A World Worth Protecting

1

<em>This evil game of Descend… </em>Wang Baole turned his head and looked at a fair-skinned, beautiful young lady who was probably eighteen to nineteen years old. She wasn’t tall and was dressed thinly with her cheeks reddened, and she was looking at Wang Baole with anticipation.

“Great spirit cultivator, buy me…” The young lady bit her lip and looked at Wang Baole with pleading eyes.

“What use do I have in buying you?” Wang Baole was a little confused.

“You can do anything to me!” the young lady said with her voice lowered.

Wang Baole blinked and found a card made from a crystal on his body. He took a look at it and was dumbfounded. There was a number on the card, and he took a long time to figure out exactly how many ‘9’s were on it.

The young lady shuddered visibly when she saw Wang Baole’s crystal card. When she looked at Wang Baole, there was a look of fear in her eyes.

Noticing the young lady’s gaze, Wang Baole made the decision to buy the young lady. He began exploring the world known as the Herodium civilization. Over the course of the day, when he gradually grew familiar with his status and gained a better understanding of that civilization, Wang Baole couldn’t help but be shocked.

Everything here could be bought using the so-called crystal points. Anything, from the highest position of the senate in the world to the lowest position of a commoner, could be bought as long as one had enough crystal points. It appeared that it was a rule that everything in the civilization was related to the crystal points, which made the crystal points symbolize everything!

It could also be said that in this civilization, one could do whatever he desired. It was also possible to switch identities. With just a thought, one could return to the emptiness and select a different medium, just that it would require some crystal points as well.

If it were just virtual reality, people would get sick of it even though it was interesting. However, after Wang Baole observed and studied everything in that civilization, he realized that everything felt extremely real!

Even the passage of time was much slower than in the Federation. The spirit cultivators were also all from the same cultivation system. Even though the system differed from that of the Federation, the spirit cultivators also seemed to be extremely capable.

However, none of this was what made Wang Baole most shocked. What created the greatest shockwave in his heart was what the young lady he had purchased said to answer his question.

“A thousand years ago, the Herodium civilization failed to advance and was also punished heavily by the heavens. In the end, it was bought over by the ancient trades civilization and was transformed into a tour star.

“The so-called tour star is a land provided to superior civilizations for games and entertainment… According to the rules, the Herodium civilization can only redeem itself when it has accumulated enough crystal points. Only then can it rekindle the hope of advancing into a stronger civilization.”

“Sir, since you possess the crystal card, you must have descended from a superior civilization. According to the rules, as long as you have enough crystal points, all your needs must be satisfied. A Descender like you has not appeared in a very long time.” The young lady spoke softly. When she looked at Wang Baole, anticipation had replaced fear in her eyes.

“Sir, I have acceptable qualities, please purchase me. I can go anywhere and do anything that you want me to do…” Wang Baole was dumbfounded with shock. After trying to understand everything in the civilization, he shook his head and chose to leave.

When he returned to his cave abode in the Vast Expanse Dao Palace, Wang Baole recalled everything that had happened in the game. He felt that everything seemed unreal. It should be a fictitious game, but everything in it, from its history to the logic that governed it, felt very real.

<em>The ancient trades civilization… The tour star… Are they real or fake? It doesn’t matter if it’s fake, but if it is real… </em>Wang Baole didn’t pity the foreign Herodium civilization, and instead, he thought of the Federation.

In the end, Wang Baole shook his head and contacted Xie Haiyang using the jade slip. After the call went through, the first thing Wang Baole did was to raise his doubts.

“Of course, this Herodium civilization is fake… Haha, how can it be real? It’s just a game. However, to make it feel real for everyone, the content and storyline of the game were made to be as life-like as possible.” Xie Haiyang laughed heartily, with a delightful tone in his voice. He seemed to be enjoying the fact that the game he had managed to obtain was able to confuse Wang Baole.

“What do you think? Will the game become popular in the Dao Palace?” Xie Haiyang asked again after clarifying Wang Baole’s doubts.

“What if the player dies in the game?” Wang Baole thought about it and questioned again.

“Relax, they wouldn’t really die. They enter the game through a medium, and it is a game after all,” Xie Haiyang answered with a smile.

“Is that so…” Wang Baole narrowed his eyes, and he hurriedly asked again.

