tome, it meant that some of the Immortal Realm's fortune was still hidden beneath the spring. Otherwise, the spring would never have appeared.
"Yes, I really saw the spring, and I even tasted a few mouthfuls. Later, as the spring grew larger, I realized I couldn't handle it alone, so I came to seek your help, Senior," Quinn Tong said excitedly.
"Where is it?" Joe Di was even more excited than Quinn Tong, for he knew better than anyone what that hint of spring water meant.
If someone with ulterior motives discovered the spring, there would be only two outcomes: either they would secretly cultivate atop it until the spring was depleted, or they would dig it up and take away the remaining fortune of the Immortal Realm.
There were countless selfish people like that in the Immortal Realm. Joe Di had to act first—he needed to claim the area, set up the Grand Fivefold Array, and establish a true Immortal City.
As long as he could set up the Grand Fivefold Array to suppress fortune, the Immortal Realm's fortune would eventually recover.
"At the bottom of the Celestial Bamboo River..."
In just a dozen breaths, Joe Di brought Quinn Tong and Moria Lane to the bottom of the Celestial Bamboo River.
Quinn Tong was right—there was not only a spring here, but the stream emerging from it was already as thick as a finger. However, the riverbed had been dry for so long that no matter how much spring water appeared, it quickly seeped away and vanished.
Quinn Tong, even more excited, pointed at the finger-thick stream. "When I first saw it, it was just a trickle. Now it's as thick as a finger!"
Joe Di raised his hand and took out several array banners, concealing the finger-thick stream. He patted Quinn Tong's shoulder and said, "Friend Quinn, I've spent years searching for a place to suppress the Immortal Realm's fortune. Though my power is limited, the Celestial Bamboo River you've found is undoubtedly the best site for it. If you're willing to help me, let's build an Immortal City here and set up the Grand Fivefold Array to suppress the realm's fortune. I believe one day, the Immortal Realm's fortune will return."
Joe Di didn't mention that the spring existed because of a remnant of the Immortal Realm's fortune, nor did he say he planned to use the Terraflame Banner to suppress it.
"Senior..."
Joe Di stopped Quinn Tong. "My name is Joe Di. From now on, let's call each other brothers. I have another friend who's also searching for a place to build an Immortal City. Soon, there will be more people like us."
"Yes, Brother Joe. I am willing to follow you and offer what little strength I have for the Immortal Realm." Quinn Tong's voice was still trembling with excitement.
What he wanted was not a city of slaughter and selfishness, but a true Immortal City for the Immortal Realm.
(That's all for today's update. Good night, friends!)