A World Worth Protecting

How can I not be scared? There’s a Planet realm monster inside, and an almost Planet realm cultivator in front of me smiling at me creepily… Wang Baole thought. But after thinking that he hadn’t only seen other Planet realms but had seen two Planet realm ferocious beasts crash into each other and die in front of him…

Besides, killing Planet realms is a piece of cake for my missing senior brother. What’s there to be scared of! When he thought about it that way, Wang Baole immediately felt more confident. So, he cupped his fists and bowed towards the overall manager in front of him, purposely took a deep breath, and then stepped into the palace!

Wang Baole didn’t know if the palace was magnificent. That was because his consciousness and vision were drawn towards the silhouette sitting in the giant chair in front of him. The silhouette was like a giant whirlpool that could absorb everything.

This made Wang Baole unable to take notice of the surrounding decorations. All he could see was the deity shrouded in darkness at the top of the stairs in front of him!

The Sovereign Patriarch!

Even though this wasn’t Wang Baole’s first time seeing him, this was the first time he was seeing him alone. Especially because the atmosphere in the palace felt suppressed, Wang Baole stopped breathing for a moment unwittingly. Wang Baole probably thought that his senior brother was more powerful, as he quickly calmed down, took a deep breath, took two quick steps forward, and bowed deeply towards the patriarch.

“Greetings, Patriarch, I wish you…”

“Enough!” Wang Baole was just about to start bootlicking when he was cut off by the Sovereign Patriarch’s deep voice, and he didn’t give Wang Baole any time to reply. Afterward, he grabbed towards the air with his hand, and the Divine Justice Shield floating in front of Wang Baole immediately lost its connection with him. It was engulfed by a powerful force and flew towards the Sovereign Patriarch after being isolated from everything.

The other Divine Justice Shields that were hidden on Wang Baole’s body also flew towards the patriarch. In the end, one could only see a string of lights shining as all of the Divine Justice Shields left Wang Baole’s body and gathered in front of the Sovereign Patriarch, forming a palm-sized oval light shield!

The light shield was illusory, as though it didn’t really exist. At times, it was crystal clear, while at other times, it would be dark and murky. Sometimes, it would appear resplendent, while at other times, it would be dim and dull.

This scene made Wang Baole’s pupils shrink unnoticeably. But he didn’t reveal too much through his expression and stood there with his head lowered respectfully, waiting silently.

He was very clear about the difference between himself and a Planet realm cultivator. At the same time, the formula for making the Divine Justice Shield belonged to the Divine Sovereign Justice Sect anyway. Even though he modified it somewhat, he didn’t stray too far from the basics. He wasn’t sure whether the patriarch made use of his powerful cultivation to sever the connection by force, or whether he made use of a hidden backdoor technique in the treasure to do that. Regardless, while Wang Baole was slightly surprised, after thinking, he felt that it was within reason.

Time slowly passed as the Sovereign Patriarch stared at the Divine Justice Shield in front of him. Because his face was hidden in the darkness, one couldn’t make out the exact situation. It was only after quite a while that the Sovereign Patriarch spoke coldly.

“Xu You, what do you think?” As he spoke, the Sovereign Patriarch flicked his right hand. Instantly, the Divine Justice Shield in front of him flew towards the empty space on his right and was pressed on by an ancient hand that stretched out suddenly from the void. After that, flesh and blood spread, starting from the arm of the hand, as though a formless brush was sketching out the outline of the Divine Justice Shield. Chief Minister Xu, who exuded an eerie aura, had his entire body appear from the void.

He bowed slightly as he stood beside the Sovereign Patriarch and lowered his head as he stared at the Divine Justice Shield in his hand. After a long time, he spoke softly.

“Crude workmanship, ordinary materials, normal quality. There are many people in the sect who could refine the production of such a treasure to a much higher degree. If we have the materials, there should be almost no difficulty in raising its quality to a higher level.”

Hearing the words of Chief Minister Xu, Wang Baole couldn’t help but raise his head to look at him. At the same time, after hearing Chief Minister Xu’s comments, the Sovereign Patriarch immediately shifted his gaze onto Wang Baole and spoke slowly.

“Long Nanzi, do you wish to retaliate?”

Wang Baole felt a little unhappy in his heart. He secretly thought, I didn’t offend him at all. Why would he purposely try to devalue my Divine Justice Shield?

