A World Worth Protecting

The world beneath the blood moon became blood red, and the pit turned dark red. There were also the sounds of metal chains and the growls coming from the nine caves. Upon seeing and hearing all of this, Wang Baole’s expression turned solemn. At the same time, Chief Minister Xu, who had a thick aura of evil surrounding him, spoke. His hoarse and old voice brought with it an odd sense of bloodlust as it echoed in the surroundings.

“Little Long, what are you waiting for? Sit inside the Nine Immortal Pool. Remember, the baptism will end when you achieve a breakthrough in cultivation or when two hours is up, whichever comes first!”

Wang Baole felt no discomfort at being called Little Long and immediately responded after hearing Chief Minister Xu’s words. Although he felt hesitant in his heart, he quickly balanced himself and headed towards the crater with a leap. After entering, he sank directly to the bottom of the crater.

There, the stench of blood was thicker, and the ground was dark red, as though it was constantly soaked in blood.

Taking a quick look at his surroundings, Wang Baole didn’t speak as he sat cross-legged immediately and looked up. The moment he looked was the moment the sounds of metal chains and growls from the nine caves were the loudest. In the next moment, a giant silhouette burst out from one of the caves!

That silhouette wasn’t a cultivator, but a giant two-headed salamander. When it charged out, it raised its heads towards the sky and let out a cry of pain and frenzy as though it wanted to escape!

But there was a giant chain tangling its flesh. No matter how the salamander struggled, it was of no use. It was forcefully restricted to moving beside the cave and couldn’t leave!

There were even bolts of red lightning that spread from the chain continuously, making the salamander’s cries of pain even more shrill. As the scales on its body stood up, it unleashed its perfected stage Spirit Immortal cultivation. Under the salamander’s cries of pain, the aura brought with it an indescribable viciousness that shook the heavens.

It didn’t end. After the salamander, similar beings charged out one after another from the other caves. There was a giant dragon, plant life, and a being that looked similar but different from a cultivator. They were all chained, and they all screamed under that red lightning. It was as though their lives only consisted of frenzy and pain!

After seeing this scene firsthand, Wang Baole’s breathing quickened. He already knew the purpose of the Nine Immortal Pool. This place… trapped nine perfected stage Spirit Immortals. Obviously, these were all mighty figures captured personally by the patriarch or Chief Minister Xu when the Divine Sovereign Justice Sect conquered other civilizations.

They didn’t kill them. Instead, they trapped them there to become rewards for Divine Sovereign Justice Sect disciples!

“Little Long, it has begun.” Under the shrill cries of pain, the smile of Chief Minister Xu became even more sinister, and his expression faintly showed that he enjoyed it. Weaving hand seals with his right hand, the metal chains trapping the nine Spirit Immortals instantly turned red. Stronger lightning immediately entered the bodies of the nine Spirit Immortals.

In the next moment, the cries of the nine Spirit Immortals became more shrill, and life essence spread out from their bodies uncontrollably. Because they were Spirit Immortals, their life essences were lifeforce to a certain degree. It was their cultivation, but at the same time, it was much more than just their cultivation.

One could see that these life essences were in mist form as they dispersed from their seven apertures and orifices and flowed into the bottom of the crater via the surrounding cliff walls. Because the process continuously tore apart the bodies of the Spirit Immortals and caused them a lot of pain, blood dripped down from their bodies as they trembled. This blood… was the source of the crater’s stench of blood!

This scene was very cruel. They were continuously provoking the nine Spirit immortals to draw out their life force. Yet, they wouldn’t allow them to die. It was as though they were being used as vessels and Dharmic treasures.

Wang Baole was silent as he closed his eyes in the end and started absorbing. It wasn’t that he was cruel. Instead, he was very clear that his kindness, principles, and protection were reserved only for the Federation!

As for other things, they weren’t in his thoughts. This was because he didn’t have the ability to do so. Moreover… he had been very clear of the cruelty of the cultivation world from the moment he stepped foot into the Ethereal Dao College.

This wasn’t because he had gone through something in his youth. Instead, this was already common knowledge within the Federation when the ancient greenish-bronze sword flew to the Federation and started the Spirit Inception Era!

