A World Worth Protecting

<span style="font-weight: bold">Translator:</span> Atlas Studios <span style="font-weight: bold">Editor:</span> Atlas Studios

Such expressions of shock made multiple reappearances soon after. That was because Wang Baole suggested that since they had all become true disciples of the Dao Palace, they shouldn’t rush to return.

It was, after all, a truly rare opportunity for them. Why not search around for hexed places that hadn’t yet been discovered by others and hunt around for treasures?

Both materials and identity tokens could be exchanged for more battle credits.

The shocked Zhao Yameng and Kong Dao agreed to his plan in a daze. They followed Wang Baole on a road of continual surprises and shock.

The reality was… after they had left the Worship Palace Pavilion, the fact that they were in the body of the sword meant that they had plunged themselves into great danger. There were numerous spatial rifts and numerous hexed grounds scattered across the land as far as they could see.

There were two reasons that so many hexed grounds had remained untouched by cultivators who had gained their disciple ranks in the past. The first was that the disciple ranks those cultivators had gotten weren’t high enough. The second was because the lands on this world shifted from time to time.

As a result, other disciples would have found this area challenging to explore. Such difficulties were non-existent to Wang Baole. He had treaded carefully at first, but that was only before he approached a hexed area and the hexes deactivated themselves as soon as he got near. A shining entrance even appeared before him…

Everything had changed.

Hexes stopped working before him. Even the frequent tornado would disappear as soon as Wang Baole was in the area. It was as if they were afraid of coming into contact with him.

These were small matters compared to the spatial rift that Kong Dao had witnessed appearing suddenly next to Wang Baole. It had been a gaping mouth that had been about to swallow Wang Baole whole. However, before they could touch, it was as if a strange power had suddenly seized the spatial rift. The spatial rift had its mouth shut tight. It had struggled as Wang Baole had strolled past it safely.

An indescribable feeling unfurled inside Kong Dao. It was a certain sense of injustice that exasperated him and made him feel the strong difference between him and Wang Baole.

It was the same with the Sea of Fire and other fire beasts. It was as if the entire place had become Wang Baole’s home. Kong Dao had a feeling that even if Wang Baole were to shut his eyes and walk all the way from the south to the north, he wouldn’t come to any danger along the way.

The three of them entered one hexed area after the next as they continued their search…

Burning alchemical cauldrons, piles of jade slips, pagodas where pills were stored—past battlefields and other areas revealed their treasures before the three of them for the taking. Most of the time, they had only needed to pick those treasures up.

They accumulated a growing pile of identity tokens, herbs that still contained a wisp of vitality, and materials for refinement. These things were everywhere… There were also some strange and bizarre treasures, like the Dimensional Lock Beads, which could seal a space temporarily and prevent someone from teleporting away. They found a dozen of those. As they continued scavenging for treasures, the three of them felt as if they were caught in a dream. Everything felt so surreal.

This was reality, though. They had started out with racing hearts, but near the end of it, their eyes had grown sore as they searched through one place after the other and gathered more and more treasures. They had forgotten all about returning.

They finally found themselves in a dilemma when both Kong Dao’s and Zhao Yameng’s storage bags had been filled to the brim. Treasures surrounded them, but there was no way of them bringing it all back with them.

“All these should be worth hundreds of thousands, even millions of battle credits! That’s at least a hundred to two hundred thousand battle credits after splitting everything amongst us. I’m going to get myself that ninth-grade Dharmic Armament, Shadow Walker’s Cloak, with those credits!” Kong Dao muttered to himself. He gave himself a fierce slap, to make sure that he wasn’t dreaming, then started laughing uncontrollably like an idiot.

Zhao Yameng had a look of bewilderment on her face as well. She eyed her storage bag, then stared at Wang Baole. Her confusion didn’t fade away. It intensified instead…

Their treasure hunt found them with brimming storage artifacts that could no longer contain more items. They had even begun discarding items of lower value until they were left with items of extreme value. That was when they had no choice but to stop.

