A World Worth Protecting

1

From afar, the fragment mountain looked majestic, seemingly towering over the skies!

As the largest known fragment of the ancient greenish-bronze sword currently on Earth, it had stood in its position for the past thirty-eight years, witnessing the emergence and birth of cultivation civilization on Earth. In those thirty odd years, there were also many Ancient Martial Arts elites from the four major Dao College who had obtained the rights to visit the mountain, eventually going on to become the pillars of the Federation!

It was extremely imposing. After landing in its current position all those years ago, it had swept the land, resulting in a huge hurricane covering the entire desert, which took several years to completely dissipate. Even after the hurricane had dissipated, the magnetic field still present had formed the Spirit Breath Village, which was well known among cultivators!

Resources, cultivation techniques, pills, Dharma treasures, and numerous treasures that had not been completely discovered by the four major Dao College lay deep within the fragment mountain!

Therefore, every time access to it was opened, students would try their best to enter it to complete their mission to search and explore the mountain!

As Wang Baole proceeded, he looked at the fragment mountain, feeling uncontrollably agitated as his mind and spirit drew heavily toward it. The feeling was compounded as he neared the fragment mountain, for it was too majestic!

It was several times taller in height compared to all the mountains that Wang Baole had seen in his life. He could not even take in the entire mountain before his eyes, and standing in front of it, a feeling of insignificance welled up in his heart.

Cracks of varying depths were also visible on the surface of the fragment mountain. Some had been left behind over thirty years ago, but the majority of them seemed to be from time periods even further back.

Those cracks were akin to the wrinkles on one’s face, giving off a vibe of weariness due to age. Looking at them was like looking at the traces of the thousands of years that had passed.

On the surface of the mountain were innumerable shimmering runes. The shimmering rays formed a wave, and even though they were not as bright as compared to when they first emerged, they continued to spread, albeit within a limited area.

At the foot of the mountain, students from the four major Dao Colleges were entering and exiting. The points of entry were the cracks present on the fragment mountain, and among those cracks, there was a large crack that was over seventy feet long and twenty feet wide at the point closest to the ground.

That was the largest entrance, which majority of the students used to access the mountain!

One could see that many people were barging into the mountain, and even more were being ejected rapidly after being surrounded by its magnetic field.

Only a small number of those who were being ejected by the magnetic field left empty handed. The majority of them were carrying some objects, and even though they appeared to be broken fragments, the looks of excitement on the students’ faces were obvious.

As part of the four major Dao Colleges’ efforts to encourage their students, attractive promises were made in which students could choose to withhold a small portion of whatever they retrieved from the mountain. That was why the students were filled with gusto and excitement in their task.

At the same time, it was also because the objects retrieved from the fragment mountain were unique in that they could not be kept within a storage space. Therefore, the four major Dao Colleges did not need to worry about the students’ greed. To a certain degree, everything was still fair and square, making this task a great opportunity for students from the four major Dao Colleges to obtain a chance at changing their fates.

Whether one would obtain this opportunity after becoming a True Breath expert depended on one’s luck. Incidents of people obtaining treasures from the mountain were not unheard of—in fact, it had happened every single time that the mountain became accessible. The most well-known incident involved the current President of the Federation, who was previously a student from White Deer Dao College. It was said that he obtained a legendary immortal pill from the mountain many years ago!

These stories of opportunities that happened to others spread among the students, making them ever more willing to give their all to completing their mission when the mountain became accessible.

As he watched the cultivators being ejected from the mountain after being surrounded by the magnetic field, Wang Baole licked his lips and prepared to charge toward the fragment mountain’s entrance. However, at that moment, a flurry of activity suddenly erupted near the entrance.

“What’s that in his arms? Gosh! It’s a plant, and it’s still alive!”

“This chap has struck it rich!”

“The plant does not appear to be an immortal pill, but it’s obvious that it’s a valuable treasure of nature!”

In the commotion, a student from White Deer Dao College covered with a magnetic glow was rapidly ejected from the entrance. He was extremely agitated, and even though he had reached the True Breath realm after obtaining a mere six-inch Spirit Root, he was carrying a three-colored plant in his arms. There was even a fruit on the plant giving off a fragrance.

