A World Worth Protecting

The trio charged in three different directions. Of them, Zhuo Yifan unleashed all his efforts in a ferocious manner, as if concentrated Blood Qi was circulating all around his body. The figure of his previous incarnation that was behind him also supported him significantly, allowing him to move astoundingly fast.

At the same time, there vaguely appeared to be a cloud shrouding his legs. That was the level three spell of the Cloud Ethereal skill, known as Cloud Fog Step!

The Cloud Fog Step could significantly boost the cultivator’s speed in a short period of time. Even though he was not as fast as lightning, the combination of the Cloud Fog Step with the spells that had been passed down in Zhuo Yifan’s family made Zhuo Yifan so fast that he disappeared within the forest.

On the other hand, on Zhao Yameng’s side, several illusory stars—each approximately the size of a fist—appeared everywhere, and rays of starlight emerged from her body. As a result, one wouldn’t be able to see her clearly, and she could disregard whatever was in front of her and pass between the trees into the distance.

Wang Baole was also moving at breathtaking speed. He didn’t activate the Cloud Fog Step like Zhuo Yifan and was not as familiar with array formations like Zhao Yameng, but he had the strongest physique out of the three.

Such a strong physical body removed the need for him to further boost his speed with his cultivation, for he was already as fast as lightning. As he dashed into the forest, he was like a duck to water. He moved agilely within the forest.

Behind them, hundreds of puppet cultivators had spread out to pursue them. The tree branches that had destroyed Wang Baole’s droplet cruiser reached out to the skies and stabilized the seals that were being placed all around. That made everything in the region appear completely normal from the outside!

At the top of the big tree, a pair of eyes gradually appeared as Wang Baole and company went further into the distance. The pupils of the eyes were like a cross, its brown color revealing a chilling and eerie vibe.

A demonic glow reflected off the pupil, and every time it shone, light rays glowed from its body. If one neared it, they would hear noise emerging from the tree.

“Everything is normal.”

“It’s fine now. Rest assured, Senior Brother.”

“Everything’s good. I could probably return in three or four days.”

“I’m fine, there’s no need to worry about me…”

All the different voices appeared to be impersonating those who had been assimilated by the tree, conveying the news that they are well and safe to their respective units and to the Dao College. That was so no one would grow suspicious that they had already died!

As the gigantic tree glowed eerily, Wang Baole and company were traveling at an extremely high speed, trying to find an escape route in the forest outside Coulomb Basin.

Compared to Zhuo Yifan and Zhao Yameng, Wang Baole was familiar with finding an escape route within the forest. The familiar scent of the trees that surrounding Wang Baole gradually made him feel like he had returned to the Pond Cloud Rainforest. The people chasing after him, as well as the threat from the gigantic tree, made him vigilant, as well as caused his thoughts to become active.

What on earth is that giant tree? Wang Baole took a deep breath. He jumped and leaped from the crown of a tree to increase the distance. Upon landing, he immediately dug a trench in the ground and buried himself in it. He masked his scent and hid within the trench, while feelings of anxiousness, urgency, and danger arose in his heart.

Before this, I have never heard that trees would evolve in such a manner. Only animals were listed in the Beast Records from the Federation!

Instead, plants appeared here! That was a major issue. Even if Wang Baole was a True Breath realm cultivator, he still felt an unusual sense of threat. He even had a premonition that the meaning behind all of it could result in a catastrophic change in the Federation, which had just entered a period of stabilization.

That was especially so when he thought about how the giant tree could assimilate cultivators, causing people of Ancient Martial realm cultivation to be granted a True Breath realm’s level of cultivation. That was simply too frightening to him.

Initially, it hadn’t planned to attack. It only began blocking us after finding out that we were sending messages back to the Dao College. That means that huge secrets are hidden here, not to be discovered by others! With that thought, Wang Baole’s pupils suddenly constricted, and he jumped up immediately from the trench.

Almost simultaneously, a large tree in front of him suddenly warped. A puppet cultivator eerily stepped out from within it, throwing a strong punch towards the direction of the trench where Wang Baole had hidden previously!

Had he not sensed it quickly, the punch would definitely have landed directly on Wang Baole.

This trick is useless! Wang Baole’s eyes opened wide. As he retreated, he noticed that puppet cultivators were emerging from the surrounding trees. He didn’t have time to consider too much, as he immediately raised his hand to unleash Flash.

As thunderous sounds erupted, the Flash charged towards the surrounding puppet cultivators. After the Flash passed through them, Wang Baole changed his direction and continued forward. Before he left, he flailed his raised right hand and tossed out a handful of self-exploding beads.

