Ann Tu Ning was shocked when she heard that Keith Xun had been killed. Keith Xun had only recently advanced to the Dao Cultivator stage, while Joe Di was supposedly just a Dao Shaper. How could Joe Di have killed Keith Xun?
The gap between Dao Shaper and Dao Cultivator was not something that could be bridged by the strength of divine essence alone. It involved understanding of the Heavenly Dao, strength of divine sense, and the depth of one's domain, among other things.
No matter how heaven-defying Joe Di was, it should have been impossible for him to kill a Dao Cultivator as a Dao Shaper.
Naturally, she did not know that after killing Keith Xun, Joe Di himself felt he had overestimated the Dao Cultivator stage.
As the Sect Master of Origin Dao Sect, Felix Xuan understood better than anyone. His expression turned grim; the Origin Dao Sect had always been suppressed by the other major sects because of its many factions.
The reason he secluded himself in cultivation was precisely because his strength was too low to keep the elders in check.
Taking a deep breath, Felix Xuan regained his composure. "Convene a sect-wide assembly immediately. All elders, hall masters, and peak masters of Origin Dao Sect must attend."
......
After entering the gate of the Origin Dao Herb Garden and arriving at the Origin Range, Joe Di finally understood why his token allowed him three days here.
Once inside, his divine sense was even weaker than his line of sight. Not only was there a grand formation suppressing divine sense, but also one that blocked vision. Anything beyond fifteen meters appeared as a blur.
Not only that, but even his divine essence was suppressed.
Joe Di sighed. In a place like this, even if he were given thirty days instead of three, what could he possibly accomplish?
In other words, within these three days, he could only rely on his own speed, searching wherever he managed to reach.
Joe Di believed that if he really searched in this manner, after three days, he would likely only find the lowest-grade Divine Spirit Herbs, and not many at that.
Even with his divine sense suppressed, his divine essence limited, and his vision restricted, Joe Di was not completely in despair—he still had the Eye of the Way.
Although the Eye of the Way wasn't meant for seeing far, but rather for seeing through illusions, his Eye of the Way had reached the third tier—Immortal Way Sight. Within ten kilometers, he could still see clearly.
In fact, the most suitable technique for Joe Di here would be the Elemental Veil. However, when he reached the Dao Shaper stage, Joe Di had already severed his connection with the Elemental Veil. He had no intention of reclaiming it unless his life was at stake. Until he figured out the issues with the Elemental Veil, he preferred not to use it.
Joe Di had no intention of searching for Divine Spirit Herbs at all. Even with his divine essence suppressed, he could still run swiftly within this area.
He decided to spend two and a half days running, leaving the final half-day to search for Divine Spirit Herbs.
He was currently at the outer perimeter; even if there were Divine Spirit Herbs nearby, their grade would be low. Only by charging into the deepest part of the Origin Range could he hope to obtain higher-grade Divine Spirit Herbs.
After running for just the time it takes to burn an incense stick, Joe Di knew he had made the right choice. He was different from other cultivators—he cultivated the Path of Laws.
Even though the Origin Range was locked down by various formations, the laws themselves did not change. As Joe Di ran, he sensed the changes in the surrounding cosmic laws and gradually began to comprehend them.
As Joe Di's understanding of the surrounding laws grew clearer, his running speed increased. Eventually, he was moving as fast as a flying ship. By the end, his speed was comparable to using an escape technique.
After just one day, Joe Di stopped. He knew he had reached a place ordinary cultivators could never access. Now, even without using the Eye of the Way, a casual glance revealed all sorts of Divine Spirit Herbs nearby, ranging from grade one to grade four, and even some grade five and six.
Joe Di felt a tingling excitement—not because he had found so many Divine Spirit Herbs. Although the herbs thrilled him, they weren't enough to make him this excited.
What truly excited him was his realization of a new escape technique. His Mindshift had one major flaw: if his spiritual sense was suppressed by a formation, he could not escape. In such cases, the Elemental Veil was stronger than Mindshift.
