A World Worth Protecting

1

As they ventured further inside the fissure, the faint red glow grew deeper in intensity and shade, its color almost like blood. Earth lined the two walls of the only path, and before them was an endless crimson glow.

Be it the Eye Ghouls or the other mutated beasts, they all leaped into the red light after entering and vanished. Wang Baole and Chen Hui, as well as Wang Baole’s puppet, didn’t do the same, of course. They backed up against the wall and approached cautiously.

There was a slight distance between each one of them. Both Chen Hui and Wang Baole had their guard up while they surveyed their surroundings cautiously. They were also trying their best to keep themselves hidden and prevent their own discovery.

As for the presence of Spirit Qi formed from the cumulative fragments on her person, if the quantity had been too great, Wang Baole’s devouring seed, despite being able to suppress the Spirit Qi to a certain extent, would not have been able to completely wipe out the presence of Spirit Qi. His discovery would have been inevitable. That was what had happened at the Five Generation Sky Clan’s secret location. However, he had only a few fragments on him now and, as a result, was able to conceal his presence temporarily.

Chen Hui seemed to have some means of doing the same, as Wang Baole couldn’t feel the presence of Spirit Qi on her.

As they continued their descent, the occasional beasts continued to jump in from above, flying past them and into the red light below.

It was as if the beasts had lost control of their minds. Wang Baole observed them closely and realized that they had a lost, dazed look in their eyes. It was as if they were under someone or something’s control and being led straight into the crimson glow.

Alarm grew in Wang Baole’s heart. If not for the incredibly strong Spirit Qi the devouring seed was sensing from the red glow, making it impossible for Wang Baole to give it up, he would have turned tail and left by now.

The bizarre red glow gave Wang Baole a feeling that behind it lay a huge secret, and an unimaginable horror.

<em>I have a feeling that I’m doing something extremely stupid and reckless… </em>Wang Baole sighed inwardly. He eyed his puppet ahead as it approached the edge of the red glow. He shook himself alert and started to exert control over the puppet, observing it. It was at that moment that, suddenly, the look on Wang Baole’s face shifted.

His puppet… with no rhyme or reason, after approaching the crimson glow, suddenly shuddered. It whirled around abruptly and stared at where Chen Hui stood. Its gaze seemed to sweep past her, towards him.

Then, the edge of its mouth lifted into a smile. It was a bizarre smile that had a hint of icy cold to it. With a sudden leap, it loosened its grip on the wall and jumped straight into the dense, ocean-like, nebulous depths of the red light!

Chen Hui’s expression changed to that of alarm at the sight. She realized she had been discovered. The thought of the figure before her not being that of an actual person didn’t occur to her. Even if that thought had crossed her mind earlier, his turning his head, the strange expression on his face and the flicker of light in his eyes had convinced her of his being a real human. Even Wang Baole had been taken aback. A myriad of emotions surged in his heart.

<em>What’s going on? </em>Wang Baole felt his scalp prickle. An indescribable feeling took over him. His heart started beating rapidly. His muscles twitched. He hadn’t made the puppet turn its head, and he hadn’t engineered that expression on its face. Despite his skill in the creation of puppets vastly surpassed many others, regardless how lifelike his creations looked, they couldn’t have achieved the effect the puppet had made one feel when it had turned its head.

In that instant, he felt… as if the puppet had come to life!

If that were what had truly happened… with the puppet being fashioned in the exact appearance of Wang Baole, it would be like coming face to face with his doppelganger. Wang Baole’s head couldn’t stop buzzing. He was overcome by inexplicable bafflement.

Wang Baole’s wariness of the glowing red sea below him intensified. Just as he was deliberating whether he should leave immediately, he noticed Chen Hui forming hand seals. She was casting some sort of spell. Suddenly, a violent wind appeared where she was.

As if finding it lacking, Chen Hui lifted her right hand and whipped out a wooden figurine. It was purple in color. From the far distance where Wang Baole stood, he could only see that the figurine seemed to have its arms folded across its chest and couldn’t discern any other features. The sensation that the figurine gave Wang Baole, though, was that of alarm and awe. It seemed to exude a power that was only a tier below his Dharmic Armament.

