A World Worth Protecting

1

As the cruiser moved away, Wang Baole no longer saw Spirit Breath Village or the blurred fragment mountain.

When he closed his eyes, he felt the spirit meridians in his body. Wang Baole deeply understood the principle of ‘the innocent man gets in trouble because of his wealth’, so he needed to hide his real Spirit Root. After all, eight-inch Spirit Roots were the known limit. If he, as a person with a ten-inch Spirit Root, appeared, he would cause an unimaginable commotion.

If he had a powerful background, perhaps he might have been able to survive the storm. However, this was clearly not the case. If he got exposed, Wang Baole could imagine the kind of path that would be laid out before him.

<em>Believe in kindness, but don’t bet on it!</em>

That was a line from the high officials’ autobiographies. As a child, Wang Baole had not understood it, but as he grew older, its meaning had gradually become clear.

Not long later, Wang Baole sighed deeply and suppressed his thoughts. He took out a bag of snacks, eating while walking back into the cruiser. Snacks could make anything better. After finishing the bag, Wang Baole thought of his gains and thought of how he would enter Upper Academy Island soon, which put him in a good mood. He hummed a tune and went to look for people to chat with.

He first went to Chen Ziheng’s room. However, Chen Ziheng was stabilizing himself after breaking through to the True Breath realm and did not have time to deal with Wang Baole. Not being able to do anything, Wang Baole decided to look for Du Min.

Initially, the both of them spoke calmly. The moment Wang Baole spoke freely, however, Du Min grew annoyed and finally yelled, “Stupid fatty, get lost!”

Wang Baole rubbed his nose, thinking that Du Min really had a bad temper, and quickly left. After thinking for a moment, he went to look for Zhuo Yifan, but he discovered that Zhuo Yifan was also in seclusion. Wang Baole scratched his head, then decided to look for Zhao Yameng.

But very soon, he also had to leave Zhao Yameng’s place. When he went to Zhao Yameng’s room, he found Zhao Yameng quietly sitting. No matter how Wang Baole spoke to her, she did not reply, making Wang Baole feel awkward and bored, as though he was speaking to himself.

Feeling helpless, Wang Baole felt that he had better just go back to cultivate himself, but just at that moment, he received a notification from the Chancellor to meet him to describe the area on fragment mountain in which he discovered the corpses.

When he arrived, he found that there were other people in the room too. The red-faced elder and a few unfamiliar cultivators were all looking at Wang Baole.

Other than that, Zhao Yameng, Zhuo Yifan, and Chen Mingyu also quickly arrived. As the Chancellor began to ask questions, the four of them swiftly spoke one after the other, describing the altar where the corpses had been found.

They also told them about how they had gotten hold of the corpse. Zhao Yameng had to rely on the mystic arts, paying a heavy price in order to retrieve it.

Wang Baole was less honest, however. He only explained that there was an unforeseen event in the area. The mist spread, the statue appeared, and the strange face became illusory and then was suppressed, causing the ground to become unstable. He then used his puppets to search for a path. He had already thought of all these excuses on the way back.

“That long, blue spear is fake. And I still thought it was a divine armament—how annoying.”

Most of what Wang Baole said was true, with the exception of the mask and the blue bead. It was difficult for other people to see through these kinds of half-truths. As for saying that the long spear was fake—there was no need to hide this, and Wang Baole was worried that the Dao College had a way to investigate this claim. So, there was no reason to lie about that.

“Long, blue spear?” The Chancellor was slightly moved. The cross-legged, red-faced elder sitting behind the Chancellor looked at the unfamiliar cultivators after hearing Wang Baole’s words. Seeing them nod, he smiled. If Wang Baole had not mentioned that the long, blue spear was fake, then there would have been a problem.

“That is truly fake!”

“Actually, this is not the first time that the four Dao Colleges have discovered an illusory long, blue spear,” said someone from among the few unfamiliar cultivators.

“Until today, we have already found three among the other fragments. Each place had a statue and that face with a strange expression!”

“The long, blue spears at the three altars disappeared after we retrieved the surrounding corpses. According to our research, they are images created from a power that we cannot control, and it has a suppressive power. It’s a pity that we cannot control it. As for the corpses, they are all incomplete. Although there is value in studying them, it cannot compare to our haul this time!”

Listening to them speak, Wang Baole felt shaken. He did not expect the four Dao Colleges to have discovered the altar where the long, blue spear was. At the same time, a strange feeling arose in him.

<em>Didn’t they get the blue bead? Am I the only one who got it? </em>Wang Baole’s heart started beating fast. He suddenly remembered that he had needed to use the devouring seed’s absorbing power to get the blue bead.

<em>Unless that long, blue spear didn’t vanish but condensed together under my devouring seed’s absorbing power. Is that why it melted the bead? </em>Wang Baole’s changing thoughts attracted the red-faced elder’s attention. He looked over in surprise.

Feeling the red-faced elder’s gaze on him, Wang Baole inhaled and spoke. “Grandpa, if the long, blue spear is truly a projection, what if… there really is this spear that is hidden in a place that we don’t know. If there really is one, this should be the divine armament.”

The red-faced elder did not see through Wang Baole’s deception. When he first learnt of this all those facts years ago, he had also been similarly surprised and doubtful, so he smiled upon hearing this.