But after a day of running, constantly integrating into the surrounding laws and pondering how to use them to move faster, he grasped the essence of Lawstride.
Although Joe Di had only touched the surface, he knew just how heaven-defying this escape technique was.
Lawstride meant that as long as there were laws, he could escape.
Where in the universe is there no law? The opening words of the Path of Laws state that everything in heaven and earth is governed by laws. If you can't find them, it's only because you haven't understood them yet. Lawstride could truly be called the universe's ultimate escape technique.
The Path of Laws truly was the greatest Dao in all creation.
Even if there were other Daos in the universe stronger than the Path of Laws, Joe Di would never admit it.
No matter how many Divine Spirit Herbs he found, or how precious they were, none could compare to his realization of Lawstride.
Now that he had comprehended Lawstride, growing stronger was only a matter of time. Calming his excitement, Joe Di finally turned his attention to the Divine Spirit Herbs scattered across the ground.
Cloudcap Mushroom, Mistvine, Burstleaf, Silverthorn; Startrace Orchid, Moonblade Leaf, Alderbark, Enlightened Branch...
As Joe Di continued collecting the Divine Spirit Herbs, he couldn't help but marvel at the favor Ann Tu Ning had given him with this token.
Not to mention the grade three herbs—there were plenty of grade four Divine Spirit Herbs too, such as Flylotus, Violet Apricot Root, and Wildgold Laurel.
Once he left this place, how could he ever worry about running out of herbs for pill refinement?
......
Origin Dao Sect, Grand Hall.
Aside from a handful of elders in closed-door cultivation, every elder, hall master, and peak master who could attend had arrived.
Felix Xuan was the Sect Master of Origin Dao Sect, but not its strongest cultivator. The most powerful was Master Yan Yun, the sect's legendary ancestor.
But Master Yan Yun never concerned himself with sect affairs. Aside from his Dao lectures, he was usually secluded, pursuing his own Dao. Unless the sect was destroyed, he rarely emerged.
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Felix Xuan sat in the sect master's seat, looking at the elders, peak masters, and hall masters gathered in the grand hall, and sighed.
In terms of strength, Origin Dao Sect was definitely among the top three of the five major sects. But it had more factions than any other sect in the Dao Domain. If not for Felix Xuan barely holding things together, the sect would have fallen apart long ago.
"Now that everyone is here, Valley Master Ann, please explain why you killed one of our sect's disciples." In Felix Xuan's mind, Ann Tu Ning was far more important than anyone from the Xun Family.
The Xun Family was strong, but it was just a family. Ann Tu Ning was devoted entirely to the sect, so Felix Xuan naturally sided with her. His question was meant to give Ann Tu Ning a chance to explain herself.
Ann Tu Ning clasped her fists and said, "Sect Master, elders. When our outer disciple Joe Di went out for trials, Sean Xun occupied his cave residence. When I went to find Joe Di, I discovered Sean Xun was using his status to bully Joe Di. As a valley master and sect leader, I did not hesitate to follow sect rules and crippled this disciple."
Felix Xuan was about to agree—any disciple who seized another's cave residence could be killed by someone of Ann Tu Ning's rank.
But before Felix Xuan could speak, Walter Teng, Peak Lord of Rainpeak, stood up. "Sect Master, elders, I have a question. As far as I know, Sean Xun was killed just ten days before the Dao River Pill Competition. At that time, Valley Master Ann was preparing to represent our sect in the competition. Yet at such a critical moment, she had time to go looking for an outer disciple? We are one of the five major sects—does Valley Master Ann intend to have us expelled from the ranks?"
Felix Xuan was reminded of the Dao River Pill Competition. His expression darkened as he looked at Ann Tu Ning. Regardless of her reasons, the competition was no trivial matter. In the three days leading up to it, a leader like Ann Tu Ning should have been gathering the participating alchemists to discuss strategies for refining the God Origin Pill.
At this time, Ann Tu Ning should have been assembling all the competing alchemists to discuss techniques and tactics for refining the God Origin Pill.