After whipping out the figurine, Chen Hui quickly flung it towards the red glowing light. It fell into the red glow. The violent winds seemed to be instantly drawn towards the light and sped after the falling figurine. They seemed to draw strength from the figurine, growing larger and larger, transforming into a tornado that whirled around the figurine. As the tornado sunk into the red glow, it suddenly exploded!

Air surged outwards in waves following the explosion. Wang Baole clung fiercely onto the walls, and he was nearly swept away by the rush of the violent wind. As alarm rose in his heart, he saw, following the combustion of the figurine and tornado, the glowing red light-sea growing fainter. It was like a dispelling. The light grew increasingly translucent and, very quickly, turned clear!

As soon as the light was completely dispelled, Wang Baole saw the secret that was hidden within the depths of the fissure!

Deep inside the fissure, was a tree branch!

The tree branch was of considerable size and buried deep underground. The small part of it exposed to sight was three hundred meters long. It was yellowed, with hints of black, the colors entwined with each other like markings on a snake. Many parts of the tree were completely shriveled and appeared dead. It exuded an ancient spirit energy as if it had been around for a very, very long time. Too long, in fact.

The tree branch was clearly a small part of the larger whole. A greater part of its full form was buried deep underground. Its depth and width were unknown. If a fissure hadn’t appeared there, Wang Baole wouldn’t have known that such an enormous tree existed underground on the moon!

His first instincts were that it must be the mythical… Osmanthus Tree on the moon!

That was, however, something from the ancient myths. Even Wang Baole found it hard to believe. He couldn’t even begin to imagine the actual size of the tree. Only a small part of it was exposed, after all, and that was already such a stirring sight.

Be it his encounter in the Coulomb Basin or with Huang Shan, the trees that had been revealed couldn’t begin to compare with the tree in front of him. It was like the chasm separating a human and an ant.

Wang Baole saw, on the branch of the large tree, a scar that probably seemed tiny to the giant tree but to Wang Baole’s eyes, was huge wound hundreds of feet long!

It didn’t seem to be caused by an external force but the result of a shriveling and fracturing from the inside. There were no tree fluids to be seen. However… everything that entered, be it Eye Ghoul or bat beast or even Wang Baole’s puppet, seemed to be swallowed up by the giant tree of their own accord—willingly becoming part of the tree!

Above the torn wound, on the tree’s bark, was a small tripod cauldron embedded in the bark. As soon as Wang Baole saw the small tripod cauldron, there was a loud explosion in his head. Emotions rushed through him in a torrent. The small tripod cauldron was the source of the startling Spirit Qi. As soon as Wang Baole saw it, he felt a rush of instinctive longing!

The object was something that could be used to form one’s Foundation Establishment core!

It was, as the materials from the college had stated, a fully intact artifact that only the ones blessed with the utmost luck could get their hands on!

He had had his guesses, which was why he had risked such danger to go there. But when his eyes fell on the tripod cauldron, and his guesses were verified, he was still visibly excited. His emotions stirred, and a flash of want appeared in his eyes!

Equally stirred was Chen Hui. Her breathing quickened. She calmed herself down quickly and formed hand seals, pointing at the figurine that was currently fueling the tornado. The tornado slowly changed its course and tried to nudge the small tripod cauldron, drawing it into its center.

Wang Baole stared unblinkingly ahead and waited patiently for his chance to strike.

Under Chen Hui’s tremendous efforts, the small tripod cauldron slowly, steadily trembled and was loosened. Before long, under the watchful, nervous eyes of Wang Baole and Chen Hui, the small tripod cauldron shook and was swept away by the tornado!

Chen Hui was overjoyed. She immediately wielded the figurine to bring the small tripod cauldron to her. Wang Baole’s eyes brightened suddenly. He was about to strike when at that moment… suddenly, within the crack on the giant tree, a red light erupted. It was like a sea of glowing red, spreading outward and about to flood everything anew.

The figurine collided with the red light and trembled with instability. It seemed on the verge of being drowned out by the light. Seeing her efforts nearly coming to a waste, Chen Hui panicked and formed hand seals rapidly, pointing suddenly.

“Explode!”

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