A World Worth Protecting

As soon as the stone door was pushed open, Spirit Qi surged out. All around them, the land quaked and rumbled. They were at the deepest part of the ancient battlefield. The battlefield clearly had some connection with the stone door. As soon as the door was pushed open, the ancient battlefield began to quake. It seemed on the verge of collapse. The Sea of Fire around the battlefield stirred and surged outward.

Even though they couldn’t see the changes affecting the area outside, Wang Baole could sense what was going on and draw his own conclusions. The expression on his face shifted. He was clearly slightly worried. Such a commotion might draw other disciples from the Vast Expanse Dao Palace who were also in the Sea of Fire.

This is a secluded area. It’s quite late in the night too… hopefully, there’s no one in the vicinity! As the gears in Wang Baole’s head spun furiously, the red glowing eyes of the bat hovering in mid-air suddenly flickered. The glow faded away. It turned back into a stone statue again and fell with a loud thud, landing on the ground.

It seemed to have given up trying to defend the door. The opening of the stone door was a sign. It no longer tried to interfere.

Wang Baole didn’t drop his guard. With a wave of his hand, he summoned his avatar again. It appeared next to the stone statue. He turned and stared at the stone door behind him. The Spirit Qi escaping from within was rich beyond measure.

It spread all the way to where he stood. He subconsciously absorbed some of it, and it caused the cultivation inside his body began to churn more quickly. Wang Baole was startled. The Spirit Qi in the Vast Expanse Dao Palace was already many times thicker and richer than that found in the Federation. In fact, it wasn’t an exaggeration to claim that it was dozens to a hundred times richer than the Spirit Qi found in the Federation.

The Spirit Qi that was currently escaping from within the stone doors was even richer than that found in the Vast Expanse Dao Palace. It was approximately ten times richer.

This meant that it was a thousand times richer than the Spirit Qi found on Earth. It was an extreme rarity.

“Baole, help me stand guard. I can feel myself reaching a breakthrough!” As Wang Baole stood shocked, Kong Dao spoke hastily as his breathing quickened. He stood right next to the opening. The rich Spirit Qi wormed its way into his body without his active absorption. He was already at the verge of a breakthrough, and the current surge of Spirit Qi was like ingesting Spirit Pills. Signs of a breakthrough immediately began to show themselves.

“Don’t worry!” Wang Baole knew that Kong Dao couldn’t afford any disturbance now. He replied immediately. At the same time, he waved his hand and summoned a dozen puppets. They kept a cautious lookout as they guarded the area.

Kong Dao sucked in a deep breath almost as soon as Wang Baole summoned his puppets. He sat down with his legs crossed immediately. Determination flashed in his eyes, and he unleashed his full cultivation. He trusted Wang Baole. He also knew that this was an extremely rare opportunity. Should he began the absorption process too late and the Spirit Qi dispersed further in the area, he would have wasted this precious opportunity.

He knew that a breakthrough from the Foundation Establishment realm to the Core Formation realm required an extremely safe and secure place of seclusion. He needed to be prudent and couldn’t afford any disturbance. Otherwise, he might suffer a backlash. He might not be able to succeed and even suffer a total annihilation of his current cultivation.

Kong Dao was a man of decisiveness though. He didn’t hesitate at all. He began to absorb the Spirit Qi and attempted his breakthrough!

Wang Baole looked alert. He stood next to Kong Dao, absorbing the Spirit Qi in the area while at the same time monitoring Kong Dao’s progress. With Kong Dao’s current level of cultivation, he wasn’t capable of absorbing all the Spirit Qi here even if he was trying to break through to the Core Formation realm. He only required a portion of the Spirit Qi available. That would form the momentum that would propel him towards his breakthrough.

Without Wang Baole here, the Spirit Qi in this area would disperse and spread out into the surrounding areas. It would thin out. The result would be a richer level of Spirit Qi found in the ancient battlefield above it.

There was a limit to the Spirit Qi found within the stone doors, after all.

However, since Wang Baole was here, there was no way he would allow the Spirit Qi to disperse and thin out so easily. His eyes flashed, and the devouring seed inside his body began to churn. It formed a suction force that began to absorb the Spirit Qi at a rate that ensured that sufficient Spirit Qi remained for Kong Dao to not only reach a breakthrough in his cultivation but to also stabilize his recently attained Core Formation realm cultivation.

