A World Worth Protecting

1

Wang Baole and his team watched as Xu Ming and his team left. Then, they stared at one another and dashed off in another direction. They were on their guard while they traveled. Zhao Yameng began analyzing the rules of the trial.

“One strategy that almost everyone would think of would be to gather a certain number of keys then hide themselves…” Zhao Yameng said softly. After some thought, Kong Dao shook his head.

“I thought of that too. I found out that while the key can’t be kept in one’s storage bag, it’s hard to detect unless someone else is really near you. I can’t figure out why the Vast Expanse Dao Palace would leave such an obvious loophole in…”

“Since this array formation is called the Endless Possibilities Formation, we may be faced with other transformations in this world later as well!” After listening to what Zhao Yameng and Kong Dao had said, Wang Baole fell into a contemplative silence. Then, he spoke slowly.

The three of them continued their discussion for a while but couldn’t decide on a plan. Zhao Yameng finally suggested finding a place to hide out for a while. They could monitor the situation before deciding on a plan of action.

The cultivators in Feng Qiuran’s faction had scattered. The cultivators in Mie Liezi’s and You Ran’s faction had done the same. The cultivators began to spread out in their regions.

Many people decided to follow Zhou Chudao and his Dao partner Huang Yunshan. Dugu Lin was the only person to leave alone. He forbade anyone from following him.

As the cultivators scattered across the land, the trial truly began. Outside that world, the spectators watched excitedly in the public square. They knew that the real action was about to begin.

There were no intense fights at the moment. In fact, no one had engaged in battle yet. However, the rules ensured that as time passed, every participant would begin to grow anxious.

There were multiple ways that this trial could end. Where multiple probable outcomes existed, a betting pool would typically follow. Like the gamble between Mie Liezi and Feng Qiuran, and like… the betting pool that Xie Haiyang had set up privately.

This was clearly something that couldn’t be done out in the open and so blatantly. However, Xie Haiyang had the means of spreading the news about this and got it done easily. Currently, the people who had placed enormous bets with him numbered in the tens of thousands.

Xie Haiyang was also one of the many who were watching the images in the vortexes. However, he was also extremely busy, receiving voice transmissions and taking bets. He had to make adjustments to the betting pool every so often as well. The crowd bustled around him, and many placed their bets on the spot.

There were elders from the sect who had noticed what was going on, but as soon as they even began to frown, they received a voice transmission. After reading it, they gave Xie Haiyang an unfathomable look, shook their heads, and ignored what he was doing. Xie Haiyang’s betting pool grew bigger and bigger. A middle-aged cultivator standing next to him finally asked curiously.

“Fellow Daoist Xie, even though you’re the one setting up the bets, will you actually be betting on anyone?”

Xie Haiyang smiled upon hearing that. He pulled out three gourds from his storage bracelet and placed them in front of him. He pointed at the gourds, then laughed as he told the crowd.

“I bet ten thousand battle credits on these three people. Their names are in the gourds. Help me keep an eye on them. When the results are out in a few days, I’ll open them right in front of you all!”

Outside the world where the trial was taking place, the crowd bustled. The setting up of a betting pool meant that the crowd was invested emotionally in the trial as they watched what was happening. It livened up the atmosphere.

Comparatively, it wasn’t as intense or exciting inside the array formation. The trial had just begun, after all, and everyone had just made their entrance. It wasn’t yet time for a fight.

This was clearly not something Mie Liezi wanted to see. He raised his right hand and formed a series of hand seals. Then, he pointed at the vortexes in the sky. The vortexes suddenly shuddered, and changes began to take place within the array formation.

The spectators soon noticed the transformation, which caused gasps of shock to rise into the air.

“The array formation is transforming!”

“Look at the sky on the screens… it’s turned black!”

“There’s starlight in the night sky!”

As the spectators gasped in shock, inside the array formation, a myriad of emotions descended upon the participants as they lifted their heads and saw what was going on in the sky.

At that moment… the light around them had dimmed considerably. The change was minute but still perceivable to a cultivator’s eyes. The sky above their heads had transformed from a bright and clear one to a dark, night sky!

It wasn’t exactly a night sky. The light shining upon the land had dimmed, but it wasn’t completely pitch-black as night would be. The only change was to the blue skies, which had now turned black.

It might seem like a contradiction, but this was indeed what had happened. The lands continued to give off light under the black sky. The source of this light was unknown. It seemed as if everything in this world could become a source of light. This was one of the things that made the Endless Possibilities Array Formation unique.

Wang Baole and his team had been traveling when the skies suddenly turned black. They stopped in their tracks immediately and lifted their heads, alarm flashing across their faces. The black sky was undergoing a gradual transformation, and a map formed from starlight began to emerge in the sky!

It was a clear map of the entire world where the trial was taking place, and numerous key-shaped symbols appeared on the map!

They weren’t all stationary!

Some of these keys were shown in isolation, others were shown clustered in groups of three to five. There were also dozens of keys clustered together. Each key-shaped symbol… clearly corresponded to someone who was holding onto a key!

Wang Baole’s and his teammates’ hearts sank when they found their location as well as their corresponding keys in the aerial map.

They did a test. The keys shifted slightly as they moved. They finally concluded that the aerial map was synced with whatever was going on in the trial on a real-time basis!

Secrecy was thus no longer an option. The possibility of seeking a safe hideout and hiding away somewhere was also eliminated and no longer a realistic plan. The appearance of this aerial map eliminated their previous doubts and confusion.

“This is just too vicious! There’s no way for anyone to hide here. Our every move will be exposed!” Kong Dao gasped. His eyes looked solemn. He could predict that the appearance of this aerial map would heighten the intensity of this trial to the extreme.

“That’s not entirely true!” Zhao Yameng said suddenly. Her eyes flashed as she whispered.

“The map is not completely to our disadvantage. It might seem to expose everyone’s location. However, what it does is add an implicit rule to this trial… Before the next teleportation, those without keys will become… completely invisible on the map!”

Wang Baole frowned as he listened to their conversation, and something flickered in his eyes. Zhao Yameng’s spirits were clearly soaring, intense interest flashing in her eyes. She seemed to believe that the rules of this trial and this array formation were an opportunity for her to enhance her proficiency in array formations. She spoke again quickly.

“This world is quite fascinating. It will activate a teleportation once every twenty-four hours. That means a teleportation will take place every day… Those with a key will escape teleportation, and those without will be sent away and eliminated from the trial!

“What’s even more interesting is that even if one uses his or her key to evade teleportation the first time, without any additional keys, he or she will have to snatch keys from others in order to escape the subsequent teleportation. Everyone has a day to do that. During that time, they will be hidden, and their location won’t be displayed on the map. Those with keys, though, will be shown clearly on the map. They are forcing us to fight and to battle it out for keys!

“Based on my judgment, the most intense fights and the highest number of casualties will take place on the first day, and many participants will be eliminated. This is because the number of keys is fixed. There are only six hundred of them. If there is no intense battle on the first day, and most of the keys aren’t consolidated in a few participants’ hands, after the first teleportation, many keys will be consumed to avoid elimination. Without keys, those who have become invisible on the map and wish to stay in the trial will have to fight fiercely for another key. However, at that juncture, there would be too few keys left. Keys will become extremely precious. The fight for keys will intensify and reach its climax!”

Zhao Yameng’s eyes shone more brightly as she spoke. She was clearly proficient in array formations and deduction. Her mind moved incredibly quickly, and she managed to distill the key points of this trial with a few words.