A World Worth Protecting

1

<em>After eating this… I won’t be so bloated that I will explode, right? </em>Wang Baole grabbed the pill bottle and took out two pills. The pills were purple-colored and were without any herbal fragrance, only having complex rune marks on them. Even though he didn’t understand them, based on his experience, Wang Baole still felt that the pills were impressive.

He was somewhat nervous. He felt that they were pills that belonged to Nascent Soul realm cultivators, and he had no idea if he, as a Core Formation realm cultivator, could digest them.

<em>What’s the big deal? It’s just a pill. If Nascent Soul realm cultivators can ingest them, so can I! </em>After struggling internally for a brief moment, Wang Baole lowered his head to look at his own body, and a look of determination appeared in his eyes.

<em>I’m a lucky person, and I definitely won’t die from this. Furthermore, I’m still inside the Dark Artifact. What’s more, the most important thing is… I am the slimmest and most handsome person in the Federation, and I can put my weight here. Nothing to fret about! </em>With that thought, Wang Baole immediately began to break the pill apart forcefully.

<em>It’s quite tough… </em>Wang Baole stared and used more strength. He tore half of it out and tossed it into his mouth.

As the pill entered his mouth, a sour and spicy sensation instantly filled Wang Baole’s mouth. The sourness was like swallowing a large bowl of wild grapes in a single mouthful. All his sense of taste seemed to have been lost instantly, and all he could feel was a gushing feeling that charged towards his brain. Wang Baole couldn’t control himself as his body stiffened, and his facial expression twisted as he widened his eyes.

<em>This is bad!</em>

However, before Wang Baole could adapt, the sourness disappeared, replaced by a spiciness that far exceeded that of the Death Pills he swallowed previously. The spiciness was like a bomb exploding in his mouth, the impact reverberating in his mind.

<em>Ahhhhh! </em>Wang Baole wanted to scream, but couldn’t produce any sound. He wanted to find himself some water, but even before he found it, activity exploded noisily in his mind again, such that he couldn’t even scream. He held his throat tightly, jumping up from his original cross-legged position, and began running in all directions like a maniac.

This continued for the next ten minutes, after which, Wang Baole fell down with a loud bang and fainted. Before he lost consciousness, the only question in his mind was why he decided to seek death for himself…

Despite having lost consciousness, his body continued convulsing without him feeling anything. His limbs behaved as if they had been electrocuted, raising and lowering by themselves even though Wang Baole had collapsed on the floor.

This not only shocked the surrounding ferocious beasts, but also the three Artifact Spirits who appeared after sensing something was amiss. They surrounded Wang Baole, staring at his convulsing body with their mouths agape with shock, before looking at each other with a puzzled look.

“This… Our new owner didn’t just die in this manner, did he?” the young boy mumbled, a look of confusion in his eyes. The scene before him was too unbelievable and unexpected.

The old State Preceptor who was standing in a corner cleared his throat, looking approvingly at the young boy and patting his head hard with his right hand.

“Well done!”

The young boy was confused, as he didn’t understand what the old State Preceptor meant by that. However, he quickly realized what was going on and was immediately gripped with shock. He understood that Wang Baole had just eaten the pills that he claimed had no issues…

“This… This…” The young boy was on the brink of tears. Seeing the old State Preceptor approaching him, wanting to give him a pat, a look of ruthlessness appeared in his eyes. He was about to retaliate when the burly Dark Sampan Artifact Spirit spoke calmly.

“Enough, both of you. This has nothing to do with Old Oar. Master himself was the one who wanted to break apart the pills before swallowing them. Usually, the external parts of the pills would have been processed such that, after being swallowed, the taste of the materials inside them wouldn’t be experienced. However, Master is tough and strong, with an unusually high body weight, so nothing will happen to him!” As the Boat Spirit spoke, a strong Spirit Qi suddenly emerged in waves from Wang Baole, who was still convulsing on the ground. Initially, the Spirit Qi flowed out of his stomach like a stream, but before long, it was like a voracious river churning in his body.

By the time the Boat Spirit finished speaking, the Spirit Qi had become like the ocean, crashing vigorously. Spirit Qi flowed out from Wang Baole’s sweat pores, forming a Spirit Fog that spread in all directions.

At the same time, the unconscious Wang Baole, being stimulated by the Spirit Qi, was momentarily awakened. Even though he was still in a state of confusion, he instinctively activated Lightning Dao: First Volume. As he unleashed it, sounds of thunder emerged from within his body. The Spirit Qi seemed to be drawn by it, surging directly into Wang Baole’s meridians and traveling throughout his entire body. Eventually, it seeped into the third lotus seed head whose petals had just opened up!

