A World Worth Protecting

Since I’m so powerful now, I wonder if I’ll be able to unlock the storage ring. Wang Baole tested his strength. The power that he felt pleased him and filled him with immense confidence. With a wave of his hand, he pulled out the storage ring that he had gotten off the Never-Ending Clan cultivator. He leveled a fierce glare at the object and unleashed his Divine Sense, allowing them to envelop the storage ring completely.

“Unlock!” Wang Baole roared and allowed the full weight of his Divine Sense to fall on the storage ring. But… the storage ring was like an extremely hard rock. No matter how Wang Baole tried to crush it with his Divine Sense, it remained sturdy and unflinching under his attacks.

“Suppression!”

“Activation!”

He kept yelling and unleashing increasingly stronger bursts of his Divine Sense on the storage ring. He even resorted to using the power of the Emperor Armor. The lack of results was slightly embarrassing, to be honest. Luckily, there was no one around to witness it. Wang Baole coughed dryly, then quietly put away the storage ring, which looked no worse for wear.

“I’m not in peak form today. I’ll try again another day,” Wang Baole muttered. Then, he shifted slightly. The Emperor Armor on his body blurred and faded away. Wang Baole’s aura dropped from its previous early-stage Spirit Immortal realm level and returned to that of a False Immortal realm. He then left the inn in a great mood.

Time to look for Xie Haiyang. After buying the materials I want, I’ll head back to the Divine Eye Star System. Wang Baole patted his rather slim tummy happily. He smacked his lips and sighed at how much weight he had lost. Then, he conjured a bottle of Ice Spirit Water with his essence technique… and started drinking as he headed towards Xie Haiyang’s shop…

It didn’t take him long before he saw Xie Haiyang’s shop in the distance. It was built like a palace, a loud beacon of unabashed wealth that stood out from the rest in the market. No other shops could compare with its opulence. It was the shop that reigned supreme over all other shops. The shop was filled with cultivators entering and leaving. It wasn’t crowded to the point of being congested, but it enjoyed a good, bustling crowd of customers.

That was the scene that greeted Wang Baole when he entered the shop. People filled the shop, and the staff ran around, busy with attending to customers. Despite the crowd, Wang Baole’s arrival was noticed.

The person who noticed him was the staff member who had attended to him during his last visit. His eyes brightened when he saw Wang Baole. He stepped away from the customer he was attending to and rushed towards Wang Baole, cupping his fists in greeting.

“You’ve arrived, Esteemed Senior. Our young master says that you’re free to go up to the second floor.” The staff member had attended to Wang Baole when he had stepped into the shop. Wang Baole was pleased with his attitude. He coughed, then, amidst the startled looks from the crowd, pulled out a supreme-grade Spirit Stone and threw it towards the staff member as a reward.

The staff member was clearly ecstatic as he held onto the supreme-grade Spirit Stone. He escorted Wang Baole to the staircase with bright, shining eyes, then took his leave. Wang Baole could sense the differential treatment that he was receiving. He could feel the looks of consideration and awe being directed at him from the crowd. He sighed secretly.

That’s what a rich man’s life is like, simple and to the point. Wang Baole shook his head as he sighed, then made his way upstairs. He didn’t see Xie Haiyang when he reached the second floor. There was no one around. Just as he began to look around, he heard laughter ringing out from behind him.

“Brother Baole, it’s been awhile. How have you been?”

Wang Baole blinked when he heard that, and he pretended to freeze for a moment. After the moment was over, he turned around hurriedly. A smile filled with delight appeared on his face when he saw Xie Haiyang, and he laughed out loud.

“Brother Haiyang, we just met some days ago.”

“Brother Baole, I’ve heard of your spectacular performance during the mission. You’re amazing.” Xie Haiyang praised Wang Baole as they sat down. Xie Haiyang eyed Wang Baole for some time and realized that he wasn’t reacting to what he had just said. In fact, there was a look of slight confusion on his face. Xie Haiyang muttered something to himself under his breath, then coughed awkwardly.

“You’re the pig-masked man, aren’t you?”

“Pig-masked man?” Wang Baole blinked and continued to feign ignorance. It didn’t matter if his act seemed exaggerated, he wasn’t going to admit to things that he wasn’t supposed to admit to. It didn’t matter that he would be throwing handfuls of Red Crystals at Xie Haiyang later and thus exposing his deliberate ignorance as an act. That would be a separate matter.

“Baole, you’re being too modest. So be it. It doesn’t matter if you’re the pig-masked man. I just want to let you know that he’s famous now. He’s incurred the wrath of the Never-Ending Clan. They’re doing everything they can to find out who he is. The only person who knows is the Flame Patriarch, though, and he’s erased all evidence that points to the pig-masked man’s identity. Besides the Flame Patriarch, no one else in the universe knows for sure who the pig-masked man is.”

Xie Haiyang deliberately emphasized the words “for sure” when he spoke. Then, he gave Wang Baole what seemed like a smile. An imperceptible flicker flashed in Wang Baole’s eyes. He knew this was Xie Haiyang trying to give him a hint. He smiled as well. Xie Haiyang was still too inexperienced. He hadn’t learned the important principle of not speaking the truth even when he had seen through the act.

