Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The intense power of his level-eight immortal flame, Luminous Starry Sky, fully manifested at this moment. The Zenith Divine Metal fused with the Heavenly Aqua Saber in no time. Di Jiu didn’t even need to put his smithing skills to work. He could already sense the Heavenly Aqua Saber advancing to the next level.

Violet Aqua Sand was indeed a top-notch treasure. Otherwise, he would have had to melt the Heavenly Aqua Saber and re-craft it in order to upgrade it.

The Zenith Divine Metal gradually disappeared as the Heavenly Aqua Saber vibrated and flashed constantly. Its aura also surged rapidly. After a single day, Di Jiu heard a sharp buzz coming from the Heavenly Aqua Saber before a light blue saber floated in front of him, exuding an almighty aura.

Judging by the Heavenly Aqua Saber’s aura, Di Jiu knew that it had advanced to a high-grade immortal weapon. It didn’t shrink in the process. Instead, it remained three feet and nine inches long.

Di Jiu raised his hand and the Heavenly Aqua Saber appeared in his palm. He was extremely satisfied when he felt its mighty aura.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t carry the Heavenly Aqua Saber on his back anymore after getting out of this place. Otherwise, the Heavenly Aqua Saber’s level would advance even faster.

Given what he had done in the Gigantic Tripod Liberal Immortal City, Di Jiu could easily figure out that those people knew that he was the one who had purchased the Time Crystal.

He placed the Heavenly Aqua Saber by his side and took out a jade box.

The box contained the Time Crystal, which he had yet to open since he had purchased it. The jade box was covered with all kinds of restrictions, so Di Jiu carefully removed the restrictions and opened it.

An ordinary gray crystal stone entered his field of vision. Di Jiu took a deep breath and calmed himself down. He knew very well that despite the Time Crystal’s fame and exorbitant price, it was useless for most cultivators.

However, unlike others, he possessed the Ninth Dao Law. Therefore, he could very likely comprehend the law of time contained within the Time Crystal.

Di Jiu finally grabbed the grey stone after his mind was completely free from distractions.

Then, he was hit by the vicissitudes of time. The scenery before Di Jiu changed, and he found himself standing on the streets of Pearl City.

Those had been his most dejected, but also happiest days. He and Qu Xiaoshu had flaunted their power in Pearl City and spent all their time on nothing but nefarious activities.

A clear stream of nomological aura spread around his Spiritual Sea like a wave. However, something was wrong. Di Jiu instantly realized what was going on. He was supposed to use the Time Crystal to understand the law of time, not to reminisce about the past. If this went on, the Time Crystal in his hand would be completely wasted.

The nomological aura of the Ninth Dao Law immersed Di Jiu into the grey stream of nomological aura once again. He couldn’t catch what it was, but he could feel it passing by all the time.

All the laws of the universe could be reversed, except the law of time…

Actually, even time could be reversed. The reason it couldn’t be was that no one could touch it. If time could be touched, it could be reversed…

That was still incorrect, as time couldn’t be touched. It was an intangible law…

Everything in the universe was tangible, and so was time…

‘The unknown gives rise to the known; intangibility gives rise to order; Dao gives rise to spirit; form originates from spirit, and all beings are born with a form…’

‘Everything has a form! Therefore, time has a form too!’

Unbeknownst to Di Jiu, time slowly passed by and the Time Crystal in his hand gradually lost its color.

After god-knows-how-long, Di Jiu suddenly stood up and struck with the Heavenly Aqua Saber. As the misty blue saber flash appeared, space seemed to become stagnant. However, it went back to normal after a mere moment.

While Di Jiu’s eyes were closed, he saw something that he had never seen before. Life was but a fleeting moment…

Just as Di Jiu was about to touch that moment, the Time Crystal in his hand was reduced to nothing after a crack was heard. There was blazing excitement in Di Jiu’s eyes now. He had a feeling that he would understand the basics of time law if he could grasp this thing at that moment.

It was a pity that his Time Crystal shattered right as he was about to grasp it and comprehend the law of time.

However, Di Jiu realized that if he could really understand the basics of time law by grabbing on to that fleeting moment, he might not have to fear an Immortal Emperor even if he was at the Immortal King Realm.

He wasn’t far from becoming an Immortal King. He just had to exit this place and go through Tribulation Transcendence in order to advance to the Zenith Heaven Immortal Realm.

He needed to ask where this Time Crystal had been obtained from and find more Time Crystals. A single one wasn’t enough for him.

Previously, he had only known that the law of time was frightening, but now he was very aware of how frightening it was.

Di Jiu had originally planned to find a way to extract the Grayish-Purple Lattice from the Heavenly Purple Lattice before leaving Dai He Hall. However, he now wanted to leave immediately to find out where that Time Crystal had come from.