The self-exploding beads were directed at high speed towards the puppet cultivators. The moment contact was made, they exploded.

As a loud boom reverberated within the forest, Wang Baole had already gone far away. He was about to go berserk. Previously, his tactic of hiding in the Pond Cloud Rainforest was made useless as the enemy had a detection Dharmic Artifact, and it was still useless. That inevitably made him frustrated, as he continued charging at high speed.

Very quickly, five minutes passed as he charged without a destination in mind.

In his escape, even though Wang Baole supplemented himself with pills, it was still insufficient to replenish the Spirit Qi he exhausted. It was at that crucial moment that his Numinous Treasures seemed to have a surprising effect.

As the puppet cultivators continued their pursuit and tried to block Wang Baole, the loud boom produced from Wang Baole’s self-exploding beads reverberated loudly, and a sword rain was also formed by several flying swords that were controlled by the magnetic force. That resulted in the puppets chasing after Wang Baole being constantly blocked and destroyed!

That not only happened in the area of the battleground where Wang Baole was; in the other two directions, a similar scenario was playing out.

Loud booms emerged continuously from each of the three directions within the forest. One of them was from where Wang Baole was, while the other two areas where the sound emerged were from Zhuo Yifan and Zhao Yameng’s location.

However, gradually, the sound vanished from one of the areas…

Of the two of them, who is the one who has met with trouble? Wang Baole, who was charging forward in the forest, looked disheveled with his unkempt hair. Fresh blood also flowed from the corner of his lips. It was impossible to kill the puppet cultivators while escaping. Even though they had initially been destroyed, they quickly reassembled.

In the face of the endless pursuit, the stress that Wang Baole felt made him immensely frustrated. He raised his right hand and swung, and a Sea of Fire formed from Heated Burst instantly emerged, setting the surrounding trees on fire.

The trees could be set on fire as it wasn’t the rainforest, so Wang Baole burned the trees along the way as he made his escape. That was the only method that he thought of that he could allow him to save himself.

“Burn and die!” A look of viciousness appeared in Wang Baole’s eyes. As he growled, he leaped into the air and burned the trees before he continued his escape plan. However, with his level of cultivation limited to that of the True Breath realm, the fire couldn’t spread even though he was burning the trees. Furthermore, the entire place was so bizarre that trees that had been burned quickly recovered!

All that made Wang Baole anxious and helpless, especially when he noticed that sound was no longer being produced from one of the directions. In the area of the forest before him, puppet cultivators quickly emerged, surrounding him.

Wang Baole’s breathing suddenly stopped. The moment the crowd closed in on him, he swung his right hand suddenly. Puppet Numinous Treasures immediately appeared, and as they charged towards the puppet cultivators, Wang Baole growled, “Trap them!”

As Wang Baole growled, his puppets immediately dashed out, hugging a cultivator each. Regardless of how the cultivators attacked, Wang Baole’s puppets didn’t release their grip!

At the same time, a mirror appeared in Wang Baole’s hands. The mirror shone brightly, transmogrifying an exact figure of Wang Baole beside his physical body.

The mirror was the compensation gift given to Wang Baole by Lin Tianhao’s family. It could transmogrify an illusory avatar. At that moment, the avatar and the actual physical being of Wang Baole switched positions rapidly. Even if someone were paying close attention, they would find it difficult to differentiate between them. The two Wang Baoles then ran in different directions.

Regrettably, the tactic was useless in that forest. The cultivators who weren’t being hugged by Wang Baole’s puppet Numinous Treasures were only momentarily stunned. They were about to instinctively spread out to pursue Wang Baole when a voice inaudible to Wang Baole reverberated in their minds. The cultivators stopped moving and turned to look in the direction where the real Wang Baole was heading towards, before continuing their pursuit in that direction.

This isn’t playing fair! Wang Baole was incredulous and frustrated. On the brink of going berserk, he was panting hard. Regardless of how many Dharmic treasures he had, they would eventually be exhausted. Soon, as the sound of battle also vanished from the second direction, without being heard again, Wang Baole was shocked.

Both of them are in trouble?

The instant the thought arose in Wang Baole’s mind, expressionless cultivators emerged from the trees and ground surrounding him one after another. The eerie glare and vibes they gave off caused Wang Baole’s breathing to quicken, and he began to attack without hesitation.

That time, he not only took out the self-exploding beads, but also the Dharmic Artifact that had been previously transformed by the Armament Sand. It was something he hadn’t planned to use at first!