Powerful auras filled the Trading Post; neither Joe Di nor Zhuo Wujia dared to recklessly extend their spiritual sense.
After the two quickened their pace and left the Trading Post, Zhuo Wujia freely swept his spiritual sense without any hindrance. Sensing the vast, boundless space, he couldn't help but let out a long breath. "This is what freedom tastes like."
It truly was freedom. Here, they could go anywhere they wished, rather than being trapped in the wormhole guard zone or Leapgate City.
"Brother Di, where should we go now?" Zhuo Wujia looked at Joe Di. Only by following Joe Di had he arrived in the Dao Domain so quickly and gained his freedom. Even though this was just a Trading Post in the wilds, he could still feel the rich spiritual energy suitable for cultivation.
Although he asked Joe Di, Zhuo Wujia knew very well that Joe Di would surely take him to escape into the Endless Expanse. Only by fleeing there did they have a chance at survival.
Joe Di tossed both tokens into the Ninth World before speaking, "Logically, we should flee deep into the Endless Expanse and hide in its depths. I am certain that if we truly escape into the Expanse, we may never get out for the rest of our lives. I believe our pursuers have countless ways to catch us. Our advantage is that they haven't reacted yet, giving me enough time to escape. Brother Zhuo, if you trust me, enter my True Spirit World first. I'll take you with me."
If they fled into the Endless Expanse, the pursuers only needed to issue a bounty in the Expanse's Trading Post, and they would have nowhere to hide. If they went deep into the Expanse, they might end up as food for beasts.
Joe Di didn't have any high-level flying artifacts and could only rely on his spiritual sense to escape. His spiritual sense had long surpassed the level of immortal sense; even true Dao Forging experts might not have stronger spiritual sense than him.
"Alright." Zhuo Wujia didn't hesitate at all, immediately opening his spiritual sense and letting Joe Di send him into the True Spirit World.
As soon as Zhuo Wujia entered the True Spirit World, Joe Di unleashed his spiritual sense and sped away madly.
......
"Alliance Leader Maya?" The moment Zhuo Wujia entered the True Spirit World, the first person he saw was Maya Mu. He couldn't help but cry out in shock—he had always thought Maya Mu was dead.
"Daoist Zhuo, you came in as well?" Maya Mu was also surprised to see Zhuo Wujia. She had a bad feeling—had Joe Di encountered an ambush, which was why Zhuo Wujia entered? But Zhuo Wujia didn't look injured...
Zhuo Wujia, however, was delighted. "Alliance Leader Maya, rumors outside say you were killed by Brother Di himself, but I don't believe it. Brother Di is upright and honorable—he would never harm you."
Maya Mu sighed, "Yes, Brother Di is the most upright cultivator I've ever met. If not for him, my bones would have long since grown cold..."
After speaking, Maya Mu remembered how Zhuo Wujia had entered and asked, "Daoist Zhuo, where are you and Brother Di now? Why did you come in?"
Zhuo Wujia hurriedly explained, "Brother Di led me to reach the top ten of the Merit Leaderboard, then we entered Leapgate City. Unexpectedly, that city was also a place full of traps—once inside, it's almost impossible to leave. Brother Di and I were trapped there. To leave, you need a hundred thousand top-grade divine crystals, which requires billions of merit points..."
"Ah..." Maya Mu was stunned. Billions of merit points—how many years would that take in Leapgate City?
Was she going to remain in the True Spirit World forever? What was she supposed to do?
Zhuo Wujia chuckled, "Who would have thought Brother Di produced a Dao Vein? Only then could we teleport out of Leapgate City."
Mu Jie drew a sharp breath. For someone at the Immortal Emperor level to produce a Dao vein was simply miraculous. Thinking of all the things Joe Di had done—none of them were feats an ordinary person could accomplish. Joe Di was truly a legend.
"You mean we're already in the Dao Domain?" Mu Jie realized, her tone filled with joy.
Zhuo Wujia nodded. "That's right, we're indeed in the Dao Domain. But someone is probably after me and Brother Di, so he sent me into the True Spirit World. He must be using a secret technique to escape right now."
"Is it Nixi Blade?" Mu Jie knew well why Nixi Blade wanted to kill Joe Di.
Zhuo Wujia nodded, then added, "Besides Nixi Blade, there's another potential enemy—the Lake of Dao-Slaying... Wait, Alliance Leader Mu, have you reached Dao-shaping?"
While Zhuo Wujia was speaking with Mu Jie, Joe Di had already fled beyond the outskirts of the Endless Great Marsh market, moving faster and faster.
