The first thing Joe Di did upon entering the room was to set up a level-four restriction. He sensed that Miles Steward was suspicious of him, though there was no logical reason for this feeling. If there was any clue, it was that when Miles Steward left, he checked Joe Di’s storage pouch—a seemingly unnecessary act at the time.
If Miles Steward suspected him, it must be because he couldn’t see through Joe Di’s true cultivation level. Joe Di cultivated the Starstream Veins, so an illusory starlit aura always surrounded him. This made his realm appear ambiguous—sometimes like the early Foundation Stage, sometimes like the late Foundation Stage.
Joe Di took out his storage pouch again and sent his spiritual sense inside. At this moment, his spiritual sense and restriction skills far surpassed Miles Steward’s. With a single sweep, he noticed something wrong—the pouch was marked with a spiritual sense imprint.
Joe Di’s heart sank. Miles Steward truly harbored ill intentions.
He wasn’t afraid of facing Miles Steward alone; what worried him was Miles Steward making a move on the ship. The steward had marked his storage pouch with a spiritual sense imprint, clearly targeting the Celestial Blade Steel or Soulglass Herb.
Perhaps Miles Steward wasn’t certain he possessed these treasures, but for a Foundation Stage rogue cultivator of unknown origin like Joe Di, killing him would be of little consequence.
What Joe Di didn’t know was that Miles Steward’s suspicion wasn’t due to his unclear cultivation level, but because the steward believed Fatty wouldn’t dare lie to him. If Fatty wouldn’t lie, then Joe Di must really have the Celestial Blade Steel and Soulglass Herb.
If he hadn’t suspected Joe Di, he wouldn’t have noticed anything amiss. But with suspicion, he saw Joe Di’s pale face under the pressure of his Golden Core aura—even his trembling legs seemed somewhat fake.
Even if he guessed wrong, it didn’t matter. Just as Joe Di thought, killing an insignificant ant was no big deal.
After discovering the spiritual sense imprint, Joe Di’s first thought was that he couldn’t touch it. If he did, Miles Steward would know immediately…
But as soon as this thought arose, Joe Di dismissed it and decisively stripped away the spiritual sense imprint.
The imprint was crude—if he hadn’t found it, that would be strange. Since he did, it was only right to remove it.
Miles Steward had just returned to his quarters when he sensed Joe Di had removed his spiritual sense imprint. He shook his head, thinking he must have been mistaken. How could a mere Foundation Stage cultivator be so cunning? But why would Frank Fong lie to him? Logically, Frank Fong had nothing to gain by deceiving him.
After putting away Miles Steward’s spiritual sense imprint, Joe Di tossed out a pile of high-grade spirit stones and resumed cultivating. The stronger his cultivation grew, the more he realized his power was still insufficient.
The following days passed peacefully. In the blink of an eye, more than two months went by, and with the unlimited supply of high-grade spirit stones, Joe Di advanced to the eighth layer of Foundation Stage.
Joe Di was delighted; every breakthrough elevated his strength. In a place like Skyveil, the stronger he was, the safer he would be.
If luck held, by the time he reached Skyveil, he might even break through to the ninth layer of Foundation Stage.
Joe Di still had plenty of high-grade spirit stones left. As he prepared to continue cultivating, the ship suddenly trembled. He immediately sensed it had come to a halt.
Before Joe Di could step out to ask what was happening, a solemn voice echoed in his ears: "Our skyship has encountered a Beast Tide while crossing the West Ravine Mountains. We cannot proceed. All cultivators aboard must come out and join the battle..."
Joe Di quickly opened the restriction and stepped out; Felix Zheng and the others were already outside.
Seeing Joe Di emerge, Felix Zheng hurried over. "Brother Zi Mo, our skyship has run into a Beast Tide, but it’s nothing to worry about. Ships headed for Skyveil often encounter these beast tides—usually it’s more scare than danger. Still, we have to go out. If anyone refuses to fight the fiend beasts, they’ll be kicked off the ship immediately."
"Let’s go check it out together," Joe Di nodded. He had no intention of staying behind.
"Brother Zi Mo, you must be the most important disciple in your family, right?" Sherry Frost approached Joe Di, her voice soft and gentle, even changing her form of address to "Brother Zi Mo."
