A World Worth Protecting

That power seemed to originally exist within the cosmos. It was just that others couldn’t guide it. The paper oar was like a medium that could gather that power. After gathering, the power actually traveled along the paper oar and headed straight for Wang Baole’s hands.

Not waiting for Wang Baole to react, the gentle power gushed into his body and became a warm current that spread around his entire body. While it caused Wang Baole’s body to tremble, it also made cracks sound from within his body. His breathing also quickened as an indescribable wave of comfort spread in his soul.

It was as though he had consumed a nourishing pill. While the sense of comfort spread, Wang Baole also clearly felt that his cultivation… actually… increased a little from its previous stabilized state!

That gave Wang Baole a big shock!

Because of the opportunity that he gained in the imperial cemetery, Wang Baole’s Spirit Immortal foundation could be said to be as solid as bedrock, greatly exceeding that of ordinary Spirit Immortals. Although it was a good thing, it also meant that the difficulty level when trying to improve his cultivation from the late-stage Spirit Immortal realm would be ten or even a hundred times harder than it was for others!

But now, he actually had such gains just by rowing with the paper oar once. This made Wang Baole’s eyes shine after initially feeling shocked, and he felt extreme joy.

I never knew rowing boats could have such a wonderful effect! Wang Baole immediately got excited as an intense light shone from his eyes. Although he didn’t know the specific theory behind this opportunity, he could understand that there was a possibility of there being energy in the cosmos that was extremely beneficial to a cultivator. Maybe only when one reached the Planet realm would they be able to absorb it from the cosmos and use it for their cultivation.

According to the Earth’s explanation, it was probably something like cosmic rays that were invisible to the naked eye. As for the paper oar… it was obviously even more extraordinary. It actually allowed a Spirit Immortal like him to absorb the energy from the cosmos.

I misunderstood the paper human cutout! Wang Baole immediately turned his head. When he looked towards the paper human cutout, respect and gratitude appeared in his eyes. After he turned back, he put even more effort into rowing with the paper oar.

I love rowing boats!

I love exercising!

Helping others brings me joy!

He had to give it his all every time he rowed, having to unleash almost all of his cultivation and his avatar’s physical strength to truly complete one row. The fatigue he felt couldn’t be put into words, but Wang Baole felt more motivated the more he rowed.

Wang Baole was so happy to row that he didn’t feel tired at all. Determination appeared in his eyes as he kept rowing, and the benefits he gained were obvious. Wave after wave of the gentle power from the cosmos traveled along the paper oar and kept gushing into his body. It caused the cracks coming from his body to become more obvious and more intense. Meanwhile, his cultivation kept increasing.

Although it didn’t increase by much, the continuous increase was like an accumulating snowball. As it accumulated, the cultivation aura on Wang Baole’s body was finally completely moved and shot up!

This brought Wang Baole even more joy. In fact, he felt extremely excited in his heart. Truly, he understood his own cultivation too well and was very clear that at his current state, the sheer difficulty of breaking through the late-stage Spirit Immortal realm to the perfected Spirit Immortal realm was unimaginable for ordinary Spirit Immortals.

The opportunities that could allow late-stage Spirit Immortals to achieve a breakthrough were almost like tickles to him. If one saw their cultivation as a tangible object, raising it to a certain height would represent different cultivation levels. Then, the tangible object ordinary Spirit Immortals would turn into would only be around five kilograms, meaning one didn’t need much strength to raise it.

But for Wang Baole, if his cultivation was seen as a tangible object, it would weigh hundreds of kilograms. Hence… more strength would be required to raise it to the same height, and the difficulty was naturally astonishing.

But now, as he rowed the boat, although he was tired, the explosion of his cultivation was real. And to Wang Baole, such an opportunity was way too hard to come by.

Similarly, because of his cultivation’s explosion and increase, Wang Baole could no longer hide the scenes of what was happening to his body. This caused the expressions of the thirty or so teenage chosen ones in the cabin to change immensely. Previously, they already vaguely sensed something amiss. Such obvious signs of change in cultivation level immediately shocked them. Even if they all saw themselves as chosen ones of the current generation and their ability to stay calm was extraordinary, they still exclaimed.

