After a brief moment of shock, Joe Di quickly regained his composure. He simply activated his cultivation technique, tempering both his physical body and his spiritual sense at the same time.
Since his spiritual sense couldn't penetrate beyond, wherever he ended up would be left to fate. He still had over a dozen drops of Cosmic True Essence on him—protecting Nora Xiu's life shouldn't be a problem. As long as Nora Xiu survived, he would eventually find a way back to the space between realms and obtain the Two Realms Flower.
...
Charlotte Ling followed closely behind Quentin Wood, hastening for at least a full day before she finally saw Quentin come to a stop.
"Senior, what is going on?" As soon as Charlotte Ling stopped, she asked urgently. She had no idea what had happened—Quentin Wood wanted to flee, so she could only follow.
Quentin Wood sighed, "We must have been discovered."
Charlotte Ling fell silent, understanding what Quentin meant. Saying they were discovered actually meant Charlotte Ling was discovered. Quentin Wood had survived here for so many years; surely he had long been noticed.
"Senior, do they know I'm from outside?" Charlotte Ling was uncertain. Previously, when she spoke with Quentin Wood, her spiritual sense had always been extended to its limit, yet she hadn't noticed anything at all.
Quentin Wood nodded, "They definitely noticed. The ones who came are two Integration cultivators. With a sweep of their spiritual sense, they'd see you're from outside. Your Dao resonance is scattered, and your Dao is not condensed—there's no way you're a cultivator of the Lost Dao Domain."
Charlotte Ling looked at Quentin Wood speechlessly and said, "Senior, although I've been making rapid progress lately, I still consider my Dao to be fairly solid."
There was one thing Charlotte Ling didn't say aloud: after absorbing a large amount of chaotic energy in the Chaotic Magma, and with the help of the Sacred Sun Pearl, her Dao resonance had become much more solid than before. For Quentin Wood to say her Dao resonance was scattered and her Dao not condensed was truly underestimating her. Charlotte even believed that, if she faced Long Nie now, she wouldn't be afraid.
Quentin Wood smiled slightly, "That's just how you feel. In truth, your Dao really isn't condensed."
Charlotte Ling felt a bit indignant. "Senior, didn't you say two Integration cultivators arrived? Are they late-stage Integration?"
Quentin Wood shook his head. "No, one is early-stage Integration, the other is mid-stage Integration."
Charlotte Ling continued, "Then let's wait here a bit. Maybe they'll keep chasing us. When they do, I'll handle the mid-stage Integration cultivator, and you take on the early-stage one."
Quentin Wood replied, "My strength is quite low; I'm afraid I can't handle the early-stage Integration cultivator. Even though you're mid-stage Integration, you probably can't handle the mid-stage one either."
Seeing Charlotte Ling's stubbornness, he continued, "I'll establish a domain now. You try to tear open my domain with yours. If you can do it, then perhaps I've misjudged you."
As he spoke, Quentin Wood's domain locked down this entire space, and Charlotte Ling was trapped within it.
That oppressive spatial aura swept over, and Charlotte Ling cupped her fists. "Senior, forgive me for overstepping."
As she spoke, Charlotte Ling unhesitatingly extended her own domain, but her expression quickly changed. Her domain crashed against Quentin Wood's, causing only ripples in the space, while Quentin's spatial domain showed no sign of being torn apart.
Charlotte Ling knew very well that if Quentin Wood attacked her now, she probably wouldn't last even half an incense stick's time—unless she burned her essence blood to break through his spatial domain.
Charlotte withdrew her domain, and almost at the same time, Quentin Wood withdrew his own.
Charlotte Ling said with shame, "Senior, your strength is truly overwhelming. I am no match for you."
At this moment, she finally understood why Quentin Wood sensed someone's arrival, while she hadn't noticed a thing. Although her cultivation appeared higher than Quentin's, her true strength was far inferior. It was laughable that she thought she could protect herself here; if she hadn't met a good person like Quentin Wood, she wouldn't have survived.
Quentin Wood shook his head. "My strength is weak. In the Lost Dao Domain, I'm probably among the weakest. I always linger on the edges, never drawing attention in the central areas, so I've managed to survive until now."
"Are those two people who came just now even stronger than you?" Charlotte Ling asked in surprise.
Quentin Wood's strength was already impressive, yet now he claimed he was weak.
Quentin Wood sighed, "You're right—they're both stronger than me. The reason they didn't pursue us is because they're worried I might have set up an ambush, not because they couldn't catch up. In the Lost Dao Domain, many of the cultivators on the outskirts band together to fend off those from the inner regions. Ambushes happen all the time, and the spoils are often worthwhile. So those two just reported upwards. Since they've discovered you're from outside, there's no way they'll let you escape."
"What should I do then?" Charlotte Ling now had no doubt about Quentin Wood's words.
Quentin Wood said, "It will take some time for them to gather reinforcements. For now, I'll take you to a place that might help solidify your Dao resonance and improve your strength. Everyone here has been tempered by the grand Dao from the dawn of creation—their Dao is far more condensed than yours could ever be."
"Thank you, Senior." Charlotte Ling now understood why she lagged so far behind the people here—it was because, from the very beginning, they had never started on the same footing.
...
Boom! A roar echoed in Joe Di's sea of consciousness, and he felt his spiritual sea suddenly expand to a new level. The spiritual sense he had been compressing within a certain range no longer felt torn apart or devoured.
His sea of consciousness had advanced again, and Joe Di was overjoyed. He eagerly stretched his spiritual sense even further.
Sure enough, this time Joe Di's spiritual sense wasn't devoured. He could clearly sense his surroundings. Although chaotic and filled with broken rules, these fragments still varied in strength. Joe Di had a deep understanding of cosmic laws, and in no time, he found the area where the rules were weakest.
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He discovered that the lower the grade of the rules, the weaker their attack power.
Joe Di controlled the Yin-Yang Taiji Diagram and charged toward the weakest area. This time, he used his spiritual sense to connect with the Ninth World. To his relief, his spiritual sense finally reached the Ninth World. He vaguely understood that his previous inability to connect was due to the surrounding fragments of broken rules being of a higher grade than his Dao laws.
Boom! Joe Di's feet landed on the ground, shattering the ice around him into a stunning bloom of ice flowers.
Joe Di immediately swept out his spiritual sense. After half an incense stick's time, he withdrew it with a slightly grim expression. He was certain he had arrived in the Immortal Realm. Since he entered from the fifth layer of shattered rules in the Grand Ruins and fell into the Immortal Realm, that meant there was a void passage here, one that could lead from the Dao Domain to the Grand Ruins.
But even after sweeping his spiritual sense several times, Joe Di couldn't find the slightest trace of a passage. The surrounding cosmic laws showed no sign of change.
Joe Di sighed. If it wasn't that his cultivation was insufficient, then there must be a natural realm-breaking teleportation hidden among the shattered rules.
Whatever the case, he didn't have time to investigate now.
In Joe Di's spiritual sense, there were glaciers everywhere. The extreme cold here was so intense that Joe Di suspected even an Immortal Emperor couldn't withstand it. Yet for him, this icy chill was no different from ordinary cold water.
Joe Di simply lifted his foot and stepped forward, and the space beneath him vanished. Instantly, he shot out of the millions of miles of glacial land.
Outside the glacier, a young man and woman stood, both staring in shock at Joe Di as he emerged. The young woman even rubbed her eyes, almost thinking she was seeing things. Could someone actually enter that glacier? The Dao resonance of ice inside was so intense that even an Immortal Emperor would perish—how had this man come out alive?
(That's all for today's update. Good night, friends!)