It was too important to him.

“Big Brother, when you struck with your saber just now, I felt everything in front of the saber flash pause for a moment. Was that an illusion?” Xie Huang was the first to ask a question.

While Di Jiu had experienced a moment of enlightenment, Xie Huang and the others had all woken up and witnessed Di Jiu’s move with their own eyes.

Di Jiu nodded and replied, “Yes, that is an extremely powerful technique. It’s a pity that I failed to comprehend it. I have to leave this place, but you guys can continue cultivating here.”

“Big Brother, should I send a message to my father?” Xie Huang actually wanted his father to take care of Di Jiu.

Di Jiu sneered as he said, “If you want to get me in trouble, you can send your father a message now. While I was escaping from the Gigantic Tripod Liberal Immortal City, your father was one of the people that came after me. If I had been any slower, your father and those Immortal Emperors would have ended my life already.”

“Ah…” Xie Huang exclaimed in surprise, not daring to say another word.

He wouldn’t doubt Di Jiu’s words. After all, if his father could lock his mom up in an underground prison, how could he possibly care about his friend?

“Look out for yourself. We’ll continue to train hard in this place.” Mo Yuxuan knew that she would be burdening Di Jiu if she followed him out. The only thing she could do was work hard to improve her cultivation level in this place.

Di Jiu took out another ring and passed it to Mo Yuxuan while saying, “This contains cultivating resources for you guys. When I am capable of defending myself, I will come back and take you to the Gigantic Tripod Liberal Immortal City.”

Di Jiu couldn’t bring Mo Yuxuan and the others with him. He had a decent Quintessential World, but the environment here was much better than his Quintessential World when it came to cultivation.

If he brought Mo Yuxuan and the others with him, what would they be able to do apart from staying in the Quintessential World?

…

Boom! Boom! Boom! A total of 81 lightning streaks descended during the sixth wave. Immortal Essence filled Di Jiu’s entire body like hot, boiling oil, but the Tribulation Thunder still wasn’t powerful enough for his Tempered Body to advance to the next level.

His cultivation had been completely stabilized at the first-stage Zenith Heaven Immortal Realm, but his Spiritual Force somehow didn’t break through this time. It remained at the peak of the sixth stage.

That made Di Jiu a little anxious. Based on the level of his cultivation, his Spiritual Force should break through to the next level whenever his cultivation made a significant jump. If his Spiritual Force couldn’t advance to level-seven Immortal Force, it would be extremely dangerous for him to set foot in the Gigantic Tripod Liberal Immortal City.

There was a huge difference between level-seven and level-six Immortal Force. He couldn’t get away from an Immortal Emperor by using the Spiritual Force escape technique if his Immortal Force was at level six. However, if it was at level seven, the average Immortal Emperor would no longer be able to catch up to him.

Di Jiu, who wasn’t in a hurry to leave, took out several Heavenly Purple Lattices and started extracting the Grayish-Purple Lattice again.

He hadn’t found a way to completely extract the Grayish-Purple Lattice, yet he had just broken through to the first-stage Zenith Heaven Immortal Realm and his Spiritual Sea was still growing. Thus, his Immortal Force could very likely advance to level seven with the help of the Grayish-Purple Lattice.

After Di Jiu extracted a drop of Grayish-Purple Lattice, he put it in his mouth immediately, as he wasn’t capable of storing it at the moment. It would dissipate in mere seconds.

Boom! A violent aura exploded in Di Jiu’s Spiritual Sea and expanded rapidly. The Dao engraved in his Spiritual Sea vibrated incessantly.

Since there were no signs of his Immortal Force breaking through to the next level, Di Jiu extracted the second drop of Grayish-Purple Lattice without any hesitation…

Then, he extracted the third drop and the fourth drop…

When Di Jiu swallowed the tenth drop of Grayish-Purple Lattice, he spewed out a mouthful of blood. His face was as pale as a sheet.

He couldn’t continue swallowing Grayish-Purple Lattice anymore. Without any medicinal herbs to counteract its effects, his Spiritual Sea might collapse instead of leveling up if he continued.

Di Jiu circulated the Spiritual Force Training Art like mad. His Spiritual Sea was roaring continuously as if it had exploded, and blood was coming out of both his ears and eyes.

Di Jiu, who was daunted, realized that he was being too hasty. Cultivation was meant to progress at a natural pace. No matter how much he wanted to improve his strength, he shouldn’t have acted so forcibly.

At the moment, Di Jiu didn’t dare think of improving the strength of his Spiritual Force anymore. If he hadn’t known the Spiritual Force Training Art, he would only have awaited the impending collapse of his Spiritual Sea.

The Spiritual Force Training Art was like a gigantic grinding disc. Every time it performed a full rotation, it brought his Spiritual Sea back from the verge of collapse a little.