A World Worth Protecting

1

Hearing Wang Baole’s words, Patriarch Black Wind trembled internally with shock. Without a doubt, the name ‘Vast Expanse Dao Palace’, along with the status of a disciple, created a natural response of fear.

Amidst its surprise, Wang Baole’s fist landed!

After the trial for the Hyacinthus Tree leaf, Wang Baole had asked Feng Qiuran privately how his combat power compared with a Nascent Soul realm cultivator. If that question were asked by other Core Formation realm cultivators, Feng Qiuran would have found it weird. However, since it was Wang Baole who asked the question, Feng Qiuran didn’t find anything unusual about it.

Therefore, through Feng Qiuran’s reply, Wang Baole came to know that his combat power was similar to an early-stage Nascent Soul realm cultivator. That was especially so as he later reached the third level of Lightning Immortal Transformation and had managed to stabilize his cultivation, both of which made him more confident of his combat power.

<em>Putting in all my effort will allow me to battle an early-stage Nascent Soul realm cultivator! </em>As Wang Baole punched, he closed his eyes. He seemed to have said everything carelessly previously. In reality, over the past half a month as he scavenged the statues and studied them, and as he suppressed those ghost spirits, Wang Baole had already arrived at the conclusion that it was very likely that Patriarch Black Wind’s cultivation technique had something to do with spirits!

Even though Wang Baole was unsure how Patriarch Black Wind was formed from a gust of black wind, with his sensitivity towards spirits, he had already concluded that it had something to do with spirits the moment Patriarch Black Wind appeared. Now, as Patriarch Black Wind attacked, Wang Baole became even more certain of that.

Wang Baole’s speed was no match for Patriarch Black Wind, and as such, he decided to attack directly. Right now, his ferocity and synchronization were both at maximum level, and the punch of Thearch Armor carried three times its usual force. The devouring seed in his body was activated, and his cultivation, which was at the peak of the late-stage Core Formation realm, was exhibited all at once. His Dark Core shook violently inside the devouring seed, causing the Dark Fire to emerge from Wang Baole’s body and boost his punch, making it so powerful that it was transformed into a hurricane. Looking from a distance, a sea of fire seemed to have been produced!

At that instant, Wang Baole’s hurricane clashed directly with the black hurricane transmogrified from Patriarch Black Wind. Immediately, a loud boom reverberated in all directions. The black wind was devastated, churning backwards and reforming into the figure of Patriarch Black Wind. Right now, it was taken aback, and a look of disbelief appeared in its eyes.

Wang Baole’s punch had made Patriarch Black Wind tremble physically and emotionally with fear. The force of the punch had exceeded the capabilities of a Core Formation realm cultivator, reaching the level of someone at the Nascent Soul realm. That alone astonished it, but what shocked it the most was that the bizarre black-colored fire was capable of putting an indescribable restriction on it!

To a certain extent, it was inappropriate to call the black-colored fire restricting. More accurately, that ball of fire had made it scared out of its wits, such that there was an instinctive response of not wanting to come in contact with the fire!

All of that made what Wang Baole said previously about being a Vast Expanse Dao Palace disciple seem even more real. However, Patriarch Black Wind still found it difficult to believe.

“The Vast Expanse Dao Palace has already fallen, it’s impossible that you are a Dao disciple!” As Patriarch Black Wind spoke, its facial expressions changed again. It suddenly thought about an issue that it had previously neglected, and that was… How did Wang Baole get there?

It didn’t even have time to think much about it before Wang Baole’s excited laughter was heard. Wang Baole retreated while breathing hurriedly after unleashing his punch.

<em>Is this a Nascent Soul realm cultivator’s capability? </em>A sharp glow flashed across Wang Baole’s eyes. He didn’t feel that a Nascent Soul realm cultivator was weak. On the contrary, the fact that the alien cultivator was able to resist his punch, which was complemented by the suppressive force of his Dark Fire, gave Wang Baole a premonition that he might face the danger of death if he wanted to eliminate the Black Wind alien cultivator. That was especially so as there was an aura that made Wang Baole frightened hidden deep inside the alien cultivator’s body.

Wang Baole wasn’t confident of being able to dodge the alien cultivator if it were to attack after being pushed back. Therefore, in order to attain victory, Wang Baole had to lure the alien cultivator into unleashing its trump card… A glow flashed across Wang Baole’s eyes as he took out a cylinder from his storage bag. When he opened it, a loud bang was produced, and a firework-like object exploded from the canister into the sky!

That canister was one of the many invented by Wang Baole when he was in the Ethereal Dao College in the Federation years ago. He had made some modifications to it, and right now, as it exploded, a large number of fireworks shot into the green skies. It was extremely eye-catching and was like a flare that could be seen even if one was far away.

It clearly surprised Patriarch Black Wind. Before it could react, Wang Baole was already laughing as he turned, his lightning avatar emerging. As Wang Baole waved his hand, the tri-colored flying sword flew out from his storage bracelet and was controlled by his Lightning Avatar, who directed it at high speed towards Patriarch Black Wind.

