A World Worth Protecting

If his true body were there, Wang Baole might say he didn’t dare. But his essence body was almost impenetrable by all poisons. It wasn’t that nothing could poison his essence body, but things that could do so were so valuable that very few people would be able to bear using them to poison him.

So, Wang Baole raised his eyebrows and immediately chuckled. He put on a bold and generous aura and made himself look as though he didn’t fear death. Or, in other words, he made himself look as though he didn’t know what death was.

“Long Nanzi naturally must drink Fellow Daoist Ku Ling’s wine!” As he spoke, Wang Baole flicked his body and turned into a long rainbow. He charged forward and sped past countless layers of meteorites. He didn’t even look at the Time Circle Legion cultivators who were glaring at him hostilely. He traveled past the five False Immortals and arrived at the meteorite Daoist Ku Ling was sitting on.

He wasn’t reserved at all, choosing to sit directly opposite Daoist Ku Ling when he arrived. He grabbed the wine glass on the table, tilted his head, and drank up all the wine. He didn’t care whether the wine tasted nice and started praising it immediately.

“Good wine!”

The moment he spoke, a glimmer appeared in the eyes of Daoist Ku Ling, who was sitting opposite him. He sized Wang Baole up thoroughly and put down the beast bone in his hands. He didn’t care that his hands were greasy as he picked up his own wine glass, downed the wine, and spoke calmly.

“Long Nanzi, with your False Immortal cultivation, you still dare challenge my army, which is ranked second? Are you out of your mind?”

“I won’t know unless I try.” Wang Baole laughed, picked up the wine gourd, and poured himself another glass.

“What if you lose?” Daoist Ku Ling’s expression was normal as he continued questioning him.

“I probably won’t lose.” Wang Baole downed the wine in his wine glass and licked his lips. He wasn’t wrong when he praised the wine previously. Its taste was indeed extraordinary.

“What if you win?” Daoist Ku Ling spoke again.

“After winning, I’ll naturally start preparing to challenge the top-ranked army.” Wang Baole blinked and looked towards Daoist Ku Ling.

Daoist Ku Ling narrowed his eyes. After staring at Wang Baole for a moment, he suddenly laughed and slowly raised his right hand. Instantly, his entire cultivation exploded forth. His mid-stage Spirit Immortal aura immediately spread towards the surroundings. At the same time, the cultivations of the five False Immortals around him also spread. The surrounding hundred thousand Time Circle Legion cultivators all did the same. They made it seem as though a storm was sweeping through the cosmos in the meteorite area.

Looking from afar, one could faintly see that a giant vortex seemed to form in that area. It was like the mouth of a beast that wanted to swallow Wang Baole whole. As for Wang Baole, a cold glimmer also flashed between his eyes. As the Red Crystals circulated, a Spirit Immortal disturbance also exploded forth. There was also a suppressive aura that spread forth. To a certain degree, although it wasn’t as strong as Daoist Ku Ling’s, it made people feel as though he could hold his own against him!

On the one hand, the feeling came from his previous experiences and confidence. On the other hand, he had the Eternal Star Fire in his body. The confidence formed by this was immediately noticed by Daoist Ku Ling. A glimmer appeared in his narrowed eyes. After thoroughly sizing Wang Baole up, he actually slowly put down his raised right hand.

As he put it down, the cultivation disturbances of the surrounding Time Circle Legion cultivators all dissipated, and the same went for the five False Immortals. When Daoist Ku Ling’s cultivation also dissipated, the previously tense atmosphere vanished.

This scene caused a deep, profound glimmer to flash between Wang Baole’s eyes. He had a suspicion in his heart, so he removed his Emperor Armor and continued sitting there while staring at Daoist Ku Ling.

Separated by the table, they gazed at each other for about three breaths of time. Afterwards, Daoist Ku Ling retracted his gaze and spoke calmly.

“Do you like my wine?”

“Not bad.” Wang Baole seemed to be thinking about something as he spoke with a smile.

“I’ll give you the wine then. The Time Circle Legion admits defeat!” Daoist Ku Ling stood up and raised his head to look at the cosmos. His voice was like thunder and seemed to want to be spread deep into the void. After he spoke, he laughed, turned with a flick of his body, and left the meteorite. All of the surrounding Time Circle Legion cultivators and battleships retreated. After they all flew up, they followed Daoist Ku Ling and sped deep into the meteorites.

Very quickly, there were no other cultivators in the area other than Wang Baole.

“Interesting.” Wang Baole sat there, narrowed his eyes, and picked up the wine gourd. After he took a large swig from the gourd, he was already very clear in his heart. In reality, when he went to that area, he already had a guess in his heart. After Daoist Ku Ling’s display, it made his guess even more accurate.

