A World Worth Protecting

Wang Baole set aside the inner turmoil he felt as he surveyed his surroundings. He lifted his right hand. With a sudden wave, a dozen puppets appeared and spread out. As they searched the city ruins, Wang Baole began to wander around the city as well. He stared at the buildings and made his way towards the area that gave off the strongest Dark Sect aura.

He could tell that the city had housed quite a number of residents. A careful inspection of the clues left around him indicated that the city’s residents had been prepared for the calamity that had befallen them. However, it was clear that they had still been powerless in the face of such a catastrophe. Everyone had perished. Even the giant had been cleaved into two.

A sense of loss unfurled inside Wang Baole. He shook his head and approached the center of the city ruins. Wang Baole took but a few steps before he suddenly froze in his tracks. There was a solemn look in his eyes.

One of the dozen puppets he had let out earlier had just severed its connection with him without any prior warning.

Wang Baole immediately went on high alert. He headed swiftly towards the last known location of that puppet. As he neared it, he caught sight of the puppet lying motionlessly in a corner.

Wang Baole didn’t approach the puppet immediately. He narrowed his eyes, then raised his right hand and waved. A flying sword dashed through the air towards the puppet. As it drew near, the puppet suddenly jerked and flipped itself over. A red light shot out under it, evading the flying sword as it shrieked and headed straight for Wang Baole’s face.

It seemed to sense the Dark Fire outside Wang Baole’s body as soon as it approached. The red light shrunk back hastily as if it was trying to escape.

It was fast, but Wang Baole had his Flame Snatch Thearch Armor on. He lifted his right hand and, with a grab, caught the red light.

The red light turned out to be some kind of worm. It wasn’t a corpse but an actual living creature. It wriggled in Wang Baole’s hand continuously. There was a huge opening on its head, from which fluids continued to escape. Black teeth lined the opening. It roared and bared its teeth at Wang Baole as it struggled violently to break free from Wang Baole’s grip.

But its trembling body gave away its fear. The creature had shrunk away from Wang Baole earlier, a clear indication of its fear of fire!

Wang Baole fell into a deep contemplation. His eyes landed on the puppet’s back, and he noticed a nick. The puppet must have been attacked by the worm while searching the area. The worm had pierced straight through its body and broken its core.

It doesn’t seem very strong, Wang Baole thought, then pinched tightly with his armored hand. The worm shrieked, but its body wasn’t crushed instantly. Wang Baole’s pupils contracted, and a thought flickered in his head. His Dark Fire drew near the worm, which caused the creature to begin to scream more loudly. It started to burn as soon as the Dark Fire enveloped it, turning to dust within Wang Baole’s armored palm.

The cries that the worm had made before its final breath echoed in the silence. The earth trembled slightly when it turned to dust. Even the buildings around Wang Baole shook. Within a blink of an eye—from every nook and cranny of every building, from the ground, and from the long meandering mountain-like skeletal arm in the distance—masses of red worms started to appear!

Some of them were as tiny as the one that he had caught, while others were hundreds of feet long. The most terrifying one came from the distant mountain. It was a thousand feet long and roared as it dug its way out. It stared straight at Wang Baole.

One could hardly see the city ruins and the corpses. Instead, they had been replaced with countless worms. They were like hair sprouting out from the giant’s body, wriggling without stop and covering everything on land.

Wang Baole narrowed his eyes as he stared at the countless red worms surrounding him. He felt the connection he had with the puppets he had released earlier snap, one by one.

“These red worms look like… body hair?” Wang Baole shook his head. He knew nothing about these creatures, but he wasn’t bothered. He had seen evidence of his Dark Fire’s power over these worms. He took a deep breath, then allowed the Dark Fire inside his body to spread outwards. The black fires rumbled as they surged outwards, growing wilder and fiercer, and they exuded an iciness that turned the ground to frost.

The Dark Fire proved effective against the worms. All around him, the worms began to shriek and retreat. Even the largest worm on the giant’s arm in the distance shivered and recoiled.