Wang Baole’s body shuddered as Spirit Qi flowed into his body. The Lightning Core inside him began to pump like a real heart. Wang Baole’s Dark Core churned rapidly at the same time. The green lotus inside his body seemed to sense an influx of Spirit Qi. It swayed and began to absorb the Spirit Qi in the area madly.

Wang Baole’s physical body began to grow stronger as it was nourished by Spirit Qi.

The appearance of this Spirit Qi was a rare opportunity for both Kong Dao and Wang Baole. As they continued their absorption, the stone door began to slide open slowly!

More Spirit Qi began to flow out as the door slid open, and a chain reaction seemed to form. The greater flow of Spirit Qi pushed the door open more quickly, and the surrounding land began to quake more fiercely. The ancient battlefield above also shuddered violently. The intense tremors and growing cracks in the ground triggered violent waves in the surrounding Sea of Fire.

A dozen miles away from them, nine Spirit Boats were racing through the deep Sea of Fire. They had planned to pass this area and head towards another location for a mission. The huge stir in the Sea of Fire made them pause in their tracks. About nine Core Formation realm cultivators immediately stepped out from their Spirit Boats. The waves of cultivation exuding from their persons were strong, and the blood lust surrounding them was intense.

After the sect had acquired the recipe for Wang Baole’s Spirit Boat, it had started mass production of said Spirit Boats. Currently, almost every Core Formation realm cultivator had one with them all the time. The leader of the current party was a middle-aged man with excess fat on his face. He appeared to be at the late-stage Core Formation realm. His eyes shone brightly as he stared at the ancient battlefield.

“I remember that there’s an ancient battlefield over there. Why is that kind of spirit energy coming from that place?”

“Could it be some treasure?” They looked at one another. Interest colored their eyes. Even though they had formed a team to carry out another mission, it wasn’t one of urgency. They welcomed any other opportunities that might cross their path on the way to carrying out the mission.

The team had a brief discussion before the middle-aged leader shrugged.

“Let’s go and take a look!” As soon as he said that, they boarded their Spirit Boats and raced towards the ancient battlefield at full speed.

The team approached the ancient battlefield. The stone door beneath the battlefield was halfway opened, and the Spirit Qi within had surged and spread out across a wide area. However, Wang Baole contained the Spirit Qi within the area with his devouring seed’s suction force. As he absorbed the Spirit Qi, he ensured that Spirit Qi spread out and surrounded Kong Dao. He ensured that there was sufficient Spirit Qi around Kong Dao as he contained the Spirit Qi within a fixed area. Because of what he was doing, he couldn’t move around easily. He was worried that the presence of such rich Spirit Qi in the area might attract potential dangers though. That was why he controlled his avatar and ensured that the stone statue had indeed fallen back into slumber. Then, he withdrew his avatar and swiftly stepped into the chamber behind the stone door!

It was a cave abode. The cave abode was not big, and there weren’t many items lying around. Wang Baole had no time to inspect them. He controlled his avatar and got it to quickly rummage through the area, taking everything that he saw.

There were no identity tokens, storage bags, or corpses. However, what he found there would likely fetch a good price. There was also a large alchemical cauldron in the furthest end of the cave.

What drew Wang Baole’s interest was a separate stone chamber and a jade box found within it. The jade box floated in mid-air and shone with a colorful spectrum of lights. It looked extraordinary.

Without any hesitation, Wang Baole sent his avatar forward and retrieved the jade box. He put away everything in his storage bag. Then, he released a breath of relief inwardly. He had gotten his rewards from this trip. What was left was to wait for Kong Dao to reach a breakthrough in his cultivation. After which, they would be able to leave.

Kong Dao finally reached a critical point in his cultivation, so Wang Baole stopped absorbing the Spirit Qi in the area. His devouring seed continued churning though and used its suction force to contain and gather Spirit Qi around Kong Dao.

He’s reaching a breakthrough. Wang Baole’s eyes swept past Kong Dao. He could sense Kong Dao forming his Golden Core now. The aura belonging to a Core Formation realm cultivator began to form around him.

His own cultivation had also been enhanced considerably after his earlier absorption of Spirit Qi. His cultivation at the mid-stage Core Formation realm had stabilized, and he had also made a huge step towards the late-stage Core Formation realm.

If I can find a few other places like this, it’s not entirely impossible for me to advance to the Nascent Soul realm in one go! Wang Baole licked his lips. He was satisfied with his gains during this trip. His spiritual senses extended outwards. He was about to search for other valuable items in the area when something flickered in his eyes. He lifted his head suddenly upwards and stared above him!