A World Worth Protecting

1

As Feng Qiuran’s fatigued voice arrived from behind them, Wang Baole and company stopped in their tracks, shocked by her words. They looked at each other and remained silent. After turning and cupping his fists again, Wang Baole suddenly spoke.

“Elder Feng, can you please tell us the rules of the trial so that the three of us can make preparations?”

Feng Qiuran didn’t say anything, as she felt that there was no meaning regardless of what she said. She waved her hand to signal the three of them to leave. Wang Baole wanted to say something but stopped himself. In the end, he didn’t continue to speak and turned to leave Feng Qiuran’s cave abode.

Having seen the trio take their leave, the emotional and mental fatigue felt by Feng Qiuran could no longer be hidden. It showed visibly on her body, especially on her face. Even though she wasn’t feeling completely hopeless, she had already done everything that she could, with the most important being sending her two personal disciples to obtain the Hyacinthus Tree leaf. However, that was her limit.

Unless she decided to completely cut ties with Mie Liezi through a battle, she had no other ideas on how to handle the situation. However, even if she really were to fight it out, Mie Liezi and Daoist You Ran’s relationship, which was evident through this incident, made Feng Qiuran realize that there was no way she could turn the situation around anymore.

“Everything depends on how fate plays out…” Feng Qiuran mumbled. She knew that even though her two personal disciples were outstanding individuals, matters like these leveraged heavily on luck as well. She had even mentally prepared herself for the possibility of failure. Even if they didn’t fail, it was unknown whether this could allow her to get out of the difficult situation Mie Liezi had put her in.

Thoughts like these made Feng Qiuran extremely frustrated, and her fatigue compounded as a result. This resulted in her slightly regretting the decision she made those years ago, and for persevering all these years.

<em>There’s no way out… Unless the three of them can make it to the top three through their own capabilities, obtaining a top position in the trial with integrity and earning a Hyacinthus Tree leaf with the entire Vast Expanse Dao Palace as witness… However, with their capabilities, how is it possible that they’ll emerge the top amongst the six hundred people? Unless a miracle happens… </em>Feng Qiuran shut her eyes. She knew that she was daydreaming.

As Feng Qiuran was feeling doubtful about herself and towards the alliance with the Federation, Wang Baole and company, who had left the cave abode, didn’t split up. Instead, with Wang Baole’s invitation, the three of them charged towards Wang Baole’s Green Fire Island. Along the way, they were each deep in thought and didn’t speak. When they reached Wang Baole’s cave abode on Green Fire Island, a glow flashed across Kong Dao’s eyes. He broke the silence first.

“There is trouble. Clearly, Elder Feng can no longer sustain the Vast Expanse Dao Palace. While this was what the Federation predicted, they must never have expected that it would happen so quickly!”

“Furthermore, this trial seems to be an act of the Vast Expanse Dao Palace deliberately picking on us. If we don’t manage to obtain a position, they will not allow the second batch of Federation Seedlings to enter!” Kong Dao was solemn, his mood heavily influenced by this matter.

“In reality, I have sensed that something wasn’t right the last time I teleported cultivation techniques back to the Federation. The Vast Expanse Dao Palace teleportation array formation seemed to be equipped with some sort of algorithm such that it would inspect the cultivation techniques that we teleport back. Put simply, it allowed the cultivation technique to be sent back, but it didn’t allow other information that is unrelated to the cultivation technique!” Zhao Yameng looked calm as she spoke, informing Wang Baole and Kong Dao of what she had been investigating these days.

“There’s such a thing as well?” Kong Dao had an awful expression on his face as he looked towards Wang Baole, waiting for him to make a decision. After all, when they were on Mars, Wang Baole was Kong Dao’s superior. He was used to listening to Wang Baole’s commands. Right here, Wang Baole was also the leader, and as such, regardless of whether it was him or Zhao Yameng, they were both waiting for Wang Baole to determine a plan of action.

Wang Baole looked solemn as well. In reality, for the past year, his understanding of the Vast Expanse Dao Palace had grown deeper than the other Federation disciples. He had long realized that Feng Qiuran was somewhat indecisive towards the Federation Seedlings, being firm some times but also wavering occasionally. On the one hand, this was because of the different choices made by the cultivators under Feng Qiuran’s lead, and on the other, it was because Mie Liezi was another strong force!

It must be mentioned that Mie Liezi’s power gained the recognition of many Vast Expanse Dao Palace disciples, including disciples of both Feng Qiuran and Daoist You Ran. There were some disciples under them that gradually agreed with Mie Liezi. The idea that the Vast Expanse Dao Palace was supreme was slowly becoming mainstream.

