A World Worth Protecting

It would have been all right if Jin Duoming hadn’t said that. His words immediately sparked Wang Baole’s suspicion. Upon seeing the expression on Wang Baole’s face, Jin Duoming hastily waved his right hand and immediately pulled out a Dharmic Armament from his storage bracelet.

It was a flying sword!

It was red and exuded waves of heat as soon as it was pulled out. There seemed to be indistinct, piercing shrills ringing in the air. Within the waves of heat, one might even see the blurry image of a large phoenix appearing behind Jin Duoming. It stood within a vast ocean of fire that appeared to threaten to burn everything.

It was also a seventh-grade Dharmic Armament!

Wang Baole’s eyes brightened at the sight of the Dharmic Armament. He knew how valuable a Dharmic Armament was. This flying sword was a seventh-grade Dharmic Armament, like his saber. However, it was clearly of better make than the saber. This difference was visible from the aura that the Dharmic Armament exuded.

With the Dharmic Armament before his eyes, he couldn’t be bothered to analyze Jin Duoming’s words to find the trap in them. Even if there was a trap, so what? If this really turned out to be a losing deal for him, he’d simply come and ask for another Dharmic Armament. There were perks to being friends with the rich and wealthy.

Wang Baole nodded with satisfaction. He seemed to have agreed to what Jin Duoming said. Jin Duoming understood that such verbal agreements weren’t reliable, but having one was still better than none. Regardless of the loss he was feeling, he could only sigh and throw the flying sword at Wang Baole. He sighed. He must have been in Wang Baole’s debt in his past life. There was no other explanation for why he kept handing Dharmic Armaments over to him.

I’ll just have to see this as an investment! With that thought in mind, Jin Duoming felt a lot better.

The two of them sat in the cruiser and headed straight for the new city. On the way back, Wang Baole played around with the flying sword. He even studied and extended his senses towards it. He could immediately tell the difference between the two Dharmic Armaments. When combined with his gains inside the research facility, he could barely wait to go into seclusion and conduct even more in-depth research.

Wang Baole had a feeling that he would definitely reach a breakthrough in his refinement of Dharmic Armaments after this seclusion!

The cruiser carried his anticipation as it sped forward and steadily approached the new city. While Wang Baole was studying the Dharmic Armament, Jin Duoming also started thinking about his own plans. He had come to Mars partly because of the head of his family’s request for him to keep an eye on the Divine Armament Catacombs, and partly because he wanted to try and fight for the right to become the successor to his family clan.

After all, he wasn’t the only one qualified to become the heir. He had to do his due preparations. Compared to what the other potential successors had chosen, Jin Duoming had initially planned to stake a firm claim over the family’s businesses on Mars. However, his father had reminded him to tag along more often with Wang Baole. That was what had resulted in their first contact on Mars.

From the way he saw it, this mobile investment was a steal. He was an important key in breaking up the Martian stalemate!

But how did the old man know that Wang Baole would fly through the ranks on Mars? Jin Duoming had his doubts regarding the matter. He couldn’t figure this out. He knew that regardless of how much the old man approved of him, if the latter chose not to reveal the truth to him, he would never get an answer out of the latter, no matter how persistently he asked.

This Wang Baole is really quite an interesting fellow… At that thought, Jin Duoming snuck a glance at Wang Baole, who was busy studying the Dharmic Armament. He thought about the series of events that had happened after Wang Baole had arrived on Mars. He felt a tinge of envy. At the same time, he also recognized Wang Baole for what he had done.

Time passed steadily as Wang Baole studied the Dharmic Armament and the other studied Wang Baole. Divine Armament New City soon appeared before their eyes.

The cruiser approached the city steadily and slowly landed in the port within Jin Duoming’s city zone. Even though Wang Baole had made this trip secretly, there were still many people from the four Dao Colleges waiting alongside Lin Tianhao in the port for his arrival.

As soon as Wang Baole stepped out of the cruiser, he saw a smiling Lin Tianhao as well as other familiar faces. A sense of belonging and warmth rose in his heart. He gazed at the buildings around them. This was his city, he thought, and his spirits soared.

“Greetings to the City Lord!” Lin Tianhao said loudly. Those behind him quickly cupped their fists and saluted.

Wang Baole smiled and nodded at the crowd. He was about to announce the outcome of the visit, and inform everyone that a research facility was to be built in the city. However, just as he was about to speak, he frowned suddenly. His eyes fell on one of the Foundation Establishment realm cultivators from the four Dao Colleges in the crowd that had come to receive him!

