A World Worth Protecting

1

Wang Baole was about to speak, but right then, on the night sky map, the star that represented Dugu Lin suddenly moved!

He was fast, much faster than when he charged towards Xu Ming. He was headed towards the last personal disciple of Feng Qiuran, Lu Yun!

The distance between the two of them wasn’t great. Since he moved with such a high speed, even the outsiders were surprised as they watched. The people that Dugu Lin passed on the way were also shocked, as they heard the sound of thunder arrive by their ears while noticing Dugu Lin’s figure charging ahead!

“Dugu Lin is battling once again!”

Wang Baole raised his head to look at the night sky, and Zhao Yameng and Kong Dao also turned their attention towards it. On the night sky map, they saw that the galaxy that represented Lu Yun, which had been moving slowly initially, suddenly stopped. It appeared that it had reached a decision after pondering over it briefly, and then it changed its direction and charged towards where Dugu Lin was coming from!

He wasn’t trying to escape or avoid battle, he was moving to take Dugu Lin head-on!

This could only be sensed by the disciples in the trial grounds through the night sky map, as they couldn’t see the details. However, the Dao Palace cultivators outside who could see everything going on were gripped with surprise.

They witnessed Dugu Lin charging forward, and they saw Lu Yun changing direction and charging towards Dugu Lin, an intention to fight in his eyes. They also noticed the decreasing distance between the both of them!

They were like two meteors swiftly approaching each other, about to collide!

“Huang Yunshan giving away her keys just now must have agitated Dugu Lin, forcing him to act sooner than he had planned!”

“Lu Yun actually took the initiative to battle!”

“The way things are now is simply good luck on Wang Baole’s part. He only needs to continue waiting, and he will enter the top two!”

As commotion arose amongst the disciples outside, Mie Liezi looked more comforted, though he was still solemn. However, a look of anticipation appeared in his eyes. Despite Wang Baole’s rising causing changes in how this trial was playing out, he still believed that his disciple, Dugu Lin, would emerge as number one!

Compared to Mie Liezi, Feng Qiuran was now sighing. Xu Ming was teleported back previously but didn’t stop by the public square. The moment he returned, he immediately left, as if ashamed with himself.

Right now, only her personal disciple Lu Yun remained on the trial grounds. With Huang Yunshan’s decision to give up, the results of the trial were clear, and there was little possibility of a change happening.

If everything happened accordingly, the top three would be Dugu Lin, Wang Baole, and Lu Yun!

However, the fact that Dugu Lin suddenly charged out with his intention to kill unleashed showed clearly that his goal wasn’t to be in the top three. Instead, he only wanted there to be a number one, with no other positions in the trial!

<em>Dugu Lin! </em>Feng Qiuran’s facial expression was awful as she threw a glance at Daoist You Ran. However, she realized that Daoist You Ran still had his eyes shut, and he merely sighed without making any moves even when his personal disciple had been defeated.

In the silence, Feng Qiuran felt a myriad of emotions. She had high hopes of the two of them, but Xu Ming had already been eliminated. Lu Yun was impressive, but compared to Dugu Lin, whose ferocity was unleashed, Xu Ming still fell behind. Feng Qiuran had also realized that Dugu Lin wasn’t going at full force and was reserving some of his powers.

It was without a doubt that Lu Yun would fail.

However, Wang Baole, whom she didn’t look upon favorably initially, had suddenly risen up. The last Thearch Armor punch that he threw at Zhou Chudao to defeat him made Feng Qiuran feel that perhaps the trial was made specifically for Dugu Lin and Wang Baole. If Dugu Lin won, he would lead the Dao Palace disciples in the days to come, rising up completely with Mie Liezi.

Similarly, if Wang Baole won, his status and identity in the Dao Palace would be transformed. Even the others from the Federation could raise their heads, and few if not none of the Dao Palace disciples would dare to provoke them. This was because the Federation wouldn’t only have a personal disciple, but they would have the personal disciple that was the strongest below the Nascent Soul realm, suppressing even the Dao Palace disciples!

As everyone felt a torrent of emotions, Dugu Lin and Lu Yun were charging forward at increasing speed. Half an hour later, they neared each other in the central region of the trial grounds, and the battle between the two began as a loud boom was produced!