After all, the numerous beast wars that happened at the start of the Spirit Inception Era made it so that the two generations of people weren’t unfamiliar with murder and the stench of blood.

The path of cultivation became more treacherous with every step one took!

So even though he was somewhat shocked, what Wang Baole felt more strongly… was a determination to never let this scene play out in the Federation. So he unleashed his body and put maximum effort into absorbing the life essence!

Wang Baole was already a mid-stage Soul Conduit. Now, within the life essences of the nine Spirit Immortals, he was like a sponge rapidly absorbing everything. In a short period of time, he immediately went from having just entered the mid-stage, to being firmly in the mid-stage Soul Conduit realm.

That wasn’t the end. Wang Baole still wasn’t satisfied with his absorption speed and amount. So, under the cover of his essence technique, the devouring seed in his body circulated slightly.

With that circulation, his body immediately became a black hole. Instantly, the life essence mist in the surroundings, which was accumulating higher and higher and was going to spill out of the crater, immediately lost a layer!

Compared to the total amount, the amount lost wasn’t a lot. But as it continuously decreased, Wang Baole’s absorption speed naturally increased a lot under his control.

Just like that, after fifteen minutes, Wang Baole’s body shook violently, and his cultivation level immediately rose to the peak of the mid-stage Soul Conduit realm. He was extremely close to breaking through. He could achieve this because the crater was specially built by the Divine Sovereign Justice Sect, and those chains could also refine the life essence. Under their stimulation, one could say that the life essence that the nine Spirit Immortals dispersed was no different from an immortal pill!

The only difference was probably that one was stored while the other was extremely fresh.

So Wang Baole had no difficulties in terms of absorption. But the absorption of the devouring seed, which increased Wang Baole’s absorption speed, caught the attention of Chief Minister Xu somewhat. This made a glint flash between his eyes as he took a few more looks at Wang Baole.

He did have some secrets, after all. But… since that brat Ling You thinks highly of him, so be it. Chief Minister Xu thought for a while but didn’t bother himself with this, giving Wang Baole free reign to continue absorbing.

Just like that, after another fifteen minutes, Wang Baole already felt that he was at the breaking point of his cultivation. He was clear that so long as he continued for another moment, he would breakthrough from the mid-stage Soul Conduit realm to the late-stage Soul Conduit realm.

And according to the requirements, so long as he achieved a breakthrough, the baptism would have to end.

This speed, while making him shudder with fear, also made him have an insatiable desire. However, because an outsider was around, Wang Baole couldn’t bring out his Thearch Armor to absorb the life essence. It was also detrimental to do it in secret. So, after thinking, he decided to make use of this life essence to refine his essence technique avatar!

In short, I can’t let it go to waste! Thinking to this point, Wang Baole secretly tried to use this life essence to strengthen his essence technique avatar. There was some effect, but the requirements were huge, and the process was slow. However, Wang Baole had a feeling that doing this would make his essence technique avatar and sleeping true body become stronger when they fused. So, under his anxiety, Wang Baole started carefully refining his body.

Very quickly, Chief Minister Xu noticed a problem. He opened his eyes and looked at Wang Baole with a weird expression on his face. Chief Minister Xu furrowed his eyebrows slightly. But after thinking about Fairy Ling You, and thinking about how Long Nanzi had always been smart and knew how to not go overboard, he only coughed once in the end and turned a blind eye.

After noticing how Chief Minister Xu didn’t stop him, Wang Baole’s eyes shone, and he increased the amount he absorbed. One hour later, when the life essence mist within the crater was about to be depleted, Chief Minister Xu opened his eyes and spoke coldly.

“Another ten counts!”

Hearing this, Wang Baole immediately increased his absorption speed. The moment the tenth count came, he no longer suppressed his cultivation, and it immediately broke through to the late-stage Soul Conduit realm!

The moment he broke through to the late-stage Soul Conduit realm, Wang Baole’s body rang. An aura much more powerful than before was unleashed. With a leap, he stood in mid-air, raising his head to let out a roar. Immediately, the heavens and earth changed. The wind and clouds were blown away, and storms erupted forth in his immediate surroundings.