A World Worth Protecting

They were clearly terrified of Wang Baole. That was why they had only appeared now. Four of them were crying fearfully. Then, upon remembering that the awful, nasty man before them disliked the sound of weeping, they immediately slapped their mouths shut with their hands.

Only one of them, despite being equally frightened, gathered his courage and drifted forward. He stood before Wang Baole, then fell to his knees and kowtowed to Wang Baole. Then, he pulled out a pill bottle that exuded an air of decomposition, but was still relatively well-preserved, and placed it before Wang Baole. He kowtowed again. An indistinct voice drifted out from within his spirit form.

“Please… return our mother… to us…”

Wang Baole was shocked. He stared at the young spirit, then looked at the children behind it, trembling and afraid to cry out. He grabbed the pill bottle and glanced at it. He opened it, took a look inside, and was momentarily stunned.

A Universe Pill? Wang Baole hadn’t seen many valuable treasures since he had arrived at the Vast Expanse Dao Palace. However, he had done some research, especially on pills and materials, which was his focus of study.

This Universe Pill, for example. He had never seen one, but he knew that this pill had a special property. It gave off a kind of black light. However, in the night, it sparkled like a bright bead.

The Universe Pill was one of the supplementary pills that aided a cultivator in advancing from the perfected Core Formation realm into the Nascent Soul realm. It would cost fifty thousand battle credits to get one from the sect.

Wang Baole had his guesses, but he couldn’t be fully confident that this was indeed a Universe Pill. Regardless, it looked quite extraordinary. He was overjoyed. After some thought, he grabbed the white-robed female spirit and threw her aside.

He didn’t know how the Never-Ending Clan managed to control the spirits. With a series of hand seals, he summoned eight Dark Fires that circled the spirits and burned the remnants of whatever spell was controlling them, before recalling the Dark Fires.

During the entire process, the spirits were so terrified they dared not move an inch. Wang Baole’s Dark Fire could be said to be one of the most terrifying things in the world to them. It was only slightly less terrifying than Wang Baole himself.

“Fine, fine. Just go. Don’t go around scaring people anymore, alright?” Wang Baole waved his hand and ignored the spirits. He started studying the Universe Pill in detail.

The female spirit dared not linger after being released. She hastily gathered her children and fled…

After a while, Wang Baole kept the Universe Pill. He decided to inspect it further when he returned. He would verify the actual name of the pill and if it were truly a Universe Pill. If it were authentic, he would have gotten himself a good deal out of this. If it were fake… a cold light flashed in Wang Baole’s eyes. He would return and find these spirits, then ask them why they had deceived him.

He turned and stared at the enormous golden beetle. After some thought, he decided to take it, as well as the corpses inside, with him as well.

It doesn’t matter if I can sell them for some credits. Let’s just take them first and decide what to do with them later. There might be a chance that I can sell them off later… I have no choice. I’m poor. Wang Baole lamented. He could only say that he was only mildly satisfied with his gains for this trip.

It would be great if the pill were authentic. If it weren’t, he would’ve made this trip at a loss. The round-trip journey cost a thousand battle credits. It also cost him so much time.

Fine. We’ll just treat this as a trip to familiarize myself with the environment. Wang Baole shook his head. He turned and planned to leave. He flew into the air, determined the direction home, and headed for the protective barrier. Suddenly, the white-robed female spirit that had left earlier appeared in mid-air before him again.

Wang Baole glared at the female spirit who dared to appear before him. He was about to shout at her when the spirit shuddered and greeted Wang Baole hastily. She seemed afraid that Wang Baole might misunderstand her intentions. She tried desperately to extend her consciousness towards him.

“You want to thank me for releasing you from the spell?” Wang Baole finally understood what she was trying to say after a long time. He was deeply suspicious and formed a series of hand seals. The Dark Core inside his body activated, and a Dark Fire flew towards the female spirit and entered her forehead. It returned to Wang Baole immediately and landed on his palm. He studied it carefully and concluded that the female spirit genuinely wished to repay his favor.

After some thought, Wang Baole concluded that his gains from this trip weren’t very satisfactory. He waved his hand and gestured for the female spirit to lead the way. Upon seeing Wang Baole’s agreement, the female spirit appeared very happy. She flew ahead and led Wang Baole into the distance.

The journey wasn’t long. They traveled for a hundred miles or so. Wang Baole kept his guard up throughout the entire journey and followed the female spirit to a region that seemed to have been formed barely a few days ago.

A mountain peak, slightly tilted to its side, sat in the Sea of Fire. It seemed stuck and immobile, and lava streamed past its sides. It seemed incomplete, as if it were only one half of a complete mountain.

Its size was still impressive despite being one half of a full mountain. It was the size of a pavilion on a major mountain peak in the Ethereal Dao College. There were still quite a significant number of pavilions and other buildings on the mountain. Most were damaged and in ruins, but a portion seemed well preserved. They didn’t seem to have suffered much damage.

This wasn’t the most shocking part. What truly made Wang Baole’s breathing quicken were the ten corpses lying on the mountain. There were both female and male corpses. Besides the fatal injury that killed them, they were otherwise well preserved. Wang Baole could even see the storage bags on them!

Wang Baole’s eyes widened at the sight. He didn’t immediately inspect the mountain. He quickly assessed the surrounding as he pulled out his Dharmic Armament cautiously. After a long while, and after completing a careful inspection of the surrounding area and concluding that there was no danger, he released a sigh of relief. He then approached the mountain carefully, his eyes burning with hunger.

After leading Wang Baole to this place, the female spirit bowed deeply and drifted away. She truly was repaying Wang Baole for not killing her and for releasing her from the hex. She had discovered this place a few days ago, but she had no interest in what was in this place. However, even with her indistinct, unclear mind, she knew that outsiders who entered this place often fought over the things that could be found here.

That was why she had located Wang Baole and brought him here. It was her way of repaying him.

This was a pleasant discovery for Wang Baole. After ensuring that there was nothing dangerous in the vicinity, he approached the mountain peak excitedly. After a closer look, his heart began to race. Heat and desire burned in his eyes.

There’s no doubt. No one has entered this place before!

Just from one glance, I can see more than thirty corpses… every one of them has a storage bag. They must contain an identity token and other valuable items!

I’m going to be rich if I can get in! Wang Baole took a deep breath. Despite the deep desire he had, he didn’t act recklessly. He had seen similar places during his time on the sword body. They might not draw as much attention, but they likely were places that housed great treasures as well.

However, a hex protected such areas. They protected against the Sea of Fire as well as Wang Baole’s entry. He had only been able to watch and sigh, then leave in resignation.

However, the slanted mountain peak before him didn’t seem to be protected by any spells. It looked like he might be able to enter with a single leap. Wang Baole wasn’t a reckless person though. He studied the area carefully, then pulled out a puppet. He controlled the puppet and sent it flying forward.

The puppet resembled a Diamond Ape. It swiftly dashed forward and took a leap. As soon as it approached the mountain peak and was about to land, a black light appeared suddenly, brushing past the Diamond Ape. The Diamond Ape puppet froze, then it was sliced into multiple pieces. It exploded.

I knew it, there’s a hex… Wang Baole wasn’t surprised. He stood there and thought for a long while. Then, with a wave of his hand, he summoned a dozen puppets again. They dashed out and surrounded the mountain peak. Then, they charged at it at the same time.

As soon as they charged at it, the black light reappeared. It swept across the entire area swiftly. Explosions thundered as the puppets were destroyed instantly.

Wang Baole didn’t ache for his loss though. Instead, his eyes shone with excitement as he waved his hand again and summoned more than fifty puppets!

There’s a loophole… in this hex!