Joe Di's spiritual sense and escape technique—unless someone was deliberately watching, even if they saw him, they'd only sense a ripple in space before he vanished.
......
In the Gate of Leap Divine City, Sha Wushang's face was dark as he glared at Steward Huang, who stood before him bowing and scraping, and at the city lord Jiao Yueheng, who had just arrived. Sha Huangtian and Nixi Blade had both assured him that the cultivator named Zi Mo could never escape, and that there was no need to worry. Sha Wushang hadn't listened to them; he had rushed to the city at once. He'd encountered too many surprises in his life, and any carelessness could lead to disaster.
To Sha Wushang's surprise, even with his urgency, something had still gone wrong.
That guy Simon Di and Zhuo Wujia actually managed to teleport away—and with only half a Dao vein, no less. The odds of that were less than one in ten thousand, yet it happened.
He wanted to kill Steward Huang, but knew Huang hadn't made a mistake. Joe Di had produced more than two hundred thousand top-grade divine crystals, which qualified him for teleportation.
Although the Gate of Leap Divine City was filled with weak Immortal Emperors, it was built by a coalition of various powerful forces. There were Dao Origin experts stronger than him here as well. He could flaunt his power, but he couldn't kill at will or interfere with the city's rules. If he killed Steward Huang, he'd make enemies of other factions.
"Where did he teleport to?" Sha Wushang finally suppressed his murderous intent, forcing himself to speak calmly, asking word by word.
Steward Huang dared not hide anything. "They teleported to the Endless Great Marsh. They should still be there now."
Jiao Yueheng, who hadn't spoken until now, barked harshly, "Then hurry up and activate the teleportation array. Send Senior Sha and the others to the Endless Great Marsh."
To be honest, Jiao Yueheng didn't care much for the Qian Yuan Trading Guild leader or Sha Huangtian. But Sha Wushang was different—he'd just stepped into the Second Step, and Jiao Yueheng couldn't afford to offend someone like that.
"Yes, City Lord. Seniors, please enter the teleportation array." Steward Huang said respectfully, feeling a bit regretful. If only he'd held Joe Di and the others for a day, Sha Wushang would have caught them.
Half a Dao vein was valuable, but offending a Dao Origin expert was practically courting death.
Sha Wushang's face was livid with rage, while the Qian Yuan Trading Guild leader, Nixi Blade, felt a chill run down his spine.
He recalled how Joe Di had once shown deference before him, even using a fireball to burn Mu Jie just to curry favor. Now, he was certain that Joe Di had a way to remove the Dao Ascension Pill, and likely had already done so, as he could no longer sense any trace of the pill.
Such a patient and cunning man—he had let him go after offending him. Sha Wushang had a feeling that one day, Simon Di would come back for revenge.
No, could someone like that really go to rescue his son, Ni Luan? If not, then Simon Di went to save Ni Luan for only one reason—Ni Luan was actually killed by him. Simon Di entered the wormhole not to rescue Ni Luan, but likely for some other purpose.
Thinking of all this, Nixi Blade grew even more uneasy, wishing he could capture Joe Di immediately and take him away for interrogation. But he also knew that even if he caught Joe Di now, he, Nixi Blade, didn't have the right to deal with him—only Sha Wushang did.
Nixi Blade felt regret. He really shouldn't have trusted Simon Di so easily.
"Senior Sha, that Simon Di has a wormhole contribution token. You can track them using the Dao patterns in the token," the Leapgate City Lord, Jiao Yueheng, offered.
Sha Wushang waved his hand. "If someone like him still carried the token, he wouldn't have escaped so quickly."
He didn't need to check Joe Di's token to know that Joe Di would have discarded it for sure. He sensed that Joe Di was an extremely difficult opponent, with an astonishingly sharp intuition. Otherwise, he wouldn't have left almost the moment Sha Wushang arrived.
"Guildmaster Ni, I heard you gave a Dao Ascension Pill to that guy..." Sha Huangtian suddenly turned to Nixi Blade.
Nixi Blade quickly replied, "I can no longer sense the Dao Ascension Pill's aura. He must have already removed it..."
"You actually gave a Dao Ascension Pill to that Simon Di? Did you check his ring?" Sha Wushang fixed his gaze on Nixi Blade, not even glancing at the teleportation array about to activate.
Nixi Blade shuddered instinctively, sensing a terrifying murderous intent.
(That's all for today's update. Good night, friends!)