A World Worth Protecting

1

As Wang Baole spoke, the Dark River beneath the Lone Boat expanded, leading down from the sky towards where the burly man was sealed. Instantly, he passed the protective covering using his Lone Boat, quickly approaching the burly man!

Before that, the burly man with the centipede looked anxious, his pupils constricting as he seemed to be attempting to retreat. However, just as the Dark River passed through the protective covering, and as Wang Baole arrived on the lone boat, the ferocity in the burly man’s eyes intensified, and he roared loudly.

“To hell with the journey!” As he screamed, he waved his hands. Immediately, in a thousand-foot-wide diameter around him, flying swords emerged from underground, forming a sword fleet!

That wasn’t all. Bright rays of light emerged from the ground in the center of the sword feet, interweaving with each other and transmogrifying into an array diagram. The force of an array formation was unleashed right at this moment.

Furthermore, figures identical to that of the burly man appeared in the blink of an eye in every corner, making it difficult for one to differentiate the actual person from his figures. A sharp and ear-piercing scream reverberated as well, and was a sound that seemed capable of breaking a rock!

The ground began to crack apart, and a frighteningly large centipede emerged from within, as if it was about to swallow Wang Baole who was fast approaching. Its terrifying orifice could be seen clearly, and its body was covered with countless sharp thorns that gripped anyone who saw it with fear.

Describing the scene, it seemed as if they appeared slowly, but in reality, they were all put in place the moment Wang Baole entered the confines of the protective covering!

It was as fast as lightning!

However, all the preparations, all the methods of attack, all the flying sword Dharmic treasures, and even the terrifying-looking centipede were powerless in the face of a Dark Artifact. Furthermore, Wang Baole knew that the burly man was the leader. As such, when he attacked, not only did he unleash the remaining power of the Dark Artifact, he even adopted the methods of the Dark Sect!

The lone boat continued to move forward, and the Dark River continued to flow. However, what changed was that Wang Baole began singing the bizarrely tuned song, which seemed to harness some sort of mysterious force!

“When the heavens and earth separate, the cycle of fate stops…”

The moment the rhyme was sung, the entire Dark Artifact shook. A force whose source couldn’t be detected emerged suddenly. It didn’t appear out of nowhere, nor did it come from somewhere else. Instead, it was formed right there and then!

To put it more accurately, it was formed as a result of the rhyme. As it reverberated, the numerous flying swords in the air froze in motion. The Dharmic treasures and the array formation also calmed down. Even the huge, terrifying centipede stopped in its tracks, motionless.

It was as if everything had been frozen!

The countless avatars of the burly man dissipated instantly like popped bubbles. The only one that remained was the one nearest to Wang Baole, who was now carrying a look of disbelief on his face.

<em>This is impossible. Time has stopped… It’s impossible. This is the legendary </em>Consciousness Dharmic Dao <em>that only the top mighty figures of the Galaxy Realm can exhibit! </em>The burly man was shaking vigorously with shock. He couldn’t control himself as he shrieked in surprise, his body moving back. Even though he was doubtful about everything that was happening, thinking that it was impossible, he still retreated without hesitation.

He didn’t dare to fight or battle anymore. Now, the only thought in his mind was to escape. Everything here was so bizarre that he shuddered at the thought of it. However, just as he stepped back, he suddenly stopped. A look of fear and astonishment intensified in his eyes as he looked at his own body, which was now in front of him, in shock!

There was a body in front of him, standing there motionlessly with an expression of fear frozen on its face as if it had been frozen for an eternity.

Looking at the body in front of him, the burly man trembled as he lowered his head to look at himself. What he saw was… a translucent soul!

<em>It’s not time that has been frozen… </em>As the burly man’s soul trembled and continued to retreat, a protective screen instantly emerged. However, right there and then, he heard the second line of the song.

“Knowing what happened in the past, the one who suffers now is…” As the song reverberated, the burly man’s soul trembled. He saw Wang Baole dressed in a black robe, stepping on the lone boat, and leaving into the distance on the Dark River instead of approaching him.

However, for some unknown reason, he didn’t feel that he was liberated. Instead, a frightening sense that catastrophe was about to strike arose in his mind. He retreated once again until he was so far away that he could no longer see Wang Baole. Despite that, he realized, in shock, that his surroundings were still pitch-black.

If it were simply pitch-black, it wouldn’t have been a huge matter. However, in the darkness, several blurry-looking spirits could be seen, and they were similar to the ones he saw in the Spirit Sea on the first level.

<em>Impossible, this is impossible… </em>The burly man’s soul shivered. A look of hopelessness appeared in his eyes, and Wang Baole’s song sounded in his ears again, fleeting and inconsistent.

