Chapter 540: 539. Chapter 534: Returning to Earth Again

539. Chapter 534: Return to Earth Once More

Having reached an agreement, the two of them exchanged their items.

The moment he got his hands on the Great Dao Three Thousand, Ding Huan sensed a vast, grand Dao aura emanating from it.

He was itching to immediately open the Great Dao Three Thousand and study it carefully.

But Ding Huan was well aware that, for him right now, the most important thing was to hurry back to Earth.

"Both sides are quite satisfied with this trade. In that case, I'm going to find a place to refine the Heavenly Scale. Let's part ways here; we'll each take back our own things in the future."

Ji Luo was also extremely pleased. He gave Ding Huan a greeting, turned around, and left.

Ding Huan paid it no mind. He placed a restriction on the Great Dao Three Thousand and sent it into his ring.

After a moment's hesitation, feeling it wasn't safe enough, he once again sent the Great Dao Three Thousand into the Universe Cauldron.

But he still felt it wasn't safe, so he simply tried sending the Great Dao Three Thousand into his own Sea of Consciousness Great Dao Universe.

To Ding Huan's great delight, the Great Dao Three Thousand could actually be sent into his Sea of Consciousness Great Dao Universe.

Not only did it go in, it could also float in a corner of the Great Dao Universe, looking like a self-contained world of its own.

A heaven-and-earth-opening Great Dao treasure was indeed extraordinary.

Alright, now he could rest easy.

Ding Huan breathed a sigh of relief. Just as he was preparing to sense Earth's location, he suddenly saw Ji Luo returning after having left.

"Old Ji, what else do you need?" At first, Ding Huan hadn't caught on.

After asking that question, he realized what was going on.

It seemed that after he had sent the Great Dao Three Thousand into his Sea of Consciousness Great Dao Universe, the other party could no longer sense it.

That old fellow had indeed held something back. From the looks of it, this fellow thought that the spiritual imprint he had left on the Great Dao Three Thousand would let him take it back at any time.

Heh, sorry about that.

The Heavenly Scale he had handed over hadn't even been refined yet—what gave him the right to take back the Great Dao Three Thousand whenever he pleased?

Ji Luo gave a dry laugh: "Ah-Huan, I was thinking, we've traded items. If we suddenly part ways and can't find each other in the future, wouldn't that be terrible?"

"So?" Ding Huan asked, knowing full well what the answer would be.

Ji Luo's spirits lifted: "So I feel we should stick together, share the sweet and the bitter, go through hardship and fortune together. If there's something you don't quite understand, you can also consult me at any time.

When you no longer need the Great Dao Three Thousand, you can return it to me at any time."

Ding Huan knew that last sentence was the real thing Ji Luo wanted to say.

Ding Huan frowned slightly and said nothing.

"Don't worry, us being together is only good for you, no harm at all." Ji Luo was worried Ding Huan didn't want to be with him.

Just now he had actually been unable to sense his own Great Dao Three Thousand, which was what made him anxious.

The Great Dao Three Thousand absolutely could not be lost.

The reason he had been willing to trade with Ding Huan was that he had absolute confidence he could recall his Great Dao Three Thousand at any time.

Once that possibility no longer existed, he would rather not have made the trade.

Ji Luo was an old hand who had long prowled the cosmos; he was well aware his current strength was no match for Ding Huan's.

The Great Dao Three Thousand was already in Ding Huan's hands. Even if he didn't trade now, he couldn't make Ding Huan hand over the Great Dao Three Thousand.

So Ji Luo would absolutely never say anything about regretting the trade just made.

At this moment he somewhat suspected Ding Huan carried a Chaos World on him; otherwise, how could he have shielded the Great Dao Three Thousand?

"Old Ji, this time I'm going back to a low-level realm to find someone for a fight. If you stay by my side, I'm afraid I'll drag you down." Ding Huan sounded a bit troubled.

Ji Luo slapped his illusory chest: "We've already exchanged our finest treasures—what's there to fear about being dragged down? Your business is my business.

You know, in the vastness of the cosmos, what is the most precious thing? Not the Great Dao, not magical treasures, but a true friend."

Ji Luo found it rather amusing inside. A low-level planet, and someone could actually fight Ding Huan?

"Then this young man here thanks Brother Ji. The guy I have to deal with might be a remnant soul of a Heaven-Opening Demon God. That fellow has been hiding on a low-level planet and ambushed me several times. This time when I go back, I won't let him off."

Ding Huan was overjoyed, and his tone of gratitude was completely sincere.

Hearing the words "Brother Ji," Ji Luo immediately sensed something was off.

Ever since meeting this kid, the kid had shown no respect for his elders or care for the young, not a shred of courtesy. Now suddenly calling him "older brother"—something was very fishy.

Upon hearing "Heaven-Opening Demon God," Ji Luo was thoroughly unsettled.

Seeing Ji Luo say nothing, Ding Huan asked in confusion: "Brother Ji, what's wrong?"

"Ah-Huan, listen to your older brother. This Heaven-Opening Demon God—even if it's just a tiny shred of a divine soul—is not something you or I can stand against.

How about we find a place to hide and cultivate, wait until our cultivation has risen, and then come look for this divine soul—wouldn't that be better?"

"No good. If you don't want to, forget it. Besides, this person isn't some Heaven-Opening Demon God, just a fellow from the same era, that's all.

Only a wisp of a remnant soul is left, and you're already scared of this. I really don't know how you've managed to cultivate all the way to today." Ding Huan turned hostile in an instant.

Ji Luo gritted his teeth: "Fine. But the moment there's danger, I'm fleeing first."

