A World Worth Protecting

1

Li Wuchen was dazed by Wang Baole’s words. His eyes widened as he stared at Wang Baole in confusion, then looked at Zhou Mei. He realized that Zhou Mei was still imprisoned by a seal, so she had no way of replying to him.

Li Wuchen didn’t recover from his shock for quite some time. Wang Baole stared at Li Wuchen’s stunned look calmly and casually said, “I had this friend. He was a terrible person who committed an act of disloyalty to his partner. The next day, he died.”

Li Wuchen gulped as soon as Wang Baole said that. It wasn’t that he wasn’t agreeable to the proposal, his earlier agitated reactions should have proven that, but everything had happened too quickly. He hadn’t yet recovered from his shock and confusion. Now that things had unfolded in this manner, Li Wuchen wasn’t going to hesitate any longer. He cupped his fists and bowed deeply towards Wang Baole.

“Yes, your humble disciple does!”

Wang Baole was extremely pleased with Li Wuchen addressing himself as his disciple. He lifted his right hand and pointed at Zhou Mei, freeing her from the seal. He asked her gently, “Mei’er, are you agreeable to that?”

Zhou Mei blushed and lowered her head. Her voice was soft but clear.

“As the Dean commands.”

Wang Baole shook his head and smiled. He might have something to gain out of this successful matchmaking, but the happiness he felt from helping his disciple tie the knot was definitely greater than the satisfaction he got from the former.

“Fine, you can return. Wait for my news. As your senior, I will take care of the entire ceremony for you.” Wang Baole smiled and, with a wave of his hand, indicated that they could leave.

Li Wuchen finally understood what was going to happen and was overcome with excitement. He looked at Zhou Mei. The latter blushed and gazed back at him. The pair gazed at each other and saw their joy mirrored in each other’s eyes.

“Thank you, Grand Supreme Elder!” Li Wuchen took a deep breath and bowed deeply. He did so with unprecedented happiness and respect. He had been won over and was beyond grateful to Wang Baole.

Zhou Mei took her leave as well, leaving together with him. Wang Baole sighed as he gazed at their retreating backs.

<em>Li Wuchen might be kinda a pain in the a**, but he’s got a good heart. I hope they will remain partners and share their lives forever.</em> Wang Baole smiled, then indicated to the giant tree that he could leave as well.

There were no other people left in the halls except him. That was when Wang Baole sat down again. He began thinking about the union between Li Wuchen and Zhou Mei. The first thought he had was of Feng Qiuran’s reaction to this matter.

<em>Feng Qiuran is in no position to interfere… That is, unless she reveals Li Wuchen’s true identity.</em> Wang Baole realized then that this marriage was definitely going to take place. He pulled out his voice transmission and began making preparations. He also made use of the teleportation array formation and sought Li Xingwen’s views on the matter.

The Federation treated Wang Baole’s message with the utmost importance and discussed the matter repeatedly. Li Xingwen even contacted Zhou Mei’s parents!

The Federation also sent over their plans detailing the next steps to take to assimilate the Federation with the Dao Palace to Wang Baole. The Federation was going to permit the Dao Palace to send thirty Dao Palace cultivators to the Federation for a cultural exchange. The level of cultivation for this first batch had to be below the Nascent Soul realm, and Li Wuchen was to lead the party. The Federation also hoped that the Dao Palace would bring a seed from the Hyacinthus Tree with them. It would be planted in the Federation and be seen as proof of their strong alliance.

After receiving the plans from the Federation, Wang Baole approached Sect Lord Xu, the giant tree, as well as Zhao Yameng to discuss this matter. Zhao Yameng didn’t know whether to laugh or weep at Wang Baole’s playing matchmaker, and she didn’t comment much about it in the end.

The four of them discussed the Federation’s proposal and gave their own opinions on the matter. Wang Baole also presented his own idea.

“Perhaps in the initial phase, we could first set up an alliance called the Dao Commonwealth. There will be two Great Holy Lands. The first is Earth, and it will be called the Federation Holy Land. The second is the ancient greenish-bronze sword, and it will be called the Vast Expanse Holy Land. The other stars would still be known as regions, and their jurisdiction would fall under the Dao Commonwealth.”

The proposal was still in its infancy. It was simply an idea that Wang Baole had formed with his experience as Grand Supreme Elder. After discussion with the others, they finally decided to send this proposal back to the Federation. The Federation’s think tank would then determine its feasibility.

It wasn’t possible to send voice transmissions between the Federation and the Dao Palace, so they could only exchange messages by sending communication jade slips via the teleportation array formation. That was why communications took seven days.

The proposed Dao Commonwealth caught the Federation’s attention. The Federation had similar ideas, but they weren’t yet ready to form a commonwealth. That was why the idea had remained as an idea for further discussion. As for the wedding between Li Wuchen and Zhou Mei, both Li Xingwen and Duan Muque had given their go ahead!

