A World Worth Protecting

While some of his anger had dissipated, Wang Baole was still very upset about Xie Haiyang’s three-way deal. He knew that businessmen only cared about maximizing their profits. Nevertheless, he still felt hurt.

“Brother Haiyang, I treated you like a friend, but you sold me out…” Wang Baole said softly, his words honest and tinged with slight sorrow. Xie Haiyang fell silent when he heard them. After a long moment, he smiled wryly.

“Brother Baole, you’re right. I’ve gone too far… this time. I owe you one.”

“Forget it. You mentioned that you’ll be giving me some materials. I’m not going to accept them. How about this… I’m in a slight fix now. Maybe you can help me with that.” Wang Baole coughed. In his view, he wasn’t a petty-minded person. Since Xie Haiyang was truly sorry, it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to keep harping on what had passed. Instead, he decided to mention the problem he was having casually.

Wang Baole didn’t hide anything from Xie Haiyang and instead told him everything honestly. His identity had been exposed because of what had happened in the imperial cemetery, and he had attracted the attention of the Violet Gold civilization. They had set him up. Even though he had survived and escaped with his life, he was now trapped in the Earth Spirit civilization.

He also highlighted that he didn’t have much time left. The right-hand elder of the Violet Gold civilization was going to find him any moment now and try to kill him.

Even though he hadn’t hidden any information from Xie Haiyang, he had played up some of the details and made the affair seem irrevocably interlinked with what had happened in the imperial cemetery. While Wang Baole hadn’t revealed any anxiety or panic during his narration, Xie Haiyang instantly knew after listening to Wang Baole what was going on. Wang Baole was hinting that the farce in the imperial cemetery had led to new and hidden threats to Wang Baole’s safety. Basically, if Xie Haiyang was truly apologetic, he would help Wang Baole resolve his current predicament.

Because of Wang Baole’s subtle hints, there was no way Xie Haiyang could initiate any negotiations and set a price for his assistance. It was difficult to explain the subtleties hidden in Wang Baole’s words. One had to rely on one’s guts and heart in order to truly appreciate the beauty of his words.

Xie Haiyang smiled wryly once more. His admiration and respect for Wang Baole grew. This was why he believed that Wang Baole had a great chance of becoming an extremely powerful cultivator.

In fact, this was why he had expressed his apology to Wang Baole after his three-way deal. His guts told him that Wang Baole possessed extraordinary character and means. He might appear to be from an ordinary family, but behind that veil of the ordinary hid a secret that even Xie Haiyang couldn’t see through.

Even if he were to disregard Wang Baole’s secrets, the Flame Patriarch’s desire to have Wang Baole as his disciple was proof that Wang Baole was no ordinary person. What made things more extraordinary was that Wang Baole had refused the Flame Patriarch’s offer. In addition, even though Wang Baole was currently in a dangerous predicament, he appeared unwilling to reach out to the Flame Patriarch and accept him as his master.

That was why… he believed that Wang Baole was being supported by someone extremely powerful and that he possessed some incredible trump cards.

Xie Haiyang’s guesses and the conclusion that he had reached left him silent. After a moment, he spoke.

“Sending you back to the Divine Eye civilization is a piece of cake for me. I can activate my access rights and save you the teleportation fees this time. You’ll be teleported to the market that I’ve set up base at. Your journey back to the Divine Eye civilization would be shortened considerably then.

“Teleporting you away might be easy, but… breaking the seal inside the Violet Gold civilization’s man-made Eternal Star will be a challenge. Their man-made Eternal Star might not be extremely advanced, but it still possesses the power of an Eternal Star… Besides, the Xie family are businessmen. It’s important that we play by the rules. We can’t abuse our power without a legitimate reason.”

Wang Baole raised his eyebrow when he heard what Xie Haiyang had said. He was about to speak when Xie Haiyang interrupted him. The latter seemed to know his thoughts.

“Brother Baole, I’m not trying to make money off you, but I really need time to break this seal…” Xie Haiyang sat in his pavilion that was located in the market, a thoughtful look appearing in his eyes as he spoke. He was deliberating his next moves and how he should proceed in order to showcase his abilities while regaining Wang Baole’s trust and earning some measure of respect from Wang Baole.

Xie Haiyang might treat Wang Baole as a friend, but he was still a businessman at heart. Be it his value to Wang Baole or Wang Baole’s to him, both were concerns he had to first consider regardless of their friendship. Wang Baole’s value to him was motivation for him to keep Wang Baole as a friend. Similarly, Wang Baole would be more eager to keep him as a friend if he was of value to Wang Baole.

