Ninth In the World

A month later, Di Jiu had no choice but to leave the mountain range.

To him, the progress he had made within this month was much bigger than all the progress he had made ever since he had started practising martial arts.

The days he had spent on the mountain range had not only allowed him to perceive dao cultivation more intuitively, but they had also refreshed his understanding of martial arts. Learning the four dharmic spells, as well as the Cyclone Saber Move and the Wind-Rustling Move, had improved his skills by leaps and bounds.

His only regret was that he was not able to find a technique that would enable him to levitate for a long period of time. He only came up with a technique that enabled him to remain 20 feet in the air for about two seconds by following the moves of the four dharmic spells, as well as the Qi Channeling method.

This technique was inferior to what the white-haired man could do, as he was able to levitate for about 10 seconds. However, it was still a pivotal step in Di Jiu’s progress.

...

Daicheng City was located at the northernmost part of China. This urban area had become a bustling city overnight in the year 2030, when a diamond mine and a jade mine had been discovered at its borders.

After years of development, the Daicheng City Diamond Market had become world-renowned.

Di Jiu saw a mixture of various cultures the moment that he stepped into Daicheng City. People with an assortment of skin tones walked the streets, speaking a hodgepodge of languages.

The sky had turned dark by the time Di Jiu reached Daicheng City. He did not plan on looking for a place to stay. He had just gone there with one goal in mind – to get rid of Trustworthy.

Di Jiu thought that the Immortal Mountain Villa Area within the Chang Hu Three Bridges District was even more beautiful than the islands of Thailand. Even though it was night time, he could still enjoy the beautiful scenery under the waning lights.

Despite the tight security, Di Jiu was able to reach Jia Qian’s house easily, thanks to the help of his martial arts skills.

He had gone there with the intention of getting rid of Jia Qian, so he disguised himself as a middle-aged man, so that the surveillance cameras would not be able to capture his face.

Di Jiu did not care if his identity was discovered after some further investigation. So what if they found out about him? He wouldn’t stay on Earth much longer anyway. He would kill Trustworthy, get some money, repair his aircraft and go to the Fairy Planet.

Di Jiu had never been to Ji Baishan’s house. As he entered Jia Qian’s villa, he thought that his courtyard was probably much more luxurious than Ji Baishan’s. Jia Qian’s villa was the epitome of luxury. There were at least three swimming pools, as well as various facilities for exercise and leisure. There was even an orchard with different sections of produce.

Di Jiu quickly located Jia Qian’s enormous bedroom on the top floor of the villa. Jia Qian’s bed was about three metres wide, and every piece of furniture in his bedroom was made out of premium wood. His house was much more extravagant than Di Jiu’s house back in Pearl City.

“He seems to be out. I wonder when he will be back...” Di Jiu thought.

He did not want to waste time waiting if Jia Qian was not home. He immediately jumped out of the window and landed on the first floor. Then, he found the servant’s quarters.

He had initially planned on interrogating the servant. However, he had not expect to find two people hugging inside the room. The sounds of them panting heavily revealed that the servant was having an affair.

A woman’s voice was heard from the room. “Wait! Turn the light off. If anyone sees us, we’ll get in trouble.”

A slightly hoarse male voice was heard shortly after. “Master Jia went to the Great Bend today and took many people with him. I was at the main gate, so I saw him leave with my own eyes. He will definitely not be back tonight. Besides, Little Cow is keeping watch for me at the main gate. Don’t worry.”

“Sure...” The woman seemed disinterested in the reasons Jia Qian had gone to the Great Bend. The light was turned off soon afterwards.

Di Jiu decided not to enter the room to interrogate the couple further. Things were easier now that he knew that Jia Qian was at the Great Bend. If Jia Qian was not home, he could loot his house. Di Jiu went back to Jia Qian’s room.

Jia Qian was a big deal to him, as he was currently completely broke. He had to take a leaf from Qi Xiang’s book and become more resourceful when it came to earning money.

