A World Worth Protecting

1

After getting hold of the lantern oar and wearing the black robe, Wang Baole shut his eyes as he stood in this underground world. Thunder seemed to be crashing inside his mind as an image gradually formed in his head.

He saw an enormous boat. It was buried deep underground and was hundreds of yards long and completely black in color. Almost the entire boat was severely damaged and lined with huge cracks.

Dark Qi seeped out continuously from the cracks, fusing with the earth and affecting the greater underground area. The entire vast region seemed to transform into Dark Earth.

There was something illogical and unreasonable about the sight. Logically speaking, a boat with almost ninety percent of it damaged would have collapsed a long time ago. However, the boat in his mind seemed to be held together with a strange and extraordinary power. Despite the vast extent of damage, it continued to retain the shape and structure of a boat!

This boat was a Dark Sampan ¹ !

Buried deep underground on Mars, it had affected the spirit energies of the entire planet. The Dark Qi that had spread underground covered half the planet. It had changed the evolutionary development of certain species and caused vast numbers of mutations. It had been like a sudden evolutionary transformation that took place swiftly. It had been the cause of the Beast Tides.

It had affected corpses and caused the appearance of ancient corpses in the Beast Tides!

The reason that it had been able to accomplish all this wasn’t only due to the Dark Sampan’s own incredible power. There was another reason. That was because… the Dark Artifact buried in the Martian underground wasn’t only a Dark Sampan!

There was also a Lantern Oar as well as a Black Robe!

Within Wang Baole’s mind, he saw an equally enormous oar beside the Dark Sampan. It was equally damaged. In fact, the extent of its damage seemed even greater, with only a small part of it left. Its lantern and its handle were missing, seemingly ripped apart, their whereabouts were unknown.

On the other side of the Dark Sampan was the Black Robe, buried. Similarly, only a small, damaged part of it remained. The whereabouts of its missing parts were unknown.

The three Dark Artifacts combined were the true, complete Dark Artifacts that belonged to a Dark Child of the Dark Sect!

After a long time, Wang Baole opened his eyes. His entire heart was overwhelmed with emotions. He knew clearly that the black robe on him, the boat beneath his feet, and the lantern oar in his hands were all mere illusions. They weren’t real. However, he was still shocked by the true forms of these three Dark Artifacts.

<em>To be damaged to this extent and yet still possess such power… that it’s able to affect the Martian underground and the evolution of Martian species. It even created a three-level underground world on Mars… </em>At that thought, Wang Baole took a deep breath. He finally knew where he was. He was inside the Dark Artifact. It was clear that there was some sort of dimension-distorting spell in this place, and that was how the three-level underground world was formed. Its size was astonishing.

Since Wang Baole had branded the three Artifact Spirits, he was now the master of the Dark Artifact. He could sense that the three Dark Artifacts were so large because they had been too severely damaged and hence, lost their ability to shrink in size. Once they were repaired to a sufficient degree, their sizes could be modified with a single thought!

<em>If the three Dark Artifacts are recovered to their perfect states… how powerful would they be? </em>Shock stirred within Wang Baole. He already knew the answer. Based on his understanding of the Dark Artifacts in his Dark Dream, he knew that if the Dark Artifacts could be repaired completely, they would become immense weapons that would help a Dark Child wander the universe!

At that thought, Wang Baole was overcome by excitement. After a moment, he took a deep breath and suddenly said, “Artifact Spirits, report the extent of damage your respective Dark Artifacts have suffered!”

As soon as Wang Baole spoke, the voices of his Artifact Spirits rang in his head. They spoke with extreme respect and deference.

“Master, the Lantern Oar has lost sixty percent of its full form. The exact locations of these lost parts are unknown and beyond our senses. The remaining forty percent of its parts have received approximately eighty percent damage. Only the Power of Laws is holding it together and preventing it from being completely ruined…”

“Master, the dark robe is in a similar state. Seventy percent of its full form has been lost… The remaining three percent of its parts are also mostly damaged…”

The boy’s and the State Preceptor’s answers gave Wang Baole a headache. The three Dark Artifacts had simply received too much damage, especially the robes. Wang Baole felt it no longer resembled robes and looked like strips of cloth instead…

<em>That’s useless. I got excited for nothing! </em>Wang Baole sighed.

