A World Worth Protecting

Chapter 611: Adopted Disciple!

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Wang Baole assessed his cultivation, then began to fantasize about his future. That lifted his spirits. Even though he was still confused and doubtful about what his senior brother had said at the very end, Wang Baole’s character meant that he wouldn’t drive himself into a corner obsessing over things he didn’t understand. Enjoying the present was more important to him.

He licked his lips and stared at the grand halls of the seventh palace. Just as he was wondering if he should continue advancing, the energy waves of a teleportation erupted in front of the third palace behind him. Kong Dao appeared. He spat out a mouthful of blood, then sat down and began meditation.

He had clearly failed the trial to become an inner sect disciple in the third palace and ended up with the rank of an outer sect disciple. He had performed slightly worse than Zhao Yameng. After witnessing Kong Dao’s actions, Wang Baole turned his head back towards the seventh palace and eyed it.

Wang Baole was tempted. He sighed after a while though. He knew very well that the sixth palace was as far as he could go. Without his senior brother, even if he had been given some other mission, the chances of him dying would have been immensely high. He had little hope of completing the mission.

If that were the case for the sixth palace, it would be worse for the seventh palace. Wang Baole wasn’t willing to just give up though. After a long bout of silence, he took a step forward and started towards the grand halls.

Wang Baole stepped out of the halls after a span of fifty breaths. He had a look of resignation on his face as he shook his head.

It’s impossible for me to complete the mission given by the seventh palace at the moment. Even if I’m able to hold my own against an early-stage Nascent Soul realm cultivator now, the mission… requires me to assassinate a powerful cultivator at the Planet realm…

It was beyond madness. Wang Baole didn’t think anyone could’ve completed it. Unless one used certain means that he was unaware of, it was impossible trying to complete the mission through ordinary means.

“I’ll give up being a Dao disciple and just settle for being an adopted disciple!” Wang Baole muttered to himself as he ended his trials at the Worship Palace Pavilion. He had no idea how the Worship Palace Pavilion was able to discern his thoughts, but just as he mentally raised the white flag, he vanished.

When he reappeared again, he was at the beginning of the Road of Brilliance. Boiling oceans of fire burned several hundred feet beyond either side of the road as well as at the end of the Worship Palace Pavilion. No matter how the waves rose and ebbed, they couldn’t reach where he was.

Kong Dao and Zhao Yameng appeared shortly. The three of them stared at one another. Even though they had no idea what missions the others had to face, they could guess how challenging those missions must have been.

Joy flickered in the hidden depths of Zhao Yameng’s and Kong Dao’s eyes. They had gotten quite a few treasures from their missions and realized that they could bring these items out with them.

“Do you guys know what I found in the trial at the second palace?” Kong Dao couldn’t contain his excitement. He spoke proudly as he raised his right hand in a wave. A stalk of spirit herb, heavy with Spirit Qi, appeared in his hand with a flash of bright light.

“How’s that? Recognize it? The Vast Expanse Dao Palace records call this a Cloud Brew Fruit. A single fruit can help to open up any one of the seven orifices in our bodies. That’ll ease our cultivation in the future!” Kong Dao grew increasingly excited as he spoke. Even though both Zhao Yameng and Wang Baole had entered more palaces, that didn’t mean that they had brought back greater treasures than he had. After all, he had paid an unimaginable price to get his hands on this fruit during the trial.

Wang Baole blinked, then glanced at the pleased Kong Dao. He coughed, then pulled out a fist-sized Supreme Fire Stone from his storage bracelet.

Kong Dao knew nothing about Supreme Fire Stones. However, an immense heat erupted from the stone as soon as it was whipped out. The temperatures surrounding them shot up immediately. Even if Kong Dao had no idea what this stone was, he could tell that it was something quite extraordinary!

“A Supreme Fire Stone?” Zhao Yameng suddenly asked. There was a slight hesitation and incredulity in her voice.

Wang Baole smiled faintly. He played around with the stone in his hand, then nodded carefully. When he looked at Zhao Yameng, it was with eyes bright with approval. After all, if no one else knew about this stone, he would have to introduce it himself. That might make him seem like he was trying to show off.

“What’s a Supreme Fire Stone?” Kong Dao asked hurriedly.

“It’s a legendary material used for refining artifacts. It is only formed when a planet dies. As for its value… one piece like that could probably buy ten of your fruit.” Zhao Yameng sucked in a deep breath and tried to calm herself down as she explained.