After seeping into it, the Spirit Qi was like nourishment and a maturation agent to the petals that had yet to become a lotus. It caused the petals to bloom visibly, and in the process, arc-shaped lightning was produced and traveled swiftly within Wang Baole’s body.

The entire process continued for six hours. As the explosive waves of Spirit Qi gradually died down, Wang Baole’s body returned to normal. He slowly opened his eyes, looking confused. At the same time, an incredible pain spread throughout his body, and he uncontrollably groaned in discomfort.

The three Artifact Spirits who were beside him initially had disappeared before he regained consciousness.

As he screamed painfully, Wang Baole struggled to climb up. He shuddered when he recalled the scene just before losing consciousness. The sensation of sourness and spiciness frightened him. Right now, his first instinct was to give up, but at that moment, he widened his eyes. He felt that the petal that was originally on the green lotus inside his body had become a lotus that was in the process of blooming!

<em>It’s effective! </em>Wang Baole was pleasantly surprised. He hurriedly stood up and activated his cultivation. As he waved his hands, flashes of lightning transformed with a frightening sound. After gauging its force, Wang Baole concluded that his skills in exhibiting the Lightning Dao cultivation technique as someone who had perfected Foundation Establishment realm cultivation had improved. It was akin to a pseudo Core Formation realm cultivator, without him needing to use the power of the Dark Core.

This was the result of just half a pill!

That made Wang Baole extremely happy. He gritted his teeth as he picked up the other half of the pill and swallowed it. Then, he immediately stiffened, gripping his throat and falling onto the floor as he screamed painfully. He convulsed as he lost consciousness, and the three Artifact Spirits reappeared as spectators then…

“He’s godly!”

“What a ruthless person!”

“How strong!” The three Artifact Spirits discussed amongst themselves. Seeing that Wang Baole wouldn’t die from it, they disappeared before Wang Baole regained consciousness.

In this manner, Wang Baole began his torturous cultivation process. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to swallow a pill whole. In reality, he felt that he should proceed in small steps. If he was too forceful, he might just kill himself in the process by accident.

In reality, Wang Baole was correct to think this way. If he really swallowed the entire pill in one go, he might be able to survive, but he would definitely injure his body. Taking half of it at a time like he was doing allowed his body to absorb it. Even though it was painful, there would be no consequences.

Therefore, after swallowing the two pills, the lightning in Wang Baole’s body struck continuously. As the lotus flower went into full bloom and the lotus seed head appeared, a Lightning Core was produced from within the lotus seed head!

A Core Formation aura that had a characteristic of lightning instantly emerged from Wang Baole’s body. It spread in all directions, and the sound of his laughter reverberated amidst his excitement.

Wang Baole didn’t know if there were other people like himself who had managed to produce two cores. However, after trying it out, he realized that the two cores were like a transit point. As his Spirit Qi seeped into the Lightning Core lotus seed head, the lightning that was produced gave off a force that was similar to a Core Formation realm cultivator with a lightning characteristic.

When it seeped into the Dark Core, everything was activated. The force that belonged to the Dark Core instantly spread.

The two parts interacted with each other. Even though the process was still not smooth, it seemed that as long as the body got used to it and as he grew more familiar with it, Wang Baole could interchange his Core Formation power according to his preferences during battle!

At the same time, there was also a change that surprised Wang Baole, and that was the high concentration of the Spirit Qi and meridians in his body. The meridians and Spirit Qi had been unleashed once previously when he achieved a breakthrough and reached the Dark Core stage. When the meridians spread, the Spirit Qi had also been boosted. Right now, what he did was similar to having spread and boosted his meridians and Spirit Qi twice!

That made his combat powers exceed that of his peers significantly, despite him still being an early-stage Core Formation realm cultivator!

After realizing this, Wang Baole was extremely delighted. In his happiness, he began putting away all the items and decided to leave the barrier. He was in high spirits, and as the three Artifact Spirits watched him with respect, he emerged out of the barrier and stepped into the underground passageway of the city. Wang Baole patted his tummy arrogantly, taking out his voice transmission ring to send a voice transmission to the Martian Colony Governor. However, the Governor didn’t pick up, so Wang Baole decided to leave a message.

“Governor, I, Wang Baole, didn’t disappoint your expectations. After months of seclusion, I’ve reached a breakthrough in my cultivation without any difficulty. I’ve entered… the Core Formation realm!”