Joe Di did not respond. He had already shown restraint—had he not, Ethan Feng would have been dead by now.
Seeing Joe Di remain silent, Ethan Feng hurriedly added, "Lord Voidbreaker said your friend Zane Du ran into trouble—he was ambushed by Cassie Cao, that big dark-faced one, and now he can't recover. He sent someone out to ask for your help, but that person barely finished delivering the message before kicking the bucket."
That was indeed Lord Voidbreaker's way of speaking, but Joe Di frowned in concern.
He was only at the late Integration stage now, but he had a sense: if he couldn't find a solution, not to mention reaching the Third Step, he would never attain Integration Perfection in this lifetime.
He had many friends, but only a few could truly help him. Besides Cassie Cao, who perished to save him, only Zane Du remained. As for the others, either their cultivation wasn't enough, or their grasp of the Grand Way was lacking—they simply wouldn't understand his predicament...
Whether it was his friendship with Zane Du or his own issues with the Grand Way, he had no choice—he had to save Zane Du.
Yet whenever he thought of Cassie Cao, Joe Di felt a pang of guilt. Of all the women in his life, Cassie Cao was the one he owed the most. Though it wasn't a debt of love, it was one of life and death.
Seeing Joe Di fall silent, Ethan Feng spoke again, "Something top-tier appeared in the Chaos Realm. Once I'm done here, I'll be heading back soon. Lord Voidbreaker also discovered something extremely important in the Chaos Realm and can't leave for now. He said if you have time, you should come along too..."
"Who destroyed my inn outside the Mountainview Forbidden Zone?" Joe Di asked in a low voice.
Ethan Feng was momentarily stunned, then shook his head. "I don't know about that at all."
He truly didn't know. These years, aside from obsessively cultivating the Karmic Way, Ethan Feng had been searching for opportunities in the Chaos Realm. He was completely unaware of Joe Di's actions, including opening the Mountainview Inn outside the forbidden zone.
Joe Di nodded, his tone commanding. "If that's the case, then we'll part ways here. When you see Voidbreaker, tell him to come live in Celestial Beyond. While I'm away, have him look after Celestial Beyond and the Taiji Realm for me."
"Understood. Rest assured, Daoist, I will deliver your message." Ethan Feng quickly replied, humbling himself. Even after mastering the Karmic Way, he was still far from true power.
There was no doubt—Joe Di was already such a powerhouse, destined to rival the Karmic Sage. As for Ethan Feng, he was just a disciple under the Karmic Sage.
"Good." With a single step, Joe Di crossed the plaza of Celestial Beyond and vanished into the vast void.
For someone like Ethan Feng, not killing him was already showing mercy. By issuing instructions, Joe Di was warning him—he'd spared him today, so Ethan Feng had best not stir up trouble while Joe Di was away.
After Joe Di disappeared, Ethan Feng finally noticed his palms were sweating.
He understood Joe Di's actions perfectly. Even without the warning, he wasn't foolish enough to attack Celestial Beyond.
His Karmic Way was far inferior to Joe Di's, but compared to most other cultivators, he was already immensely strong. In the future, once the Gate of Destiny opened, he planned to break through to the Creation Realm—or even higher. How could he risk being killed now?
---
Joe Di was deeply anxious—he had far too much to do. According to his plan, he would first go to the Lost Dao Domain to retrieve the Yin-Yang Taiji Diagram and deliver it to the Taiji Realm to stabilize its fortune. After that, he would search for Lethe, Autumn Waters, and Nina Ning. With his current strength, a hundred years or so should be enough to scour the Immortal Realm.
No matter whether he could find Lethe, Autumn Waters, or Nina Ning, he still needed to enter the Mountainview Forbidden Zone to see Zane Du.
Perhaps in this universe, only Zane Du could truly understand what was wrong with his Dao.
After learning a sliver about the Creation World from Baker Wynn, Joe Di grew even more restless—he desperately wanted to step into the Third Step.
If he failed to reach the Third Step while someone in the Creation World ascended before him, then not just he and Nora Xiu, but all cultivators and beings of the Five Elements Universe would be at the mercy of others.
At this moment, Joe Di could only set aside retrieving the Yin-Yang Taiji Diagram and searching for Lethe, Autumn Waters, and Nina Ning. He had to rescue Zane Du first. If anything happened to Zane Du, everything might be lost forever.
Even if he retrieved the Yin-Yang Taiji Diagram, found Lethe, Autumn Waters, and Nina Ning, and even developed the Taiji Realm and Celestial Beyond—so what?
Because by that time, everything would be nothing but livestock raised by others. With a single thought, outsiders could shatter the Five Elements Universe, let alone the lives born within it.
---
Moving at his fastest, Joe Di arrived outside the Mountainview Forbidden Zone once again. He didn't wait for the gates to open—he charged straight in and raced directly toward the Grandway Abyss.
The Grandway Abyss was almost unchanged, but Joe Di noticed that there were far fewer cultivators than before. It seemed something had happened here since he left.
A cultivator at the Integration stage, walking across the Grandway Plaza, saw Joe Di reappear and was visibly shocked. He quickly lowered his head, trying to leave in a hurry. Joe Di was a powerhouse he couldn't afford to provoke or offend.
Before the man could get far, Joe Di blocked his path.
"Pan Xian greets Dao Sovereign Di." The cultivator bowed respectfully, his tone full of deference.
Joe Di was renowned in the Grandway Abyss—no one dared show him the slightest disrespect. The memory of him slaying a Third Step powerhouse here was still fresh in everyone's mind.
Joe Di asked coldly, "Where is Zefron Ye?"
Pan Xian shuddered at Joe Di's words and hurriedly replied, "Dao Sovereign Di, I'm just a nobody—I truly don't know where he is."
"Then where is Zane Du?" Joe Di pressed further, then added, "If you still don't know, you can go reincarnate. Of course, whether you'll be able to reincarnate, I can't guarantee."
Joe Di's voice was sharp and murderous, his domain already locking Pan Xian in place. He was certain that everyone in the Grandway Abyss knew about Zefron Ye and Zane Du. Zefron Ye had made a display of power, while Zane Du ensured the news of their battle spread. There was no need for secrecy. Joe Di didn't have the patience for persuasion—his method now was the most direct and effective.
Pan Xian shivered again, full of regret. Why had he bothered coming to the Grandway Plaza? He should've just stayed in his cave and cultivated—instead, he'd gotten himself into trouble.
"If you tell me now, nothing will happen to you—and maybe nothing will ever happen. But if you don't, something will happen right now." Joe Di's voice rang out again.
That was the final straw for Pan Xian. He hurriedly replied, "Dao Sovereign Zefron Ye—I really don't know where he went. As for Senior Zane, rumor has it he's locked away at the foot of Mountainview..."
Before Pan Xian could finish, Joe Di had already vanished toward Mountainview.
Pan Xian stared blankly in the direction Joe Di had gone, muttering, "The foot of Mountainview? Is it a hundred thousand years, or a million?"
But this was none of his business. In the next moment, he darted away from the Grandway Plaza. He swore that unless something truly special happened, he'd never leave seclusion so casually again.
For most cultivators of the Grandway Abyss, reaching the foot of Mountainview might take a lifetime. But for Joe Di, it was only a matter of two or three days.
Mountainview was right there—once you understood this principle, anyone could reach its foot as swiftly as Joe Di.