A World Worth Protecting

1

The battle between Wang Baole and Zhou Chudao sent shock waves in all directions. All the spectators were gripped with surprise and shock, especially as they watched Zhou Chudao demonstrate his ability to anticipate Wang Baole’s moves, and as they watched Wang Baole using a series of lures as he attacked.

That was especially so for the last moment where the three ambushers suffered a pitiful death. Regardless of whether it was the way or the speed of their miserable deaths, it implied that Wang Baole’s abilities were at a level similar to the peak of the Core Formation realm, and was sufficiently powerful to suppress others on the same level as him!

What was most important was that Wang Baole was still a mid-stage Core Formation realm cultivator!

What happened scared everyone, preventing them from going near. No one had any intention to attack sneakily, and all the Dao Palace disciples who were watching the battle couldn’t help but sweep their gazes at the Federation Seedlings in the public square.

After this battle, no one would dare to say that there were no elites in the Federation anymore!

That made all the Federation Seedlings in the public square extremely emotional. After all, since their arrival on the ancient greenish-bronze sword and the Vast Expanse Dao Palace, they had lived like second-class citizens.

The Dao Palace disciples’ disdain towards them, as well as the scornful and cold attitude that they had experienced throughout the past year, resulted in pent-up frustration in their hearts. They were cautious in whatever they did, and some of them had even wavered and thought about getting into the good books of the Dao Palace disciples.

However, at the current moment, all those thoughts had vanished, replaced by a sense of pride and agitation. Through Wang Baole’s hard work, all the Federation Seedlings had proven their worth!

Even though it seemed like Wang Baole was the only elite, at the very least, they were no longer nobodies in the Dao Palace and were able to have a presence!

Many people understood that principle. Therefore, the Dao Palace disciples, who were experiencing a myriad of emotions, were much less scornful towards the Federation Seedlings. That was seen in both their gazes and attitudes. They had become more solemn, and that was especially so when they watched Wang Baole on the screen. From their eyes, a look of respect and awe towards Wang Baole could be seen.

However, in their hearts, they were still somewhat unable to accept the fact that Wang Baole and the Federation were more powerful than they had thought. Thankfully, before the first teleportation, Wang Baole wasn’t the only one who had performed spectacularly, as there was also Dugu Lin who fought well!

The battle between Dugu Lin and Xu Ming was similarly earth-shaking, sending shock waves in all directions. That filled all the Dao Palace disciples in the public square with excitement. As the duo were both Dao Palace disciples as well, the exhilaration that the Dao Palace disciples felt was multiplied, and could somewhat alleviate the emotional discomfort that they felt due to Wang Baole!

Dugu Lin was indeed formidable. Even though Xu Ming was also a personal disciple and could beat many other Core Formation realm cultivators, he still lacked compared to Dugu Lin!

Right now, the battle between Du Guilin and Xu Ming was held on a plain. Numerous cracks had appeared on the ground, and Xu Ming’s screams had become the theme song of the area. His body was blown into the air before crashing onto the ground again and again, and this would be repeated every time he picked himself up from the ground!

Dugu Lin, who was standing expressionlessly in mid-air and hadn’t spoken much since the beginning, was like an inescapable fate for Xu Ming. No matter how hard Xu Ming tried—regardless of whether he had self-exploded his Dharmic treasures, unleashed his trump cards, or even boosted his attacks with mystic techniques—it had all been useless!

All those efforts were simply negated by a single punch from Du Guilin, and that was the case from start to finish!

It was, without a doubt, a complete suppression of Xu Ming. From the beginning until the present, Xu Ming had bled profusely, and his hair was a mess. The hopelessness and indignation in his heart had been transformed into a form of torture that drove him crazy.

“Dugu Lin! Your opponent… is me!” After being thrown towards the ground from mid-air yet again, Xu Ming vomited a clot of blood. When he struggled to stand up, blood flowed from his forehead into his eye, turning his world blood-colored. He looked even more frightening, but his voice didn’t carry a sense of madness, only bitterness and struggles.

That was because… from the second punch onwards, the quiet Dugu Lin no longer focused his attention on Xu Ming. Instead, he had raised his head, focusing on the night sky map, and specifically on the location where the battle between Wang Baole and Zhou Chudao was taking place.

Even though Dugu Lin couldn’t see the actual battle, a look of desire and anticipation had appeared in his eyes. As such, to him, Xu Ming was merely…

A nobody!

Dugu Lin’s disregard towards him was what made Xu Ming feel most bitter. He was also a personal disciple, and before this, he was filled with confidence about himself. However, it was only after this battle that he realized that compared to Dugu Lin, he was nothing.

That sense of powerlessness made Xu Ming bitter, but he was still indignant. Therefore, as he quickened his breathing, a burning desire for battle was rekindled in his eyes. He was about to attack once again, as he wanted to battle despite the possibility of failure!

However, at that moment, Dugu Lin suddenly spoke.

“You are… too weak.”

