A World Worth Protecting

1

The gears in Wang Baole’s head turned swiftly. This was no small matter. It was something that could decide his future. He decided he needed to give it some thought.

The Ethereal Dao College Sect Lord knew that such decisions couldn’t be rushed. He waited patiently for Wang Baole’s answer. After half an hour had passed, Wang Baole thought for a while then raised his head and looked at the Ethereal Dao College Sect Lord. He cupped his fists and bowed.

“Sect Lord, I have no idea which one is best for me. What do you think?”

“You little rascal!” The Ethereal Dao College Sect Lord smiled and gazed at Wang Baole with approval.

Wang Baole scratched his head and tried to appear like the simple and honest student he truly was. The Sect Lord witnessed his act and couldn’t help himself. He pointed at Wang Baole again, shaking his head as he laughed. It wouldn’t have been appropriate for him to advise Wang Baole if the latter hadn’t asked for it. The Sect Lord mused for a while before speaking.

“You’ll become a Primary Rank Five Noble if you stay in the college. When you reach the Core Formation realm in the future, with your exemplary records, you would be able to rise to the position of Grand Elder in the Dharmic Armament Pavilion. You’ll at least be promoted to a Secondary Rank Four Noble. A Primary Rank Four Noble is also not beyond reach!

“Make a few adequate contributions to the Federation or college after that, and after you’ve gained more experience, you’ll get a shot at becoming the Deputy Sect Lord of the Ethereal Dao College, which would place you at the Secondary Rank Three Noble!

“This is a more secure progression path with few risks. There are benefits to that. The cons of it, though… are that you’ll have to take things step by step. Basically, you’ll be investing a great deal of time to build your experience.

“As for the second option, which is to be deployed to Mars… the pros are that there are many chances for you to showcase yourself, making progression quicker, and the people you will get to know will be different from those in the college. The flipside, obviously, is that Mars has only been partially colonized. There’s an element of danger. The chances of sudden and unexpected events happening are higher.

“I’d advise you to accept the deployment to Mars. If you can prove yourself while on Mars and get promoted to a Rank Four Noble, even if it’s the Secondary Rank, and achieve the Core Formation realm, you can then transfer back to Earth. With your experience on Mars, you’re almost guaranteed a deputy head position in a key Federation department and a Secondary Rank Three Noble!”

“This is the fastest way. It’ll save you half the time!” The Sect Lord shared his true thoughts with Wang Baole without holding anything back.

Wang Baole listened carefully and considered what the Sect Lord had said. He nodded his head and bowed at the Sect Lord.

“As the Sect Lord commands!”

The meaning of his reply was multilayered. Wang Baole hadn’t studied the high officials’ autobiographies for nothing. With a few simple words, he had expressed both his stance and gratitude towards the Sect Lord.

The Ethereal Dao College Sect Lord smiled. He told Wang Baole to start his preparations as he would leave three days later. Then, the Sect Lord picked up the teacup next to him.

Upon seeing that, Wang Baole immediately took his leave. He left Sky Path Island and returned to the Upper Academy Island. He was in extremely high spirits and couldn’t control his excitement and anticipation at going to Mars.

<em>I’m gonna become a real government official! </em>Wang Baole was extremely excited. He started packing as soon as he returned to his cave abode. He packed his materials for refining artifacts as well as items such as jade slips into his storage bracelet.

Then, he remembered the monster egg he had received from the military instructor during the Hundred Seedling cultivation camp. He had handed the egg over to Liu Daobin after and gotten his subordinates to help speed up the incubation process. He hurriedly sent a message to Liu Daobin and got him to bring the monster egg over.

Liu Daobin soon arrived with the monster egg. Wang Baole eyed the egg. It seemed slightly different from when he had last seen it. He tossed it into his storage compartment before exchanging a few words with Liu Daobin.

Liu Daobin was smart. He could tell Wang Baole was leaving. After inquiring further, he started buttering up Wang Baole and piling him with congratulations and compliments. Wang Baole was on cloud nine, and he kept smiling widely and laughing.

After a moment, he coughed and picked up his teacup. Liu Daobin got the message and left.

Wang Baole placed the teacup down. He stared at his cave abode and the Ethereal Dao College that he had been living in for a few years with great fondness. He was overwhelmed by emotions. He felt the past few years had sped by so quickly. Just a moment ago, he had been a handsome fatty tucking into his chicken drumstick on the cruiser to the college. Then, in the blink of an eye, he had become a prominent figure in the Federation who was about to head to Mars. There was something else, of course, which was most important…

Wang Baole stood before the mirror and stared. He was lost in his reflection.

