A World Worth Protecting

Intuition wouldn’t be able to accurately assess whether one was a Dark Child. One needed to sacrifice part of his vitality from his very core to reach for and nudge at the other’s true essence. If that didn’t trigger a response, one would then be able to conclude firmly that the other wasn’t a Dark Child!

The black-robed man hadn’t intended to make use of his own life essence as he hadn’t thought that Wang Baole was a Dark Child. The Dark Sect had fallen a long, long time ago, becoming a mere legend. There remained few signs in this world that still proved it had existed before.

The sudden appearance of someone who might be a Dark Child invited incredulity from the black-robed man. After all… even during the height of the Dark Sect’s glory, there had been few who had been able to become a Dark Child.

Due to his rank and status, the black-robed man didn’t know what conditions existed that allowed one to become a Dark Child, but in the depths of his memory remained the fear and horror the Dark Sect inspired during those days in the past. He could never forget the days when he hadn’t become an Artifact Spirit. He had trembled before a mere ordinary disciple of the Dark Sect.

Now that so much time had passed, and with him falling into a deep sleep then waking up again and continuing this cycle repeatedly, his memories had grown blurrier when he tried to remember the past. His awe and fear of the Dark Sect hadn’t faded away though, regardless of how much time had passed.

In fact, it could be argued that… the Dark Sect was his prison, and the Dark Child, his master!

Any Dark Child could easily control it. He had no means of fighting back. He couldn’t devour his host and master. This was the scars of the past, the laws that had been branded deep into his life essence in the distant past.

He couldn’t fight back. He couldn’t make them stir. This was his fate!

That was why he didn’t want to and indeed didn’t believe that there was still a Dark Child in this world!

But the corruption of the array formation had been exorcised in a lightning-swift manner. He had secretly sensed the creation of those Dharmic Artifacts as well. Despite thinking it impossible, he still felt uncertainty over the matter. He knew what it meant if a Dark Child really appeared. He found that unacceptable. That was why he had come here. That was why he was sacrificing his own life essence to test the truth and set his heart at ease.

That was why he had pointed at Wang Baole!

It seemed like an ordinary action, and it didn’t draw the attention of any of the Core Formation realm cultivators. However, it appeared to form a link with the heavens and earth. It spoke to the stars and formed an indescribable, strange energy wave. The black-robed man’s pointing of a finger seemed to pierce through space, the walls, disregarding everything as it raced towards the secret chambers where Wang Baole was!

The energy wave suddenly flooded the insides of the secret chamber. It was infused heavily with Dark Qi. It held the black-robed man’s life essence and contained him in his entirety. It appeared before Wang Baole and transformed into a wide gaping mouth that no one else could see. This wide mouth was an illusion. It was about to swallow and devour Wang Baole, who was sat in meditation and cleansing the array formation, whole!

It was as the wide mouth was about to swallow him whole that Wang Baole seemed to sense something amiss. He opened his eyes suddenly. Others might not be able to see this wide gaping mouth, but he immediately saw it, clear as day, when he opened his eyes. His pupils contracted immediately. His heart stuttered. Before Wang Baole could do anything, suddenly, the Dark Fire inside his body seemed to wrestle free from his control and erupted inside his body!

As if sensing the violation from a subordinate, the Dark Fire instinctively showed its power and authority!

A ghostly light appeared instantly in Wang Baole’s eyes. Where his pupils were, appeared, instead, the Dark Fire. An indescribable cold erupted at that instant. It plunged the entire secret chamber into an iciness. The Dark Fire that had just erupted surged out from Wang Baole’s body alongside the chill, expanding and surging outwards!

Inside the secret chamber, away from the eyes of others, Wang Baole’s entire body was covered in a towering Dark Fire. An endless and overwhelming air of authority surged from his person. He seemed invincible and impenetrable. The wide mouth clamped over the Dark Fire and let loose a scream of agony.

It was like an ordinary person swallowing fire, and the screaming wide mouth started to melt before one’s eyes. Everything happened in a blink of an eye. The gaping wide mouth that had been formed from the life essence of the black-robed man was burned to crisps. It tried to fall back, but the Dark Fire came after it, seemingly with an intention to punish it for its offense!

At that critical moment, the wide mouth—in its desperation to escape, and in its fear and panic—collapsed into itself, dodging the Dark Fire’s relentless pursuit and saving itself!

This was only possible because the black-robed man was simply that powerful, while Wang Baole’s Dark Fire was only in its infancy. Else, even if the black-robed man had allowed his life essence to scatter and disperse, he would still not have been able to escape the attack of the Dark Fire.

