A World Worth Protecting

1

<em>A cry for help? </em>Wang Baole stopped in his tracks. He lowered his head and studied the regional Spirit Internet jade slip carefully. He stared at the SOS signal that kept transmitting without stopping.

He could hear the despair in the transmission. He could sense an undying desire to live in the midst of death, the mad desire to survive. The Federation Seedling began to weep and beg as Wang Baole checked the transmission. He began uttering promises. Regardless, no one responded in the chat group.

The regional Spirit Internet had distance-based constraints. Since this Federation Seedling was trapped in the depths of the sword body, Wang Baole was probably the only other Federation Seedling in the vicinity.

“It’s Fang Mu…” Wang Baole muttered softly. The image of a young man appeared in his mind. He recalled that he wasn’t that familiar with this person. They were mere acquaintances who nodded their heads at each other when they passed each other by. In fact, during the specialized training for Federation Seedlings, Fang Mu had ganged up with quite a few other disciples to ambush him.

Subsequently, with him heading to Mars, their paths no longer crossed. Their limited interaction had only started again when they had arrived on the ancient greenish-bronze sword. However, Wang Baole seemed to recall that Fang Mu was friendlier towards Li Yi.

However, everyone was still a cultivator of the Federation. They were obliged to help one another in foreign lands. If he weren’t at the sword body now but at the sword handle, Wang Baole wouldn’t have hesitated to extend a helping hand. However… he was at the sword body now. This cry for help seemed slightly suspicious.

<em>Fang Mu’s cultivation is only at the Foundation Establishment realm. How is he able to enter the sword body? </em>Wang Baole narrowed his eyes. He had been here for quite some time and had a deep understanding of how dangerous this place was. After some thought, Wang Baole didn’t mount a rescue immediately. Instead, he replied in the group chat.

“Fang Mu? Why are you here?”

Fang Mu seemed to have reached the peak of despair. He was clearly stunned to hear someone speaking in the chat group. Then, excited and overjoyed, he quickly sent a voice transmission in the chat group.

“Baole? Save me. Baole, save me. Five fellow Daoists and I from the Waterfront Island were forced by the Island Lord to come here and search through one of the ruins. We encountered a hex. The Island Lord was despicable. While the rest were killed, he found an inner sect disciple’s identity token and ran off!”

Wang Baole stared at the transmission in the chat group. He began to frown. There was nothing wrong with what Fang Mu had said. Everything seemed to make sense, but he couldn’t help the doubt in his heart.

<em>There’s something quite strange going on… </em>Wang Baole narrowed his eyes as he thought. He revealed none of his suspicions in the chat group though and got Fang Mu to send over his coordinates.

He soon received Fang Mu’s location. He checked and realized that Fang Mu was fewer than ten miles away from him. He was extremely near. Wang Baole’s suspicions deepened. It might not have been so suspicious if they were separated by a considerable distance, but for Fang Mu to be located so near him, and near the borders…

<em>Could it be so coincidental… Everything seems to be leading me towards him. </em>Wang Baole’s eyes flashed. He took a step forward. Instead of hurrying over to where Fang Mu was, he continued flying towards the defensive barrier, intent on leaving this place.

As for mounting a rescue—the appearance of Fang Mu in the sword body was already questionable and invited suspicions. Regardless of how well he had explained his situation, Wang Baole knew very well the importance of caution in a foreign environment. He was no saint. He wasn’t going to risk his life out of overwhelming empathy to save someone.

It might be cruel and cold-blooded, but Wang Baole decided to ignore the cry for help. The cries for help in the chat group grew more frantic. It didn’t take long before Wang Baole began to frown.

He realized… he was lost!

He had clearly seen the defensive barrier ahead of him earlier. When he looked ahead now, the defensive barrier turned into a blur, then disappeared. Wang Baole immediately raised his guard. He went around the area. After advancing for a short while, he stopped once again. He stared at the mist that had appeared out of thin air, soundlessly, before him. He frowned. Then, he pulled out the regional Spirit Internet jade slip and stared at the coordinates that Fang Mu had sent over.