Having once again ascertained the effectiveness of the Dark Fire, Wang Baole began to march forward. None of the worms dared draw near them. They shrank back, clearing a path for Wang Baole, allowing him to reach the center of the city smoothly.

There was… a huge public square that was sunken in!

It might not be appropriate to refer to the area as a public square. Instead, it resembled a sacrificial altar. A dozen or so partially damaged statues stood around it. Based on his estimates, the center of this sacrificial altar appeared to be the center of the top of the giant’s skull!

This was also where the Dark Sect aura was the strongest.

Wang Baole eyed the damaged statues around him. Their features were mostly indistinguishable due to the severe damage to the statues. However, Wang Baole had a feeling that these statues had been of the once-powerful figures of the past Dark Sect. They had been the pillars of the entire Dark Sect, the spiritual leaders who had the awe and respect of every Dark Sect disciple—regardless of their faction!

Every one of them represented an era of glory!

Wang Baole’s eyes landed on one statue. He suddenly shivered before he made his way towards it slowly.

He stared at it for a very long time. The statue was missing its head. However, the clothes it had on and the familiar feeling it gave off made Wang Baole’s breathing quicken. He knew who this was.

“Master…” Wang Baole murmured to himself after a long bout of silence. An indescribable sorrow rose within his heart. He bowed deeply towards the statue and only lifted his head after a very long time. He stored the statue inside his storage bracelet.

Then, he looked towards the center of the sunken area. After some thought, Wang Baole tried making his way towards the center, stepping onto the center of the giant’s skull. He could feel the Dark Sect aura and his Dark Fire flaring to life as he stood there.

Something’s not right. After taking a few steps, Wang Baole stopped, stared at his feet, then retraced his steps back to where he had originally stood.

There’s no doubt that the Dark Fire becomes most active when I stand here! After some thought, his eyes flashed. His hands came together to form a series of hand seals. The Dark Fire inside him flared up again with greater agitation. He sat down, shut his eyes, and allowed his mind to become one with the Dark Fire. He tried to meld his mind with the skull.

Just as his mind became one with the Dark Fire and slipped into the skull beneath his feet, his body suddenly shook violently. He could hear an ancient voice in his mind, stirring ripples across his soul.

“Soul guiding, dream spinning, rebirth severing, ten thousand tribulations, a thousand lives, five punishments!”

The voice seemed to have traveled across thousands of years. It sounded as if it had come from the world of the dead, its echoes now lingering in the world of the living and ringing loudly in Wang Baole’s head. Wang Baole thought he saw six faintly glowing spheres of light.

This is…

His body shook suddenly. Wang Baole opened his eyes, then lowered his head violently as he heaved. He stared at the skull beneath him as the aged voice continued to ring in his head. The spheres of light remained glowing dimly in his mind, and his eyes began to shine with an intense light!

“The six spheres of light look very similar… to the divine consciousness that I came across in the past, the divine consciousness that is essential for the crafting of a Dharmic Armament!” Wang Baole whispered. As a Dark Child, and with his proficiency in Dharmic Armaments, he was quite confident that beneath this skull hid six remnant wisps of a soul that were weak and on the verge of disappearing completely!

In fact, they resembled the remnant consciousness of a certain being. Their essence was similar to the divine consciousness that was required for refining a Dharmic Armament!

Wang Baole’s eyes sparkled at the discovery. He melded his mind with the Dark Fire repeatedly. The repeated attempts strengthened his belief that there were indeed six weakening divine consciousness remnants resting beneath the skull. If they were left there untouched, they would likely vanish within a few decades, never to be recovered.

There were many ways to ensure they continued to live forever. However, there was only one that Wang Baole was capable of achieving… and that was to fuse the six divine consciousnesses remnants into a Dharmic Armament and transform them into Artifact Souls!

That was the only way to preserve the six divine consciousnesses!