A World Worth Protecting

1

Ming Kunzi heard how Wang Baole addressed him. The smile on his kind face became gentler. He seemed comforted by the fact, and it showed in his eyes. His aged voice was tinged with a certain hollowness, like an echo that had traveled across time and space and was now ringing within the Ten Thousand Art Pavilion and inside of Wang Baole’s mind.

“You’ve realized?”

After hearing that, Wang Baole’s breathing quickened. He had realized that everything before him might have been a dream, that perhaps his memories of the Federation were real. However, after hearing what Ming Kunzi had said, ripples of shock still stirred in his heart.

“Have I…” Wang Baole murmured as he looked at the buildings around him. These were as Ming Kunzi was, slowly fading away, and his gaze could see through them. He saw the mountains and the palaces that lay beyond in the outside world. He saw the vast heavens and white clouds. He saw the familiar silhouettes of Dark Sect disciples leaping in the air, moving from place to place.

He could hear the bells of the Dark Sect ringing in the distance, muted and faint in his ear. He could even conjure the scenes of him painting Corpse Faces and other familiar sights before his eyes.

After a long while, Wang Baole asked softly, “Master, is this a Dark Dream…”

Ming Kunzi didn’t give Wang Baole an answer. His smile only became softer and gentler, and his form became fainter. As he raised his right hand, three black glowing lights shot out from the opening of his blurry sleeves and hovered before Wang Baole.

Each one of the black glowing lights was only the size of a fist. However, the power and energy waves that surged from each one of these black lights was immense. It overflowed and spread outward. In this immense energy dwelled nomological power.

He looked more closely. Within these three black lights were separately… a Lone Boat, a Black Robe, and a Lantern Oar!

“The disciples of our Dark Sect can only become a Dark Child after reaching the Spirit Immortal realm. They will receive three Dark Artifacts that will allow them to ferry souls in this universe… on this day, times have changed. The Heavenly Dao has fallen, and these laws and rules no longer apply.”

Ming Kunzi said softly. His ancient voice grew ever more distant. With a fling of his sleeve, the three black lights entered Wang Baole’s body. They entered his Dark Core and became three Dark Seals!

“The three souls that you cleansed then, your master, I, have infused them into this Dark Artifact and turned them into Artifact Spirits… Even though everything is happening within a Dark Dream, it is one that I created especially for you… this Dark Dream!

“That’s why, when you wake up later, you only need to unleash the power of the Dark Core to inject everything that’s happened in this dream into the memories of the three souls. Their original memories will be replaced, and they will truly belong to you then!”

Upon hearing that, Wang Baole shuddered. He understood that this was the time for farewells. The memories he had during his time surfaced before his eyes, and a sense of reluctance unfurled in his heart.

“Master, are you… inside the Dark Artifact on Mars? The one who’s been calling for me, is that you?” Wang Baole was silent for a long while before he spoke softly.

Ming Kunzi sensed Wang Baole’s unwillingness to leave. He lifted his blurry hand and patted Wang Baole on the head, and his smile grew kinder. After a moment, he sighed softly.

“It is both me and not me.

“Baole, the Dark Sect has fallen. Even I am left with only a remnant of my will, barely surviving in the homeland of the Dark Sect… When you first developed your first Dark Fire, I sensed that and woke up. I’ve been watching you since then. Until today, I used the Dark Dream Mystic Art to pass down the teachings of the Dark Art… Even I don’t know if admitting you into the Dark Sect is the right or wrong thing to do.

“But you must remember… there is no true right or wrong in this world. The Dark Sect might have fallen, but there is no good or evil, no hatred or grudge. There is only the war of the Great Dao!

“We, the Dark Sect, willingly became the servants of the Heavenly Dao because this was the Dao of the Dark Sect!

“The fall of the Heavenly Dao resulted in the collapse of the Dark Sect’s Dao. Because of that, the Dark Sect declined and fell… You may be the only Dark Child left of this generation. All you need to do is follow your heart’s desires!”

He made himself very clear. Even though Wang Baole had been admitted into the Dark Sect, what he had learned were only the sect’s mystic arts and techniques. He wasn’t obliged to follow the Dao of the Dark Sect. He had said the same thing after the fight with the Emperor of the Never-Ending Clan, only mentioning the past and the present without mentioning a single word about the future!

Ming Kunzi seemed to sigh at this point. His gaze was distant. It was as if he was remembering the past. He murmured, “I had an extremely gifted disciple in the past. Unfortunately, following one’s heart was something that I only began to understand after the Dark Sect had fallen. Else, if I had enlightened him then…” Ming Kunzi shook his head and sighed softly. His form grew more and more faint, and he was about to end the Dark Dream with a wave of his hand. It was then that Wang Baole, who had heard what Ming Kunzi had just said, froze and suddenly said softly.

“Master, are you talking about Senior Brother Chen Qing?”