Different from the time he battled Xu Ming, and perhaps because Lu Yun came to battle on his own accord, Dugu Lin’s attacks were even more decisive. As he sealed his hands, his ferocity intensified, and nine black dragons appeared behind him, charging towards Lu Yun while screaming.

Not many on the trial grounds could see what was happening. Only the disciples near the battle location could see what was going on from a distance. Other than that, only the Dao Palace disciples outside could see what was going on clearly.

However, the clearer they could see, the more shocked they were. In reality, personal disciple Lu Yun had already surpassed his peers and was someone who could eliminate those in the Core Formation realm. However, in front of Dugu Lin, he was completely suppressed!

From start to finish, Dugu Lin only attacked with his fists while the nine black dragons circled around Lu Yun. Like the battle against Xu Ming, he didn’t use other spells and only threw punches. That was enough to make Lu Yun scream painfully, but he still charged out despite being pelted by the punches and thrown to the ground.

The Dao Palace disciples fell silent while watching it. They didn’t notice that a distance away, the heavily injured Xu Ming had returned, supported by his servant. Looking at the duo in battle, Xu Ming was silent, as if he could see himself in their position.

When Lu Yun’s body was about to crumble to a state similar to that of Xu Ming’s, Dugu Lin said the same thing he did to Xu Ming while flying in mid-air. Lu Yun laughed bitterly and didn’t avoid the battle. Instead, with a hint of madness, he charged out!

Looking at Lu Yun, Xu Ming trembled. Lu Yun did something that he didn’t dare do for fear of death!

Xu Ming was silent, and he closed his eyes with bitterness in his heart.

The battle between Lu Yun and Dugu Lin had ended. Perhaps due to admiration for Lu Yun, Dugu Lin didn’t unleash the final punch on Lu Yun. Instead, he slapped Lu Yun out of the sky, knocking him unconscious and no longer attacking.

As the battle ended, the public square was filled with momentary silence. Sounds of delight emerged from Mie Liezi’s clan. Compared to them, both Feng Qiuran and Daoist You Ran’s clans were silent, their hearts filled with shock and a torrent of emotions that couldn’t rest like the raging sea.

Without a doubt, Dugu Lin was more powerful than anyone could imagine. He didn’t use a second skill against both Xu Ming and Lu Yun from beginning to end. He could simply defeat them with punches and the nine circling dragons.

Everyone could see that Dugu Lin didn’t unleash his full force, but no one could guess how much power he actually used for the two battles.

“Thirty percent at most!” Xu Ming mumbled before turning to leave.

As everyone was filled with shock, the disciples within the trial grounds all fell silent. Even Wang Baole and company, who were resting on the mountain peak, looked solemn.

“This Dugu Lin is powerful, very powerful!” Kong Dao took a deep breath as he spoke.

“Baole, are you confident?” Zhao Yameng looked towards Wang Baole, a look of concern in her eyes.

Wang Baole remained silent for a while before his gaze deepened with a strong intention to battle burning in his eyes. His lips slowly curled into a smile as he spoke slowly.

“We’ll find out after the battle.” With that, Wang Baole shut his eyes and meditated with his legs crossed. He wanted to remain at the peak of perfection. Even if Dugu Lin didn’t come for him, he would look for him himself.

The battle between the two wasn’t only the end of this trial, it was also the most brilliant highlight!

Dugu Lin didn’t want there to be anything other than number one, and that was the case for Wang Baole as well!

Time passed, and it was no less than five hours to the second teleportation. Commotion arose in the trial grounds once again!

The one who caused the commotion was still Dugu Lin. After defeating Lu Yun, he had managed to accumulate over a hundred keys. However, he didn’t stop and instead began to clear the scene!

The goal of that was to fight against Feng Qiuran’s disciples!

Soon, Feng Qiuran’s remaining disciples who were struggling to survive in the trial grounds could only bitterly hand out their keys. They became keyless participants, and looking at it on the night sky map, Dugu Lin gained an increasing number of keys, while the keys that were scattered around dwindled.

This was definitely noticed by the cultivators outside. Even though they were shocked, they also understood that it was the survival of the fittest!