A World Worth Protecting

1

Twenty proposals were delivered to the Martian Colony Governor’s office. The giant tree had carved out time from his schedule and arrived in the office. He sat opposite the Governor and smiled. They chatted casually while looking through the respective jade slips.

“This proposal is quite creative. It proposes to use an array formation as an anchor to absorb the energies of the seal over the Divine Armament Catacombs and use said energy to augment its own power…” The Governor smiled after reading the proposal. She handed it over to the giant tree.

The giant tree scanned through the proposal and caught the name of the person who submitted it. It was Zhuo Yixian from the Five Generation Sky Clan. He smiled and nodded his head in approval. Then, he pointed to another jade slip and handed it over to the Governor.

“I think this is quite a good proposal as well. The city zone will be circular in shape, with three rings in the inner zone and another three in the outer zone. They are interconnected and infused with reflective powers. That’ll allow smooth migration of people and serve as a protection against the Divine Armament’s radiation. It’s commendable for having considered the latter.”

The Governor took a look after hearing that. She saw Li Yi’s name on the proposal and glanced at the giant tree. She smiled slightly.

“Not bad, we’ll take her.”

The giant tree smiled back without saying a word. They continued to look through the proposals. They were soon done with all twenty proposals and had easily chosen nine candidates.

There were differences in opinions for the last tenth candidate.

“Governor, I think the proposal submitted by Senator Chen’s son, Chen Lu, fits our requirements better. Wang Baole’s proposal… isn’t bad, but there are clearly elements of exaggeration in it. He calls it the Eternal Fortress. I don’t believe there is a stronghold in this world that can withstand everything and stand eternal.” The giant tree shook his head. He couldn’t be bothered to pick on Wang Baole. Everyone already knew he disliked the young man. Instead of trying to conceal his dislike and mincing his words, he decided to express his views honestly and openly.

He found it surprising that Wang Baole’s proposal had found its way into the last twenty proposals for selection. Each one of these proposals was backed and recommended by a dominant political force. That was how they had successfully made their way through the earlier rounds of selection that had eliminated countless other applicants and gotten themselves into the last round—presented before himself and the Governor.

There were many who hadn’t made it into the top twenty and had been eliminated in earlier rounds. They were all applicants who came from powerful political entities. Wang Baole had succeeded when they had not. Clearly, this must have been the result of a great deal of work on his part.

<em>So what? This Eternal Fortress seems like a good idea, but it’s too wild an idea. Even if there is someone backing Wang Baole, it won’t do. </em>The giant tree sneered inwardly and looked at the Governor.

The Governor didn’t speak. She held Wang Baole’s proposal up and looked at it in detail. There was a deep, considering look in her eyes. She seemed to be weighing her decisions. She was deliberating. The Trilunaris Corporation and Lin You had both said good things about Wang Baole. Even the Sect Lord from the Ethereal Dao College had spoken to her a few days ago.

It was already an incredible feat getting three parties to provide varying degrees of support. She had even received a voice transmission from her partner yesterday. The military had contacted him…

<em>This Wang Baole really has quite a few tricks up his sleeve. </em>The Governor’s eyes were cold. She wasn’t opposed to such tactics. However, she herself found Wang Baole’s proposal impractical. She agreed with the giant tree. She was about to place Wang Baole’s proposal aside when… her voice transmission ring sounded.

The Governor lowered her head. A smile appeared on her face instantly. She rose to her feet and walked away. A shield came up around her before she started the transmission.

The giant tree sat in his seat, unmoving and expression unchanged. He had noticed the look in the Governor’s eyes. He was confident that Wang Baole wouldn’t be selected as one of the finalists.

This was a small matter. He didn’t put too much attention on it. He picked up Li Yi’s proposal and read through it carefully. He had promised the four Dao Colleges his full support and had provided some advice for the proposal. The more he read it, the more pleased he became.

The Governor soon ended her voice transmission. She returned and sat down. She deliberated for a while before finally smiling and pointing at Wang Baole’s jade slip.

“Let’s pick Wang Baole as the last candidate.”

Surprise flashed across the giant tree’s eyes when he heard that. He lifted his head and stared at the Governor. There was a considering look on his face as he recalled the earlier voice transmission. Confused and still uncertain what had happened, he nodded and agreed without giving away his thoughts.

The ten candidates were finalized. The list was announced the next day throughout Mars and was broadcast in the Federation as well. The candidates immediately became the center of attention.

Kong Dao, Li Yi, and Zhuo Yixian made up three of the ten candidates. The other six candidates came from the Galactic Dusk Sect, the Plume Manifestation Connate Sect as well as the Senate. They weren’t well known. One of the requirements for candidacy was that the candidate had to be stationed on Mars. Most of these candidates were only chosen as representatives of their political institutions.

Who they were wasn’t important. What was important was the political entity backing them. As for the Senate, their candidate turned out not to be Lin Tianhao. Lin Tianhao had fulfilled the requirements, but after some discussion with his father, he had decided not to go ahead with his application.