This should have been an ordinary question. After what Ming Kunzi said, Wang Baole had naturally guessed the disciple he was speaking about. He didn’t expect Ming Kunzi to suddenly raise his head when he said that. There was shock in Ming Kunzi’s eyes, and his breathing quickened. The world within the Dark Dream trembled, appearing to be on the verge of collapse!

Clearly, everything was because of what Wang Baole had said. The shock that it had caused Ming Kunzi was unprecedented!

“Baole… how do you know about Chen Qing? Did someone tell you, or did you… see him?” Ming Kunzi stared at Wang Baole and spoke slowly, in an extremely low voice.

Wang Baole was shaken. He grew more confused.

“I saw him. Didn’t you see him too, Master…” When Wang Baole said that, his eyes suddenly widened. An incredulous thought suddenly rose in his mind.

“So you saw him…” Ming Kunzi murmured. He raised his head and looked around him.

“That’s interesting, but Baole, this Dark Dream was something your master created for you specially. There is truth and there is illusion, but regardless of which it is, within this dream… there shouldn’t be someone called Chen Qing!”

Ming Kunzi’s words made Wang Baole gasp violently. That was what he had guessed, and his master just confirmed it. The shock he was feeling intensified.

“No such person… then why did I see… Senior Brother Chen Qing even taught me how to paint the Corpse Face. He told me his secret…” Wang Baole muttered to himself, and Ming Kunzi suddenly laughed aloud.

“Baole, this senior brother of yours is indeed extraordinary. While I’ve been casting a Dark Dream for you, he’s been… casting one for me!” Ming Kunzi seemed to have thought of something. He lifted his face skyward and laughed out loud. His laughter was tinged with memories and complicated emotions. Finally, he raised his right hand and tapped Wang Baole on the forehead.

“Baole, the fates dictate that our path ends here. As for your future path, simply follow your heart’s desires. Now… it’s time to wake up!”

Wang Baole shuddered. He felt heaven and earth turn upside down. Everything became a blur, and the sound of mirrors shattering rang in his ears. His consciousness seemed to have left his body as it flew towards the starlit heavens. During its flight, time appeared to pass at a different speed. It sped past, as if compressing millennia into a single moment!

He saw the starfield where the Dark Sect had been located. Many years later, a great battle took place. He saw the Emperor of the Never-Ending Clan and countless other powerful cultivators instigating a galactic war.

The war was but a blur in his eyes. Then, the entire Dark Sect… was reduced to dust.

The shattering of mirrors in his ears grew louder until the noise reached an extreme. Wang Baole’s vision turned black. In the next moment… in the Solar System, beneath the Martian soil, in the underground world within the Dark Artifact, in the pitch-black abyss, sat cross-legged on a solitary black boat, an asleep Wang Baole suddenly shook and opened his eyes!

As soon as his eyes opened, the Dark Fires inside him immediately rumbled, and a chill erupted from them. It was as if everything that had happened in the Dark Dream had been brought back with him! Within the blink of an eye, his Dark Fires increased multifold and compressed together to form a Dark Core. Wang Baole’s cultivation erupted!

At the same moment, beyond the Solar System, in the depths of this endless universe, there was a region that had been marked as one of the ten forbidden areas in this Never-Ending Universe! It was filled with spatial tears and fractures, countless bones, and star-destroying hurricanes. Any living thing that entered stood little chance of leaving alive!

At present, within this region, amongst the countless bones, the ruins of a stone monument drifted gradually in space.

Standing beside this damaged stone monument was a middle-aged man. His hands were behind his back as he stared silently at the stone monument. He wore an ancient-looking black robe, and his cultivation couldn’t be discerned. When the terrifying spatial tears came into contact with him, they imploded. This mere display showed that his cultivation must have reached an incredible and unfathomable realm!

The stone monument before him exuded the aura of age. It seemed to have existed for too long a time. There might have been many names carved on its face. However, now, they had all dimmed in brightness. Only one name remained bright and shining with a strange light.

The name was… Chen Qing!

If Wang Baole were here, he would have recognized the stone monument to be the Dark Child Monument of the Dark Sect. The middle-aged man was his senior brother, Chen Qing, in his Dark Dream. Except for the changes that came with age, he looked almost exactly the same!

This person was Chen Qing!

Chen Qing stared at the stone monument and at his own name for a very long time. Then suddenly, he raised his right hand. With his finger, he carved, stroke by stroke, three characters next to his own name.

It was… Wang Baole!

As soon as the name appeared, it sparkled for a few moments then immediately dimmed. It was as if the stone monument didn’t recognize and approve of it. Just as Wang Baole’s name was to disappear, Chen Qing spoke casually.

“You didn’t approve of my name then, and I destroyed half of this monument, half of your form. Now, you can try to erase my junior brother’s name. Try it, and see what that’ll get you!”

After Chen Qing said that, the stone monument immediately trembled. After a long while, with great resentment, it seemed to have chosen to compromise. Wang Baole’s name was no longer dim. It began to sparkle with a bright light!