“Master, if there are sufficient materials, the Dark Artifact can repair itself. As long as any one of the Dark Artifacts is restored to ten percent functionality, it will be able to establish a constant protective barrier that can withstand attacks from anyone below the Spirit Immortal realm!” The words of the Dark Artifact’s Artifact Spirit gave Wang Baole hope. He was once again shocked by the power of the Dark Artifact.

“You can achieve that with only ten percent functionality? What if it’s higher?”

“If the Dark Sampan could be restored to thirty percent of its functionality, it will be able to unleash an attack that rivals one at the greater Spirit Immortal realm. But this will use up a lot of energy. More materials will be required for further repair before it can unleash a second attack! Considering that both the Lantern Oar and the Dark Robe are missing parts of their form, I suggest starting the repair of the Dark Sampan first!” As the Artifact Spirit of the Dark Sampan spoke, he handed over a list of materials to Wang Baole…

The boy and the State Preceptor would have refuted the Artifact Spirit of the Dark Sampan if it had been in the past, but they had nothing but exasperation and resignation in their hearts now. They could only follow their orders obediently. After all, starting with the repairs of the Dark Sampan was indeed the best option currently.

Wang Baole’s eyes brightened. However, he couldn’t help but smack his forehead after reading through the list of materials required. The materials required to repair the Dark Sampan were simply too much. Many of them were extremely rare materials, and some of the materials were actually Stellar Sources…

All the materials that Wang Baole had ever used in his refining Dharmic Artifacts couldn’t compare to the value of one-ten thousandth of the materials on this list. He couldn’t help himself from sighing.

“I bet I can craft a few Divine Armaments with these materials!”

“Master, you could indeed do that. However, they would lack the Power of Laws. As a result, they would only be inferior-grade Divine Armaments,” the State Preceptor said hastily, speaking before the Boat Spirit could say anything to try and prove his worth.

Wang Baole’s eyes flashed. He had read quite extensively while in the Dark Dream, but he hadn’t come across any information on Divine Armaments. He couldn’t help but question further.

“Inferior-grade Divine Armaments?”

“Yes, Master. Divine Armaments are divided into inferior-grade, medial-grade, superior-grade, and perfect-grade armaments. The difference between each grade is immense. It’s like heaven and earth!” The boy realized that if they began by repairing the Dark Sampan first, his worth would fall. That was why he had spoken hastily.

“Have you seen the Federation’s Divine Armament? What grade is it?” Wang Baole asked immediately.

“No, but we’ve sensed it before. It’s an inferior-grade Divine Armament!”

“Inferior-grade? How about the Dark Artifact?” Wang Baole’s breathing grew uneven.

“All three Dark Artifacts are medial-grade artifacts. In their complete form, they are able to unleash the power of a superior-grade Divine Armament!”

When Wang Baole heard that, he got so excited that he trembled. His eyes burned with a bright light, and fire burned his insides. It was as if he’d just picked up an invaluable and priceless treasure that had been lying on the side of the road. He thought the Federation’s Divine Armament an extremely powerful artifact, so powerful that it was beyond description. However, it was only an inferior-grade armament. His Dark Artifact, on the other hand, would become a superior-grade armament once repaired completely!

He wished he could immediately gather all the materials required and restore his Dark Artifact fully. His eyes reddened. He was like a starving ghoul that had been hungry for a thousand years. His eyes glowed with a red light as he glanced around him suddenly.

“Resources… I need vast amounts of resources…” Wang Baole muttered. At that moment, three figures appeared in his mind suddenly, the three Nascent Soul realm extraterrestrial cultivators!

<em>They must have loads of resources on them! </em>At that thought, Wang Baole licked his lips and violence shone in his eyes. Based on his connection with the Dark Artifact, he knew that because the Dark Artifact couldn’t shrink in size, he would face great difficulty in wielding it in the outside world. He wouldn’t be able to unleash its full power. However, inside the Dark Artifact, within this three-level world that had been conjured by the Dark Artifact, he… was like a god!

Even though he wouldn’t be able to hold his own against extremely powerful entities, by gathering the power of the Artifact Spirits, it wasn’t impossible for him to fight back against three Nascent Souls!

“Let’s go! We’re going to get the resources to fix the Dark Sampan!” Wang Baole narrowed his eyes. As he spoke, he pointed the illusory lantern oar in his hand forward. The heavens and earth thundered, and the entire three-level underground world quaked. Simultaneously, light erupted from countless regions.

The illusory black robe on Wang Baole fluttered in the wind as the Dark Sampan beneath his feet started moving. Soundlessly, they raced into the skies, melting into the abyss instantly and vanishing without a trace!