“Let’s move everything out from this place before we leave. We’ll make preparations for a second trip!” Wang Baole’s eyes shone with a crazy light. Having made up his mind, he stared at the final hexed area before him, said his piece, then marched forward.

Kong Dao followed him excitedly. Zhao Yameng’s heart was racing just as quickly as his. However, she managed to maintain her composure. She took a few steps forward, then suddenly eyed the hexed area they were headed towards. Her brow creased slightly, and she suddenly said, “Baole, wait!”

Wang Baole stopped in his tracks almost as soon as Zhao Yameng spoke. The relief that he had been feeling the entire time because everything had gone so smoothly vanished that instant. It was replaced with wariness and solemnity.

Kong Dao adjusted his mental state quickly too. He activated his cultivation and scanned his surroundings instinctively. The three of them glanced at one another, then turned and stared ahead, looking at the hexed area that was to be their last.

The area didn’t look any different from the rest, with hexes scattered around the mountain ruins. What was different was the burial mound in front of the mountain!

Atop the burial mound was half a slab of tombstone. It was missing a huge chunk, and the words on it were unclear. Cracks lined the sides of the burial mound. The smallest cracks were the width of fingers, and the biggest wide enough for a full-grown man to slip through.

Waves of green mist seeped out from the cracks gradually. They didn’t travel far. Instead, they surrounded the burial mound, spreading outward before they were sucked back into the cracks. It was as if the cracks were huge mouths, breathing in and out!

The hexes weren’t what gave off dangerous vibes to Wang Baole and Zhao Yameng… it was the green mist escaping from the burial mound!

“Something’s not right with this place…” Wang Baole narrowed his eyes. He tried taking a few steps forward. The hexes instantly stopped working, and a door appeared before him. Wang Baole stood outside the door and didn’t take a single step forward. This had happened in other hexed areas as well. This time though, there was a strange aura that hadn’t been present in the other hexed areas. It was infused in the air around Wang Baole, and he could sense it clearly. His proficiency in Dharmic Armaments told him that this aura was similar to that of a Divine Armament!

Wang Baole’s breathing quickened. He lifted his right hand suddenly, and a seventh-grade flying sword dashed out and charged at the burial mound surrounded by green mist.

The flying sword’s speed fell as it approached the burial mound and gradually slowed to a standstill in mid-air. It began to transform right before their eyes. It turned green rapidly. Patterns like that of a tree’s growth rings appeared on it. The entire process took less than the span of ten breaths. What had initially been a flying sword made of metal fell to the ground with a thud.

Wang Baole’s connection with the sword broke at that instant. It was as if the link between them had been wiped out. The god within the sword had vanished as well. The power imbued in the sword had disappeared as if it had transformed into an ordinary sword!

The most important thing was the sound the sword made as it fell to the ground!

“Its structure has been changed!” Kong Dao sucked in his breath and said suddenly. Zhao Yameng realized what had happened as well. The sound that the sword had made when falling to the ground wasn’t of something made from metal, but of something made from wood!

Wang Baole’s face was dark. He felt that even more clearly than the others. He was having second thoughts about this place, but he was having a hard time giving up as well.

Perhaps the sound of the wooden sword falling to the ground stirred something awake. Heavy breathing began to rise from the burial mound.

“Phew… phew… phew…”

It didn’t resemble the breathing of an ordinary human but that of a wild beast. A strong sense of danger erupted inside the trio’s heads instantly. There was no hesitation. They fell back immediately.

Countless howls echoed in their heads as they retreated. It felt like the crazed and pained cries of countless people. They sounded extremely real. The aural shock wave forced the three to retreat further. Blood spilled from their lips, and Wang Baole especially spat out at least seven mouthfuls of blood. They struggled to escape and only managed to catch their breath after retreating a distance away.

“The greater one’s cultivation, the stronger the impact!” Zhao Yameng wiped the blood from her lips. She eyed the distant burial mound as she recovered from her fright, then turned towards the pale-faced Wang Baole.