He could easily resolve the predicament that Wang Baole was currently in. What he needed to decide on was the best way to do so.

Something flickered in Xie Haiyang’s eyes as these thoughts flashed across his mind. His lips then twitched upward into a smile, and he sent another voice transmission out.

“Brother Baole, don’t worry about the teleportation fees. I’ll do it for free this time. Don’t worry about the cost of breaking the seal either. We’re brothers, after all. I’ll waive the fees for you. Give me two weeks. I promise I’ll help you break that seal!”

Wang Baole’s eyes narrowed when he heard what Xie Haiyang had said. He had a vague feeling that there was another layer of meaning hidden beneath those words. He couldn’t tell what it was right now though, so he kept quiet and waited for Xie Haiyang to continue speaking.

“But Brother Baole, I think what you need now isn’t a way to break the seal or teleport away but… peace!”

Wang Baole’s eyes flashed, and he spoke coolly.

“Brother Haiyang, what… do you mean by that?”

“Brother Baole, I’ll be honest with you. I sell everything and anything here, including… peace!” Xie Haiyang smiled, his voice filled with confidence as he spoke.

“Peace? How do you sell that?” Wang Baole frowned. He seemed doubtful and wondered if he was going to be persuaded to buy himself a guard.

“By selling Peace Tokens. You can track the validity period using the Federation calendar. Each token is valid for one year. Basically, no one will dare give you trouble after you buy a Peace Token. When you bump into enemies, just show them the Peace Token. They’ll retreat a hundred light-years away at the sight of it. They’ll probably wish they can fall to their knees and beg for mercy.” Xie Haiyang explained the functions of the Peace Token. His sales pitch sounded compelling.

Wang Baole seemed doubtful after hearing what Xie Haiyang had said, then he asked for the price of the token. A strange look settled on his face after Xie Haiyang replied. In his head, there was a stampede of horses thundering across the plains. After a moment, he ended the voice transmission without saying anything.

His voice transmission jade slip vibrated in the next moment. Xie Haiyang’s awkward laughter drifted out from the device.

“Baole, Baole, listen to me…”

“You can stop talking. I can’t afford it!” Wang Baole said coolly.

“Why are you getting upset again? I’m not done talking. We’re brothers, after all. Besides, you’re a very important customer to me. How about this? I’ll let you try the token out for a month—a month’s worth of peace for free. If you’re satisfied with the product after the month is up, you can buy the actual product from me then. What do you say to that?”

“Xie Haiyang, why do I smell a rat in this? Are you sure that this Peace Token of yours is safe?” Wang Baole frowned. He had a feeling that something wasn’t quite right.

“I’m a businessman, so I take responsibility for everything that I sell. Hold on to the token, and show it to your enemy if you bump into any of them. I swear they’ll retreat at least a hundred light-years away. The cowards amongst them may even die of fright on the spot!” The sound of thudding emerged from the jade slip. Xie Haiyang appeared to have hit his palm against his chest as a gesture of assurance.

Wang Baole couldn’t be bothered to dwell further on this matter. He didn’t have to pay a single cent, after all. Besides, he wasn’t concerned with the token. His mind was occupied by Xie Haiyang’s promise to break the seal and teleport him away. He nodded before moving on to discuss the details of breaking the seal with Xie Haiyang. After the voice transmission ended, a bright light erupted from the voice transmission jade slip in his hand. The jade slip’s appearance shifted and finally settled into a white color. It was still a jade slip, but an inscription had appeared on it.

The inscription wasn’t written in any known language. However, the word “peace” would appear inside one’s head whenever one looked at it.

Wang Baole studied the token for some time, then narrowed his eyes. He was extremely alarmed by how Xie Haiyang had been able to transform a voice transmission jade slip into what he had called a Peace Token so effortlessly. At the same time, such capabilities gave him pause.

If he has the power to do this, then breaking the seal shouldn’t be a challenge for him. He said that he needed fifteen days, but that’s probably an excuse… Did Xie Haiyang plan to give me this token all along? Wang Baole stared at the token, and his eyes flashed. After some thought, he put the token away, then looked at the seal before him. Finally, he turned away and left.

There was a great likelihood that Xie Haiyang had intended to give him this token. Wang Baole was going to find out his true intentions for doing so.

Is he trying to sabotage me? Wang Baole vanished and reappeared in another location in the Earth Spirit civilization. He froze in his tracks as that particular thought popped into his head.