There was also a candidate from the Trilunaris Corporation, but it wasn’t Jin Duoming.

As for the last candidate—it was Wang Baole!

The oblivious masses wouldn’t have found it surprising that Wang Baole’s name appeared in the list. His reputation and abilities were well known, and he was from the four Dao Colleges. Those qualifications were sufficient to make him a candidate.

The knowing few were surprised when they saw the list. The White Deer Dao College had contacted the Ethereal Dao College immediately when they saw the list of candidates. Their words to the latter had been stern. They were afraid of creating any misunderstanding between the Dao Colleges and the giant tree.

The Sect Lord of the Ethereal Dao College was furious when he received the stern message from the White Deer Dao College. He had exploded in a rage then. They ended up disagreeing violently with one another, without any resolution in the end.

Li Yi grew immensely annoyed when she saw Wang Baole’s name. Mindful of her cultivation, she pushed aside her disdain and annoyance and sent a saccharine voice transmission to Wang Baole to congratulate him on his candidacy.

Wang Baole didn’t bother replying to Li Yi’s voice transmission. He was beyond excited when he saw that he had been selected. He quickly sent his thanks to Jin Duoming, Lin You, as well as the military. After thinking for a moment, he sent a voice transmission to the Ethereal Dao College Sect Lord as well.

The Sect Lord had found out about the name list. He smiled wryly and said nothing.

After that, Wang Baole spent all his time furiously refining construction puppets.

He knew that his candidacy was only the first step. He had no advantages over the other candidates whatsoever in the final trial. It was a completely unfair fight as everyone was allowed to bring ten thousand servants!

Wang Baole had no means of doing that. He might be able to achieve it if he brought his students along, but this was not a practical solution. He had done his research. The trial had an element of danger, and the Martian Colony City wouldn’t provide any protection for the servants. Only the candidate would be given a jade slip. He or she could shatter the jade slip and activate the inscriptions on it to establish a connection with the Martian City’s array formation. Then, the candidate could be teleported back to the Martian Colony City.

To activate the array formation required immense resources. It was impossible to fit everyone with a jade slip. That was why only the candidate possessed the ability to teleport out. Of course, the various political forces had their own resources. They clearly would have made their own preparations and contingency plans to ensure that the servants were given the greatest degree of protection.

Wang Baole’s fighting spirit remained strong in spite of everything.

<em>It’s a battle of wits… I have to be prepared. </em>Wang Baole geared himself up and started his preparations. He even bought some wood and made a few statues…

He modified his megaphone and created an enlarged version… he did other similar preparations. When he was finally done, he could feel himself all fired up and ready to go.

Then… the day of the assessment arrived. Wang Baole rode on his donkey and arrived at the Martian port. He stared in shock at the mass of crowds around him and was stunned.

Ten large cruisers were parked in the vast port, scattered across the entire port. Every cruiser had enough space around it for ten thousand people.

Out of the ten cruisers, nine were surrounded by a crowd of people… the remaining cruiser was surrounded by a vast empty space. Wang Baole… stood alone beside it.

It was too stark a juxtaposition…

Wang Baole suddenly felt a bit short of breath. He saw Li Yi and the ten-thousand strong army of cultivators behind her. The weakest one amongst them was at the peak of the Ancient Martial realm. There were quite a few at the True Breath realm and even a number of Foundation Establishment realm cultivators—more than a hundred of them. Many were from the Ethereal Dao College… they had noticed Wang Baole. The looks on their faces were unnatural. They seemed slightly sheepish.

Wang Baole didn’t notice their guilty looks. He was reeling from the strong presence of Li Yi and her army of cultivators. The fighting spirit in his heart wilted as he sucked in a breath… he took a look at Kong Dao, Zhuo Yixian, and the other candidates. Everyone had an army of ten thousand people behind them.

The nine candidates formed nine armies in the wide sky port. Their fierce presence would rouse the spirits of everyone who saw them.

The idea of a ten-thousand strong army, and the reality when one actually saw it, were two vastly different things. Wang Baole distinctly felt that difference. He hadn’t realized it earlier, but now, his eyes stared widely. The look on his face had transformed. He stared at the nine troops and looked back at himself, where he stood, and the wide empty space around him. He lowered his head and saw the donkey huddling between his legs, obviously terrified. He couldn’t help the rising fear in his heart.

His entrance had drawn the attention of the other parties. It was… impossible not to notice him. The others had all made their grand entrances. Their people crowded around them. Only Wang Baole stood in his wide empty lot… alone with his donkey.

The vast emptiness inspired a certain special tragic loneliness… everyone, be it Li Yi, Kong Dao, or the other candidates, all had a strange look on their faces. A few even started laughing openly.

“So what! One of me can take all of them. Right, Scram? Come, tell me, what do you call them?” Wang Baole shoved down his feelings of inadequacy, gritted his teeth, and patted the donkey on the head.

The donkey forced itself to stop trembling. After Wang Baole patted it on the head, it let loose a loud shrieking bray into the air.

“Son! Son!”

Wang Baole suddenly felt the atmosphere change as it brayed.

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