“Divine Armament? How can there be so many divine armaments? Even today, the entire Federation only has one divine armament, which belongs to the four Dao Colleges and is used by the Federation President. That is our Federation’s most prized treasure!” The red-faced elder laughed. Usually, he would not have said any of this. It was just that he liked Wang Baole, so he explained the matter.

“Only one!” Wang Baole’s eyes widened. It seemed that it was also Chen Mingyu’s first time hearing this, as he was stunned. However, Zhuo Yifan and Zhao Yameng did not seem surprised; clearly, they already knew about this.

The red-faced elder smiled. He did not continue talking about the divine armament. Instead, he asked the four of them about some details, then allowed them to leave.

Even by the time he reached his own room, Wang Baole was still shocked.

<em>There is only one divine armament in the entire Federation?</em>

Finally, Wang Baole understood the value of the divine armament. His gaze revealed his longing.

Currently, he knew information about the Federation that many regular people did not know. For example, the four Dao Colleges had formed an alliance, becoming a powerful force within the Federation.

Almost half of the officials in the Federation came from the four Dao Colleges. In addition, the current and previous the Federation Presidents had also come from the four Dao Colleges.

On some level, the four Dao Colleges could choose the President. Previously, Wang Baole did not understand the reason. Now, he knew that it was because… among all the powers in the Federation, the only divine armament belonged to the four Dao Colleges!

On a certain level, one could even say that the Federation President was the spokesperson for the four Dao Colleges, but a strong Senate also had the ability to check the four Dao Colleges’ power!

Wang Baole was muddled on their overall usage, but he could still roughly guess. The four Dao Colleges decided on the President, and the Senate decided the Federation’s national policy!

They were in opposition, yet they could not be separated from each other. This was because there were other powers constraining them from the inside, while there were countless beasts on the outside!

Wang Baole inhaled deeply as he thought about this. Although he did not understand most of it and could only guess, he knew that he would be able to raise the mysterious veil over the Federation once he entered Upper Academy Island!

<em>How much do they know of Enduring Clan? And how much do they know of this big sword’s origin?</em>

<em>Since they discovered the corpse, then… have they discovered any living people?</em>

<em>And is there anyone from the Federation who has already stepped into… that ancient greenish-bronze sword which had stabbed the sun?</em>

The longing in Wang Baole’s eyes increased. He had even asked Zhuo Yifan about the Five Generation Sky Clan’s spells. Regarding this, Zhuo Yifan’s explanation was a little profound. It was as though it was a mystic art that the Five Generation Sky Clan had discovered from a fragment. It was also the foundation of the world, calling forth the so-called previous world, and concerned with the origin of Spirit Roots!

Even though it was not True Breath, as long as the body had a Spirit Root, one could put it to good use. It was just that Zhuo Yifan’s mastery was not as good as Zhuo Yixian, so he could not do this.

<em>Furthermore, there is obviously a large number of fragments from the old sword… I wonder how it looks on the moon and the other stars! </em>Wang Baole looked out the cruiser at the sky with anticipation.

Time flew, and one day passed. As the cruiser descended from the sky, one could see Green Forest Lake in the distance.

At this moment, in a place in Ethereal City, there was a thirty-foot-wide moat separating this land from Ethereal City. It circled the land, forming an… inner city!

This place was Ethereal City’s inner city and also… the family business of one of the Federation’s seventeen senators, Ethereal City’s City Lord!

The size of the area enclosed by the moat was shocking. It was as big as dozens of large manors. From afar, the vintage castle in the center was even more eye-catching. There were birds singing and flowers exuding their fragrance.

There were ponds, artificial mountains, and many touched up ancient castles surrounding the center castle. Throughout the entire inner city, even the stone panels of the floor, the surrounding architecture, and the protective river all had hidden array runes, causing this place to be wrapped in array formations.

Furthermore, all this was only what the eye could see. One could imagine that there would be even more protection and killing tactics hidden in this inner city, undetectable to the eye.

At the same time, there was also a large number of guards wearing black armor patrolling the area. Each of them gave off a strong aura. There were also large numbers of attendants, cooks, musicians, retainers, and so on. They were all busying themselves in this inner city, as though their lives’ meaning was to serve the owners till their own deaths.

At this moment, behind the castle, there was a forbidden place that no one could enter without the owner’s permission. There was an old tree there, dozens of feet tall, with a flourishing crown that covered an area a hundred feet wide and countless drooping branches. Among the pervasive green, one could vaguely see some green, unripe fruits.

Under the old tree sat two people. One of them was Lin Tianhao. His expression was depressed. He looked forward, wanting to speak but stopping himself each time. As for the person whom he was looking at, it was a middle-aged man wearing a black swallow-tailed jacket. His back was facing Lin Tianhao; he looked at the fruits on the tree, seemingly lost in thought.

This man’s figure was tall and straight. Even though he was middle-aged, he only had wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. If one did not look closely, they would think that he was a youth. The aura emanating from him, however, was like an ocean, deep and unfathomable, with a hint of suppressive force. This caused the converging Spirit Qi in the area to fluctuate.

He was one of the Federation’s seventeen senators, Ethereal City’s City Lord, Lin You!

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