A World Worth Protecting

1

Xie Haiyang might be the proud owner of many secrets, but even he had no idea that he had just allowed the chance to get the best help he could slip him by. If he had shared everything with Wang Baole when the latter had asked and had said plainly that he would pay anything for Wang Baole’s help… there was a great chance that Wang Baole might be tempted by the deal. After all, he wasn’t afraid of letting Xie Haiyang know his relationship with his senior brother. Xie Haiyang was the one in need now and the one who was intimidated by his senior brother.

There was a great chance that Wang Baole would have extended a helping hand at the appropriate moment.

Besides, Wang Baole’s help wasn’t going to cost him a lot. Because… Wang Baole wouldn’t be able to quote too high a price based on his past experiences with Red Crystals. The highest he would go would likely only be a few million Red Crystals.

Of course… this was before Wang Baole entered the market!

Even though he had visited the market in the past, he hadn’t known about Red Crystals then and thus hadn’t paid much attention to how much things cost in Red Crystals. After returning from the Flame Patriarch’s mission, he had used Red Crystals to purchase a fair bit of materials, but he hadn’t been at the Spirit Immortal realm then, so he hadn’t been able to gain access to certain areas in shops that were reserved for special customers. The items in those reserved areas would cost an arm and a leg to ordinary cultivators, though the truly powerful cultivators wouldn’t bat an eye at their price tags.

But this time… things were different.

Now that he was at the late-stage Spirit Immortal realm, he no longer cared for the materials that he had bought earlier. In fact, he was of the view that he was a rich man now. When entering a shop that looked reputable and had a sizable range of goods, he believed that the release of his cultivation would send the shop owner running to greet him deferentially. He would then be personally escorted into the section of the shop an ordinary cultivator wasn’t permitted to enter.

Wang Baole appeared composed as he stood in the reserved section of the shop. But in reality, he had suffered multiple shocks since he had stepped into the section…

<em>Nine Heavenly Thunder Spirits… a hundred and fifty thousand Red Crystals!</em>

<em>Heavenly Stream Vapor… two hundred and seventy thousand Red Crystals!</em>

<em>North-South Spirit Boat… for three hundred and ninety thousand Red Crystals. What the hell?</em>

Wang Baole reeled in shock. He wouldn’t have known if he hadn’t looked at those price tags. He no longer felt rich. In fact, he felt extremely poor.

Fortunately, he had great control over himself. The expression on his face remained composed. In fact, he would show the occasional dissatisfaction, as if he weren’t concerned with the price of the products but their quality. He kept the appearance up as he went in and out of the reserved sections of a few shops. At the end of his visits, he stood on the street, his face glum as he sighed.

<em>I’m so poor…</em> Wang Baole patted his storage bag. The feeling of poverty made him feel especially sorrowful. He had his eye on a flying boat, but its price had been a seven-digit figure. He had shuddered at the sight of the price tag.

The Planet realm storage ring that he had peeked into popped up in his head unexpectedly. He remembered the mysterious bottle that he had seen and the words “a rich person” that he had read on the piece of paper in the bottle. Realization dawned upon Wang Baole then.

<em>Does the bottle have the power to make a person rich?</em> Wang Baole thought in surprise. His breathing quickened. He had half a mind to take another look into the storage ring, but this really wasn’t the place for that. In addition, his location was exposed every time he opened the storage ring. There was no way to get around that unless he removed the seal on the storage ring completely so that the dangers that came from unlocking the storage ring were eliminated once and for all.

But his current level of cultivation was clearly still lacking. That was beyond his current abilities.

Wang Baole left the market sulking and steeped in regret. His suspicions about Xie Haiyang’s departure began to grow.

<em>Was he worried that I might ask him for a loan? Is that why he found some random excuse to run off?</em> Wang Baole snorted before burying those suspicions in his heart. He got himself a considerable quantity of Spirit Stones with the Red Crystals in his pocket before leaving the market and racing off towards the Divine Eye civilization.

He didn’t make use of his Dharmic Battleship for the journey back. The Dharmic Battleship’s speed couldn’t match his own. That was why he had gotten himself Spirit Stones—so that he could replenish his energy during the trip back. His Emperor Armor also needed to feed on Spirit Stones to regain its power.

He could have resorted to Red Crystals instead, but the crystals were too powerful. He would have to use his own spirit energy to moderate the crystals’ power for his Emperor Armor to absorb the latter more easily. Time passed steadily as Wang Baole sped across the cosmos.

