A World Worth Protecting

As the game became all the rage, the Spirit Internet gained popularity as well. It could be said that in these short few months, the Federation had transformed the Dao Palace significantly and had indeed achieved integration with the Dao Palace, which was the goal mentioned by the Galactic Dusk Sect Lord to Wang Baole when he first arrived!

He wanted to leave the mark of the Federation everywhere within the Dao Palace so that it would be difficult for the Dao Palace to get rid of the Federation!

It was also because of this plan, and the success of the Spirit Internet, that created a huge change in the lives of the Dao Palace disciples. Right now, they didn’t leave their houses to get in touch with the news and gossip of the entire Dao Palace. There was also entertainment, friendship, and service transactions between them. The emergence of the game had changed the quality of their leisure lives.

All this was nothing to the Federation cultivators. Even though there was temptation, it wasn’t strong enough to be earth-shaking. After all, even though the Federation’s immortal cultivation paled in comparison to the Dao Palace, their daily lives were rich and fulfilling, as they were supported by the operations of the entire civilization. On the other hand, there weren’t many Dao Palace disciples, and their civilization was lacking. That was perhaps not the case in the past, but they were clearly in a deficit these tens of years.

Therefore, the clash of civilizations from both sides was extremely impactful to the Dao Palace disciples. While it enriched the lives of the Dao Palace disciples, it also allowed the Federation to set its roots within the Dao Palace.

The next mission that Sect Lord Xu of the Galactic Dusk Sect had to accomplish was to carry out the construction of the teleportation array formation in secret. At the same time, he had to be a guardian of the union between the Federation and the Dao Palace. While spending time with the upper echelons of the Dao Palace, he didn’t neglect his own cultivation. He was inching closer to advancing to the Nascent Soul realm.

In addition, as the game continued to grow in popularity, and as the amount of battle credits he earned swelled, Wang Baole began to live an increasingly comfortable life. However, he didn’t teleport cultivation techniques back immediately. Instead, he exchanged his battle credits for large amounts of refinement materials.

A significant portion of the resources were supposed to be used to advance his intrinsic scabbard. However, even so, Wang Baole didn’t dare attempt it, as he wasn’t completely confident. Furthermore, according to his analysis, if he failed, he would damage the intrinsic scabbard greatly. If not for the previous battle with Dugu Lin, Wang Baole wouldn’t have realized that fact. However, after the battle, the ferocity of the intrinsic scabbard made Wang Baole realize how important it was.

The more he focused on its importance, the more he was unwilling to try it haphazardly. Therefore, Wang Baole planned to refine an eighth-grade Dharmic Armament first and advance the scabbard once he succeeded in doing that and became more confident.

In the meantime, Wang Baole’s gaming business boomed. Jin Duoming, after noticing the astonishing earnings from the game, couldn’t sit still any longer. He didn’t know Xie Haiyang and only came to know about such a formidable character through the game. Therefore, he naturally didn’t know that Xie Haiyang had once been in the Ethereal Dao College. After all, only people from the Ethereal Dao College would know about it. In addition, Xie Haiyang was also secretive, with Wang Baole apparently being the only one amongst the Federation Seedlings who knew him well.

Even Zhuo Yifan and Zhao Yameng could only make some guesses, but they didn’t verify it out of caution.

As such, Jin Duoming was unable to know much about Xie Haiyang. Even though he tried to find out, he didn’t manage to obtain much information. He then decided to ask Wang Baole directly about Xie Haiyang’s background.

He didn’t have eyes on the profits that Wang Baole had gained from his game, he didn’t dare to… However, he still had some intentions with regards to Xie Haiyang. He thought that everything would be perfect if he could gain some profits from him…

“Xie Haiyang?” Wang Baole raised his head to look at Jin Duoming, who was sitting with a smile on his face in front of him. Wang Baole put aside the bottle of Ice Spirit Water in his hands. Wang Baole didn’t dislike Jin Duoming, as even though he was his competitor and had some intentions against him, Wang Baole felt that all this was the result of Duan Muque’s manipulation. At the same time, Wang Baole was confident in emerging victorious with the revenue from the game. In addition, Wang Baole’s cultivation was also formidable, which made him feel that he had the right to turn the tables on Jin Duoming anytime he wanted.

On the other hand, Jin Duoming also knew how to handle relationships well. Wang Baole smiled at Jin Duoming as well, as he had learned from reading the high officials’ autobiographies since he was a boy. He understood that the world didn’t revolve around one person, and it was important that one didn’t think of himself as the center of the universe.

Setting aside all those thoughts in his mind, Wang Baole thought about Xie Haiyang’s background, as well as his suspicions, before enlightening Jin Duoming.