Everything had happened extremely quickly—from the appearance of the black-robed man to his test, and finally to the retaliation of the Dark Fire. Outside, in the sky, no one could see the black-robed man and how he had self-destructed a part of his life essence. His face was colored in alarm. He instinctively fell back hastily, retreating hundreds of yards. His eyes, hidden beneath his robes, were colored with indescribable horror and incredulous shock.

“The Dark Fire… this… this is impossible!” The black-robed man shouted. The flames that no one could see, that were rising to the skies from Wang Baole’s residence, were clear in his eyes. It was a black fire. It exuded not heat but an incomparable chill. It seemed to be able to stir spirits and send the wheels of rebirth spinning. This fire held an important meaning for the black-robed man. It exerted a control that he couldn’t fight against!

The sight of it sent the black-robed man, already shaking in his soul, trembling once again. His breathing quickened significantly, and his whole body was swaying. His inner world seemed to have been ripped apart.

Dark Fire. How can there still be Dark Fire in this world? He… he truly is a Dark Child! The black-robed man trembled. He was besieged by a sense of incredulity.

The Dark Sect has fallen. How can there still be a Dark Child?

“Damn it!” The black-robed man roared in fury and madness. He couldn’t control the indescribable fear that was taking over his body. He didn’t wish for a master to appear so soon after he had obtained freedom. He found that impossible to accept. Madness and a fierce murderous intent slowly appeared in his eyes.

It was colored with caution. After a long while, he gradually calmed down. He stared unblinkingly at Wang Baole’s residence. He was silent for a long while. Then, he slowly disappeared.

So what if he’s the Dark Child… I can’t go near him, and I can’t attack him for fear of inviting a backlash… but I can still strike indirectly and get him killed!

As the black-robed man departed, inside the secret chambers of his residence, the uncontrollable Dark Fire inside Wang Baole gradually disappeared and returned inside his body. Wang Baole gasped. He had an ugly expression on his face. He knew that the mastermind behind the Art of Longevity must have tried to attack him.

He pondered for a long while. Then, Wang Baole continued to cleanse the array formation. He finally completely cleansed the array formation late that night. Staring at the array formation as it finally resumed normalcy, his heart was finally at ease.

My Dark Fire attacked without prompting. It seemed to be able to counter the attacker… Wang Baole fell deep into thought. He lowered his head and stared at the ground. Deep beneath the ground was where the Divine Armament Catacombs lay.

The Dark Sect and the Dark Artifact… Wang Baole fell silent. He thought for a long while before he took out the black mask and entered the hallucination realm. He found Little Missy.

This time, Little Missy appeared. She was still her beautiful self. Her back was towards Wang Baole, and she seemed to be gazing into the distance, thinking.

Before Wang Baole could speak, Little Missy’s cold, clear voice rang out.

“The research facility that you visited earlier. There is a piece… a shattered fragment of the mask in the facility. It contains a part of my original essence…”

“Ah?” Wang Baole immediately realized what was going on when he heard that. He had compared both and come to similar conclusions, but he wasn’t here for this. He quickly spoke.

“Little Missy, is the person who attacked me earlier also a Dark Art practitioner? And, Master Zhao said that the Divine Armament here is a Dark Artifact… and, just now, my Dark Fire appeared automatically without any prompting. Didn’t you say that we shouldn’t reveal our Dark Fire easily? But it erupted on its own. What happened there?” That was what Wang Baole was desperate to find out at the moment.

“…” Little Missy, who had her back towards Wang Baole, was clearly stunned. There was suspicion and doubt in her eyes. She hadn’t noticed or sensed any attack. She hadn’t sensed the Dark Fire inside Wang Baole suddenly appearing without prompting. After all, she wasn’t one of the Dark Sect!

Her reaction was swift, though. She got a vague idea of what had happened from what Wang Baole said. She felt sour with envy and bewildered at the same time. She thought to herself, You’re asking me? Who do I get the answers from… Regardless, she had to keep up her pretense. She was silent for a while. She felt that she should give Wang Baole an impossible task that would end this entire topic about the Dark Sect. Else, if this continued, she’d be exposed for a fraud one of these days…

She lifted her chin and said casually, with a deep unfathomable air about her.

“Fine, since you already know, I’ll stop with the hiding. There indeed is a Dark Artifact here. I left it here ages ago. It’s nothing fantastic, but it would be appropriate for you to use it. If fate allows it, you can simply take it!

“I can’t even be bothered to deal with whatever tried to attack you earlier. It’s just a lowly Dark Servant!

“Don’t overreact the next time. Remember, we cultivators of the Dark Sect wander the galaxies. Stars may collapse, but space remains constant. You should be calm and firm in whatever you do!

“Alright, I’m tired. You can leave.”