A World Worth Protecting

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The man who had just turned around and revealed his face to Wang Baole was… the giant tree mutation that he had crossed paths with multiple times, and whose road to the Nascent Soul realm had been wrecked by him!

Roaring waves of emotions stirred within Wang Baole, and his breath quickened. He retreated hurriedly, but the doors behind him had been shut. Some sort of array formation had obviously been set up in the room. Wang Baole retreated right up to the doors as beads of sweat dripped profusely from his forehead. He realized he had nowhere to run. His heartbeat started beating rapidly. His face tried to contort into a smile, though it would have been better if he had wept on the spot.

He was going crazy inside his head. Even in his wildest dreams, he wouldn’t have expected to see the giant tree again when he arrived at Mars… the giant tree’s presence meant one thing. It was clear that he… was the Martian Deputy Governor!

He was scared out of his wits. Wang Baole was prepared to whip out his Dharmic Armament. The gears in his head spun madly. He shouted immediately, in a strangled voice.

“Deputy Governor, I’m of the four Dao Colleges. I’ve received orders from the Federation President to be deployed here. Don’t… don’t you do anything rash.”

The giant tree stared frostily at Wang Baole. He observed Wang Baole’s actions and could tell the latter was extremely shocked and was prepared to fight for his life. He narrowed his eyes.

“It never occurred to you that the Federation President would grant me a legitimate identity, am I right? I’m now officially a member of the Federation, and the Deputy Governor of the Martian Colony.”

“Do you know why?” the giant tree asked casually. Wang Baole saw that the giant tree had no intentions of fighting him and released a sigh of relief, though he didn’t lower his guard.

He recovered from his shock quickly. Since the giant tree had been appointed Deputy Governor, he wouldn’t easily harm him so openly. Wang Baole began to sense something amiss about his Martian deployment.

<em>The giant tree must have something against me. He must have done something!</em>Wang Baole moped. He sighed inwardly. He couldn’t ignore the giant tree’s question, though. He decided to bite the bullet and play along.

“Why…”

“Why? You’re asking me why?” A fire was suddenly lit in the giant tree’s eyes. He glared at Wang Baole and forced the words out as he clenched his teeth.

“It’s because I was only one step away from the Nascent Soul realm. One step away. One step away! With my cultivation and fighting abilities, I’m not only capable of taking on the post of the Deputy Governor, but the post of Governor is also within my reach!” The giant tree glared at Wang Baole. His words reverberated in the chambers, sending shivers down Wang Baole’s spine.

His scalp went numb. He had grown nervous when he had heard the giant tree mention “one step away” the first time. The second time he had said it, Wang Baole had been twitching in his skin. The third time, Wang Baole had hovered on the verge of tears. He no longer wanted to remain on Mars. He wanted to return home to Earth…

The giant tree glared frostily at Wang Baole. He appeared to be cold and filled with rage, but, in reality, his inner emotional state had been calm like an undisturbed lake since Wang Baole entered the room. Everything he was showing Wang Baole was a deliberate act. He noticed the look on Wang Baole’s face and heard his thumping heartbeat. An imperceptible frown appeared on his brow, and something flickered in his eyes. Conclusions formed swiftly in his mind. He snorted.

“Your mission has been decided. I don’t want to see your face again!” the giant tree said. He lifted his right hand, and a jade slip flew towards Wang Baole.

As soon as Wang Baole caught it, the doors behind him swung open. A force erupted from the jade slip and flung him out of the room before the doors slammed shut.

The giant tree ignored Wang Baole. As the doors slammed shut, the furious expression on his face vanished instantly, and a look of consideration took its place. He had no part in deciding Wang Baole’s deployment to Mars.

In fact, if it were possible, he would like to keep the connection he had with Wang Baole a secret. Those were his exact thoughts when he had stood before Duan Muque and indirectly protected Wang Baole. Wang Baole was the equivalent of the fruit to him, his last chance at attaining the Nascent Soul realm.

If everything were to go according to his plan, he would have waited. He would wait until he gained the Federation’s trust before making a move on Wang Baole. He would swallow the young man whole and bring his own body to perfection. He would use this chance to attain a breakthrough in his cultivation and achieve the Nascent Soul realm.

He never expected the Federation to issue orders for Wang Baole to be transferred to Mars. It was as if they were presenting Wang Baole to him on a silver platter, and he couldn’t help but be suspicious.

<em>Duan Muque, are you trying to test me? Aren’t you afraid that I’ll just wing it and devour Wang Baole, attaining the Nascent Soul realm? </em>The giant tree frowned. He had developed an instinctive wariness of Duan Muque after the events in the Mystic Luna Realm. The man was unfathomable. He couldn’t discern his thoughts.

