Chapter 598: The Dao Ridge
The outer sect disciples of the First Evolution Dao Sect were the most invaluable. Di Jiu had no difficulty leaving the sect since he was a mere outer sect disciple. Without even asking why, the deacon of the Disciple Hall immediately allowed him to leave the sect.
Di Jiu was not surprised by that. When he had joined the First Evolution Dao Sect, n.o.body had even checked him or removed his disguise. It could be clearly seen that outer sect disciples were not very valued in the First Evolution Dao Sect.
In fact, if he had not had An Tuning’s token, he could only have walked around in the Outer Sect Disciple Hall and the Outer Sect Mountain, as outer sect disciples could not be connected with the more secretive areas of the sect.
When Di Jiu withdrew his outer sect disciple status and arrived outside the sect, Pang Ying and Shao Rongqin were nowhere to be seen.
Suppressing his temper, Di Jiu waited for two hours before Pang Ying and Shao Rongqin walked out. They were whispering sweet nothings to each other and laughing as they talked.
Upon seeing Di Jiu waiting outside, a hint of disgust flashed past Pang Ying’s eyes. She and Senior Brother Rongqin were supposed to be going to the Dao Ridge together, but Di Jiu had to follow them by ignoring any sense.
If Di Jiu had not obtained the Dao Ridge jade card, she certainly would have just told him to get lost.
Shao Rongqin smiled slightly instead and nodded his head at Di Jiu. He then took out a flying boat and said, “Let’s go together. It’s appropriate to go now.”
Di Jiu, who did not bother saying anything, directly boarded the flying boat. If he had not achieved a rich harvest in the Dao Evolution Mountain Range, he would have really regretted exchanging his Dao Ridge jade card with An Tuning. He could have given this Dao Ridge jade card to anyone, but not to a b*tch like Pang Ying.
“He has some guts.” When Pang Ying saw Di Jiu directly enter the flying boat’s cabin, she snorted in a low voice.
Shao Rongqin still smiled and activated the flying boat. He also felt that Di Jiu had some guts to even dare to board his flying boat. He had not taken Di Jiu seriously at all. If he wanted to kill Di Jiu, he would already have been dead.
However, Di Jiu naturally was not afraid of him. Shao Rongqin was at the Dao Modeling Realm, while Pang Ying was at the Dao Birth Realm. He really had not taken these two fellows seriously.
Di Jiu did not care about what Shao Rongqin and Pang Ying were going to do. Once he boarded the flying boat, he set up a restriction and practiced alchemy in his cabin.
Since he had obtained so many divine spirit herbs, it would be a sin if he did not work hard to raise his Alchemy Dao level.
…
The Dao Ridge had always been a place all the Dao World cultivators yearned for.
Since this was the place all the cultivators of the Dao World openly recognized as the best place for Dao Validation, it was very hard for an ordinary Immortal Emperor to enter the Dao Ridge. Once an Immortal Emperor went in, he could basically reach Dao Validation. A lot of Dao Birth and Dao Transformation cultivators had managed to reach Dao Validation at the Dao Ridge.
Many perfected Dao Transformation experts also entered the Dao Ridge to search for more opportunities for the sake of becoming a second-step expert.
There were many famous places in the Dao World, but the Dao Ridge definitely ranked among the best. Even the Vast Ruins, the best place used for divine power cultivation, was not on the same level as the Dao Ridge.
This did not mean that the Vast Ruins were not as good as the Dao Ridge. 99% of the cultivators that put themselves to the test could only linger around the first and second level. Apart from that, there was a high mortality rate among the cultivators who entered the Vast Ruins.
On the other hand, the Dao Ridge was different. It was much safer than the Vast Ruins. Plus, since the Dao Ridge had been the battlefield of the sects’ huge battle in the Dao World during the early days, many top-notch experts had perished there. If one was lucky, one could even find treasures left behind by seniors.
Because there were so many benefits to putting oneself to the test at the Dao Ridge, simply too many cultivators used to head there. Eventually, the major sects of the Dao World had joined forces and decided that not any cultivators could enter the Dao Ridge.
The Dao Ridge’s name list was not created through all sorts of compet.i.tions. Instead, it was composed by the major sects.