His appearance immediately caught the attention of everybody. Discussions and whispers rippled through the crowd, and the student from White Deer Dao College, upon realizing that he had been ejected from the fragment mountain, began laughing as he was being swayed in midair.

Having witnessed the scene before their eyes, everyone seemed even more fired up, and the speed at which they charged into the fragment mountain also appeared to multiply.

Wang Baole was similarly fired up after noticing a White Deer Dao College student leaving with the plant in his arms. In his eyes, the impression of the fragment mountain seemed to have changed into a treasure trove.

“Free for all time!” Wang Baole’s eyes glowed, and he moved to charge toward the fragment mountain. Very quickly, he overtook many people and stepped into the crack. Upon entering, light rays visibly dampened, but he could still make out details of his environment after adapting to the change in brightness.

The area looked like a large cave abode, with over ten secret chambers which were opened due to their damage. The entrance used by the masses appeared to be a hole made in the wall of the secret chamber of the cave abode.

On the left was a circular path. It was wide—over a thousand feet in width. One could not see its end, and those who had entered the space did not explore the secret chambers surrounding it, instead rushing straight toward the path.

“Isn’t this too empty!?” Wang Baole’s swept his gaze around, looking into the secret chambers. They appeared as if they had been occupied by maggots previously, being completely emptied. There was not even a single piece of debris left on the floor.

It was apparent that the entrance has been completely ravaged by people over the numerous times that the Spirit Breath Village had become accessible over the years. If one wanted to gain something from this place, the only way was in.

Wang Baole did not hesitate one bit. His speed skyrocketed as he charged toward the passage. Along the way, Wang Baole noticed numerous rooms on both sides of the passage. They were all relatively large spaces, but they were all empty. There were also some diverging pathways, making the entire place seem like a maze.

People emerged endlessly from the area, and none of them seemed to be concerned as to whether they would lose their way within this maze.

<em>It appears that I can only find treasures by going deeper. </em>Wang Baole looked around but did not slow down as he continued forward. Gradually, sounds of fighting emerged from ahead. Wang Baole’s eyes lit up immediately as he followed the direction of the sound to reach a huge area.

The area looked ruined. Glancing quickly at it, Wang Baole could see fallen structures and unrecognizable tools and objects on the ground. There were tens of students from the four major Dao Colleges picking up the objects as fast as they could, and some seven to eight of them were fighting with each other while screaming.

Every once in a whole, there would be people hugging the objects with joy as they were ejected from the cave due to the magnetic field. At the same time, there were also people arriving at the area after Wang Baole, picking up whatever they could see.

<em>Is this a robbery?</em>

Witnessing the chaos, Wang Baole blinked several times and rushed ahead. He soon found an object resembling a water pail. Even though it looked like a pail, it was huge and surrounded by rows of tiny, uniform holes. It was obvious that it would leak, but if it was not considered a pail, Wang Baole could not put a finger on its function. Hugging it in his arms, he felt that it could be used as a storage container, which was not a bad idea. He then charged toward another area.

Most people did not have time to snatch objects from each other. However, there were some who seemed to prefer snatching as they left, and Wang Baole met one such person as he was searching.

That person was from Holy River Dao College. He was wreathed with the magnetic field, and it was obvious that he was about to be ejected. However, after noticing a piece of metal the size of a fist in front of Wang Baole, his eyes lit up as he rushed forward to snatch it!

“Daring, huh?” Wang Baole stared. He hugged the water pail and exploded with extreme speed, kicking forcefully at the student from Holy River Dao College. The student roared in pain, and the objects in his arms fell all over the ground.

He immediately grew anxious. He wanted to pick them up, but as he was being surrounded by magnetic field, he was raised into the air uncontrollably. As he roared indignantly and angrily, he was unwillingly ejected.

Wang Baole sighed angrily, stepping ahead to retrieve the objects that had been left behind and storing them in the pail. He then continued searching while running, and after half an hour, Wang Baole left the ruins after searching relentlessly. After passing through three similar areas along the path, the number of people seemed to decrease as well.

The peculiar objects that he had found grew in number. He threw the majority of them into the water pail, accumulating them like a small mountain.

As he advanced, he saw a round ball from afar.

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