Every item in Jia Qian’s room was of supreme quality. However, Jia Qian’s possessions were mere trash to Di Jiu, who threw them haphazardly around the room. He wanted something Jia Qian considered way more valuable. If Jia Qian had been to the Fairy Planet, then he must have brought back some treasure.

Di Jiu managed to find Jia Qian’s safe promptly. The safe, which looked like a closet at first glance, was more than two meters tall.

Di Jiu had never planned on picking the lock. He immediately pulled out the saber he had wrapped up and gathered all his Quintessential Essence onto it. Then, he struck the safe with the saber, completely destroying its blade. Di Jiu did not care, as he had planned on throwing the saber away after killing Jia Qian anyway.

The safe broke apart with a clang and a nasty stream of light shot out, followed by a clicking sound.

Di Jiu, who had been prepared for this, dodged. The stream of light grazed his shirt lightly before hitting the wall behind him.

“Nice!” Di Jiu could tell that this stream of light was extremely toxic without even having to look at it.

He suddenly realized that there was a camera in the safe. It seemed like the clicking sound he had heard had been the sound of the camera capturing his image.

Di Jiu did not care. He only wanted to know what the safe contained.

However, before he could look at its contents, he heard the sirens of police cruisers approaching the villa.

“This fellow is really cautious.” Di Jiu did not wish to kill more innocent people. He quickly grabbed some boxes from the safe and stuffed them into his huge bag before escaping from the balcony in a flash.

As he was about to land on the ground, he saw the flashing lights of the police cars heading towards him. He could not be bothered to deal with them. He executed his levitation technique a few times before he flew over the villa’s high walls. Then, he escaped quickly and ran far away.

...

An hour later, Di Jiu got out of a taxi in front of the Great Bend.

He could see the words “Great Bend” in fluorescent lights from a few hundred meters away.

Beneath the fluorescent words was a main gate with a unique triangular opening. Di Jiu could tell that the place was bustling with noise and enjoyment even from afar.

As he stood under the fluorescent lights, he could see the myriad of shops around the area. The streets were also bustling with people. The most popular shops were some extremely posh jewellery shops that sold diamonds and jade.

Di Jiu panicked a little. How was he going to find Jia Qian at a crowded place like this? Should he go back to the villa and interrogate the servant and her lover instead? Di Jiu abandoned this idea immediately. He was sure that those servants were merely guarding the villa. They probably wouldn’t know Jia Qian’s exact location at the Great Bend.

Just as Di Jiu was wondering how he would discover Jia Qian’s whereabouts, he saw a huge billboard by the main gate.

“Peace Cup International Boxing Tournament. Opens today at the Great Bend International Boxing Arena...” The billboard also listed the names of the two famous boxers taking part in the first match, as well as the results of their previous matches. The rules of the match, as well as the time and venue, were also written on the billboard.

If it wasn’t for the word “Peace”, Di Jiu would never have deduced that the match was organized by Trustworthy. Only he would ironically call a boxing championship “Peace Cup”.

He would never have thought that Trustworthy would organize a public boxing tournament after his illegal underground boxing ring, the Morgue Ring, had been taken away from him.

Judging by the large crowd, this boxing tournament might even earn him more money than his underground boxing ring had. Trustworthy was indeed a pretty good businessman.

The venue of the Peace Cup could be located easily. All Di Jiu had to do was follow the billboards along the street. There was also a large crowd heading towards the arena to watch the match. Di Jiu followed the crowd to a gigantic building in the shape of a ring with a huge diamond on top of it.

The diamond-shaped building looked beautiful as it reflected the lights outside. In combination with the huge ring, it looked like an enormous diamond ring from afar. Di Jiu couldn’t help feeling some admiration for Trustworthy, who had designed such a classy, creative building.

The words “Daicheng International Boxing Arena” were brightly lit above the entrance of the building.