When Di Jiu had obtained a Dao Ridge Enlightenment jade card, he had been unaware of its importance. However, other people had been fully aware of its importance. If Di Jiu did not come from the First Evolution Dao Sect and had not had An Tuning’s support, his jade card would probably not have been guarded well.
In fact, even with the Dao Ridge jade card, he could not enter the Dao Ridge at any time. After the Dao World Great Age Elixir River Compet.i.tion had ended this time, many Dao Ridge jade cards had been given out. The cultivators who had gotten them had to gather before entering the Dao Ridge and the specific time would appear on the jade card.
When Di Jiu had handed the jade card to An Tuning, he had naturally not been aware of the time he could enter the Dao Ridge. However, he could just follow Pang Ying.
Di Jiu and Pang Ying hurried over to the Dao Ridge. The other cultivators who had obtained the jade card also hurried over there as well.
Shao Rongqin’s flying boat was not bad. 10 days later, the flying boat entered the Green Li Sacred Dao City. The three of them then used the Teleportation Array and were transported from the Green Li Sacred Dao City to the Dao Ridge.
…
When Di Jiu arrived at the Dao Ridge, many cultivators had been there for a long time. Without asking, he only needed to listen to the other cultivators’ discussions to find out that the cultivators at the Dao Ridge had all come from the Elixir River Compet.i.tion.
They would enter the Dao Ridge five days later. This made Di Jiu feel very unhappy with Pang Ying, because the jade card to enter the Dao Ridge was in her hands. This woman clearly knew that they could enter the Dao Ridge five days later but had not even told him. If he had not overheard this, Pang Ying might have abandoned him.
“Go find a place to stay on your own. We can enter the Dao Ridge in five days. Wait for us at the entrance when the time comes.” After Pang Ying told Di Jiu this, she pulled Shao Rongqin and swiftly squeezed into the bustling Dao Ridge City. She knew that she could no longer hide this from him, as everyone here was talking about entering the Dao Ridge five days later.
No matter how unhappy he was, Di Jiu could only bear this. He wanted to be enlightened about the Dao Birth at the Dao Ridge. Otherwise, he would not have cared about entering the Dao Ridge.
Just as Di Jiu was thinking about finding an inn to stay and continuing to practice his alchemy, a sudden voice stopped him. “Is that Senior Alchemy Deity Di?”
Di Jiu saw an unfamiliar pale, beardless male cultivator who was at the Dao Modeling. He had never seen this person before. However, he did not refute his words. Instead, he replied with a nod, “That’s right. It’s me.”
He reckoned that the man had seen him at the Great Age Elixir River Compet.i.tion. Since he had ranked in the top 20, many cultivators had seen him.
When the beardless man heard Di Jiu’s acknowledgement, he hurriedly said, “That is great then. Alchemy Deity Di, my Family Head would like to see you.”
Di Jiu apologized softly. “I”m sorry, but I don’t know your Family Head.”
Then, Di Jiu ignored the man and stepped directly into an inn. An unfamiliar fellow had invited him somewhere, but he definitely would not go.
Although Di Jiu had booked a room at the inn, his Spiritual Force followed that pale, beardless man. He thought that this fellow would certainly invite him over again. He had not expected that after this fellow saw him enter the inn, he would actually not follow him anymore. Instead, he had turned and left.
Di Jiu felt somewhat nervous. The reason that he wanted to attain the Dao Birth at the Dao Ridge so anxiously was because he was worried that Xu Baishang would find him.
In the Dao World, only Xu Baishang had heard his name. From the looks of it, Xu Baishang would need at least hundreds of years to fully recuperate. At least within these 100 years, he would theoretically be safe. He might even break through to the second step hundreds of years later.
However, there was always an exception. What if Xu Baishang happened to have a top-notch healing treasure and could recuperate in just decades? This was not just possible, but highly likely.
After he booked his room, Di Jiu immediately set up a Defense Array and Confinement Killing Array in the room. He was sure that the pale, beardless fellow would not leave just like that. Since he had not gone to meet that fellow’s Family Head, his Family Head might take the initiative to find him.
This was his territory. Even if the other party was at the second step, he should not dare to attack him. In other words, if the other party attacked him, he could escape at any time since this was his territory.
Besides understanding the nomological escape technique, Di Jiu was not worried about being killed.
However, he had just set up the Defense Array when its restriction was activated. It was evident that someone had really come.