"Don't worry. Given the friendship between you and me, how could I possibly harm you? Besides, I treasure my own little life too." Ding Huan said it generously.

Ji Luo sneered inwardly. What friendship? We have no such thing.

Soon Ding Huan found the next spot where the realm barrier was thin. This time he didn't even summon his Reincarnation Spear; he simply raised his hand and grabbed at it.

The realm barrier was easily torn open by Ding Huan, and a rift in the void appeared.

"You seem to know where the weak points of this realm's barrier are?" Ji Luo looked at Ding Huan suspiciously.

If one didn't know where the weak points of the realm barrier were, even between a Dao Cultivation realm and a Mortal World realm, it wouldn't be so easy to tear open.

Ding Huan smiled: "You could call it a kind of innate talent—self-sensing."

Ji Luo didn't press further, but in his heart he was thinking: out of ten sentences this kid says, eleven are lies.

Ding Huan's Universe Cauldron plunged into the realm barrier Ding Huan had torn open. In that starry sky where spiritual energy was so thin it was almost imperceptible, Ding Huan knew he had arrived at the true Mortal World.

Ding Huan's spiritual sense connected with the Wheel of Reincarnation Spear and began searching for Earth's location.

"Your spear isn't bad, but it's missing one thing, which is why its advancement is so slow—it's still just a low-grade immortal artifact." Ji Luo glanced at the Wheel of Reincarnation Spear in Ding Huan's hand and couldn't help speaking.

Ding Huan sensed the direction of Earth; the Cosmic Cauldron activated and surged toward Earth at maximum speed.

Yet he asked: "Brother Ji, could you tell me what my spear is missing?"

"Abyssal Nirvana Gold," Ji Luo said calmly.

Ding Huan noted the name: "Do you know where to find it?"

"I don't know," Ji Luo chuckled.

Ding Huan was certain the man knew—but simply refused to say.

The Cosmic Cauldron reached its maximum speed, but Earth was still too far away; he couldn't arrive in time.

Ji Luo, meanwhile, stopped wasting words and focused entirely on refining his Celestial Balance.

A month later, Ding Huan halted the Cosmic Cauldron.

Ji Luo had fully refined the Celestial Balance.

The Celestial Balance had originally been missing one thing, but Ji Luo's spiritual sense was formidable, and his understanding of all sealing laws and Dao principles was unparalleled.

Thus, in less than a month, he completely refined the Celestial Balance.

As for what he gained inside the Celestial Balance, the old rascal said not a word.

"A rather ordinary life planet, with barely any spiritual energy—you're from a place like this?"

As his spiritual sense settled on Earth, Ji Luo looked at Ding Huan in surprise.

Ding Huan retracted the Cosmic Cauldron and said coolly: "If I told you this place was the origin of a certain Daoist civilization in the universe, you'd find it even less believable."

Ji Luo chuckled, paying no mind to Ding Huan's words.

How could a place with spiritual energy so faint it was nearly nonexistent claim to be one of the origins of Daoist civilization?

Ding Huan plunged through the atmosphere and landed at the outer foothills of Qianluo Mountain.

His spiritual sense swept across Qianluo Mountain and discovered it now teemed with ferocious beasts—and even demonic beasts had appeared.

The highest-level demonic beasts were equivalent to Peak Level One.

What surprised Ding Huan was that he saw no Great Wilderness Jin Yuan.

His spiritual sense fell again on He Luo City—He Luo City remained unharmed, indicating humanity on Earth still held the ferocious beasts and demonic beasts in check.

At the entrance of Yujiang University, Ding Huan saw his own statue.

As for Geng Geng Qianxing, he was naturally not here.

"Kid, not bad—you've got statues in several places," Ji Luo's voice sounded beside Ding Huan.

To outsiders, however, the voice seemed to come from a scale floating beside Ding Huan—looking rather absurd.

Ding Huan's spiritual sense swept over Yiling City's Xiuhu Community; it had clearly been renovated, and Seeing Qu Yi was nowhere to be found.

Ding Huan stopped scanning randomly; his spiritual sense settled again behind He Luo University of Martial Arts.

It seemed his earlier instructions hadn't been wasted—the ancient cypress had been encased in layer upon layer of steel-reinforced concrete.

Inside, weeds grew wild everywhere.

The ancient cypress remained vigorous, but Ding Huan dared not let his spiritual sense touch it—he sensed a faint danger.

"Ah Huan, you mean that ancient cypress, right? It's strange."

Ji Luo had seen much; his spiritual sense had already scanned every presence nearby and hadn't missed the ancient cypress.

Ding Huan nodded: "Yes—that ancient cypress contains a trace of divine soul. My only reason for coming here is to destroy whatever dwells inside it."

Ji Luo spoke slowly: "Even without penetrating it with my spiritual sense, I can sense this isn't a simple presence."

Perhaps the entity is bound by its divine soul and cannot leave the cypress, but if we approach, we may not be able to subdue it—and if we're careless, we might get crushed in the gutter."

"Brother Ji, any good suggestions?" Ding Huan knew Ji Luo wasn't exaggerating—Ji Luo had lived so long, he had his reasons.

"First, set up the Heaven's Net and Earth's Web Array to lock that space. Second, set up the Soul-Sealing Divine Array to bind its divine soul…"

"Brother, what exactly is a 'Divine Array'? I can set up the top-tier Immortal Array—would that work?" Ding Huan interrupted quickly.

Ji Luo sneered: "Immortal Arrays? Pfft. This is a fragment of a demonic god's soul—even a trace isn't something an Immortal Array can contain. You need a Divine Array—and specifically, a Soul-Sealing Divine Array…"

Ding Huan was dumbfounded—he didn't know how to set up a Divine Array.