The guess was… that Daoist Ku Ling didn’t wish to fight!

Just like Fairy Ling You and the fourth army’s commander, they chose to help him to a certain degree. Their aim was to wear the other armies out. Although their aim was the top-ranked army, it was naturally good if they could wear the second-ranked army out as well.

As for Daoist Ku Ling, the fact that he could become an army commander and reach the mid-stage Spirit Immortal realm showed that he wasn’t a foolish man. Obviously, he had lofty ambitions too. So, after he noticed Wang Baole’s cultivation and combat strength and combined it with some information he already knew, he decided to admit defeat after finally confirming that Wang Baole did indeed have the capability to threaten the second-ranked army.

To him, admitting defeat wasn’t embarrassing. His goal was very simple and couldn’t even be considered a sinister plot. Instead, it was a legitimate strategy. He wanted to see Wang Baole fight to the death with the top-ranked army!

That way, he would have a once in a lifetime opportunity!

Compared to obtaining that opportunity, Daoist Ku Ling didn’t care about whether he won or lost now.

They’re all sly old foxes. After finishing the wine in the wine gourd, Wang Baole stood up, flicked his body, and left the meteorite layer. Just as he was about to return to his Soul Rift Legion, right as he was about to step into the teleportation vortex, Wang Baole stopped in his tracks. He then tilted his head and looked towards the cosmos in the distance.

The moment he looked, a loud rumble sounded in the cosmos, and one could see two palms that seemed to stretch from another dimension in the void. They grabbed the surrounding void and pulled outwards. As the sound shook the heavens, a giant rift was ripped open.

Within the rift existed an extremely large silhouette covered in black. The silhouette had sharp spikes all over its body and seemed to have an extraordinary aura. The cultivation disturbances almost reached the mid-stage Spirit Immortal realm. The silhouette was… Yi Nianzi from the top-ranked army!

Behind him were nine waves of disturbances. There were both males and females, and all of them wore extraordinary armor. Although they were not Dharmic Battleships, they could still boost their combat strength. The nine disturbances were all False Immortals. Naturally, the nine of them were the nine combat immortals of the top-ranked army!

Behind them, an uncountable number of battleships spread across the horizon. The scene was enough to shake the souls of whoever saw it. Moreover, within the numerous battleships, there were five… Dharmic Battleship, which were dispersing Spirit Immortal disturbances!

The five Dharmic Battleships made Wang Baole’s pupils shrink.

Also… at the very back of all of that, a palace floated. One couldn’t see the people in the palace. However, from the heaven-shaking aura that could suppress the cosmos and sweep past all Spirit Immortals coming from within the palace, one could already tell the identity of the person within.

It was… the top-ranked army’s commander, Gu Mo! He was second only to the Sovereign Patriarch within the Divine Sovereign Justice Sect and was at the perfected stage Spirit Immortal realm!

“Long Nanzi, I’ll give you another chance to join the top-ranked army.” While Wang Baole’s soul shook, Yi Nianzi spoke calmly. His voice spread towards the surrounding cosmos through the space rift.

It wasn’t an invitation, but a threat. It also wasn’t a question, but a warning!

Wang Baole went silent. He didn’t care about Yi Nianzi and the nine False Immortals, but the five Dharmic Battleships gave him a lot of stress. Also, there was the issue of Gu Mo…

“Not speaking? So be it. Then I’ll give you another chance. Don’t you dislike me? I’m waiting for your challenge!” Yi Nianzi narrowed his eyes and spoke again.

Wang Baole raised his head and gazed at Yi Nianzi calmly. He also saw the army at the ready within the rift. He didn’t speak a word as he turned around, stepped directly into the teleportation vortex, and disappeared instantly.

When he disappeared, a tinge of regret appeared in Yi Nianzi’s eyes. If Wang Baole really challenged them just then, everything would have fallen into place. To a certain degree, it would be considered challenging the top-ranked army.

“So be it. He’s not a fool, after all. He definitely saw a problem with that,” Yi Nianzi muttered, then turned around and bowed respectfully towards the palace in the distance. Afterwards, he raised his right hand and waved it. The void rift that was ripped open instantly closed, and the cosmos went back to normal.

At the same time, Wang Baole, who teleported back to the Soul Rift Legion, had his expression turn extremely gloomy the moment he walked out. He stood there and remained silent for a long while. Then, decisiveness suddenly appeared in his eyes. With his right hand, he took out the communication jade slip that Xie Haiyang had given him and sent him a voice transmission.

“Fellow Daoist Haiyang, the news you spoke about previously. If it really contains a chance for me to become a Spirit Immortal, then… I want it!”