Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Di Jiu opened his eyes in pleasant surprise. He had finally captured the traces of the Dharma Array surrounding the blue pearl.

However, his harvest included more than the blue pearl. If he was given sufficient time, he could also set up a similar formless, traceless spatial array in the future.

Di Jiu lifted his hand and threw out dozens of array flags before grabbing at the air. A chasm suddenly appeared around the pearl, which had originally been secured by a Dharma Array. Di Jiu’s hand grabbed hold of this pearl with accuracy.

He suddenly felt a wave of bone-piercing cold that almost caused him to throw the pearl in his hand onto the ground. Even though a Quintessential Flame appeared on Di Jiu’s palm, he still felt as if his hand was about to freeze stiff.

Di Jiu dared not hold such a cold pearl in his hand, so he hurriedly took out a jade box and placed the pearl inside. Then, he put the box away and sealed it with several restrictions.

The moment Di Jiu put away the blue pearl, his Spiritual Force could immediately sense the blue lake’s array in its entirety. When he threw out several array flags, an extremely clear blue vein appeared in front of him.

Di Jiu finally understood why the lake water was blue in color and why the Spirit Qi of this lake was so dense.

The reason lay in the blue vein inside the lake. He still did not know what this blue vein was, but it did not matter, as he could definitely find the answer in the Book of the World.

This blue vein was the Spirit Origin of the lake. Di Jiu started throwing out array flags one after another. However, before he could grab the blue vein, his Spiritual Force sensed that there were at least 100 people rushing over in his direction. Di Jiu increased his speed without hesitation.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Amid the loud explosions, Di Jiu put a blue spirit meridian more than 100 feet in length into his spirit herb garden ring.

As he took this blue spirit meridian, 100-200 people rushed in. The Defense Array surrounding the blue lake, as well as the Dharma Array above the lake, both stopped functioning when the blue spirit meridian was taken away. On the other side of the lake was a fruit tree that was three to four meters tall. On that tree were three blue fruits with light engravings on the outside.

When Di Jiu took away the blue spirit meridian, everyone noticed this fruit tree.

“Is that Soul Origin Fruit?” Most people recognized the three spiritual fruits. Their eyes immediately shone with desire.

The Soul Origin Fruit was considered an extremely valuable treasure, no matter the Cultivation World one came from. The main reason many sects could not flourish any further was because they did not obtain any Soul Origin Fruit.

A Soul Origin Fruit could be used to refine a Condensed Soul Elixir, which was the best elixir a perfected Golden Core cultivator could use to reach the Essence Soul Realm.

Some Foundation Establishment cultivators and a few cultivators who had just attained the Golden Core Realm knew that they would not be able to obtain the Soul Origin Fruit. Although they looked on with desire, they did not entertain the thought of snatching the Soul Origin Fruit. Several late-stage Golden Core cultivators rushed madly towards the opposite side of the lake in hopes of seizing one Soul Origin Fruit.

The few Golden Core cultivators cultivating inside the lake did not move. They all knew how formidable Di Jiu was. He was the person closest to the Soul Origin Fruit, so they would not be able to seize any fruit even if they headed over.

Di Jiu might currently not be using any elixirs to cultivate, but who would not want a valuable treasure like the Soul Origin Fruit? Furthermore, this fruit was useful for breakthroughs. If he failed to break through to the Essence Soul Realm, using the Soul Origin Fruit would not affect him much.

No matter how fast the Golden Core cultivators who came in later were, Di Jiu was still faster. He landed beside the Soul Origin Fruit before he lifted his hand and put the entire fruit tree into his spirit herb garden ring.

When Di Jiu put the Soul Origin Fruit away, the several Golden Core cultivators who had come to seize the fruit surrounded him.

“The Spirit Qi within this lake could cleanse any meridian impurities!” a Foundation Establishment cultivator exclaimed in pleasant surprise when he discovered the benefits of the blue lake.

Di Jiu might have extracted the Spirit Origin Vein within the blue lake, but given how long the Spirit Origin Vein had been there, this Spirit Qi had long since permeated the entire lake.

The Spirit Qi of the blue lake had only weakened slightly when Di Jiu had extracted the Spirit Origin Vein. Cultivating there was still much better than using high-grade Spirit Stones to cultivate. It would be easier to break through if one cultivated in such a place.

While several Golden Core cultivators surrounded Di Jiu, the rest of the cultivators, who knew that they had no hope of seizing the Soul Origin Fruit, leaped into the lake and started cultivating. Although they had followed the eighth-stage Golden Core cultivator into this place, they were not his subordinates.

“Hand over the fruit and I will let you live,” said the eighth-stage Golden Core cultivator. If he had seen Di Jiu take the blue pearl and extract the blue spirit meridian, he would not have said that.

Di Jiu looked at the nine Golden Core cultivators surrounding him. Four of them were below the third-stage Golden Core Realm, three were at the mid-stage Golden Core Realm, and two were at the late-stage Golden Core Realm. One of the two late-stage Golden Core cultivators was the eighth-stage Golden Core cultivator who had just asked him to hand over the fruit, while the other one was a seventh-stage Golden Core cultivator.