“Little Ming, Xie Haiyang isn’t a simple person. I don’t understand him fully either, I only know that he seems to have a strong backing in the Dao Palace. I encourage you to not have any intentions towards him.” Wang Baole looked deeply at Jin Duoming.

That gaze sent ripples through Jin Duoming’s heart. Even though he wanted to become Federation President, he didn’t want to offend Wang Baole. According to his plans, even if he were to really become Federation President, he could still give up the position. Therefore, he didn’t bring the matter up and simply thought about what a big favor Wang Baole would owe him if he were to give up his position as Federation President. That would be sufficient for him to lead an extremely comfortable life in the Federation in the future.

Therefore, he believed whatever Wang Baole said. Amidst the silence, he immediately aborted his original intentions and decided not to investigate Xie Haiyang’s background anymore. If Xie Haiyang were to find out about it, misunderstandings might happen. With that, Jin Duoming took a deep breath and bowed at Wang Baole with cupped fists. He then chatted with Wang Baole briefly before taking out some refinement materials from his storage bag and passing them to Wang Baole.

“Baole, I heard that you’ve been buying materials recently. I have some materials as well, and you can use them first.”

Wang Baole took a look and was moved slightly. That was because those refinement materials weren’t from the Dao Palace but the Federation. They were also extremely expensive materials that were needed for the refinement of ninth-grade Dharmic Armaments.

Therefore, Wang Baole laughed and didn’t act as if he didn’t need them. He took the materials and sent Jin Duoming away before going into seclusion to cultivate. A week passed, and as the cultivation in Wang Baole’s body increased to a high level, Wang Baole opened his eyes while still meditating. He felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction coming from within his body.

That feeling made Wang Baole realize that he had truly stabilized the cultivation that was elevated through the devouring seed when he was in the trial grounds back then. He was now at the peak of the late-stage Core Formation realm, and he was only a step away from perfection!

At this time, he was also extremely clear with his understanding of the Lightning Immortal Transformation. As such, with continued cultivation over the next few days, he finally succeeded in cultivating the third level of the Lightning Immortal Transformation!

When he sealed his hands, an overlapping figure emerged immediately from his physical body. When the lightning avatar stepped out, it was extremely difficult to distinguish it from Wang Baole, and it was basically an identical replica of him—down to his flesh and bones.

That was especially so as the Lightning Avatar also possessed a devouring seed. To a certain degree, it was almost a true avatar.

Looking at his Lightning Avatar, Wang Baole was filled with anticipation. He controlled his avatar and flew it out of the cave abode and into the distance. When it was several thousand feet away, Wang Baole began to feel that he had reached a limit. He stopped and murmured in his heart.

Lightning Escape!

Almost the instant those two words reverberated in Wang Baole’s heart, his avatar became blurry instantly. In the blink of an eye, his physical self in the cave abode interchanged with the lightning avatar, and he appeared above the Sea of Fire.

In his exhilaration, Wang Baole tried several more times. When he returned to his cave abode, he couldn’t help but chuckle heartily.

With the Lightning Escape allowing me to change positions with the avatar instantly, my combat power has been boosted! Numerous unexpected techniques that could be used for battle surfaced in Wang Baole’s mind instantly. In his excitement, he sat down to meditate and attempt the second level of the Flame Snatch Thearch Armor.

Despite the second level of Flame Snatch Thearch Armor being challenging, Wang Baole had managed to gain an understanding of it over time. Right now, as he cultivated, the outline formed from the blood-colored meridians emerging from his body began to be covered with white threads. The white threads weren’t numerous, but Wang Baole knew very well that it was a sign of bone formation.

What was needed next was a long period of unrelenting persistence to form the complete bone structure. Only then could the second level of Thearch Armor be considered to have been cultivated successfully.

I shouldn’t rush into this matter… Unless there are some shortcuts similar to back then when I used the Flame Snatch technique to cultivate the first level Thearch Armor… With that thought, Wang Baole checked on his Thearch Armor. He had many ideas but eliminated most of them.

Forget it. Whatever the case, I am currently much more powerful than I was when I went into the battle on the trial grounds previously! Wang Baole smiled and took out a petal from his storage bag. It was the petal that Wang Baole took away from Dugu Lin’s five-colored flower. After the battle, Dugu Lin didn’t ask for it, and Wang Baole didn’t return it.

After examining the petal, Wang Baole took out a copper coin. Looking at the copper coin, a peculiar glow flashed across his eyes.

“I should never stop trying to decipher this object. At the same time, I also need to repair that black pike…” As Wang Baole murmured, he took a deep breath and made preparations to put in more effort and thought into refining his treasures before the Worship Palace Pavilion opened.