“You will definitely die under my next punch, and I am too lazy to kill you. So… hand your keys over.” Dugu Lin retracted his gaze from the night sky map and lowered his head to look as Xu Ming, speaking calmly. There was no change to his facial expression, it was still cold and distant.

However, as that gaze and those words landed in Xu Ming’s eyes and ears, he suddenly trembled. His intuition told him that what Dugu Lin said was true!

If he continued to attack, then the moment he flew into the air beside Du Guilin would be the moment he would truly be defeated…

Should he battle or not?

Amidst the silence, Xu Ming felt increasingly bitter and hopeless. The desire to battle in his eyes slowly dissipated. He realized that if he dashed out and survived, he would definitely be transformed, but ultimately, he didn’t want to die.

As he laughed bitterly, Xu Ming tossed out over twenty keys. As that happened, he seemed to have lost all energy and couldn’t support his body any longer, and he landed on the ground. He was looking towards the sky, not at Dugu Lin but at the other battleground in the night sky map.

“Is that Wang Baole…?” Xu Ming murmured. Dugu Lin retracted his gaze. This time, he wasn’t looking at the night sky map but in the south-eastern direction where Wang Baole and Zhou Chudao were battling.

In the south-eastern direction, as Xu Ming was defeated and lost all his desire to fight, the battle between Wang Baole and Zhou Chudao had also reached its final moments. Zhou Chudao was shocked, but he had been able to swiftly control the awl shield. He also saw that blood-colored meridians had appeared on Wang Baole’s raised right hand.

As the meridians spread, and as more blood-colored meridians appeared on other parts of Wang Baole’s body, a large human-shaped outline appeared around Wang Baole’s body in the blink of an eye!

The aura was extremely strong and sinister, and it was also presented in an overbearing manner. As Wang Baole’s aura was unleashed and complemented with the resonance from his body, he seemed to have become a divine being!

“This is the end!” As he spoke calmly, Wang Baole’s emotions were clearly affected. His cold and distant voice carried a hint of ruthlessness. He moved his body, and between steps, he unleashed a punch!

That punch had exceeded the limits of the Core Formation realm. It was directed towards the air. Immediately, cracks appeared, and a force that could create chaos in the sky, as well as winds, erupted from it!

Looking from a distance, Wang Baole’s body seemed like a blood-colored hurricane. As lightning and thunder interlaced, it seemed as if demons were dancing, sweeping across the skies towards Zhou Chudao!

That was the real fifth punch!

Two hundred percent boost from the resonance!

The first stage of the Flame Snatch Thearch Armor was unleashed at three times the force!

As the loud boom reverberated, the blood-colored hurricane landed directly on the awl shield, which as controlled by the screaming Zhou Chudao. When contact was made, the awl shield shook violently and began to crack apart loudly. In the blink of an eye, under the force of the blood-colored hurricane, the awl shield was completely devastated!

Without stopping, the blood-colored hurricane continued to send shock waves in all directions, and it arrived in front of Zhou Chudao almost immediately. At this critical juncture, blood spewed from Zhou Chudao’s mouth as he took out several protective Dharmic treasures, putting in his utmost effort to resist the force.

However, those Dharmic treasures were extremely weak in the face of the blood-colored hurricane. They were blown apart and turned to ash as the blood-colored hurricane swept through the clouds. Seeing that the hurricane was nearing him, Zhou Chudao was turned into a maniac as he flailed his arms in a final attempt at resistance. He controlled all of his illusory figures to pass through his body in an attempt to block the force!

However, it was all futile!

As the loud boom was heard, his illusory figures made contact with the blood-colored hurricane and were instantly devastated. It was then that the blood-colored hurricane stopped advancing, arriving an inch from Zhou Chudao, who had lost all hope.

The hurricane dissipated and was transformed into Wang Baole’s Thearch Armor fist!

As Zhou Chudao’s hair was blown, he looked at the powerful fist in front of him, which carried a sense of madness. He felt bitterness in his heart as Wang Baole’s cold and distant voice arrived by his ears.

“You have lost.”

Zhou Chudao shut his eyes, and as the bitterness in his heart grew, he suddenly sighed. When he opened his eyes, he looked extremely indignant. He put on the aura of an old peasant before tossing his keys to the side. He stood up and began staggering into the distance while sighing.

“I shouldn’t have let the elderly ladies leave… Why did I find trouble…”

Without looking at the keys that Zhou Chudao had tossed out, Wang Baole stood there. He seemed to have felt something as he raised his head to look towards the north-west direction. That was… where Dugu Lin was on the night sky map!

As Wang Baole looked in that direction, Dugu Lin was also looking in his direction. As the distance between them was great, they couldn’t physically see each other. However, that didn’t affect their desire to battle each other and didn’t influence their decision to look in each other’s direction!

All this was seen by the disciples in the public square. In their eyes, the scene of Wang Baole and Dugu Lin looking in each other’s direction on different screens cast such a strong impression that it seemed to have been transformed into a deep memory that couldn’t dissipate.

The entire public square was silent until someone let out a soft murmur.

“Elites indeed!”