However, his many years of experience in the Federation caused Wang Baole to faintly feel as though there was a hidden meaning. But it was hard for him to confirm that. So, after a brief deliberation, he forced a smile as he cupped his fists.

“I don’t wish to retaliate. The Divine Justice Shield is truly like that.”

When Wang Baole finished speaking, the elder’s expression was normal and didn’t change at all. However, the Sovereign Patriarch narrowed his eyes. He took a look at Wang Baole, then looked at Chief Minister Xu beside him, shook his head, and laughed.

“My dear Xu You, you purposely pointed out the flaws of this treasure to bring out the extraordinary refinement technique within this Divine Justice Shield, didn’t you. At the same time, you’re reminding me that there is a possibility of mass-producing this treasure. That brat Ling You must have asked you for a favor again.”

When he heard that, Wang Baole’s heart beat a little faster, and he looked at Chief Minister Xu. He still had his head lowered, and his expression was normal as he spoke to the Sovereign Patriarch respectfully.

“You are wise, Patriarch.”

Hearing that, the Sovereign Patriarch laughed again and asked somewhat casually, “What did that child Ling You suggest?”

“She suggested that Long Nanzi trade this Divine Justice Shield refinement technique for the right to form an army. I have rejected this and ask for you to give Long Nanzi a chance to be baptized in the Nine Immortal Pool.” Chief Minister Xu’s tone didn’t change. He maintained his normal eeriness as he replied coldly.

“The right to form an army…” The Sovereign Patriarch narrowed his eyes and stood up after thinking. He took a step forward, and his silhouette immediately stepped into the void. A light as bright as the sun spread across the entire palace, and his silhouette also disappeared completely. Only his voice spread slowly through the surroundings.

“Approved. I’m also giving Long Nanzi a chance to be baptized in the Nine Immortal Pool!”

Hearing that, Wang Baole’s breathing quickened, and he loudly said, “Thank you, Patriarch. I,Long Nanzi, will never forget your kindness!”

He understood that bootlicking words shouldn’t be overused. Especially when expressing gratitude, the fewer words, the better. One might give off a sense of fakeness if they used too many words. So, he only used around ten words this time.

In reality, this was indeed the case. When the Sovereign Patriarch, who could still sense all coordinates with his consciousness despite having already left, heard Wang Baole’s never-before-seen concise expression of gratitude, he was surprised. At the same time, he also had a deeper impression of Wang Baole.

Even Chief Minister Xu also raised his head to take a deep look at Wang Baole. As he looked towards him, Wang Baole also faced him and bowed deeply.

“Thank you, Senior Xu!”

Chief Minister Xu only nodded his head, not speaking anymore. He gestured for Wang Baole to follow him and flew towards the restricted area at the back of the mountain after stepping out of the palace. Wang Baole had never been to that place. As he looked down, he could see mountain ranges and fog circulating around them. Towards the end, because the Divine Sovereign Justice Sect existed in another space, the sky looked weird. It was sunny just a moment ago, but after entering the restricted area behind the mountain, the sky immediately became dark, and the moon appeared!

However… this moon was blood red and caused the surrounding atmosphere to become weird. As the fog became thicker, it also covered Wang Baole’s line of sight, making him feel as though he had lost his bearings. This continued until a crater appeared in front of him!

The crater seemed to have been blasted open forcefully by someone. While its surrounding walls were rough, there were many caves surrounding them—a total of nine. The stench of blood also spread from within the crater towards the surroundings. This stench was quite weird. As Wang Baole neared and smelled the stench, his cultivation became restless.

While this made his eyes shrink and his soul tremble, Chief Minister Xu, who was in front of him, stopped in mid-air above the crater. He lowered his head to look below, and an eerie smile appeared on his face. Under the light of the blood moon in the sky, he seemed to exude even more eeriness.

“Young lad, this is the Divine Sovereign Justice Sect’s Nine Immortal Pool. You have one chance to achieve a breakthrough in your cultivation. Make good use of it.”

As he spoke, Chief Minister Xu raised his right hand and pointed at the sky. As he pointed, sounds of rumbling thunder boomed from the heavens, and the earth trembled. At that moment, the blood moon in the sky also unleashed a piercing blood glint more powerful than before. The blood glint instantly engulfed the entire restricted area, causing it to become a sea of blood!

At the same time… from the nine caves of the crater’s cliff walls, the sounds of metal chains being pulled and waves of growls of pain that didn’t seem human could be heard coming nearer!