That made Mie Liezi’s power slowly but steadily increase, such that it had surpassed that of Feng Qiuran’s to become the only voice of the Vast Expanse Dao Palace. It was all a matter of time before that happened, and that was also a situation that the Federation had anticipated. As such, the Federation had sent the current batch of Federation Seedlings to support Feng Qiuran.

However, it seems that there was insufficient time. The purpose and effect of the support couldn’t be seen yet, but this crisis had already started to unfold. Once the three of them failed in obtaining a position in the trial, it would mean that there would likely not be the next batch of Federation Seedlings.

That wasn’t the most serious consequence. The worst consequence was that once Mie Liezi became the main authority in the Vast Expanse Dao Palace, what would likely happen next would be… a war between the Vast Expanse Dao Palace and the Federation!

Wang Baole thought about this possibility, and so did Kong Dao and Zhao Yameng. Therefore, anxiety was clear in their eyes. However, they had no solutions and could only look towards Wang Baole.

“Since that is the case… The three of us shall just emerge in the top three and obtain a position in the trial! This is the most direct solution!” After a moment of silence, a look of determination appeared in Wang Baole’s eyes, along with a chilly glow as he uttered each word. Even a chilly aura could be sensed from his tone, and that made both Zhao Yameng and Kong Dao’s breathing quicken. They revealed a look of determination in their eyes.

“It’s a pity that Elder Feng didn’t reveal the rules of the trial to us… In the days to come, we need to make use of the relations of the Federation Seedlings to find out more about it!”

“Yameng, Kong Dao, both of you must make ample preparations in the next few days. This time… let’s see if we can shock the Vast Expanse Dao Palace. Additionally, I want to know whether those elites of the Vast Expanse Dao Palace are indeed better than us Federation disciples!” With that, Wang Baole grew even more competitive. His words made Kong Dao and Zhao Yameng more assured. Therefore, after discussing the details, Kong Dao and Zhao Yameng left.

When the two of them had left, Wang Baole thought about matters and contacted Xie Haiyang. He planned to spend battle credits in exchange for information regarding the rules of the trial. However, Xie Haiyang didn’t pick up.

Wang Baole frowned. After a while, when he noticed that Xie Haiyang had not replied, he decided to not waste any more time. He immediately decided to go into seclusion, maintaining his cultivation at an optimal level while making preparations specifically for the trial.

He first tidied up his Dharmic Armaments. Of them, the tri-colored flying sword and a copper coin Runic Soldier that he could control were the most powerful Dharmic Armaments he had. Even though they weren’t true ninth-grade Dharmic Armaments according to definition, they were close.

Other than that, amongst his eighth-grade Dharmic Armaments, other than the ribbon that appeared like an eighth-grade Dharmic Armament, there were ten treasures that could only be used once. Wang Baole also had some seventh-grade Dharmic Armaments. Regardless of whether they were the megaphone or the flying sword and saber that he had refined, they could all be considered Dharmic treasures for daily use.

<em>What’s next are the puppets… However, there isn’t enough time, and the refinement materials needed are simply too expensive. There is also a low success rate… If not, if the puppets could be upgraded to seventh-grade Dharmic Armaments, they would definitely help significantly in boosting my combat capabilities. </em>Wang Baole shook his head as he arranged the Dharmic Armaments. Then, he sat down with crossed legs and began thinking about his spells.

Thearch Armor, which he had cultivated, could be used as his trump card. However, he didn’t know the rules of the trial, and even if the trial permitted killing, they would never allow large scale deaths to happen. At the same time, there would definitely be spectators watching the trial, and that restricted him, making it difficult to unleash the power of Thearch Armor fully.

“There’s also the Lightning Avatar…” Wang Baole mumbled and thought about his Dark Art and physical power. However, he still didn’t feel confident. He shut his eyes and thought about it, and finally, a cold glow flashed across his face!

<em>Alternatively, should I equip Thearch Armor with a certain level of combat power using the method of Flame Snatch, so that it would be full-proof in the trial? </em>With that thought, Wang Baole stood up immediately. He left his cave abode and grabbed onto the donkey, stuffing it in his storage bag before charging towards the Sea of Fire.

Refining Thearch Armor using the method of Flame Snatch required some killing to occur… Since there was no one to kill now, Wang Baole could only enter the Sea of Fire to search for beasts he could kill in order to use the Flame Snatch on Thearch Armor!