On the other hand, Wang Baole’s actual body was now unleashing Thearch Armor. With his blood-colored meridians expanding and spreading at high speed, the bony threads of the second level of Thearch Armor also extended. That greatly increased Wang Baole’s power as the desire for combat grew even more prominent in his eyes. Wang Baole rushed out, nearing Patriarch Black Wind instantly as he attacked. He didn’t attack using force, but through trapping Patriarch Black Wind!

The loud boom reverberated endlessly. Wang Baole and Patriarch Black Wind began a battle in mid-air. Wang Baole’s avatar, who was controlling the tri-colored flying sword, was astonishingly powerful as well. Despite that, since Patriarch Black Wind was a Nascent Soul realm cultivator, Wang Baole was no match for it. However, Wang Baole didn’t unleash his Dark Fire or the full extent of his combat power.

As the two continued their duel, Patriarch Black Wind grew more troubled by the moment. Its opponent made it feel a high level of danger, especially after its question of how Wang Baole had managed to come was answered by the signal that Wang Baole had shot into the air.

It was initially not completely convinced by the answer to its question, but after seeing that Wang Baole’s strategy seemed to involve dragging time out, it became certain of the answer!

<em>He didn’t come alone! </em>As Patriarch Black Wind grew anxious, a frightening look appeared in its eyes. It knew that it couldn’t afford to let Wang Baole continue dragging the time out and that everything should end as soon as possible. It quickly made a decision, and without any show of hesitation, it opened its eyes wide and screamed so shrilly that its voice seemed to be able to pierce through spirits.

The scream was so ear-piercing that it exploded, tearing apart the emptiness and causing a crack to suddenly appear on the ground. At the same time, Wang Baole felt like his head was about to explode, and his body was shaking extremely vigorously. A vortex appeared on Patriarch Black Wind’s glabella, and a tiny bird flew out from it.

The bird was Patriarch Black Wind’s Nascent Soul. It was clutching a miniature black sword the size of a finger. The sword gave off an air of antiquity, and immediately, when it appeared, the heavens and earth were transformed—the winds roared, and the clouds tumbled!

In the blink of an eye, the bird clutched the black sword and charged towards Wang Baole’s glabella. That was the trump card of Patriarch Black Wind. It was so powerful, destructive, and unpredictable that it was capable of slaying another Nascent Soul realm cultivator!

However, despite it being powerful, it had a disadvantage. It could only be driven and controlled through contact with the Nascent Soul in one’s body.

Just as the black bird clutched the black sword and neared Wang Baole, the Dark Fire in Wang Baole’s body suddenly erupted, sweeping in all directions and surrounding Patriarch Black Wind. That surprised Patriarch Black Wind greatly, and in that instant, Wang Baole’s physical body blurred and switched positions with his avatar!

Everything happened so quickly that Patriarch Black Wind hadn’t managed to react when Wang Baole’s lightning avatar, which had a combat power similar to Wang Baole himself, was pierced by the black sword carried by the black bird as it flew through the Dark Fire.

A loud boom was produced as Wang Baole’s lightning avatar was devastated. When that happened, Wang Baole’s physical body appeared where his lightning avatar was. Without hesitation, an intense desire to kill flashed across Wang Baole’s eyes. That was the moment he had been waiting for. He raised his right hand, and the ninth-grade Dharmic Armament black pike emerged. He shot it out!

A sound so loud that it was akin to the emptiness being blown apart reverberated instantly. The black pike was like a flash of lightning as it charged directly towards Patriarch Black Wind!

Patriarch Black Wind was severely taken aback. Releasing its Nascent Soul resulted in it having difficulty controlling its body. It wanted to dodge the incoming attack, but Dark Fire was burning all around it, and the suppressive force was so strong that it was blocking all escape paths. Patriarch Black Wind stopped in its tracks, and the result of it doing so was the black pike being able to pierce through its chest at high speed!

A painful and pitiful scream reverberated instantly. The black bird that was released instantly flew back, wanting to return to Patriarch Black Wind’s body. It was injured, but that was nothing compared to the large hand that emerged from Wang Baole, who now had a chilly glow in his eyes!

It was the Soul Guiding Hand!

Even though the hand was devastated by the black bird using the black sword when it emerged, it still reduced the speed at which the black bird was able to return to Patriarch Black Wind. The decrease in speed allowed the Dark Fire to suddenly tumble back and began burning Patriarch Black Wind. Instantly, as the Dark Fire spread out, Patriarch Black Wind’s physical body was burnt to ashes!

The destruction of its physical body meant that the black bird, which was formed from its Nascent Soul, had lost its backing, and it was injured severely. It was on the brink of destruction and had turned blurry. With a frightened look in its eyes, it turned and tried to escape.

<em>Trying to escape? </em>A chilly glow flashed across Wang Baole’s eyes as he went after the black bird!