A World Worth Protecting

1

As soon as the soul of the Boat Spirit was branded with Wang Baole’s Dark Seal, and following its greetings, a strange and bizarre feeling surfaced inside Wang Baole. It was as if he could determine the Boat Spirit’s life and death with a single thought.

Wang Baole wasn’t unfamiliar with such a feeling. It was the exact powerful feeling he had felt towards the three souls he had purified when he had been in the Dark Sect.

<em>Next, the Robe Spirit and the Oar Spirit! </em>Wang Baole narrowed his eyes. He thought about the malicious intentions the two Artifact Spirits had harbored towards him in the past, then snorted. At present, standing on the black boat, he raised his right hand. With a wave of his hand, the boat rumbled and sped forward, melting into the abyss. It vanished without a trace.

When it appeared again, it was at the third level of the underground world, in the central public square in the city!

At present, both the elder and the young boy were equally nervous. They had no idea what kind of transformation Wang Baole would go through after entering the deep cave. However, violence filled their hearts. Their desire to kill Wang Baole was extremely strong. They couldn’t do the deed themselves though. As such, they had summoned all the powerful beasts within this underground world and had them gathered outside the cave. They were waiting for Wang Baole to appear.

They had attempted to get the monsters into the cave. However, there was a barrier inside the cave that stopped anything else from entering. No matter how anxious the State Preceptor and the young boy grew, they could only wait outside as they had the cave surrounded.

As they stood wrought with anxiety and panic, and as hordes of monsters surrounded the cave, suddenly, the heavens changed. The winds howled, the clouds boiled, and a thunderous boom erupted in the air. The earth quaked and collapsed suddenly as giant cracks appeared in the ground. A terrifying aura erupted from the cracks and transformed into a hurricane that rose to the heavens. The earth broke apart and shattered into bits of stone and soil. They were flung into the air. The monsters around the cave let loose terrible cries and howls as they were swept away by the sudden strong force and fell back hastily.

Everything had happened too quickly. Alarm flashed across the faces of the elderly State Preceptor and the young boy. As the ground fell apart beneath their feet, a gigantic black boat came rising through the earth!

Thunderous booms resounded in the air. The black boat broke through the earth and appeared before the elder and the young boy. They instantly saw Wang Baole, with his hands behind his back, on the boat!

An indescribable fear surged through the hearts of the State Preceptor and the young boy, and a myriad of emotions flashed across their faces. Their memories and fear of the Dark Sect instantly appeared in full detail. The boy, especially, shuddered. Violence and madness appeared in his eyes as he let loose a shrill scream.

As his piercing scream rang in the air, the monsters that had been pushed back howled as if agitated. Regardless of the fear in their hearts, their eyes reddened, and they charged madly at Wang Baole.

“Insolent fools!” There was ice in Wang Baole’s eyes as he said coolly. With a thought, the black boat beneath his feet suddenly shone with a black light. The light was like waves of inscriptions that rolled and swept outwards.

Where it passed, charging monsters shuddered violently and were left immobile. Regardless of how high their level of cultivation was, their very existence was linked to the Dark Artifact. They had been changed due to the spirit energy given off by the Dark Artifact, and their mutation was a direct result of the Dark Artifact. There was an intrinsic defect in their very flesh and blood.

This defect made them vulnerable and helpless before the Dark Artifact and before Wang Baole. As the waves of inscription swept outward, loud booming explosions rang out. The monsters exploded one by one. They were like blood-red blossoms flowering between heaven and earth!

The ease of the monsters’ elimination was a terrifying sight, and it caused the boy’s pupils to contract. However, he was clearly of an extremely violent character. Despite knowing the extent of damage the Dark Fire inside Wang Baole’s body could inflict on him, he didn’t choose to escape. Instead, it seemed as if he had gone mad. His eyes turned red, and with a wave of his hand, he pulled the fresh blood that had spilled from the exploded monsters towards him.

From afar, the fresh blood seemed to have frozen instantly and formed a river of blood. It flowed around and circled the young boy, forming a blood-colored protective armor. It seemed like he intended to use the armor to defend himself against the Dark Fire. Within the armor, the boy screamed. His speed surged to the extremes of his limits as he charged at Wang Baole!

Wang Baole remained unfazed at the charging, violent boy. If this had happened prior to his Dark Dream, he wouldn’t possess any psychological edge in this situation. However, in the Dark Sect in his Dark Dream, he had seen too many souls. He had also experienced the power the Dark Sect had over souls. He had been there. He had no fear of any souls.

Such a psychological edge meant he wasn’t bothered by the approaching boy. He had personally cleansed this boy’s soul in the Dark Dream, after all.