<em>I’ve lost weight, and become even more handsome! No wonder mother wanted to arrange matchmaking sessions. If I ever have a son who’s just as good looking, I’ll want to matchmake him too. Let other folks’ daughters fall head over heels for him…</em>Wang Baole smacked his stomach happily. It had recently regained size, and the flesh wobbled. He grew even more pleased.

<em>I look so good even when I smack my stomach! </em>His spirits high, Wang Baole thought he could understand exactly how his mother had felt. He decided.

<em>When I have a son in the future, I’m going to name him Handsome Wang. When other people see me, they’ll get to say, hey, that’s Handsome Wang’s handsome father! </em>Wang Baole burst out into laughter. He thought it was a terrific idea. He started to look forward eagerly to his journey.

In the past, Wang Baole would have found three days too short a period. Now while he waited, he found time to have slowed to a crawl. Finally, the day of departure arrived. Wang Baole had completed his preparations early in the day, so he raced towards the port.

A space cruiser had been specially assigned to take him to Mars. It was already waiting at the port and ready for takeoff. The Sect Lord was there to see him off personally. Liu Daobin and a few other familiar faces—as well as many other unfamiliar faces from the Upper Academy Island who hadn’t known Wang Baole very well but had heard of his various exploits and feats of extreme violence—were there as well. Wang Baole boarded the cruiser, then turned around and waved his goodbyes.

“Farewell, everyone. I’ll be waiting for you on Mars!” Wang Baole shouted excitedly as the cruiser engines rumbled to life. As it slowly rose into the air, he saw a young woman in Dao robes running up the path towards the Alchemy Pavilion’s mountain peak. She stood at its highest point and waved at him frantically. She seemed to be shouting.

“Brother Baole…”

At a single glance, Wang Baole immediately recognized that to be Bunny, whom he had sought out earlier but had still been in seclusion.

“Bunny!” Wang Baole was overjoyed. The cruiser was already taking off though, so he could only shout at the top of his lungs towards the mountain peak below him, where Bunny stood.

“Bunny, wait for me to come back. Don’t always be in seclusion. I’m afraid the next time I see you, you’ll be an old bunny…”

As his voice rang out, there was a sudden roar from the cruiser engines. The cruiser blasted away into the heavens. It stirred ripples in the skies and shot straight for the stars!

It left behind a crowd on the Upper Academy Island watching it speed away, a myriad of emotions in their eyes. Bunny stood on the peak of the Alchemy Pavilion, dismay and regret in her eyes.

<em>Brother Baole, I promise to reach the Foundation Establishment realm by the time we meet again. I won’t go into seclusion again after that!</em>

Wang Baole’s heart was filled with regret as well. He missed Bunny too. It was unfortunate that they missed each other again, but they still had a long future ahead of them and plenty of chances. Onboard the cruiser, Wang Baole stared at the lands below him that slowly curved and turned into a round planet Earth. He didn’t stop staring until the cruiser entered space. That was when he withdrew his gaze and folded his legs into a cross-legged position. His journey to Mars had begun.

It was a boring trip. There were the occasional beams of light shooting by and glimmering lights, but most of the time, the scenery was a vast pitch-black. It might have been refreshing if it were his first time seeing it, but Wang Baole had seen enough of the same on his way back from the Mystic Luna Realm.

He started practicing his two mystic techniques. He had already gotten some headway with the Lightning Dao: First Volume, so he chose to focus on the Dark Art now.

There were shards of the ancient green-bronze sword in space as well and hence, no lack of Spirit Qi. It might not be abundant, but Wang Baole could still sense it. The space cruiser approached Mars steadily as he continued his practice, continued his attempts, and continued to fail repeatedly.

It was difficult to tell the passing of time in space. Wang Baole suffered repeated failures in his attempts to learn the Dark Art. He was dejected. It was fortunate that they were arriving at Mars soon. His low spirits were given a boost by their approaching the colony.

The red planet soon appeared within sight. Wang Baole stood up excitedly, no longer troubled over his challenges in learning the Dark Art. His attention was fully captured by the dusty red planet that lay before him.

The planet was considerably smaller than Earth. Amongst the eight planets in the Solar System, it was the one second nearest to Earth. The first was Venus. This planet… was Mars!

Countless satellites orbited around Mars, and they immediately took over control of the space cruiser when it neared. They didn’t slow the cruiser down but steered it in a different direction towards the Martian atmosphere.

Wang Baole shivered with excitement as he watched everything speed past as the cruiser shot through the red planet’s atmosphere and appeared on Mars!

Wang Baole’s breathing paused a beat, and he stood at the edge of the cruiser. With a single glance, he saw, sitting upon the dusty red lands, a rapidly approaching, increasingly large… city of spectacular proportions and immense majesty!

It was… the only colony city on Mars!

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