Kong Dao sucked in a deep breath as he listened to Zhao Yameng’s explanation. He wasn’t completely sold though. He was about to pull out the other treasures he had acquired when Wang Baole coughed and took out another Supreme Fire Stone…

That wasn’t the end of it. He pulled out stone after stone. At first, Kong Dao kept gulping in mouthfuls of air. After Wang Baole got to his tenth stone though, Kong Dao stopped breathing entirely. Then… Wang Baole pulled open his storage bracelet and poured everything out. The Supreme Fire Stones piled into a small mountain. Kong Dao was completely stunned at that point.

Even Zhao Yameng was extremely shocked. Her lips parted, but no words presented themselves.

“There isn’t enough space for me to show you everything. In any case… I have another seven to eight mountains of these Supreme Fire Stones in my storage bracelet.” Wang Baole patted his tummy while pretending to be nonchalant about it all. He waved his hand casually and stored the stones.

A long moment later, Kong Dao stared at the fruit in his hand and quietly put it in his storage bag. He stared skyward. Then, after another long bout of silence, he sighed.

“Baole, you’re not going to have any friends if you keep this up…”

Wang Baole burst out into laughter. He patted Kong Dao’s shoulder, then pulled out several dozen Supreme Fire Stones and handed them over to Kong Dao. Kong Dao seemed to hesitate for a moment. Amidst his quick breathing, he finally decided to compromise. He kept the stones hurriedly and gave Wang Baole a heated look.

Wang Baole gave Zhao Yameng more than a hundred stones. He told them to approach him should they need more in the future. In the face of Wang Baole’s generosity, Kong Dao quickly pulled out two Cloud Brew Fruits and gave one each to Wang Baole and Zhao Yameng as well.

Zhao Yameng did the same and distributed a portion of her gains as well. Their spirits soared after the exchange. Even the typically calm and reserved Zhao Yameng couldn’t control her racing heart. She was about to say something when the Road of Brilliance and the Worship Palace Pavilion began to shake.

The ground rumbled as they shook. Intense light gathered above the second, third, and sixth palaces. The light erupted and raced towards the skies, gathering in the heavens and transforming into three jade slips!

One was green, one was red, and the last—purple!

The green represented the outer sect, the red, the inner sect, while the purple… was for adopted disciples!

The three sparkling jade slips rushed towards the three, who caught them. As soon as they came into contact with the jade slips, they could feel a strange sensation surface inside them.

Kong Dao felt a change over the ancient greenish-bronze sword. It was as if the previous ancient greenish-bronze sword had been filled with countless thin threads. These threads clustered together like a thick mass. They might not have a discernible presence or pose a challenge to one’s movements, but they were bindings that restricted one to a certain extent.

Now, with the green jade slip in his hand, it was as if the space separating these threads had grown wider. He experienced a sudden sense of relief and weightlessness.

Kong Dao’s eyes brightened. He realized the importance of gaining his disciple rank then. Zhao Yameng experienced the same thing, but more intensely. It was as if the space between the threads had grown even wider for her. With a slight mental nudge, she could avoid those threads entirely.

Because of her understanding of array formations, she knew what that feeling meant… She was now immune to a great number of hexes on the ancient greenish-bronze sword!

“So that’s the benefit… of gaining a true disciple’s status and having one’s name listed on the Dao Plate!” Joy flashed across Zhao Yameng’s eyes. She and Kong Dao both stared at Wang Baole.

There was a strange look on Wang Baole’s face. He lifted his head and stared at Zhao Yameng and Kong Dao after a long moment. It seemed like he wanted to say something but was at a loss for words.

“Baole, you got the adopted disciple rank at the sixth palace. How do you feel right this moment?” Kong Dao asked curiously.

“Well… I feel as if the entire world is cheering at me…” Wang Baole thought, then replied with a strange look on his face. He hadn’t lied. As soon as he came into contact with the jade slip, he had felt an intense welcoming sensation erupting from the world around him. It felt as if the world was telling him that there were few places in this world that he couldn’t enter.

At that thought, Wang Baole took a sudden step forward, not towards the Worship Palace Pavilion but into the ocean of fire. He walked steadily towards the latter, leaving the safety of the Worship Palace Pavilion. Just as his foot was about to step into the ocean of fire, a slab of stone appeared out of thin air beneath his foot…

“That’s how I feel.” Wang Baole raised his eyebrow. He stood on the stone and shrugged his shoulders, then turned towards Kong Dao, whose jaw had dropped and eyes were popping out, and Zhao Yameng, whose eyes had widened at the sight.