Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Xue Yu fell silent for several seconds. Then, he bowed before Di Jiu and said, “Brother Di, I will wait for you here.”

He suddenly felt a sense of guilt, for Di Jiu had not actually been trapped inside the Search Lake. However, he had thought of repairing the Dao World’s Defense Array the moment he had left the lake. Xue Yu himself had been trapped in the Search Lake for so many years and the only thing he had thought about was how he could increase his strength and cultivation level. The state of the Dao World was something he had never wondered or cared about.

Di Jiu smiled and said, “Don’t wait for me. I don’t know how long I will be staying here. In the future, if you reach the Void Ocean first, you could help me after your cultivation level increases.”

Xue Yu immediately came to the realization that he would indeed not be able to help with anything if he stayed here. The only thing he could do was wait. Instead of wasting time here, he might as well search for the Void Ocean. As Di Jiu had said, he could really help him after he found the Void Ocean and increased his cultivation level.

“Alright, Brother Di. I will wait for you at the Void Ocean then.” Xue Yu did not reject Di Jiu’s suggestion. After exchanging communication pearls with him, he quickly left.

It was only when he attained the second-step Dao Validation that he would have the chance to help Di Jiu.

Di Jiu immediately started to set up various Defense Arrays, Invisibility Arrays, and Confinement Killing Arrays after Xue Yu left.

The part of the Dao World’s Defense Array that he was deducing was only a small part. Even so, the amount of time he spent repairing it was indeterminable. He did not want anyone to sneak on him while he was deducing the array formations.

After setting up all the Defense Arrays, Di Jiu sat at the border of the Dao World’s tattered Defense Array. All his attention was on the tattered Defense Array as his Nomological Dao started circulating.

A few days later, Di Jiu’s Dao runes had completely merged with the Dao World’s Defense Array. Surrounding him was a layer of Dao rune aura. The Dao rune aura was long and winding, slowly spreading as it was forming a Dao slip invisible to the naked eye.

Amid this nomological Dao rune aura, Di Jiu captured a Dao aura different from the one he had sensed on the Dao Birth. This faint Dao rune aura became increasingly condensed.

…

Pew! A ripple suddenly appeared. Jiang Dai, who had been searching for Di Jiu, acted without thinking and took out a talisman without hesitation before activating it.

A cloud of white flares exploded from the talisman, taking Jiang Dai away from the Search Lake. He disappeared instantly.

Di Jiu was quite lucky that he had not encountered a Slashing Blades’ Space like this in the six months he had been wandering in the Search Lake. If he had, the only thing he could have done was escape into the Ninth World.

Within the Search Lake, the most terrifying thing was not the spatial dislocations. After all, the majority of the cultivators could sense these spatial dislocations and evade them. The cultivators might still get lost in the lake, but at least they would be alive.

The Slashing Blades’ Space was the most terrifying thing in the Search Lake. When it appeared, it seemed like a rush of waves that could pulverize anyone without them knowing. An ordinary Dharma treasure would not be able to block this Slashing Blades’ Space.

There was no way that Jiang Dai would not be aware of the dangers of the Search Lake when he had been living in the Dao World for so long.

He was furious, as he encountered the extremely-rare Slashing Blades’ Space before he found Di Jiu. This forced him to use a top-notch Plane Rift Talisman to leave the Dao World. Even he owned only one such top-notch talisman.

It was something he had not borne to use for many years. Plus, no one could force him to use the talisman. He had not expected that he would use it as he was chasing Di Jiu in the Search Lake. This time, he failed to take back his items and lost a treasure in the process.

…

Di Jiu’s Array Dao was born from the Nomological Dao. The Array Dao was part of the Nomological Dao after all. As he attempted to deduce the Array Dao, his Nomological Dao started to grow and strengthen.

Di Jiu was unaware of how much time had passed. During the deduction, he only knew that his Nomological Dao acted like a watered plot of soil where a seed was growing.

His Dao rune aura suddenly increased significantly before this seed could germinate. Then, he sensed that his Spiritual Sea was rapidly expanding along with his Divine Essence.

Boom! A screen seemed to be ripped open. With a long roar, Di Jiu’s Dao rune aura surged vigorously.

The Divine Essence aura inside the Starry Sky meridian was like the ocean tide, forming numerous Divine Essence waves.

Di Jiu opened his palm and the space before his eyes seemed to take form on his palm.

This was the Dao Transformation Realm, which was significantly more powerful than the Dao Birth Realm. Di Jiu’s Dao made him different from the ordinary cultivator. With each upgrade, the increase in his strength was much greater than that of other cultivators.

Di Jiu was confident that if he encountered the Primordial Dao itinerant monk again, he would not need to set up any Confinement Killing Arrays. Instead, he would be able to kill the itinerant monk in a face-on battle.

Di Jiu was in an extremely good mood. His Array Dao had just attained the level-five Divine Array King and his cultivation level had advanced from the Dao Birth Realm to the Dao Transformation Realm. It was important to note that in the process, he had not consumed a single Purple Heaven Pill, even though he had at least two bottles of those pills.

Di Jiu used his intent to create nomological array flags one after another, his actions more fluid than when he had been at the Dao Birth Realm.

He calculated the time. Although his breakthrough to the Dao Transformation Realm had happened in an instant, three years seemed to have passed in seclusion.

It was quite an impressive feat to be able to break through to the Dao Transformation Realm in three years, even though he had been at the perfected Dao Birth Realm previously. Plus, he had become a level-five Divine Array King. He had indeed gained a lot by staying to repair the Dao World’s Defense Array.

Di Jiu created the nomological array flags while refining the array flags at the same time. Other than the breakthroughs of his cultivation level and Array Dao, he had also gained some understanding of this Defense Array over these three years. This Defense Array was something he would not be able to replicate but it was still within his capabilities to repair a corner of it.

The best materials for repairing a Star Continent Defense Array were naturally those that contained five-element laws. The biggest amount of materials he possessed was just that, as he had obtained them inside the Vast Ruins.

Di Jiu continuously refined the array flags, creating a pile by his side. He was not stingy in his attempt to repair the Dao World’s Defense Array.

Di Jiu stopped refining the array flags half a year later.

Even repairing the tattered Defense Array was not a simple feat. The array flags refined over six months were barely sufficient to complete the repair. He had virtually used up all the materials he’d carried other than the rare few that were extremely valuable. The materials he had obtained from the rings had been completely used up as well.

Di Jiu did not intend to use the nomological array flags after perfecting this Defense Array. He had created numerous nomological array flags during these six months, which he planned to leave behind as a precautionary measure instead of using them to repair the Defense Array. These nomological array flags served as a backup, in case anyone destroyed the section he was repairing.

Given his status as a level-five Divine Array King, the newly-repaired Defense Array was still significantly weaker than the original Defense Array.

Di Jiu delivered numerous array flags into the void, where he secured them in position. He even took out two supreme-grade Dao meridians and merged them with the array flags used to repair the Defense Array.

As Di Jiu inserted the two supreme-grade Dao meridians and multiple array flags, the hole in the Defense Array was slowly sealed up. Then, it became one with the black line in the far distance before fusing with the void. It became something that even the Spiritual Force was unable to sense.

The Defense Array repaired by Di Jiu was inferior to the original. However, if Jiang Dai activated the Plane Rift Talisman in the Search Lake now, he must have been deflected back into the Search Lake.

This was not because of how formidable the area Di Jiu repaired was, but because of how powerful the original Dao World’s Defense Array was. When Di Jiu repaired the array, the section repaired would meld with the rest of the Defense Array, becoming a complete unit.

Jiang Dai’s luck was not bad. After all, he had left by the time he did that.