After a long while, the giant tree took a deep breath. He had decided. He decided to maintain the status quo. Regardless of what Duan Muque had planned for him, he would be safe as long as he didn’t take the bait.

As for Wang Baole’s assigned office, it hadn’t been his decision; the Federation had appointed it. He took a look, decided that it wasn’t that fantastic a posting, and hence didn’t bother interfering further.

At present, a distraught Wang Baole was fleeing the flame-shaped building. Once outside, he took a few deep breaths. He could feel a chill down his spine. He alternated between moping and going mad with anxiety. He immediately turned on his voice transmission ring and contacted the Sect Lord of the Ethereal Dao College.

As soon as the call got through, Wang Baole started shouting frantically.

“I’ve decided, Sect Lord. I live and die as part of Ethereal Dao College. I want to spend my whole life working for the college. I want to remain with the college. I want to become the Pavilion Head of the Dharmic Armament Pavilion. I want to spend the rest of my life contributing to the college mission!”

“I see you’ve met our Fellow Daoist Osmanthus. I only found out today that he’s been appointed the Deputy Governor of the Martian Colony.” The Sect Lord of the Ethereal Dao College sighed before continuing to speak.

“Your records have been transferred to the Martian Colony. They’re now under his jurisdiction. According to the regulations, you have to serve a minimum of one year on Mars before I can transfer you back. The both of us are Primary Rank Two Nobles. We’re of the same rank. That makes things difficult. Not to mention that he’s only one step away from the Nascent Soul realm.”

Upon hearing those words, Wang Baole’s heart turned to ice. He clutched the voice transmission ring in his hands. He suddenly felt that there was no meaning in living anymore. Even the skies looked dark and hopeless.

“Sect Lord, please don’t mention anything about being one step away from the Nascent Soul realm again. It frightens me…”

The Sect Lord sighed. He immediately consoled Wang Baole.

“Don’t worry too much. Since our Federation President has been appointed the Deputy Governor, he is now a member of the Federation. He is bound by Federation regulations and won’t do anything rash. Besides… there’s still the Martian Colony Governor. She’s a character. Even the Federation President accords her some degree of respect when he sees her.

“I’ll try to think of something as well, and fight to get you transferred back as soon as possible.”

They exchanged a few more words before Wang Baole finally ended the transmission with a tragic sigh. He had no tears left to shed. There was nothing left to do but accept his fate. After a long while, he lowered his head and stared at the jade slip in his hand with a glum face. He activated it with his Spirit Qi. After reading its contents, Wang Baole’s earlier sorrow and fury grew.

<em>What’s this? Vice Dean of the Martian Dao Mountain Mist Academy? Me?</em>

The Martian Colony had an immense population. The presence of the various political forces created a messy political scene. Said political forces even had some of their most abled cultivators stationed in the colony. Naturally, there was a need to build schools for the heirs and descendants of the powerful figures in the various political forces.

The colony itself needed such academies as well, and a multitude of academies mushroomed in the city. They didn’t fall under the governance of the four Dao Colleges but were directly controlled by the colony.

Amongst the schools, two stood out. One was the Fire Spirit Academy, and the other was the Dao Mountain Mist Academy.

The two academies were special because they had another name in the Martian Colony City. They were also known as the academies for the rich!

The dean of an academy for the rich was a Secondary Rank Four Noble. Its vice dean was a Primary Rank Five Noble!

<em>Damn you!</em>

<em>Asking me, an esteemed Foundation Establishment realm cultivator, one of the revered Hundred Seedlings of the Federation, a famous personality on Earth, to be the Vice Dean of a stupid school? I must be the most useless Primary Rank Five Noble there is! The one with the least power! </em>If it had been some other occasion, Wang Baole would have quit, but he was reminded of the Deputy Governor. Wang Baole sighed. He felt that sometimes one had to be a coward about certain things. It wasn’t anything to be ashamed of.

<em>I’ve no choice. I’ll just have to bear this for a while… then fight for a transfer after surviving one year, and get the hell out of here. </em>Wang Baole slapped his forehead. He sighed again, then hurried dispiritedly in the direction of the Dao Mountain Mist Academy as directed by the jade slip.

Since he was already here and had nowhere else to go, Wang Baole decided to head for the stupid school and settle the matter of his accommodation.

Wang Baole sighed as he went along. He wove his way through the various city zones and finally arrived at Zone Twelve… the Dao Mountain Mist Academy.

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