He was a middle-aged man. His expression was that of respect, his eyes brimming with enthusiasm and passion. He was no different from what Wang Baole had remembered him to be. Except… he exuded a faint but, to Wang Baole’s eyes, clear… Dark Qi!

Wang Baole’s pupils contracted immediately. He was about to take a closer look when he sensed others exuding Dark Qi in the crowd. There were as many as five of them!

Wang Baole’s heart leaped to his throat. He might have discounted one as an accident, but to have five in the group receiving him—that was simply horrifying. Wang Baole didn’t act recklessly. He quickly retracted his gaze and continued to smile, but he was no longer in the mood to announce the new research facility. He left the port with Lin Tianhao.

During the return trip, Lin Tianhao stayed by Wang Baole’s side, reporting the various incidents that had taken place in the city during his absence.

Wang Baole seemed normal while he listened to Lin Tianhao’s reports, but he was observing Lin Tianhao closely as well. He verified that there was no Dark Qi on Lin Tianhao and let loose a breath of relief. He boarded the cruiser headed back for the City Lord’s Office. As the group of people sped past, Wang Baole stood at the edge of the cruiser. His expression revealed nothing out of the ordinary. Secretly though, he had made use of his access rights to the array formation and merged with the array formation. He began to inspect and gaze over the entire city.

Upon merging with the array formation, Wang Baole could immediately sense his Great Baole Array Formation filled with Dark Qi. The Dark Qi didn’t originate from the catacombs but from within his city and its countless cultivators…

It was coming from them and being absorbed by the Great Baole Array Formation. This sent Wang Baole reeling. He immediately inspected the Great Martian Array Formation. Based on his sensitivity towards Dark Qi, he could also immediately sense a similar spirit energy within the Great Martian Array Formation.

Something’s wrong! Wang Baole’s breathing quickened. He turned and looked at Lin Tianhao. The latter was about to report on the Art of Longevity.

There’s also this Art of Longevity. It suddenly appeared and was taken up very quickly by the population. We found nothing out of the ordinary after investigation, but together with the Deputy City Lord, we still decided to control its dissemination. Wang Baole’s eyes suddenly narrowed when Lin Tianhao mentioned that point. He didn’t interrupt the latter but continued to listen to Lin Tianhao’s report. They reached the City Lord’s Office. That was when Wang Baole suddenly issued an order. They would not be going to the office and would head to his residence instead.

When the cruiser reached his residence, Wang Baole got off as usual. He waited for Lin Tianhao and the rest to leave before entering his residence. The expression on his face immediately shifted to one of extreme seriousness. He activated the array formation and entered the chamber for seclusion. He sat down and crossed his legs, activating his access rights and merging with the array formation once again.

Once again, through the new city’s array formations, he sensed Dark Qi inside countless cultivators in the entire city. With a solemn face, he pulled out the Art of Longevity that Lin Tianhao had sent to him. He studied it and found something amiss.

There’s nothing wrong with this technique… nothing wrong if you practice it elsewhere. Only when you practice it in the new city, above the catacombs, where the air is heavy with Dark Qi, will something terrible and wrong happen!

It exploits the unique feature of the Great Martian Array Formation, which absorbs the population’s Spirit Qi, and sends Dark Qi inside the Great Martian Array Formation… this cannot be the work of someone from the Federation. There’s a great likelihood that it’s the work of the Divine Armament Catacombs… but the monsters inside the cave are all without intelligence. How could they have come up with such a plan? This was what alarmed Wang Baole the most. He thought for a while and decided that the most important thing now was to expel the Dark Qi inside the practitioners of the Art of Longevity inside the new city!

Compared to finding the mastermind, this was a task more urgent. After all, as long as the array formation remained standing, the new city would remain safe and impenetrable. That was an unchangeable basic principle.

Perhaps I can kill two birds with one stone, and make the mastermind reveal himself! Wang Baole thought and finally came to a decision. He was going to be decisive about this. He was going to make a rash move and alert the enemy!

Before that though, he was going to have to make some preparations and refine a few special Dharmic Artifacts. It was fortunate that the entire city was a vast Eternal Fortress. Within it were core parts that only Wang Baole could access, where countless construction puppets were. Wang Baole had the ultimate advantage when it came to refining Dharmic Artifacts!