Even though it was just a memory from a dream, after he branded the boy with the Dark Seal resting inside his Dark Core, this boy’s memories would be changed and become identical to those in the dream!

This meant that Wang Baole was unfazed by anything. He spoke coolly.

“You’re too noisy!” As he spoke, Wang Baole raised his right hand. With a slight wave, as if he was painting for the souls in his Dark Dream, he began to… paint a Corpse Face!

As his finger landed, the screaming and charging boy suddenly shuddered. A power that he was powerless to resist, that disregarded the blood-colored armor around him, landed on his soul. It was like the touch of a brush, a light stroke falling on his soul!

In an instant, his mouth vanished, and the screaming stopped…

The boy trembled violently. As terror flashed across his eyes, Wang Baole sent his right hand waving again. Instantly, half of the boy’s body disappeared, as if wiped away!

The emotion in the boy’s eyes surpassed that of fear then. It had turned to shock. The feeling of having one’s soul torn to pieces, which he had almost forgotten, was once again dredged out from the depths of his memories. It was like an ocean that threatened to drown him. The boy began to shudder, and despair and pleading appeared in his eyes.

This was the power the Dark Sect had over souls. This was the power a Dark Child had over an Artifact Spirit. It was a power that disregarded the level of one’s cultivation. Even though Wang Baole was only at the Core Formation realm, and even though the boy’s cultivation level was clearly higher than Wang Baole’s, he was but a mere Artifact Spirit. As long as his soul didn’t reach a certain cultivation level, he would be helpless against Wang Baole’s mystic art!

“Shouldn’t you get down on your knees?” Wang Baole saw the pleading in the boy’s eyes and held his finger still, speaking calmly.

As soon as he said that, the boy fell with a thud to his knees. However, because the lower half of his body had vanished, he sprawled on the floor when he knelt, his forehead hitting the ground repeatedly as if kowtowing.

The sight almost scared the wits out of the State Preceptor, who was standing a short distance away. He gasped in shock!

“Corpse Face!” He shuddered. He didn’t hesitate. He retreated immediately and hurriedly. There was only one thought in his mind, and that was to escape!

He had no time to think of where he should run to, or where he could run to…

“You have a death wish!” Wang Baole raised his head and stared at the fleeing elder in the distance with cold eyes. He didn’t continue with his Corpse Face Mystic Art. Instead, his eyes turned black. It was like the spreading of dark ink over his eyes as the whites of Wang Baole’s eyes were instantly dyed a pitch black!

The instant his eyes turned completely black, the Dark Core Lotus inside his body began to churn. An illusory large hand reached out from his body!

It was equally black. When it appeared, the surroundings turned icy cold. The young boy, who had been kowtowing, trembled even more violently. The terror in his eyes grew more intense.

The monsters who remained and hadn’t been killed all began to tremble. As terror and fear filled the air, the giant hand that had reached out from Wang Baole’s body suddenly dashed out and headed straight for… the elder who was fleeing into the distance!

“Soul Guidance!” The State Preceptor screamed. His eyes were colored with despair as he tried to escape but failed to do so. The Soul Guiding Hand approached and grabbed him. He struggled to no avail. With a sudden throw, he was flung onto the boat right before Wang Baole!

Wang Baole stared coldly at the elder that had been captured by the Soul Guiding Hand. Then, he looked at the trembling young boy who was still kowtowing. With a wave of his right hand, the other two Dark Seals in his Dark Core flew out and branded the two souls.

The two Artifact Spirits shuddered. Then, they stopped shuddering. Fervor colored their eyes as their memories were replaced. In their memories, they had been personally purified by Wang Baole. They were Artifact Spirits that belonged to Wang Baole!

“Shouldn’t you be resuming your positions?” Wang Baole said coolly as he withdrew the Soul Guiding Hand. The State Preceptor moved forward and transformed into a Black Robe. It raced towards Wang Baole and fell on his shoulders. At the same time, as Wang Baole raised his right hand, the young boy transformed as well. He turned into a black Lantern Oar and landed in Wang Baole’s hand. Wang Baole gripped it!

All of a sudden, the entire underground world, its skies and lands, shuddered. Above it, the second and first levels, the entire Dark Artifact, shuddered violently!

From afar, Wang Baole wore a black robe and stood on a black boat. His entire aura was changed. Within his hand was a lantern oar, and a lantern hung on its tip, giving off an eerie glow…

If Zhao Pinfang were here this moment, he would be shocked and excited to find out that Wang Baole’s figure seemed to have overlaid with that of the silhouette in his wall painting. They were one and the same!