When Di Jiu opened his palm, a long saber appeared in his hand. His gaze swept the nine Golden Core cultivators around him as he said mildly, “I did indeed obtain the Soul Origin Fruit. However, there are only three fruits. I come from a large sect, so anyone who wishes to become my enemy despite knowing that they would not be able to seize the fruits can go ahead if they want.”

Di Jiu’s cultivation was currently at the first-stage Golden Core Realm. Although he had stayed in the blue lake for a few days, all his attention had been focused on breaking through the array, so his cultivation had not reached the second-stage Golden Core Realm.

If the nine of them were to attack him together, he believed that he would be in deep trouble.

“I am still far from perfecting the Golden Core Realm, so I will withdraw first,” said a second-stage Golden Core cultivator with a cupped fist. He immediately jumped into the blue lake and started cultivating.

When they saw him withdraw, the other three early-stage Golden Core cultivators also cupped their fists and expressed their wish to withdraw. Then, they jumped into the blue lake.

Although they were not scared of Di Jiu, Di Jiu had said that there were only three Soul Origin Fruits, so even if they killed him, the early-stage Golden Core cultivators would most likely not reap any benefits. In that case, why would they offend a large sect? It was more practical to grab this opportunity and cultivate in the blue lake.

The eighth-stage Golden Core cultivator did not stop them. In his opinion, it would be best if everyone withdrew and he was the only one left.

The moment those four withdrew, Di Jiu’s long saber transformed into rays of murderous Saber Qi.

The eighth-stage Golden Core cultivator got angry when he realized that Di Jiu would still dare to attack. A golden armor suddenly appeared on his chest. He did not even bother blocking Di Jiu’s Saber Qi. Instead, his long spear pierced towards Di Jiu with a loud sound.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Murderous Saber Qi exploded against the armor of the eighth-stage Golden Core cultivator. The unremitting Saber Qi failed to split open the armor, but the saber intent permeated it. The eighth-stage Golden Core cultivator felt cold all over. He actually had a feeling that this would be over only when Di Jiu’s saber killed him. Luckily, Di Jiu did not keep attacking him.

Although his saber did not follow that Saber Qi, the unremitting saber intent had already corroded him.

“Everyone attack together! Kill him and we will split the fruit equally!” The eighth-stage Golden Core cultivator decided to no longer treat Di Jiu as a weakling at the first-stage Golden Core Realm. Therefore, he went all out with his long spear, whose aura had been partially corroded by Di Jiu’s Wind-Rustling Move.

The remaining four Golden Core cultivators attacked slightly late, not because they failed to react, but because no one would reveal all their trump cards in front of someone when dealing with a first-stage Golden Core weakling like Di Jiu.

Di Jiu showed no mercy, though. He knew very well what he should do, despite the fact that his Wind-Rustling Move had attacked the eighth-stage Golden Core cultivator first.

After slashing with the Wind-Rustling Move, he did not care about the long spear the eighth-stage Golden Core cultivator was attacking him with. He extracted the long saber again and used a Split-Wave Saber Move against the cultivator. Meanwhile, he punched the remaining Golden Core cultivators.

He needed to kill off one of the two late-stage Golden Core cultivators, so he chose the seventh-stage Golden Core cultivator.

The rest of the cultivators attacked slightly later. They took out their Dharma treasures and struck at Di Jiu after the eighth-stage Golden Core cultivator had urged them to.

This time, Di Jiu’s Gathering Peaks did not attack one person, but transformed into three fist mountains. However, his Split-Wave Saber Move landed fully on the seventh-stage Golden Core cultivator.

The cultivator did not use his full strength to attack. After all, he would still get a Soul Origin Fruit, no matter what. When he saw Di Jiu choose him as a target, he was furious. The twin cymbals 1 produced a piercing sound that ripped open the space with the intention of tearing Di Jiu into fragments.

Boom! The Split-Wave Saber Move and the twin cymbals slammed into each other, creating a cloud of Quintessential Essence. When the momentum of the twin cymbals slowed down, the seventh-stage Golden Core cultivator was extremely shocked. Although he had used his full strength, the twin cymbals had only been able to block one saber move. After the saber wave was blocked, the backfiring Quintessential Essence caused his dantian to go into turmoil.

The cultivator in front of him was definitely not a first-stage Golden Core cultivator!

As the Golden Core cultivator realized this, the remaining aura of Di Jiu’s Split-Wave Saber Move had already landed on his body.

Hadn’t it been completely blocked? The seventh-stage Golden Core cultivator was extremely shocked. Di Jiu’s Split-Wave Saber Move had been blocked by his twin cymbals, so it had no longer threatened him. However, his attack had failed to completely block Di Jiu’s saber wave. This meant that not only was Di Jiu not a first-stage Golden Core cultivator, but he was actually a cultivator more powerful than him.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Meanwhile, the three fist winds of Di Jiu’s Gathering Peaks and the attacks of the other three Golden Core cultivators collided. Di Jiu opened his mouth and a blood arrow shot out. Blood spurted out from Di Jiu’s waist after a loud sound.

Di Jiu’s Wind-Rustling Move targeted the eighth-stage Golden Core cultivator first. When that cultivator blocked his move, his spear created a bloody wound at Di Jiu’s waist.

If Di Jiu had not twisted his body at the last moment, the spear would have cut him in half.