Two weeks went by as Wang Baole traveled at a constant speed without slowing down. He went past civilizations that had previously drawn his attention and continued on his way without stopping. It was clear that his mind was on the war in the Divine Eye civilization. He had no idea how it was going.

<em>I was set up by the Heavenly Spirit Sect and the royalty of the Divine Eye civilization… Even though the patriarch of the Divine Sovereign Justice Sect doesn’t seem to be involved in the setup, I should still be on my guard when it comes to dealing with him!</em> An icy light flashed across Wang Baole’s eyes amidst his contemplation. The repeated setups had upset him tremendously. It had also heightened his sense of caution to unprecedented levels.

<em>I’m not going to make the same mistake twice!</em> Wang Baole narrowed his eyes. He knew that the cause of his falling into his enemy’s trap had been his greed. He had been fixated on plundering the Divine Eye civilization and on not letting that opportunity fall into another person’s hands.

He had a change in mindset. It would be best if he managed to get his hands on the Divine Eye civilization’s resources, but it wouldn’t be a big deal if he didn’t!

<em>That’s why I have to sneak back in. I have to retreat from the public eye and start operating in the shadows… so that I can see through the secrets of the Divine Eye civilization…</em> Now that Wang Baole thought about it, he realized that he seemed to always be missing something when it came to the Divine Eye civilization. He had a feeling… that this something had to do with the Divine Sovereign Justice Sect’s patriarch.

Wang Baole wasn’t sure of the specifics, though. He continued speeding ahead as he contemplated the matter, flying past the borders of a small civilization.

He was deep in thought and flying past the civilization… when the expression on his face shifted suddenly. It wasn’t because he had been struck with a sudden idea… it was because of the unexpected intense vibration from his storage bag, a vibration that sent tremors right into his soul!

The vibration had happened out of the blue. It hadn’t come from his voice transmission jade slip. Instead, it had come… from the storage ring that had been wrapped under layers of seals and was resting inside his storage bag!

The storage ring that had belonged to the Never-Ending Clan Planet realm cultivator!

<em>What’s going on? Is it the Never-Ending Clan Planet realm cultivator? Has he come after me?</em> Alarm blared inside Wang Baole’s head. He summoned his Divine Will and took a look at the mysterious storage ring. As it vibrated, the layers of seals that he had wrapped around the ring fell apart and disintegrated like fragile sheets of paper. They could no longer hold the storage ring in. An intense light began to emit from the storage ring.

That wasn’t the end of it. What shocked Wang Baole and drained his face of color was the sight of the storage ring… opening itself up!

A paper head popped out of the opened storage ring, its eyes glowing with an eerie light. They seemed to lock gazes with Wang Baole’s Divine Will and somehow formed an instant connection with his soul.

Before Wang Baole could react, shrill, terrifying laughter erupted in his mind in waves.

It was a laughter that held sway over one’s soul easily. Wang Baole shuddered uncontrollably as his Divine Soul suddenly grew unstable. It felt as if his Divine Soul was going to be torn to pieces. Fortunately, the excruciating sensation didn’t last long. The laughter faded away after a few seconds.

The few seconds had felt like an eternity to Wang Baole, and his clothes were drenched in sweat. He felt as if he had just climbed out of hell and escaped death. His face drained of all color, he turned abruptly towards the tiny civilization. But no matter how hard he inspected the civilization, he couldn’t find anything wrong with it.

<em>The paper human cutout… why did it suddenly do that?</em> Wang Baole reeled back from shock and alarm. He was certain that if the creature had continued laughing like that a few seconds longer, his Divine Soul would have caved in from the laughter.

Having survived the unexpected incident, Wang Baole began to deliberate over whether to discard the storage ring and eliminate the potential dangers that it might bring him. Just as he was hesitating over the matter… his eyes suddenly widened.

He saw a boat!

It was a black boat that wasn’t exactly very big, but it was big enough to hold a hundred passengers. It came gliding through the cosmos like a spirit boat, approaching him slowly.

The boat looked rundown, the scars of time’s passing visible on its surface. It was as if it had been around for a very, very long time. From a long way away, one could clearly sense a strong aura of something that was extremely ancient.

There were more than thirty people seated on the boat, some of them men, and some of them women. Every one of them looked very young. They exuded an air of cold arrogance even when their eyes were shut. The glow of their attire was proof of their extraordinary status!

They weren’t the cause of Wang Baole’s shock. The cause of his widened eyes and the horror rising inside him… was standing at the front of the boat… holding a paper oar and rowing the boat. It was a paper human cutout!