“This is interesting.” He muttered, his pupils contracting as soon as he saw the coordinates

He had unknowingly approached Fang Mu’s location despite his intentions to move away from it. At present, he was less than a mile away from where Fang Mu was.

Wang Baole’s face darkened. He turned and stared at Fang Mu’s location. Then, he snorted and raced towards it. It didn’t take long before he crossed the last mile and appeared at where Fang Mu was supposed to be.

He found himself on elevated ground. Even the Sea of Fire didn’t manage to flood this area. Signs of the land being shifted remained in the area. It was clear that this place might not have been elevated earlier. It had undergone a bizarre transformation in the sword body and reformed into what it was now.

Such areas could be seen everywhere on the sword body. Wang Baole had seen his fair share and wasn’t overly anxious. What alarmed him was a golden beetle a thousand feet long that was buried atop the elevated ground!

A small part of the beetle was buried in the ground. What was exposed to the air showed clear signs of decomposition over a long period of time. The outer shell of the beetle was lined with cracks, and there was a large crater the length of four to five yards on it. It exposed the beetle’s insides. What was inside… was not flesh and blood belonging to a living creature but something that resembled a cabin!

Wang Baole had seen a Sea Glutton before. He had one himself in the Dark Artifact. He knew that there were all kinds of strange and wondrous flying Dharmic Artifacts built by numerous civilizations in this universe. Not all resembled the Federation’s cruisers. Some had Sea Gluttons, while some had other strange creatures, such as this beetle. This might be his first time seeing one, but he could immediately tell that it was a kind of living space cruiser!

Even though the beetle had died and its insides had been damaged, it continued to exude a frightening aura. Wang Baole could sense that this aura rivaled that of a Nascent Soul realm cultivator. His eyes narrowed. He saw, lying beside the beetle… a mummy!

The dead mummy wore the robes of the Vast Expanse Dao Palace. One could vaguely make out that this was Fang Mu, one of the Federation Seedlings. The smell of death that came from his body indicated clearly that he had died almost a month ago.

His face still showed the agony he had suffered prior to his death. Everything confirmed Wang Baole’s guess. What made him feel bizarre was despite how he was clearly staring at Fang Mu’s corpse, and that he had already arrived at Fang Mu’s location, the chat group in the regional Spirit Internet continued to transmit Fang Mu’s calls for help.

Wang Baole gasped. From the extreme agony on Fang Mu’s face, someone might have searched his soul or used torture to interrogate him before his death.

<em>Is this trap targeting me or everyone? </em>Wang Baole didn’t approach. He stared at the sight before him and retreated, about to leave.

Just as he took a step back, an eerie wind carrying a sudden chill swept past his cheek in what should have been a scorching hot region. His surroundings descended into a deathly silence.

The skies were dark and gloomy, the lands were a blur, and sounds of crying and laughing drifted from all directions. They were indistinct, arriving with the eerie winds.

“Mother, mother, I’m starving…”

“Mother, your finger doesn’t taste good at all. I’m so hungry. I want to eat something…”

“Don’t hit me. Don’t kill me. Don’t skin me. Mother, I’m in so much pain…”

The eerie, child-like voice sounded chilly. It was the sort of chill that made one’s scalp prickle. The voice drifted in the air and alarmed Wang Baole. He sensed the presence of a few children around him. They were holding hands and running circles around him.

One of them ran and ran, then stopped and stood at his side. The child smiled at him. Wang Baole turned his head instinctively to take a look. Ten feet away from him was an empty space. When his eyes swept past the space, a long-haired woman dressed in white robes appeared suddenly. Her hair was extremely long and covered her face. Next to the white-robed woman stood seven young boys. Each one of them had an eerie smile on their faces as they stared unblinkingly at Wang Baole.

Wang Baole’s pupils contracted suddenly. It was then that the white-robed woman lifted her head, revealing a face without eyes and a nose. She had only a giant, black gaping mouth on her gruesome face. She led the seven young boys and charged straight at Wang Baole!