The thought gave Wang Baole a sudden sense of superiority. He was reminded of the high officials’ autobiographies and the countless invaluable lessons that he had learned from them.

Xie Haiyang had a seemingly deep, meaningful look in his eyes. He wasn’t as composed as he seemed, though. In fact, he was still reeling with shock. The acts that the pig-masked man had committed had been extraordinary and beyond shocking. He hadn’t stopped at killing a late-stage Spirit Immortal realm cultivator but had nearly destroyed a Planet realm cultivator. He had caused the destruction of a planet.

No one would have batted an eye if it had been a Planet realm cultivator or someone of a higher cultivation realm who had done something like that. But most of the cultivators participating in the mission had been at the Soul Conduit realm. A Soul Conduit realm cultivator had been behind the catastrophic series of events that had taken place during the mission. He was probably going to bring about a few more disasters on a grander scale when he reached higher levels of cultivation.

Damn it, it must be Wang Baole. He’s the only person who can do something like that and not surprise me in the least. He’s a walking disaster. He made a trip to Mars and sent Mars into an uproar. He made a trip to the ancient sword, and the Vast Expanse Dao Palace staged a revolt immediately after… Xie Haiyang sighed secretly. Regardless, he was a little excited.

Xie Haiyang was a businessman and enjoyed hedging bets on people. The more things someone stirred up, and the better they performed, the more Xie Haiyang liked them. He spent more time and effort on customers like that. Xie Haiyang’s eyes flashed at that thought, and he leaned forward to whisper to Wang Baole.

“Baole, I received an earth-shattering piece of information. Are you interested in paying for it? I promise that this information will give you a chance to break through from the Soul Conduit realm to the Spirit Immortal realm within the shortest possible period if you seize the opportunity and put it to good use!”

“Information, you say?” Wang Baole gave Xie Haiyang an assessing look. Even though Xie Haiyang wasn’t as smart as himself, Wang Baole trusted Xie Haiyang’s abilities. He asked about the price.

“Three thousand Red Crystals!” Xie Haiyang said immediately. He was about to justify the worth of his information when Wang Baole stared at him and shrugged.

“Let’s talk about those materials that I asked you for.”

“Baole, once you get this information, you’ll…” Xie Haiyang continued to persuade Wang Baole.

“It’s too much, I’m not interested!” Wang Baole interrupted Xie Haiyang. He snorted secretly. This was clearly daylight robbery. The materials that he had tried so hard to get only cost him 300 Red Crystals. Xie Haiyang knew how rich Wang Baole was now, which was why he had dared to ask for 3,000 Red Crystals for some stupid piece of information.

Xie Haiyang knew that Wang Baole had made up his mind. He felt slightly regretful over his hasty actions. He coughed and stopped his sales pitch. He then took out the materials that Wang Baole had placed an order for and began the negotiation for the transaction. After the deal was done, they chatted for a bit before Wang Baole suddenly told him his need for more materials.

“Just let me know what you need, Brother Baole. My shop has almost everything. I can have the materials that you want transported to my shop if they’re not in stock. It’ll take two hours, tops. You’ll have them before you within two hours.”

Wang Baole pulled out his shopping list when he heard that. Xie Haiyang took the list from Wang Baole with a smile and went to make the necessary arrangements. He got everything that Wang Baole wanted within an hour. It cost Wang Baole 2,000 Red Crystals. He could feel his heart bleeding. He believed that Xie Haiyang had overcharged him, but there was nothing he could do about it. If he were to buy these materials elsewhere, he would surely attract undue attention from spending so many Red Crystals in one go. Wang Baole said a few words, then left.

The smile on Xie Haiyang’s face grew wider as he watched Wang Baole leave his shop. A moment later, he started to laugh.

Turning down a discipleship under the Flame Patriarch. Wang Baole… it seems like I still have much to learn about you and your background…

Wang Baole didn’t turn back as he walked down the street. If he were to do that, he was quite sure that he would find Xie Haiyang standing in his shop, his eyes burning holes into his back. He wasn’t overly concerned, though. He walked fearlessly down the street and into the distance, starting to explore the market. He wanted to find out if there was anything interesting or useful that he could buy from the market before he left.

Wang Baole wandered through the market and finally decided that there was nothing else he needed to get and that he was leaving the market. As he made his way back, his eyes suddenly… caught sight of a puppet lying in a shop!

The puppet’s appearance reminded Wang Baole of the Diamond Ape in the Ethereal Dao College. He stopped in his tracks and walked towards the shop.

“This is…”

“This is a damaged Dharmic Battleship. The materials required to repair it are too rare, so it has been trashed as junk. Fellow Daoist, are you interested in buying it for your own research and study?” The shop was quite small and was manned by the owner alone, without the help of any staff. The old man had been sitting in the shop when he noticed Wang Baole eying the puppet and made his sales pitch listlessly.