“Immortal Qi?”

“There’s something amiss about that paper oar!”

“There’s only one explanation for the increase in Xie Dalu’s cultivation. That is, the Immortal Qi in the cosmos is being guided here and turned into gentle immortal energy that Spirit Immortals can absorb!”

A commotion was started, and many chosen ones stood up. When they looked towards the paper oar in Wang Baole’s hands, flames of desire appeared in their eyes. Some could control it, some tried to hide it, and some just let the flames of desire blaze.

As chosen ones of their respective family clans and sects, they were much more knowledgeable than Wang Baole. Hence, they were clear that after cultivators reached the Planet realm, although Spirit Qi was still a prerequisite for cultivation, it was… not the only one!

Within the Never-Ending Dao Domain, there was another form of power of an even higher level—Immortal Qi!

Immortal Qi was essentially the formless power that existed in the cosmos. This power was formed periodically by the countless suns in the Never-Ending Star Domain. If one gathered and concentrated it in high amounts, it would form Red Crystals!

It was just that both Red Crystals and the Immortal Qi floating in the cosmos could only be absorbed after one reached the Planet realm. It was way too difficult for Spirit Immortals to absorb it. After all, Spirit Immortals didn’t have planets in their bodies and would find it difficult to temper the energy. Moreover, the energy was violent, and even if Spirit Immortals absorbed it by force, they wouldn’t be able to gain much from it.

Of course, there were still methods to absorb it, but stable methods which also allowed cultivators to temper and bear it were very few in number. That was unless an Eternal Star realm cultivator was willing to be a medium and use their body to modify it. But that had huge consequences and couldn’t really yield much tempered Immortal Qi.

For those chosen ones on the sampan, most of them reaped the benefits of the contributions of their seniors, so they knew all the more how valuable tempered and bearable Immortal Qi was. Therefore, as they looked towards Wang Baole, they couldn’t help but be green with envy.

In reality… they were just like Wang Baole. Although they were Spirit Immortals, they far exceeded ordinary Spirit Immortals and were very clear how difficult it was for them to increase their cultivations. As their eyes shone, it was as though they discovered the New World, and they were also considering how they could also gain the right to row the boat.

In fact, the impatient ones had already tried cupping their fists towards the paper human cutout.

“Senior, I feel that I can also help you row the boat…”

It was just that the paper human cutout’s attitude towards them was completely different from his attitude towards Wang Baole. It would be fine if it just acted like it didn’t hear them, but the paper human cutout turned its head, and an ethereal glint flashed between its eyes. The chilly aura spread from its body and engulfed the entire sampan.

It didn’t need to use other methods to reply to them. Just the suppression from its cultivation and the coldness in its eyes was enough to express its attitude. This made it such that although those chosen ones felt indignant, they couldn’t do anything about it. They could only watch as Wang Baole’s cultivation kept increasing as he kept rowing.

“Why do you treat us differently from Xie Dalu!”

“Wait a minute… could it be that this Xie Dalu has some strange items on him?” There were naturally intelligent people among the chosen ones, and very quickly, although they were all shocked and envious, strange glints appeared in their eyes after they pondered.

As for Wang Baole, he had no time to bother with those chosen ones. He didn’t care whether they guessed it or not. Right now, all he cared about was the increase in his cultivation.

As he sensed that his cultivation was getting closer and closer to the perfected Spirit Immortal realm, the excitement Wang Baole felt in his heart was indescribable. Also, he had already discovered that as he rowed and as the gentle power gushed into his body, all of the injuries he sustained when fighting the right-hand elder on the Eye of the Eternal Star were rapidly healing.

Not only that, but even his Emperor Armor seemed to be affected. The spirit energy within it was mostly replenished. This made Wang Baole extremely excited as he unleashed his Emperor Armor. After it spread over his entire body in an instant, he rowed the paper oar with all his might again.

Just like that, time slowly passed. As everyone stared at him, and as Wang Baole rowed, the ethereal spirit boat kept moving forward in the cosmos. But after Wang Baole rowed around a hundred times, his body trembled.