“Knowing what’s to come in the future, the one who is working hard now is…”

This sound reverberated in his soul for a long time, until the burly man’s consciousness began to become unclear. The moment it was completely blurred out, the burly man seemed to enter a state of clarity before death. He finally understood why his surroundings were in complete darkness.

He saw the Spirit River that Wang Baole was sailing on in his lone boat when he still had a body previously. He saw that there were countless spirits in the Spirit River, and his spirit was amongst them…

After realizing this, his consciousness dissipated.

As it dissipated, the Spirit River that he was in began to disappear gradually, together with the lone boat, as it flowed from the sky to the ground.

When the lone boat next appeared, it was on the third level of the underground world, in the public square Wang Baole had set off from. There were still numerous corpses and ferocious beasts kneeling there, trembling. Wang Baole’s face was pale, and blood flowed out from the corner of his mouth. The lone boat beneath his feet, the black robe he was wearing, and the lantern oar he was holding began to grow unclear. This continued until they eventually disappeared completely, transforming into three individual Artifact Spirits.

One burly man, one elder, and a young boy. When the three Artifact Spirits appeared, they hurriedly knelt before Wang Baole.

Wang Baole shut his eyes, calming the churning Blood Qi in his body. The previous three battles seemed easy, but in reality, he had made use of the power of the Dark Artifact. Despite the Dark Artifact being damaged, Wang Baole still had to use a lot of effort in controlling it, given his cultivation level.

That was especially so as those three battles were in an entirely different format from those he had experienced before. From the inheritance and sense that he had obtained through the Dark Dream, he vaguely felt that the reason why superior-grade Divine Armaments were so powerful was that they could unleash these rule-like divine powers!

<em>It’s a pity that my cultivation level isn’t high enough and that the Dark Artifact is damaged and can’t be shrunk. Otherwise, if I could carry it around with me, if I were to call myself the Federation President after leaving this place and anyone were to disagree, all I would need to do was sing a Soul Song to them! </em>With that thought, Wang Baole was extremely agitated yet depressed. As he experienced the torrent of emotions, he sighed.

<em>I’m getting arrogant… I need to stay humble. </em>Wang Baole patted his tummy, suppressing the churning Blood Qi in his body. He didn’t bother to tend to his injuries immediately. Instead, he quickly took out the gains that he had obtained from the three battles. In reality, the two Nascent Souls realm cultivators exhausted numerous Dharmic treasures in the first and second battle. It wasn’t that Wang Baole didn’t want to stop them, but the fact was that despite Wang Baole acting like everything was a walk in the park, the calmness on his face was all a strong front.

The truth was that he was about to go crazy looking at those Dharmic treasures being destroyed. In his mind, the possessions of the trio were like his own.

However, he couldn’t control the power of the Dark Artifact such that it would only wipe out humans but not damage the Dharmic treasures!

As he sighed, Wang Baole opened up the three storage bags before him. After rummaging through them, his eyes widened, and his breathing quickened.

Even though the Dharmic treasures of the trio were mostly damaged, there were still over ten intact ones, including one tri-colored flying sword that could transmogrify into a sword fleet comprised of countless flying swords!

There was also the ribbon from the horse-faced cultivator, the scales from the square-faced cultivator, as well as other Dharmic treasures that the trio didn’t use. Wang Baole couldn’t tell the grade of those Dharmic treasures due to differences in culture between the cultivators and the Federation. However, he had a hunch that since the Nascent Soul realm cultivators could use them, that they were definitely treasures. He was filled with excitement at the thought!

<em>I’ve struck gold!</em>

Other than that, there were numerous crystals that looked like Spirit Stones. There was also a jade slip, though he wasn’t familiar with the words on the jade slip. At the same time, there were thirty-odd pill bottles, as well as two sets of scaly armor, and a centipede sealed by the force of the Dark Artifact!

This wasn’t all. Soon, Wang Baole trembled in shock as he stared into the storage bag of the leader. There was a black jellyfish in hibernation, as well as glowing rocks that piled up like a mountain!

<em>This is… a Sea Glutton?</em>

<em>And these stones… They are Stellar Sources! </em>Wang Baole’s eyes were wide with disbelief as he stared dazedly at the items. His mind buzzed with activity as he noticed a black stone box placed in the corner of the leader’s storage bag!

The material of this stone box was also a Stellar Source. In terms of quality, it exceeded that of ordinary Stellar Sources significantly!

There was even an aura of antiquity and age. It was as if it had existed for a long time and carried the traces of time with it!