News of the first wedding of Dao partners from the Federation and the Dao Palace respectively slowly spread throughout the Dao Palace in the following days. Feng Qiuran was surprised and stunned when she heard the news, but after some hesitation, she finally chose to acknowledge the union.

Her silent permission meant there were no longer any obstacles preventing the union from taking place. Sect Lord Xu was aware that the wedding would serve as further motivation to strengthen the alliance between the Federation and the Dao Palace. Furthermore, Zhou Mei was Wang Baole’s student. That was why he decided to participate in the preparations as well.

Another week passed. The wedding—held in the Dao Palace, witnessed by all Federation cultivators present in the Dao Palace and many other cultivators, with the Dao Palace congregation led by Feng Qiuran—finally took place!

This was an important day for Li Wuchen and Zhou Mei, as well as a day worth remembering for both the Federation and the Dao Palace. Feng Qiuran was overcome with emotions. She knew who Li Wuchen was and had sent him to the Federation for his safety. Now, she was witnessing his wedding with her own eyes. She could tell that Wang Baole had done the matchmaking for the couple, but she thought things through. That was why she was here now, standing together with Wang Baole as witnesses for the young couple!

<em>Dao Disciple Wuchen, I wish you a happier life than your previous.</em> Feng Qiuran gazed past the crowd at Li Wuchen, who was dressed in red and holding Zhou Mei’s hand, his eyes bright with unconcealed excitement and happiness. She watched them walk towards her and Wang Baole, stop, and greet both of them. She couldn’t help but feel slightly lost.

Memories of the last great battle surfaced in her mind—the battle where the ancient sword had fled from a fallen Vast Expanse Star Domain while pursued by the Never-Ending Clan, which changed the ancient sword’s flight trajectory.

The Dao Palace might have won that battle, but they had done so at a terrible price. The Dao Palace at the sword body had fallen to complete ruins. The elders had been severely injured and had all fallen into deep slumber. As the Dao Disciple, Wuchen had fought relentlessly and fearlessly, to the point of being grievously injured and on the verge of death. In order to heal himself, he had no choice but to reincarnate and use the powers of rebirth in order to heal himself completely and recover his vitality.

These memories resurfaced and overlaid with the present scene of the cheering and joyous crowd. Feng Qiuran couldn’t help her momentary sense of loss, which persisted until Li Wuchen and Zhou Mei approached to greet her.

Li Wuchen appeared slightly nervous, and Zhou Mei was quite anxious as well. The crowd seemed to have sensed Feng Qiuran’s strange behavior, and they all stared at her.

While they had noticed the look on Feng Qiuran’s face, they couldn’t discern her thoughts. Only Wang Baole guessed what she must be feeling from the lost look on her face. He coughed and nudged Feng Qiuran. Then, his hands reached out, and he pulled both Li Wuchen and Zhou Mei to their feet.

“I wish you both happiness.”

Feng Qiuran finally pulled herself together under Wang Baole’s slight nudge. A smile lit up on her face as she gazed at the newly wedded couple before her and said softly.

“I wish you both a long life together.”

The Dao Palace cultivators around them finally burst out into loud cheering after hearing Wang Baole’s and Feng Qiuran’s blessings. The Federation disciples echoed the cheers. Li Wuchen finally released a sigh of relief. He had no idea his relationship with Feng Qiuran, but he knew that Feng Qiuran had been the one who had given him to his master.

The respect Li Wuchen held for Feng Qiuran was equal to the respect he held for Li Xingwen. His heart burst with anticipation and hope for his future as he received Feng Qiuran’s blessings. He grabbed Zhou Mei’s hand and held it tightly in his own.

No one in the crowd knew though, that as the wedding was in progress, Daoist You Ran, who hadn’t participated in the event and had been sitting in his great hall during the entire ceremony, suddenly opened his eyes. A blue fire flickered in his eyes.

“Finally… the repairs are completed!”

He muttered, then burst out into laughter as he got to his feet. He lifted his head and stared in the direction of the sword body. At that exact same moment, a loud explosion erupted from within the sword body. The deafening boom rose to the skies and shook the heavens and earth.

The Sea of Fire started boiling, and numerous hexed areas began to cave in, causing hordes of monsters to flee. As waves of fires surged and ebbed, a strange-looking battleship—with a triangular structure formed by three disks, whose edges touched slightly—began to rise from the sea!

The battleship was like a leviathan, a gargantuan beast seeming to stretch outwards without end. One could hardly see where it ended while standing on it. It rose into the air, the Sea of Fire raging around it and burning everything to ashes!

The three disks that formed the battleship were each the size of the moon. They were like three separate worlds that spun and shone brightly. An air of mystery surrounded them. The battleship’s black outer surface was lined with numerous runes, and waves of overwhelming power surged outwards as the battleship ascended into the sky.

It emerged from the Sea of Fire, and immediately sped towards the borders separating the sword body and the sword handle!

Hexes exploded and disintegrated into dust as soon as they collided with the battleship. Mountains shattered. The battleship was enveloped in an incredible power that destroyed everything in its path!