Zane Wang’s expression soured. He always stayed by Sherry Frost’s side, hoping to win her favor.
Joe Di chuckled, "Of course. My talent is the best in my family. All the clan’s resources are at my disposal. Whenever I travel, I carry at least twenty or thirty thousand high-grade spirit stones. But I’ve spent too many spirit stones on female cultivators outside, and this time, riding the skyship, I used up another ten thousand. Otherwise, handing you a few tens of thousands would be nothing."
Felix Zheng chimed in, "I always thought I was wealthy, but compared to Brother Zi Mo, I’m just a pauper."
"Let’s go, let’s see the fiend beasts," Joe Di waved his hand, uninterested in continuing the conversation.
Felix Zheng could be a casual friend, but clearly wasn’t someone to get close to. Celia Qi was inexperienced and followed Felix Zheng’s lead in everything. As for Zane Wang and Sherry Frost, Joe Di saw no reason to befriend them. Once they reached Skyveil, everyone would go their separate ways.
After the incident with Felix Zheng, the group naturally took Joe Di as their center, all following him onto the deck.
Only after stepping onto the deck did Joe Di realize the sheer number of fiend beasts—packed densely together, from ground to sky, everywhere. The skyship had crashed straight into their encirclement; there was no way forward, nor any way to retreat.
Even though Joe Di’s spiritual sense couldn’t reach far, he could still feel that some of these fiend beasts were extremely powerful.
Their ship wasn’t the only one blocked—two other skyships were also trapped by the fiend beasts.
At least tens of thousands of cultivators were fighting the fiend beasts, with several arraycraft masters setting up defensive arrays to assist those in battle.
A black-faced man in crimson robes stood on the deck, his voice booming: "It’s normal for ships headed to Skyveil to encounter beast tides in the West Ravine Mountains. But this time, the scale of the Beast Tide is rarely seen.
This time, it’s not just our ship—the Beast Tide has trapped two other ships bound for Skyveil. I’ve already discussed with their leaders; we’ll join forces to deal with the Beast Tide. No matter who you are or what you gain, if you obtain anything during the battle, it’s yours to keep. Remember, don’t break away from the defensive array alone. Team up with familiar faces if possible. That’s all—let’s get started!"
As soon as the man in crimson finished speaking, countless cultivators on the deck surged toward the beast horde.
Joe Di shook his head speechlessly—this was nothing but a disorderly mob. He’d never led an army, but as someone from a military family, he knew that charging blindly at such a massive beast horde was the worst tactic. With tens of thousands of cultivators, if they advanced in an organized fashion, first breaking through the Beast Tide’s weak points to create chaos, they might win easily.
If he were in charge, he’d have everyone form a strangling formation—tens of thousands of cultivators weaving like dragons through the fiend beasts, supporting each other as they fought.
Too bad the man in crimson, though likely a Soul Ancestor, fought well but led poorly. This battle strategy was almost foolish.
"Brother Zi Mo, let’s team up," Felix Zheng said eagerly, looking at Joe Di.
In a place like this, the stronger your teammates, the safer you are. Joe Di was clearly the strongest among their small group.
Joe Di waved his hand, "I won’t team up with you. I’m stronger and might rush to the front, which could drag you down."
Felix Zheng and the others looked disappointed, but Joe Di didn’t care. He stretched, then dashed into the crowd.
He didn’t team up with Felix Zheng and the others because he didn’t want to get them killed. He was certain Frank Fong wouldn’t let this chance slip by. If they joined him, he wouldn’t have the energy to protect them, and Felix Zheng would be the one to suffer.
Besides Frank Fong, Miles Steward might also make a move here, so Joe Di had to stay vigilant.
Frank Fong wanted him dead, but Joe Di wanted to kill Frank Fong just as much. The Liyu Grass and Celestial Blade Essence weren’t minor matters—if a Soul Ancestor found out, Joe Di would be doomed.
But he couldn’t tell Felix Zheng that. If he did, it would mean he didn’t fear Golden Core cultivators. How many Foundation Stage cultivators dared challenge Golden Core experts? The most famous was probably Joe Di himself—he’d killed more than one Qi Family Golden Core cultivator.
(That’s all for today’s update, friends. Good night!)