“I don’t understand much about the game, but I know that, in principle, the game requires one to use a medium in order to play it. Then, could there be a day that the medium collapses? We need to make some preparations to prevent such scenarios, which would make the players unhappy, from happening.”

“How is that possible? Baole, rest assured. Unless you’re in a dream, this game would never collapse!” Xie Haiyang joked, and his laughter was heard.

Wang Baole seemed to be in thought. He repeated the word ‘medium’ in his heart. After a moment, he shook his head, and a glow flashed across his eyes.

“I want fifty percent of the profits!”

“That’s not possible!” Xie Haiyang rejected him immediately. After the two of them haggled with each other and reached a consensus that Wang Baole was to get thirty percent of the profits instead, the duo continued to talk about how they should go about promoting the game. It was only then that they ended the conversation.

After putting the jade slip down, Wang Baole stepped outside the cave abode and looked at the Sea of Fire and the skies. He erased the doubts he had towards the game in his heart. He wasn’t a saint and didn’t have an abundant sense of empathy. He couldn’t, and wouldn’t, care about other civilizations.

“The one who dies isn’t the Descender, but the medium. Let’s just treat the game like a game…” Wang Baole murmured softly. He only cared about his hometown and the Federation!

<em>Xie Haiyang, I hope that your arrival won’t threaten the Federation. Otherwise… </em>Wang Baole narrowed his eyes. The Dark Artifact from Mars was his greatest asset. He was very confident that once he achieved a breakthrough and became a Nascent Soul realm cultivator, he could move the Dark Artifact and kill Xie Haiyang. He may be mysterious and unpredictable, but Wang Baole was confident!

Once Wang Baole had arrived at a decision, he no longer pondered over matters of the game. Instead, he promoted it with all his efforts. Therefore, the first person he contacted was Jin Duoming. With his status and his ownership over ten percent of the Spirit Internet’s shares, he paid a very small price in terms of profits to open up the fourth panel on the Spirit Internet.

The Descend Panel!

After he thought about it, he immediately sent a voice transmission to the five personal disciples—Dugu Lin, Zhou Chudao, Xu Ming, Lu Yun, and Huang Yunshan. They were all people of high status in the sect. Back then, Jin Duoming had paid a huge price but only managed to invite Huang Yunshan.

Furthermore, Jin Duoming had succeeded in getting Huang Yunshan to agree back then as Huang Yunshan happened to need some battle credits to prepare for Zhou Chudao’s advancement. However… This matter, which seemed impossible to accomplish to others, wasn’t a problem for Wang Baole. That was also the reason why Xie Haiyang chose to collaborate with Wang Baole.

Even though Zhou Chudao had been defeated by Wang Baole, he still conceded to Wang Baole. Therefore, the couple immediately agreed to Wang Baole’s request. As for Xu Ming and Lu Yun, as the duo wanted to befriend Wang Baole as well, they didn’t reject him either.

Persuading Dugu Lin went smoothly as well. He acknowledged Wang Baole’s capabilities, and therefore, even though he was in seclusion, he still set aside some time to advertise for Wang Baole’s game.

Wang Baole also advertised the game himself. With the five personal disciples of the Vast Expanse Dao Palace and Wang Baole being ambassadors of the game, it was similar to firing an Anti-Spirit Bomb towards the Dao Palace disciples. It sent shock waves all over, and everyone instantly came to know about the game.

In addition, this game had a unique charm of its own as well. As such, in the short span of a few days, Descend had become the hot item throughout the Dao Palace. There was an endless stream of people logging onto the game, and even though not everyone was surprised by the game, most of them were.

Even a few Nascent Soul realm cultivators were shocked by it.

In order to gain enjoyment in the game, crystal points were needed. Therefore, when a system to exchange battle credits for crystal points was set up, the amount of battle credits gained on the first day astounded Wang Baole.

That was needless to say for Jin Duoming, who had his eyes on the game as well. The shock that he experienced had been turned into crashing waves. At the same time, amongst the countless Descenders, no one knew that there was also a donkey who hugged the gaming jade slip that Wang Baole had prepared for it like it was a gem.

Even though Wang Baole wasn’t addicted himself, he would also take a look at the game from time to time. He wanted to find out more about the Herodium civilization’s history, the system shared by the spirit cultivators, as well as items like cultivation techniques.

However, nothing in the game could be brought out physically. It seemed as if this function had been blocked. Even though Wang Baole had unlimited crystal points, he couldn’t do it.